After Zal thought that he had ran a good distance away, he set up a small hut with twigs. Zal found that he was in the middle of a forest right before the Mountain range of Knives. It was Twilight Forest. It wasn’t particularly big, but the rising sun illuminating the trees earned it its name. As the sky slowly turned dark, Alice woke up. Zal had placed her in a makeshift bed made of leaves and sticks. Alice seemed fine, and the blow the ogre did to her didn’t seem to have affected her.
“Where am I?” She asked, confused. The only thing she remembered was Zal’s face of panic.
Zal filled her in about the ogre and about the current situation in Vassal. He didn’t mention carrying her. Alice stared at him.
”Thank you.” She said after a minute. She knew that even though Zal didn’t talk about it, she probably wouldn’t even be alive if he hadn’t brought her away. Then she thought of the image of Zal carrying her, and her face turned red.
”You didn’t do anything right?” Alice Asked.
Zal sighed, and shook his head. He hated his image of a pervert. Alice nodded, and decided to trust him. Looking at Zal while the sun illuminated his face made him look like a comic book hero. Alice’s heart couldn’t help but pound.
They stayed that way in silence. Zal admired the peaceful atmosphere and wished it could stay. Usually Alice would crack a joke at a time like this, but she stayed silent today. Zal had also witnessed a different part of Alice today. Even though she usually smiled and joked around a lot, it seemed she had a melancholic side as well. Zal stood up, preparing to leave.
”Where are you going?” Alice Asked. It was already dark outside, so she couldn’t imagine where he would be going.
“Sleeping.” Zal replied.
Alice realized. In the makeshift hut, there was only one bed. Hers. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, “You can sleep with me.”
Zal was surprised. He turned around, but couldn’t see her face as it had already disappeared within the makeshift leaf blanket. Zal laughed quietly.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about me.” He Said, and left the hut.
***
Alice laid there in the dark of night, alone in the woods. She twisted and turned in the bed and couldn’t sleep. Only one figure kept popping back into her head—-Zal. She sighed. She didn’t use to be such a sentimental person. She looked out the window.
Alice remembered that day all those years ago. She was in a hut just like the one Zal made for her. The day was bright and children were running around the village she used to live in. Then, night came. Alice and her family were sleeping when the screams came. They were jolted awake and ran outside.
If Zal was there, it would look like a dream. Because what was happening to her village was exactly like what was happening to Vassal. Ogres.
Tens Of them parades around her village, destroying houses. The village went up in flames, and her house into cinders.
Alice remembered that day, her parents sacrificed themselves to save her. And that night, she ran far away. Far far away. Far away to Vassal. There, her heart slowly healed with a new community. And the tragedy long ago was slowly forgotten. She acted happy everyday to hide the shadow in her heart.
And today, the wound that was slowly closing got torn open again.
***
Zal ran towards Vassal. He tried his best to mask his sound, and it was pretty easy considering that there was the sound of screaming coming from Vassal.
Zal got close enough to see, and hid in a bush. His mission tonight was to see if the Rank 6 ogre was the leader, and monitor the situation. He would also help where he could, if he wouldn’t get discovered.
There was currently a large and buff ogre standing at the village center. It commanded the surrounding ogres, and laughed at the destruction. Zal felt sick. He wanted to run, run away, but he couldn’t.
The large and buff ogre also seemed to be the Rank 6 or higher that knocked Alice out. But considering it didn’t do considerable damage to her, it was at best a Rank 7.
Zal continued watching. By now, half the village was gone. Zal’s heart ached. Although he wasn’t here for long, it already became home in his heart. The surviving villagers were also being rounded up. Probably to be sold as slaves in the future. The ogre slave network ran through most of Azeroth, and human slaves in ogre camps were not all that uncommon.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
By now, Zal knew there was no way to save the villagers, and he could only protect Alice. Not that he would be doing the protecting. A Rank 1 protecting a Rank 6. What a joke! Zal turned to go back, but he didn’t realize that as he wasn’t leaving, the head ogre saw him, and sneered.
A puny human was actually trying to spy on him! What a joke. The lead ogre told the other ogres to stay at Vassal, while he started following the human silently.
***
Alice’s eyes shot open. She felt something was wrong. She strained her ears, but couldn’t hear any breathing. Her heart started beating. A Rank 6’s hearing was top notch, and could hear almost anything. She was sure Zal wasn’t here. But where could he have gone?
Alice was sure that he wouldn’t leave her. He just wasn’t that kind of person. And he had been gone for almost an hour already, so he couldn’t be out gathering food or materials. That left only one option.
He went to the village to try to save people. Alice cursed. Stupid pervert, trying to be a hero again. She tried to shift herself out of bed, but her muscles wouldn’t oblige. She was shocked. The ogres blow must have been more severe then she had thought.
Alice imagined Zal getting beat into minced meat by the Rank 6 ogre, and almost cried. Now, all she could do was pray. Pray that the person she almost fell in love with comes back safely.
And the time she finally got to see him is when he staggers back into the hut covered in blood.
***
Zal became aware of the ogres prescience 5 minutes after he left his hiding place. Zal looked down one time to find a huge shadow behind his. He was shocked. The ogre was following him!
Zal actually got discovered. He internally cursed. He was too careless. His heart started speeding up. A Rank 6 was following him! He tried desperately to think up a strategy, but no matter how hard he tried, he always drew blanks. The difference in strength between a Rank 6 and a Rank 1 was just too large. And he also knew he couldn’t go to where Alice was, because that would endanger her.
Zal strayed off the correct path, and ventured deeper into twilight forest. He didn’t know how long he had walked, twisting and turning, but he couldn’t take it anymore. He whirled around to face the ogre. The ogre was surprised for a moment, before sneering.
”Little pest, you got away last time but can you get away now?” The ogre gestured to the surrounding trees.
Zal’s heart sunk. He realized the last time he “fought” the ogre was in an open field. That time, there was a lot of space to dodge the ogre’s club. But in a forest?
Zal desperately jumped behind a tree as the club came crashing down. A crater that was 5 feet deep instantly got created. Zal shivered. Dangerous!
Zal and the ogre continued playing whack-a-mole for 5 minutes. Zal felt his limbs cramp, and his head hurt after dodging for so long. As Zal got more and more tired, the ogre started getting smarter. It no longer tried to hit at Zal, but tried to hit in front of him. This made Zal waste a lot more energy.
His speed slowed, and club came closer and closer to hitting. Zal knew there was no running away from this one. His vision grew sluggish as a picture of Alice grew in his line of sight. Was this paradise? The club hit him. Blood splattered his vision. Pain. Unimaginable pain. Was this the light? He felt his legs losing their strength. Before his vision faded, he thought he saw chains. Faint chains binding him to the ground. Zal almost closed his eyes. But before he did, he remembered why he was here in the first place. Who he was trying to protect. It was because of the person right in his vision.
Zal’s eyes slowly regrew their light, and new vigor came to his limbs. He roared. The chains binding him broke. The image of Alice faded as Zal’s speed reached new heights. Zal felt invincible. He felt he could do anything. Rank 2, Rank 3. His Rank kept on rising. He kept getting faster.
If Alice was there to see this scene, she would have been shocked. Rarely do people break through Ranks in battle, but when it does, it reaps unimaginable rewards. Their muscles and bones grow stronger than normal people of that Rank, and they can also fight people 1 or 2 Ranks above them. These people were rare, and there was only about one each generation. They broke through fate itself, and carved a new future. They were called Desperados. And each one of them went on to accomplish great things, as they would be invincible at Rank 10, or even Rank 9!
Rank 3, Rank 4, Rank 5. His steadily climbing Rank finally stopped. But it was enough. Zal now had enough strength to fight the ogre face to face. He turned around and faced the ogre. The ogre looked back in shock.
***
Millard sat in his office at the dead of night. He looked at the full moon outside. He felt a shiver. He felt things were going down tonight, and his “feelings” never let him down once.
Millard picked up the transmitter stone. Transmitter stones were what people used to communicate. They reached over long distances, and were very reliable.
”Send the ESS squad to Vassal.” Wrote Millard.
***
Zal hit the ogre over and over. Although his punches didn’t do much, they left a sizable dent in the ogre. Zal felt delighted. He didn’t know what had happened, but he felt great.
The ogre roared, and tried to hit Zal. But it was futile. It still didn’t know what happened. As it smashed the puny human, the human actually survived! And got stronger too! It felt it’s life waning. The ogre regretted following the human. As more wounds grew, the ogre started growing sluggish. Zal punched it in its face again and again. Soon after, there was a loud bang as the ogre fell over.
it was like a scene out of a movie. A blood covered hero killing the evil ogre! It would have made a great movie, Zal thought.
All of a sudden, the adrenaline faded, and Zal felt an ocean wave of fatigue hit him. But he still smiled. He was alive! And he had killed the lead ogre. He was too tired to go try and go save the village. He could barely even move his legs.
Zal trudged back the way he came, and staggered into the hut he made. Before his vision faded, the last thing he saw was the face of a worried Alice.
***
The rising sun welcome the trees in twilight forest. The sun slowly covered the glowing trees, and finally illuminated a group of people traveling quickly towards Vassal. The ESS squad had traveled without resting, and made record time. But was it quick enough?