Greymuck hated these woods. He had never been truly comfortable in the deserts of Kalidor even though he had spent most of his adult life in the wastelands between Ogrimmar, Steamwheedle Port and the Shadowprey Village. They were too bright and dry. Jungles and the deep forests spoke to him more deeply. He could have come back home to tropical Vale anytime but there were too many painful memories tied to the lush jungle. Ashenvale might habe become a comfortable spot to abide but the he had not spent long there. He convinced himself the reason he left was due to the degenerate elves and ceaseless logging by the Horde. If he being was honest with himself he would have admitted he did not want to settle down anywhere. He had had a home once. One that could not be replaced.
The warped nagas along Zoram Strand were bad enough but they were a small corruption of the world compared to this place. This twisted land repelled him. While Duskwood was by no means the barren dry lands he had known across the ocean, he would have happily laid waste to it if he could. The land was sick. Cool shade became vile gloom here. The creatures of the wood had been corrupted, mutating them into monstrosities. Undeath seeped from every aspect of nature.
It figured that humans would choose to abide in this diseased forest.
"Never shoulda let dat orc talk me inta crossin' da ocean. Nothin' good ever comes to us here any more eh Aiya?”, mumbled the troll. The spotted cat at his side gave him a quizzical look. Greymuck glared back at the shifted tauren with such rancor the cheetah turned away quickly and sprinted further to the front. Greymuck scowled after him. The stupid cow had better learn soon to mind his own business.
Tohma loped ahead of Greymuck, keeping the troll between him and Zeabos. Greymuck alone would have made the tauren edgy. He was more vicious than any orc. His moods at best were hostile; usually they were murderous. The hunter hadn't threatened to kill hiim yet today but Tohma felt as though any error in dealing with the troll could very well land him into a fight for his life. Taurens interacted with one another far differently than their allies among the Horde. Tohma had often seen the other races bully and tussle, swearing violence upon each other. More often than not the orcs and trolls were just blustering, like young wolves in a pack. There was no such false posturing with Greymuck. If Tohma truly angered the scared tracker, which seemed far too easy to do, Greymuck would murder him without hesitation.
Even so the druid could have handled the tension between himself and the troll. The hyena was a nightmare incarnate. Twoe days ago the three of them left Grom'Gol. Tohma shifted into his cheetah form and set off in the lead. Seconds after the stockade vanished behind the trees, he was smashed to the ground. Searing pain ripped into his shoulders. Blood and saliva sprayed the trail as Zeabos tore a huge chuck of flesh from his back. A few more seconds and those jaws would have crushed his spine. Most hunters call off their partners with a command. Greymuck tackled his. The beast was clearly stronger and probably heavier but the troll wrestled the hyena to the ground, speaking in his jungle dialect the whole time. Zeabos laid not one claw on Greymuck in all the time it flailed and lunged to finish off the tauren. Eventually it settled down growling deeply but no longer seeking to resume its attack.
"Joo gonna live Bull?", was all the troll said.
"Earth Mother Preserve Me! What was that for?"
"He usually betta behaved. Zeabos know the difference between enemy an a nuisance. He was just makin' sure joo get left behind. Is my fault. I shoulda known he was gonna try someting. So you done? He took petty big hunk outta joo back. Joo head back ta Grom'Gol. I'm sure dey understand. Nobody likes ol' Greymuck an his mutt anaway."
"Rot on you, troll.", thundered the tauren's deep voice. "What you and your cur want don't matter. It was my Chief's wishes for me to go with you and there is nothing you or Zeabos can do to stop me." Tohma immediately felt stupid for blurting out such an inane response but the pain in his shoulder had swamped his reason. Greymuck on the other hand smiled.
"So joo do got some balls under dat kilt. Was beginnin' ta wonder what kinda milksop I been paired wit. Can joo heal joo wound or do joo need me ta bandage it up?"
Tohma grounded himself and felt a rush of life pour from the thick jungle. So dense was the vegetation and insects swarms he only needed the tiniest fraction from any one being. Still it took three drawings to close the wound. Even then he would need to keep applying rejuvenation to fully heal the bite.
"Joo better leech poisons as well druid. Mangy boy here got a mouth worse den a sewer.", Greymuck remarked chuckling. Tohma barely contained his ire. Druids understood the need to balance one's emotions more than any craft but this was almost too much. The troll was joking about Tohma's near crippling by his beast. Even so the tauren took his advice before reverting once more to his fleet feline form and bounding north alone.
"Well I can't say joo dinna try boy. Looks like da cow ain't such simp as we thought.
The past few days suited Greymuck just fine. Still angry about Zeabos, the druid spoke only when he had to. The hunter was more used to leading than following, but it was nice to let someone else break the trail for a change. It gave him time to think about the mission he had been given. On the surface it seemed a simple enough task. Deliver a message to Warlord Goretooth in the Badlands. Yet there were too many oddities to dismiss this as a simple communiqué run. The first red flag was the fact that Tohma and he were forbidden to take to the air. A wind rider could perform this task in a day instead of the weeks it would take the druid and he to cover the same distance. Another incongruity was that a message from a general to his warlord was being placed in the hands of two un-mounted grunts. Lastly Greymuck knew that Gormug only used him when he had some particularly dire task that needed to be performed. Springing ambushes, infiltrating enemy camps, poison supplies, assassinations, these were Greymuck’s bread and butter. Being a courier was clearly not. All this added up to one conclusion. Some enemy was looking for this packet. Someone with a lot of resources. Enough to watch the Wind Rider Masters and Airship sites and well as be able to tail mounted warriors. So what manner of missive warranted this degree of camouflage? More importantly, what manner of enemy could have spooked the Horde's high officers so?
A hundred feet in front of the troll, some of the same concerns spun through Tohma's head as he ran through the gloom-filled landscape of Duskwood. Between his thoughts and his attention on what might lurk in front of him, he did not notice the mottled form streak up to his flank. The deep growl came from so close behind his ear, Tohma whipped his head to the side only to face the slavering maw and fetid breath of the hyena. Thrown off balance, the druid's paw caught in the turf, sending him somersaulting tail over muzzle. His speed was such that he tumbled a half a dozen times and skidded along the forest floor for many yards more before finally halting. After shaking the dirt and torn grass from his ears and nose, Tohma realized the woods were filled with two voices hooting with laughter. Greymuck was doubled over, chortling madly. Zeabos wiggled with glee, yipping in such a way that it sounded as if the beast was laughing as well. More disturbingly, the hyena danced as though it might pounce any second for what it would surely consider play. Tohma had no doubt he would find "playing" with Zeabos far more painful than fun.
Returning to his true form forestalled that chilling occurrence. It gave him his voice as well. "Knock it off you two. This is Alliance lands." he rumbled. "You want a troop of them to come investigate what demons are cackling in their woods."
"Pahh, let dem come. Dat was de best laugh I had in a long time...... Whoever said kitties always land dey feet never did see joo flyin' ass over end. Dat was de most.... " started the troll before dissolving once more into peels mirth.
"I'm glad to amuse you so. Now can you keep it down and tell me why Zeabos was growling in my ear."
"Joo shoulda seen jooself... Oh stop joo scowlin' 'Dere ain't much garrisoned out we be needing to worry about... Joo gotta admit that was hysterical. Okay Okay. I sent joker here up to tell ya we be campin' up on dat ridge. Follow me oh clumsy one."
Tohma shook his head and tagged along after the snickering lunatic he was stuck with. The spot to which Greymuck lead him was a deep fold in the hills. "Nobody see us here. Why don't joo go bring down some of dem wolves out dere. I'll make us a bit o fire and cook em up when joo get back."
"Fair enough." replied the tauren strangely puzzled. This was side of the troll he had not seen before. Co-operation? Still, who was he to argue with the first civility had yet received. After drawing strength from the earth, a horned bear ambled away among the trees. Greymuck was right in that not much outside the town of Darkshire was any real threat. He brought down a three wolves in moments taking barely a scratch in the process. When he return to the campsite he found Greymuck had a small fire going. The troll took the carcasses from Tohma. In moments he had them skinned and butchered. The smell of seasoned meat soon filled the hollow. Greymuck shared out the food, taking far less that either the Tauren or Zaebos.
To Tohma's surprise the food was delicious. The succulent meal was so out of place coming from the vile-tempered troll, Tohma completely forgot his reservations. "This is excellent, Greymuck. The best meal I've eaten in weeks."
"Tanks. Dis is nuting. Wait till joo try my gumbo. Now dat will put some hair on joo chest..... well in joo case, way more hair."
Tohma couldn't help but chuckle. For the next hour he managed to keep to safe subjects. About leather working he found there was almost nothing the troll did not know. He showed Tohma how he had created his breastplate from the scales of the scorpids that lived in the desserts of Tanaris. The work was impeccably done.
"I have never seen a hunter without a mount wear mail before. Why is it that you are not a rider?"
"Too much hassle, mon. Raptors an me ain't never gotten along too well. I figure I keep doing jobs for dem orcs and deh let me have one of dem wolves someday. Now that be someting, wouldn't it? Crunuk'ed have fit seein' old Muck here on one dose saggy brutes."
"I think Sergeant Crunuk would have a fit over just about anything concerning you. Why does he hate you so?"
"Dat be tale for some other day. We be leavin' early tomorrow so joo best get some rest. I'll be back inna bit."
Tohma cursed himself as watched the hunter slip into the dark wood. He had been careful to avoid any topic that might set the troll off and then had gone and asked him about the Sergeant. Dumb. The druid shifted once more into his ursine form as it was the most comfortable body to sleep in. As he closed his eyes he realized that even with the slip about Crunuk, this evening had been the amiable the troll had ever been. Maybe he wasn't such a savage after all.
An anguished scream tore Tohma from his sleep. At first the druid thought it might be Greymuck but the voice even distorted by torment was clearly not his companion's. He tried to locate the direction from which the cries issued from but the hills rebounded them into a string of horrid echoes. Double shifting always made him a bit dizzy but he needed the sharper senses of his cat form and the ability to remain unseen while spying out the disturbance might be needed. By the time he reached level ground the shrieks had stopped but by then Tohma was pretty sure he had a fix on their place of origin. He was sure when he caught a glimpse of a fire winking through the trees not a dozen yards further away.
When Tohma reached the small clearing he was horrified by what he beheld. A human was nailed to a large tree so his feet could just touch the ground though for some reason the victim was holding his legs off the soil. A dozen arrows pierced the man's arms, shoulders and even hips. Each wound looked as though it had been cauterized to stop the human from bleeding to death. Many more arrows were driven through his clothing and armor, more than enough to bear his weight. Even what attire was not pierced by arrows was tattered. The man's leather armor had sliced open revealing cuts and burns across his stomach, chest and legs. The worst was the victim's face. One eye was gone, as was his nose. Tohma could clearly see the human's rear teeth clenching and unclenching in agony through the gapping hole where one cheek had been.
"What are you doing?!!" cried the druid in his Tauren form.
"Ahh mon. Joo just in time for de best part. He goona let dem legs drop any second."
"Stop this. This is heinous."
"Back off cow!” snarled the troll. “Joo do not wanna be gettin' in me way just now. I been wid-out sport for far longer than I care te be an joo ain't gonna ruin it now."
"But ..."
"SHhh. Here he goes." Tohma watched as the exhausted man's feet brushed the ground. As the victim's boots touched down a blast of fire erupted from the leaves. The human shrieked again as the column of flames engulfed his body while the troll cackled with insane mirth. "Fire Traps. Gotta love em, ehh mon?"
"Why....? Why would you do such a thing?"
"Dat is what I do, Tohma. I make dem suffer. I kill. It's what I good at." Greymuck swung his bow off his back and drew an arrow. "It's what I live for." With a wet thunk the arrow ripped through the man's thigh and deep into the tree. "I kill dwarves cause I tired of drinkin' da poisons dey dump into da streams and breathin da smoke dey fill da air with.
"I kill da gnomes for most of de same reasons but also cause de little freaks give me de creeps." Thock.
"I kill elves 'cause arrogance an stupidity are too dangerous a combination to let dem live." Thock.
"I kill undead cause "
"You cannot!!! They are our allies!!!"
"Bah! Joo cannot be dat dim. Joo really tink dey will still be our chums when we win dis war. Tink cow. We not dere friends. We just food once de Alliance be gone."
"So what about this one? What did the humans harm to deserve this?"
"EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the mad troll. Froth sprayed from his lips while the deeps scars that crisscorsed his face flared crimson. Tohma recoiled thinking the berserk hunter was about to turn on him as well. Instead the troll scooped an axe off the ground. He jumped forward in spinning move that ripped the open the human's abdomen. The sound the man's entrails made when they hit the ground caused Tohma to retch. Greymuck was too enraged to stop. He finished the spin by burying the axe blade in the man's skull.
The last stroke was a mercy blow though the tauren knew it sprang from madness not mercy. , Still, the sight of the human’s split head revulsed the druid completely. He fled the glade before having to witness any further atrocities. Back at the campsite he was at a loss. He could not bear to face the gore coated murder yet he knew he was honor bound to accompany him north. Tohma stared at the smoldering embers, waiting in dread. The night inched past and still Greymuck did not return. When his heart finally slowed, Tohma found he was exhausted. Horror had taken from him more strength than a dozen shifts would have. He was determined not to nod off. There was no telling how bad his dreams would be. Worse yet the insane troll was still skulking out there. Somewhere.
Tohma bolted upright. Daylight barely pierced the murk filled woods but when he was able to find the sun Tohma realized the day was nearly half done. He rose with a groan. Through he slept the equivalent of a full night, he felt anything but rested. Then he noticed the campsite. Greymuck's gear was gone. In a fog Tohma gathered up his belongings and shifted. He picked up Zeabos' scent almost immediately. Shadowing the north-east running road, the sickened druid set off after them.
Chapter 2
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