16

“I can't believe this happened right under our noses... Their 'cavalry' has already surrounded Karabor and a bunch of other major settlements.” Tanna spat as she looked over the battle map of Draenor. The draenei woman was average height for her species at around eight feet tall. She was built quite sturdy with a thick frame. Thighs that could crush a goblin without even trying. She was not too concerned with them as fighters. The issue in her mind was their new allies. The converted draenei. In terms of fighters, the draenei were stronger and faster. A lot of their capabilities had been unlocked to great effect and unlike their meager ****, they were assisted by the light and the Naaru. The draenei left over had to abandon the gifts of the Naaru, since those were tied quite intrinsically to the army of light, which had tied itself to the goblins. The **** had easily defeated the Legion, but at what cost, Tanna wondered.

Vuria clicked her tongue and adjusted her glasses. “We were so concerned with Legion corruption. Who would've thought the Light would be just as dangerous?” The second Council member was a petite woman. Unathletic, but quite enchanting. Or so she was told many times by Alliance members back before the conflict shifted. Her body could not crush a goblins between her legs, but did feature an attractive gap, wide hips and heavy breasts that she supported with tightly crossed arms most of the time. Such was her resting pose.

“What about the alliance?”

“Tough for them to come through and help when their own garrisons were the ones to host these little green men at first... We are on our own. But...” She glanced out the tent flap at their ****.

“We are not exactly any worse off for it.” She smiled confidently at the assembled ****.

“All of them are tempered by battle with the Legion and Iron Horde.” Tanna agreed proudly.

“All of them are elite and should be able to stand toe to toe with goblin pets. They are of the highest level. No... Higher than the highest level.” The goblins were unable to fully integrate the majority of the Draenei. Defenders, soldiers and other elite troops were quick to split off. With the threat of becoming pets, or worse, many civilians chose to enlist as well and begin training.

“The difference is made in equipment.” Vuria clarified.

“They use very standard equipment. Mounts and pets barely have anything that isn't just aesthetic. We can overpower them and the goblins themselves are nothing special.” She amended that thought.

“Except for-”

“Except for what? The rumors?” Tanna scoffed.

“Most individuals are split into 'classes.'” Vuria explained.

“While our understanding of what classes exist has been static since the start of the incursion, we know about more classes from then than we did before. **** Knights. Demon Hunters.”

“The 'Hero' classes.” Tanna nodded.

“I know of them. They required some condition and for their trainees to surrender a good portion of their prior experience in exchange for more potential down the line. If the rumors of a new Hero Class are true then it would mean that it's users would barely have enough time to gain the experience to challenge our elite fighters.”

“That is the theory, Tanna, but there are reports.”

“I've heard.” The two women left the tent and walked down the rows of soldiers towards another tent across the camp.

“But we've got no way of knowing if it's true. It's just as likely that they're just misinterpreting what they're seeing in the heat of an ambush.

“Even so...” They rounded a corner into a medical tent. Vuria adjusted her slender frames on her nose and centered her gaze on a survivor. A traumatized draenei woman sitting up in one of the hospital beds.

“You. You were there on the scouting mission. What was it you saw? Were you mistaken?”

“No... no, I remember it all perfectly.”

* *

'We were scouting into an area we weren't sure was contested. I was assisting the Rangari Captain leading the patrol. My mother. The rest were all seasoned trackers and scouts that knew the area. We were confident, because the goblins and their... Well. They aren't exactly quiet, you know? You see them coming. You hear them. I think it's because they wanted to be at first. Thought we'd be intimidated or something.'

'We stopped in a clearing to get our bearings. Some of us were joking but my mother told us to stop and listen. She took a few steps towards the treeline while we all waited. I think that the problem was we forgot that the goblins were small. Easy to hide. We only really thought of them as a threat because they were using our own against us. We didn't think that they themselves could do anything. If they tried, what could they do? We had no idea...'

'The best way to describe what happened? I mean... It's just unfair, really. Extremely unfair. It doesn't make any sense. There's no justice or glory to it or anything. It wasn't a fight or a battle. For background my mother was an Exarch candidate. She saw the mountains of Mac'Aree back before the fall so she's ancient. Literally a fossil.' She chuckled.

'That's just to say, you would expect her of all draenei to put up a fight. At least, you would expect her not to fall in such a... an embarrassing way.' She stopped, as if remembering something.

'That's another way to describe it. Embarrassing. I feel embarrassed thinking about it. Maybe that's part of it, too? Shaming us into submission. The idea that we could be brought down so easily.' Tanna motioned for her to move it along and get to what happened. The woman sighed and nodded, hugging her knees.

'The thing about it was how quick it was. A goblin landed on her back and I knew right away that he was channeling light into her. I think any of us would know it when we see it. To imagine that those little monsters are holy makes me regret ever thinking the light was on our side. Mother reached back, of course, but it was like her range of movement stopped. I know what you're thinking, she couldn't reach, but my mother was flexible and so am I. We aren't fighters we're scouts. Movers. The fact that she couldn't reach back in the first second and pull him off was strange... her reach got worse and worse until she could barely even lift her arms over her head after two seconds and then at that point I saw it. Her hands began to transform and blacken into hooves. Her wrist grew longer. That's around when she fell forward onto them. Onto all fours. She began stepping forward, but it didn't look awkward. It looked natural like she was trained to do it. That's when I noticed she was turning at his direction already. She didn't want to, but it looked like her body responded to his orders without even needing input from her. I could tell she was fighting it in that moment and failing.'

'”I can't control myself!” She said. She cursed at the rider. Asked him what he was doing. At that point she was still her. She was still a twenty-thousand plus year old Rangari fighting back against an invader. I could see it in her eyes at that point. I was paying such close attention and it was happening faster than I could move. I didn't notice what was going on around me. So I didn't notice the girls around me falling. Not until I felt a sudden weight on my back no heavier than a small rucksack. It felt way faster than it looked. Probably because when I saw it happen to mother it was all happening in slow motion.'

She sighed and pulled her limbs out from under the blanket, showing hands that had been elongated and transformed into hooves. The two Council-Members recoiled.

'When it happened to me it happened fast. Too fast. My reflexes were trained. Maybe if I was paying attention I could've knocked him away but as soon as he was on I dropped almost right away... Probably a few seconds I landed on my front hooves. Like I said. Unfair...'

'When I looked at my Mother she gave me one last look as the woman she was. I felt confidence in seeing that despite what she had become. Despite what was happening to me in those seconds. That faded right way as the goblin hovered his hands around her ears, inches away. Tendrils of light pushed their way inside. I'll never forget the way her face turned red and her eyes crossed. The dignified woman I knew had never looked like that in her life up until that moment. Her tongue fell out and she began drooling like an invalid... She started shaking like she was- was... I'm sorry, but, it was like she was coming.' The woman gulped and blushed.

'That's just what it was like... It was wild. I regained hope when she started to collect herself and stop shuddering, but at that point she was already different. I would have no idea what was going on unless it was happening to me. Starting to, at least. If it finished I wouldn't be here. As the tendrils reached into my ear it had a warm, slimy feeling. Imagine that? The light feeling... Slimy. It didn't hurt. Nothing popped like you'd expect. It just slipped in. I felt it touch my brain and it was like a shock moving through my body. This is so hard to explain.' She paused and thought. The two Councilors gave her time.

'So, like, you know those **** knight guys?' The two other women nodded. They had just spoke on the topic.

'Apparently, when they become that they get a rune weapon that's tied to them. Is that right?' She paused as Vuria explained it and clarified what she was saying to Tannia and the girl herself.

'Okay... So this makes even more sense for my explanation. When they do all that, do you think the weapon is different? No. It's, like... A part of them. A part of their class. That's what I started to feel. My experiences were fading. I was still me but I was losing things that made up all of me. If that makes sense? Anyway, I'm sure that's what happened to my mother and the others. Fully. They became a part of the Goblin's Class.' She shuddered.

'Think about that? Not even a- a mount but a feature. Like a spell or an ability or a bonus to be cast or used passively...'

* *

“That's your theory.” Tanna stated skeptically.

“They turn draenei into mounts. It could be just that.”

The girl shrugged. “Before it could finish on me, since I was the last I guess I wasn't as far along. Another group fired from the treeline and knocked my M- the goblin off. I saw them rush off into the brush like they had no problem moving. I would've been with them if I wasn't missed by a second or so. I know it.” She licked her lips and stared down at the covers lustfully as she shifted where she sat.

“I would've become a part of him...” She mumbled.

“Not just his... Not just a partner... A feature. Something new.”

Tanna shook her head and looked to Vuria. “She's obviously in shock.”

“You think so? This could be bad. All told, even if it is not completely true; five seconds?”

“That's what troubles me. Not the other stuff. The fact that it happened to someone of experience and age, too.” Tanna gritted her teeth. The two Council-Members had also seen Mac'aree in their youth. They were children when they left but were both over twenty-thousand, now.

“If it can happen to them it can happen to us.” Vuria acknowledged.

***

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this story and want to read more of it, more Chapters are currently available to read at https://www.patreon.com/TVWintergreen I upload new chapters every week day with extra content also being released constantly to my discord for Extra Tier Members."