The next morning I was moved towards the barracks like the other prisoners. My hands tied and my wounds still sore I marched across town in the company of my guards, hobbling here and there on my bad leg. When we reached the building I wasn’t thrown inside a cage or holding cell like I expected. Instead I was made to wait outside the captain’s quarters. I stood there for what must have been at least an hour as the muffled voices inside yelled and barked at one another. At long last, Nikki emerged.

“Jack, get in here,” she said, waving me in.

The guards on either side of me stayed behind as I entered the stone structure. Inside was a cozy fire, a few hunting trophies, an armor stand, and all the weapons a soldier could want. In the center of the room was a large wooden table with a canvas map of the Swamp of Sorrows overtop. Little crudely carved dragons were placed on it along with colored beads, lengths of string, and various other tactical markers. Gathered around were a pair of shadowy figures; a Forsaken shrouded by a cloak and a troll mage.

“You…” the Forsaken uttered, his voice a familiar guttural tone.

Nikki motioned towards me, “Gregory, I’m sure you remember Jack.”

“How could I forget?” he said, clenching his bony fingers together.

I looked at the troll, his face ringing a bell, “Is that… Jamal?”

He nodded in silent response.

I turned to the orc, a little astonished, “Nikki, are you getting the party back together?”

“Not everyone,” she replied with disappointment. “Tohu seems to have fallen off the face of Azeroth, no one has any idea where he is.”

“He always had that sharp druidic survival instinct, perhaps he could smell this disaster coming,” Gregory said.

Nikki slammed her fist on the table, “Damn it, Gregory, I told you. You don’t like the contract, don’t sign up.”

“Wait,” I said, “Contract? What’s going on here?”

Jamal stood up and pointed at the dragon figures on the map, “The green dragons, d'er activity has intensified.”

Nikki motioned towards the Sunken Temple in the middle of the lake, “We suspect whatever is causing them distress is coming from that temple but no one’s been able to spare the resources to find out. Now they’re encroaching close enough to threaten Stonard and it’s my responsibility to deal with them.”

I scratched my bearded chin, “Why not send some grunts in to investigate?”

“These are green dragonkin protecting an ancient troll temple, it’d be suicide for anyone inexperienced. That’s why I offered to lead this expedition personally.”

I stepped towards the table, eyeing over the layout. It looked like the dragons were knocking on Stonard’s back door. Aggression in green dragons is unusual so Nikki was probably right, something had to be antagonizing them. “Alright, but where do I fit into the picture?” I asked.

Stepping back, Nikki gazed at the table, “I need experienced people on this one. You, me, Gregory, Jamal, we’ve worked together before. I can vouch for your skills.”

I shook my head, “You know damn well I’m not fit enough for a mission like this.”

“What’s the matter, Jack? Not so cocky without the Light protecting you?” Gregory said. I was a taken aback, how did he know I’d lost my faith? “Oh yes,” he added, “I can feel it, you’re powerless now. I must object, Nikki, this vagabond is dead weight.”

“Party composition is my decision,” she said, “And your skills, while appreciated, can be replaced.”

Gregory grunted, “Orc bitch, you’re going to get us killed.”

Ignoring the bitter rogue, Nikki turned back to me. “Look, I’m getting pressure to ship you to Orgrimmar unless I can give my superiors a damn good reason not to. This is the best I could come up with.” She picked up a box and slammed it on the table. Inside was all the equipment I’d left behind in the swamp. Grabbing my hammer, she swung it in the air, “And frankly, Jack, I think it’s time you nut the hell up and get back to work.”

She thrust the hammer in my hands, maybe she was right. I reached in the box and grabbed my shield and helm, the only two pieces of my armor that were still any good. Admittedly I wasn’t much to look at, maybe a trip to the armorsmith could help with that. Then it dawned on me, we only had four members.

“Who else are you including on this shindig?” I asked.

Nikki sighed, “Because I’m bringing you this is considered a multilateral mission. I’ve been… encouraged… to include one of the Blood Elves.”

“Heh, ha! HAHA! HAHAHAHA!” Gregory burst into mocking laughter, propping himself up on the edge of the table. “Oh this is rich! Where is it?”

“She’s due to arrive tomorrow,” she replied. “Apparently she’s a talented--.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” he cut in, “but how is our stockpile of silken pillows?”

“Gregory.”

“It would be a travesty if we were to run low before the mission was complete.”

Nikki was thoroughly disgusted with the Forsaken at this point but wouldn’t give Gregory the satisfaction of a reaction. Instead she returned to the table, “Getting to the temple should be straightforward. We have no idea what we’re going to find inside though. So far as I’m concerned this is just a recon mission to get information back to Orgrimmar.”

“So we go in, poke around for anything interesting, and come back out hopefully in once piece,” I said.

“That’s the plan,” she replied.

Gregory threw his hands up, “If that’s all you wanted I could do this mission alone. You pulled me all the way from the Plaguelands for this, I know you have a good reason for it.”

“Like I said, we have no idea what’s inside.”

Gregory pulled back his hood. His bare grey skin was nicked and cut from a life of knifeplay. Expression cross, his piercing yellow stare was fixed on the orc. “Then what do you think is in there?” he said meticulously.

Nikki looked him in the eye but her gaze fell, “Dragons? Trolls? I have no idea. What I do know is it’s powerful enough to manipulate the green dragonflight.”

Gregory looked unsatisfied and leaned back in his chair, “What do you want us to do in the meantime?”

“Prepare for the mission,” she said, “And Jack, I recommend you visit the armorsmith. We should have some smaller plate sets laying around that you can squeeze into.”

Jamal got up, grabbing his crooked and gnarled staff from the wall, “We bettah not plan on stayin' long, I can feel de powah of the temple even 'ere, mon.” He looked at Nikki with an almost dead-eyed stare, “dis won't be endin' well.”

Gregory pointed at me with one of his daggers as Jamal turned to leave, “Don't worry, they’ll have armor that fits you. I'm sure they have something lying around from the last Alliance patrol.” He sheathed his weapon and walked out of the barrack. I was about to leave myself, but Nikki stopped me.

“Hey, make sure you don't leave Stonard until we're ready to head out,” she said.

“I wasn't planning to,” I replied.

“Good, the guards were ordered not to bother you while you're inside the town. Outside though, where I'm not there to watch them, accidents can happen.”

I shouldered my gear, “That's comforting.”

“This is an old fashioned Horde outpost, not the Crossroads,” she said. “Go to the armorsmith then return immediately.”

Taking a moment to look the place over, I asked, “I take it I'm staying with you here?”

“I could leave you in the cage if you prefer.”

“No, I just didn’t expect--” my gaze fell from her eyes, “Nevermind.”

She gave me a wondering look for a second before something struck her, “Oh, you haven’t had breakfast yet! I'll make sure you get something.” Nikki slapped me on the stomach, “Gotta get some meat back on those bones!”

“Uh, right, that’s it.” That wasn’t it. The issue wasn’t worth pressing right that instant though. “Anyway, I'll be right back.”

The armorsmith was right next door, and judging by the cross looks the local orcs gave me, I was glad it wasn't any further. I'd probably be mauled alive if I strayed more than a few hundred yards from Nikki's barrack. The workshop was well equipped, as good as any in the Human lands, even so far from Orgrimmar. Being at the mercy of supply chains for most of my work I could appreciate a well-equipped armory. There were a couple apprentices busy modifying captured armor or repairing the grunts' standard chain and shields. A bowl of crocolisk teeth was sitting by an anvil as I walked inside, one of the orcs slowly prying them from the metal boot in his hand with a pair of pliers.

The two apprentices glared at me but the armorsmith in the back waved me in, his hands missing about half a finger each. I stepped forward, minding where I stepped in the crowded clay and brick building. The heat from the furnace was choking hot but the orcs inside didn't seem to mind. Immediately the armorsmith grabbed me and threw me against the wall, causing me to drop my equipment. I tensed up as he spread my arms out, I was caught by surprise and couldn’t fight this orcish brute. Then a flash of yellow tape measure flew across my chest and along my body. Within a few moments, without saying a word, he put his tape away and turned to a crate he had tucked away in a corner.

Inside was a variety of human armor. Most of it was standard Stormwind fare but some was actually from the Defias and Netherguard Keep. He pulled some bits and pieces out, muttering something under his breath. Finally he threw a chest plate at me. “Here,” he said gruffly.

I caught it and looked it over. It was Netherguard styling but with the crest hastily scratched out. It seemed about the right size. The orc returned to me with matching arm and leg pieces, “Try it on, I haven’t got all day, human.”

Undoing the clasps I slid it over my head. It was a little loose but it did fit. Some chainmail underneath and padded clothing would help with any gaps. As the orc continued rummaging around I gradually assembled my new armor set, each piece slightly mismatched from the others. The end result was a complete if odd-looking and slightly too big set of plate. For once my shield and helmet don’t look out of place at least, I thought. I wore the entire thing and turned to the smith, hammer in hand. The apprentices behind him chuckled at my junk armor but after a few adjustments it looked serviceable. The old orc smiled, “You know, human, when I got an order for this plate I thought the Commander had lost her mind, that she was asking me to aid the enemy.”

“Oh really?” I asked incredulously, “And what do you think now?”

“I think I might have underestimated her wisdom.” He slapped my armored sleeve, the entire suit jiggling slightly, “You can barely move and it's the worst hodge-podge of scrap I've ever seen worn, even by you pathetic humans. You're going to get yourself killed just walking in a straight line!”

The apprentices burst out laughing as I waddled around a bit. He wasn't entirely incorrect in his assessment, this armor was by no means the best. It was high quality metal and good craftsmanship plate that was more or less stapled together. Still, on such short notice it would have to do. I started questioning whether or not Nikki's “solution” was to actually have me killed on this mission. I couldn't tell how exactly she expected me to walk away from it even if it was successful. My guess was I'd be a casualty and it would give her an excuse to get more people inside the Sunken Temple, preferably an entire platoon from Orgrimmar. Ordinarily the idea of a looming dagger in the back would have me upset but frankly at this point, after so much running, I didn't care. It didn't seem to matter. Maybe that’s why I didn’t really care about Gregory.

Stripping the armor off, I returned it to the smith. He took the plate and set it by his anvil, “I should have some chainmail altered for you by tomorrow. It's a good thing you already have a helm or you'd be out of luck, we haven't decapitated a human in years.”

I couldn't tell if the orc was trying to mess with my head or if he was serious, but judging by the fact he wasn't smiling, I assumed the latter. Walking out of the building I noticed it was almost noon, so I hustled back into Nikki's barrack. There I found her browsing through a variety of polearms with what the orcs pass as “breakfast” waiting on the table for me. It consisted of what looked like half an entire ham covered in gravy, several potatoes smothered in butter, and a pitcher of beer.

She motioned to the spread before me, “Eat, Jack.”

Taking a seat, I began to dig in. I was properly starving for real food, and while orc cooking isn't to everyone's tastes, it fills a hungry man. “Aren't you going to have any?” I asked.

“What? I already ate, that's all yours.”

I'd seen orcish portions before but even this was a little extreme. As I ate and ate... and ate, Nikki pulled a few choice weapons out and set them aside. I was never big on polearms but she always liked them for some reason. As I was just finishing the first helping of boar, the orc laid a couple weapons on the table. “You're going to be training with me today,” she said.

“You mean with your grunts?” I asked, a potato hanging from my fork.

“No, I mean with me, personally. If I pair you with one of the soldiers you'll probably be killed.” No arguments here, I thought. She undid her armor as I kept eating, which took about as much time considering how much plate she wore. Underneath, her padded shirt and pants were still more than adequate protection for sparring. I couldn't finish my food, at least not if I wanted to move afterwards. Nikki looked at my plate and scowled, “You're never going to bulk up if you keep eating like a bird.”

Pushing my chair out I leaned back, this was the most I'd eaten in months, maybe even years. It felt good and brought me back to when the two of us used to work together. I missed those days but they seemed so long ago. I was just a kid at the time, a stupid adventure-hungry doofus swinging the Light like a chump acolyte. Nikki was always the serious soldier, now she was running an entire outpost and I was losing my marbles. Suddenly I was slapped out of my reminiscing by a set of padded clothing landing in my lap.

Nikki stood there, weapon in hand, “Meet me outside when you're ready.”

My meal as finished as it was going to get, I quickly threw the clothes on and grabbed my hammer and shield. Outside the troops were already assembled and sparring, their axes glancing off their shields and armor with harmless but forceful blows. Orcs aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer but they take their combat training seriously. They spar like the professionals they are, with vigor and strength but never enough to injure one another. They make sure they’re always combat-ready. The orcs watched me out of the corner of their eye, curious as much as they were condemning.

Nikki took her battle stance across from me, the afternoon sun behind her not quite able to pierce the thick cloud cover. Her polearm hung a few feet in front of me, the shaft of the weapon easily ten feet long. I held up my hammer and shield, my body naturally falling into a combat stance. I could tell I was out of practice though, it hurt to hold the position for too long. Most of my fighting for the past two years was done against jaguars and crocolisks, not trained soldiers. Nikki swung forward and I blocked instinctually, my form sloppy. Even with such an unwieldy weapon she managed to parry and get a shot in at my abdomen. I felt the orcish steel graze my shirt; an easy wound if we were actually fighting.

She shook her head as I readied myself again. With a grunt she lunged at me, bowling me over as I clutched my shield for dear life. Man, I thought, staring straight up at the clouds, I’m really out of practice. Nikki stood over top of me scowling. Pulling myself up I got ready once more. This time she threw me a softball, aiming for my shoulder with a downward strike. Parrying, I moved in to strike, then *WHAP*. The butt of the polearm struck me clean across the face. Dazed, I staggered for a moment as Nikki planted her foot in my gut, sending me flat on my back once again. All the orcs training outside chuckled as I had my ass handed to me.

Nikki wasn’t so amused, “You’re a goddamn disgrace letting yourself go like this, Jack.”

A little winded from that last kick I took a moment to reply “I’m sorry,” I croaked, “next time I’m going through a breakdown I’ll be sure to stay in shape.”

“Was that an excuse, whelp?” Nikki pointed at one of the grunts in formation, calling her over. The young orc looked about twenty or so. By human standards she’d be pretty green, no pun intended, but orcs start training their troops as teenagers. “Grunt Shargra,” Nikki said.

“Yes, ma’am!” the grunt responded with a salute.

“Duel this human,” her commander stepped back, “to the death.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She seemed less enthusiastic this time, but stepped forward nonetheless. I knew Nikki wasn’t going to actually let this grunt kill me but I knew she’d let her get damn close. The grunt stood ready, her axe and shield firm in her hands. Getting myself together I took my place opposite her. With a nod from her commander, Shargra attacked, smashing my shield with her axe. Her ferocity, that classic orcish flurry of blows, fell on my defenses and nearly toppled me once more. I didn’t have the endurance I used to but if there was one thing I remembered from training with Nikki way back when, it was that savage attack pattern. Hmm, there was an idea.

The grunt smashed my shield, pushing me back not so much with the blade of her axe but the sheer force of her blows. I was bloodied and bruised, desperately trying to hold on to all of my appendages. She bashed me with her own shield, kicked my defenses away, and chopped at my body with her axe once more. Instead of stepping away this time I pushed forward, shield first, forcing her back. My hammer met her axe as we squared off, blows being traded faster and faster, each strike glancing off the other’s weapon. Finally I held my swing and the grunt lunged forward, stumbling a bit from the force of her attack. My knee met her gut as I leapt forward, then I smashed the back of her skull with my elbow.

The young orc toppled forward, wheezing for air, but scrambling to her feet nonetheless. Shargra wasn’t fazed easily and charged again with full force. Having lost some weight in the swamp, and orcs being as brawny as they were, I wasn’t able to hold my ground. She knocked me clean off my feet and began pummeling me into submission with her axe. I clenched my shield for dear life as her bloodrage continued, desperately wishing I still had my paladin powers.

Rolling to the side I surged forward as fast as I could, struggling to get on my feet again before another blow came. I felt the hot slice of an axe in my arm as I stood but turned to face my foe anyway. Blood ran freely from the open gash, the orc staring me in the eye, ready to unleash another devastating attack. Is this what I had become? An unfit opponent for even the lowliest grunt in the Horde army? In that moment of adrenalin-fueled self-loathing and pain I found something I thought I’d lost long ago; my ego.

The orc rawred in ferocity and raised her axe. As she charged forward I waited patiently. With one swift motion I saw the axe begin to come down and I moved, thrusting my hammer forward like a spear, the entire force of its head crushing her solar plexus. Shargra’s eyes bulged and she nearly dropped her axe. Planting my knee rather ungracefully in her face, I sent her tumbling to the dirt.

“Don’t worry, kid,” I taunted, walking towards her as she rolled on the ground, “I’ll be sure your commander picks a nice grave out for you.” The orc squirmed, unable to breathe. Raising my hammer, I prepared to plant the final blow right between her shoulder blades. I made sure to do it with an exceptional amount of flair just in case…

“Enough!” Nikki said, grabbing my arm. Shargra looked at me with fear and confusion. “Alright, good to see you still have an arm on you,” Nikki told me. “As for you, grunt, you’d better learn from this before you face another human soldier. One not so wet behind the ears.”

Shargra nodded, still gasping for air. I reached my hand out to help her up. She seemed pretty shaken, though be it from embarrassment or exhaustion I wasn’t sure. The grunts surrounding us just stared in mockery at her, it’d be a long time before she lived down losing to a human. Nikki pulled me aside and continued to spar with me, open wounds and all. She even added a few more of her own, and although I never really got a chance to get a solid shot on her, I was able to keep up for the rest of the afternoon. Not too shabby for being years out of practice. Eventually the training ended and the shaman was called to patch up the wounded. He seemed particularly miffed about having to heal me for the second day in a row.

Healed up and feeling better, I met with Nikki inside her barrack to get up to speed on some of the details of the operation. Most of it involved looking at outdated maps of the area and trying to ascertain whether or not there were still trolls living in the temple itself. She tended towards caution, claiming troll activity was still a possibility, while I maintained any trolls underwater that long would have suffocated in whatever air pockets existed. We argued over what they could be doing in there if there even were trolls, how many dragons we’d have to fight through, at what point Gregory intended to stab me in the back, and various other petty details. These debates went back and forth for a couple hours until dinner was finally served in all its grand portions.

As I dug into the delicious crocolisk steak in front of me I admitted, “I'm not used to orcish meals.”

“I can tell,” she replied, “You're as skinny now as you were twelve years ago.”

I dropped my fork, “It's really been that long...”

“Yeah, quite a while,” she said, taking another bite. She must have seen how concerned I was, “I'll set you straight though, don't worry. By the time this mission is over you'll be back to normal.” Nikki caught herself mid-chew, “Or at least whatever passes for normal with you.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Just saying, it takes a certain kinda nutball human to run around with the Horde to begin with.” She took a long swig of beer, “and after half the crap you put me through, this right here barely registers.”

I gave her a keen look, “By put you through you mean bailed your ass out of.”

“I'm sorry, I seem to remember someone nearly getting killed by the border guards the first time they tried to go to Ashenvale because, and I quote, 'I think that Night Elf is into me.'”

A chuckle escaped me, my face turned down to hide my devilish grin, “Yeah, yeah, at least I tried.”

“You always had a thing for elves,” she said.

“I fucking hate elves.”

“You love to hate elves. It's your guilty pleasure.”

I grunted in disgust, “I can count on one hand the number of elves I can tolerate let alone enjoy their company for an entire night.”

“Who said anything about an entire night?” Nikki said, a huge slab of crokolisk dangling from her knife, “You just need an hour or so, then you can tell them to get lost.”

Shaking my head I tried to ignore the comment.

“Not sure which would get you off more,” she continued, “Fucking the elf or watching their walk of shame home, you sadistic paladin you.”

“I'm not a paladin anymore,” I reiterated. That comment kind of killed the mood, with the rest of our dinner proceeding more or less in silence. I wasn't upset really, it was just the reality of the situation finally hitting home. Nikki and I still had a lot in common but she was always more together. She wanted to be a soldier, even when we were young. Now she was in command of her own outpost. Meanwhile I was trying to piece together what I had left of my life. It was a strange situation to be in for sure.

As I finished my deliciously generous meal, Nikki got up and started poking around a shelf. She pulled out a towel, a bar of soap, and a razor, setting them on the table. I pushed my plate aside, “What is all this?”

“If you’re going to be in my squad you’re going to look professional, and that means you have to scrub the swamp-funk off,” she replied. “Get yourself cleaned up.”

I handled the straight razor, “And that includes shaving?”

“That includes shaving, soldier.” She opened the door, “There’s a wash basin around back of the barracks.”

Taking what she handed me I walked outside and around back. There was indeed a wash basin filled with fresh water waiting for me. Having spent so much time alone in the wilderness I never really looked at myself and how disgusting I’d gotten. All my skin was caked with mud, my hair stringy with pieces of muck and swamp grass. I soaked myself for a while, then as I lathered up I rediscovered my natural skin color. With every inch I cleaned it seemed something else needed work, which eventually lead me to scrubbing and rinsing and shaving my most of my body to get all the crustiness off. What started as a quick bath ended up taking the better part of an hour but by the time I was finished I felt and looked like a new man.

Toweled off and clean, I put my linen clothes back on and walked inside to find Nikki in the middle of her evening workout, cranking away on a pull-up bar in the corner of her barrack. I threw the stuff on the chair and waited for her to finish up. Dropping from the bar she turned to me, “Finally done? I thought you fffffbwahahahaha!”

“What?” I asked.

“You look ridiculous! What did you do with that razor!” She said, pointing at me.

I looked down at myself, “You told me to shave.”

“Just your beard, you moron!” Nikki walked over and felt my smooth chest through my unbuttoned shirt, “You look like a kid now!”

I stood there looking rather undignified as the orc molested my hairless skin, “After spending a year in the swamp, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Sure,” she said, “so did you shave everywhere else?”

I was about to answer that question but caught myself. Nikki chuckled and started putting away the weights scattered around the room. That’s when I noticed, there was no place for me to sleep. “You said I’m staying here tonight, right?” I asked.

“Of course,” she replied, “unless you’d really prefer to be locked up again.”

“Where am I going to sleep? There’s only--”

She grinned that big, tusky grin she had.