(8) The mission

"Enter."

Rhia brushed aside the tent flaps with her dirt and slightly blood stained forest green gauntlets, stepping inside to the spacious blue and purple tent. Taking off her helmet, she spared a glance around the room, taking in the luxuries that officers liked to enjoy. Tables of mahogany with well carved white steel rivets held gracious statues of the Night Elven queen Azshara, Elune and other ornaments as well as ornate golden cups that held luxurious wines inside. A frown crept on to her face at the sight.

Her eyes then strayed to a mirror on one of the tables to her right. The mirror was surrounded by a swirling silver pattern, with symbols engraved in to the silver which represented several different things that had some kind of relation to elven culture, but the main shock that made Rhia blink was the reflection that she saw in the silver mirror.

Gone was the innocent little girl that used to climb up trees in the forest outside of her home and help her mother and father in their shop. That girl had been replaced by a cold, hardened battle ready fighter. Wild eyes, short cropped and messy white hair with a face stained with mud and blood; both demonic and elven. She was a girl that had been thrown in to a world for adults, a world where she had grown too fast and had grown accustomed to bloodshed and war.

She didn't stay looking at the mirror for long though, as the other figure in the room coughed once to get her attention. Glancing up, she quickly studied the muscular figure of Jarod Shadowsong who stood at the other side of the tent, whom she approached. He stood by a table, over which was spread a large map of the lost city of Suramar. Several miniature flags were dotted over the whole map in different places within the city, one of which Jarod was pointing to.

"See here? This blue flag represents a victory, whilst this red one represents a loss." He moved his hand to a red one, which the majority of them were. His eyes glanced up to meet Rhia's concerned look. "Most of the blue ones are recent victories, showing our progress in this war."

Rhia smiled slightly, though it was not a comforting smile "All done under your glorious command, Commander Shadowsong." He blushed slightly, shaking his head.

"All done by the soldiers like yourself on the front line." She smiled slightly as his hand moved again, pointing to a portion of the city near to the outskirts, tapping twice on a small square within that portion. He looked up again at Rhia. "Right here there's a Dreadlord raising some of the dead Night Elves still in the city. He'll turn them against us if possible, but we can't let that happen. I want you to lead a small regiment of soldiers and moon guard in to the city and dispose of the dreadlord before he can cause too much damage. Speed and stealth will be of the essence in this mission.

Rhia blinked. "I'm not experienced in the field of command, Commander. Would it not be better to send another more capable in my stead?"

He smiled slightly. "I've heard from the the other soldiers about you. You've shown that, along with being a capable ranger, you're also good in melee combat and at stealth, or so they say. They've taken to calling you 'The Avatar of Vengeance' due to your cold blooded ruthlessness towards demons. I think that shows you're capable on the field of battle, and I think you'll do well in the field of command as well. This shouldn't be a difficult mission, and you'll have a second and third in command with some experience. Let them help you, and if you succeed, which I think you will, you can think of yourself as an officer instead of a soldier.

She nodded slowly, a little bit more confident. Jarod waved his hand at her. "You are dismissed. The forces under your command should be assembled tomorrow, by the barracks." Rhia nodded again, saluting once before turning on her heels and exiting the command tent with a gut feeling that something wrong would happen in the mission, something that would happen due to her command.