Maybe the Shadow Hunter? Kul'thran pondered. The Shadow Hunter is basically a priest and a hunter combined. But you have to be a hunter first to receive that training. And the teenage troll's path seemed to be the one heading towards the priesthood. Wearing a cloth robe and swinging a staff around to chant spells just did not appeal to Kul'thran. It was action and strategy that appealed to him more, but how would he apply that to a spiritual path?
Recently, a human encampment had appeared on the western regions of the islands. Sen'jin had put a restriction that no trolls were to enter that area for the sake of their lives. The humans had been hounding the trolls for days with their patrols. There was nothing serious in terms of casualities, but they were an unwanted thorn in the tribe's side.
Worse things were happening, however; a group of murlocs--tiny half-man, half-fish creatures--had become increasingly hostile to the trolls had been capturing or killing trolls that had wandered too far from the village. Since the murlocs came in mass numbers, only the berserkers of the tribe were able to handle themselves and survive. Fortunately, while Kul'thran was wandering from home, he was staying within a fifty-foot distance of the village, so he would not get lost or captured. A murloc or two might come to attack him, but no large force of murlocs had ever assaulted the village.
While he was pondering this into his mind, a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. He looked over, ready to defend himself from one of those cursed murlocs, when he realized it was only Vol'jin that had grabbed him. Uh oh... I'm in real trouble now!
"I would be scoldin' ya now, but somemons have come ashore, Kul'thran," he said hastily. "Father be wantin' us ta greet them. Dey be strange, but seem friendly enough..." he added with slight suspicion in his voice. He looked back at Kul'thran and patted him on the shoulder. "Come, this way, mon." He motioned the teenage troll to follow him.
Vol'jin, with his red hair and wooden plaudrens was dressed in his typical Shadow Hunter armor. He wore some studded leather across his legs and carried a Shadow Hunter throwing-blade. It was a magical double-bladed weapon that returned to its owner when thrown and could be used in melee combat.
It was strange; despite the fact that Kul'thran and Vol'jin had been raised under the same parent, either thought of the other as a brother, even an adopted one. Vol'jin and Kul'thran had never once referred to each other as 'brother' throughout their entire lives. Instead, Vol'jin just felt like a second parent to Kul'thran--always telling him what to do, correcting him when he was wrong, and so forth. This was the case because Vol'jin was many years older than Kul'thran, in his late thirties, while his father was in his last years. Sen'jin wouldn't live much longer whether he was killed, or if he slept.
Vol'jin led Kul'thran over towards a hill where he saw his foster father standing on a distant hill. As the two trolls ascended the hill, the teenage troll heard Sen'jin speak.
"Welcome to our island, strangers," he said. Kul'thran wondered exactly who was talking to. He did know it was someone from the group ashore, but who were these people? They couldn't humans, taking in the recent invasion of the human army.
As Vol'jin and Kul'thran got to the top of the hill, they stood beside their father. Kul'thran looked below to see damaged seaships near the southeastern shores. There, were many men with green skin like forest trolls. Some carried weapons and seemed to be guarding those who did not, and were busy trying to repair the ships.
Kul'thran looked at his father. "Who are dey?" he asked.
Sen'jin turned his head and smiled. "Orcs, Kul'thran. Orcs."
Kul'thran and Vol'jin did a double-take at each other and then looked at Sen'jin with shock. "Orcs!?"
"Ya mean da same ones dat were fightin' da humans fer several years now?" Vol'jin asked. He was well-versed. The trolls had lore on the first and some on the second wars between the forces known as the Human Alliance and the Orcish Hordes. But many of the Darkspear tribe had dismissed the orcs' existence as a myth. How could creatures from another world enter into their homes?
Yet, now, they were looking upon a group of the very horde, yet, they did not seem as blood-thirsty or vicious like in the books. This group seemed, while armed and alert, tranquil and dignified. One of them stood out among all the others to Kul'thran. He was a large orc who rode upon a black wolf. He wore heavy plate mail and carried a shining hammer in his right arm. He had thick black hair, but the troll could not see what color the orc's eyes were at this distance. Nevertheless, there was something about him that awed Kul'thran. It made the troll want to run up and talk to the orc, ask him questions about anything, but it seemed silly to do so.
"Kul'thran?"
He gathered himself together, and shook himself before looking over. Sen'jin had called his name. "You all right, son?"
"Ya, I be fine," Kul'thran responded. "Who is that orc there?" he asked, pointing at the one with the hammer. Suddenly, a commanding voice echoed from the shores below, it was coming from the orc that had captured his attention.
"Is there something wrong?" the orc asked curiously. He must have noticed Kul'thran pointing at him. The orc was extremely skilled with the way he talked. Not at all from what Kul'thran expected from an orc, there was no accent whatsoever.
Kul'thran nearly fell over at the sound of his voice, but Vol'jin steadied him by grabbing his arm. "Tanks," he said to Vol'jin. What was this grand admiration that filled Kul'thran's heart for this orc? This was the first time he had seen him, and yet, he felt the powerful aura from this orc. There was honor, humility, grandeur, and heroic strength that Kul'thran could feel. He almost wanted to worship the orc, yet his spiritual side restrained him.
"No, no, dere's nothin' wrong, Sir Thrall," Sen'jin said loudly as his old voice could muster. "You're very welcome here; though, we be havin' a serious problem."
"What's that, Sen'jin?" Thrall asked.
"It is actually two problems," Sen'jin explained carefully. "First, while you be welcome 'ere, I warn ya againist a terrible plague dat harasses us. A group of murlocs claimin' ta be led by a Sea Witch haff been constantly molestin' us from time to time. They may come after you and your people, too."
"Your warning is well noted and well received," Thrall responded with a nod. "What is your other problem?"
"Humans," Sen'jin merely said. Thrall's face grew grim, and an orc beside him, one with a large axe seemed to grow angry at the mere mention of the race's name. "They have been--"
Sen'jin was cut off by the other orc. "Warchief, we should annihilate these pathetic humans while we can!" He looked more aggressive than Thrall. Although he was demanding the destruction of an enemy so vehemently, Kul'thran could tell it was out of racial hatred and not necessarily blood-thirst.
"Hold off there!" Thrall commanded. "The trolls' leader was still speaking!" The orcish Warchief turned back to Sen'jin. "Excuse me for that. What were you saying again, honorable Sen'jin?"
"I was sayin'... the humans have been harassin' us with their patrols," he explained. "However, they seem to be mindin' their own business for the most part. Perhaps they be shipwreck'd here, too, like you be."
"Hmm... that seems a little convenient," Thrall said, rubbing his chin. "We'll have to destroy the base as soon as possible to get rid of one of your problems. I know that once they find us, they may attempt to attack and even destroy us."
"If ya be needin' any support, let us know! It's our island, after all!" Vol'jin offered. Sen'jin sighed, yet said nothing in response.
Thrall smiled. "Thank you, and if you need any protection from those murlocs, let us know as well. We might as well be comrades in arms while we're here." He saluted Sen'jin and the others and then said, "good luck to you!" before riding back to his base near the shore.
§
That evening Kul'thran crept out of his home quietly down to the shore to see the orc base. He managed to get out of the village successfully by sneaking over the walls and into the woods. It was dangerous because of all the attacks, but he really wanted to talk to the Warchief in person. It seemed like a stupid thing to do, considering how dangerous it was and that Kul'thran had no idea what to say to Thrall in the first place.
During the day, the orcs had already laid siege to the human encampment. The Darkspear Tribe had sent a small group of their hunters to assist, but that's all Sen'jin could afford to send at the time as he was busy cleaning a defiled fountain. It didn't matter to Kul'thran, as long as the murlocs and humans were gone.
The orcs's base was becoming more and more fortified by the hour, and more troops were being trained. Kul'thran could see high towers erected above the ground with diagonal, defensive spikes encompassing the bottom of each tower and building. Each tower was armed with multiple archers within the top. Very intelligent war strategies from the teenage troll's perspective. At a distance, he could see some sort of catapult-like weapon being built by the hands of worker orcs.
Orcs on wolves with large swords and orcs on foot with large axes patrolled the open areas between the towers, probably waiting to crush any foes that came into their sight. In the middle of the camp, Kul'thran saw three troll hunters in the middle of the camp, they seemed to be conversing with one another. So far, no one had noticed the teenage troll yet.
Kul'thran was hiding in the trees to the north of the base. He didn't want to be noticed, yet he had to get inside the base somehow. Since it was dangerous, Kul'thran carried a small set of pouches, containing tricks and trap-ware in case he was attacked. It was handy to have around and sometimes it made him feel more like a hunter or a rogue than a priest-in-training.
However, he was not quite roguish enough as he stepped forward and suddenly slipped on the wet grass from the heavy rain into the orc encampment. "WHOOA!" he cried before slamming into the ground below. "Ugh..." he grabbed his head tenderly and looked to the sight. His eyes shot open in shock as he saw that he had barely avoided being skewered alive by one of the tower's defensive spikes.
Then, a strong arm grabbed him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. It was one of the orcish warriors, and he did not look pleased at all to see Kul'thran. "What are you doing here!? Explain yourself now!" He shook the teenage troll with such force that it made him dizzy.
"Ugh... stop, mon!" he exclaimed. "I thought we be allies, sheesh! I just be lookin' fer... Thr-- I mean yer Warchief." The orc placed him on the ground, still growling at him. "What? What be wrong?"
"You should be in your village unless your shaman sent you to assist!" He sized the troll up. "Yet, you hardly look like a warrior. More like a child who's lost his way!"
Shaman? What is a shaman? Kul'thran thought curiously. He felt a little offended at being called a 'child,' and stood right up towards the orc's face. "'Child!?' I be no child! I almost be an adult troll!" he retorted. Unfortunately, the orc only became more angry and again grabbed Kul'thran by the throat and threw him at the hunters. "Dang it...!" the troll cursed, grinding his teeth together.
The trolls instantly recognized him and asked him series of questions without giving him time to respond.
"What are ya doin' here, mon?" the first one asked.
"Well... I--"
"Don'cha know it be dangerous 'round here?" the second one asked.
"Hey, it's--"
"Ya should be at home, Kul'thran! Why did ya leave?" the third one asked.
"Dang it! Dat's enough! Gimme a chance ta speak, ya?" he exclaimed, not realizing that many of the orcs were watching the squabble. It took a moment, but then Kul'thran noticed all the eyes and his face went pale, he had never been in front of so many people before and now he wanted to shrink away and hide somewhere.
"What's all this noise?" said a strong, familiar voice from within the orcish stronghold. Kul'thran turned around to see Thrall walk out of the stronghold, eying the situation curiously and carefully. "Men, get back to your posts!" he commanded. "We don't want the humans to destroy us!" Immediately, the orcs returned to their patrols and left the four trolls and Thrall alone.
"Eh? I thought you were wit' the assault force, warchief?" one of the hunters asked.
"I will be there in the morning to finish the job," he replied. However, he raised his brow curiously. "But what's going on here? What is causing so much distress?"
The trolls pushed Kul'thran forward and all said at the same time, "him!"
"He snuck over 'ere ta cause trouble, as usual, mon," one of the hunters said.
Kul'thran's face went even paler if that was possible. He was nervous, scared, and didn't know what was going to happen to him. Was he going to be severely punished? Now, it seemed like that trying to get an audience with Thrall was total disaster and a horrible mistake on Kul'thran's part.
"Trouble?" Thrall repeated. "What do you mean?"
"No, no... not fer trouble," Kul'thran suddenly said. He crawled up from the ground slowly to look at Thrall. "I... uh..." Now how was he going to ask for permission in this situation? He felt uncomfortably awkward, and wished he could just run away to his home, but there was no way he could do that now. "Dis is goin' ta sound stupid, but I... uh... wanted to talk ta ya, Sir Thrall."
There was an uncomfortable silence for several seconds before the trolls and several orcs burst out laughing (although Thrall did not). Kul'thran's heart sunk and he felt like he should just leave the base. He wasn't wanted there, and he would not get to talk to the warchief.
"Ha ha ha," one of the hunters jeered. "Dat's funny, Kul'thran. Real funny, mon."
"It dun be a joke..." Kul'thran said a little defensively. "I jus'...." he didn't know what to say.
Thrall raised his hand and the orcs went silent. The trolls kept laughing until they realized what the warchief meant by his signal. Kul'thran looked up curiously, wondering why Thrall was signaling for silence. There was a brief pause before he looked at Kul'thran and spoke.
"I'm sorry, young one," he said to the troll's disappointment. "I am too busy with handling the humans to speak with you now. I was just about to leave for battle." he stopped and paused, peering at the teenage troll. "Hmm... you're the one who pointed at me earlier today, weren't you?"
"Errr...?" Kul'thran looked up sharply. "Jah, I was. I was askin' fath--I mean Sen'jin who ya be." The teenage troll shivered; Thrall had actually spoken directly to him now. "I be meain'... uh... I know now... yer Thrall, da warchief of da Horde, but... I jus'... umm..." It was too much for him to handle. "Did I offend ya?"
Thrall chuckled softly. "No, no, not at all. I am Thrall, Far Seer of the Horde. What is your name, son of Sen'jin?"
So, he figured it out, even if the troll had tried to hide it. Sometimes, he didn't feel like he was the 'son of Sen'jin' because of his relationship to the chieftain. Regardless, coming from Thrall, it sounded more dignified. "Kul'thran, priest-in-training, of da Darkspear tribe," he said, imitating Thrall's way of introducing himself. At last, he was beginning to feel at ease with the orcs and their warchief (although he was still a little blown away by Thrall's presence).
"Kul'thran," Thrall repeated quietly. He nodded and then said to the teenage troll, "I think we should speak at another time." The trolls and some of the orcs gave the warchief shocked stares with hanging jaws. Thrall ignored them and was about to speak again when a loud trollic voice came from the gates of the base.
"Help! Da humons haff attacked da tribal village!"
A wounded troll staggered to through the entrance of the base. Immediately, the guards used their strength to support her damaged body. She gasped, and stretched out a hand to Thrall. "Help us! Please, Master Orc! Da humons have raided da village and are destroying it... please save us!"
"Warchief?" The grunt on the left on woman said, looking at Thrall.
"It seems there is a change of plans," he said decisively. "How many of them?"
"I... dun... know..." she stammered.
"Save yer strength fer yer regeneration!" one of the hunters said.
"No, I be doomed anyway," she said. The female troll gave a weak smile. "I tink dere are about ten of dem, our warriors were out hunting... but dey may not be makin' in back in time to stop da burnin'!"
"They're burning the village!?" Thrall exclaimed. "How wicked. These humans are no peace-loving people. They are like the ones who hate those that are different from them!" He pointed to the troll hunters, three grunts, and a rider. "You, come with me to the Darkspear Tribe's village! We have no time to waste!"
"Wait! I'll come with!" Kul'thran said loudly. "It be ma village, too!"
"No," Thrall said. "Stay here, you'll be safer here, Kul'thran."
Even with his dominant voice, the teenage troll refused. "I have ta go. Ma father is dere. I should 'elp, no matter what!"
Thrall paused for a moment and then said, "very well... stay close to me!" he whistled and a large black wolf appeared from the kennel. Thrall mounted it and then motioned to Kul'thran. "Get on, quickly!"
The teenage troll nodded and climbed up the mount, with an orcish yell, Thrall led his troops to the village while commanding someone to get the female troll to a shaman. Kul'thran held onto the sides of the wolf as hard as he could. He hoped he wasn't annoying the creature, but it seemed undeterred as it swiftly ran towards the village.
Within less than a minute, the orcs arrived at the village, all armed and prepped to take down the human invaders. The trolls were being held at bay by the humans, who had encircled the troll villagers.The humans were all men in armor with swords and large shields, they looked ready to fall upon their remaining prey.
There were a few hunters that had just arrived with the orcs from the outskirts, armed with throwing spears, bows, and hand-axes. They charged in with loud roars, catching the humans attention for a short time, but Kul'thran saw the sudden fear in their eyes when they saw the orcs.
"You dishonorable dogs!" Thrall roared. "Your time has come!" He raised his hammer into the air and, to Kul'thran's awe, lightning shot out of it, slamming into one of the humans, electrocuting him with fierce thunder. The lightning danced from foot soldier to foot soldier, frying about five of them. "Onward, my men! For Doomhammer!"
While they had survived the initial strike, the humans found themselves being attacked by large, heavily muscular orcs with large battle axes, and two riders. Immediately, they fell upon the humans with loud battle cries. The humans responded with their own and ran at the orcs. There was a loud clash of metal with so much force that Kul'thran fell off Thrall's mount and landed on his rump with a loud thud!
He would have lost consciousness if he hadn't almost been smashed in the face by a wolf's foot. Rolling aside to avoid getting his face slashed by the claws, Kul'thran stood up quickly to watch the intense battle before him.
Thrall slammed his hammer into one of the human soldier's head, crushing his helmet and his skull with a loud crack! The warriors kept making clean cuts into each other, back and forth while the troll hunters stayed behind the orcs and threw their spears towards humans with exposed skin from broken armor.
There was a sudden, familiar roar from the entrance of the village that Kul'thran recognized. He turned around to see the berserking visage of Mahka'jor Spearstrider rushing in with two large, polished spears in each hand. "Get out of ma village or die!" he bellowed, jumping into the fray and skewering two humans without any difficulty.
Kul'thran was relieved to see Mahka'jor there. Not only did that mean that Vol'jin and the others were about to arrive, but also, the Darkspear Tribe's hero had arrived to save his village with the assistance of the mighty orc warchief.
During the raging chaos, Vol'jin and the other shadow hunters arrived at last to heal the wounded and curse their enemies. Without any hesitation, Vol'jin immediately turned one of the humans into a helpless frog (who was trampled upon by the riders).
The humans were clearing losing the fight and began to flee. The orcs, and troll warriors began to hunt them down as they ran for the village's exit. Even the villagers were caught up in the violent atmosphere, and started throwing stones at their running enemies. Kul'thran managed to knock one in the back of his head with a large stone, making him feel satisfied.
He ran to follow the humans, thinking to cut them off. Thrall seemed to be thinking the same thing and joined him. However, as soon as they reached the humans, they found them entangled in thick web-like rope traps. The human soldiers struggled to cut at the cords, but could not slice through.
"What? Who captured them?" Thrall asked.
His question was shortly answered as he and Kul'thran were suddenly entangled in the same traps, wrapped up in tight web-like rope cords. Thrall struggled with his hammer, trying to bust the ropes open and his wolf gnawed at the strings, but nothing they could do would break free. Kul'thran looked around, everyone in the village was being taken captive by the unknown attacker... except he knew who it was.
"Da murlocs have come..." He said soberly.
Thrall cursed. "They used our fight as a distraction!"
Soon, the small, fish-like creatures with legs and arms appeared all over the village. They were everywhere, and outnumbered both the trolls, humans, and orcs combined. One murloc spoke to Thrall. "It's worthless!" it said in perfect common, except for the awful hiss. "You're our prisoners now, and we will do what we want with you..."
And with that... Kul'thran, Thrall, and the others including Vol'jin, Mahka'jor, and Senjin, were dragged and led into a dark cave. Suddenly, Kul'thran felt something hard slam into the back of his head, knocking him out completely, and sending him into darkness; a world of darkness with murlocs waiting to sacrifice him to their precious Sea Witch. Now, he could only wait to see what happened next.
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