The Cackling Banshee
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:15 pm
Khorvis had already dismissed his advisers. His joints creaked as he sat down and stared at the map of Azeroth that was littered with teeth painted red and talons painted blue to mark the positions of the Horde and Alliance fronts.
The map was starting to blur under the strain of leadership and fatigue. Khorvis rested his head on his hand and slowly allowed his heavy eyelids to creep downward. The map was dissolving as he let go of consciousness.
Movement caught his eye. The map moved! He snapped awake and looked for the source of a gust of wind or a foot print in the dust. He was certain he was alone. It must have been his imagination. As he stood to seek respid in his quarters the map jerked again. Khorvis put his hand on the map. One of the red teeth that portrayed the Grim front in Pandaria was wiggling.
Khorvis squinted his eyes and stared at the tooth. It freed itself from the wooden table and went straight up into the air and then straight down onto another point in the map that was occupied by the Alliance. Khorvis knew that he was alone but he wasn't tired enough to admit that it was a hullicination. He waited for more movement. Nothing.
A tired Khorvis who had been standing at the map long enough to allow the hearth's blaze to burn down to coals stood unblinking. There was rarely even the crackle of wood now. It had to be a dream or a vision. Possibly the Valkyries themselves. He turned to finally head for his quarters.
As he let out a sigh he watched a chair get pulled from a table and thrown forward to where he had been planning the military movements. Khorvis blinked and observed. The chair creaked as if a great weight were upon it and then suddenly the table and the map both were subject to something unseen being slammed into it. The loud unexpected thud made Khorvis jump.
He stepped closer to the table and noticed that nothing had changed except that the alliance talon that the tooth had advanced to earlier was now cracked and pushed further into the wood. "What the fel?" Khorvis said to himself.
Before he could even venture a guess the guild hall boomed with deep hearty Orcish laughter. Each time the pitch would raise the low burning coals would breath and roar into a flame. The heat from the fire was intense and the laughter grew louder. The chair that had moved was now quaking and the entire room seemed to be shaking from the haunting cackle.
Then all at once it was over.
The map was starting to blur under the strain of leadership and fatigue. Khorvis rested his head on his hand and slowly allowed his heavy eyelids to creep downward. The map was dissolving as he let go of consciousness.
Movement caught his eye. The map moved! He snapped awake and looked for the source of a gust of wind or a foot print in the dust. He was certain he was alone. It must have been his imagination. As he stood to seek respid in his quarters the map jerked again. Khorvis put his hand on the map. One of the red teeth that portrayed the Grim front in Pandaria was wiggling.
Khorvis squinted his eyes and stared at the tooth. It freed itself from the wooden table and went straight up into the air and then straight down onto another point in the map that was occupied by the Alliance. Khorvis knew that he was alone but he wasn't tired enough to admit that it was a hullicination. He waited for more movement. Nothing.
A tired Khorvis who had been standing at the map long enough to allow the hearth's blaze to burn down to coals stood unblinking. There was rarely even the crackle of wood now. It had to be a dream or a vision. Possibly the Valkyries themselves. He turned to finally head for his quarters.
As he let out a sigh he watched a chair get pulled from a table and thrown forward to where he had been planning the military movements. Khorvis blinked and observed. The chair creaked as if a great weight were upon it and then suddenly the table and the map both were subject to something unseen being slammed into it. The loud unexpected thud made Khorvis jump.
He stepped closer to the table and noticed that nothing had changed except that the alliance talon that the tooth had advanced to earlier was now cracked and pushed further into the wood. "What the fel?" Khorvis said to himself.
Before he could even venture a guess the guild hall boomed with deep hearty Orcish laughter. Each time the pitch would raise the low burning coals would breath and roar into a flame. The heat from the fire was intense and the laughter grew louder. The chair that had moved was now quaking and the entire room seemed to be shaking from the haunting cackle.
Then all at once it was over.