(5) The Kaldorei defense

The Kaldorei defense.

it had become known to most people now that the Night Elves had been pushed to their limit now. Demons threatened them on all sides, and their people had been pushed to the furthest reaches of Suramar, where Lord Kur'talos Ravencrest lead the Kaldorei defense in a valiant defense. Everyone was needed, and even some outsiders from faraway lands had come to help. Another rare human, an 'orc' and a very pale elf mage. Everyone was needed, and some had even approached the Earthen, the Tauren and the fury creatures who's name she couldn't remember.

But even then, when she approached the noble who was gathering all those who could fight, she had been turned down. Apparently she was too young to fight, and even then she seemed to be frowned upon by the noble because of her gender. A sexist noble still didn't understand how much they had been threatened, and that they needed -everyone- to fight, not just the males atop their nightsabers.

Rhia was frustrated. She had knowledge of some of the demons and how they fought, so she would be able to take them out when she fought against them and her knowledge would be valuable among the other defenders. She couldn't think of anything else other than killing demons, and how much she hated them, and how she despised the others because they refused to let her fight.

A rough plan had been forming in her head. She needed to somehow get herself some armour, and she needed to disguise herself as a male so that she could go and fight. However, armour was rare to find, and disguising herself would be more difficult. Even Mikio refused to help her, saying that she belonged to stay and learn as she was still to young to go onto the front lines. She refused to listen. In her mind, -every- demon and any of their followers, those cursed highbourne, must die.

She had already cut her hair to a very short length, short and cropped like a males hair. It barely covered any of her ears, making her feel exposed to the elements. She had already removed her shirt so that she could tightly wrap bandages around her chest so that her breasts were less prominent, another step towards looking more like a man. Next, she would have to try and get the armour and a saber so that she could ride off to war with the others.

She couldn't just go get some armour from the large tent where the soldiers, or at least the officers, gathered. In there, they also stored armour, weapons, attack plans, as well as many other military things. However, even upon tightening up her bandages, ruffling and spiking up her hair and replacing her shirt, she still felt that she looked too...Feminine when she looked through a mirror. She put a rough look on her face, and exited the tent, heading right for the barracks and the officers tent.

The tent was large, big enough to house at least a hundred people if they were crammed in. However, attached to the tent were other, smaller ones, connected by smaller pathways that were made of the same fabric as the tents themselves. She saw no officers, but there were a few soldiers standing guard or on patrol, the most annoying of which was the one standing in his green armour by the entrance to the main tent.

Growling quietly, she continued her stride towards the guard at the entrance. She quickly looked around, spotting that no-one else other than a guard or two were nearby. Thankfully, this meant that if she unfortunately had to resort to force to sate her fury then no-one else would be able to stop her. As she approached, the guard looked to her, frowning slightly.

"The officers are not in at the moment, Rhia. There's no-one here to sign you up. Come back tomorrow perhaps and try again?"

She frowned. This guard had been posted every day, and he recognized her as she had gone to the tent several times now in hopes of signing up. Every time it had ended up in a blazing row between her and another officer, who refused to sign her up. And each time, she had seen as the guard looked at her with what seemed to be pity or even sadness. She hoped that she could play on these thoughts so that he could help her.

"Listen. I need you to do me a favor."

His eyes widened, and he shook his head, understanding what she wanted him to do.

"You know I can't do that Rhia.

She stared furiously at him. "Demons took my whole family, my whole life, everything. It's all gone now because of what they did. I will do whatever it takes to destroy every last cursed skum. I will stop at nothing, -nothing- to get my revenge. If you don't help me, then I will find another who will. And if they don't, then I'll knock them out or kill them for their armour so that I can get onto the front line."

He paused, looking into her eyes as she stared angrily back at him. He eventually sighed.

"You've gone through some effort to change yourself. Your determination and fury will be your downfall, but I'll do what I can to help you, child. I'll get you some armour, and with a helmet no-one will guess that you're a girl. Come inside."

He bushed aside the tent flaps, holding the way open for her. She entered, swiftly followed by the nervous guard who lead the way towards another smaller tent that contained all of the arms. Following him, they encountered no-one else on their small journey as he turned to face her.

"Listen. I don't exactly want you to get hurt child, so I'll do my best to look after you. Just stick by me, ok?" She nodded, and he looked away. He was very nervous, rightfully so seeming that he was putting his career on the line for someone he had never met.

They reached the armoury, where many suits of green armour and different weapons were hung up on stands in front of her. She looked over to the guard, who seemed to have gone back to standing idly. Motioning for him to turn around, he blinked, blushing as he turned. She smirked, getting changed into a slightly baggy suit of green armour. Adjusting it slightly to make it a little bit of a better fit and placing on her helm, she satisfied herself with the knowledge that she wouldn't be noticed any time soon as a woman.

Tapping the guard on his shoulder, he turned around to face Rhia, eyeing her up and down with a nod.

"A good fit. Little big, but nothing the officers won't notice. Now, for your saber."

She frowned slightly as he turned again to head out, only succeeding in tripping up over an uneven section of the floor. A smirk began to form across her face as the guard pushed himself up onto his feet with a groan. Sighing, she walked over to a weapon rack, taking a large bow made of what seemed to be yew, though she could have been wrong. With the bow, she took a quiver of arrows, strapping that over her back and slinging the bow over her shoulder.

The guard started off after regaining his composure, holding his head as Rhia quickly jogged over to him, grunting quietly from the weight. For the majority of her life, she had worn either the usual Night Elven garments of bright purples and deep blues or light leather clothes for when she went out into the forest for an extended amount of time. Wearing mail and plate armour felt like she was carrying a medium sized rock on her back. She would have to get used to this.

The two elves headed out of the smaller tent, and out of the larger one as well. From there, they both circled around the tent until they reached a small wooden structure where the Nightsabers were kept and looked after. Although they did not quite resemble a proper stables, they did manage to house quite a few different sabers, where they were all looked and cared for well. As they approached the stables, something clicked inside Rhia's head, causing her to look over to the young guard.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked him, her voice a little softer rather than harsh as it had been since Zin-Azshari's fall. He opened his mouth to reply, but it took him a couple of seconds before he eventually sighed after not speaking.

"Because, in a way, I am like you. I hate these demons as much as you do, sister. They killed my brother and my father in Galhara, as well as many of my close friends." His voice, like hers had been, sounded harsh and bitter. Something didn't seem quite right, as many elves did not show their emotions so outwardly like he did. Another question sprung to her lips.

"How old are you?" She queried him from behind her helmet that so far had done a good job of disguising her as a man. He lowered his head slightly, most likely in shame.

"Just a mere two hundred and fourteen."

He wasn't even an adult yet. Just like her, he had lied about his age to get into the army so that he could fight. Like her, he had troubles burying his emotions. Unlike her however, he had a kind and caring spirit, which is why he wanted her to stay by his side. He felt that he needed to protect the young elf, and for that Rhia was slightly grateful, though all of her emotions had been smothered and shrouded in hatred by now.

They both reached the stables, where the Guard walked over to a certain saber, quickly patting it's head and leading it over to Rhia. She nodded thankfully, going to mount up onto the already saddled mount. As she did, two more things occurred to her. The first was that she didn't know how to ride the saber, and the second was that she didn't even know the guards name.

The same thought occurred to him as well though. "My name's Thaldren Nightwhisper by the way." Rhia nodded back, stating her name. As she sat there, Thalden quickly explained how to ride the mount, showing her with his own one as he mounted up as well. Within what was roughly ten minutes, Rhia had a rough idea of how to ride the beast who seemed to have taken a slight liking to the bold elf.

Thaldren dismounted, nodding at Rhia to do the same. "We set out to join the forces on the front in about half an hour. I best get back to my post before someone notices that I'm missing, and you'd best work on your voice, your posture and anything else that will make you seem more like a man rather than a girl." She nodded, following him out of the stables before heading back towards her own tent where she had first woken up and where Mikio had first healed her.

On the way, she quickly edited her stance to be more militaristic and upright rather than slightly slouched like she had been. Thankfully, no-one thought that she was a girl, instead mistaking her for a younger and less muscular soldier. As she entered her tent to quickly brush up on her disguise, she quickly bumped into Mikio who was also trying to exit the tent. Whilst the others didn't recognize her because no-one else had spoken at length with the elf who they deemed to have some sort of shroud of darkness around her, Mikio had conversed at length with her, and he easily recognized his friend.

He used his bulk to grab onto Rhia and pull her into the tent that was very crowded with the two of them as well as the many objects that littered the small space. With anger and concern towards his friend, he spoke to Rhia in a hushed voice.

"What on Kalimdor do you think you are doing? You'll get yourself killed on the front lines, and if you get found out that you lied about yourself to get onto the front then I dare not say what might happen to you! Is hatred all that matters now?"

She glared back at him in response, her green plated helmet almost touching the roof of the tent. "Don't speak to me like you've been through it all, Mikio. Your family wasn't butchered by those vermin. You've still got your life, whilst I have nothing."

"There's always the chance for you to start fresh, but you can't do that if you go out there to die. Stay back here in safety, and leave fighting to the others." Mikio responded smartly, but Rhia continued her glare.

"There's nothing you can stay or do to stop me." She said after a long and rather awkward silence. He sighed, his own anger and frustration draining out of him.

"Fine, go out to war and die then. But if you do survive, I won't be here when you come back." He exclaimed, leaving the tent. Rhia grunted, before turning to face her bedside table. On it was the hunting knife and her friends blade, of which she placed her sword into a sheathe that was slightly too big yet already attached to her belt whilst tucking her knife into her boot. She quickly glanced in a mirror again, placing a fierce look on her face. A true warrior now stood before her, not the elf that had lived her life away in peace just a year before.

Exiting the tent, she headed back to the barracks to find Thaldren again. She found him, but before either of them could say anything a war horn sounded to her left, towards the Well of Eternity and Zin-Azshari that could be found many, many miles in that direction. From the east, a small warband began to approach atop their own sabers, the leader of which was the same officer who had refused to recruit her for the many, many days previous.

"All soldiers are to get themselves geared, mounted up and ready to ride out to Suramar in ten minutes!" He boomed at the top of his voice, startling many civilians in the camp whilst sending the idle soldiers scarpering to grab their armour from their own tents whilst some, including Rhia and Thalren ran towards the stables to mount up onto their own sabers.

"Not exactly the half an hour you warned me about, Thaldren." She grunted, speaking with a deeper voice than usual so as not to alert the others who were nearby, also racing for the stables. He also grunted in reply.

They all barged into the stables, racing towards their various mounts to quickly mount up or saddle them up. Rhia raced towards the one she had practiced with, quickly jumping onto it's back and digging her heels gently into it's side to send it moving towards the entrance. It raced out of the doors of the stables, with some of it's brethren in front and many of them behind it, all of them encouraging each other to race onwards.

Thaldren pushed his mount on, eventually racing up beside Rhia and stopping next to her once they reached up with the officer in charge and his small warband. Within ten anxious and long minutes of waiting for the others, the small warband of about one hundred had multiplied rapidly to about five hundred. The officer quickly looked over the band, nodding once.

"Soldiers, follow my lead! We set out for Suramar and Lord Ravencrest!" He quickly emitted a loud blast from his war horn, before turning his own mount around and leading the way towards the east at some speed, the other sabers and their riders following. Rhia smiled slightly, though it was only now that some nerves had begun to creep up on her.

Finally, she would be able to get the revenge that she wanted. She would be able to avenge the deaths of her Mother, Fathers, Brother and Sisters as well as the many others who died in Zin-Azshari, and the many other cities' populations that had fallen to the Burning Legion. They would all pay the price for the destruction that they had caused. Rhia would be able to release all of her fury that even now boiled up inside her.

Rhia rode off to war.