The Mission

The orcs were planning an attack. Her first real mission as "Archer" was to thwart that attack. Straightforward enough.

It was a small force of Shadowmoon orcs, not really an army. How could she, alone, stop them from marching? Her instincts said "kill them all" - killing came easy, and it solved the problem. But in this case, it wouldn't be practical.

She reasoned out what she could do while scouting the encampment from above. Whatever else could be said about orcs, they were still mortal. They needed food and water to survive. They needed rest, of course, and they needed leadership. These things, she could disrupt.

Breaking the problem down like that, it was almost manageable.

The best part was, she wouldn't have to do most of it in person.

She put together packets of poisonous herbs, smiling as she worked.

Her beloved wolf would be the one to distribute the vile death she had concocted. Vladik had long since died; she couldn't hurt the ghost with her mixtures.

She explained what she needed him to do, still marveling at how smart he was. She watched as he made his way down the cliff and disappeared from view.

She was confident her wolf would take care of his task. If there was a single scrap of edible food in the camp by morning, she would be surprised - and if they had a single wolf left, or a moment of restful sleep in the entire camp, she would be astonished.

As the local wolves began to howl, loudly, she set to work on her own task.

She wasn't much of a mage; she couldn't rain fire or freeze her enemies in place. She couldn't imagine being able to reverse time.

But she had some talents.

She settled in to the shadow of the cliff, focusing on her well of power. As she closed her eyes, she felt herself slipping free of her body.

The thing she designed was vaguely humanoid, thin strands of magic connecting at a central point. It had two hands, and something resembling a head - good enough. It was also more or less invisible, which suited her purposes quite well.

The thing was also quite mindless; she would be controlling it, directing its every movement. It would take all of her focus: hopefully, she wouldn't find herself under attack, as she would be entirely helpless - most likely unaware of what was happening, until after she'd finished her work below. She wasn't stupid, though - if the orcs caught a scrawny young human in their midst, they would certainly kill him without a second thought.

Carefully, she directed the construct to pick up the poisoned knife. Clumsy, but it would do. She edged down the cliff, before realizing that without a real body, there would be no need for gravity. She flung her 'self' forward, the construct flying out over the camp proper.

One of the tents looked - strange, to her magical vision. It billowed with a kind of inky black smoke, and it beckoned her, drawing her closer. Curious, she followed the call. She slipped unnoticed into the dark-lit tent, finding the orc inside fast asleep. So much power, though - she knew for certain this would be a high value target. She slit his throat without a second thought.

The power did not dissipate. If anything, it expanded, for a moment, before contracting into a vaguely humanoid shape. The darkness hungered - it was impossible for her to look at the thing. It was impossible not to. Ultimately, she found herself staring at it in awed fascination.

The darkness hungered, and before she realized what was happening, her construct was engulfed, consumed. She hastily broke her contact with her creation, cutting her losses and snapping suddenly back into her body. The monster she'd unleashed had stolen almost all of her magic - but at least she was still alive. The backlash of her actions caught up to her quite quickly. She'd expected to be weak after her working.

She was unconscious before she could realize the full of her mistake.

50 Word Thoughts - VII

Swarm

The silly little flower men had sharp teeth. She discovered just how sharp when one of them latched on to her arm. She did not scream - she had endured worse. Instead, she bashed its skull in, green goo flying. She shook the dead thing off, before resuming her vicious slaughter.

Snowbound

Northrend was notoriously cold, with biting winds and harsh snows. She had not fully anticipated staying the night in a tent that was completely buried. She dug a small vent up to let air in and what little smoke her heater gave off out. It was a long, grueling night.

Colorful

She smiled as she worked. To a human, the splash of color on canvas was meaningless. The idea that she could craft her own art was an incredible thought. She did not try to capture the image of something that existed - why would she? Instead, she painted pleasing patterns.

Jaded

She sighed. She wanted to believe in the good of the world, and then this happened. It was two of the woodworkers - she did not know their names. "You know this is not tolerated," she said evenly. Rage gave her punch strength. No one deserved to be hurt like that.

Knight

"Commander!" The man snapped to attention. She had been recognized for her efforts in the previous wars, but honestly, she had no idea how to lead. She had run mostly solo campaigns, because of her "gifts." The idea of running a fortress was terrifying. What if she failed her people?

Translate

With how many years the Alliance and Horde had been fighting, she would have thought that a translator would be superfluous by now. Still, she served as well as she could, for basic confrontations. The others around the garrison got together, cornering her to demand lessons. Of course, she obliged.

Chosen

Once again, she found herself traveling to strange lands a t the beginning of a new war. She was not chosen as part of this mission, but her employer was. She was not one to abandon a job because it got dangerous, and so she demanded a position in their company.

Bird

She swung the 'copter around, firing at the massive skeleton below. There were still a number of free roaming undead after the fall of the Lich King, though not nearly so many as during his reign. She did not mind clean up: it gave her time to think.

50 Word Thoughts - VI

Happy

She was dreaming. She knew that, but it was a good dream. She was enveloped in a sense of pure light and warmth. There was a soft chiming noise that filled her mind. "You are not alone," it said. She woke, groggy. On the contrary, she occupied a solitary cage.

Adequate

"That is not good enough, maggot!" She appreciated that the instructor treated her no differently than the adults he worked with. She wanted - needed - to prove to herself, to everyone, that she could keep up, that she was as good as any adult - if not better.

Transpire

It came to pass that she found herself working at a military base. As far as her peers were concerned, she was a young enlisted man. That was the story, anyway. They let her participate in their games, gambling being their favorite. She lost, so now she cleaned the latrines.

Employer

She snorted softly. The man - the dwarf - who ran this organization was a petulant child, going into an infantile rage because things were not as he wanted them to be. His wife was more respectable, in her eyes. Besides - it was his wife who had invited her here, not him.