The Arena

Freedom

Baruing was making muffled sounds behind her, distracting her. Earlier, he tried opposing and running away a few times, but he never succeeded, either falling to the floor or being pulled back by the improvised rope. After he finally succumbed to his situation, he tried speaking to her, but all that was coming out from his mouth, between the stripes of cloth were silent ‘umf’ and ‘pft’ and other unintelligible sounds.

Alera tried to ignore him, urging him forward. She was walking back to the place where she and Tellor split up, hoping to find clues on his whereabouts there. She couldn’t run with Baruing all tied up and she felt like time was passing way too fast and that Asendriel was going further away from her.

‘Alera!’

She turned around surprised, pulling Baruing so hard, he fell down the last three steps. 

Tellor was standing on top of the stairs they just descended, breathing heavily. She almost couldn’t believe it. Before she could say anything, Tellor came down and hugged her.

‘Thank the Light, you’re alright!’
‘How?-’ she started, but the blood elf continued, letting her go and looking at Baruing.

‘We found out that Baruing was trying to escape by the east tower, so I ran back there, hoping to catch him before he found you. I saw blood on the wall and the floor by the tower entrance! It’s not -’

‘No, it’s not mine, I’m fine.’ she said, interrupting him. ‘Listen, we don’t have time! Where are the others?’

‘A group should be here shortly. They followed me, not too far. But what - ’

‘I need you to guard him’, she said quickly, handing him the ropes to Baruing’s bonds. ‘I need to head to the Wetlands! He said he sent Asendriel to Menethil Harbour. If he reaches it, he will be boarded on a boat to Desolace. We need Baruing alive, just in case he was lying earlier.’

‘Go, I’ll take care of him!’, he said in a serious tone, taking the ropes.

She ran past him without looking back, returning to the east tower, hoping that the gryphon was still there. It didn’t take long and she encountered a group of fourty or so men, running her way. She recognised other fighters and some of the guards as well. They called to her, but she just ran past them. She reached the tower and climbed the stairs as fast as she could and as she reached the top she was taken aback.

The cold air caught her by surprise, chilling her. She took a deep breath and looked at the night sky. The morning light was making its way steadily, bringing a new day in less than an hour. She could see the mountain shapes and the giant rocks that decorated the land surrounding her, almost shining in the soft line of light that rested on the horizon. After only being used to her small window and the bit of sky visible from the arena, seeing all of this from atop the tower made her feel so small and insignificant and almost...free.

A soft sound came from her left, breaking her reverie. Turning around, she saw a gryphon for the first time in her life. She heard stories about them and other magical creatures, like dragons and nagas and golems, that roamed Azeroth, but seeing one first hand and so close to her was an entirely different experience. 

The animal looked at her, slightly confused and mostly displeased that it had been woken up so suddenly. It was almost as big as a horse, but looked very different. Half of its body was looking like a big, white vulture, with a dark, sharp beak and big fluffy wings, tightening around his body as he laid down in hay. His front paws were covered by feathers, ending in sharp talons, a bit smaller than the dagger she was carrying. Across its back, the feathers slowly blended into a dark fur which covered its other half of the body. The back paws looked like a lion’s or any other big cat. Its long tail was moving slowly, up and down.