The Zarly–Bogtha Quagmire

A glint of light broke through the window startling Zarly. Startled, he shot straight up and cast cone of cold with all his might only to freeze and dishevel everything in what was Bogtha’s room. He shook his head, trying to get some semblance of what happened the previous night. All he remembers is making lots of drinks and Bogtha naked…a memory he would surely cherish.

His head pounding, Zarly got dressed and noticed a small letter on the floor with his name on it… in Bogtha’s hand writing. He picked it up, figuring that it was blown on the floor when he ransacked the room in his shock.

“Zar,

I am leaving to visit my grandfather. I have 3 days to meet him in Everlook and from there, who knows where I will be. I expect you to do two things; tell the war chief where I have gone and to tell no one about our night together. We will discuss what happened when I return and hopefully, you can defend yourself better then.

See you when I return,
Boggy

Ps. I hope your earring brings me luck”

After reading the letter, the entire night flashed in his head…the inn….the drinking…the jumping on the bed…more drinking….and of course, the lights going out for the evening. While processing the previous evening, he had slowly walked downstairs, out the inn, and was standing outside Yagyu’s hut, still dazed. A small stone thrown by Crunck had hit Zarly in the small of his back, causing him to snap back into reality. Snapping around, he shot a frost bolt at Crunck on instinct and then blinked towards an obvious exit.

Running, he headed for the nearest hiding spot…the caves just east of Stonard. He ran, blinking every once a while in a random direction to make sure that he wouldn’t be followed. Dodging crocks, stalking cats, and giant spiders was easy compared getting enough distance from between himself and Crunck. His fear, though not unreasonable, was amplified by his last encounter with the dimwitted orc.

When Zarly had just Join the Grin, invited by his friend Jonn Gribbs, Crunck had done his usual on the Grots, including him. Making them clean his gyro-copter, dig ditches, and clear the latrines was routine, but then he was promoted… and Crunck still tried to bully him. Zarly, once promoted, had enough and shot an unnoticed frost bolt at Crunck, freezing his head in a block of ice and enraging Crunck! His wrath was unmatched as he went after Zarly. Beating him senselessly and leaving him outside the gates of Stonard as food for the wild beasts was fitting in the mind of Crunck.

Zarly, luckily, was pulled back inside the protective walls and hidden in a hovel used by a few of the Grots. He figured that they appreciated Crunck getting a taste of his own medicine and that Zarly was an icon to them. Many years had passed since that day but the fear was still very much a part of him. He ran for a bit, then blinked, then ran some more… till he finally saw the caves and blinked right into them, finding a small nook to duck into. Minutes seemed like days as Zarly waited for Crunck to come roaring into the caves chasing him. After a short time, Zarly knew he had escaped and began to reread the letter.

“I expect you to do two things; tell the war chief where I have gone and to tell no one about our night together.”

Tell Yagyu that his best warlock, and fellow orc, had left on a personal mission. Not what he had in mind as fun but his devotion to her, if only known by him, was enough to do as she asked. As for not speaking to anyone about the previous night, if he remembered correctly, she made enough noise while drunk to make sure that everyone in the Inn at the time knew what was going on. This thought made him smile both with vain and glee. He had accomplished what he thought was a fools dream. He let his feelings for Bogtha be known and wasn’t tossed aside for another.

*CRUNCH*

Zarly froze. He made himself as invisible as possible while still managing to keep an eye on the opening if his nook. He listened, intently, for noises that Crunck or another was looking for him.

*THUD*

The anticipation building, Zarly went though his battle plan in his head: Frost ’em and blink the hell outta there. When he had enough time, he would call for his horse and ride with all speed back to Stonard to do as Bogtha wished.

“Mrrgrrglgrglrl!”

Zarly knew someone was fighting the murlocs that inhabited the deepest parts of the cave…someone who was much stronger and skillful than they were. He had to risk sticking his head out and finding the source of the noise. If they were deeper in the cave than he was, he could take off now, make for Stonard and the safety of the rest of the Grin. If not… well, he would have to improvise.

Slowly, cautiously, Zarly poked his head out and saw something looking like a bear thrashing the murlocs against the walls and carving large chunks of flesh of them. Assured that he could escape, Zarly quickly gathered himself and began his trek out of the cave. Upon reaching the mouth, he looked around and let his eyes adjust to see nothing around him. No beasts, murlocs, or other creatures could be seen which made Zarly noticeably uneasy. He called for his stead and within seconds the pack of bones formed from out of the mud coming together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Jumping on, he immediately made tracks for Stonard racing as fast as the collection of bones would take him. 5 minutes passed and the gates came into view… and Crunck standing in them looking inward at something. Zarly didn’t want to chance another beating and blinked right past Crunck and appeared within feet of the war chief’s flap.

“Knock knock sir” said Zarly in his usually jester-like way. Yagyu moved the flag aside and pulled Zarly inside with one arm throwing him down against the earth hard. Zarly looked at his face then at his hands. A small crumpled note dropped from his left hand and Zarly knew he was dead.

“Where has she gone Zarly?” asked Yagyu calmly, clinching his fist in what appeared to be an attempt not to kill him.

“She said she was going to Everlook sir… to see her grandfather.”

“Her grandfather?”

“Yes sir. She left me a note asking to convey that message” said Zarly standing unsteadily and unsure if he should do so. His eyes were fixed on Yagyu’s and they exchanged a glare that could only mean one thing… he knew.

“Where is this note, mage? I must read it!” roared Yagyu, finally letting some of the anger seep out. His eyes seemed to burn with a rage Zarly had never seen before.

“Sir, I cannot give it to you. It has information she asked for me to keep secret until her return.”

Yagyu grabbed Zarly but the throat, “Give me the note or I will crush your neck.”

Zarly reached inside his tunic and flashed the note in front of Yagyu’s eyes. Yagyu released his grip and read the letter. “…and to tell no one about our night together. We will discuss what happened when I return…” Yagyu looked up after reading this, stone-faced, and handed the letter back.

“So,” he stared. Zarly was waiting for a beating or to be demoted to Grot again as punishment for what he had done, “how to you plan to proceed with Bogtha?”

Zarly hadn’t given this much thought as his day had only started but 2 hours ago. He had to tell Yagyu something, but nothing was coming to mind. Zarly decided that honesty could save him here and gave it his best.

“I am not sure, sir. I have not had time enough to thing about my next move. What do you suggest?”

Zarly knew this was his only hope in getting out of the hovel alive. He hoped that by attempting to reach Yagyu as a mentor, he could be spared anything close to punishment. Yagyu put his hand in his chin, obviously thinking but of what Zarly could only imagine. He hoped to hear advice, but was ready to hear the worst.

“I think you have a bit of a dilemma Zarly. According to orc tradition, you now should become her life mate. Unfortunately, your one night together isn’t enough to convince me that you would be best for her. I wouldn’t want to see her… destroy you in a fit of rage.”

“Sir, I can attest to myself and only myself. I have the upmost respect and admiration for her. If request of me, I would gladly die, again, for her before I die for the Grin!” said Zarly realizing that he had just said something very loud in a leather hovel. He blinked his eyes and opened the flaps to see some of the others in the Grin staring at him. Rather embarrassed and frustrated at the start of the day he turned back to Yagyu, “Permission to leave, sir?”

“Granted” bellowed Yagyu, before gabbing Zarly’s arm and whispering, “But this isn’t finished.”

Zarly quickly blinked to the nearest hovel that was out of site and walked in hoping it was empty. His luck, though, had left with is earring. Grimface Skullsplitter was sifting through a bag of gems and grumbling something about a debt when he realized that Zarly was behind him.

“What do you want, deader?” he growled.

“Sorry, wrong tent.” retorted Zarly and quickly walked toward the inn hoping to reach the safety of Bogtha’s room once more. He will have a talk with the innkeeper about taking it over until her return later as for now, he thought it was best to disappear from public view.

Zarly slammed the door to Bogtha’s (soon to be his) room, his head swimming with the events of the past 24 hours; spending the night with Bogtha, blasting Crunck with an ice bolt, the bear in the caves, and the rather embarrassing yet life threatening conversation with Yagyu. He looked at the letter again, “P.S. I hope your earring brings me luck.”

Zarly reached up and gently started to feel for his earring… only to discover his ear missing! “I think she meant to put ear.” he said in his usual jester-like manor. He was a bit shocked that she had taken his ear, but for her he could have given more. He felt rather naked without his ear but he knew it was in safe hands and that he would get it back soon. He reread the letter again and wondered what she meant by “We will discuss what happened when I return and hopefully, you can defend yourself better than.”

He knew, as did Bogtha, that he was still regaining his powers since breaking free of the lich king’s hold. His time as a frost lich, though dreadful, taught him a few things that even the great mages of Dalaran didn’t know about. While relearning his skills, he had tried to incorporate some of what he called “dark powers” that he once controlled but almost always failed. His blizzard was weak compared to its strength when he was human or a lich and his control over fire had waned significantly. He longed for the days of when I could freeze a ghoul in place, blast him into a fiery oblivion, then make a feast for his friends and allies.

He knew he had to train, and hard, to impress Bogtha when she returned from Everlook. Yagyu had been right that he, currently, was not “man enough” to handle Bogtha but he yearned to be. In his prime as a human, Bogtha would have made quite the advisory in any arena but now, he would be tossed aside by the slightest of her whims. His time in Stonard had made him complacent and had not challenged him as he had wanted. Manual labor, clan duties, and drinking distracted him from his ultimate goal of testing the limits of his power. He knew it was time to go back into the wild and practice.

Zarly looked out the window at the sky to gauge the time of day with no avail. A slight cloud cover had formed over Stonard and lightning was beginning to stream down from it. Obviously, a druid was in a battle or duel and was using his trump card, probably in an act of desperation. He looked farther out the window to see Boyl and Oroki flexing their combined muscle against the Grots. Their lightning bolts were intentionally missing them just enough to make them work much faster than they had been. Reinforcing the bunkers and walls was a constant job in Stonard now that the Grin had moved in.

A knock came from the door and Drak’nora walked in and turned beet red. She quickly turned on the spot and pushed someone, who Zarly assumed was Vord, back into the hallway and closed the door quietly. Zarly reached in his pocket and pulled out a watch to verify the time, 1:30. Where had the day gone?

A feeling of bubbles in his stomach told him he was hungry and he walked downstairs and into the bar. He blinked onto his favorite chair as called for the barkeeper to make him some food. Vord was on duty and threw a large piece of raw steak at Zarly hitting square across the face.

“Cook it yourself mage! I ain’t no woman!” he said and turned back to rack of bottles he was at before and looked like he was selecting only the finest and putting them aside.

“FINE!” yelled Zarly as he unconsciously set the steak ablaze while taking it off his face. He looked down to his hand and, in shock, dropped the charred steak on the counter. The steak landed on the counter flat and Zarly, ignoring the fact that others were in the bar with him, lunged face first at the steak. After a few minutes of gorging himself like a fool, he looked to his left and realized that a knife and fork had appeared next to him, longing to be used. He picked them and, finished eating, spitefully tossed the knife in the direction of Vord, impaling the wall.

The mid-day breeze felt nice until Zarly heard a light whistle in his now missing ear. He knew that he would have to relearn to listen but, because of his feelings for Bogtha, it did not bother him. He turned to tell one of the others in the camp that he was leaving for a time when a large fist impaled itself into his head. Hitting the ground was the last thing he knew before it all went black….

Zarly awoke with a pile of ice on his head. It was strategically placed on certain places of his head whether to keep him down or prevent further injury, he didn’t know. He opened his eyes to see a pleasant and familiar scene. Grimface and Jonn were sitting around a fire surrounded by darkness and were joking about things. Jonn must have sensed he had woken up as he turned and looked at him.

“How’s your head?” asked Jonn with a look of both concern and a slight grin on his face.

“Hurts. What hit me?” he said as he looked from Jonn to Grimface. Zarly sat up slowly making sure nothing else was going to generate the pinch of pain.

“Crunck hit you”, said Grimface with a slight laugh, “Jonn managed to see this happen and “rescued” you before Crunck could bury you with the boulder he found. Though, by the way he kept your head in a block of ice, I wouldn’t call that rescued.”

A rustle in the bushes nearby made Grimface pop up, mace in hand and ready for whatever was coming. Luckily, Signe just happened to come into view carrying with seemed to be an animal she had just slain. Gutted, skinned, and trimmed already, she placed the carcass on the make shift grill Zarly had just noticed. The grill smoked a bit as the 4 of them, 5 if you included Signe’s pet, sat around the fire and spent the evening eating and talking about things in the last few days. Finally, Signe turned to Zarly and said “So Zarly, how was Bogtha the other night?”

Zarly looked slowly at her, then at Jonn and Grimface. Jonn had told him about these two and of their friendship since before they all joined the Grin. He held them to be two of the best examples of the definition of friend. Signe nudged Zarly, trying to get a response out of him.

“Oh… uhhh… nothing happened.” Snapped Zarly, obviously trying to cover up the previous evening.

“Oh really?” Said Grimface “Then why did you two keep me and the BABY up till almost daybreak the other evening?” He looked rather annoyed at this, but Signe’s hand found his arm in what was her way of telling him to behave.

“I’m not allowed to talk about it… I care too much for Bogtha to smear her name in any way.” Zarly didn’t really think when he said this, he just said it. Though he knew it was received well by the looks on everyone’s faces. He thought about her for a flash just then, and it brought him warmth that the fire couldn’t provide. He snapped back into consciousness and realized he was eminating fire from his being as a whole.

“AHHHH!!! I’M ON FIRE!!” He screamed while running around the camp. It took a few seconds but he realized that he was in no pain. The fire had actually gone away once he realized he was on fire and started to run. Perplexed, he rejoined the others and after a few drinks, made a nice place to rest for a few hours.

Daybreak rose Zarly. The light reminded him of the fire that engulfed him the evening before and he woke out of fear he might be ablaze again. He looked around and saw the others gathering their things and preparing for their individual days. Zarly knew what he had to do and today was as good a day as any to start.

“Jonny”, said Zarly, ”thanks for your help. I won’t be back to Stonard for a while. I have some training to do before Bogtha gets back. Not having control of all my powers is a bit of a problem.”

“I’ll let the others know. Be safe and if you need us please let us know.” Jonn acknowledged.

Zarly wished he could have Jonn come with him, the company would be welcome, but he knew that this was a personal thing. He didn’t want anyone to witness him blowing up forests on accident. Zarly continued to pack what little he had and called his horse. As he had before, the horse materialized from the bones in the earth and allowed Zarly to mount him. They rode off towards the pass, Zarly thinking of where to start.

Desolace was nice, dead, and empty. A good place to try and find something worthwhile to destroy which means it’s also a good place to practice his trades. He would put in at Booty Bay then charter a wyvern to Shadowprey Village. From there he would look for a nice open spot to train.

Through the pass and on the road to Booty Bay he saw others but ignored them. Waves and passing greetings went unreturned and no one was bothered enough to make issue. He rode into the tunnel at Booty Bay then dismounted and made his way to the dock to board the slow boat to Ratchet. He stored his bony steed in the belly of boat then made his way to the deck. He briefly spoke to the captain and was told they had about 30 minutes before departing.

Zarly wanted to take this time to write to Bogtha. Almost 2 days had passed and he wanted to let her know of the aftermath of their “experience” together. He found a post box and started writing to her:

“Boggy,
The last 2 days have been rather chaotic for me. Most of this chaos has been related from our evening together and what people knew. I have done as you asked and said nothing to anyone. I am going on a journey to the Desolace to practice better defending myself. I hope my ear brings you more luck then you need.

To premise your note about talking about us, I can tell you that I have told Yagyu, out chief that I care for you deeply. I do not know how you take being told this but I think you should know.

Dedicated to you,
Zarly

Ps. What did you write Yagyu that he almost killed me?”

Zarly quickly mailed the letter and returned to the boat just in time to find a comfortable seat the ship set sail towards Ratchet.

Bogtha woke up with a splitting headache. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes wearily and looked out the window of the barracks to see that the sun had already risen and had been up for at least an hour or two. She’d slept in late! She rolled onto her back and thought to herself “I don’t have time to go and inform the Chieftan of my leave. I won’t make it in time to Everlook to meet my Grandfather!” She let her eyes adjust to the sunlight for a few moments.
She rolls over to discover that Zarly was snoring loudly, cuddled up next to her. Her eyes open wide in shock as flashes of images of the night before started flashing in front of her eyes. She groans loudly and puts one of her hands on her forehead and starts rubbing her temple in thought. She immediately put together what happened. “It must have been those drinks he made me,” she thought. She couldn’t help but smile at him. He looks kind of cute laying there all curled up.
She had seen Zarly a few times around the Grin base camp, but he never seemed to catch her attention. Forsaken usually aren’t her fancy. He was a scrawny, inexperienced mage who seemed to pop into her sight as she treaded about the camp. She sometimes thought she would catch him staring at her. He seemed kind of strange and quiet, until last night. He was almost a different person; He was charismatic, warm, and seemed incredibly interested in her. She was a bit embarrassed at the fact that he knew so much about her, yet she barely even knew his name.
After receiving the letter from her Grandfather, Nek’rahk, She was insistent on leaving right away. She was fatigued from a long day fighting alongside the Frostwolf Clan. Zarly encouraged Bogtha to stay another night to get some rest before her journey and conjured her up a drink. She went along with it and accepted the drinks as a gesture of kindness. One drink turned into two, three…. Then she lost count.
The night was a series of blurs after that. She remembers bits and pieces of the night before… laughing, smiling, a romantic fire…jumping on the bed for fun…. the enticing smell of a man after so long of being alone. The light stench was an incredible turn on for her. Normally she could control herself, but a little voice inside of her told her to just give in, not to worry, and just INDULGE. She found it very difficult to resist. More blurs…clearing to see an intimate embrace of Bogtha and Zarly sharing their bodies with each other. The drinks seemed to have a sensory enhancement as well. She was in ecstasy as every kiss, bite, and touch was magnified by tenfold. It was pure bliss. Her body could only take so much, and as soon as it was over, she passed out.
She quietly arose out of the bed and placed her feet on the floor. There was a small squish from under her feet. She lifted up her feet to notice that there was a pale ear with a single earring lying on the floor. She rolled her eyes and tried not to chuckle, not surprised that she probably tore it off him the night before in one of her usual lusty rages. She picked it up and was about to place it next to him, but decided otherwise. This Forsaken had shown her the night of her life, and is was still lying next to her in the morning. He is a better man than most. She dressed herself and carefully placed the detached ear into her pocket and gathered her belongings she packed the night before. She scribbled out a note to Zarly before leaving and left it on the pillow next to him. She blew a kiss to the snoring corpse and headed out.
She stopped once before leaving at Crunck’s door. She went to knock, but stopped herself. She placed her hand on the door and propped herself up against it for a moment and sighed before continuing out of the building. Outside sleeping lazily in the grass was her Timber Wolf Sharnak. She dropped her belongings on the ground next to the wolf, its eyes not blinking. She grinned, and quietly snuck up behind her and started scratching her ears. Her back leg started to kick followed by a wagging tail. The wolf opened one eye and pounced on Bogtha and started licking her face all over. “You slobbering beast! Sleeping in on such a bright morning!” she chortled. She pushed the wolf off her and started loading her bags on its back. The wolf caught scent of something in her pocket and growled in a quizzical fashion. She looks down to see the curious animal staring at her pocket. “No, Sharnak, That’s not a snack for doggies!” she said as she reached into her pocket to push the ear deeper into it. “Let’s see what I do have here for you.” She walked over to her cauldron to see that there were some remnants of a batch of stew from a day or so before and offered it to the wolf before mounting on it. She took one last look at the Grin base camp before riding off towards Everlook.

* * *
She arrived in Everlook almost 3 days later and immediately took shelter from the cold. She hadn’t eaten since she left from Stonard just days ago, but just finally noticed how hungry she really was. She entered the inn and ordered some food and drink. She sat down at a table near the fire and rubbed her hands briskly to return the warmth to her fingers. Her food arrived and she ate it loudly and quickly. She ordered another plate and the innkeeper sat across from her as she placed it in front of her. “Pardon me my lady, Are you Bogtha Runeshadow?” Bogtha looked up from her plate mid-mouthful. She nodded and continued to ravage the meal. “It looks like your friends knew where to send your mail!” the innkeeper grinned widely and slipped a few envelopes towards her, and returned to her duties. She finished her food and belched satisfyingly. She wiped some of the food splatters off the envelopes and studied them. One was from Zarly, and one from her Grandfather! She eagerly opens opened the one from her Grandfather and reads it.

“Dearest Boggy,

Now that you are here, take some time to rest and eat. I will be to Everlook by the next sunrise to meet you. Stay Warm! Make sure you try the Polar Bear Pot Pies! Phayldre the innkeeper makes them even better than your Grandmother! But keep that a secret between us! There are plenty of shops around town if you care to go buy yourself some warmer clothing for the harsh weather. I can’t wait to see you again my sweet Boggy. It’s been too long. Rest well and meet me in the inn tomorrow for some breakfast.

Aka’Magosh,
Neh’Rahk Firehand”

She heaved a slight sigh of relief as her stomach calmed down and started digesting. She ordered her favorite cold weather drink, spiced apple cider with a splash of Rumsey Rum, warmed to perfection. She sipped at the cider and smacked her lips loudly. She opened the letter from Zarly and read it she thought at least five times. She was curious why Yagyu was so furious towards Zarly.
She reminisced of the night where Yagyu and her she (or she and Yagyu) were celebrating a victory against the alliance while she was an officer of the Thunderlord Clan. Yagyu was young, bold, and vocal. At the time, he was a Grunt for the Grin. He wanted Bogtha upstairs with him that night. Bogtha had always been a fan of the drink, especially when a victory is involved. She was clearly intoxicated, and when proposed to ascend into a bedroom with Yagyu, she proceeded to collapse on the floor and purge her day’s worth of food onto his boots. Seemingly disgusted, Yagyu stormed off to wash off his shoes and continue his victory elsewhere. She still is a bit embarrassed to this day about the boots.
“Maybe Yagyu’s interest had reflourished since she joined the Grin. Perhaps that is why he seemed like he wanted to decimate Zarly.” She thought to herself. She grabbed some parchment and a quill, and wrote a reply.

“Zar,

I hope this letter finds you well. Believe me, it’s been on my mind ever since I left a few days ago. Something about you that night had caught my eye even thought Forsaken aren’t usually the type I go for. You have more feelings than most Forsaken, especially amiable ones. The fact that you were in bed with me the next morning warmed my heart. Most men are gone by the time our session is through. I wish I could have laid there until you awoke, but you know I needed to leave as soon as possible. As you know, I am still a bit shaky about my previous marriage; I’m not sure how I want to proceed. I know that I am fairly sure I do not want a life mate at this time. Zamarak WAS my life mate. Nothing can change that. I am at least willing to give you a chance to be part of my life as a lover for now. Like I said, we will discuss it more thoroughly upon my return in a few weeks. As for Yagyu, I’m not completely sure why he seemed like he wanted to kill you. Heim and I do have a past. Nothing happened of course… But he may still be interested. He hasn’t made it known to me. Just treadack lightly around him and do what he wishes. For now, I will check my mail every few days. I’d like to keep in touch with you, and get to know you better. Tell me all about you Zar… I’d love to read about it in the coming weeks! Talk to you soon!

Kisses,
Boggy”

Bogtha folded up the letter and slipped it into the mailbox outside. She yawned loudly and realized on top of not eating for the past few days…. She hadn’t slept much either.
She headed back inside of the warm inn and asked Phayldre for a bed for the night. She nodded and helped her carry her bags upstairs. She unlocked and pushed open a door to her room. It was beautiful. There was a large, soft and pillowy bed that looked like it could fit four people comfortably in the corner. Next to it was a writing desk. There was a small couch and a table sitting in front of an already lit fireplace. On the table was a vase full of Wintersbite flowers with a card attached. She gave the innkeeper a couple silver for helping her with her bags and plopped onto the couch. She stretched her sore body and picked up the card on the table.

“Enjoy the room!
Love, Grampy Nek’Rahk”

She smiled and put the card back down on the table and sniffed the flowers in the vase. A cool chill ran through her nose and airways, leaving a bit of frost in her nose hairs. She then undressed for the night and layid in the giant pillow bed. Her body slowly sunk into the mattress and she couldn’t fight the urge to close her eyes…..

(pardon the weird grammar.... Signe fixed some of my grammar, but it seems to put in the before AND after when I copied it into the post... I don't feel like fixing it either XD)

Yagyu stared at the forsaken mage as he ran about the courtyard of Stoanrd like gnome with his head lopped off. Granted, the grot was an idiot of the first order...but that didn't make him any different than any other grot that had joined the Grin in all the years that Yagyu had been of the clan. So why did the forsaken annoy him so much?

Wearily he rubbed his head as he tried to make sense of his own actions. Was it the note? Of course he had met Bogtha long ago and in one of the Grin's typical drunken revilries he had tried his best to get her upstairs in the Brill Inn. His pride at being recently made a full member of the clan no doubt contributed to his actions. He hadn't known that Bogtha was an officer of the Thunderlords and he probably wouldn't have cared much at the time if he had, but seeing her retching up the night's meal onto his plated boots was enough to stop anything from happening. It was probably just as well as it might have caused problems for Gorfrunch and could have led to swift punishment for him. Perhaps he was saved by bile? It was even more important that nothing had happened considering their places in the Grin now.

But even so he knew that this was not the reason he was angry. There had been quite a lot of fooling about by Grin lately. Officers with Grunts and Raiders, Grots flirting with anything that moved and elfs fornicating like there was no tomorrow. He didn't begrudge them their pleasures...the Spirits knew how much the Grin had earned them.

No, it was something more...he couldn't quite put a finger on it. He had been quick-tempered as of late and more than usually so. He wasn't sure what it was but it was obviously starting to seep out into his relations with the rest of the Clan. He couldn't allow that to happen.

"Get a grip on yerself!" he chastised his mind. Perhaps he needed what the Clan needed....a good war to take his mind off things. Well, he could try to give them that.

Bogtha wrote:

She reminisced of the night where Yagyu and her she (or she and Yagyu) were celebrating a victory against the alliance while she was an officer of the Thunderlord Clan. Yagyu was young, bold, and vocal. At the time, he was a Grunt for the Grin. He wanted Bogtha upstairs with him that night. Bogtha had always been a fan of the drink, especially when a victory is involved. She was clearly intoxicated, and when proposed to ascend into a bedroom with Yagyu, she proceeded to collapse on the floor and purge her day’s worth of food onto his boots. Seemingly disgusted, Yagyu stormed off to wash off his shoes and continue his victory elsewhere. She still is a bit embarrassed to this day about the boots.

((zomg I can't believe you remember that!))

The slow boat to Ratchet set sail and Zarly was comfortably swinging in a rope hammock he borrowed from the crew. He was deep in thought, as usual, about his powers and the attempts to get them under his control again. Specifically, he was thinking about the night before leaving on his voyage across the great sea. He couldn’t help but wonder what caused him to immolate everything around him, but keep him from harm. He was thinking of asking Jonn, but his friend and fellow frost mage would reply as he always had; “Who cares about fire. All you need in life is to freeze your enemies and they can’t hurt you.”

Still, Zarly was curious if he could get his fire abilities back. He thought of the other mages he had only heard of in tale: Zajo, Flake, and Shadiel, his short term teacher when he joined the Grin. They all had control of all their abilities and Zarly began to compare himself to them. What did they have that he was missing? Zarly focused on Shadiel specifically, as he knew of his deeds and daily trappings far more. He pictured Shadiel and how he interacts with those around him when he has to use his fire abilities. He thought of Londra and Shadiel and how, when together, the focus and intensity of his spells were much more concentrated. He even knew that Shadiel had incinerated enemies when Londra was threatened with harm. That had to be it! When Zarly got to Desolace, he would think of those he cared for to see if his focus increased.

The activities on the boat were few and far between but as day after day passed, the crew asked him to do tricks to entertain them. Zarly, on the 5th day, finally gave in and demonstrated his mastery of the arcane and frost families. He conjured food and water, froze large spikes of water from the ocean and even, when the winds died down, proved that he could blast air strong enough to move the ship for at time. These activities drained him and Zarly returned to his bunk in the evening to get a good night’s rest.

*BANG* *BOOM* *CLANK*

Zarly woke slowly as he was sure they had pulled into Ratchet early from the noises he heard. He dressed himself and walked up on deck to see the sight of Ratchet. To his surprise, he saw another ship, dead bodies all over the deck, and pirates attempting to board the ship. Zarly, sensing that he had just been noticed, burst into action! He ran as fast as possible toward the other ship and blinked directly onto its deck. He turned on the spot and blasted 2 pirates with frost bolts, freezing them on the spot.

He heard bullets whiz past him and he dove for cover behind the main mast. Peaking around the corner he saw a goblin with a rapid-fire gun placement letting off round after round around the mast but purposely avoiding it. He formed an ice shard in his hand and threw it at the goblin, hitting him in the shoulder taking him, effectively, out of the battle. He reached inside his tunic to see what gadgets he had on him and found two things he hoped he had: Iron grenades. He looked around and saw pirates returning to the ship with no plunder on them, stained in blood. They swung across to their ship looking for the mage who had caused them problems so far.

Zarly didn’t want to wait for them to get any positioning on him, he burst from his hiding spot and let go a blast of frozen air so powerful it blew many of the pirates off their lines and over his transport. He knew he couldn’t take all of these ruffians on alone and in a fit of brilliance ran towards the main mast, froze the grenades in an ice casing and pulled the pins. He sprinted, as fast as he could, toward the ship and blinked onto the deck. He turned and saw a few pirates, 2 humans, another goblin, and a dwarf, fly off the deck as the grenades exploded weakening the mast. Zarly felt a fireball which he felt was waiting to explode from him and released it towards the mast blasting it into pieces and sending the support falling into the ocean. Zarly had crippled the pirate ship and now turned his attention to getting his ship moving.

He looked to the deck where he saw the crew dead or dying, up and healed getting the ship ready to move again. He glanced around looking for a priest, shaman, or paladin but found no one out of the ordinary. He helped as much as possible and watched the pirate ship, now on fire, shrink into the distance until all he could see was a pillar of smoke. Zarly turned to one of the crew “How many more days till we put in at Ratchet?”

“Even with this damage, we should still make our scheduled arrival time by tomorrow at daybreak.” said the captain walking by Zarly heading for his cabin. “Passengers please go below for your safety.”

Zarly did as he was told but couldn’t help noticing the captain said “passengers”. He went below deck and, to his surprise, a tall, thin, green haired Night elf was starting at him in fear. Zarly was filled with 2 emotions clashing with each other; compassion and hate. The druid, who evidently was having the same conflict, back away slowly with her hands in the air as a sign of neutrality. She reached a private room and quickly dove into it closing the cloth screen behind her. He quietly moved a few steps closer to the cabin and heard crying.

Zarly’s mind was now clear. Compassion had won and he would not blast the druid into oblivion today. He turned and went down another deck to his swing and grabbed a drink he managed to nab from the galley the previous day. He drank and felt his powers slowly returning to him and couldn’t help wondering why he hadn’t seen the druid before today. He had spent a good amount of time in the crow’s nest and on the forward mast of the ship thinking of his next move from Ratchet. Possibly, while in such deep thought, he had just missed the druid when she was on deck, but something was funny about her. She seemed very afraid of him when they saw each other and wondered if he knew her from another life. He did know that his time as a lich had touched many lives and he didn’t want to reopen any of the wounds for those he affected. He tried to put her out of his mind for now.

Several hours passed as Zarly stayed in his swing enjoying the peaceful rhythm of the sea. A gnawing in his stomach forced him to get up and grab some food from the galley. He climbed up one deck, grabbed a shank of lamb, and headed for the deck to enjoy some fresh air. It was twilight now, the sun had just set and the stars were just beginning to greet the sky with their usual twinkle. The moon was rising low and gave of little light as it was only a sliver of a crescent, reminding him of a blade he had just seen on a deckhand walking by on patrol. Zarly stared at the moon and thought of Bogtha. He couldn’t help but pray that she would write him soon. He took a few more bits of food and a familiar glint caught his right eye. He glanced forward of the ship and fixed his eyes on the druid from earlier. She had not seen him and was, he assumed, enjoying the moon as only a night elf can. He took another bite of lamb and decided to go and talk to her. He walked with great care to the stairs and climbed to the top of them, making his presence known, “Nice evening.”

The druid, startled, turned on the spot and blasted him with a green jet of light. Zarly flew a few feet landing on his back and hitting his head on a cannon ball. Everything was going black slowly and he saw the druid over him….

Zarly opened his eyes, expecting to see a naked Bogtha next to him in bed. He lifted his head, which was a bit sore and, instead, found a large elongated pillow he had wrapped himself around. He looked around to room and saw he was the only one residing in the room currently when he heard a noise from the drapery. He pointed his palm towards the noise but quickly pulled it back when the druid had appeared with food and drink in her hands. The leather flask was unopened and the meat was steaming on a plate. She was taken back at his pose but realized it was safe to enter.

“El taler oruk waser?” said the druid. Zarly looked perplexed but he at least knew where he was. He had awoken, half naked, in the cabin of the druid with a headache and a growling stomach. He nodded in acknowledgement to the druid and she handed him the food.

“She wants to know if you’re feeling better mage.” said a goblin from behind her. He evidently was going to act as a translator and she had permitted her to enter. “She also asked me to question you about your name. She doesn’t believe the ship roster had you listed.”

“Tell her my name is Zarly Griffen and that I mean no harm to her.” Zarly asked, “also tell her I feel better and thank her for the food.” The goblin did as he asked. The druid and goblin spoke for a few minutes more before Zarly was dressed again.

“She would like to know if you were once a lich. She also wants to know who you fight for now.”

Zarly, fearing the worst, felt honesty was a safe play here. His escape from the grasp of the lich king did give him some credibility for those he encountered who were allied with his enemies. “I was a lich and I freed myself when the lich king’s powers waned. I serve with the Blacktooth Grin now, hoping to destroy the scourge and all who stand in our way.”

The goblin translated for the druid and she nodded. She said something to Zarly directly, though he hadn’t the foggiest what she said. He looked to the druid for a translation.

“She asked you to please leave. I would have just thrown you out but she has manners evidently.” Said the goblin with a snide inflection on the last bit.

Zarly did as she asked and went to his own encampment on the ship to get his things ready. He knew they would be putting in at Ratchet today and he wanted to get a quick start toward Shadowprey Village. He went up on deck and watched as the port city was coming into view. Excited, he ran back down to his hammock, grabbed his things, and went down to prepare his horse to debark. He heard the gangplank drop and people shuffling down it to exit. A port door quickly opened and Zarly exited with his horse just in time to see the druid walking down the gangplank holding her two glaves in her hand. Zarly just realized how lucky he was, as she is a demon hunter. He must never have seen her because she was evaluating him as a threat. Her posture after the attack yesterday was probably a test to see if he was controlled or not. She nodded as she strode by.

Zarly, now shaken, made his way to the wyvern master and managed to get a wyvern to take him to Shadowprey Village. He dismissed his horse, who fell to the ground as a pile of bones and sank quickly below the surface of dirt. Zarly, with the assistance from the wyvern master, loaded his 3 bags and took off for Shadowprey. On his flight, he looked around at the different lands below him. He had done some of his Grot time in the barrens and it had not changed since then. About an hour later he saw Thunder Bluff and waved as he flew over. There were others flying into the great city on the plateaus, but he had a meeting with fate elsewere. 20 minutes seem to fly by when he first saw the vast, dead reaches of Desolace. He flew over several centaur camps and he spotted a new encampment by a large graveyard. He would want to stop by and check it what was there before finding isolation in which to practice.

Another 30 minutes and Zarly had landed in Shadowprey Village, an encampment for friends of the Horde. The village was mainly populated with trolls but some orcs and taurens were also around. He could feel the magic from one section of the village and stopped in to get some regents for his spells. He walked in and was greeted by a troll witch doctor that already had what he wanted out for him. Teleportation stones, light feathers, some drinks, and some potions to revitalize him if need be. Zarly paid the troll and walked into the inn to check the mail.

The barkeep, who had a terrible accent, finally gave Zarly a letter… FROM BOGTHA! His heart raced and he stuffed it into his tunic to read later. He ran outside, called his horse, and took off like a bat out of the Searing Gorge, headed for a place to practice.

Zarly’s heart was racing! His ride through Desolace was fought with dangers as he left the safety of Shadowprey Village. Already he was dodging giant scorpids and thunder lizards while trying to skirt around a demon infestation in the south. He did manage to make his way to Ghost Walker Post and let them know he would be in the area if needed. He then looked towards the mountains and headed in that direction. After a few hours, he managed to find a small abandoned cave facing north and decided to make this his base camp. There was only one way to climb to the cave, which made it rather easily defendable, and facing north would give him a good vantage point of the local Burning Blade hideout. He also knew of naga in these parts but wasn’t close enough to the water to worry about them.

Zarly quickly dismissed his stead and let his belongings fall to the ground. He moved, with great effort, his engineering chest into the back of the cave and pulled out a small bold of silk cloth. He used some super sticky glue he had gotten from the trolls at Shadowprey and put up the silk as a door. He then took his skinning knife and split it right down the middle, making it easier to move between the cave and his new training spot. He, finally, settled in a nice, dry spot and pulled out the letter from Bogtha. He lit a small flame without thinking (something he had trouble doing normally) and let it hang in the air while he read the letter.

“Believe me, it’s been on my mind ever since I left a few days ago. Something about you that night had caught my eye even thought Forsaken aren’t usually the type I go for. You have more feelings than most Forsaken, especially amiable ones. The fact that you were in bed with me the next morning warmed my heart. Most men are gone by the time our session is through. I wish I could have laid there until you awoke, but you know I needed to leave as soon as possible.”

Zarly was ecstatic! He longed to hear this from Bogtha ever since he first gazed upon her. He could feel certain parts of him fire up, he felt warmer and the room got brighter but there was no fire. He languished in these few lines for a time before moving on to read the rest of the letter.

“As for Yagyu, I’m not completely sure why he seemed like he wanted to kill you. He and I do have a past. Nothing happened of course… But he may still be interested. He hasn’t made it known to me.”

This explained Yagyu’s attitude, but how did he know that they had been together? Had someone let Yagyu know before he could? Zarly suddenly remembered the note Yagyu dropped when he last entered his quarters. What was on that note he dropped and who wrote it? He would have to find these things out when he rejoined the Grin.

“I’d like to keep in touch with you, and get to know you better. Tell me all about you Zar… I’d love to read about it in the coming weeks!”

The warmth he had experienced stopped. The cave felt as if a sudden cold wind blew into it and snuffed out any warmth inside it. He was a bit uneasy reading this line as he was one of the Forsaken who actively tried to hide his past. He had not been proud to be used as a frost lich. Killing others while it was not his will was abhorrent to him. He does remember most of what happened, except shortly after waking in the Tristfal glades, naked, and with no control over his powers. He feared that telling her more might scare her away.

He will think of what to say next… hopefully the letter will find her easily as he was unsure of where Bogtha could be now. He could picture her in a nice warm bed with furs for sheets and covers, naked and waiting for him to join her. He sat there and fantasized about her for some time before he snapped back into reality. He looked at his watch, early afternoon. He still had time to start is training and wanted to try something new before his official start tomorrow. He made his way to a small landing on the west face of the mountain range he was now calling home and started to meditate. He began to focus his mind and with no warning at all, he raised his hand and fired a frost bolt straight for the sea with such force that he managed to make a very large wake with the ice’s impact. He could see some Naga obviously upset and confused by the sudden disruption of the waters around them.

Zarly, happy with this test, began to meditate again. He allowed his thoughts to focus on Bogtha, the night they had together, and the images he had of her in bed waiting. Again, with no warning, he put both wrists together, palms out, and let erupt a huge fire ball right where his ice bolt had hit just minutes before. The fire ball went into the water causing it to steam the ocean a bit and sent a few weaker fish and naga to the surface. Not only was Zarly now happy, he felt he had done a good deed for the day by killing a few naga. He got up and went back to his cave and prepared some dinner.

Weeks passed and Zarly still had not written Bogtha. He had already decided to strengthen himself for her as the way to prove himself worthy, instead of writing her. He hoped this would make her happy but still, she did say she wanted to hear more about him. Zarly, now feeling better about his ability to use fire spells, decided that writing her would be good. He grabbed a quill and paper and started:

“My dearest Bogtha,

The last few weeks have been hard but your letter has been keeping me going. I have rediscovered my ability to use fire properly and I have you to thank for it. I would like to explain it more to you when I see you next.

You asked for a record of me and I am happy to oblige but I would warn you that I have done some horrible things before. When I was human, I grew up in the south of what is now the western Plaguelands. I managed to escape my village years before the plague was set loose and made my way to Dalaran to learn of magic there. I spent a few years in Dalaran learning boring spells and then went on the road to find myself. I managed to pick up enough useful spells in Dalaran to keep myself alive and I went from town to town aiding people where I could. I managed to grow my powers when I met Jonn, our frost mage, and we were called into service when the scourge came to our lands. I was one of the first to fight and help fend off the undead servants of the lich king but sadly, my home was destroyed.

Upon my death sometime later, I was raised as a frost lich for Arthas and was forced to do horrible things. My soul ached for a time after I had become free and I was forced to deal with the things I had done. Time went on and I gained some of my powers back fighting demons, scourge, and warlocks. I met Jonn in Undercity and he invited to return with him back to the Grin. Ever since then, I have been a loyal fighter of the Blacktooth Grin.

I can understand your feelings towards me after hearing this story. I am not proud of what I did and I try to destroy the scourge when I can. I have and will wait for your next letter, longingly.

Yours in spirit and flesh,
Zarly”

Zarly reread the letter and prayed he had not screwed himself by telling her what she wanted to hear. He folded the letter and decided that a trip to Shadowprey was needed to clear his head. He clapped his hands twice and his stead appeared after a few moments. He mounted and rode into Shadowprey and went into a meat vendor and grabbed an uncooked kodo steak and a small crate to put it in.

Zarly, with the butcher watching, froze the steak in 2 inches of ice, covered it with wool cloth, and packed it in the crate. He then strode across to the inn and asked the barkeeper to please send his crate out with the mail. Just before handing over the letter to accompany the steak, he opened it and added:

“Ps. The meat is for your mount.”

Zarly handed the letter over and started to head for his cave. He felt as if a large weight had been lifted off his back and he was free to return to learning some new things. Joyfully, he rode around the demons and rode up his to his cave. He stopped abruptly when he got in sight of his cave. A Naga was standing outside of it looking like he was watching for the owner to return at any moment. Zarly, now somewhat more skilled at mountain climbing, dismounted and began to climb to his cave from the east face which was the easiest to climb and had a bush atop its ridge. He quickly climbed and hid behind the bush, waiting for a time to pounce on the naga and kill them both.

“Garbage! All of it!” said someone from inside the cave. Zarly was now more than upset about being robbed, he was being insulted on his craftsmanship! He stoped and took 5 seconds to think of Bogtha and her closeness… he was ready. He blinked right next to the naga standing guard, “pardon, do you have the time?”

The naga turned towards Zarly in time to have his face melted into a fishy goo and the large body of the creature hit ground with a resolute thud. Zarly quicky ran to the west of the mouth of the cave and peeked inside. He saw a female naga throwing grenades, bronze tubes, iron bars out of the chest but pocketing the gems she found in a small satchel. She suddenly realized that she wasn’t alone and shot a frost blot blindly out the mouth of the cave and froze a part of the dead naga on the ground. She slowly slithered outside and just before her hand hit the silk cloth door, Zarly blasted her with a frost bolt, dismembering her 2 left arms. Zarly then blasted the area with a frost nova freezing the naga in place wailing at the top of her lungs in pain. Zarly, now extremely pissed off and focused put his hands together and formed a large ice rod which he cracked on a rock to make a sharp point.

Zarly quickly struck the Naga across her upper right arm, breaking it and lacerating it deeply. “What do you want!” he yelled with fury.

“Nothing mage, let me go or I will summon the fires of demons to burn you from existence!”

Zarly raised the ice mace a second time and hit the naga’s lower right arm, gouging fish like flesh from her arm. The naga screamed with such force the cave echoed and Zarly became slightly more deaf than when he lost his ear.

“Fool! The naga will reclaim the land for our own! We shall…” She stopped as a small ice bolt went through her mouth and out the back of her head. Zarly knew what he needed to know. The naga knew where he was and they were not happy. It was time to leave and fast. Zarly packed up what he could in a hurry and left his silk cloth of in hopes of concealing his “good deed” for the horde. He moved his stuff outside and packed it on his mount. He then pulled the bodies of the two Naga deep inside the cave and left them there to rot.

He mounted up and headed back for the safely of Shadowprey village. From there he would go back to Stonard and face his Clan.

The sun slowly peeked in through the small holes in the curtains. The sunbeam crept up her arm, then shoulder, neck, and then stopped on her eyelid. She blinked a few times, her eyes not opening. The beam of light felt warm on her face, and finally she opened one amethyst eye. She snorted sleepily and tossed and turned a few times before kicking the blankets off her. She propped herself up to keep herself from falling back to sleep. A loud, deep yawn emitted from the green zombie, and then she swung her feet off the side of the bed and lowered herself onto the floor. The stone floor sent a chill up through her legs, and her teeth started to chatter. She trudged over to the fireplace, which now wasn’t burning like it was the night previously. She scowled sleepily at the remaining few red coals and looked around for her robes, which were tossed on the side of the couch. She fought with the inside-out arm sleeves for a moment, but eventually got through. Her two pigtails were uneven and messy, but were fixed quickly. She gathered her belongings and headed downstairs to see if Breakfast was ready.
Phayldre was busy running around with stacks of plates and silverware, handing to them to goblins, which were setting the tables. She noticed Bogtha was descending the stairs and approached her.
“Greetings, my lady. Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
Bogtha nodded and smiled. “Aye, it was a lovely room. It reminded me of my days as a Matron.”
“A Matron, my lady?! Pardon my manners!” Phayldre bowed deeply to the green woman.
Bogtha let out a nervous chuckle, scanning the room for any onlookers. “No need for that Phayldre. Those days are long gone unfortunately.” She sighed.
The innkeeper looked a little confused, so she changed the subject. “Breakfast won’t be ready for another hour Miss Bogtha. I suggest you take a look around town and get yourself a warm coat! You look like you aren’t used to the weather out here.” She grinned.
Bogtha noticed that her skin was covered in goose pimples and her lips were a bit blue-green.
“Aye, a very good idea indeed.”
Bogtha nodded to the innkeeper and left her belongings with her. She braced herself for the blast of cold air and made her way outside.
Now that she had some sleep, she now noticed how much activity that goes on in the town. There was a myriad of scents and colors. Goblins were yelling at every passerby about fresh fish and meat. Others were offering warm beverages, and you could see the steam rising from them. Bogtha couldn’t resist and ordered herself a hot tea. She sipped it and felt the warmth slowly permeating through her body and to her extremities.
Finally, she meandered to a coat shop and started rifling through the different styles of furs. The small shop was warm from a woodstove and it smelled of fresh leather. A wrinkled, older Goblin approached her and showed her the different types of furs he carried. There were all kinds of bear, cat, wolf, and even yeti furs. She decided on a long, hooded timber wolf coat with fur trimming. She paid the Goblin a little extra for his help and admired herself in the mirror for a few moments before facing the cold weather again.
Her stomach grumbled loudly beneath the fur coat and headed back towards the inn. The tables were all set, but the inn was still empty of her expected visitor. A couple of Dwarves were sitting at a table, eating and drinking loudly. Bogtha never understood how Dwarves could drink so much…. especially at breakfast. A troll woman was sitting next to the fire while patting a large boar, a hunter most likely. Bogtha found herself a seat closer to the fire and wrapped herself up tighter in her coat and watched the door expectantly.
An hour passed as Bogtha watched the small crowd around her finished their meals, some even heading for seconds. She sadly looked at her clean plate, as well as the empty one across from her. She didn’t seem to have an appetite; her stomach was in knots from sheer nervousness. She kept thinking to herself, “Is this some joke? Is my Grandfather coming for me? Why is he taking so long? Maybe he slept in… Yes, that’s an idea. I’ve been known to do that once or twice on occasion.” She kept her eyes fixated on the door, her mind spinning so much that it started to make her feel lightheaded. She pulled the coat and hood closer to her body and took a deep breath.
She ordered some warm cocoa and some toast. She thought maybe that’d help a bit with her dizziness. After a few minutes, Phayldre walks over to her and places her order down on the table, and places an extra plate of spicy boar sausage and a fried egg next to the toast. “Here my lady, I think you could use a little more than some toast and cocoa. You look pale. Eat it, you need your strength.” The innkeeper said. Bogtha looks up at her and smiles faintly, trying to hide her anxiety. “ Thank you, that is very kind of you.” She stated quickly and diverted her attention back to the door. Phayldre nodded and continued her duties. She picked at her food, finishing the majority of it slowly. The cocoa and spicy sausages seemed to warm her body and helped her to relax. She asked to pack up the remainder of the food, with a couple of extra sausages for later.
Two hours passed since she first came in and sat down to wait for her Grandfather. The crowd was gone; the kitchen goblins already took all the dirty dishes and silverware away. Bogtha was alone again in the inn, besides the workers. She finally took her eyes away from the door and heaved a sigh of sadness. She rose from the table and gathered her belongings. Phayldre watched her with a frown as she slowly headed out the door.
Sharnak was rolling around happily in the snow with some other wolves as Bogtha came to retrieve her. The wolf immediately saw her owner and started to bounce around excitedly, letting out a couple of yelps. She bounded towards Bogtha but stopped at the last minute, sliding to a stop at her feet. “Sorry girl, I’m not in the mood to play right now.” The wolf tucked her ears back and nuzzled Bogtha’s thigh soothingly. Bogtha smiled a little bit and scratched her behind the ears. “I got you something Sharnak.” The wolf’s eyes opened widely and her tail started wagging wildly, her ears perked up.
”Let’s go pack up and I’ll give it to you.” Bogtha said. She walked away from the other wolves as Sharnak howled back at them, then followed her away.
Bogtha fitted the wolf with its riding gear and started to place her belongings on it’s back. She opened the box of leftovers from breakfast and placed it on the ground for Sharnak. “Be careful girl, those sausages are spicy!” Bogtha said as one already disappeared into the wolf’s jaws. Sharnak finished the leftovers quickly, along with a couple of mouthfuls of snow to soothe the spiciness. Bogtha gave the wolf a couple of extra scratches before mounting onto her back.
As they started to head out of Everlook, Bogtha heard some screaming in the distance. It was a woman’s scream. She ordered Sharnak to head towards the noise. Within moments, she saw an older orc woman out of breath, running towards Everlook. She rode closer and recognized the woman right away. She yelled out to her “Grusha! It’s Boggy! I’m coming!” The older orc stopped in her tracks as Bogtha rode over to her. Grusha was talking faster than Bogtha can understand. “GRANDMOTHER! CALM DOWN! Tell me what’s going on!” She yelled over her babbling Grandmother. “YourGrandfatherisintrouble!” Grusha said without breathing. Bogtha pulled Grusha onto her wolf’s back and started riding in the direction Grusha came running from. They were riding Northeast of Everlook. She threw some water to her Grandmother, who drank the entire waterskin within a minute. She caught her breath and started to speak more clearly.
“Nek’Rahk is trapped inside the house, demons have him trapped there! I barely escaped myself! He told me to come and get you immediately!” Bogtha looked puzzled. “Why the hell are demons in this part of Winterspring?” Grusha took another deep breath and stated back to Bogtha. “Your Grandfather was a Chieftain of a Clan that swore to destroy the Burning Legion. He recently gathered his troops and attacked Jaedenar, to find and slay Shadow Lord Fel’dan. He was successful, but the Legion was not pleased, of course. We’ve been moving from place to place, being very quiet about our location. That is why he chose to meet you in town, rather than tell you where we lived. It looks like we weren’t careful enough Boggy. He knows you are a strong woman, and thinks you will be able to get rid of the demons at our home so that we may move again soon. He was a warlock, too, Boggy. That’s why your father didn’t want you to see him. You father always wanted you to grow up to be a Shaman, just like him. Starhand didn’t approve of Nek’Rahk’s or the warlock’s ways.” Grusha looked around at the trees. “We’re almost here, keep riding this way.”
The stopped at the top of a snowy hill and looked down upon the charred remains of a hut. Grusha leaped off the wolf and ran towards the house screaming obscenities in Orcish. “We’re too late!” Grusha dropped to her knees and started to sob. Bogtha dismounted and summoned her Voidwalker. “What do you want from me?” the large blue cloud hissed. “Not now Mag’gak, just keep your eyes open for any demons.” Mag’gak hissed again and started to patrol closely to Bogtha.
She quickly walked past Grusha and began searching the remains of the home for any evidence. She found burnt pieces of paper and books in a large pile. She pulled the books aside to find a charred skeleton of an orc. Her stomach churned as she immediately placed the pile back onto the body. She tripped over the bracers of her Grandfather’s voidwalker as she hurried back outside to Grusha. Bogtha tried very hard to hold back the tears as she told Grusha her husband was gone. “He went the way a warrior would only hope to go Grandmother.” She tried to soothe her. Grusha let out a loud roar and ran inside the home and started tearing the remains of the home apart. She found the body of her husband and fell to her knees once more. She started to whisper to the corpse and proceeded to unclasp a necklace that was tied around his neck. Grusha tearfully trudged back to Bogtha and handed her the necklace. It looked like a metal chain with many canine teeth strung along it. “On this chain are the teeth of Felhunters that your Grandfather slain. He would want you to have it, dear.” Bogtha reluctantly accepted the necklace and thanked Grusha.
Bogtha headed back inside the hut to search for additional evidence that could have told her what type of demons slain her Grandfather. Sharnak kept Grusha company outside while Mag’gak floated around the perimeter of the home weightlessly. Bogtha saw the reflection of something shiny imbedded in one of the walls. She strained to pull the metal out of the wall to discover it was a piece of an axe. She pocketed the item and headed back to her Grandmother. She stopped at the doorway and bowed her head in silence.
“We should get you back to Everlook for safety Grusha.” Bogtha added. “Aye, that would be for the best. Let me just see if there is anything left for me to take with me.” Grusha said as she went into the home for the last time. She knelt down and shoved a few items into a bag and was about to rise when she heard Mag’gak roar from behind her. Grusha stood up quickly to see that behind her was a large Felhunter, blood and drool oozing from its teeth. It made an eerie purring noise at her. Before she should scream, The Felhunter skewered her in the center of her chest with one of its long tendrils, and it exploded out of her back. Mag’gak approached the Felhunter and roared loudly, but it was too late. Grusha fell to the ground, coughing up blood, as the Felhunter retracted its tendril to take a shot at Mag’gak, which just passed through him without fazing him.
Bogtha heard her demon and hurried inside to see Grusha on the ground. She felt the anger and fury rise inside her. Her hands trembled as they caught on fire. She roared fiercely and threw her hands in the direction of the Felhunter as it was engulfed in flames. The demon howled in pain as it kept trying to attack Mag’gak. Again and again she started throwing spells at the beast. When she felt it was close to death, a purple stream of light emerged from her fingertips, stealing the soul within it. She spit on the corpse of the Felhunter. She knelt down to Grusha and swore to her and her Grandfather that they will get their revenge. Bogtha pulled her hood over her head, only showing two purple glowing eyes. She quickly walked out of the charred hut and mounted onto Sharnak. “Back to Everlook, Sharnak! We have work to do….” She growled, as she pulled on the reigns and rode back towards Everlook, the sky gray as a blizzard rolled into Winterspring.

Zarly’s ride to Shadowprey was abandoned. He had just gotten to the base of the mountain when he saw a large group of naga emerge from behind it and charge for him. Ice bolts and arrows were zooming by him as Zarly rode in an erratic fashion, hoping to make sure everything missed him. He rode what seemed like hours and finally saw the guards of the troll village. He stopped at the first few he could find to raise the alarm of the impending naga attack.

“You troll”, he shouted, “the naga have just chased me from my cave in the mountains close to here… I think they mean to follow me into the village.”

The troll knew exactly what to do and headed off to get more defenders. Zarly, in the mean time, rode to the first tree he could find inside the village and tied up his horse. Fumbling, he searched through him chest and found a few grenades, a compact harvester, and an explosive sheep. Zarly knew these could be very handy for the fight with the naga and he headed off with them towards the defensive line of the village.

Zarly took his place among the defenders as the group of Naga appeared from over a hill. A shout from behind them alerted them that a second smaller group trying to cut off their flank. Without thinking, Zarly activated the harvester and threw the sheep at the group behind them. It took off running and found a naga to explode upon. Fish flew everywhere as the sheep had blasted a few naga to bits while sending bone fragments into the others slowing them down. Zarly pulled out a grenade and threw it yelling “GRENADE!” and ducking.

Others ducked as the explosive sent more shrapnel through the naga group and finally drove them back into the sea. Zarly turned towards the original group that chased him, to find that a majority of the guards were already in combat with them. Zarly wasted no time and flung himself into battle with his staff flailing. He knew he would do little damage but he might distract a few of them so a guard could put one down. Zarly was shoved from behind as a body plopped downright behind him. It was a troll and the naga that had slain him, with a sudden rush of bloodlust, saw the undead. “Come here!” he said but Zarly was just too fast.

In an instant he blinked out of the melee and started to toss ice blots at the naga mages in the rear. Constantly running, he strafed the sorceresses, until he found cover behind recently cleaved tree stump. Ice bots and arrows again flew by him but died down after a few minutes as the battle progressed. Zarly feared the worse and peeked over the top of the stump to see the guards stripping weapons, gems, armor, and other valuables off the dead. They had won but with 5 defenders dead, he could see no victory in it. Trolls screamed with rage at the sight the dead but one was different, he was tauren.

Zarly helped the others scavenge and, with double guards on duty that night, fell back into town with the others for drink and celebration. Zarly just couldn’t stand the celebration though, 4 trolls and a tauren burned like pyres on the beach and he knew it was his fault. A female troll came over to make conversation but he waved her away, preferring the time alone to reflect on the battle. A month ago, he would have died quickly trying to kill a naga, but today, he held his own out of fear. The training from not only the grin, but from his time here had paid off but was it enough? Naga are nothing compared to some of the other dangers in Kalimdor.

Zarly yawned and reached into his tunic for the letters Bogtha sent him. He pulled them out and just stared at them. “Is this worth it?” he asked himself. “Yes” he said aloud; as if to not only convince himself, but any others that were around him. He couldn’t help but think about Bogtha, how she was doing now, if she was ok, or even if she had found someone else better than him to soothe her soul. These thoughts troubled Zarly and he decided to get some rest before heading out again. Still wondering whether going back to Stonard was a good idea, he thought of other places to venture to and practice. He knew the area to the south was infested with beasts and dragons, but he felt his powers were best used fighting those who threatened the Grin.

Arathi Basin was a good place to get some more practice. There were humans there who had tried to cause troubles for the grin before, but always lost when the skirmishes were done. The Keepers of Stromguard, a group of humans, dwarves, gnomes, and Night Elves dedicated to fighting the Grin and horde at every turn would be his new advisory and killing them was much more challenging than killing Naga. Zarly walked in the inn and climbed the stairs to the upper room. He collapsed on a straw mat and started to think of Bogtha again. The darkness closed around him as thoughts of her naked and screaming his name danced through his head.

Zarly’s trip to Arathi had been without incident. He took a blimp from Orgrimmar, a city he always enjoyed visiting, and from there rode his steed through the Tristfall Glades, Silverpine Forests, Hillsbrad Foothills, and finally arrived in the Arathi Basin. He looked to the south east and could see the very tops of Stormguard Castle. It was in ruins as the Keepers didn’t possess the masonry skills to keep the castle maintained. He took off riding and passed the lone entrance road to the castle waving at the allies on duty as he rode by. They watched him and Zarly could only hope he had annoyed them with his presence. He cut cross country and eventually, after avoiding other human encampments, he arrived at Hammerfall. Hammerfall was once an orc concentration compound that now served as a base for the Horde forces in the region.

Grimface had mentioned once that he and his sister had come from a concentration camp but Zarly, not wanting to be caught ease dropping, left the conversation before being detected. It would be good to be a few days ride from the Grin and if he was lucky, he might see one or two running around Arathi scouting for a patrol. He made his way to the inn and found a table to sit and eat at. He felt droplets of water hit his face and looked up to see a large hole in the roof of the inn. “The orcs may be great warriors, but they are horrible carpenters” thought Zarly as he moved to a spot covered by some of the remaining roof.

After eating, he pulled up the hood on his cloak and walked outside to find a place to sleep. Hammerfall, still being in disrepair, had few places to get out of the rain. One main building, which was mostly complete, was heavily occupied by the guards and other travelers that sought refuge from the elements. Zarly didn’t want to let anyone know that a member of the Grin was in the area and found another spot to sleep by the anvil and forge. While he was camped here temporarily, he could make some explosives, gadgets, and guns to sell to the local merchants and troops. He, specifically, wanted to try out the new plans he had just gotten from the Auction House in Orgimmar: a Mechanical Dragon Whelp. He thought it would be good not only to help him fight but also to attract Bogtha with a cute present. He could show her how to use it and it was pretty easy maintain. Any engineer could service it if needed. Zarly worked for a while when he realized the stars and moon were the only thing illuminating is work space. He quietly put his work away and crashed for the night.

Morning broke and a number of people were up and rustling about the camp. The ground was moist but not muddy and it had stopped raining sometime during the night. Zarly grabbed his creation-in-progress and went back to the anvil to work on it. A large group of people, all wearing tabards unknown to Zarly, were quickly running up and down the stairs to his left. Zarly paid no mind to this, Clans and guilds of others didn’t bother him as long as they showed respect to the Grin at major Horde events. Just as Zarly was putting the final touches on the whelpling (an engraving for Bogtha “To keep you warm when you are cold without me” right on its belly), an elf from the group approached him, “What clan are you with engineer?”

Zarly looked up and was taken aback by the boldness of the elf, “What does it matter to you elf? My business is my own and I wish to be left alone.” Zarly was quite annoyed and was contemplating setting the elf’s boots on fire.

“Your clan deader, or ill have our gang come down and force you to tell us!”

Zarly slowly and deliberately put his creation in a safe place and with little movement, flicked a hand at the elf’s boots setting them a blaze. The elf ran screaming up the stairs while Zarly put on his tabard signifying himself as a member of the Grin. A minute or two passed and Zarly saw the elf return with 3 orcs behind him.

“This is the one! Force him to…” the elf had just seen the tabard and dropped his jaw. He knew now what he was dealing with as the orcs all saluted him with full respect. Zarly returned the salute, shaped his finger like a gun, and pointed it at the elf. “So, what are they going to make me do?”

“Nothing sir…we just…well….umm…our clan chieftain would like to know if you would like to join us for raid on Stromguard.” said the elf bumbling with fear. The Grins name was respected by many and caused fear to others both friend and foe to the Horde.

“Tell him I thank him for the invitation but must decline. I have come on a pilgrimage of training and I cannot be disturbed.” Zarly now turned around and started packing his things. He wanted to head south were he heard ogres lived to train against them, but the elf was rather persistant.

“Sir, I will tell him but he may ask you personally.”
“Tell him my answer will not change and that I wish you all the best of luck.” Zarly did a 2 fingered snap-salute from his temple and summoned his horse. The elf and orcs ran off while Zarly loaded his mount for the training that would ensue. He decided to let the Grin know where he was, just in case they needed him, and wrote a letter to the last one who showed him some concern; Signe.

“Signe,

Please let those in charge know I am training south of Hammerfall by the ogres in Arathi Highlands. Also, please address any mail to me here at Hammerfall as I will be making trips here to get supplies. If you see Bogtha, please let her know where I am.

Thanks,
Zarly Mitchell Griffen”

He ran up the steps and mailed the letter. He then jumped off the platform, cast slow fall, and landed gently on his horse. He headed out for his new training ground thinking of Bogtha and how she was.

((I'm waiting on Boggy to pos more before i go any further))

The sky darkened as Bogtha arrived into Everlook. The first few snowflakes trickled out of the clouds and fell onto the ground as weightless as feathers. Bogtha quickly dismounted, and let Sharnak go play with the other wolves. She pulled her hood tighter around her head and marched into the inn. She took a chair in the corner of the room and nodded to Phayldre. The innkeeper hurried over to her and greeted her immediately. “Greetings once again my lady, How fares my old friend Nek’rahk?” she smiled as she handed Bogtha a menu inscripted on some faded parchment. The purple eyes squinted from underneath the hood and her fists clenched a bit, crumpling the parchment. “He’s dead. And so is Grusha.” She growled. The innkeeper’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “W-What?! What happened? When did this happen?!” she exclaimed. Bogtha tried to think of a lie to cover up the fact that demons of the Burning Legion were responsible for their deaths. She looked up at Phayldre and sighed. “A fire broke out sometime this morning, trapping them inside…” She trailed off sadly. Only she knew the truth, and couldn’t possibly share it with the innkeeper. She didn’t want to cause a scene. “ I saw smoke in the distance as I was leaving the city, so I decided to follow it to their home… but it was too late.” The innkeeper sighed sadly, but looked attentively at Bogtha. “I’m sorry to hear that dear. Perhaps some food or drink would help you relax a bit? It’ll be on me tonight.” She added.
Bogtha smiled faintly and looked back at the menu with despair in her eyes, and ordered a roasted plainstrider haunch and a large mug of Dwarven Ale. If that ale can keep the Dwarves happy all the time, she thought she could use some of that at this moment. As she waited for her food to arrive, she reached into her pocket to find the axe piece, but her fingertips ran over Zarly’s ear. She couldn’t help but smile as she touched the cold flesh, but continued to fish around for the metal. It didn’t take her long to find it, and soon she was rolling it around in her hands and in between her fingertips, studying everything about it.
It appeared to be an ordinary axe piece to any other person, but Bogtha sensed the fel magic within it. It was definitely from an axe of a demon, most likely a Felguard. But the real question was, from what area of the world did this demon come from? She wasn’t educated enough about the Burning Legion or its minions to determine this answer. And all that she could have learned about them was in her Grandfather’s books, now lying in ashes at the charred remains of her Grandparents’ home. She concluded that she would seek out the orc who taught her how to control and train her demons, Kurgul in the Cleft of Shadow in Orgrimmar. If anyone would know any information about demons, she knew it would be him.
Phayldre arrived with Bogtha’s meal and placed it down in front of her. The innkeeper hesitated for a moment, searching for words before closing her mouth and heading back to the kitchen. Her eyes were fixated on the shard of metal she placed down on the table next to her food. She grabbed the haunch in one hand, and chomped down on the meat. Her small tusks aided in tearing the flesh off the bone and she chewed loudly. Her lips and the area around her mouth were covered with juices and small pieces of plainstrider meat. She washed it down with a mouthful of Dwarven Ale. The ale had a full-bodied, malty flavor, containing hints of roasted nuts and hops. Bogtha found it to be absolutely delicious. “Dwarves sure know how to make good ale.” She thought as her face flushed a bit from the alcohol. She continued gnawing on the haunch and occasionally peered over at the shard on the table.
She finished her food, and slipped the bone of the plainstrider leg into one of her bags and prepared to head outside. She stopped by the front desk and asked Phayldre to forward all her mail to Orgrimmar, just in case Zarly sends her something. She bid farewell to the innkeeper who took good care of her the past few days and opened the door to the inn to head outside. A strong, cold wind blew into the inn, the snow blinding Bogtha as she fought against it to get outside. She pulled her coat closer to her body and called out for Sharnak. The wolf’s silhouette emerged out of the white void and sneezed a layer of snowflakes off her snout. Bogtha hopped onto the wolf’s back and tugged on the reins, instructing the wolf to head northwest, on the road. The wolf took off at a trot, being careful because of the low visibility. The cold winds chilled the orc to the bone. She thought that she should seek refuge from the storm soon, possibly near the caves of the Timbermaw Tribe, between Winterspring and Felwood.
Bogtha and the Timbermaw weren’t enemies, but they weren’t friends either. She would call it an uneasy truce. Her former mate, Zamarak, used to not care for the Timbermaw, and wouldn’t blink an eye in slaying one if they got in his way on his travels to Winterspring. She didn’t believe in such violence, since the furbolgs’ cave was the only way to travel between Felwood and Winterspring, and didn’t desire to be hated by another faction. The Timbermaw aren’t big fans of Warlocks either. They are outraged and afraid of demons, since they themselves only practice earth magic and worship, like Shamans. They grew increasingly weary of demons since their race has recently been attacked by the demons of the Legion.
The sky grew darker as day turned into night as Bogtha made her way west, traveling almost six hours before reaching her destination. She dismounted and made sure that none of her demons would make themselves known, so she tied the string to her soul pouch tightly. She gathered her weapons in one hand and proceeded into the entrance of the cave.
A few furbolg guards raised their weapons to her. “Who are you? State your intentions here, orc!” They demanded. Bogtha dropped to one knee, and placed her weapons on the ground before them. “I am Bogtha Runeshadow, daughter of Starhand FireAxe, and former mate to Chieftan Zamarak Soulstealer. I come seeki-“ she was interrupted by the furbolg. “FORMER? What do you mean orc? You know how we feel about him! How dare you say his name in our presence!” they sneered and waved their weapons in a hostile fashion. “He passed away almost a year ago, I beg your forgiveness for upsetting you.” She bowed her head low and closed her eyes, expecting to lose a limb. The furbolgs looked upon her and relaxed slightly, seeing as she posed little threat. “Continue… orc.” They added. She brought her head back up so they could hear her speak. “I have come to ask if I may seek refuge in your cave for the night. There is little shelter in Winterspring from this blizzard, and I don’t think I could make it much further. I beg of you to let me stay. You can even have your guards keep watch on me overnight, if it would put you at ease. I offer to you in exchange, different herbs from across the world.” She spoke slowly and clearly, and untied a large, green satchel from her belt and placed it on the ground with her weapons. One of the guards took the satchel and opened it up to find many small, labeled bags filled with various herbs from Kalimdor, Azeroth, and the Outlands. The guards nodded to each other and stated, “This looks good to us, but let me ask our leader. It won’t take long, orc.” The guard with the satchel walked away towards a tunnel behind him.
Bogtha shifted her weight and sat down on the ground, patting Sharnak on the back. The wolf sat next to her and cuddled close, keeping her warm. After a few minutes, the guard returned with the satchel and threw it back to her. “He took what he wanted orc., He says you can stay for the night. You must leave at dawn, and a guard will check in on you overnight. Follow me.” The guard motioned for her to follow him, while the other guard placed her weapons on a rack behind him. She picked up her satchel, called to Sharnak, and followed him down tunnels that stretched on it seemed like forever. They finally stopped and opened a curtain to a small room that had a fire pit in one corner and some dry grass in the corner for a bedding area. There were a few logs next to the already lit fire pit, but that’s all the room had to offer. She was more than happy for the Timbermaw for even considering letting her stay. Sharnak plopped down right next to the fire and stretched out her legs. Bogtha nodded to the furbolg guard, “Thank you. I am most grateful.” The guard said nothing, and headed back to his post.
She closed the curtain behind her and took off her winter coat, and laid it near the fire to dry off. She rubbed her hands briskly to return the warmth to her digits. The room was quite cozy, despite being so barren. She pulled out the plainstrider bone and threw it over to Sharnak, who happily gnawed on it for at least an hour or so before falling asleep with it in her mouth. Bogtha pulled out some bread and water from her bag and had a snack before succumbing to the warm, toasty room and surprisingly comfortable grass bed. She didn’t even notice the guards poking their heads in every hour or so while she slept.
She arose to the guard outside her door, telling her the sun had risen, and it was time for her to leave. She gathered her items and headed out behind the guard, Sharnak following closely. They reached the exit towards Felwood; the guard handed her back her weapons and nodded to her respectfully. She bowed deeply and thanked him again for their generosity.
She no longer needed to wear the winter coat; the air in Felwood was moist and lukewarm. The sun peered out from under the tree cover, warming her face. She breathed deeply and mounted onto her wolf. She traveled the roads she knew south and made it through Felwood within a matter of a few days, stopping occasionally at camps for food and rest. The weather was fair, with the passing rain shower once in a while. She carefully passed through Ashenvale, avoiding interaction with the Alliance, passing by inexperienced members of the faction, knowing they were no match for her power. She made a stop at Splintertree Post before backtracking towards the Barrens.
About a week had passed since she first left Timbermaw Hold when she stepped foot into the parched, open plains of the Barrens. The air was dry and hot, and the vegetation was scarce. Patches of dry grass and dust were the usual scenery in this area. It was a huge difference from the almost tropical forests of Ashenvale. Sharnak panted heavily as they rode; his thick fur was like a winter coat in the middle of summer. She allowed her to slow down a bit to catch her breath, and stopped at Far Watch Post, the road between the Barrens and Durotar. Bogtha dismounted, and allowed Sharnak to drink her fill and play in the Southfury River. She swam around happily, diving every so often to nip at some fish at the bottom. Bogtha pulled up a wooden crate near the river and watched her wolf. She didn’t have the patience to wait much longer. Her fingers were rubbing hard against the axe piece in her bag as she kept her eyes on Sharnak. There was no emotion on her face as she whistled to the wolf. Sharnak bounced happily out of the river with a fish in her mouth, offering it to her master. “No thanks Sharnak, I don’t have much of an appetite. You can eat it, but we must be going quickly, I’m afraid.” She said, rejecting the gift. The wolf tossed the fish in the air and ate it in one snap of her jaws. They rode once again, Bogtha’s anxiety creeping up on her the closer they got to Orgrimmar. Her chest felt like it was going to explode.
They finally arrived in Orgrimmar, Bogtha’s favorite city. Her eyes were focused forward as they rode swiftly through the roads, not paying attention to any of the shops, or old friends. She whizzed by Signe in the Valley of Strength without even recognizing her, the wind almost knocking the hunter over. She made her way to the Cleft of Shadow and left Sharnak outside. The road grew narrow and darker as she made her way deeper into the Cleft. She found her way to the large tent where the trainers resided.
Kurgul was outside of the tent, teaching a young orc warlock how to keep his imp in line. He took a swing at the small demon and yelled at in demonic. “Keep trying at it young one, practice is important. He will listen to you…. eventually.” Kurgul noticed Bogtha approaching the tent and quickly finished his conversation with the young warlock. She advanced to her mentor and bowed deeply. “Throm’Ka Master Kurgul. It is good to see you again.” She said warmly. “And to you young one. What is the purpose of your visit? You know I have nothing else to teach you.” He grinned. “Can’t a student visit her teacher? And actually, you could teach me something.” She added. Bogtha reached into her pouch and pulled out the axe shard. It glistened under the lights of the braziers that surrounded the Cleft. His eyes fixated on the shard and then asked if Bogtha wanted to step inside to discuss things further. She entered the tent, Kurgul following, and lowering the flap behind him.
She took a seat on a pillow on the ground as he sat across from her. The blue fire illuminated the tent and he took a closer look at the shard. “It just looks like a piece of a Felguard’s axe to me, but the magic within it feels… different from ours, it vibrates with evil. What kind of information are you looking for young one?” He said as he held the shard in his hand and concentrated for a moment. “That piece of axe belonged to the demon that murdered my Grandfather, Nek’rahk Firehand. He was killed about two weeks ago. The Burning Legion is responsible. I was hoping to find out from you from which part of the world this axe could have come from.” She explained. He dropped his formalities and sternly added, now knowing her intentions, “Bogtha, It saddens me to hear that Nek’rahk has fallen, but you know as well as I do that you cannot battle the Legion alone. And besides, I wouldn’t be the person to ask in the Cleft about the origins of the Legions’ Demon’s axe. I faithfully follow Thrall, and I have no ties to the Legion. But there is someone here in the Cleft you may get information out of. Thrall himself watches him like a hawk; rumors say that he is a spy for the Legion. Neeru Fireblade resides in the tent right by Ragefire Chasm. He most likely won’t give you the information if you ask nicely. That is all. You may go.” He handed her back the shard and lifted the flap for her, and following her out. She thanked him for his wisdom and then summoned her succubus, Drusrida.
Her Drusrida’s leathery wings expanded as she stretched and yawned, adjusting her chest. Bogtha ordered her to stay invisible until told otherwise. The vixen winked, snapped her fingers and vanished to everyone but Bogtha. The warlock wandered over to Neeru’s tent and stepped inside, closing the door flap behind her. Neeru looked up from a book and studied the warlock. “Yes? What do you want?” he grunted. Bogtha threw the shard to his feet. “I want to know exactly where THIS comes from.” Neeru looked down at the axe piece briefly and flashed her a sly grin. “ I know nothing of this scrap of metal. Perhaps one of the blacksmiths here in town could help you.” He chuckled to himself and licked one of his fingers to turn a page in his book. “Now get out of my sight, woman.” He added as he kicked the shard back to her and continued to his reading. Bogtha grinned right back at him. “I thought you would say something like that… I am not asking nicely. I’m going to get this information out of you. I know your ties to the Legion. Now… It’s up to you if you want the easy way, or the hard way. I really encourage you to take the easy way, and just tell me where I can find the one responsible for this. It will make it so much easier for both of us. If you decide the hard way, I’m going to take it from you… by force. I’ll give you a minute to think about it.” She turned her back to Neeru, keeping her eye on Drusrida. He stuttered a few times, seeming surprised. His eyes searched frantically within the room and grabbed a glowing dagger from inside his book. “My lady, I am afraid you are mistaken. I am nothing more than a mere traveler, taking refuge within these city walls.” He said as he slowly started to sneak up behind Bogtha, her back turned away from him. “ I follow the word of Thrall, and nothing else. He was kind enough to let me stay here and I…..” His voice trailed off quickly as he instantly cast a Felguard by his side and sent it after Bogtha, also coming at her himself with his dagger. With a wave of her hand, Drusrida cast Seduction on Neeru, freezing him in place. Within a matter of seconds, Bogtha flicked her wrist and banished his Demon in a large, green bubble right as its axe was inches from her skull. “A mere traveler, eh? I don’t think so.” She slowly paced around Neeru, studying him for a moment. She pried his fingers loose around the dagger and pulled it out, taking it and holding it up to his throat, with her other hand engulfed in black fire as she gazed at him with bloodlust in her eyes. “You look a bit helpless without your demon, Fireblade. Do I have to end this now? I could do it very easily you know… My Grandfather’s blood runs through my veins. It would be a pleasure to continue his work. I just wish he was here to see this pathetic whelp suffer before me.” She sneered as she got really close to his face, her lip curled to reveal her small tusks. He spat in her face and laughed loudly. “You’ve got some fight in ya, woman. I like that.” He licked her cheek and continued to laugh at her. She roared at him, wiped herself off, and punched him in the face with her fiery hand. “I warned you, traitor. Tell me what I need to know… NOW!” She grinded her teeth as the fire in her hand grew. “A little woman like you isn’t going to get me to talk. If you harm me, the demons will hunt you down…. Just like they did to your Grandpappy, Nek’rahk. That old sap had it coming….” Bogtha heard enough of his crap. Her hands were enveloped in flame as they trembled in anger. She let out a loud yell as Neeru started to immolate before her eyes. Spell after spell she cast upon him, groaning in pleasure as she watched him writhe in agonizing pain, still frozen in place by her demon. She felt his life force draining from him and stopped her attacks. She nodded to Drusrida, who released her grasp upon Neeru. He dropped to the ground, yelping in fear and pain, and unsummoned his Felguard. “Okay woman! You’re stronger than I thought.” He seethed through his teeth. His skin was charred and the hut reeked of burnt hair and flesh. “I’ll tell you what you need to know, not that it will matter to the Legion in the long run.” He crawled over to a chest in the corner of his room and pulled a large red bottle out of it and started gulping it down. Instantly, his skin started to reform around the wounds and his body hair grew back in a matter of seconds. He grabbed a new set of clothes out of the chest and put them on. He picked up the axe shard again and studied it. “It belongs to the Felguards of the Mannoroc Coven, in Desolace. If I’m not mistaken, they are led by a warlock named Jugkar Grim’rod. You could easily vanquish him if you showed him the power you showed me just now. Now, if that’s all you need to know, woman, I need to get back to my reading.” Bogtha absorbed the information like a sponge. She said nothing else to the whelp. She kicked his dagger back to him and exited the tent quickly, Drusrida following behind her.
The guards outside seemed to ignore the yells of Neeru, going about their business in Orgrimmar. She slid out of the Cleft and back onto Sharnak, and headed back towards downtown. She heaved a slight sigh of relief, and remembered that her mail was being forwarded to Orgrimmar. She hoped that she would get some mail from Zarly, and take her mind a bit off her stress. She rode slowly into the Valley of Strength, and greeted a few familiar faces briefly. She made it to the mailbox and found a large wooden crate with a note attached to it, addressed to her. It was from Zarly! She hadn’t heard from him in a few weeks, and was starting to get concerned. She smiled faintly as she saw his handwriting and opened the letter.
She read about him being raised as a frost lich against his will and became glued to his letter. She read his history over and over, trying to conceive it. She was still blown away by the fact that she’s even involved romantically with anything other than an orc or troll. She found his life much more fascinating than any life of an orc or troll. She read the bottom of the letter, then looked down at the small wooden crate. She snickered to herself and opened the crate and unwrapped the cloth around the kodo steak. Sharnak yelped excitedly at the giant steak. It was still a bit frosty around the edges, so she decided to cook it on the bonfire not too far from the mailbox.
She grinned to her wolf as she was cooking the giant steak. “You know this is for you right Shar? This was a gift to you from Zarly! You definitely deserve it for putting up with me and our long journey so far.” Bogtha finished warming up the steak and snuck a few bites before tossing it down to Sharnak. The wolf gnawed on the steak hungrily, and dragged it off to a more private area to enjoy it. Bogtha’s stomach growled, and decided to get more supplies and some food before heading off to Desolace. She stopped at the inn and ordered a zhevra pie and some moonberry juice. She finished her food quickly, and restocked her supplies. She pulled out some paper and and started to write a letter to Zarly.
“Dear Zarly,

You’re history is extremely fascinating to me. Any orc or troll would have the same old story of how their parents were put into concentration camps or killed. Not that those events are horrid, but it’s interesting to read about something completely different. To add, My feelings towards you are no different because you had no control over your actions. That wasn’t the sweet Zarly that I know. They just used your body as a pawn for the Lich King. I’m sorry that you have to live with that… I couldn’t imagine the pain you felt, realizing what you have done.
I’m very glad to hear that your training is going well. I’d love to see how you’ve begun to master the elements. You’ve been in my thoughts; I was getting a little worried since you didn’t write me right away. I’m pleased to know that you are safe, dear. I’d hate to see you be harmed before I even get to know you. Hopefully when this is all over, we’ll have plenty of time to tell our life’s stories to one another.
As for me, I have much to tell you. Unfortunately, it isn’t the happiest of news. I went to Winterspring, to find that my Grandfather was slain by the demons of the Burning Legion. As my Grandmother tried to escape, she found the same fate. The demon that killed him left behind some evidence that I have been researching about. My travels have brought me back here to Orgrimmar, where all my mail is being sent. I will be leaving here shortly for Desolace, to seek revenge for my last living relatives’ deaths. The warlock Jugkar Grim’rod’s demons were the ones responsible for murdering them. I will have his tusks on my necklace when I get done with him Zarly. I plan on continuing my Grandfather’s work, destroying the Burning Legion, bit by bit. They will pay for what they have done to them… I’ll be stopping back here in Orgrimmar in the next few weeks, to check my mail and restock my supplies. I look forward to your next letter, Zar. I apologize this isn’t the brightest of messages. Hell, maybe we’ll even bump into each other on our journeys. One can only hope, eh? Talk to you soon.

XOXO,
Boggy”

She exited the inn to find Sharnak licking the bone from the kodo steak. “C’mon girl, we gotta get going to Desolace!” The wolf picked up the bone in her mouth and marched proudly behind Bogtha towards the flight master. She dropped her letter into the mailbox and then arranged a flight for both of them to leave immediately.
They arrived in Shadowprey Village a few hours later. Bogtha felt reenergized by the flight and wanted to leave right away. She rode down the docks towards the town and noticed a large celebration going on. Even thought she loved a big party, she knew she needed to get things done. She rode past the celebration and away from the town, noticing the road out of town was littered with troll and naga corpses. She assumed the party was a victory celebration from a battle between the town and sea creatures earlier that day.
She narrowly escaped a thunder lizard in Southern Desolace and was now approaching the grounds of the Mannoroc Coven. The sky went from blue, to green, to purple the closer she got. The ground turned from brown to shades of gray. She stopped in the center of the road and looked around at the demons before her, pacing the area. She dismounted and readied her spells. “Where to start?” she thought to herself. She spotted a felguard nearby and grinned widely. “First things first!” she said to herself out loud. She roared loudly and her hands set ablaze. She slowly walked towards the demon with death in her eyes. She let out a loud cackle as she approached the Felguard, Drusrida following close behind her…..

A pile of smoldering demon corpses were scattered across the dusty ground as Bogtha, breathing heavily, destroyed everything in her sight. Her chest wheezed from the thick, dry, dusty air that filled her lungs. Drusrida chuckled seductively as she lashed an orc Coven member across the chest as he fell to the ground.
Bogtha looked up from her rage to study the area around her. Every demon and coven member in the immediate area has fallen to her power. There was no sign of Jugkar Grim’rod. She grit her teeth and started to search the area for any signs of life. She mounted up and ran around briefly, finding nothing but corpses. She kicked over a few coven members’ bodies to see if any of them were the man she was looking for, to no avail. She grunted in a frustrated tone and noticed in the corner of her eye a whirling vortex hidden behind a large hill. She carefully snuck to the side of the hill and poked her head around to see a cloaked figure throwing bags and personal belongings into the vortex. She concluded it was a portal and pointed out the figure to Drusrida.
The demon chuckled and ran up behind the cloaked figure and cast her seduction spell on it. The figure froze in its tracks, unable to move. Bogtha pulled out her wand and circled to the front of it and flicked the hood off its hood. It appeared to be an older orc with graying hair and a long braided beard tied up in red cloth. She grinned sinisterly as she realized this is what she has been looking for. She placed her wand on Jugkar’s throat and nodded to Drusrida to release him from the spell. The orc fell to his knees, sniveling like a coward. He had a slight hiss in his voice as he spoke. “You wouldn’t ssspill the blood of an orc brother, would you…ssssister?” He whined, as he eyes were fixated on the wand at his throat. He gulped loudly. Bogtha looked at him sternly. “I was expecting more of a fight from you Grim’rod. I guess Neeru was right that you would be easily defeated. You are nothing without your precious coven members and demons. You are nothing more than a mere pinky youngling!” she said. He spat at her feet, but was clearly feeling helpless without his coven around him. “What isss it you want of me, WHELP?” he exclaimed and accentuated on the last word, curling his lips back in a sneer. She looked at him and grinned. “I want you to tell me, who is responsible for murdering Nek’rahk Firehand, and who do you take orders from…Pushdag?! (orcish word for feces/filth, pronounced Poosh-dahg)”
The old orc sneered at the insult and started to open his mouth. He started to mouth his first words and then his eyes closed tightly in pain as a glowing scimitar erupted out from the front of his chest. Bogtha was splattered in the orc’s blood as her eyes shifted towards the large, winged doomguard that towered over her. The humungous demon threw the corpse away effortlessly and stared at the young warlock. His voice echoed on the rocky hills as he yelled in demonic at Bogtha. “RE ZENN AMAN SHI TORALAR!” Drusrida looked at her master and translated. “He will tell you nothing.”
“G RE LORD AZRETHOC, GOROM’HAGUUL, GRIM’ROD BELAROES UL NO…..LAZ KATRA ZIL SHUKIL!” The doomguard glared straight at Drusrida, knowing she knew his tongue. “I am Lord Azrethoc, meddling dog, Grim’rod answers to me…. Now suffer and perish!”
Just as Drusrida finished her words, Azrethoc swung his glowing blade at her, slicing her in half. Both halves instantly turned into a thick smoke, and blew away in the breeze. The sword was now pointed at Bogtha, who was frozen in her tracks. She felt the fear and anger rise inside of her, and knew the only chance she had to live, was to act now. She instantly cast her Death coil and luckily it hit, causing the demon to flee for a few moment while she cast a fear spell. The demon continued to run as she frantically cast spells at the monster. Bogtha heard lots of yelling and running in the background, but payed no attention. Azrethoc broke the spell and starting swiping his blade at her. Bogtha was able to dodge a few of the swings, being as the blade is so heavy and slow, but soon enough, she grew fatigued and his sword sliced her across her upper leg. She dropped down to her knees. She glared up at the demon, and continued to send flames and fel magic hurdling towards him, but he was too strong for her. She knew this was it for her. This was the end. She wasn’t going to stop and let him kill her without a fight. She said goodbye to all the people she loved in her mind, and the last thing she saw was her night with Zarly. Her heart ached knowing that she will not be able to see him again. Bogtha roared loudly and got to her feet. Shadow bolt after shadow bolt burst through her fingertips, as she kept trying to dodge. Everything started to get hazy from the loss of blood. She fell to her knees once more and was ready to meet her fate. The demon grinned deeply as he lifted his sword for the last time.
Something stopped him. He looked past the warlock’s shoulder at a group of alliance at least 30 strong sitting on their mounts. The alliance dismounted and pulled out their weapons. Most of them looked tired and tattered from a recent battle. Bogtha heard the familiar voice of a human shouting orders to his army. She turned her head around to see Jerome, the leader of the Keepers of Stromgarde was this familiar voice. She braced herself for the worst and closed her eyes, having no energy left to fight. The army raced past her and Lord Azrethoc started swiping his sword at the group. ”DAZ TE ANTE!” (She is mine!) There were too many of the Keepers for Aztheroc to keep up with, and soon fell to their blades. Bogtha couldn’t believe her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but knew they couldn’t understand her. The Keepers surrounded her and saluted her, as Jerome nodded to one of his trusty Rogues, who snuck up behind Bogtha and sapped her in the back of the head. She fell to the ground unconscious.
Hours later, she awoke with a splitting headache. She groaned loudly and went to rub her head, but noticed she was tied up fairly tightly. She gazed around at her surroundings, and knew these were the walls of Stromgarde Keep. Within the vicinity, there was a Night Elf Hunter and a Human Mage. They were talking to each other, and periodically looking at Bogtha. They were guarding her. Bogtha tried to immolate the ropes that bound her, but the mage raised his hand and immediate silenced her. He walked over to her and waved his finger back and forth and shook his head “No”. She growled at him and wiggled around in her bindings, knowing that she isn’t going anywhere. The hunter cooed and spoke to her eagle, perched on her arm. The eagle flew off for a few minutes, returning with Jerome.
Jerome looked Bogtha over and started talking to her. They both knew they couldn’t understand each other, but seemed to be telling her of his intentions with her. He pulled out a quill and some parchment and started writing. After a few moments, he folded up the paper and drew a picture of the Blacktooth Grin emblem on the front. He showed it to Bogtha and then handed it off to the eagle. The hunter took the eagle and started to stroke its head. She kissed it on the beak and cooed to it once more. The eagle acknowledged her request and flew off. The only word she understood was “Stonard.” She then knew that was a note to the Grin, telling them of her whereabouts. She sighed deeply, feeling disgusted with herself because she was completely helpless. She closed her eyes, waiting for this nightmare to be over…..

*BOOM*

Ice shards fell to the ground as Zarly’s grenade exploded and caused the frozen ogre to shatter into pieces of ice and blood. Zarly popped his head out from the rock he dove behind and smiled. His realization that the plans he bought for the thorium grenade were going to make his life, and those he was going to end, much more interesting. He went over and examined the body of the ogre scavenging anything that would get him some fast coin. Zarly moved one of the ogres legs, or what he thought was a leg, and found a nice plate cap with an alliance inscription on it.

“Interesting” Zarly stated as he put the cap in is back pack. He had noticed that the entire area was void of any humans and had not even noticed any humans riding on the roads close to his encampment. It had been 2 weeks since he had left Hammerfall and Zarly had learned much about his powers since then. His frost bolt has become larger while his fireballs were beginning to incinerate objects before the fireball hit. Zarly felt as though his powers were growing faster than he could control them and he decided that he should focus on his hobby, engineering.

Zarly rode back to his camp and opened a large bound chest, rummaged though some of the objects for a few minutes then pulled out a small box with a clasp on it. Zarly flipped the clasp up and opened the lid to see a mechanical dragon whelp motionless inside. An inscription on the belly read “To keep you warm when you are cold without me” and the eyes of the whelp where lifeless as Zarly pulled it out of the box and gently oiled the gears. He gently flapped the wings to make sure the whelp was in good condition and put it back into the small box. Zarly summoned his steed and muddy bones jutted from the ground eventually forming the shape of a horse. Zarly opened one of the saddle bags and placed the box between some other things to make sure it wouldn’t move much on his ride to Hammerfall.

“Ok girl, let’s go” Zarly commanded as his horse began to walk towards the road. A flick of the reigns and the walk turned into a gallop as the horse lowered his head. They reached the road and headed west till they camp to a fork in the road. Zarly stopped the horse and looked around in all directions. He could see no humans, orcs, or any elementals in the area and that made Zarly rather nervous. He bucked the feeling that something as amiss and rode north-east towards Hammerfall. While riding he was constantly scanning the area for signs of life but found none. The usual raptors, spiders, and buzzards were vacant from the area giving the ride to Hammerfall a very eerie feeling.

In the distance, Zarly could see the walls of Hammerfall but still, he could see no signs of life in the hills surrounding the outpost. He quickened his horses pace and rode full speed into Hammerfall startling the guards and causing a moment of ruckus for its habitants. Jumping off his horse, Zarly approached one of the guards asking why there was no wildlife in the hills surrounding the outpost.

“We are unsure of this as well” Stated the guard with concern. “Many of the beasts disappeared just after a warlock came into town with a look of death on her face. She rode west towards Stromguard a few days ago.”

Zarly nodded and thanked the guard. He walked towards the inn reflecting on the information he just heard. “A warlock with the look of death” he mumbled thinking of who it could be. Obviously no one from the Grin would be on a rampage in Stronguard alone, even a warlock. The ogres and warlocks infesting certain parts of the castle would be more than enough to keep just one warlock out, let alone the Keepers of Stromguard that guard the castle and call it home. Zarly couldn’t help think the warlock was a scout for a raid, but without talking to him, he would never know. Zarly had reached the top of the stairs and turned into the inn. He walked in and took a seat at one of the tables, waiving his hand to get the attention of the barkeep.

“What do you need sir?” asked the Tauren placing a bottle of wine at the table for Zarly.

“Several things, but first let’s start with a large raptor steak as I am starving!” said Zarly. The barkeeper nodded and walked away. Zarly picked up the bottle of wine and popped the cork to let it breathe. He then grabbed a glass from another table and, after verifying its cleanliness, frosted it in his hand. He poured the wine and swirled it in the glass before bringing it to his nose to smell it. The scent of the wine only reminded him again of Bogtha and his longing to prove himself to her when a thought came to him.

“Bogtha?” he said aloud as the tauren set a steak down in front of him.

“<toons name> is my name.” Said the tauren looking a bit surprised,” If you need anything else please ask.”

“Wha? Oh, yes, thank you.” said Zarly as he snapped back into the moment. The thought that Bogtha could be the warlock sent his mind racing. She was surely strong enough to wipe the plains of Arathi void of life but she wouldn’t be foolish enough to head into Stromguard alone with so many in there waiting for her. He hadn’t received any word from her in a while and didn’t know what she was thinking when cloaked figure walked into the inn.

Zarly took notice of this but shrugged it off as he saw the wrists of the figure were green. He immediately went back to his thoughts of Bogtha and Stromguard trying to see reason that it might be her. It was several minutes before he realized the figure had sat down across the table from him, poured herself a glass of his wine, and removed her cloak. Zarly was stunned to see Signe sitting across from him with a few letters in front of her with his name on it. “What brings you to this fine encampment ma’m?” he said with all courtesy and respect.

“Your mail and relationship with Bogtha is what brings me here.” She said firmly. “Do you realize that you have shaken many of those in the Grin? I have managed to intercept your mail before others got to it and I have Grimface watching for more as it comes in. Here is your mail; there is a letter there from her.”

Zarly grabbed the letters and searched for the one from Bogtha. He opened it and read it only to realize that it was 3 weeks old. She could be anywhere and his lack of response must infuriate her. He read the letter again and saw the news was grim from her. Her grandparents dead at the hands of the burning legion and she was on her way to Desolace! He must have missed her by only hours and he could have been reunited with her in her battle to avenge her family. Signe cleared her throat to get Zarly’s attention from the letter.

“We have heard of her going against the burning legion as I’m sure your letter suggests. I have even heard she may come here to Arathi for clues. Have you seen her?” She asked with a glint of hope in her voice.

“No. The fact that I might have missed her in Desolace would make me want to help you find her the more, but alas, I am useless again.” He said, hoping to draw her attention onto him and moving away from Bogtha. If he could divert her attention, he may be able to ride to Stromguard and see if it was her the guards saw earlier. “Signe, I must thank you for bringing me these, can I buy you a meal?”

“Poor Zarly, of course you can.” She said with sympathy in her voice. “Inn keeper, one rack of boar ribs on his tab” she yelled as she pointed to him. Minutes later they were both eating and after the rest of the wine was gone they parted ways into the camp. It was about mid afternoon now and he had forgotten about mailing the mechanical dragonling since he read his mail. If he was lucky, he could deliver it to her in person. He walked back down to his horse and put the box back into the saddle bag. He jumped on mount and rode up the stairs and out the back of the camp saluting the Defilers of Arathi as he rode by.

He made his way across country towards the alliance outpost of Refuge point. For some time now the point has been an alliance outpost for the forces fighting the Defilers here in Arathi and a staging area for any invasion or reclamation of Hammerfall. Zarly knew there were guards patrolling around the area and headed south to the road when he finally came into sight of Refuge Point. His ride was rather uneventful as, like around Hammerfall, many of the beasts that normally inhabited the lands of Arathi were now gone. Zarly found the rode and headed went towards the Stronguard castle with hope of seeing Bogtha in his mind.

He arrived to the entrance of Stromguard only to find a small group of people carrying a bound orc over their heads and celebrating. Zarly couldn’t quite make out who it was but did notice the black tabard with teeth on it and charged headfirst into the group screaming “FEAR THE GRIN!”

Bogtha heard laughing and conversing in common as the group of Alliance gazed over her like some piece of art hanging in a museum. She knew what they wanted was for her to act out, to growl, spit, and try to lash out at them. She kept her head down and herself quiet, not giving them the sense of entertainment they were trying to prod out of her. All she could think about was her grandparents, and how upset she was over their untimely deaths. Her entire body trembled with rage, her hands went cold, and she shook so hard, her teeth started to chatter. She felt like she was standing on the fault of an earthquake, but none of the Alliance seemed to notice or care. Every second felt like an eternity, as the sea of faces around her started to swirl and made her dizzy. She tried to blink a few times, but the swirling motion did not stop. She closed her eyes and felt her body swaying in circles. She thought she was going to be sick. She felt her consciousness slip from her as her body started to go limp. There was nothing but black around her.
A familiar face phased in out of the darkness. She saw her Grandfather, and then her Grandmother. One by one, more of her family members phased out of the dark curtain of her subconscious. Her parents were there, and some of her siblings that fell to the humans of the camps that kept them as slaves. She felt an overwhelming feeling of love and comfort envelop her as she was surrounded by her loved ones. She opens her mouth to speak, but her father raises his hand.
As Bogtha falls unconscious, a loud yelling is heard in the distance of Stromguarde Keep. A scrawny Undead came charging into the Keep and located the area where she was being held. The Alliance stops, looks at him, and starts laughing. The Undead stood there, and a sneer rolled over his face. His hands clenched with anger as he gazed over his lover bound in chains and unconscious by their feet. “BOGGY! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!” The Alliance just stood there, obviously knowing he was acknowledging the green woman on the ground. One of them stepped forward, attempting to get his attention, it was Jerome, leader of Keepers of Stromguarde. With a swarmy smile on his face, Jerome pointed to Zarly’s tabard and pointed behind him, as in saying “Where’s the rest of your army? Huh?” Zarly pointed to Bogtha, and then back to himself. The human chuckled and waved the Undead away like he was a child. As Jerome turned away, Zarly’s hands started to glow and tremble as he yelled “FEAR THE GRIN!”. Within seconds, Jerome was now nothing but a mere farm animal, a sheep. He gazed blankly at the Undead for a moment, before starting to graze. Before the Alliance could move, Zarly blinked his was to the middle of them, and picked up his love. He immediately cast a Frost Nova, freezing the Alliances’ feet to the ground. He blinked away from the lashing hands of the group and started to run out of the Keep as fast as he can.
“No, my sweet daughter, you aren’t dead.” Starhand stated. Bogtha looks up at her father, surprisingly. Her Grandfather stepped forward. “Boggy, I know you are angry at how we died, but that is no reason to go on a suicide mission on trying to get revenge for our deaths. You can’t do this by yourself. We want you to live. The demons are an ever-growing threat, and will probably never be stopped. I see the truth now.” Warm tears started to coat Bogtha’s cheeks. Grusha tried to soothe her. “Dear, I know it’s in our nature to want to destroy those who have wronged us; but we are dead, and nothing can bring us back. You have a family waiting for you back in Stonard, and they are still alive. We want you to be happy. You need to go home to them dear; they need you more than us. We have everything that we want here. We have endless battles, and all the food and drink we can eat, and nothing but the best of company. We will be waiting for you, but only when your time has come. Now is not the time, Boggy dearest.” Bogtha opened her eyes wide. In her blindness of rage, she had nearly forgotten about the Grin, and even her sweet Zarly. She reached into her pocket and grasped the ear that fell off that night they made love. Warmth surrounded her, and she started to smile. Grusha grinned along with her. “Yes my dear, that Undead truly cares for you.” Bogtha felt as she could get to her feet. She slowly got up and started to feel her strength return. Her father and mother came forward and embraced her tightly. “We love you Bogtha, Be strong. We will see you someday. We will always watch over you.” Her mother cooed. Bogtha tried once again to open her mouth to return their love. Her mother put one finger over her lips. “We know dear.” She smiled. Her mother and father both kissed her on her forehead and the images started to swirl once again.
The darkness faded away, and she felt cool rain hitting her on the nape of her neck. The hair stood on the back of her neck, as she realized she wasn’t in the Keep anymore. She got enough strength to lift her head. She was on the back of a skeletal horse, with a cloaked figure riding in front of her. She felt her chains and bindings were gone as she stared at the back of the cloaked figure and didn’t know who it was. She saw Stromguarde Keep shrink into the horizon as a few mounted Alliance erupted from its walls.
She immediately started to panic. “WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE ARE WE GOING?!” she demanded of the figure. The figure pulled the cloak off his head and turned to look at Bogtha slightly. “I’m getting you the hell out of that Keep is what I’m doing! I almost got my ass handed to me back there!” Zarly exclaimed. Bogtha immediately threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She started to sob loudly into the cloak. “If you weren’t so beautiful, I’d tell you to not get your snot all over my cloak.” He chuckled. She bit his shoulder affectionately and dried her eyes. “We aren’t out of the woods yet, Boggy. I think we pissed off ALL the bees in the hive. I figured we could take refuge in Hammerfall until you gain your strength back. Then, we’ll be able to take a portal back to Stonard.” He added. She couldn’t let go of him; she was thrilled to be near him once more. She was speechless, and just rested her weary body on his. Zarly occasionally would nuzzle her lovingly as they rode closer to their destination.
A few stray Hammerfall guards closer to the camp kept the strands of Alliance at bay until they got inside. Zarly hopped off the horse and held his arms open for Bogtha to fall into. She grasped his hands and slid off the horse. They headed towards the inn, but noticed some familiar voices bellowing from behind the structure. They both peeked around the corner to see their Warchief, Yagyu, organizing the troops to march to the Keep. Zarly ran out from behind the inn, dragging Bogtha behind him. She tripped over her robes from pure exhaustion and fell on all fours right at Yagyu’s feet. The Grin immediately broke formation and ran over to Bogtha and helped her up. They all talked excitedly, overloading the orc’s senses. She closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears. “I love you guys too,” She laughed. “But I really need to go eat something and lay down.” She added. She gave hugs to her friends, and even Yagyu broke formalities to embrace her. And out of the back of the crowd, one of her favorite familiar faces appeared. Bogtha limped quickly over to an orc covered in plate and held him tighter than most of the Grin. “I missed you Crunck….so much.” Crunck’s cheeks flushed a bit. “Crunck miss Boggy too! Crunck was going to rescue Boggy, but the deader got her first.” He frowned. She hugged him again. “I don’t care WHO rescues me, all that matters is that I’m here now, I’m safe.” She kissed her fingers and placed it on Crunck’s cheek.
Some of the guards of Hammerfall started to run inside the camp. “THERE’S TOO MANY OF THEM! FALL BACK!” Bogtha looked back at the front gates of Hammerfall, and her eyes grew wide. “They’re here…..” she said. Crunck knew exactly was she was talking about and put his helm on. “CRUNCK SMASH THOSE WHO HURT BOGGY!” and he started running towards the gates, maces in hand. Yagyu sighed as he watched Crunck run past him, and then instructed the Grin to defend the camp. He motioned for Zarly to take Bogtha inside and keep her safe. He pulled her arm around him and helped her get inside. The innkeeper immediately rushed to an open room and gestured for them to enter. “Stay here; I’ll have the guards watch the door.” Zarly helped her over to the bed and tucked her in. She propped herself up on some pillows and grabbed the pitcher of water on the nightstand and drank its entire contents. She gasped for air as she finished the water and set it back on the nightstand with a loud “CLANG”.
Within a matter of minutes, a peon knocked on the door with a large tray of food. There was a large wedge of cheese, a loaf of bread, and some seared raptor meat, along with a bottle of wine. Bogtha traded the empty water pitcher for the tray of food. She grabbed hunks of food and shoved it in her mouth ravenously. She hadn’t eaten in days, and hasn’t had an appetite since. After a few moments, she realized that Zarly was still there, watching her eat. She blushed a bit and offered him some. He raised his hand and laughed deeply. “No thank you, it’s all yours. I’m just admiring how eat so beautifully.” He grinned and winked at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and started to eat a bit slower, enjoying the meal in front of her. She finished off the entire meal and the wine. The peon appeared again with a new pitcher of water and some dessert. She traded her empty plates for the enticing dessert. There were fresh berries on some sort of yellow cake, drizzled with honey. She poked at one of the berries with a fork and offered it to Zarly. He finally agreed and took a bite. “You know, this stuff goes right through me. Right?” he said as the chewed berry fell out from between his ribs and onto the bed. They both chuckled and Bogtha finished the decadent dessert, throwing the chewed berry to a small rat she noticed poking out of one of the boards on the floor. Its little snout poked out to grab the berry, and slipped back into the shadows.
An overwhelming feeling of exhaustion came over her. Her belly was full, and she was safe. She needed to sleep. She motioned for Zarly to come into bed with her and cuddle. They both got under the covers and within minutes, Bogtha was snoring loudly. He kissed her cheek as she snored, and continued to hold her, and didn’t let go.
The battle raged on for most of the night, but the numbers of the Grin and the guards were too much for the Keepers to handle. Battered and bruised, they returned to keep, with no trophy for the battle this time. The guards kept watch for the remainder of the evening, as the Grin retreated back the inn. Zarly heard many footsteps and voices outside the door, but none entered. The inn grew quiet until the morning.
Zarly pulled open the curtains to reveal, a gorgeous blue sky and warm sun pouring into the room. Bogtha opened one eye, and grinned at the Undead. She stretched and yawned. She grinned evilly at the Undead and beckoned to him, “Come here Zar, I never got to thank you for-“ she was interrupted as the door swung open. She pulled the blankets up to her nose to see Yagyu walking in. A few of the Grunts and Grots were peeking in from behind him. Grimface, Signe, Londra, and Crunck followed behind him and smiled at Bogtha. She put the blankets on her lap when she realized who it was and let her guard down. “It’s good to have you back Bogtha.” Yagyu said. The others smiled and nodded to her. Crunck immediately jumped on the bed next to her and hugged her again. “Crunck so happy Boggy’s back!” Crunck sobbed. Glados paced around on the floor, not knowing what to do. Everyone started busting out laughing and relaxed a bit.
“Today is a day to celebrate. Let’s go back to Stonard and drink and eat until we pass out. Not only did we defeat the Keepers once more, but we have our dear friend back.” The Warchief added. Crunck squeezed Bogtha and continued to snuggle with her. Zarly looked over at him, clearly unimpressed, and sighed loudly. Bogtha reached out her hand to Zarly’s and held it tightly and smiled as Crunck was attached to her like a baby koala. “We’re sorry to hear about your Grandparents, Is there anything we can do to help you?” Signe added. Bogtha shook her head. “No, I know now there is nothing I can do to bring them back. I don’t want to end up getting myself killed in a fit of rage, on a suicide mission. My family is with you all, in Stonard. You are what matter to me. I’m so sorry that I didn’t come back sooner. I was just so…. Blind.” She said.
Yagyu quickly waved her comment off. “All is forgiven, now let’s clean your robes when we get back to Stonard and have a celebration loud enough for your family to hear us in the heavens.” Yagyu added and grinned. She smiled back and stretched once more, and pried Crunck off her. She kissed him on the cheek. She looked at him and asked, “Will Crunck save a dance for me?” He nodded happily and hopped out of the bed. She kissed Zarly passionately for a moment and licked his cheek, before she gathered herself and headed out of the inn, holding onto his hand.
A contingent of mages opened portals and within a few minutes, the Grin emerged safely in Stonard. The guards anticipated their return, and decorated for a celebration. There was a roaring bonfire, and a wild boar beginning to roast on a spit. There were torches of many different colors all over the base camp. As Bogtha hopped through the portal, Sharnak, her wolf, immediately pounced on her. The orc’s face was covered in slobber within seconds. “Sharnak! I thought I lost you!” She rolled around and wrestled with the wolf for a few minutes. A grot spoke up, “We found her running around the Highlands, looking for you.” Bogtha dusted herself off and thanked the grot and hugged the small blood elf tightly.
She grabbed Zarly and headed inside the Barracks. “I need to clean myself before the celebration, lover. Would you mind helping me clean my robes?” Zarly nodded and followed her as she led him outside to the stream in back where she disrobed and handed him her filthy robes. He froze as he gazed at her body once more. He drank deeply the intoxication that her body seemed to emanate. Her body was slick with the water from the stream, dripping down out of her wet hair, creating small rivers that the twisted and turned down the muscles of her back and her bottom, racing down her legs and off her heels. She smirked and with her finger gave the “Come here” motion. He dropped the robes immediately and was heading towards her. He dreamed of the day when he would be able to enjoy her body again. She kissed him deeply, and his hands started to wander. His fingertips ran up her thighs, and bottom, and he linked his fingers at the small of her back. He placed his head on her shoulder and inhaled her scent. He couldn’t hold back anymore. He bit into her neck roughly. She groaned lightly into his ear and prepared to drag him into the stream with her and succumb to passion.
Grimface emerged from the back door of the barracks with a grot. Bogtha quickly let go of Zarly and hopped into the water to cover herself up. Zarly groaned, irritated as Grimface came closer. He instructed the grot to clean her robes immediately. “Throm’Ka Grim, that isn’t necessary. I can clean my own robes.” Bogtha grumbled. “Nonsense! Let the grots do what they are supposed to do!” He pushed the grot towards the crumpled pile of clothing on the ground. “Once the sun sets, the celebration will begin. I expect to see both you there!” he added as he left the grot to his work. The blue troll picked up the robes and walked a few yards away to let Bogtha continue bathing. He started dipping the cloth in the stream and scrubbed the dirt and blood from them. When he was finished, he laid them out on a tree branch to dry. A few others decided they needed to bathe as well, and eliminated all possibility of privacy for the couple.
Bogtha finished bathing and got her robes back on. She kissed Zarly sweetly and told him not to worry. “We’ll have plenty of time for fun, lover. Let’s just enjoy the evening with our brothers and sisters tonight.” He smiled faintly back at her, and nodded.
The sun set soon after, and the couple proceeded to the bonfire. The roasting boar smelled incredibly succulent, and large pots full of stews, crabs and vegetables were steaming all around the fire. Large casks of ale and wine were scattered around the camp with plenty of mugs to go around. The Grin filed in slowly, and started to meander around. They enjoyed the food, wine and friends. People were laughing and dancing around the fire. Her and Zarly started dancing and enjoyed themselves ‘til their bellies hurt from laughing so hard.
Crunck interrupted shortly after, all dressed up in his party gear, and asked Bogtha to dance with him. Zarly snorted and rolled his eyes, but nodded. Crunck took her close to the fire as some of the Tauren and Orcs of the grin sat down and pulled out some large drums. They started to play very rhythmically, and progressively got louder. The energy of the camp echoed throughout the Swamp of Sorrows. Crunck started dancing in his normal silly fashion, and she followed. The sounds of the drums were incredible, creating a sense of euphoria and heightened senses. He grabbed a few mugs of ale and drank them down quickly. Soon after, he was in nothing but a loincloth and a cloak. “SUPERCRUNCK DANCE TOO!” and his clapped his hands together and started to twirl. Bogtha was now laughing so hard she could barely breathe. She hugged him and proceeded back to her date, who was drinking some wine over by the boar, while talking to Signe. Bogtha grabbed her date and some food, grabbing some fruit and wine.
She brought him back to the barracks and fixed them a private dinner in her room.
He watched her eat again, and when she was finished, she lit some candles. She locked the door behind her and grinned. “I never got to thank you for saving me, my hero!” Zarly smiled widely, knowing what was coming to him. Bogtha reached into her pocket and pulled out a needle, threat and a familiar ear. She kissed him on the cheek and proceeded to reattach his missing piece. “It brought me a lot of luck while I was away.” She cut the excess thread with her teeth. Zarly tugged lightly on the ear and smiled approvingly. “Now, it’s about time I thanked you, lover.” She grinned and disrobed once more, and threw her clothing on the floor next to her. She threw Zarly on the bed and followed behind him. She climbed under the covers and started kissing him deeply. He followed suit and took off his clothes, fumbling in his drunken stupor. They held each other for hours in between bouts of passion, before giving into exhaustion and fell asleep in each other’s arms.