User:Mcardmtbr/Death of a Demon

=Death of a Demon=

The Dark Portal has opened only hours ago. A lone Tauren makes her way across the scorched earth of the Blasted Lands...
A soft whisper of air blew across the landscape. Upon the breeze, dust kicked up by some nameless beast lifted, and then drifted. The dust had a slight reddish tint to it, matching the ground that it came from. Two large nostrils breathed in slowly, inhaling the dust as it flew by. The dust had a familiar taste; those nostrils had breathed much of it over the last few days. This dust, however, had some other smell in it. Something wrong. The Tauren stopped her mount, and summoned it back into the trinket hanging from her belt. Her eyes scanned the horizon, looking for some hint of the smell's source. There was a flash of reflected sunlight from her helm as she pulled it from her head. The breeze whipped around her hair and mane. The refreshing air moved around her sweating neck, and she breathed a relaxed breath. The silence split with deafening crack as a bolt of lightning hit the ground twenty yards away. The Tauren whirled to face the sound, swords already held ready. Silence. Nothing. She steadied her nerves and restored the helmet to her head. "Curse this lightning. I should be used to it by now," she muttered. On the horizon, several other flashes of lightning traced their lines to the ground, as if agreeing with her. Then the Tauren caught the scent again, this time strong. A small rat scurried past her feet, running from something that caused it to be terrified. The Tauren's heart started to beat faster. For a brief moment the scent overwhelmed her nostrils and an irrational fear swept over her mind. Just as quickly, she pushed it out. Then, there was an unmistakable, unearthly roar that came from behind a ridge a hundred yards distant. The sound grew, echoing across the small valley. The Tauren knew the sound well. "Demon," she whispered. "Felguard." The monstrous creature appeared, marching over the ridge with a singular purpose present in his long strides. Several horns rose from his shoulders and head, and his eyes glowed with an insane hatred for all things living. A massive axe was in his hand, the edge still red with the evidence of some innocent life finding a premature end. The Tauren tightened her hands around her swords. The demon opened its mouth and screamed its hatred for life once more. It began to charge. The Tauren started to whisper to herself. "I am a warrior of the Horde. My fury is second to none." The demon continued to charge. "I hold my enemies' death in my hands, in the form of my swords." Still the demon came. The Tauren could the feel the ground shake each time a foot hit the ground. She planted her hooves hard in the red earth and continued her mantra, now shouting it towards the oncoming felguard. "Do you know my name, demon?" Closer. "My name is Tashlama Lightning-Sword! I am a warrior of the unstoppable Horde, and you are my enemy!" The demon roared, eyes flaring as its weapon shifted to a two-handed grip. "I have warred with your kind before and defeated countless ones who were stronger than you! Your fearful visage gives me no pause!" Closer. Only a few seconds separated them. "Your kind have NO place in this world!! Today, you shall meet your end!!  Now come, demon, and let me kill you!!!" Tashlama screamed in rage at the horrible evil that this demon represented, and felt strength fill her body. She stepped to the side faster than the demon could swing his axe, and struck hard with her swords, hacking against the demon's armor. The felguard roared at his mistake and smacked Tashlama in the head with his fist. The Tauren felt a small trickle of blood from somewhere on her head, but the accompanying pain only served to enrage her more. She scored a lucky blow against an unprotected area and felt her sword bite into the demon's flesh. Savoring the clean hit, she followed up with a series of quick strikes. Tashlama's rage overflowed, and she tasted the thirst for blood in her mouth. She gave the demon a shattering blow, and felt her strength renew. The felguard's time was almost gone, and he knew it. Still, the insane hatred blew from his nostrils. The Tauren moved close as the demon attempted to lift his massive axe. She put all her remaining hatred for this evil thing into a final blow, and plunged her sword deep into the felguard. The skin on its back split as the sword came through. Tashlama wanted this demon to know he was dead. She twisted her sword and watched the felguard writhe, then shudder, and then expire. The Tauren knelt in the ground, and prayed to the Earth Mother, asking her to cleanse the evil that now dripped from the points of her swords. Tashlama scraped dirt over the blades and wiped them clean with some cloths. On the horizon, a lightning bolt split the sky, followed by several others. "I know, I know. I'm coming," she said, using the trinket on her belt to summon her mount. Kodo hooves pounded the ground, and Tashlama was on her way again, moving towards the end of her journey.

The journey that would end with the beginning of a new adventure.

On the horizon, Tashlama caught a glimpse of her destination.

The Dark Portal.