Dedicated to Ash and Crow
Preface
Bal'a dash, malanore (greetings, traveller). A bit about me and this book: I have played World of Warcraft on and off since vanilla. I absolutely adore everything about the rogue class, elves, stealth characters and mechanics in video games, but I wanted to create a character that doesn't follow that typical archetype. Someone flawed, with potential.
A couple of years ago, someone asked me what my World of Warcraft roleplay character's backstory was. She didn't really have one at the time, so I started writing something and it... got a bit out of hand to say the least! Two years later and I ended up with what you're reading now. It's the first time I've ever written a book and I'm glad I finished it.
More importantly, if you do read it, I would love to hear your feedback: good, bad and anything in-between. So please throw any morsel of constructive criticism my way (by emailing phoenixbloodheart@gmail.com or filling in this feedback form) because I would like to learn and improve from this. I have ideas for some other (non-Warcraft) original novels in the future and this is sort of my attempt at testing the waters. I'd also like to write more stories based on this novel's storyline in the future. You can sign up to my newsletter at dominicsacco.com to receive info on these.
This free fan fiction novel is inspired by (but not officially associated with) Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft franchise. Please note, some elements from the games have been reimagined in this novel, and all of the main characters in this book are my creation. So, fellow lore nerds who may feel the urge to flame me, please consider these points before doing so!
Finally, if I'm being honest, I feel that Phoenix is probably some kind of projection of myself. That wasn't done on purpose, but something I realised about halfway through the book. Although I'm enthusiastic, I have a short temper. Writing this character has helped me cope somewhat with my anxiety and at times reckless, emotionally-driven decisions. I have a bad habit of sometimes burning bridges (hey, I'm a Scorpio!) and this book has acted as some kind of therapy for that. I write about esports for my job, so this was a nice release from that too.
Please note, this book has some adult themes in it (sorry mum!) so I wouldn't recommend it to children.
I hope you enjoy what I've created and thank you for taking the time to read this.
Al diel shala (safe travels).
Dom
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Naariel for creating the artwork I commissioned (used with permission for non-commercial use). You can check out Naariel's website at naarielart.co.uk.
Thanks to my good friend Tom Stratford for turning Naariel's artwork into a moving image using his leet animation skills. You can see Tom's website at tomstratford.net.
A big thanks to another good friend of mine, James Batchelor, for helping to proof this thing. He put up with years of grievance having to sit next to me at work so I am very grateful he somehow agreed to help out. Oh and he's an author himself, so please do check out his work at jbatchelorwrites.wordpress.com. Thanks to other early readers, Roy Hemenway and Louise Wallgren, who helped me fix a few things, and to @thewayitis35 on Twitter, thank you so much, I think you are my first real fan and I really appreciate your support!
Thanks to Leonardo Zorzi for creating Phoenix's theme song and granting me the rights to own it. You can visit leonardozorzi.com.
Credit to dafont.com for the fonts used on the cover: Augusta by Dieter Steffmann and Seagram by Kaiserzharkhan.
A big thank you to my family, my parents for encouraging me to chase my passions, my wife for putting up with my s*** and my and three children for giving me hope for the future.
Thanks to Vile Thorn and The Rookery for giving me the confidence to grow this character and to The Northern Terror for making my time in vanilla WoW so memorable. Also, thanks to Chiel, Ireshka and The Family, you probably aren't aware but you picked me up when I really needed it. To all my past guildies, I will never forget the adventures we shared together.
Last but not least, thanks to Blizzard Entertainment for creating the Warcraft game franchise. Final reminder: this piece of fan fiction is non-commercial, entirely free and I will not make a penny from it.
The Chronicles of Phoenix Bloodheart I: Turning Red
Dominic Sacco
"Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind."
Robert Green Ingersoll
Rogue
adjective
behaving in ways that are not expected or normal, often in a way that causes damage
Prologue: Blood and water
Darkness has fallen and she walks alone; her bloodied boots brush softly across the sand.
The slim elf, dressed in faded red leather, looks up. The moonlight twinkles in her blue eyes as she pauses to soak in the view. The old, beautiful ship stares back, anchored by the water's edge.
The twilight sky blends with the midnight blue water below, perfectly still and calm, the tide lapping gently onto the shore.
As she takes her first step onto the wooden deck, she pauses. Her former self would be fighting back tears, but she has cried enough. Instead, she lets the pain wash over her and pass by.
She walks slowly around the creaking top deck, brushing her hand across the ship's rigging and handrail as she does so. Her worn red boots tap gently on the wood.
Upon reaching the helm, she holds the wheel in both hands, her tatty fingerless gloves tightening around it as she looks out across the water for a few minutes. A warm breeze flicks her fiery ginger hair backwards, revealing two long pointed ears. She stares, locked in thought.
She shifts her head to the left and squints. A frown spreads across her forehead as she taps her four fingers on the wooden wheel, one after the other.
With haste, she steps back and leaps onto the ship's rigging like a cat pouncing upwards - and begins to climb. She moves swiftly, without effort, without conscious thought, and soon finds herself up in the crow's nest. There, she crouches down low, shuts one eye tightly, and uses the other to stare down through a gap in the wood.
A figure emerges onto the deck below, the spurs on their boots ringing gently across the ship. They walk towards the stairs leading to the ship's lower deck.
The blue eye peering from the crow's nest narrows with loathing. The ginger-haired elf stands tall, grits her teeth and pulls a grappling hook and length of rope from her pouch. She swings it over her hand once before releasing. It flows through the air swiftly towards one of the lower masts.
The elf hastily unfastens her cloak, holds onto either side of it and places it over her head. As the hook below loops tightly around a mast, she jumps over the edge of the crow's nest. Her cape slides down the rope, holding her light body and she moves with surprising speed, the wind rushing in her ears. The elf lets go of the cloak towards the bottom and kicks out her right foot sharply towards the person below her.
The figure dives to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack as the ginger-haired elf hits the deck hard and rolls forward, cushioning her fall.
The two elves rise in sync, turning to face one another. They are of similar height and frame, two silhouettes locked by fate.
They stand still in silence, as fresh rain begins to fall, lightly tapping on the wooden deck beneath their boots. The pair stare into each others' eyes with disdain, the moment lingering and tension growing as they consider which moves they should make next.
Rage bubbles slowly inside one, hatred in the other, as they begin to circle one another.
The ginger-haired elf speaks, with spite and anger: "After all you've done, you dare set foot here as well?"
The other replies with a sarcastic curtsy, the gentle grin on her pale face belying a lust for violence.
Anger swells in the redhead. A sword is pulled from its red and gold scabbard. The other elf follows, removing a lightweight rapier from black boiled leather.
"I look forward to the small ounce of joy your death will bring after what you've done," the ginger elf adds, her voice quivering. "You have taken so much..."
The patter of the rain on wood grows more frequent as it continues to fall, slightly heavier now.
"And you from me," the dark figure replies. "But I shall take it back tonight, and take your life," she adds, a smile curling the edge of her lips upwards as the words linger, masking her own hatred and sorrow. "Just like the others."
The rage boiling beneath red leather reaches the surface, and the fiery elf bellows in anger, her battle-shout hanging in the air as she strikes forward, forcing her enemy into a parry. The pair lock swords and deflect each other's blows in quick succession as the sound of steel on steel breaks the peace of the water's edge. The rainfall gradually transitions into a noisy downpour.
The ginger elf's rage is flowing freely now, her mind losing consciousness, completely seized by the red mist of fury that glazes over her eyes. Her subconscious mind is now in total control of her actions.
Her sword swings hard, with surprising strength, forcing her opponent to repeatedly absorb the blow with her own rapier. The struggling elf in black almost slips on the damp deck.
The golden-hilted sword returns, this time with greater force and speed as she strikes again and again with unrelenting aggression, making it harder for the dark figure to parry effectively and remain standing. Eventually, unable to keep up with the pace of attacks, she stumbles back and drops her sword noisily.
The elf in red looms over her on deck, screaming with fury, wildly pulling her own weapon back as she prepares to strike it forwards one last time with a killing blow.
But rage clouds her judgment; her balance wavers slightly. The elf in black twists her right foot upwards at the last moment, sending the spurs digging into red leather - and the skin of her opponent's left thigh.
The standing warrior buckles as the elf on the floor sweeps her leg across low, knocking the ginger elf's feet out from under her. Now it's her turn to collapse onto the deck and drop her sword as she falls. The pair of rapiers lie just out of reach, both instruments of death lying still, tempting their owners to move and pick them up again, the blades glistening in the rain.
Ignoring the out-of-reach swords in favour of a quicker move, the dark figure spots an opportunity and swings her right leg over her enemy, straddling her. She punches her foe's face with ferocity and a thin splatter of blood hits the watery deck.
The impact of the punch shakes the fiery elf out of her rage, as she returns to her senses. She looks up to see a face twisted with envy and loathing, and another fist slamming down towards her, right between the eyes.
For a split-second she wonders how she got caught up in such chaos and danger.
Phoenix braces for impact, moves her arms up in front of her face and closes her eyes.