Howling no longer

[Kogra Windwatcher]

The smaller one of the moons had risen today, and now hung pregnant against the almost clear sky. Flakes of snow slowly made their way to the ground as a soft chilling breeze influenced their paths. The night was still young when three orcs and two wolves had made their way to the Alterac Mountains. A long trip they had made already as one of them had guided the others through the land.

In front of the orcs was the Rock of Durotan, a mighty rock that was memorable for many of the Frostwolf Clan, to remember their previous chieftain and as a reminder that the he had never given up on orc kind. In the sides of the rock, runes were carved. Some had meaning, some had less meaning. On one of the sides, a plaque was placed and inscribed by the current chieftain of the Frostwolf clan, Chieftain Drek’thar.

“Here lies Durotan - first Chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, and father of our honored Warchief, Thrall. He was the bravest of our kind - betrayed by those who would see our people enslaved. Durotan gave his life that our freedom might be gained. We honor him - and the legacy he passed on to us through his son.

-Drek'Thar, Far Seer of the Frostwolves”

Kogra had recited the words for the others, even though she could not read the plaque at this point in time, she had still remembered every single word of them. The near celestial light of the moon blinded the young orc as she lifted up her blind fold and rested it up on her black and white hair. Vague runes she saw upon the stone but she knew where they turned and how they were made.

Her mind had drifted away, thinking about the many times she had spent here as a child. She had heard many stories about Durotan, none of them staining his honour or his convictions. In her mind she could see the rock clearly, noticing every scratch and every turn the runes made, some sharp and some in a very flowing motion.

Kogra’s ears perked as she heard a vague scream on the wind, incomprehendable, a lighter voice was the origin, most likely a female figure. Something was familiar about the voice but she could not place it. Her nearly colourless eyes shifted to the two other figures around the stone as if she was looking for an affirmation. “Did you hear that?” Kogra had asked to Sinami and Redhand. “heard what?” Sinami had responded, her own ears now scanning the area aswel. Moments of silence passed as none dared to break it, eager to hear what it might have been. “It must have been nothing” the silence was gone as Kogra spoke, a hint of confusion in her tone. The eyes of Kogra went to trail the runes etched in the sides of the stone. The other female had tilted her head and spoke: “If you heard something, I believe you heard something.” A sigh emitted from the Far seer, the features of her face turning into a frown. “If she had heard it, why didn’t the others?” She asked herself.

“He’s down, the alpha is down!”

A second scream had filled the air once more of a female, the same familiar feeling came over her. Before anything else had happened, Kogra darted off, running through the familiar snow, not running with senses but on instinct rather. Footsteps left behind as she ran through the white expanse, making her way north, the snow falling limited her already blinded vision. The sounds of a heavy beast trailing behind her, her own frostwolf ,Snowstalker. She could feel the beat in her heart increasing as she made her way through the thick layer of snow, where others would have struggled, she seemed to move through naturally. A clarity of vision as she saw a small camp rise from within a patch of trees. Four small and one slightly larger white tents had been erected from the ground, a boar roasting on the cozy little fire burning in the middle of the them. Three orcs were seen within the camp, a female warrior who had some sort of necklace hanging around her neck, a short spear within her hand and a buckler bound around her left arm. Another of the orcs was a male, his chin seemed to be covered with blood as a layer of war paint had found its way upon the face, A large battle axe upon the back of this one. The last one was another male, this one undersized compared to the other two but bulging muscles were present, from this one two smaller weapons hand from his hips. Kogra had stood there, looking over at the figures with their everyday activity, light could be seen coming from between the mountains as dawn broke. One of the orcs seemed to have spotted her, upon their gaze meeting she had recognized her, it was Shaga Frosthowl, the female who had slain a harpy with a frozen stake of ice. The hand with the buckler had made its way through the air as it was brought into a waving motion. “There ye are, ye seem te be an early riser, looking fer te prey? Ye be te late fer that, we already found one”, she nearly yelled at her.

Before she could say anything, the flaps of the larger hut flung open and a large male had emerged from it, stretching his arms wide as he looked over at the others with a grin. “You lot seem to be in a good mood”, the male said. A mere grunt was given by the male with the red chin. Upon hearing the voice, Kogra looked at the new figure, her jaw fell open as she recognized this one aswel. Unlike the others which she had rarely seen at times, this one she had known her whole life, it was her older brother Aghan Strongwinter.

A mixed feeling came over the young frostwolf, a feeling of both happiness and sadness. “I see someone had an early hunting? Let’s hope it tastes just as good as ever.” Her brother had said, a tongue running over his lips as his gaze set upon the roasting boar. “We’ll have to travel far today, moving along the mountain side to get a better look at the dwarven encampments and their forces” He continued in a more serious tone.

Uncomfortably Kogra strode forward towards the camp, her eyes fixated on her elder brother, lifting her left arm as she reached out for him. Halfway through she came to a stop. The male looked up from the boar and down at his sister with his crimson red eyes, his scarred face tilting to the side, his long black braid swaying along looking like a river of pitch turning its body like a slithering snake. “Is there something wrong?” He’d ask to her.

Then it dawned upon her, something she remembered, something hidden within a far space of her brain, an unwanted memory made its way to the surface. The sound of thunder in its rawest form cracked the sky as crimson coloured liquid spat away from a freshly created hole in the head of her brother. The eyes continued staring at her though they grew large and lost focus. The huge body of the male toppled and fell onto his knees for a few more moments, the ever staring look continuing to hold, nothing but the empty void could be seen within them now as the pupil took over more of its original colour.

The blue sky that had once hung above them now turned more red as if the sky itself was filling with the same blood that oozed out of the head of her brother. Bits of brain followed the stream as the pure white snow had been tainted with shades of red. Kogra looked at the display with tearful eyes, the arm that had once been lifted to reach out for her brother now fell like the body of the one she wanted to touch. Moments it took before she could realise and screamed out in a sad rage like tone. “He’s down, the alpha is down!” She had screamed as she rushed over to the motionless body of her brother.

The other orcs of the encampment had taken up arms, bellowing orders at each other as they had taken it upon themselves to avenge their alpha and brother in arms, rushing outwards to where they had thought the sound had come from. Mere moments later the cry for help had been joined with the cries of dwarfs finding their way to their demise.

Kogra had reached the body of her brother, lifting him up as her arms had coiled around the lifeless features of the male. “No.. No this cannot be” Kogra pleaded as fear had taken over, unable to do anything but making apologies to her brother. The sounds around her had faded or well, they were still present but It sounded as if she was underwater and the sounds were made above them, unable to distinguish any sound from another or guess what they had originated from.

Minutes she had sat there to spend her time with the colder growing body of her brother, not having paid attention to anything else. She had not even noticed that her wolf had sat down next to her and licked her face with her warm tongue.

Another wolf had joined them as the combat around them seemed to fade. This one she knew, it was Icebreaker, the wolf of the deceased orc she knew so well. It had joined her and licked the warm tears of her face. At first she had not noticed but then she felt the rough hair of the tongue brushing up on her cold skin.

Shortly after two others had joined. A female who had not been seen within the camp before, she carried a long bow with her and her body had a more agile build. This one was known as Bagha Wolfsister. An orc who both she and her brother had spent more time with. Her brother due to the fact that she was his mate and for Kogra herself due to that she admired this orc for her unmatched speed and skill with the bow. The other orc that had joined them was Prag the Hungerer, an orc which only now she had recognised from before. It was the smaller orc of them all.

The female had sat down next to her, her head turned to the body and a hand reached out to gently shake the shoulder of Kogra, no sense of grief to be spotted within her actions. Once more had she had the feeling that she was inside a protective bubble as the sounds sounded as if she was underwater. “Kogra, are you alright?” the female had asked her but all she could mutter in between her sadness was more apologies, and death.

“Why you hugging old bones?” The male had asked. Never had she really talked to this one but she couldn’t remember him talking in this way. The other female had shrugged as a response it seems and some words followed but she could not hear them, the same barrier like feeling disturbing the comprehension of the words.

Kogra soon found her, with sadness paralyzed, body to be picked up by the male. She had kicked wildly as she was heaved over the shoulder of the male, still clinging onto the lifeless body of her brother. Protests were muttered and curses were yelled as they were moving. Curses aimed in general but also at the two orcs for making comments about leaving the body behind. A headache had grown in her head during this whole experience, something was not right but she could not quite place her finger on it.

Minutes of struggling passed but she had not been able to free herself, nor her brother from the grip of the, in her eyes, traitor. They had left the white lands and entered the green. With each few seconds that passed, even more steps had been felt by the young frostwolf. She could feel her stomach turning somewhat as this reminded her of being on a ship. Though this ship seemed to have turned around. Once they had entered a more green area of land but now they found themselves back in the snow area. They had made their way back from where the event had occurred. Light seemed to fade as the burning sky had turned black like the one of the evening before, clear of clouds and revealing the pale lady. The once clear images had gone blurry again as the land around them seemed to fade and turn. The tents that she saw earlier had gone, not a single trace left that there was ever a camp there, the fire that had been in the middle of the tents was gone now as well, the rocks that had been around it scattered all throughout the white expanse.

She had been put down by the male again on the place where she had lifted up the corpse to begin with, the shades of red gone and replaced with pure white as a new layer of snow would have most likely fallen to fade all the colour out of it.

As Kogra had sat down, her arms still wrapped around the dead body, she saw a weird occurrence, the male that had once been small had now outgrown her heavily. It’s features changing as well. The tabard that the male had once worn faded a black scaled set of armour. She had taken a better look at the vague form of this new body of the orc and found it quite similar to one she had seen before. Upon taking a better look she had noticed that this was the body of Redhand, the one she had left the night before together with Sinami.

A confused look at found its way on the young frostwolves face as she had turned her head to look at the female now, the tabard had disappeared from this one as well, it changing into simple leather armour. The bow that was once worn on her back was now accompanied by a walking staff. Even though she could not see the face, she would have only been able to assume that the face had also changed to the one that shared the similar appearance before; Sinami.

The confused look had deepened upon seeing these changes happen. Her vision still had not restored from the mending of the chieftain, far from it in fact, but still she was able to see the images before with full clarity, as if nothing had been obstructing her in doing so, not even the spirits who had taken her sight as a payment in return for their aid.

A thought doomed up to the young frostwolf as she looked at the body of what once was the proud body of her brother. It’s features had changed, where there would once be flesh, bones had taken a place. The wound in the head seemed to have healed but other wounds had appeared all over the body. The frostwolf tabard that had once cladded this orc had now turned into a midnight purple kind of colour, the emblem changing to that of a forsaken symbol.

Quickly she tossed the corpse away from her as she realised that this had not been the body she had been keeping close all day. Something had happened, Something had happened but what?

The sound of the area had gone silent, including the wolves that had inhabited the area. No howling was heard this day… Not even a single lonesome wolf had been heard as if the world itself had experienced what Kogra had just experienced.