Akadi
06-08-2008, 08:58 PM
Volume 1 - Battles of Alterac Valley
Alterac Valley. A picturesque, scenic location. Huge, frozen waterfals; snow-capped mountains hundreds of miles high; ash-white snow...
All of it, hidden behind smoke, flame, and blood.
None of these things crossed the hunters mind as he threw himself into the crimson snow, the thin hairs covering his blue skin standing on end at attention as a chain of elemental fury flew over his head. He pushed himself up, spying the blue, kilt-wearing bastard gathering up more electrical energy in his hands. The hunter didnt give him time to use it, though, making a short motion with his hand. The next instant, there was a flash of light, and a huge, almost-draconic beast appeared behind the shaman, roaring and causing him to fail in his casting. A horned head tore into his back, causing the goat-like warrior to throw his head back and scream; two arrows through the throat silenced him.
Akadi slowly stood up, then shook the snow off him. He spied a glimmer of gold at his feet and knelt down, picking up the object. Raising it to a crimson eye, he examined it; a pretty ring someone had lost. A excellent gift, he mused, slipping it into a discreet pocket in his pauldron, ignoring the screams, howls, and roars of kodo, wolf, horse, and who knew what else as it charged past him, inches to spare on either side.
One beast, a black scaled, armored raptor pushed through the crowd, and he caught it's reins as it ran past, pulling himself up onto it's back. His bare, two-toed foot lashed out and caught a dwarf in the bearded chin, throwing him away from the mount and his would-be-theft. Ivory flashed, and the muffled curse was silenced by the angry lizards forceful removal of the dwarfs throat.
Akadi looked around as his mount devoured the corpse. To his right, a cliff going up to a higher path; to his left, a sheer drop to the lakebed below. A few ivory harpies perched in the tree's cackling as they watched the bloodshed. A handful of alliance warriors, most wearign the red-and-gold of the Stormpike, desperatly fought to hold back the avalaunche of silver and blue that was the Frostwolf clan.
A tiny little pair of gnomes, brother and sister by the look of their brilliantly pink hair, fought back to back, spinning and slicing through the warriors of the horde, tripping and stabbign those that fell. The two bit off more than they could chew however, a massive, horned tauren bellowing in pain and throwing himself flat upon the pair. Three more warriors out of the fight.
A elf lithely drew arrows near the back of the formation, sending them with near-perfect precision into the fighters below. Behind her, a robed human chanted, golden energy shielding him, her, and healing the others. Two lines of elf, draenei, dwarf and human held back the warriors of the horde, a mixture of green orc, brown tauren, and blue troll. The pair were causing massive damage, and caused the troll at the back of the horde formation to grin.
He whistled, tugging the raptors head out of it's meal and directing it towards the enemies. It screeched anger at not being allowed it's meal, but the hunter ignored it, sending it charging towards the skirmish. As it neared them, he rose onto his feet on it's back, pulling his bow off his back. A flick of the wrist unfolded the purple frame, a disk glowing with runes floating before his grip. He raised the weapon, and the disk rose to eye height, showing him where his arrow would fly. He drew one of the Iron, Nagrand-forged arrows, nocked it, and fired it into the mass, just as the raptor stopped.
He leapt off the raptors back, his now-free string-hand grabbing the shoulder of a Tauren forcing himself through the crowd, and pushed off, flipping over the alliance forces. He landed in a half crouch, right before the elf, and didnt bother looking up; he just stood up and forwards, bashing his bald head into her chin and throwing her back. Her friend, the priest, tried to turn and heal her, but a tiny blue crystal flew at his head, exploding and encasing him within a block of ice.
The huntress slowly, grogily pushed herself up, holding her head and letting out a moan of pain,before suddenly leaping at the troll. Akadi dropped his bow, drawing the heavy waraxe off his back and barely blocked the twin-slash of her swords. She was faster than one of the tribal drummers, he thought, backstepping and doing his best to dodge the rain of blows aimed at him. His foot landed on a discarded limb, and he yelped, slipping onto his back and conviniently dodging a blow that would have severed his head.
Landing on his back, his feet shot out and caught her in the middle, forcing the air from her lungs, before the toes curled and grabbed hold. He rolled, forcing her to move with it or be broken in half, and pushed himself up, overtop her now. Her hands grabbed his wrists, keeping him from bringing the waraxe down any further, and for a moment, she grinned triumpahntly. The next moment, it was lost in a spray of blood from her mouth as the trolls head darted forwards, twin, ivory tusks jammed in her throat.
He looked her in the eye, and for a brief moment, felt a sort of kinship with her, a fellow warrior on the field of battle. The next moment, it was lost as he tore his head away, opening her neck and releasing a spray of red warpaint to his contrast the blue of his face.
He looked towards where the priest had been, but received a face full of shadow energy, falling back and losing his weapon. He rolled, barely avoiding a second bolt, as the human waved his hand desperatly, launching hundreds of bolts of the magic at the troll. Akadi growled angrily and rolled back, his head pounding a angry retort for this abuse it had suffered.
Black-steel covered hands lifted and caught the next bolt, burning in agony, but the troll didnt care. He began to run forwards, ducking and weaving around the attacks, his hands lashing out. His left grabbed the mans attacking hand, the other his throat, lifting him up. The human looked as if it wanted to scream, a sound which was suddenly very real in the trolls head. He shut his eyes and bit his tounge, fear creeping into his body fully.... then it was gone.
Pure, unrelentless rage filled his body, and he slowly looked up at the human, his red eyes now a brilliant violet. He twisted his left hand, breaking the mans arm, and reached back with that hand, growling. A long, perfect blade formed in his hand, the white steel glowing purple, and then the blade was crimson, thrust through the mans chest. He held the blade there for several moments, then let go of it and the human, both tumbling down the cliff towards the waiting harpies below. The blade shattered where it landed, but the troll didnt care, turning back to watch the fight.
Raptor and warp stalker pushed their way through, moving up to the hunter. The latter was filled with the same rage as the troll, but in both it was abating slowly, the stalker returning to it's normal shape. He patted both's scaly hides and looked up the slope. A onslaught of Stormpike reinforcements charged down the hill at the horde, and it didnt take a gnomish engineer to tell that the Horde couldnt win this one. The troll looked up the hill behind the horde side and grinned, flames leaping out of the stone structure resting there. He yelled the words 'We go' it! Fall back!' to the horde, then reached up and clicked a small medallion on his chest.
The silver wolf's head glowed for a moment, then stole Akadi, the Raptor, and the Warp Stalker away from the combat for some well-deserved rest, food, and beer.
Alterac Valley. A picturesque, scenic location. Huge, frozen waterfals; snow-capped mountains hundreds of miles high; ash-white snow...
All of it, hidden behind smoke, flame, and blood.
None of these things crossed the hunters mind as he threw himself into the crimson snow, the thin hairs covering his blue skin standing on end at attention as a chain of elemental fury flew over his head. He pushed himself up, spying the blue, kilt-wearing bastard gathering up more electrical energy in his hands. The hunter didnt give him time to use it, though, making a short motion with his hand. The next instant, there was a flash of light, and a huge, almost-draconic beast appeared behind the shaman, roaring and causing him to fail in his casting. A horned head tore into his back, causing the goat-like warrior to throw his head back and scream; two arrows through the throat silenced him.
Akadi slowly stood up, then shook the snow off him. He spied a glimmer of gold at his feet and knelt down, picking up the object. Raising it to a crimson eye, he examined it; a pretty ring someone had lost. A excellent gift, he mused, slipping it into a discreet pocket in his pauldron, ignoring the screams, howls, and roars of kodo, wolf, horse, and who knew what else as it charged past him, inches to spare on either side.
One beast, a black scaled, armored raptor pushed through the crowd, and he caught it's reins as it ran past, pulling himself up onto it's back. His bare, two-toed foot lashed out and caught a dwarf in the bearded chin, throwing him away from the mount and his would-be-theft. Ivory flashed, and the muffled curse was silenced by the angry lizards forceful removal of the dwarfs throat.
Akadi looked around as his mount devoured the corpse. To his right, a cliff going up to a higher path; to his left, a sheer drop to the lakebed below. A few ivory harpies perched in the tree's cackling as they watched the bloodshed. A handful of alliance warriors, most wearign the red-and-gold of the Stormpike, desperatly fought to hold back the avalaunche of silver and blue that was the Frostwolf clan.
A tiny little pair of gnomes, brother and sister by the look of their brilliantly pink hair, fought back to back, spinning and slicing through the warriors of the horde, tripping and stabbign those that fell. The two bit off more than they could chew however, a massive, horned tauren bellowing in pain and throwing himself flat upon the pair. Three more warriors out of the fight.
A elf lithely drew arrows near the back of the formation, sending them with near-perfect precision into the fighters below. Behind her, a robed human chanted, golden energy shielding him, her, and healing the others. Two lines of elf, draenei, dwarf and human held back the warriors of the horde, a mixture of green orc, brown tauren, and blue troll. The pair were causing massive damage, and caused the troll at the back of the horde formation to grin.
He whistled, tugging the raptors head out of it's meal and directing it towards the enemies. It screeched anger at not being allowed it's meal, but the hunter ignored it, sending it charging towards the skirmish. As it neared them, he rose onto his feet on it's back, pulling his bow off his back. A flick of the wrist unfolded the purple frame, a disk glowing with runes floating before his grip. He raised the weapon, and the disk rose to eye height, showing him where his arrow would fly. He drew one of the Iron, Nagrand-forged arrows, nocked it, and fired it into the mass, just as the raptor stopped.
He leapt off the raptors back, his now-free string-hand grabbing the shoulder of a Tauren forcing himself through the crowd, and pushed off, flipping over the alliance forces. He landed in a half crouch, right before the elf, and didnt bother looking up; he just stood up and forwards, bashing his bald head into her chin and throwing her back. Her friend, the priest, tried to turn and heal her, but a tiny blue crystal flew at his head, exploding and encasing him within a block of ice.
The huntress slowly, grogily pushed herself up, holding her head and letting out a moan of pain,before suddenly leaping at the troll. Akadi dropped his bow, drawing the heavy waraxe off his back and barely blocked the twin-slash of her swords. She was faster than one of the tribal drummers, he thought, backstepping and doing his best to dodge the rain of blows aimed at him. His foot landed on a discarded limb, and he yelped, slipping onto his back and conviniently dodging a blow that would have severed his head.
Landing on his back, his feet shot out and caught her in the middle, forcing the air from her lungs, before the toes curled and grabbed hold. He rolled, forcing her to move with it or be broken in half, and pushed himself up, overtop her now. Her hands grabbed his wrists, keeping him from bringing the waraxe down any further, and for a moment, she grinned triumpahntly. The next moment, it was lost in a spray of blood from her mouth as the trolls head darted forwards, twin, ivory tusks jammed in her throat.
He looked her in the eye, and for a brief moment, felt a sort of kinship with her, a fellow warrior on the field of battle. The next moment, it was lost as he tore his head away, opening her neck and releasing a spray of red warpaint to his contrast the blue of his face.
He looked towards where the priest had been, but received a face full of shadow energy, falling back and losing his weapon. He rolled, barely avoiding a second bolt, as the human waved his hand desperatly, launching hundreds of bolts of the magic at the troll. Akadi growled angrily and rolled back, his head pounding a angry retort for this abuse it had suffered.
Black-steel covered hands lifted and caught the next bolt, burning in agony, but the troll didnt care. He began to run forwards, ducking and weaving around the attacks, his hands lashing out. His left grabbed the mans attacking hand, the other his throat, lifting him up. The human looked as if it wanted to scream, a sound which was suddenly very real in the trolls head. He shut his eyes and bit his tounge, fear creeping into his body fully.... then it was gone.
Pure, unrelentless rage filled his body, and he slowly looked up at the human, his red eyes now a brilliant violet. He twisted his left hand, breaking the mans arm, and reached back with that hand, growling. A long, perfect blade formed in his hand, the white steel glowing purple, and then the blade was crimson, thrust through the mans chest. He held the blade there for several moments, then let go of it and the human, both tumbling down the cliff towards the waiting harpies below. The blade shattered where it landed, but the troll didnt care, turning back to watch the fight.
Raptor and warp stalker pushed their way through, moving up to the hunter. The latter was filled with the same rage as the troll, but in both it was abating slowly, the stalker returning to it's normal shape. He patted both's scaly hides and looked up the slope. A onslaught of Stormpike reinforcements charged down the hill at the horde, and it didnt take a gnomish engineer to tell that the Horde couldnt win this one. The troll looked up the hill behind the horde side and grinned, flames leaping out of the stone structure resting there. He yelled the words 'We go' it! Fall back!' to the horde, then reached up and clicked a small medallion on his chest.
The silver wolf's head glowed for a moment, then stole Akadi, the Raptor, and the Warp Stalker away from the combat for some well-deserved rest, food, and beer.