Chapter 29

Usopp arrives first to the other shore and tries to warn the Black Cat Pirates away with a bold lie. Not falling for it, they discover Nami's treasure and claim it as their own. Just as Usopp is about to be hypnotized Nami herself arrives and saves him. The pair are soon forced to fight for themselves while Luffy and Zoro still struggle to find the right shore. While distracted Usopp suffers a heavy blow to the head, however while unable to stand he continues to struggle against the invading pirates until Luffy and Zoro finally arrive.

As Our Fathers Before Us

Hill Road

Usopp realizes he is in trouble, as he is the only one standing to face off against the Black Cat Pirates. Jango mistakes Usopp's lie about having a large number of pirates as the truth, much to the disbelief of the crew.

The Black Cat pirates find a ship with treasure on it next to theirs. Usopp comments on how it's his treasure and tries to bribe them into leaving for it, but Jango and the others just state they'll take it anyway and that they will not leave. As Jango pulls out his ring to hypnotize Usopp, Nami shows up and bashes him on the head for trying to give them her treasure meanwhile Jango has put himself to asleep (again). With no sign of Luffy, Nami tells Usopp to go fight the pirate while she supports him. As the Black Cats begin to advance forward, Usopp and Nami throw some caltrops at the pirates that Usopp brought along.

Back at the other slope, Zoro lays on his back, tired from trying to get past the oil he slipped down. Finally he resorts to using his swords to climb up with. However he faces his next problem - he does not know which direction is north. Meanwhile Luffy is rushing around with no clue as to which direction is north either.

Back at the slope, the caltrops are working and Usopp pulls out his slingshot to fire at the pirates. After taking out a few, Nami comments on how she thinks she will have a rest now, only to find some of the caltrops are behind them, which Usopp blames on her. As she turns around, she sights Usopp getting hit as the crew finally makes it up the slope.

The crew pass by him, Usopp grabs the leg of the man who hit him, claiming he will make sure the next day is as peaceful as the last for the village. As a pirate goes to kill Usopp, Nami finally steps in and knocks him away, but in turn is knocked away also. Jango orders the crew to just ignore the pair as they must get to the village before Kuro's plan goes wrong and Kuro kills them all. Usopp makes another attempt to stop the pirates; suddenly they are knocked away as Zoro and Luffy finally arrive.

Mission 14

Anya wakes up and says good morning to their plant, thinking it is Loid, who tells her to wash her face to wake up fully. Yor greets Anya good morning and says it was too bad she could not meet Yuri last night. Anya questions who that is before remembering that he is her uncle. She reads Loid's mind and discovers that Yuri is a member of the secret police. She questions what the secret police are and concludes that they are something exciting. She cries out to Loid, asking why he did not let her see Yuri, and he is surprised that it meant so much to her.

Loid, on the other hand, is relieved that he is gone so he can return to helping Anya study. However, as they begin eating breakfast, Loid questions whether he is really safe, now knowing that Yor's brother is a member of the SSS. WISE found nothing suspicious about her, and she seems to not know about her brother working for the SSS, but he decides that he should still remain cautious. Anya, who was reading Loid's thoughts, begins to chime in to tell him what Yor is before pausing and saying she is a bad cook. Yor is shocked that Anya could tell that she made breakfast today and apologizes, saying she did her best.

Loid tells them they need to get going so they will not be late. He calls out to Yor and proceeds to consider whether he should plant a listening bug on her. He decides it would be best to do it so he can confirm or deny his suspicions. He pretends to wipe off some gunk on her neck while planting the bug on her. Yor thanks him but is flustered thinking he was going to kiss her after what happened the previous night. She reflects on how she cannot cook, how last night only went well due to Loid, and her performance as his wife was awful. She determines that Loid was seeming distant this morning because of all that and must have been upset. As Anya is about to get on the school bus, she looks back to Yor and Loid and tells them to get along. They respond by telling her they are fine and Loid tells her to make sure she gets along with her classmates. Loid thinks to himself about how intuitive children can be before telling Yor they should be off too.

At the SSS headquarters, Yuri gets questioned by an SSS Lieutenant about his injuries since he was going to visit his sister's new family last night. Yuri tells him that he barely remembers it and the Lieutenant assumes Yuri got drunk and picked a fight with Loid. Yuri tells him that Loid does not deserve Yor and the Lieutenant questions if it is because Loid is a bad guy. Yuri says Loid seemed nice, but suspects it could have been an act and he is secretly a spy that needs to be locked up. The Lieutenant questions if he has any evidence and Yuri realizes he should have planted bugs. He thinks more about it and how if he heard any inappropriate sounds coming from his sister he would not be able to bear it. He slams his head against his locker thinking about it, making the Lieutenant question whether the wounds were self-inflicted. The Lieutenant tells him if Yor is happy he should give her his blessing. He tells Yuri that he needs to focus on the job and that catching Twilight is their top priority. Yuri agrees but tells himself that it will be a different story if Loid makes his sister cry.

At Berlint City Hall, Yor is typing at her desk while holding back tears. Camilla questions what is going on with her, and Millie tells her that Yor has been telling herself she is a failure the whole day. Sharon comes into the office and questions why Yor wants to know how to be a good wife and asks if things are not going well at home. Yor explains that she just does not know how to behave since it is her first relationship. Sharon questions how she is just realizing this after a year since she does not know the true nature behind their marriage. Loid is atop the city hall roof while listening in and thinks about how they did not dig up any information about past relationships that she had and confirms that Yor has never been in a relationship before. Yor questions whether their relationship can go on since she cannot even cook, and Loid realizes that Anya's comment from the morning must have cut deep. Millie relates to her worries about getting broken up with if you are not special. Camilla recognizes that Yor is a woman after all, which makes Yor say that is not what this is about.

Loid wonders if Yor is trying to be a better wife for the sake of their fake marriage, but considers that she may be trying to be the perfect wife to deceive him. The other women tell Yor it may be a bit late for homemaking classes, and Millie tells her she has always been a bit slow before cutting herself off. They tell her she needs to stay in her league because if their scores differ too much it will not end well. They tell her she should just break up with him already but Yor responds that she cannot, and Loid comments on the toxicity of the relationship she has with her co-workers. Chief Barnes interrupts their discussion and tells them to get back to work. He then asks if Yor can run a letter down to the post office for him. Loid considers that he will not figure out if Yor is suspicious without taking matters into his own hands.

Yor drops off the letter at the post office and heads out of the building. She notices a sign about savings accounts for married couples and thinks about how she and Loid still have separate bank accounts. She wonders if the money she earns as an assassin could make her useful as a wife but also realizes it might end up being suspicious and that he probably does not need financial support. As she is thinking about this, she gets stopped by Loid and Franky Franklin in disguise as secret police officers. They tell her they have some questions for her which makes her question if she seemed suspicious looking at the married couple's account poster because she does not look married. She tells them she is married which puzzles them. Franky whispers to Loid asking why he made him do this and Loid tells him to shut up and stick to the script. Loid tells her that in their mail inspection, they noticed that the letter she just posted was a coded message to the West. They ask her if this "Barnes" on the letter is her superior which she confirms. When asked for her name, she tells them her name is Yor Forger, but gets tripped up a little and almost says Yor Briar.

Franky laughs and tells her that her name is written as a collaborator in the letter, and Loid thinks to himself that Franky seems to be enjoying himself. Loid comments that she is part of the conspiracy and Yor tells him that she knows nothing about this. Franky tells her to tell them what she knows. Loid tells her that they caught someone in the finance department the other day and that corruption is deep there. Franky adds that he heard some nasty stuff that happened to the guy and that he was tortured so badly that he tore his tongue out to kill himself when he got back to his cell. Franky tells her that there was a woman around her age who was the secretary of a parliament member who got taken in last month. Loid says that she had an SSS family member, so they let her go. Franky replies that it is a perk of the job to make those doubts disappear.

Loid tells her that they will need to take her back to the station. He thinks to himself that if she knows her brother is in the SSS all she needs to do is say his name to make this go away. She has no reason to hide his identity from his co-workers and it'll only bring her and her family trouble if she gets taken in. Yor tells them that she works hard for this country every day and would never commit treason. Franky tells her not to play dumb and to come quietly as he lunges at her but gets interrupted by Yor throwing him to the ground and reminding him that she is a married woman and asking not to be touched. Loid tells her there are consequences for resisting that may affect her whole family. Yor tells them that her husband and brother are respectable men and if they are going to harm them, she will show them no mercy.

Loid asks Franky, whom he calls "Lieutenant Mop," if he is sure he deciphered the code correctly. Franky takes another look at it and says he messed up since it used the Caterpillar Cipher and not the Raccoon Cipher. They tell her it appears to be a letter from Mr. Barnes to a hemorrhoid treatment specialist and encoded it because of the subject matter. They apologize for the misunderstanding and tell her she is free to go but ask her to keep the contents of the letter a secret.

Yor leaves and Loid removes his mask. Franky tells him that was a total farce and Loid confirms that it was necessary. Franky concedes and says they confirmed she is not connected to the secret police while Loid simply gives a blank face. Franky questions if Loid is feeling guilty and Loid denies it. Franky tells him he needs to keep his emotions out of this and to never trust anyone. Loid rips off Franky's disguise, not being able to stand being lectured with Franky's disguised face. Franky complains since he was hoping to get some action with that face. Loid tells him that getting women through deception is wrong and Franky retorts about the obvious contradiction.

Yor walks back home, concerned about the events of today and almost getting her and her family in trouble by striking a government agent. As she is walking, she runs into Loid, who asks her if she wants to walk home together. He again pretends to get some gunk off her collar as he removes the bug he planted. Yor apologizes for being a failure as a wife who is not even able to keep her clothes clean. Loid tries to comfort her by telling her that there is no correct way for a wife to act, and while trying to live up to an ideal is admirable, it can constrict someone from being who they are and utilizing their true strengths. Telling Yor that having to perform all the time is exhausting, he asks her to be exactly who she is and how it would make Anya happy to see her smile. Yor thanks him for his words and tells him she is glad she married him.

Loid is surprised by this and thinks back to Franky's comment about doubting her before crushing and throwing away the bug he planted. Yor asks what he threw out and he tells her it was the gunk. He then tells her they did not do anything to celebrate their fake one-year anniversary and should get some cake, to which Yor agrees. Anya returns home on the bus and is welcomed by Yor. Anya is relieved to see them getting along and Loid comments that they were never fighting. They tell her they have cake, and she begs for some to which they tell her to stop so she does not upset their neighbors downstairs.

Pele

Pele is the goddess of Fire, of Dance and Wind, of Volcanoes and Violence. Those who worship Pele speak of her as Madame Pele or Tutu Pele, while others know her as Ka wahine 'ai honua, “the woman who devours the land”. Though she is capable of great acts of destruction, and possesses the temper to provoke such acts, Pele is both destroyer and creator. It was through her mastery over the world's molten core that she wrought the Hawaiian Islands into being, forging them from the lava that ruptured forth from the mouths of her volcanoes. They are places of immense beauty, lush and brimming with life, and by looking upon and revelling in such beauty, you offer Pele worship.

Born of Kane Milohai, who wrought the earth, sky and heavens, and the Earth goddess Haumea, Pele is one of fourteen children, seven sisters and seven brothers. It is from the enmity between these siblings that Pele arrived in Hawaii, after her exile at the hands of Kane Milohai for her fiery temper and conflict with her sister Namakaokahai, goddess of the Sea. Pursued across the oceans by Namakaikahai, Pele wrought Hawaii into a paradise, making her home within the great calderas of the volcanoes that stand sentinel across the island chain.

To worship Pele is to grant one's devotion to a goddess of terrible power, one who can shape and render a grand, vibrant world into being at her slightest whim, and burn it to ashes just as quickly. But just as her worshippers are devoted to Pele, she devotes herself to them as a force of divine protection and care. She is a tireless defender of life and the people that dwell upon her islands, and any that seek to threaten them shall surely taste Pele's fire.

Baby Murloc

The origins and history of the murloc race are shrouded in mystery. A large part of this is because their lore is passed down via their own oral tradition, which is almost incomprehensible to most other sentient races, but also because murlocs generally have very little tolerance for other races. Murlocs often congregate in heavily populated coastal settlements, and are more than willing to assist each other when threatened. While many have debated on their intelligence, there is reason to believe that their use of weaponry and uncanny fighting abilities may actually imply that they possess a rather sinister racial intellect.

Like the enigmatic origins of the murloc race, Murky's past is also veiled in a variety unanswered questions. Who is he? Where does he come from? He dies again and again, and yet each time, returns to life from his egg. Stranger yet, when he emerges, he looks and sounds precisely the same. Does he possess unspeakable powers? Could he be immortal?

The world may never know.

Chapter 1

The skies wept when the orcs laid siege to Shattrath City.

It had been many long months since rain had graced the lands of Draenor, but now, almost as if in protest of the looming battle, dark clouds roiled overhead. Light showers drizzled over the city and the army outside its walls, increasing to a steady downpour as the two sides watched and waited.

There must be a thousand of them, Nobundo speculated grimly from his perch high atop the inner ramparts. Beyond the outer walls shadows moved among the torch-lit trees of Terokkar Forest. Perhaps if the orcs had taken the time to plan more carefully, they would have deforested the region outside in preparation for their attack, but these days the orcs cared little for strategy. For them there was only the thrill of battle and the immediate gratification of bloodshed.

Telmor had fallen, as had Karabor and Farahlon. So many of the draenei's once-majestic cities now lay in ruins. Shattrath was all that was left.

Slowly the orc assemblage maneuvered into position, making Nobundo think of a great fanged serpent coiling itself in preparation to strike... a strike that would surely spell the end of Shattrath's defenders.

Not that we are meant to survive anyway.

He knew full well that he and the others who had gathered here tonight were meant to be a sacrifice. They had volunteered to remain behind and fight this last battle. Their inevitable defeat would appease the orcs such that they would consider the draenei decimated and all but extinct. Those who had sought refuge elsewhere would survive to fight another day, a day when the scales would be more balanced.

So be it then. My spirit will live on, becoming one with the glory that is the Light.

Emboldened, Nobundo stood to his full height, his strong and athletic frame bracing for the events to come. His thick tail shifted anxiously as he settled his weight evenly between both leonine legs and ground the toes of his hooves into the solid stone masonry. He took a deep breath, tightening his hands around the shaft of his Light-blessed crystalline hammer.

But I will not go quietly.

He and the other Vindicators, holy warriors of the Light, would fight to the very last. He glanced to either side at his brethren stationed at intervals along the wall walk. Like him, they stood impassive and resolute, having reached their own peace with the destiny that now awaited them.

Outside, the war machines had arrived: catapults, rams, ballistae--siege engines of every description passing briefly through the torchlight. Their heavy apparatuses creaked and groaned ominously as they were positioned within striking distance of the walls.

Drumbeats sounded, sporadic at first, then quickly joined by more and more until the entire forest was alive with a rhythm that started soft like the rain, then grew to a persistent, thundering roll. Nobundo whispered a prayer, asking the Light to give him strength.

There was a deep rumbling and movement in the murky clouds overhead that echoed the frantic drumbeats below. For a second Nobundo wondered if perhaps the Light meant to answer his prayer with a display of power and fury beyond any he could hope to summon, a great beam of holy fire that would eradicate the entire savage, bloodthirsty army in one magnificent sweep.

A display indeed followed, but not of the holy powers of the Light.

The clouds thundered, swirled, and erupted, punched through by massive flaming projectiles that hurtled to the earth with meteoric speed and bone-jarring strength.

A deafening roar assaulted Nobundo's ears as one of the objects passed perilously close, obliterating a nearby buttress and pelting him with flying debris. As if awaiting this signal, the multitudes outside pressed forward, their bloodcurdling war-cries rolling over the city as they mobilized with singular purpose: to destroy all within their path.

The rain's intensity increased as the outermost walls shuddered from the strikes of massive stones slung by the crude catapults. Nobundo knew the outer walls would not hold. They had been constructed rather hastily: the wall sections extending above the depressed floor of the outer ring were an addition made in the last year, a defense made necessary by the orcs' methodical extermination of his people and the subsequent realization that this city would be their final bastion.

Several brutish ogres went to work on penetrating a section of wall already compromised from the meteor assault. Two more of the massive beasts swung a gargantuan battering ram against the city's main gates.

Nobundo's brethren cast several attacks against the enemy, but wherever the draenei struck one attacker down, two more would take his place. The damaged wall section had begun to crumble completely. A flood of crazed orcs clamored on the opposite side, climbing over top of one another in a frenzy of bloodlust.

The time had come. Nobundo raised his hammer to the sky, closed his eyes, and cleared his mind of the overwhelming cacophony of battle. His mind called out, and his body felt the familiar warmth of the Light wash over him. The hammer glowed. He focused his intentions and directed the blessed, purging holy powers into the ogres below.

There was a blinding flash that briefly illuminated the entire battle scene, accompanied by a startled bellowing from the front line of orcs as the Holy Light seared through them, stunning them into silence and halting them long enough for several draenei warriors to focus on bringing down one of the giant ogres.

Nobundo's momentary relief was crushed by the sound of splintering wood: the final successful thrust of the battering ram against the main gates. Nobundo watched as the Lower City defenders raced to meet the incoming tide of orcs and ogres and were immediately cut down. Nobundo called upon the Light again, directing his healing powers to whomever he could, but the opposition was simply too great. As soon as he healed a wounded draenei, that same warrior endured repeated, brutal attacks mere seconds later.

More ogres had gone to work on the weakened section of outer wall and were now succeeding in pushing through. The defenders, hopelessly outnumbered, were beset on either side.

The orcs were crazed, drunk on their bloodlust. As the outer ring filled with their number, Nobundo could see their eyes: they glowed, burned with a crimson fury that was at once mesmerizing and terrifying. Nobundo and the other Vindicators switched tactics, from healing to purging. Once again the city was bathed in brilliant radiance as scores of orcs were struck by the Light, the crimson glow dimming from their eyes momentarily as they slumped forward to be dispatched by the remaining draenei warriors.

Kra-koom!

The wall shook, and Nobundo's hooves slid on the rain-slicked stone. He steadied himself and looked down to see one of the ogres pummeling away at the base of the buttress to his left with a tree trunk-sized club. He raised his hammer to the sky and closed his eyes, but his concentration was quickly broken by another sound....

Kra-KABOOM!

Not the ogre this time, but an explosion that originated from somewhere below but out of sight, knocking Nobundo off balance. He rolled to his side and glanced over the edge to see a fine red mist billowing out into Lower City. The few defenders who were left immediately began choking and retching. They doubled over, many of them dropping their weapons. The barbaric orcs made quick work of the sickened warriors, reveling in the carnage.

When the slaughter was finished, they glared upward, rabid in their desire to tear the defenders on the wall limb from limb. Several orcs climbed on the backs of the ogres, attempting to scale the sheer surface by hand. Their aggression and unbridled ferocity were staggering. The mist had spread throughout the entirety of Lower City and was now beginning to rise, slowly obscuring the bedlam below.

Nobundo heard a commotion behind him. Several orcs who had somehow broken through the inner circle's defenses now stormed onto the rise.

Kra-koom!

The wall shuddered again, and Nobundo cursed the ogre below, who had undoubtedly returned to pummeling the buttress. A second salvo of flaming meteors fell from the sky as Nobundo readied to meet the oncoming crush of attackers.

He directed the fury of the Light into the first orc head-on. The green beast's eyes dimmed, and he crumpled. Nobundo brought the crystal hammerhead down squarely on top of the orc's skull, then yanked upward and swung left, feeling a satisfying crunch as the orc's ribs shattered. He twisted and brought the hammer across at a downward arc into the side of another orc's leg, shattering its kneecap. The beast howled in pain and fell forward off of the rampart.

The mist had worked its way onto the rise now, where it rolled out and covered the stone like a carpet. Nobundo and his fellow Vindicators fought on as the mist rose to chest level, then finally to their faces, stinging their eyes and burning their lungs.

Nobundo heard the death-cries of several of his companions, but he had lost sight of them in the dense red fog. Mercifully the attacks on him seemed to have abated; he stumbled back a step, stifling the urge to vomit. It felt as if his skull was about to burst.

Then he heard a horrific battle cry from out of the mist that chilled him to the bone.

A shadow approached. Nobundo struggled to see as his body wrenched in spasms. He tried desperately to hold his breath as out of the dense crimson mist stepped a tattooed, fiery-eyed terror... a massive orc covered in the distinctive blue of draenei blood, out of breath, twisting a wicked two-handed axe in his grip. His raven-hued hair clung to his thick chest and shoulders, and his lower jaw had been colored as black as pitch, lending his face the countenance of a skull.

Behind him scores of orcs rushed onto the rise. Nobundo knew that the end was near.

Kra-koom!

The wall shook once more. The nightmarish orc charged. Nobundo arched back. The blade carved a gash across his chest, rending his armor and numbing his left side. Nobundo answered with a swing of his hammer that crushed the fingers of the orc's right hand, rendering it and the axe he held useless. Then, to Nobundo's horror, the terrifying creature smiled.

The orc gripped him with his good hand, and the twin furnaces of his eyes bored into Nobundo... bored through him. Nobundo was forced to gasp for air. As he did, he felt the veneer of his will being stripped away. It was as if some manner of dark, demonic magic was at work, as if a part of his very essence was being obliterated, and it was an assault he had no answer for.

Kra-koom!

Nobundo vomited thick blood onto the orc's face and chest. He closed his eyes and frantically, desperately hailed the Light, beseeching it to neutralize the orc long enough for him to mount a defense. He called out...

And for the first time since he had contacted the Light and been graced by its blessed radiance...

There was no answer.

Terrified, he opened his eyes and looked into the manic, fire-pit orbs of the orc, who opened his great mouth and bellowed, drowning out all other sound and threatening to shatter Nobundo's eardrums. It seemed as if he was suddenly plunged into some kind of terrible, silent dream. The beast reared back and slammed its head into Nobundo's face. Nobundo reeled backward, his arms flailing, the rain pounding down, those blazing eyes searing into his own as he fell... down, down, down through the mist, crashing into something large that grunted as it gave beneath him.

Still trapped in the silent nightmare, Nobundo saw the orc disappear from the edge of the wall. Nearby, the ruined buttress gave way, and a massive section of the upper ramparts fell, blocking out the rain and the sky and trapping Nobundo in a world of quiet darkness.

As he lay there, he thought about the ones who had gone into hiding, those he prayed would escape slaughter, those he loved and respected, those for whom he had given his...

Life. Somehow, he still clung to life.

Nobundo emerged from the black pit of unconsciousness only to find himself trapped in a choking, sightless confinement. His breath came in ragged, shuddering gasps, yet he still lived. He had no idea how much time had passed since... since the wall fell, since...

He reached out with his mind. Surely in the tumult of battle he had simply failed to concentrate hard enough to reach the Light, but now, now he could make contact, now surely he could...

Nothing.

There was no response.

Nobundo had never felt so helplessly lost and utterly alone. If the Light was out of reach and he died here, what would become of his spirit? Would the Light not receive him? Would his essence be condemned to an eternity of drifting through the void?

He had lived his life honorably. Yet... could this be some kind of punishment?

Even as his mind reached for answers, his hand reached out and immediately brushed against cold stone. He slowly became aware that he was lying in a very awkward position, that some softer but still formidable mass was packed tightly next to him, and that his left leg was most certainly broken.

He rolled to his right and took in a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain in his ribs and leg. Without recourse to the Light he could not heal himself, and so he would just have to live with the pain for now. At least the feeling had returned to his left side. And... he could hear the muffled noises caused by his movements, so his hearing had returned as well.

The fact that he was breathing meant that air was reaching him from somewhere. As his eyes continued to adjust, he spotted a pinhole, not of light, but simply a lighter shade of darkness than that which surrounded him. He reached out farther, and his hand landed on a familiar cylindrical object: the shaft of his hammer.

With what little strength he possessed, Nobundo gripped the handle just under the head, lifted and thrust in the direction of the pinhole. Chunks of masonry gave way, vaguely revealing a cramped passage created by the massive stone blocks and the angles at which they had fallen.

His ears were immediately greeted with the sound of muted screams, wails of pure terror issuing from some distance away. He used the hammer to pull his upper torso through the hole he created and into the tight space. As he did, he heard a deep moaning sound from the depths of the rubble behind him.

With a burst of strength he pulled himself the rest of the way into the passage, stifling the urge to cry out as his broken leg raked across the jagged stone threshold and sent lances of pain throughout his body. The labored moans continued. The stones around him shifted, and sand and dirt filtered down through the cracks. Quickly he dragged himself toward an irregularly shaped egress, where he spied the faintest hint of light.

Judging by the increased moans of the thing in the rubble, Nobundo guessed it was an ogre, and it was trying desperately to dislodge itself. Nobundo rolled onto his back and crab-walked with his elbows out into the night air while the ogre made another determined effort. Nobundo could see the full mound of debris now. The ogre bellowed in rage one final time, and the entire mass collapsed fully, sending a cloud of dust in all directions and cutting the outburst short.

Another cry immediately followed, however, from some distance away and above: the sound of a terrified female.

Nobundo turned and was greeted by a sight he would never forget, no matter how hard he tried from that day on.

The entire expanse of Lower City, lit by the moon and ambient firelight from above, had become a dumping ground for the bodies of the butchered draenei. And though the rain had stopped, the corpse mounds were still slick with vomit and blood and every manner of waste.

Nobundo's heart withered at the sight of children among the dead. Despite their youth, many of them had bravely volunteered to stay with their parents, who knew all too well that the orcs would be suspicious of a draenei city where no children dwelled and would hunt the last of their kind to extinction. Still, a part of Nobundo hoped and prayed with all his might that the remaining children could be defended, that they would stay safe in the hiding places that had hastily been dug into the mountains. A foolish hope, he understood, but one he clung to nonetheless.

Could anything be more senseless than killing children?

Again his ears were assaulted by the screams of a female, accompanied by taunts and jeers. The orcs were celebrating, reveling in their victory. Looking up, he pinpointed the source of the noise: high above, jutting out from the cliffs of the Barrier Hills, the draenei had built Aldor Rise. There the orcs were torturing some poor female draenei.

I must try to stop them.

But how? Alone, with a broken leg, one against hundreds... one who had been abandoned by the Light, armed with only his hammer. How could he stop the madness unfolding above?

I must find a way!

But how? Alone, with a broken leg, one against hundreds... one who had been abandoned by the Light, armed with only his hammer. How could he stop the madness unfolding above?

I must find a way!

Frantically he crawled over the corpses, slipping in the fluids, shutting the putrid stench and raw viscera out of his mind. He worked his way around the outer circle of Lower City, toward the base of the cliffs, where the wall met the mountain. He would find a way to climb up there. He would...

The screaming stopped. He looked up to see shadows silhouetted by moonlight. They carried a still form to the edge of the overlook and then swung, tossing the lifeless cargo down into the depths. It landed with a dull thud not far from where Nobundo lay motionless.

He crept forward, looking for any signs of life from the female... Shaka, he determined her name to be when he drew close enough to see her features. He had seen her many times before, though they had only spoken on brief occasions. He had always found her pleasant and engaging. Now she lay battered and bruised, her throat cut, her lifeblood drained. At least for her the pain was over.

Another scream issued from above, the voice of another female. Rage welled within Nobundo. Rage and frustration and an overwhelming desire for vengeance.

There is nothing you can do.

Desperately he gripped the hammer tightly and tried once again to call upon the Light. With its assistance maybe he could do something, anything... but once again his only answer was silence.

Something within urged him to get out as quickly as he could, to seek out the others in hiding, to live... to one day fulfill some greater purpose.

That is cowardice. I must find a way; I must.

But deep inside, Nobundo knew that this battle was over. If indeed some greater destiny awaited him, he must leave immediately. He would only die a meaningless death if he tried to make his way to the rise. Cries of anguish once more pierced the night air. Nobundo looked over to a section of the outer wall that lay partially ruined. It was a perilous obstacle, but not insurmountable, and it was not guarded.

The time is now; you must make your choice.

It was a chance. A chance to live and to someday make a difference once again.

You must make it through this. You must go on.

That long wail sounded again, but this time was cut mercifully short. Then the sound of orcish voices just around the bend of the inner wall drifted to him. It sounded as if they were rooting through the corpses, looking for something or someone. His time had run out.

Nobundo took up his hammer. Though it cost considerable time and effort and sapped what little strength he had left, he made it over the remaining bodies and through the gap in the wall.

As he shambled slowly, painfully into Terokkar Forest, female screams atop Aldor Rise began anew.

Oda Eiichiro

Crap. My wisdom tooth feels kind of weird. Is this all because I stopped going to the dentist mid-treatment last year?

やばい。何だか奥歯に違和感を感じる。まさか一年前歯医者に通う事を途中でやめたのが敗因か!?

Chapter 30