Hello everyone who is reading this.

I, the author, am bringing you the third chapter of this story. I hope you will like it, as I liked writing it.

Read, review and tell me what you thought about this, if you want to of course.

In the days that followed the meeting with Sir Richard, Tellana showed him and his men the way to Silverwind Refugee. It took most of the day and parts of the night, to reach the place. The humans, she noticed, slowed them down, due to their heavy armor.

Richard handed his rapport to Filenya who immediately took it with her. She read it and had more copies made, one sent to Feralas Stronghold, to Shandris Feathermoon, leader of the Sentinels, while the other was sent to Darnassus, to Tyrande Whisperwind, leader of the Kal'dorei and Priest of Elune.

The Kal'dorei were quick to respond to these letters, to these assumed threats at their borders. Tyrande send out scouting parties throughout Ashenvale, parties originally used to hunt Satyr's and demons. They had to stop their search, as they were sent to the Warsong Lumbercamp.

Upon reaching the camp, the rumors the humans brought turned out to be true. In their campaign against the remnants of Xavius's minions, had the Warsong clan rebuild and fortified their former stronghold known as the Warsong Lumbercamp, the place where Grom Hellscream lead his first attacks against the Kal'dorei people.

Upon hearing of this did the sentinels immediately respond. Silverwind Sentinels were sent to the border between the Great Barrens and Ashenvale, in order to blockade any traveler from outside the Alliance entry to the great forest, while contingents of Sentinels and Huntresses and a few druids of the claws were sent to the old lumber camp, joined by a few ancient protectors aswell.

The orcs retaliated by setting up patrols into the forest and build up a few sentry towers and outposts within the forest as well. Tensions were building up between the two sides, but when the orcs started to cut down trees, like they did when they first came, did the Kal'dorei put their foot down, and it was put down hard.

One day four peons worked to cut down a tree over the river separating the camp from the forest itself, but not a single one returned to their camps. The orcs send out a squad of grunts and a few Darkspear hunters, only for this group to return, smaller than when it was sent and most of them filled with arrows.

The Kal'dorei send the four peons back to the Warsong clan, but not alive. The peons had been sent into the forest with a kodo, they were all tied to it, all dead. All four of them had died to arrow wounds.

This incident sparked even more skirmishes between the two sides. At times, the orcs would march into the forest, plunder a settlement or destroy and outpost, then return to their lands with the sentinels on their tail, at other times they tried to build up their fortifications, only for the sentinels to send their ancients to throw boulders, or had set up glaive throwers to stop the workers.

Without an official start, war had started between the Kal'dorei and Warsong Clan and with it, a war between the Alliance and the Horde.

Theramore, although a human kingdom, had decided to stay neutral in this conflict. They tried to reason with the two sides, trying to bring them to the table to negotiate, but nothing worked. The drums of war had returned to Kalimdor.

In the months the conflict escalated into open war, had Tellana been busy training Ash'ralah in the struggle to come. The cub had in these months grown considerably, still just a cub, but a rather large one. His fangs had started to grow and soon enough she thought, this nightsaber would be bigger than her. At full length, Tellana was still a head or two taller than the saber cat.

She had trained him to be able to take down his own kill. Incase she was wounded, would he need to be able to fend for himself but also protect his fallen companion. She had set up traps for smaller animals, deer and spiders, for which the nightsaber could pounce and eventually hunt. Though struggling with spiders, as he did not know where to strike to end it quickly, the saber proved to be a natural at hunting deer.

One day, the nightsaber had walked off, without Tellana noticing. Worried the elf stormed out into the wilds, fearing what might happen to her big cat, only to find him walking back to Silverwind Refugee, dragging a deer with him. He had downed a kill and was now bringing it home. She was both proud but also annoyed at the saber, something the cat was oblivious to of course.

It is during this time, that Filenya has been ordered to move to the Warsong Lumber camp. Tellana sighed as she sat down and petted Ash'ralah. Their training was not over, but they had been sent to the front. The orcish raids and actions proved to be too much for the sentinels to stop. The forces at the border had also launched attacks into the barrens, at which orcs from Durotar and The Barrens came and stopped the raids, as they were supported by their troll and Tauren allies.

But reinforcements had also arrived for the Kal'dorei.

High-Lord Bolvar Fordragon had, on the suggestions of Lady Prestor, send soldiers to Darkshore. These soldiers consisted of human soldiers in full steel armor and a few knights. King Magni Bronzebeard of Ironforge had also send a contingent of Dwarven riflemen to the area.

Also, some people from Theramore did not like that Lady Proudmore had decided for neutrality, so they decided to go as volunteers to the human forces in Ashenvale. One of these volunteers were Sir Richard, Father Inigo and the two rangers, Derik and Elisabeth.

Tellana was happy to see the four humans again, though she did not show nor tell them. Elisabeth looked at Ash'ralah and she gasped when she saw the size of the saber cat, barely believing it to be the same cat. The rest of the humans, save for Richard, doubted that the cat had grown so much in a matter of months, at which Richard laughed at them.

"I told you he had quite the appetite. He will be bigger than two of our horses in no times!"

The huntresses, human volunteers and five dwarven riflemen went on the march from Silverwind Refugee to the Lumber camp in the middle of the night. A full moon was up and the huntresses had to put leashes on their sabers, else they could not find them. The humans and dwarves looked amazed at the scene, barely believing their eyes.

"Mother moon blessed the Nightsaber's fur in times past. When her light shines, will she hide the nightsaber from predator and friend alike, allowing the cat for peace during this time"

Richard nodded at Tellana as she explained before turning around, explaining what she told him to his men and the dwarves.

In two days, they reached the camp, and it was quite the sight that waited them.

Ranks upon ranks of sentinels were marching, aiming their bows and pretending to fire in one single motion, as one single unit.

Huntresses were riding around on their giant saber cats, firing their arrows from their backs with impressive accuracy, before letting the cat itself leap at the imaginary enemy, working as a pair.

Druids of the claw were sitting in a circle, meditating over what were going to happen, but also healed the wounds of some of the sentinels and druids who had been unlucky to find the end of an axe or spear from the orcs or trolls.

But a contingent of humans had also arrived and set up camp. They had set up a fortified camp, with wooden walls and tents, while the elves had decided to use the nearby buildings as their camp.

The huntresses were put in the elven camp, while the others were put in the human camp, dwarves included.

They were all told to rest early, as the next day things would be set into motion and hopefully, the orcs would be driven from Ashenvale, or at the very least, taught not to mess with the children of Elune and their allies.

The following night Tellana meet with Richard, the priest and the rangers, as well as a dwarf. This dwarf was armed with a giant Warhammer and mithril armor. The humans and dwarf looked with awe at the size of the nightsaber before them.

Ash'ralah almost immediately recognized the humans, recognizing their smells. The saber cat walked over to the priest and rubbed his head against his thigh, like he did as a smaller cub. The human could not help but laugh and put his hand against the cat's head and petted it, giving him a scratch behind the ear, which made the nightsaber purr softly.

Inigo smiled, as he looked over at Tellana. He looks at Richard, motioning him to translate for her.

"He has grown a lot since last we meet. What have you been feeding him?"

Tellana laughed at this, she too impressed at her cat's size. She spoke a few words, before Richard translated.

"She says she mostly feed him Ashenvale deer, though he has started to hunt regularly himself"

This made me the priest retract his hand, which made the nightsaber look up at him and growl, believing it to be an attack, as the motion was sudden. Tellana acted quick and made a whistle, which made the nightsaber go over to her and focus on her solely.

She spoke fast again with anger in her voice. Richard once more translated.

"You should never mistrust him and never move your hand quickly around him. He sees a fast-moving hand as a threat to him or Tellana. You are lucky, if she were not around, he would have leapt at you"

The priest nodded and looked over at the nightsaber, who for a moment looked at him with a slight hostile behavior, before a friendly behavior came to be, almost reminding him of how he acted as a smaller cub.

With time the sun set, and the moon rose high in the sky. This night was a full moon, something Tellana and Richard knew. The elf noticed the human kept looking at Ash'ralah from time to time. She smiled, she knew what he was thinking.

The group shared sat around a campfire inside the human camp.

Tellana sat on the ground with the nightsaber right next to her, with his head on her lap. Many of the humans in the camp looked worried at the nightsaber, but slowly came to accept his presence, mostly to not scare the big cat.

Tellana saw as the dwarf also kept looking at the big cat. The dwarf noticed this and quickly tried to excuse himself, speaking in a broken common. Richard translated.

"He says it is a big cat you got there. Do you reckon how big he will be?"

Tellana explained to the dwarf, through Richard, that Ash'ralah was poised to be one of the biggest cats the sentinels would see, if he kept growing this much. Bigger than the two horses she told the humans months ago. The dwarf had another question, which sparked her curiosity.

"I've heard tales that these nightsabers are almost invisible in the moonlight. Is this true?"

Tellana smiled at the dwarf and nodded. The dwarf immediately looked over at nightsaber then back to the elf confused. Tellana sighed and stood up and grabbed a piece of meat from one of her bags. The nightsaber stood up and followed the piece of meat. Tellana left the camp and motioned the others to follow her. They did.

Once outside the camp, Tellana threw the piece of meat into the black night. The only light came from the moonlight. The group kept looking at the nightsaber and soon enough the giant cat disappeared.

The humans spotted the meat on the ground, but soon enough it vanished. They watched where the meat was and soon enough, all they could see were two yellow-green eyes looking in their direction, before moving in their direction.

The humans and dwarf stared at the sight, their jaws dropped from the sight. Both Richard and the dwarf had known that nightsabers could do this, but never seen it. the rangers on the other hand had no idea and were mind blown from the sight.

"Did anyone else see that giant cat disap-appear?"

"Sure did Derik… Happy we are not hunting them"

With that comment Tellana looked the source of the voice, the female ranger, and glared at her. The memory of the human hunter who killed a nightsaber was still fresh in her mind. She clenched her fists and her hand landed on her dagger. The woman saw this and looked at her terrified.

Richard, the dwarf, and Inigio were quick to intervene, standing between Elisabeth and Tellana. Inigo and Richard looked at the ranger, while the dwarf looked at Tellana. He smiled at her before looking to the forest, where he could hear branches breaking, and soon enough, the nightsaber was visible, as the light from the camp illuminated the giant cat.

The dwarf spoke, and shocked Tellana again. He spoke elvish, with a dwarvish accent.

"I don believe we've been proper introduced lad! Me name is Daelin Ironfist, Rifleman from Dun Morogh. I know your language as I am a part of the Explorer league. This is my second time here in Ashenvale"

She looked at him suspiciously before nodding. Richard had turned back to them as the dwarf spoke elvish, grinning as he heard him speak. He looked to Tellana.

"Can we get an explanation?"

The dwarf nodded aswell. Tellana sighed and put her hand down on Ash'ralah's head, petting the big cat, which made him purr softly.

"Some time ago I killed a human hunter. This despicable man had come, claiming to be an explorer. We gave him the benefit of the doubt as he was in full Theramore regalia, and we honor Theramore for fighting with us on Mount Hyjal"

A pause ensued as Tellana pointed at the tall mountain, its peak barely visible from where they stood, but they got the message.

"The hunter soon vanished and hunted the local wildlife. We found him after four days, to find he had hunted two deer, one spider, a few birds and one... Nightsaber"

Human and dwarf looked at each other, before looking at Ash'ralah. They had put the pieces together. Daelin looked back at Tellana, curious for more.

"Wha happened to the hunter?"

Fury returned to Tellana's eyes and she looked at the dwarf, glaring at him briefly before returning to a more calm state.

"I found him and I were ready to kill him, but I never claimed the kill. You see, when Nightsaber find a mate, they mate for life. The hunter became the prey in the end. The mate of the nightsaber eventually found him and killed him."

Richard and Daelin nodded and listened in, as Tellana explained further.

"Unfortunatelty, the mate was too old to hunt alone. Soon she was reduced to nothing but fur and bones. When that monster killed the nightsaber, did he also take with him, its mate. I gave her a nice funeral days after she killed her mate's murderer"

The two once more nodded. Before more words were spoken, did Elisabeth move out from the ground, around Daelin and Richard and looked at Tellana with a sorry look on her face.

"I am sorry if I offended you Tellana, or your Nightsaber. I didn't know what I said, and I wish to apologise"

Richard translated and Tellana nodded at her, not giving her a reply. Richard on the other hand did, as he explained the situation to the humans. All of them nodded before looking over at the Nightsaber, who was still being petted by the elf.

After this the group split up. Tellana returned to her camp, with Ash'ralah following her, while the humans and dwarf returned to their own camp. The two groups decided to get some sleep, well knowing what was going to happen the next day.

She put Ash'ralah where most of the other nightsabers were kept, at a stable. She walked to the part where the Ash'ralahs brother and sisters where. The big cats did not make much of a bond, but there were still something binding them all together. She grinned as she watched him play with his brother, like they did when they were just a few weeks old.

Tellana returned to where the huntress's slept. Most of the others had already gone to bed, with the exception of a few who were either praying, preparing their weapons or simply chatting. She said goodnight to all of them before stripping off her armor and lied down on the mattress, with a blanket on top.

Little did she know, tomorrow would be a taxing day.

With that I end chapter 3 of this story. I wont work on the fourth chapter before the 17 th of December, as I am now entering an examn period. Wish me luck.

Read, review and tell me what you thought about this.