In the City

In Shattrath, you can’t see the stars.

Though the city largely slept in the darkness, the light was still ample and blocked the night sky.  Lena, a frequent insomniac and wanderer, slipped from her bed in her small home on Aldor Rise and quietly moved, pulling on a simple robe and stepping out into the night.  She walked as quietly as she could, but she cringed with her every echoing hoofstep on the street.  As quickly and as quietly as she could, she made her way to the grassy patches that lead her to the stable where Pryt was boarded.  She smiled at the talbuk as he shook his head and pawed at his stall.  He was not a big sleeper, either.

She bridled the mount, patting his neck affectionately, and clamored onto his back, sans saddle, gently urging him out of the stable and toward Nagrand.  He pranced in the grass, but moved delicately, as if he knew to keep quiet within the city limits.  The pair danced in the grass along the paved roads that lead into Shattrath, and once out of earshot from the dozing guards, she gave Pryt his head and the beast took off.  She loved this part of the night.  She was pretty sure Pryt loved it too, being able to run freely with little fear of the monsters of the world chasing him and without the addition of Lena’s armor, weaponry, and baggage.

After about an hour of simply running for the fun of it, gently bending Pryt around her legs as they made turns and leapt over logs and bounding through brush to the bemusement of the wild creatures of Nagrand, she slowed him to a walk, then slipped off his back and led the talbuk to a small pool of water and removing his bridle, letting him drink and flopping herself unceremoniously in the grass, looking up at the sky as she caught her breath.

She remembered Nagrand long ago.  When it seemed like the orcs and their fel magic would overtake the lands.  She was quite young then, but she could still remember the challenging roars of the green skinned orcs as they stood at the border of Shattrath, how the earth seemed to wither for many years before recovering.  Wincing at the memories, Lena rolled over in the grass and closed her eyes, focusing on the sweet smell of flowers and grass along the edge of the pool, listening to Pryt snort and snuffle around in it.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, searching for something.  She smiled when she found a young flower, just a bud, and sat up slightly and murmuring a soft incantation as she cleared away the weeds from the small plant.  Focusing on the bud, she concentrated her energies and funneled them into the flower.  Her smile widened as she watched the bud open, blooming even in the dark of night.  Every once in a while, she had to remember that her magic had the power for good, to urge creation along.  While she always fought for the preservation of her people, of the Alliance, to save the known worlds from imminent devastation, sometimes, she felt it was too much destruction.  Rarely, in fact.  She knew she was all too eager to take revenge on the forces that threatened her people.

Lena sighed and looked up at the night sky once more.  If she focused and looked deep enough, she could see Azeroth, the odd little planet beyond the Twisting Nether, where the Alliance continued their battles.  The Sha’nash were scattered for a time, some happy to take up temporary residence in Stonetalon before their upcoming assignments, but some had returned to Shattrath, in hopes of a deeper rest.  Lena liked to return the the sanctuary that was her home city, at least for a little while.  And to visit the plains of Nagrand, letting Pryt run with the wild talbuks for a time.  She smiled at the thought and looked behind her, where her mount had found a willing playmate and was bounding around under the trees.

She peered over the pool of water and watched the stars reflected in it, shivering a bit in the cool breeze.  She barely had time to draw the dagger from her waist as she heard the footsteps approaching in the grass – footsteps that did not belong to her four-legged Pryt.  Whirling around, prepared to fight, she gasped and dropped the dagger as she saw the figure in the dark.

“I figured I would find you here, Lena.”