She stood in her room, looking out the window to the courtyard below. She had a gentle smile on her face and her arms were folded. Her belly was heavy with child and she was tired from the day’s events. She saw little children giggling and scampering through the open grounds of Stormwind Keep below her. They tumbled and wrestled and continued to run, chasing each other and sometimes being chased.
“Mm?”
She felt a pair of gentle hands place themselves on her shoulders. She let out a soft sigh, feeling how pleasant it was to be normal again. Without the burdens of her Order.
“How are you doing?”
Aegwyn turned around to see a tall man before her. He had a thick bushy brown beard about his chin and a mustache that was equally grown in. His mussed and unkempt hair snuck out from beneath the brim of his tall blue pointed hat.
“Fine, Nielas. Just fine.”
He gently ran his hand over her bulging stomach. She felt the warmth of his touch through her dress. What was it about conjurers that had such an effect on her.
“How is King Wrynn and Lady Varia doing?”
Nielas sighed and turned away from her, his smile dropping into a deep frown. “His majesty is worried. Lady Varia is in pain. The child within her womb seems to be dying. I’ve tried everything I could do.”
Aegwyn winced and gently walked towards him. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his back.
“Do you really have to go?” he asked her, his voice low.
“Yes.”
He escaped from her grasp and turned towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Are you sure? Will no one look after the child?”
She smiled and pulled away from him, as if she were trying to escape from his love already.
“That’s what you’re for, isn’t it? Besides, I have a world out there just calling to me.” Aegwyn looked out the window again, gazing at the empty blue sky above the castle walls. She could still hear the children playing below.
Nielas was silent behind her. She heard him sigh again. “I understand.” His voice was shaky.
She heard nothing more except the sound of a door softly closing shut.
Aegwyn woke crying. She looked around. “Nielas!” she said softly beneath her breath. She couldn’t see. The darkness enveloped her. She heard several people breathing nearby. Where was she?
“Nielas where are you!” she said again, a bit louder.
“Be quiet woman.”
Aegwyn gave a start when she heard another man gruffly speak to her. “Some of us are trying to get some sleep.”
She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. She wasn’t with Nielas anymore. The walls of Stormwind Keep were far away and broken into dust upon the grounds. She felt the cold walls of Khaz Modan about her, and the cold wind that the gnomes circulated through the hallways.
“I apologize, Tarmand.”
The paladin snorted through his nose and then fell back into his blankets.
The mountain about her shook and rumbled gently beneath her. She saw a faint shadow sit up in the darkness. The shadow stood up and stretched. “Up and at ‘em. We’ve got a long way tae go.”
Tarmand grumbled beneath his blankets and the elf Galion didn’t even seem to wake up. The dwarf lord Galud woke up immediately and sprang to attention.
The mountain rumbled again, a bit stronger than before.
Galion sat up and rubbed his eyes. He felt around for his bow.
“Milord, why does the mountain rumble so much?”
King Tarin ran his fingers through his beard and thought for a moment. “I donnae know. The mountain never shakes this far from the mines.”
Tarmand drew his steel, casting a pale light about the tunnel. Aegwyn quickly gathered her blanket and folded it before placing it back into her knapsack.
“Where did you get elven steel?” Galion said, quickly noticing Tarmand’s blade.
“From an elf.”
Galion narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
The mountain rumbled again, causing the stone above them to groan in protest. The dwarf king and lord shook, trying to keep their balance. Tarmand fell back to the ground, his sword clattering and falling against the stone floor. Galion didn’t seem to have moved at all, his elven agility keeping him afoot.
A flare of light blinded all of them. Aegwyn threw her hands to her eyes, trying to protect her night vision. She slowly opened her lids and found that she couldn’t see anything, even with the help of Tarmand’s sword.
“Gorbamph!”
She heard the sound of many feet charging towards them. There was the roar and shout of Orcs and the scream of the blood hungry. She heard King Tarin and Lord Galud bear their weapons and the sound of Galion nocking his bow.
“Blasted orcs!” Tarmand muttered to himself. She could start to see better now that her eyes were adjusting. Tarmand said something long and complex and then a burst of light shone above him, sending blue sparks in all directions before they fell to the ground.
The Orcs recoiled with the sudden appearance of holy light. Tarmand charged, yelling fiercely before he smashed into the Orc company, waving his elf sword madly, chopping off limbs and hewing down the foul creatures.
The scream of Galion’s arrow punctured and fell two Orcs, causing them to fall to the ground and tumble a few yards before they stopped, twitching and shaking.
The mountain screamed and growled around them, causing all but Galion and the dwarves to lose balance and fall to the tunnel floor. Rocks starting falling from the ceiling, squashing orcs and sending their black blood to splatter against the walls.
“Run! Run! I’ll hold them off!” King Tarin cried out as he charged at the orcs who were starting to get to their feet.
“No milord! I’ll fight with ye to the death!”
Galion leapt forward and stopped Lord Galud from following the dwarf king. He slashed his axe at the foul monstrosities, sending blood all over the tunnel and breaking bone.
Galion took Tarmand by the wrist and started to pull him away from the battlefield. “We must go!” he cried out. The elf Galion turned towards Aegwyn. “Run milady! Run as far and as fast as you can!”
What was going on? Aegwyn was so confused.
The mountain roared and more rocks started to fall from the ceiling. Large splinters and cracks started to appear in the rock surface and walls. The very ground shook beneath her despite her attempts to keep her balance.
“Run! The tunnel will collapse!”
Aegwyn managed to stand up and held her knapsack in her hands. She saw King Tarin, staggering and yet still trying to hold off the Orcish hordes. His mithril mail was broken and shattered and blood flowed from the open wounds. His face had a large crack on the right corner of his head and a stream of blood trickled down his face and stained his beard.
A rock smashed beside the King, killing an Orc. Galion had Lord Galud and Tarmand by the arms and was pulling them forward, as if he knew that this was going to happen.
The tunnel shook and moaned as the light of Tarmand faded and was overcome by a dark red light that flooded the walls. Diamonds glittered in the stone surface that hadn’t been there before. Eyes seemed to emerge from the gem surfaces and the very mountain seemed to roar angrily. The ground trembled and quaked as the tunnel broke and huge chunks of stone fell to the passageway floor. The Orcs looked around and turned, trying to find the fiend that was causing such destruction. The eyes shone with a fierce crimson and send beams scattering in all directions. Some of the eye beams touched Orc armor and flesh, causing the skin to burn and the iron to melt with the heat. The Orcs were scattering and crying out in frustration and fright.
“Run!”
Aegwyn turned and started to flee down the hallway, stumbling as the mountain’s trembled at increasing intensity. She didn’t have time to see if Galion, Tarmand, and Galud were following. Large riven cracks appeared in the floor and she had to leap over them to get across. More and more chunks of stone fell from the ceiling and blocked her path and she fled further and further down the passageway
.
The light pulsed and echoed behind her, sending her shadow long in front of her. She could hear the screams of the Orc soldiers and the roar of Khaz Modan about her.
The rocks continued to tumble endlessly from the ceiling. Aegwyn cried out as she felt the stones collapse atop her and strike her body to the ground. The debris fell across her body, pinning her to the ground. She struggled to free herself but it was useless. Whatever light there was before was snuffed out. She couldn’t see anything, couldn’t move. The darkness enveloped her.
