The End of an Age

Finally peace and quiet. Gweninu thought to herself.
After all of the horror and shed of Northrend it was over. Duranub was no more, the company had disbanded shortly after the war, and many of the members had decided to make House Stalwart their new home.
Gweninu slowly stirred the coals of the cooking fire beside the old standing stones in Ashenvale. Since coming back she had felt a need to keep a distance from others, and had chosen this secluded location. As she looked over at her friends, though some would call them her pets, she felt a smile cross her lips. She preferred the company of beasts and animals to those of other people.
She frowned slightly at some of the stories she had heard from travelers passing through the woods. Tales of doomsday cults, and rogue elementals were becoming more common and disturbing. Fear was taking over the world again. She had felt some of tremors even in Ashenvale. She had started to sense an unrest in the forest recently also. The lakes were no longer calm, and the winds had started howling like an angry wounded beast. She found herself wondering more and more about her friends in Stormwind and Ironforge.
Soon she thought, soon she would take the long boat across the great sea, and check on them. But for now, she would rest.
Sleep didn’t come easy these days. Twisted dreams of fire and destruction were the norm. Gwen wasn’t the only who was suffering from this. All of her friends, Sushi, Devilicious, Mock and the rest were showing signs of unease. Tomorrow, tomorrow they would head to the Eastern Kingdoms to meet up with the others from House Stalwart.
Gweninu was awoken by an awful sound. In the distance there was an unusually bright light. The ground shook and trembled, sending trees, rocks, flying; along Gwen and her companions.
Then she saw it.
Death had come for them all.
Deathwing had returned.
…
Slowly and painfully she opened her eyes. How long had she been out? Every part of her body shrieked in burning agony. She slowly and painfully looked around for her scattered gear and pets. She called for them using coos, barks, clicks, growls, and a variety of whistles. One by one every one of them slowly made their way through the destruction back to her. With a steely resolve, she reached in to a pouch and brought forth a pinch of dust from Ulduar, and threw it skyward. With a cry the celestial steed flew down to her. She patted the beast’s flank and then took off at a wild gallop to reach Auberdine, and to book passage to Stormwind as fast as possible.
After several hours of hard travel, she had finally made it to Auberdine, or at least what remained of the once tranquil port village. Now all that was left were the twisted remains of the docks, and a few broken bodies. Despair rushed through at the carnage and total decimation of it all as she sunk to her knees.
Her hearthstone.
Where in Elune’s name had she put the damn thing. She hadn’t changed it’s location from Dalaran yet. If she could get there, she could take the portal to Stormwind. After several minutes of searching she found it, and immediately started the activation sequence. The flash of light from the stone was a welcomed comfort. She opened her eyes to an agitated frenzy the likes of which she had never seen in the city before. She ran as fast as she could, taking on the aspect of a cheetah.
Several minutes later she made it to the portal area, and stopped suddenly. Gone. They were all gone, not a single portal was left. The city’s mages who were in charge of keeping them open were at a loss to explain why they couldn’t get them reopened. She knew she would need to find a mage to get her fast, otherwise she would be stuck flying out to the Valiance Keep and hoping a boat would come quickly. After what felt like an eternity, she finally found a mage, who hadn’t passed out from exhaustion yet, and was “willing” to send her to Stormwind for a fee.
The minute she set foot out of the mage tower, she landed in chaos. No, not chaos, hell was more accurate description. Once again she called her ethereal mount, and took off at a full gallop towards the park, where there the fires seemed to be the brightest. As she charged through the archway leading up to the park, she came to a screeching halt. Nearly plunging to her .
The park was gone. All that remained was a few charred pieces of wood and stone. Now the park was a drop straight down to the raging ocean below. wing had lashed out and wiped out the park as a show of force to the Alliance. As she peered down the jagged cliffs searching for any sign of life. There was none, not a single living thing had survived.
Staying there was pointless. The could be mourned for after the living were saved. Seconds turned in to minutes. Minutes turned in to hours. Hours turned in to day. Time felt like it had stopped moving. Gweninu and her animal companions moved through the ruined city working as a team to free, and rescue, trapped survivors. Blackflag flew high, looking in windows and on roofs for survivors to fly to safety if he could. Those that he wasn’t able to were dragged to safety by Sushi, who was able mend and help sooth shattered and broken souls. Survivors clinging to debris in the canals were ferried to docks and waiting hands by the turtle’s strong shell. Devilicious, Spot, and Mezcal were digging, and clearing rubble from buildings searching for any signs of life. Gwen would then help carry anyone who wasn’t able to get to the triage stations by themselves.
Some hours later, she lost track of time, everything turned in to a blur she didn’t know what to think, all she knew was pain.
How much time had past? Was it all just a terrible nightmare? No. No, it was real. No one was sure how many had died that day. The world had been attacked. flew through the sky on giant leathery wings of fire that dark day. Stories were coming in from every corner of Azeroth telling the tales of woe, dread, , and destruction. But mixed in with all of these horrors, were tales of hope. Tales of people banding together, despite their differences, to help others.
Now was a time to heal. Now was the time to consolidate and prepare. Soon, the time would come, Gweninu thought, to act. Soon wing would pay for what he done.
Until that time came, there were others that needed help…

The Summons

Fair warning all, this is going to be my first ever attempt at an RP post….

The push would begin soon. Gweninu felt the time coming deep in her bones. After the Lich King’s ruthless assault on the tournament, there could be no denying it. Gwen could not forget that fateful day. Duranub Raiding Co. had been summoned by Highlord Tirion Fording to compete against the Argent Crusade had to offer. No one had expected Arthas to react the way he did. After he demolished the floor and sent them all crashing down in to the ruins of the Old Kingdom, the shock and hatred of what they saw had motivated them into action. Snub’rican had been raised once more and was even more powerful than before. Now, that was all in the past. The Lich King’s champion lay dead and buried in the ruins hidden deep below the frozen earth.

Then it started, the the assault on Icecrown Citedel. She had watched the Argent Crusade and the Knights of the Ebon Blade finally put aside their differences and combine their might in to a supposedly unstoppable juggernaut. During that time Gwen had received an odd summons from Jaina Proudmoore. It seemed that Jaina had found a chink in the Citadel’s defenses and wanted her to be part of the strike force she was leading to go after Arthas. Turns out Arthas knew about it, and was expecting them. Only a handful of them escaped to the airship alive, the rest ended up as servants of the Lich King.

But that was all in the past. Now she languished by a small fire on the banks of the river that ran through Crystal Song Forest. She was occupying herself with preparing a variety of fish to be served as a feast for friends and comrades alike. As she looked up, a smile played across her lips as she watched Sushi and Devilicious going after a school of glacial salmon. That’s  when she felt it again. The warmth spreading from the sigil in her pocket. It was more intense that the last time, signaling an urgency that was new to a Duranub summons.

A menacing growl suddenly escaped Sushi as the spirit beast swung its massive head skyward. As Gwen gazed skyward towards Dalaran she clicked her tongue twice, hearing the command Sushi stopped growling and vanished from sight with a bright flash.

Looking towards the great black lizard, she gave a sharp whistle calling Devilicious to her side. As the lizard stomped out of the water to her side, she caught the flapping of giant leathery wings in the distance. Turning her head back and forth, she finally pinpointed the direction of the flapping. She quickly closed her eyes and envisioned the acutely accurate eyes of an eagle. With a snap her eyes flew open, sharply focused distant sound.Her eyes quickly focused on a purple protodrake closing the distance at a high rate of speed. As she reached for her crossbow, she refocused on the figure mounted on the drake’s back. Gwen relaxed her hand as she closed her eyes, feeling slightly dizzy as her vision readjusted itself back to normal.

Belghast was coming. Now that was something new, usually if Bel needed to contact someone, he would send Thalen or one of the other officers. With a gust of forced wind, the drake landed about fifty feet down the bank from the small camp, she was able to make out the clacking and clanking of Bel’s armor as he jumped down from his drake. As he walked towards the small campfire, a cold wind whipped down from the glacier to the north.

"Gwen."

"Bel."

She reached down to the to prepare a plate of fish for him, as he lower himself down by the fire.

"So what brings you you down here on this lovely day Bel?", Gwen asked while she reached over to toss Devil a fresh fish.

"If you would’ve answered the summons we’ve been sending you, you’d have known by now. Bel replied through a mouth full of fish.
Slowly she reached down, and picked up another fish. She casually flicked her wrist, sending the fish into the air with a click of her lounge. In a sudden flash of light Sushi appeared, catching the fish in midair, and landing next to with a happy purr.

"So the assault on Arthas has begun then?" she asked as she scratched Sushi behind the ears.

"Yes, we’re expected to go in full force, seeing as the sneak attack didn’t work out so well." Replied Bel sadly.

Gwen just sat there digesting  everything that Bel had told her, along with everything that had happened. She could feel Bel staring a her waiting for her reply. "Alright, when do we leave?" Gwen asked in a tired voice.

"In two days, we’re meeting at the Ledgermain. It’s good to have you and your ‘friends’ with us again Gwen." Belghast said with a smile.

He then stood up and walked slowly to his drake. Gweninu watched as he mounted the drake and took off back for Dalaran. with a heavy sigh, she looked down at Sushi and finally spoke. "Soon. Soon it will all be over fuzz ball and we can head to warmer climates," she said with a smile.