((This post is from our forum. It has a couple more pics from our walk that I was able to take. Hope you enjoy them! See the Al'shar forums for more of the developing story, Alliance side!))A violent gasp came from the old Kaldorei as he awoke from his unconsciousness. The tides had hammered him against the rock face of his cell knocking the wind from him. He had fallen hard back into the pool of water and had not been able to get to the surface again. He awoke to two blood elves climbing out the metal grade. The had likely saved him from drowning. He must have been out for a while because the tides had settled and he was able to sit upon the cell's floor. He swayed heavily as he tried to stand. Deciding that it would probably be best to remain sitting, he crawled to the nearest wall and leaned his back upon it.
"You not be lastin' down dere mach longa, Commanda. You best be tellin' us what we want ta' know soon." a voice from above shouted.
Leikos could hear as the footsteps fade into the distance. Judging by the light he could see, it was early evening. It would probably be an hour or so before the next round of interrogations began. They would let him rest a bit after almost dying. He knew how torture worked. They wanted to break him and gather the intelligence before they killed him. The information they wanted from him was still valuable. What exactly that could be, he still hadn't figured out. Maybe it had to do with what the Alliance had uncovered about the Horde and the Burning Blade conspiring together? There was no way to tell.
His head throbbed. The pain was terrible. He moved his hand tenderly to the area on his skull where it hurt the most. There was blood in his knotted green hair. It stung as the salt from the sea water made its way into the wound. Despite the pain, Leikos could find no fractures which was a positive. Fatigue and hunger was beginning to set in. He closed his eyes and decided to focus on something else. The day of his capture. He had not finished going over all the events in his mind. He had to understand how and why his enemies had choreographed this maneuver in order to formulate an escape.
His heart had been racing when he had relinquished his mace. It was as if he had lost the only way out of his situation. Even with his hand to hand combat skills he would never defeat all those who escorted them. There was about ten Horde around him. They had clasped his hands in iron chains and forced him to head south. The Horde had been lead by the Troll Priest, which he had patched together as being the one called Warburn, and a female Tauren Druid, who had remained nameless since his capture.
As they trotted around them, Leikos had time to glance over their tabards and crests. Most of them seemed to be from the group known as Nyx and some others from the Blackmoon Tribe. Leikos had seen both symbols numerous times on various battlefields. It did little to comfort his hopes of escaping his captors alone. Even with his own honed skills, there was little chance of him being able to escape them on the open field of Durotar. The path they took led away from Ogrimmar and towards the Horde settlement of Razor Hill. The crags that surrounded the pass taunted Leikos. The overhanging cliffs would make it difficult for an armored party of this size to recapture a prisoner but the problem was reaching them. Without proper climbing equipment it would be impossible.
During their trek, a few of the party had taken to jeering and abusing Leikos. He had been spit on, punched, and kicked by those riding. He had been ready for this and steeled his mind as best as he could. However, there was a particular female Sin'dorei that had pushed him to his limits. She wore a strange mask and moved oddly for an elf. She was constantly attacking him throughout the walk. Casting spells of vengeance or hammering him with her mace in the abdomen. As they approached the Durotar Barrens border, he had become so irritated by her attacks that he barreled passed one of the Taurens at his side, nearly knocking him over, just to take a and head butted the paladin. She had fallen hard and scowled up at him. A mage had stopped Leikos from further attacks blasting him with an icy attack that chilled him to the bone. It took him several minutes to feel the warmth of the actual climate. From then on out, they had kept him slowed to a walk with magic.
They came upon the river that separated the Durotar and the Barrens. After a short walk along the bank they came to an area where the river was low and the current easily crossable. An Orc shoved Leikos from behind causing him to fall into the water. He surfaced taking a large breath of air. After gaining his footing, he was able to tell the water as about six and a half feet deep. A Death knight enabled the horde group to walk across the water with ease but Leikos was forced to swim with his shackled hands. He managed to do so with some effort.
After the group had made it across they stopped for several minutes at a farm. The forced him to seat himself. He could hear whispers among the group. He heard them speak about another group in the area. Could it be his squad? The group move. Several riders broke off from the group and headed south east. A battle horn sounded and more of the riders headed towards the sound. Leikos could hear the clanking of steel off in the distance. He looked around to see how many were left. Five still stood around him.
Noise came from the river bank. The group turned to see members of Leikos' unit attempting to free him. As his captor's attention turned to the attackers, Leikos shoulder blocked the paladin that had been harassing him earlier, knocking her to the ground then let out a tremendous roar that startled the others. He made a break for the river. If he could jump into it the currents would carry them out of the Horde's reach. As he neared the embankment, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a net from one of the hunters. He looked around from side to side, hoping to see Fuller, Tindr, anyone, but none could be seen. A smack to the back of his head brought a rough growl from him. The Orc hunter hoisted him up and removed the net. The Sin'dorei paladin walked up and slapped him across the face, leaving a hand print on his cheek. The blow stung.
They forced him on for at least another ten miles until the reached Ratchet. Leikos had known the Goblins in this area to be more sympathetic to the Horde, despite their claims of neutrality. They averted their eyes as the group passed through the town. The group stopped for a time to count causalities. Several had minor injuries. They proceeded on the southern beaches. Leikos knew the group was somewhere between Ratchet and Northwatch Hold. It was an odd coincidence considering this was where they had originally began the scouting.
They came upon a part of the beach where a sand bar had formed. It led to an Island about a mile out to sea. A Tauren warrior pushed Leikos hard, with his shield, towards the ocean water. He looked behind him and glared at the heavily armored bull. Another hard push came. The troll shaman, Warburn, moved forward and beckoned Leikos towards the island. He sighed and continued on into the water. It was a cold shock to his body. He was already tiring from all the commotion and his head was still aching from the blow.
The reached the island and Leikos was taken on either side and sat in a small stool. Warburn stood in front of Leikos. Their eyes met. Leikos could see no give in this troll. He did not seem terribly bloodthirsty as most trolls he encountered but there was no way of truly knowing at the moment. A hard fist came and slammed into Leikos face. The orc hunter took a step back and rubbed his knuckles.
"This is only the beginning, Night Elf. You will give us the information we seek or you will perish." the troll shaman, Warburn, stated menacingly.
Leikos moved his jaw around for a moment, allowing it to set back into place, "You'll find me to be a challenge you are likely not up to, troll."
A grate was opened in front of them. Two Tauren hoisted Leikos up and walked him in front of the hole. He looked down to see the tides crashing about. It was a small cave under the island. The two Tauren pushed him in. He fell hard upon the ground.
"We be seein', Night Elf. I be 'opin ya be enjoyin' yerr stay." the troll shaman growled down into the hole.
Leikos looked around his cell, coming out of his day dream. He could hear a few gathering above and the rush of the tide swelling in the small cave once more. His short time of rest was over.
. We have until next Thursday to get whatever info we can from him.
