Icecrown Awaits

Elionene urged her hippogryph quickly down towards the shadowed rampart. Beneath her swarmed masses of undead, frenzied ghouls, giant bone skeletons, and other ilk. Around her flew the silent sentinels, Frostwyrms, their bony wings keeping them aloft with the dark magic of necromancy. She carefully kept out of their sight as she directed her mount closer to the structure. As they neared, the hippogryh stretched her wings out and up, slowing their descent, and landed with a mild clatter of claw and hoof on the fortress.

The rampart was deserted. There were no entrances or exits on this part of the citadel, and thus nothing to guard, but it proved a good vantage point for the chaos below. The multitudes of mindless scourge seethed back and forth across Icecrown glacier. It was an ocean of undead, waiting for the moment in which they would be released on the world. Elionene hated to admit it, but Tirion had been right. No large force of soldiers could make it through this. They would be dead, risen, and fighting their own in seconds, adding to the already vast sea of monsters. A smaller force, one that could skirt past the outer defenses as she just had, was their best shot at getting inside, and confronting the Lich King once and for all.

Elionene quietly dismounted from the hippogryph and made her way to a secluded area of the rampart that overlooked the Court of Bones. From this area she could see that the gates into the fortress were still fastened tightly shut, with no apparent way of entry. That would soon change. The entire structure was made out of saronite. Cursed ore, formed from the blood of Yogg-Saron. The Old God now lay dead in Ulduar, but his evil presence was still felt everywhere in Icecrown. Elionene did not think it a coincidence that the stronghold of the Lich King and the Scourge was formed from the life essence of the Old God of death.

Tirion Fordring's tournament had proven fruitful, and now both the Alliance and the Horde were forming small teams to infiltrate Icecrown. A way in had been discovered. Elionene wasn't sure by who, but she did know that tonight, Jaina Proudmoore herself would be leading people into the underbelly of Icecrown, to seek out secrets that might aid them in the destruction of Arthas, and the Scourge. From there it was only a matter of time before they cracked the main door open.

Veritas had been recognized for their prowess and victory in the Crusader Coliseum week after week. Tonight, Elionene had called a rally of the guild to brief them on their mission, and the hope that they would be bringing not only to themselves, but to all of life on Azeroth. Elio peered around at the empty rampart. The location would do nicely for an inspiring speech and give a good view of what exactly they were facing as well. All throughout their time in Northrend, the Lich King had taunted them, goaded them, encouraged them to seek him out in his fortress. And now they had come.

And this time, Elionene would be the one laughing.

The Gun

Elionene walked calmly through the streets of Darnassus, keeping a careful eye out for any familiar faces. She passed the large entrance pavilion and found herself in the front courtyard that opened out to the rest of Teldrassil. A few young travelers and various merchants and adventurers walked and relaxed in the area, but the sun was setting low on the horizon and the courtyard was beginning to empty. Seeing no one she recognized, and with the population lessening by the minute, Elionene gave a quiet sigh and set down her pack on the ground along with her bow and quiver.

Lethan, who had been following his master, found a place to preen himself on a nearby tree. But his keen senses told him something was different, and that his master was troubled. He picked at a tail feather while awaiting what was to happen next.

Reaching into her pack, Elionene pulled out a large metallic contraption. It had the odd characteristic of appearing at once ancient and yet also strangely modern in design. The body of the device was large and cylindrical and was a metallic silver color. From the back of this cylinder protruded a wood stock handle with a metal grip. Beneath it was a trigger mechanism. It was a gun. A lone antenna protruded straight up, and glowed a slight blue, it's purpose unkown to Elionene. She hefted the gun up to her shoulder and took a look down the barrel. All the while frowning.

An annoyed screech sounded from Lethan, the glare of the setting sun off the metallic object bothering him. Whatever the device was, he did not like the look of it. He shuffled a bit on the branch to avoid the glare, and was then distracted by a rodent's movement in the nearby grass. Lethan dove at the spot, hoping for an evening snack.

Elionene set the gun down by her bow and then removed a small box of bullets from her pack. She had bought them in Ironforge just moments ago before taking a portal to Darnassus. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was embarrased about her predicament and didn't wish to be seen purchasing ammunition instead of arrows. She carefully loaded the gun and looked at her bow one last time. Truth be told, it was not a pretty bow. But at least it was finely made and sent arrows straighter than ever before.

Lethan emerged from the grasses, clicking his beak happily, savoring his snack. His master was distraught. Over what he did not know. Certainly she couldn't be considering using that strange contraption? They had been companions for many adventures. Never once had he seen her with something so inelegant and clunky. Lethan took to the air and started towards Elionene.

Elionene recalled happening upon the gun within the volumnous halls of Ulduar. After a fierce and long battle with the Furnace Master, they had raided Ignis' cache of weapons and the gun had been discovered. It seemed to radiate a great power, but no other member of the party deemed it worth their time. Elionene had hesitated slightly, but she could not see an item of such usefulness go to waste. So she had taken the gun, and now she found herself here, in the courtyard of Darnassus, with a loaded gun and a row of target dummies.

Lethan saw his master raise the loaded weapon once more to her shoulder. She alligned the sights and put her finger on the trigger and began to slowly pull.

Elionene cautiously tested the spring in the trigger, pulling back to find the exact spot it would trigger the explosion. She aimed for the head of one of the dummies, and pulled back a little more.

Just as he was nearing Elionene, the gun fired, and Lethan startled. The antenna glowed an intense blue and then white as the explosion rocked Elionene back and sent Lethan into a fit of screeching and flapping.

Her ears ringing, Elionene dropped the gun from her shoulder. It had been louder than she had thought it would be, but she had withstood the recoil. Glancing at the target dummy, her eyes widened. She had laid her sights on the dummy's head. Now the dummy had no head. In fact, the head was no where to be seen. Instead, there was just splintered wood and straw lying around the base of the apparatus.

Lethan continue to screech and flap, complaining at the loud sound. Elionene turned towards him and gave a half smile. Calming himself, Lethan tilted his head to the side in a curious matter. Why in the world was she smiling?

Elionene began to repack her things, placing the gun and ammunition carefully back into her bag. She smiled again at Lethan, who now looked completely confused. She could understand. She wasn't sure why she was smiling herself. The gun, with it's highly explosive energy and cacophonous noise was simply uncivilized. But the result of its use was immensely satisfying. She decided to reserve the gun for special occasions. The extra fire power would certainly come in handy on her more dangerous adventures.

Not at all very happy about this evening's activities, Lethan followed his master once more as they set off for the boat to Stormwind. The sun set behind the two over the bows of Teldrassil casting long shadows before them. Elionene maintained the same half smile as she walked, and Lethan fussed horribly when he noticed that in his flapping, he had gotten his tailfeathers out of place again.