Conquest of the Horde

“Daddy? Daddy?”

Kapre opened his eyes upon hearing those words. He jolted up, jerking upward to his seat before feeling a sharp pain shoot through his back to his head. Rubbing his head, he looks around, the lights of his eyes blinking as he struggled to see through the darkness. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He lifts his hand to reach out in an attempt to feel around, but his hand is stopped quickly—a weighty metallic strap was around his wrist. Moving about, he finds all four of his limbs, and his tail, strapped up, heavy chains attached to the straps and leading to the floor. Kapre attempts to stand up, but dizziness and exhaustion overcame him, causing him to drop to the floor. He bows his head down, his eyes moistening as gasps lift from his throat. He thought he heard his son’s voice. He thought Saya was there.

A dream, he’d think. It was all just a dream…

His thoughts were interrupted upon hearing the sounds of grating stone and clanging chains above his head. Kapre looked up to see some light from a lantern pierce the darkness, far above where he would be. He was too dizzy to see, and the darkness still enveloped him like a blanket… but as his vision straightened, he would see a small figure lowered while clutching a rope of chains. The lantern was lowered along with this figure, and by the time it reached bottom, the chained draenei would be able to see much more clearly. A small blood elf girl with ebony black hair and pale cheeks gasped upon sight of the trapped alien, her eyes widening as she held her lantern higher for a closer look.

The light allowed Kapre to see her face and recognize her upon sight. “…Anaka?”





“It’s you,” the girl muttered in Thalassian, her breath taken aback as the light showed dust being kicked up from her movement. She reposes herself as she held the lantern to Kapre’s face while speaking in Orcish, “You’re Saya’s dad.”

Kapre struggled to move a little closer, but he was still weak and dizzy. He was able to understand what she saying, and he responded to her in the same language. “I don’t understand…what are you doing here?”

“I want to ask you the same, sir.”

The draenei sat up straight, using the light of Anaka’s lantern to allow him to see the room he’s in. Kapre saw that he was at the bottom of what seems to be some sort of hole, dug many meters deep into the ground though paved stones line up the bottom and at least eight meters up. The chains to his metal straps attach to some of the largest and weightiest stones, just one being much too heavy for Kapre to lift himself. Water dripped from what seemed to be the hole’s lid, and the opening was leaking heavily with fel magic. Kapre gasped, realizing he deeply immersed in demonic atmosphere, guarded only as long as that stone would be in place… or so he hoped. He shakes in his chain, his fear becoming visibly obvious to Anaka, who caught onto his fear. She started to cry. “Saya’s Dad?”

“Anaka! Please… tell me, where are we?”

“I don’t know,” the girl whispered. “I was taken here by Mister Torr. He told me to check on you.”

“Mr. Torr?” Kapre asks as he attempts to get up again. Still feeling weak, he could not get up any higher than a few inches off his rear. The draenei opted to scoot close to the elf girl, slouching as he lowered his head to the girl’s eye level. “Who is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Bastos took me to Tirisfal Glades and left me out there, telling me I was going to be picked up by Torr. Then he came to me. He took me far away to a camp where he fed me and took care of me. Then he asked me to see you down here.”

Kapre’s eyes widen with horror at the thought of leaving a child with a stranger in dangerous lands. He leans close to Anaka, his brows furrowing anxiously. “Tell me, child… who is this Torr? What does he look like?”

Anaka shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Why is that?”

“He always dressed in black robes that covered his face.”

The draenei looks on to the girl before he lowers his head to think. He then faces her again. “What about his hands?” Kapre asked, thinking at least seeing someone’s hands would be indicative of the mystery figure’s race. “Could you see what his hands look liked?”

Anaka shook her head.

“How tall was he? Did he hunch over?”

“’Hunch over?’ What do you mean?”

“Like what I’m doing right now,” Kapre says as he makes a third attempt in getting up, this time to his knees. He leans forward, arms dangling with his shoulders forward. “Many people of the Horde stand like this, mostly grownup boys. Orcs, Trolls, and many undead stand like this,” he says as he kept that pose before he sat back down.

Anaka’s expression brightens, understanding what the draenei spoke about. She nods and emulates what would be Torr’s posture, her legs apart, her arms dangling lethargically, her shoulders forward, and her back hunched. “He stands like this. He’s really, really big… but he’s also short.”

“Really? Like how big? And how short?”

The girl stared at Kapre, thinking of how to compare. She blinks as her ears dropped, her fingers placed onto her chin as she tried to think. “He’s… he’s shorter than you. But almost as wide.”

“Is that so?...”

“And his voice is deep. And scary.”

“So he’s definitely male? He talks like a grownup boy?”

Anaka nods.

“Does he speak Common? Or Orcish, like we are now?”

“He speaks Orcish… but he knows Common too.”

Kapre sighs. It wasn’t much information to go by, but it was a lot better than what he started with. Anaka, however, was still in the dark with what happened. She lowers the lantern to the ground as she sat down by the draenei, curling up on the ground close to him. The large man sees the worry in her eyes and smiles, the corners of his mouth lifting despite the fel taint around them. He tries to hide his fear behind his eyes, providing the child comfort despite his current state. The girl then sees his smile and returns it with her own, though some fear remained in her as she shook.

“I want to know how you got here,” she starts. “I never saw you since Zangarmarsh.”

As soon as she mentioned Zangarmarsh, Kapre’s heart sank. He knew exactly what she referring to. Anaka watched as the draenei curled forward, his smile disappearing and becoming a despondent frown. “It’s been a while, has it? I’m sure you heard of what happened to my people when we arrived in Azeroth… have you?”

Anaka shook her head. Kapre stares for a moment, a little bewildered at the ignorance this child possesses… but he dismisses it. She is, after all, a child, and the knowledge of what the blood elves did to the draenei would be but a burden to the girl. Kapre nods to Anaka, deciding to skimp on details in favor of maintaining the girl’s innocence. He holds up a hand, waving his palm towards him as an invitation for the child to move closer. Anaka staggers up and runs to the draenei, giving him the biggest hug she could manage.

Kapre returns it happily. “Well…” he would start. “We boarded a ship and came crashing down here in Azeroth. But we’re okay. You can see I am.”

“And Saya?”

The father looks at Anaka, frozen in place as his mind seems to have been broken… if by a little. “I… don’t know.”

“Why?”

“Because-“ The chains rattle as a signal for Anaka to return up. Kapre shook as he felt higher fel energy pour through the hole’s opening, causing him to slump onto the ground in a pitiful attempt to hide. He looks up—green light shone from the hole, the chain on which Anaka was lowered down with shaking.

”Anaka,” a deep, hollow voice spoke out from above. ”You’ve done your job. It’s time to come back.”

The girl shook in place. Kapre takes notice of her and crawls to her, hugging her close despite the weights of the chains. “Is…that Torr?”

As soon as Anaka nods to confirm the voice’s identity, Kapre lets go of the child and holds his head up to call the mystery figure out.

“You! Why do you have Anaka here? Who are you? And why do you have me here?”

Torr does not answer, leaving himself away from view as he continued to shake the chains. He ignores Kapre’s calls and turns his attention to the girl instead. “Anaka. Take the chain.”

“Don’t ignore me! Answer my question!”

Anaka trembles as the chains move closer to her. She looks at the draenei with visible terror on her face. Kapre shakes his head at her, pleading for her not to go. “Don’t do this, Anaka… don’t go to him. He may be up to no good… he could hurt you.”

The elf turns to him as she gripped a chain. “I have to go back. I want to see Saya.”

“…Saya?” The chains rise before Kapre would react. As the girl ascends, the draenei attains a sudden burst of energy, rushing to his feet to get up. The chains, however, were too short to allow him to stand; they become taut as soon as Kapre stood, jolting him back to his rear in a painful thud. Groaning, he looks up to watch the chains take Anaka away. He then attempted another stand, this time going up more carefully as the chains would become taut but not snap back. He cries out to Torr again. “Hey! You! What are you going to do with her? Where is my son?”

Once again, Torr does not answer, leaving himself out of Kapre’s sight. Kapre tries again and again, crying out with anguish and anger as the the chains rise high enough for Anaka to climb out. As soon as she did, the draenei would hear stones grating again—the lid is closing. Fearful that he’d be trapped in the darkness once again, Kapre cries out again and again, louder and louder till his throat became dry. Tears welled up in his eyes as the light in them starts to flicker, his arms, legs, and tail shaking as he screams on top of his lungs.

“Torr! Answer me! Where is my son? Where is Saya?!”

--Two weeks later…--


Fog was settling over the plagued wood, the sky dense with a somber brown from the curse of the land. Urameil stood quietly as he crossed his arms while he stood behind a tree, leaning his back against it despite the bark roughing up the fabric of his Silvermoon cape. At his feet was his cat, Jinglebell, which purred in a raspy low tone as he licked his paws. The scraggly-furred feline green eyes searched around him while he groomed himself, his tail twitching. Beneath his scarlet mask, Urameil smirked while he watched his pet casually clean itself, his foot nearing its belly to tease it. Jinglebell stops to turn its head and was about to lift its paw to bat at the boot when he turns his head away from his master’s direction and began to hiss. This gave Urameil the cue to look up.

Ahead of them both is a smaller figure in the fog, treading closer and closer as it approached them. Urameil stands away from the tree as he feels around it for a staff he leaned against it. He grips the staff, both hands holding tightly as he glares at the approaching shadow. As the distance between them becomes shorter and shorter, the man walking through the fog would eventually become more visibly clear. Bastos stood before Urameil, scowling at the hissing cat before he eyes the other sin’dorei with a serious look on his face.

“Well, hello there,” Bastos greeted.

Urameil sighs as he scans the smaller, raven-haired elf before him. He takes notice of the red eyepatch over his left eye. “Still wearing that, Bastos? Don’t tell me you’re actually blind.”

“Like f**k I am!” Bastos cries out as he rips the patch off. His eye seems to have healed from the injury, but a vertical scar was formed across it. “Somehow I’ll find that wretched female and tear that ugly smile off that face with my own knife!”

Urameil shakes his head. “Just be grateful Coria didn’t scar you the way she was. Were you able to contact Torr for me?”

“Eh…. not quite,” Bastos would say as he scratches the back of his head. “I mailed to him how you want to meet him and what you did to get closer to him. I requested we meet in person, but… He responded to me by mail too and left it at that.”

The red-haired elf sighed. “A shame. What did he say?”

“He actually has a letter specifically for you. I didn’t open it,” he says as he reaches for a bag, pulling out an envelope. Urameil walks closer to Bastos to take it, examining the envelope. Seeing his name written on it, the red Sin’dorei walks away a bit, turning his back to his companion as he rips the envelope open. Casting a small fel fire from his fingertips, Urameil uses the light to read the letter that was inside:

Quote:Dear Urameil,

I have been told of your efforts in finding me and even of what lengths you’ve gone in helping my attendant fulfill his tasks. I am truly grateful of what you’ve done for me despite never asking for help. For this, I feel you must be rewarded for all you’ve done for me by far, especially for how you managed to cook up this scheme that allowed me to capture the draenei myself.

However, there is one simple task I would like to ask of you to perform before we would meet in person. When I found the draenei, I noticed his necklace was missing from his neck. It is an ornate tiger’s eye necklace with a white circular charm attached to the chain. That necklace is very important to me, as it would help me achieve the goal I wish to achieve in the experiment I am conducting with him. Find it for me in Ashenvale, and you will be the one to bring it to me in person. By then, we shall meet at last.

--Torr.

Urameil grins as he folds the letter and returns it to its envelope. He turns to Bastos and smirks. “This would do much nicely.”

“Does it now?” Bastos asks as he returns the eyepatch over his scarred eye.

“Torr has agreed to a meeting… on the condition I find something for him.” Urameil steps out, stretching out a hand over the ground. Fel energy rises as a ring surrounds him, the air swirling around him as from the lights of the ring, a fiery Dreadsteed emerges. Urameil smirks as he waves at his cat to follow prior to mounting his steed. Jinglebell complies by climbing up his master’s leg and seats himself atop of his shoulder.

Bastos watches curiously as Urameil seats himself on his horse’s saddle. “Where are you going?”

“To Ashenvale. I will be searching for that object there,” Urameil says as he nods to Bastos. “Thank you for the letter. Farewell.” With that, the elf gallops away, the fel beast’s hooves galloping eerily its rider guides its way through the fog before disappearing entirely.

Bastos eyes the disappearing horse and rider as he breathes slowly through his nostrils, a hand gripping the strap of his satchel. He reaches into it, pulling a second envelope, this time addressed to him. He simply opens it, as the envelope was opened before. Taking out a lighter, he squints to read his own given orders to remind himself what he was to do upon giving his comrade his letter:

Quote:To Bastos:

I am fully aware of who this Urameil is. I encountered him a second time in Orgrimmar and a third time when we were in Ashenvale. The first time we met was at Tirisfal Glades, when he came across me while I was doing my first experiment. A fight nearly broke out--he sought to drain my soul. I escaped him once already, and I wish to avoid him in the future. However, given how he’s helped me attain my own goals by following his own, I intend to allow him to do what he likes until the time comes for us to dispose of him.

Enclosed with this package is an envelope I wrote to Urameil. He is to go to Ashenvale for a necklace Kapre dropped as my Doomguard was chasing him. During that time until we meet, I want you to seek out that Jami girl you’ve had your eyes on for so long. I wish to reward you for your efforts in helping me by far, but I’m afraid the only way I can do that is to lend you help from a distance. Once your lady’s location is spotted, I will come by to send my Doomguard to assist you in her capture. Meanwhile, I hope for you to recruit others to help me with other tasks. Be discreet. That incident with the scarred elf woman is one I would rather you not repeat.

In five days, I would like you to come east of the lake in Western Plaguelands. A covered wagon will hidden there. Anaka and Kapre will be there, with Kapre chained and his face entirely hidden. I want you two to go someplace so we would have a better hiding spot besides the Plaguelands. Enclosed are directions in how to get there. Start your preparations now.

--Torr.

Bastos sighs as he looks into the envelope, seeing a second folded piece of paper inside. He quirks his brow, as he apparently not made the time to check on the second enclosure. Taking it out, he opens the paper to see a map of Grizzly Hills. His eyes widen as he sees the location he was to go. “No way…”

Five days passed. As instructed, Bastos arrived at the lake in Western Plaguelands, armed to the teeth in case he was ambushed. Knives dangled by his side as the raven-haired blood elf climbed over the rocks that surrounded the lack, clanging together. They provided the only sound the elf could hear, as around the lake was quiet and lifeless. Such a location made him anxious, but he felt some comfort in the sounds he himself made. Bastos kept one hand to a knife, drawing it on occasion in case anything would ambush him. By far, the occasional centipede and spider would crawl out of the rocks, slithering and skittering their way. The elf sighed as he would come across the covered wagon as his boss has instructed him to find. He makes his way there, his feet carefully stepping along the rocks as he approaches it.

Looking around, Bastos checks around the wagon before lifting up a flap. As said in the letter, Anaka and Kapre were inside, the draenei chained up and leashed. Both were asleep.

“There you are,” Bastos mutters as he sees Anaka. “Were you waiting long?”

Anaka’s eyes blinked upon seeing the grownup elf. “Hours…”

Bastos frowned. “I thought he wouldn’t leave you alone… this isn’t good,” he says as he takes hold of Kapre’s leash and follows where it is attached. He sees the leash go all the way to a spoke of a wheel. “Did Torr leave anymore notes here?”

“He did,” the girl says as she stands on all fours, crawling all over the wagon. She searches a corner and lifts an envelope stuck to it. She hands it to her guardian. “Here.”

Bastos undoes the leash around the spoke and holds onto it. He wraps the loop around his wrist as he rips open the envelope before reading.

Quote:To Bastos:

I am preparing to move the draenei to another location besides the Plaguelands. Until then, I want you to see if you can get us a new hiding spot in Asholme. If that won’t work, I have a backup plan, though I really hope Asholme would provide us a haven from the draenei’s pursuers. Make your way there, but do not attract any unwanted attention. Keep the bag on the draenei’s head--no one would suspect a draenei slave.

Feel free to use the draenei as your beast of burden for this wagon if you wish.

--Torr

“Well, f**k,” Bastos mutters. He crumples up the paper and stuffs it into his pocket.

Anaka looks at Bastos curiously. “What is it?”

“Asholme. Again. I hate that place.”

“I never heard of it.”

Bastos sighs. “Well, I hate going to Northrend, period. I thought Asholme would be a good place for me to stay since it seems like my kind of city…. Turns out I came across more trouble than I even want to.”

“But you’re needed there. How will you do your job?”

The grown elf strokes his chin. He looks up to Kapre, who was still asleep. He yanks the chain sharply to wake him. “Get up!”

Anaka gasps in shock as Kapre’s throat was clenched back from the sharp yank. “What was that for?!”

“He’s our pet, remember? Get down, you’re pulling our wagon,” Bastos says as he continues to pull the leash. Kapre staggers to his hands and feet, stumbling out of the wagon before he falls on his bottom on the rocky ground. “To your feet. Let’s go.”

The girl starts crying. “Don’t be mean, Bastos! He’s sick and hungry!”

“And so am I. Well, sick of this place, really. Let’s go find Urameil.”

“…..why?”

“He’s the one to take the draenei to Asholme. Meanwhile, you’re coming with me to Silvermoon.”

“Why?”

“I’m still looking for that nice sin’dorei lady we met in Dalaran,” Bastos says as he lifts the yolk and begins attaching it to Kapre. “You’re going to help me find her. Torr expects me to have found her by now.”

“But I want to stay with Kapre…”

“I’m your guardian. You follow my orders.” Bastos then slaps Kapre in the back as the yolk is attached before boarding the seat. “Sit back. I just about know where to find Urameil. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to do favors for us.”

"You let the draenei be seen?!"

Urameil stuck a pinky finger into his ear as Bastos screamed at him. "There is no need to yell. I'm less than three feet in front of you."

"Torr will not like this!" Bastos yelled as he began pacing around. The two elves are meeting at a road in the Western Plaguelands, not far from where Bastos picked him the draenei and Anaka. The girl stood by Bastos, hiding from his view as she stood aside in search of Kapre. Urameil still has him, his hand gripping the leash attached to his neck.

"Can we go home now, Bastos?" Anaka says anxiously.

Her guardian shook his head as he held out his hand to Urameil. "Not yet. I still have a task to finish. Give me the draenei."

"What is this task?" Urameil asks as he hands the other elf the leash.

"I have to move him back to his hiding spot. Torr says he wants to meet you there soon."

"Is that so?"

Bastos digs his hand into his bag before he pulls out an envelope, handing it to Urameil. "You still have the necklace, correct?"

"I do."

"Good. In that envelope is a map, but you gotta make sure yo-" Before Bastos would finish, his hand burns as the leash snaps off suddenly from his distracted grip. Both elves watched as Kapre attempts an escape, sprinting away as far as his weakened legs go. Bastos was about to chase him when Urameil extends an arm to stop him. The draenei ran only a few meters before his legs gave out, the starved captive falling to his knees as hunger overcame him. Bastos blinks before turning to Urameil, shoving him aside. "What was that for?! He could have gotten away!"

"Look at him. He wouldn't go far. In fact... when was the last time Torr fed him?"

"Uh...."

Urameil raised a brow at the other sin'dorei. "Lemme rephrase that... when was the last time you fed him?"

Bastos steps back a little before turning back to Kapre, who was curling onto the ground and groaning. "Well... to be honest? Maybe last week."

"With what?"

"Some old bread."

Urameil shook his head. "With the treatment he's being given, his friends will chase you down for more than just his capture. At least I gave him food and water and even a bath."

"Who saw him?!"

Urameil rolled his eyes as he thought. "Well, there was that orc... but he seems too simple-minded to identify Kapre on sight. And there was also... Larenir."

"Larenir." Bastos huffed with annoyance. "That scrawny fel-junkie?! What the hell does that ring-eyed fruitcake doing with-" he would say before he was cut short with a staff sharply connecting to his face. "f**k!!! What the hell?!"

Urameil's eyes narrowed as he held his staff. "You will not speak of him like that."

"f**k you! What the hell is Larenir doing with you there?!"

The red elf walks past Bastos as he was questioned, stepping towards the fallen Draenei to pick up the leash and pull him back up. "We were just meeting. But don't worry. He intends to work with us."

"Oh, really?"

"Trust me. He may do for Torr wonders than you'd expect."

It was Bastos' turn for his eyes to narrow. "It's hard enough to make contact with Torr about you, let alone another warlock. Why don't you tell me all who's with you, why don't you?"

"Sure. A death knight named Epsilon."

"I was being sarcastic! Wait..." Bastos' eyes widen. "A death knight? What on earth would a death knight want with Torr?!"

Urameil turns from Bastos as he looks at Kapre. The draenei shook as he tried to maintain his stance, his knees shaking as his tail curled. "...a reward," the elf says.

"Which is?"

"Her secret. I intend to have her with me once we meet Torr."

"Fine..." the black-haired sin'dorei groaned as he takes back the leash. "Just follow the instructions on how to meet up with Torr. He's hidden someplace, and I won't be able to be there. At least I don't think so."

"Very well. Good luck to you and Anaka."

"You too."

"And Kapre too?" Anaka says pleadingly, approaching Kapre to hold his hand. The draenei grips his fingers around hers.

The red elf's eyes lowered at them both. He turns to walk away, his cat following closely as the sky of the plagued lands settle around them. "Very well... Kapre too."