• “Oh my goodness,” Atsuma exclaimed “the sword I ordered finally came in!” Atsuma, a blood elf, ran inside the cabin he shared with his friend, Galbatorix. “Hey man, check this out,” Atsuma said as he approached the horned lion sleeping in the middle of the rug. Failing to wake Galbatorix with a rough shake, Atsuma promptly rammed the heel of his boot onto Galbatorix’s tail.

    With a snarl Galbatorix leapt about a foot into the air, claws out. “Oh...it’s you,” Galbatorix said, once he saw who his assailant was. “Do I seriously have to tell you how many things are wrong with waking me up like that? I have to keep this tail in whatever form I take, unlike those night elves.”

    “Forget the tail,” Atsuma countered “but you have to see what came in the mail.”

    “You mean—“

    “Yes, my beastly sword finally arrived.”

    “Well then, why are we still standing around? Let’s open that thing and test it out.”

    In a sudden flash of smoke and light, where once had stood a lion there now stood a tauren. His thin coating of wire-like fur was mostly black, with a white chest and upper-arms, and a white stripe running down his spine. His braided black beard fell to his belt where it ended in a tuft. Galbatorix was garbed in a set of leather breeches, along with a light leather shirt. He donned no helm, for he feared one would obstruct his vision. He also wore a traveling cloak that swayed along with the movement of his tail. Galbatorix’s weapon of choice was a simple hawthorn staff.

    Atsuma on the other hand had the pale skin of a blood elf. He and was outfitted in cloth leggings and a shirt, for ease of motion, and his leather boots had begun to wear thin. Atsuma wore no helm, and battled with two daggers, he had been impatiently waiting on his beastly sword to come in for days.

    Atsuma opened the sleek black box containing his new blade, and began walking steadily toward the southern lift of Thunderbluff. He hadn’t made it to the lower rise pond before Galbatorix was on his heels. Once firmly on the ground they mounted up, Atsuma on his bear, and Galbatorix on his talbuk. They raced toward Bloodhoof Village as fast as their mounts could run. “Why are we going to Bloodhoof?” Galbatorix asked

    “Because, Bloodhoof is the home of the most experienced tauren war veterans in Kalimdor, I’m going to duel them to test out this sword.”

    Halfway to Stonebull Lake Galbatorix slowed to a stop, “Oh wow, do you see that?” he asked.

    “Galb, it’s a flower. You can find them everywhere.” Atsuma returned as he rode back to stand by Galbatorix.

    “It’s not just a flower, it’s a peacebloom; I need it for a potion.” Galbatorix slid off his mount, and trotted over to pick it. He placed the peacebloom in his pack and walked back to Atsuma.

    “Ok...now that nature hour’s over; can we get back to testing this sword?”

    “Ya, sorry for the delay.”

    As Galbatorix began to climb back onto his talbuk, they heard a series of squeaks and looked around for its source. “Hey, down here,” the gnome squeaked once again “give me some gold.”

    “And why would I do that?” Atsuma replied.

    “Because I have these!” the gnome squeaked as he pulled two suspiciously can opener-like knives from his belt.

    Galbatorix and Atsuma glanced at each other and silently agreed on who they would test the sword on first. “Ya...well I have this!” Atsuma exclaimed as he slid his sword from its sheath. The blade sliced through the air until it collided with the gnome’s surprisingly thick armor. On impact the gnome sailed through the air until he disappeared from view.

    “What the...you just punted the leader of the Gnome Rights Movement! Guess I’ll have to arrest you.” Atsuma and Galbatorix turned around at the series of squeaks and saw a gnome in a purple wizard’s hat and matching robes. His pale grey beard descended to the rope he was using as a belt.

    “Uh-huh, how exactly do you plan on doing that?” Atsuma countered

    The gnome smirked and chirped, “Malthinae!” Galbatorix and Atsuma were immediately sealed in individual purple spheres. Two night elves stepped out from behind some nearby trees, and began pushing the prisoners through the Barrens and on to a vessel anchored just outside of Ratchet. The vessel sailed to the Westfall coast, where the group disembarked. As Atsuma and Galbatorix were being pushed down the ramp, Galb motioned franticly to a group of nearby murlocs. He received nothing for his efforts except confused gargling from the murlocs. They continued to be pushed on to the Stormwind prisons.

    “I can’t believe that just happened,” Atsuma fumed as the cell door slammed shut. Atsuma and Galbatorix had been stripped or their weapons and their protective armor had been replaced by rags. To deep in their own thoughts to speak, Atsuma and Galbatorix waited in silence, for what seemed like an eternity to hear their sentences.

    “You there, the skinny guy,” chirped a gnome in a tux as he opened the cell door, “get out here!” Atsuma stood and walked through the door. “You shall be put to death for illegal punting,” continued the gnome. He gestured for Atsuma to return to his cell. “And you,” the gnome chirped to Galbatorix “you shall be served as the steak at the feast celebrating his death!” the gnome pointed at Atsuma before slamming the cell door.

    “Well...this sucks.” Atsuma sighed.

    A light tapping sounded from the wall behind Atsuma’s head. “Hey, can I have shome gold, for beer...hic.” A goblin-like voice rasped from the other side of the wall.

    “I’ve had enough of this!” Atsuma roared as he slammed his fist through the cell wall, catching the drunken goblin around its throat. “Still want that beer!?” Atsuma threatened.

    The cell door flew open, to reveal two Stormwind Guards, swords at the ready. “Put the goblin down, and put your hands where I can see ‘em,” commanded a guard. With a well aimed charge Galbatorix’s horns had made their way under the guard’s chestpiece, affectively incapacitating the nuisance. “Catch!” Galbatorix called. The dead guard’s sword flew through the air, right into Atsuma’s grasp. Atsuma parried the guard’s oncoming swing and returned with one of his own, only to ring off the guard’s armor. While the guard was stunned by the impact, Atsuma cut into the space below the guard’s arm.

    The guard gasped and clenched his wound, dropping his sword. Atsuma took advantage of the stunned guard, and decapitated him in a single blow. Atsuma and Galbatorix stripped the guards of their armor and donned it themselves. They began walking through the city heading for the gate, and desperately hoping they weren’t discovered.

    When they arrived at the wall, they met their only opposition. An army of alliance was blocking their way “We are the EmpirE, surrender or die!” commanded a man who appeared to be the leader. He gasped, and out of his mouth a red stream of blood began to flow. He had bean shot in the back by three arrows. A mysterious archer leapt off the wall wielding an impressive looking bow. He plowed past the leader of EmpirE, skidding to a halt beside Atsuma.

    The EmpirE began to murmur amongst itself “Is he...dead. He’s too strong to be killed, he can’t be dead. But he has arrows in his back. I think he’s dead.” All at once the EmpirE suddenly roared, “Death to the horde!!!”

    “Dang!” swore the archer. He opened his pack and pulled out a small orange cylinder. He began entering code on the device. The cylinder started to glow red, and in a blinding flash Atsuma, Galbatorix, and the archer were gone.


    The goblin rolled to the side, just in time to avoid Atsuma and the archer landing where he had been standing moments before. “Where’s Galb,” Atsuma asked. “Where are we and who in the world are you?”

    “I’m Sterex, officer of Blood Angels. We are in Everlook, but that’s not my problem. And your friend could be anywhere. Personally, I don’t care where he is. My orders from our leader were to kill the leader of EmpirE and report to her.” Sterex began walking away from Everlook, to the west. “See ya, I need to report my success to our leader.”

    

    Galbatorix splashed into Lake Elune’ara, the teleporter had malfunctioned. He swam towards the shore. As he was climbing out of the water he barreled into a night elf. Galbatorix reached for his staff, and grabbed air. Shocked, he morphed into the lion and snarled. The night elf laughed, and in a flash of smoke and light was a bear. The night elf-bear pulled back a paw and slammed it into Galbatorix’s head; he went down with out a sound.

    

    “Listen here,” Sterex commanded when he glanced over his shoulder and saw Atsuma following two steps behind him. “Stop following me now or I’ll kill you.” Sterex and Atsuma had entered Felwood through the timbermaw’s cave, and Sterex was in no mood for uninvited guests.

    “How could your commander ever forgive you for killing a fellow horde? Not to mention losing the other in some corner of the globe.”

    Sterex grinned wickedly at Atsuma, “Our leader doesn’t even know you’re alive. My orders were strictly to kill EmpirE’s leader in Stormwind. What happens to you is up to me.” Sterex cackled madly.

    

    Galbatorix woke up in a stone room, he had a massive headache. The door creaked open, and an ancient tauren hobbled into the room. “I suppose you had a good rest,” he said in a voice as old as the glade itself, “I’m sorry about the bear, our guard can be a bit eccentric at times. You are free to leave once you feel able; if you feel incapable you can stay as long as your condition persists. This is a sacred place; do not feel threatened by any of the strange sights you may see here.”

    “Thank you for your hospitality, but I feel I am capable of traveling. I’m curious though, how did the guard become a bear? I can only manage a cat, and that took years of training in magic to accomplish. Not to mention the amount of mana it consumes.”

    “The glade is full of natural energy. Its inhabitants Remulos, the great bear spirit, and the other creatures of magic that live here, provide us with all we need. They also bestow upon all those that live here the ability to shape shift into any creature under their command. We can also command some of the forces of nature, such as moonlight. Beg them, and they might bestow those same powers upon you.”

    “Thank you for the advice, and the help. I’ll ask the spirits of the glade to help me on my quest.” Galbatorix wondered through the glade until he found Remulos and the great bear spirit. Galbatorix kneeled and begged “Guardians of the glade, I wish to seek out and find my friend Atsuma. I also am a devout student of the art of nature magic. If I can in anyway serve your cause to preserve all that lush and living, please bestow upon me the nature powers found in all those of the glade.”

    “Hmmm,” Remulos boomed.

    “I think he can be of use to us,” the great bear spirit roared. “He appears to travel often and –“

    “Will have plenty of opportunities to serve us.” Remulos finished. “Very well we shall grant you the power of the glade. But you must swear an oath, that anytime you see nature being abused, you will stop it. If you refuse you will be as powerless as when you first entered our glade.”

    “Thank you,” Galbatorix returned, “your generosity will not be in vain.” With a flick of Remulos’ wrist, the trees around him began to twist and grasp at his ill-fitting armor. They fused with it, forming an armor set of branches and leaves. The armor grew and now fit perfectly. The armor moved with him, it was alive and flowing with the glade’s magic. Galbatorix worked his way to the south of the glade, until he came to a cave infested with timbermaw. He turned into the lion more easily than he ever had previously, and faded into the cave walls. To the timbermaw it was as if he wasn’t there at all, and could only be seen if one walked directly into him.

    As Galbatorix reached the end of the cave he heard a familiar voice “How could your commander ever forgive you for killing a fellow horde? Not to mention losing the other in some corner of the globe.”

    “Atsuma,” Galbatorix gasped. He heard a tree fall nearby and, influenced by his armor to honor his pact with Remulos, roared, “Moonfire!” and leapt to where his target had been a moment before.

    

    “You shall not pass!” commanded the orc. Sterex had left the cave, only to find an orc logging camp. They had obviously stripped the land in Ashenvale, and moved into Felwood. “Turn back,” the orc growled “I said you shall not pass.”

    “I don’t have time for this, orc. You will move or die.” Sterex roared.

    “I would die before I let this operation fall to the likes of you.”

    “So be it!” Sterex swung his sword as if to hit the orc. Immediately before impact, a pillar of purple fire fell from the sky, turning the orc into a pile of smoldering cinders. Sterex was thrown back by the blast. Where the orc had once stood landed a tauren, garbed in branches and leaves from the forest. He motioned at the nearby trees; the younger ones uprooted themselves and began reeking havoc on the camp, the orcs began fleeing in terror. When his work was done and the camp was nothing more than rubble, the trees replanted themselves. The tauren turned around to greet Atsuma.

    “Galb?” Atsuma asked.

    “I don’t care who he is,” Sterex fumed, “it’s only a matter of time before Orgrimmar hears of his outburst and sends soldiers to do to us what he succeeded in doing to that camp. I hate to do this, but we have to go to the safest place I know of, the Blood Angels’ headquarters, Azshara Tower.” Sterex opened his pack and took out a set of burnt-red, spiked armor. “Put these on, they belonged to the Blood Angels’ best alliance slayer, you’ll need them. The helm was destroyed in the moment of his death.”

    “That’s fine,” Atsuma said.

    As Sterex led Atsuma and Galbatorix, into Azshara, Atsuma explained who Sterex was. Galbatorix also explained how he came upon his armor and skill in nature magic. He also explained that he couldn’t be allowed anywhere near the abuse of nature, and what would happen if he was. “Here we are,” Sterex said. they were standing in front of a blood-elf who appeared to be mumbling about meeting his master.

    “Who’s the nut?” Atsuma asked, referring to the blood-elf.

    “Him? He’s a guard undercover for the Blood Angels, and is in charge of protecting the entrance to our headquarters. Just talk to him and do what he asks.”

    The three of them fulfilled the guard’s wishes, and were teleported to a pentacle drawn in the dirt high up in the mountainous Bear’s Head area. They followed a path up the nearby cliff and discovered a lone tower in the clearing at the top. “Here we are,” said Sterex, “I’ll introduce you to the members on the way to Elfy’s chamber at the top. That’s Bloody,” Sterex motioned to a blood elf.

    “Why do you call him Bloody?” Atsuma asked.

    “Because, that’s how we found him,” Sterex grinned. He motioned to an orc fidgeting with a strange machine. “This is our engineer, Ratchet,” He indicated a blood elf in glowing golden armor, “and that’s Dec. He’s well trained with a sword, and is amazing when it comes to holy magic. This is Velosandra, a magician skilled in the dark art of demons.” Sterex finally reached the top floor, and indicated a female blood elf in armor similar to Atsuma’s, “and this is Elfy, our leader.”

    “I’m glad we all know who I am. What I’m curious about is, who these people are,” Elfy indicated Atsuma and Galbatorix.

    “I’m Atsuma, and this is Galb,” Atsuma said. “We’ve been through a lot, and need a place to hide out until Orgrimmar, Stormwind, and the EmpirE stop looking for us.”

    “What did you do to get, the strongest alliance forces chasing you? Not to mention the most powerful horde capital in Kalimdor.”

    Atsuma summed up their adventures to Elfy.

    “Sterex, fetch them a set of tabards and some decent weapons.”

    “But Elfy, how do we know they can be trusted. After what they’ve been through, how do we know they won’t betray us to one of the alliance forces that want them, and us, dead?”

    “We can’t know, in any case they know of our location. We can’t let them leave without joining us. Thank you for your service by the way, the mission went wonderfully. I doubt the EmpirE will be able to recover properly from the loss of their leader. Atsuma, Galb, return to me once you’re properly equipped. I’ll give you your assignments.”

    Atsuma and Galb followed Sterex down the tower to the chest that served as the Blood Angels’ treasury. Atsuma picked two swords, to replace the one he lost. Galb chose a wooden staff that had huge pink crystals jutting from its crown. Flowers bloomed and faded along its length. The tabards they received were solid black with a red border. They had a red droplet at their center, the emblem of the Blood Angels.

    Atsuma and Galb made their way to Elfy’s chamber. “Glad you finally made it,” Elfy said, “now, your assignment. From what you told me, you are being chased by the EmpirE. Take out their officer, make them fear you. Report to me when you’ve accomplished your task.”

    “Yes Elfy,” Atsuma and Gal said in unison.

    Elfy snapped her fingers and in a moment a magician was standing beside her. “You know what to do,” Elfy said.

    The magician summoned a rift, handed them both a whistle, and instructed that Galb and Atsuma step through the rift. Once on the other side they discovered they weren’t in Kalimdor, or even Azeroth. They had been taken to a place called the Outlands. The rift quickly sealed itself leaving them stranded in the Blade’s Edge Mountains.

    Atsuma blew his whistle and was shocked when a wyvern dove out of the sky and hovered next to him. “Well, I guess we know how we’re going to find our target,”

    Galbatorix, not trusting that the wyverns would be rideable, tried to change into a bird. It worked; the smoke and light faded and he was flying. As they flew, Galb searched the ground for their target. Galb spotted him; the EmpirE officer was approaching what appeared to be a pile of metal, commonly known as Toshley’s Station. Galb folded his wings and dive bombed the ground, Atsuma tried to get his wyvern to do the same, only to fall off as he leaned forward. Galb snapped open his wings and flew over to catch Atsuma before he made impact. When they landed Galb returned to his true form.

    “So, I see some people just can’t seem to stay out of trouble,” the officer sneered at Atsuma and Galb. “I’ve wanted to do this since you escaped from us in Stormwind. Looks like I’ll get a chance.”

    Galbatorix unleashed a tide of moonfire on the officer. The officer wiped the soot off his face and pulled out Atsuma’s old sword. He began to advance; Atsuma and Galb began to retreat. They stumbled into a cave, and the officer jumped in after them. Atsuma unsheathed his swords, and the fight was on. Despite Atsuma’s apparent advantage, the officer parried all his strikes, and landed some of his own. Galbatorix used his newfound magic to heal Atsuma’s wounds, but despite their combined efforts, the officer struck Atsuma to the ground.

    “Now then, time for a steak,” the officer said, cackling madly. Galb changed and took flight. The officer put his index and middle fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. A netherdrake crashed through the roof of the cave, and was quickly mounted by the officer. As he gave chase to Galb, Atsuma struggled to his feet and threw poison laden daggers at the netherdrake, damaging its wings. The officer paid no attention, intent on killing Galb he careened after him. Galb flew in a straight line toward a cliff, long razor sharp spikes protruded from it. At the last moment he swerved straight up. The officer didn’t have a chance; his mount couldn’t fly with its ruined wings and impaled itself on the spikes. The officer himself fell to his death on the rocks below. Galb flew down and retrieved Atsuma’s sword.

    Galb returned to Atsuma, returned his beastly sword, and quickly healed his wounds. Once they exited the cave, they noticed that Toshley’s Station wasn’t just a pile of twisted metal. It was a workshop dedicated to gnome engineering. And the gnomes seemed to recognize Atsuma and Galb. “Atsuma, think about this. Is it honestly worth what we’ve been through, just to punt a gnome.”

    As if they were being directly spoken to, one of the gnomes waddled over to Atsuma. “That’s him, avenge the Gnome Rights Movement!” It chirped.

    Atsuma abruptly used his sword to send the gnome flying. “Ya, it’s worth it,” he said. Grinning, Atsuma and Galb charged into Toshley’s Station, gnomes flying in all directions.