[BLOG] My WoW experience - Day 3

"The Golden Plains east of Mulgore are deadly to young druids and hunters trying to make their way in the world." The thought repeated itself in my head as Ipmala, Steera and I wearily trudged through the tall grass in grim silence, our legs sore from the constant rolling hills. To the north, I saw him - the Alpha wolf we sought.

I stopped and pointed. No words were exchanged, since we all knew what to do. Steera raised her gun and fired a shot at the beast. Ipmala snorted and raised his as well. I quickly began casting the spell that would cause vines to sprout from sweet Earthmother and root the wolf in place.

The wolf took the first bullet in the shoulder and let out an evil howl as he began barreling towards us. Suddenly the distance between us seemed much shorter than it had first appeared. I heard Ipmala's gun fire and saw a puff of fur and blood, but the wolf kept running. I thought the words and willed the vines to grow as fast as I knew how, and I noticed Ipmala shoot a glance at me while he reloaded his gun, as if to say, "what is taking so long?"

Steera began to backpedal as the wolf continued to bear down on her. At that moment I chanted the final words of my spell, and inwardly sighed in relief as my faith in Earthmother was rewarded with the visceral reminder of her power. Her tendrils shot forth, clods of dirt and grass flying as vines thick as a young Tauren's arms burst out before the charging wolf and quickly wrapped themselves around his heaving flanks.

Giving a ragged cheer, Steera fired another shot, and the wolf let out a yelp of fear. I began chanting the Moonfire, which would make this battle quick and assure victory to our little band.

When the talons sunk into my back, I only had the briefest moment to wonder what went wrong as the words of the Moonfire song scrambled in my thoughts. I quickly regained focus, and in the back of my head placed faith in my friends to find out who had ambushed us. I heard an otherworldly screech from behind and knew that it was a foul swoop that had attacked me.

I sang the final notes of the Moonfire and only had a brief glance at my work, as the sky opened and a beam of purest moonlight blazed forth and focused its fury on the hapless Alpha wolf. I had no time to see the effects, however, because the swoop came at my back again, this time pecking down with his fierce beak.

I lurched and turned, simultaneously getting my bearings while taking a wild swing at the swoop with my staff. The swoop made a terrifying screech but the feeble blow I landed failed to injure it. Ipmala turned to this new threat and fired at it, striking it in the side. I fell back a step, and that's when things really turned sour.

Steera had reloaded to finish off the wolf, and as she raised her gun, a plains prowler lept out of the tall grass to her left and pounced on her with the full force of his weight. "No!" I thought. I wasn't sure how much of this we could take.

The wolf hadn't died. The vines weakened against the wolf's frenzied struggle and finally snapped. The wolf surged forward, intent on ripping Steera's throat out. The swoop was still attacking me and I had to make a quick decision. I fell back as far as I could and began another tangle song. I decided to tie the wolf down again to give Steera and Ipmala a chance to take down the new threat - the prowler that decided to take advantage of the chaos and get a free meal.

The swoop was having none of it, the foul bird's talons again raking at my face. Steera seemed hurt, Ipmala was frantically shooting at the prowler, and I began to doubt our chances in this endeavor.

I couldn't concentrate on my song with the swoop in my face. Ipmala ran up and gave the swoop a mighty wound with his axe. That gave me the moment I needed to finish my song, and again Earthmother reached out to embrace the wolf in her verdant arms.

The wolf sufficiently dealt with, I turned my full attention to the swoop and hoped Steera could hold the prowler off long enough on her own until we could help her.

I began attacking the swoop with my staff in earnest. With Ipmala and I concentrating on it, we made short work of the foul bird, and that's when I noticed how badly Ipmala was bleeding. I quickly began the healing chant while he reloaded his gun, all the while acutely aware that the wolf was amazingly still alive and fighting the tendrils of Earthmother.

Steera was bravely holding her own against the prowler. The huge cat was fighting as if possessed. His screeching mewls were a terrifying sound, especially when combined with the cacophony of the frenzied wolf howling and barking at the vines that continued to vex him. Steera's axe thudded into the prowler with a sickening crunch as I finalized the words that sent Earthmother's healing light into Ipmala.

Steera didn't look so good either. She was bleeding from several places and I realized she was favoring her left leg. I had no more strength, the mana granted me by Earthmother needing time to replenish. I ran forward past the wolf and incredibly he lunged forward and sunk his teeth into my calf! I couldn't believe the persistence of this animal, and found myself respecting the tenaciousness of this earthbrother. I praised his spirit even as I brought my staff whirling around to crash into his muzzle, and with a mixture of sadness and great relief, knocked the wolf down, the fight gone out of him.

The prowler had sunk his fangs into Steera's left arm even as she continued to cleave at him with her axe. Ipmala and I arrived simultaneously and the three of us were more than the prowler could handle. The great cat gave a pathetic whine as the light left his eyes and he relaxed his grip on our compatriot's arm.

We all looked at each other. We had nearly not made it. The drama of the hunt on the Golden Plains had nearly had a bad ending for these three young Tauren. I sat heavily on the ground as Steera hobbled over to the dead wolf, holding her injured arm. Ipmala began to gnaw on a piece of bread as he went over to inspect the corpse with her.

As I felt Earthmother's mana flow back into me, Steera let out a cheer. She had been able to find the coveted tooth, whole and perfect, and cut it successfully out of brother wolf's jaw. It was the last one she needed for the shaman at Bloodhoof Village. She put it in her pouch, the battle already behind her in her newfound joy.

The three of us made our way back to Bloodhoof Village, knowing that our struggle on the plains was just a thread in the tapestry of Azeroth. There had been many others like it, and there would be many more, as we continued on our trek to please our elders and gain favor with Cairn Bloodhoof, mighty leader of our tribe.