Smoke billowed from the roaring bonfire, snaking into the air of the forest and standing out as plain as a beacon. The lush forests of Un’Goro Crater were generally uninhabited and a fire such as this could draw a good degree of notice.

    It was obvious the one fueling the flames was not in the state of mind to consider attracting unwanted visitors. The lithe troll was in the throes of an extremely primal dance, bounding from foot to foot in some kind of ritualistic pattern, though any other troll would have found this one unfamiliar for all its similarities.

    Crimson robed both damp and singed might as well have been non-existant, the thin fabric of the long skirt and drape top swaying and jerking along with her erratic movements. The troll’s bright blue pelt was glimmering with perspiration, her damp ivory hair wildly whipping about her. The rivulets of sweat slipping down her fuzzy face were causing the brown streaks of dried blood being used as facial paint to run and smear.

    The sour scents of immolated herbs were heavy in the ring of heat around the fire, and obviously were making breathing difficult. Though exactly what kind of herbs had been used in the pit was unknown to all but her, the effects it was having on her were unmistakable. Ruby red irises were nearly vanished; pupils dilated and eyes an absent, dull gloss.

    Abruptly Siaala’s dance had come to a halt. The female fell to her knees before the fire. Just to her left lay the corpse of an unknown and unarmored human male who had provided her so generously with her ceremonial ‘paint’, the pool of blood and spilled viscera from a rather grievous stomach wound beginning to attract insects in the head. But this she did not notice, seemingly enthralled by the dancing blaze before her. A momentary look of concentration flashed across her angular features as she held her callous palm out before the fire. Frost climbed up her thick digits within the second, a sudden and shocking burst of cold emanating from within the fire itself.

     A loud ‘pop’ accompanied the burst of heat this caused, the flames billowing high into the air and fanning out in a swift motion, nearly singeing the troll’s nose. It wasn’t long before the flames diminished in size now even compared to what they had been before the blast, logs dampened for the settling moisture. This pleased Siaala quite obviously and she then closed her eyes, palms held together.

    “Respected ancestor, with this gift of lifeblood I ask for your wisdom and guidance.” Her voice was wavering and reverent in the primal troll tongue. She reached to the body beside her, and with her left hand reached deep into the gash she had herself created with her massive axe, extracting from this wound a handful of organs. Without looking to see what they may be, she nonchalantly heaved the mass of flesh into the dimming flames. They sparked with blue flame, if only for a moment. As the almost white flames subsided back to a color orange as Durotar soil, a familiar voice began to speak to the female.
   
    “Si-Si, you’ve had no contact with me for a long time.” The scratchy voice reverberated through the shaman’s mind, substantial as if the man had been standing beside her. Had anyone else been nearby, though, they may have thought the horde soldier mad, for there was no evidence of his being to the surrounding environment. Tears stung at her eyes at the familiar and once beloved voice, though she worked quickly to hide the sob quickly building in her throat.

    “Yes, father. I’ve been busy something awful.” Though the voice had been nestled deep within her spirit as they spoke, she communicated with him aloud, if for nothing more than habit.

    “Busy. With your new male no doubt. Is the warrior faring well, daughter? Have you mated with him?”

    Siaala balked inwardly at the question, and the grunting noise he made in response to this may have well has forced her answer. “…N-no, father, we haven’t. He’s younger than I am; we’re waiting for the right time.”

    “What, for you or him to fall in battle and never know the other’s touch, for me to have no children from you? Then you’ve waited too long.” The disapproving tone in his voice became evident.

    “No – and regardless, that’s not what I came here to speak to you about, and you know it.”

    “I do?” He was being as patronizing as he knew how, and it made Siaala seethe.

    “Yes! You wanted me to kill Vivar, remember? Told me not to contact you until I had? Last time I spoke to you after that, you called me a failure.”

    “Mm. Yes.”

    “Well, I’m not doing it.” Her speech was slurred and slowed by the herbs in her system, but even so, that didn’t seem to be affecting her mind enough to stop the words from coming. “I’m not betraying my clan and my place in the Horde to please a dead element-speaker. It’s not worth it.”

    The fire she had been sparing at began to dance with more purpose, the orange licks rising higher and glowing bright as her father’s voice began to rise in pitch.

    “Not doing it? You don’t have a choice if you wish to keep my favor.”

    A sharp laugh. “Favor? FAVOR? I’m the only one you have to speak to – I know my brothers would have little to do with you in life. You’re just trying to make me feel worse.”

    “You dar-“

    “Dare what, father?!” Corded muscles began to bulge as her voice rose to a frantic screech, screaming into the blaze and to the voice in her mind. “Dare take my life back? Dare disobey a male who wanted me to slaughter my best friend and betray the horde?” With a long sigh, she forced her rage from reaching its berserker boiling point, and found it more taxing then letting it ride out. “Yes. I dare.”

    As she spoke those words, the fire may has well have exploded. The logs burst in the sudden and white-hot fires, sending a shower of sparks against the troll’s fur. Slow to react in her intoxified state, the sparks burst over her form, as did something far worse. A lick of flame was swift to fly in her direction just after the initial explosion. With a horrified scream she did her best to pull herself away, scrambling to her feet, but it was too late to stop what was faster than she. The conflagration burst over her right arm and torso as she was trying her best to leave it, fur bursting into flame at the extreme heat. The troll began to shriek as the smell of her own charred flesh filled the forest, and too panicked to think of calling globes of water to her aid or the cold she inherently could control, the female tossed herself painfully to the rough floor of the woods. With her free hand she beat at the flames, and when that failed, beat her limb against said floor until it was free of flames – blackened and disgusting, but free of flames.

    “You dare.” His voice hissed within her mind. “You dared, and you paid. You will yet pay if you continue this.” Behind her the fire winked out as he spoke the last words, but she did not need to look back to know. Sobbing, she reached up with her left hand to tap her silver tusk-ring.

    “…Rindali? I need you to come to Un’Goro crater. Please!”