Commander Braghaman Larethian

The Landing Pad

Braghaman stepped out of the portal and looked around the city floating amongst pale clouds. He saw groups of people moving around, most of whom were completely foreign to him. This entire place was completely foreign as he scanned for anything that reminded him of home. A moment later he heard boots hitting the ground behind him and he glanced back over his shoulder to see Erik emerge from the glowing disk.

“I warned you it was different.”

“I underestimated that statement,” Bragh replied with a nod. “Is the rest like this place?”

“Not that I saw. The one place I traveled had fields and mountains. But floating platforms as well.”

“We’re definitely not on Azeroth anymore.” Bragh turned and stepped to the edge of the platform they had landed on and looked over the edge. “Wonder what’s down there?”

“I didn’t have time to inquire.”

Braghaman looked over his shoulder again at Erik. The rogue was scanning the area, his right hand resting on the handle of his knife. Braghaman nodded, tightening the grip on the warhammer in his left hand while his right went to check on the mace hanging from his belt.

“Did the explain why it was taking so long?” 

“No,” Braghaman answered, looking back over the edge of the platform. “Something about protocols.”

“They don’t know you very well, do they?” Erik asked, looking at the paladin out of the corner of his eye before turning back to the city.

“Apparently not. That’s their mistake.” Braghaman let out a sigh. “We get Niv back and take her home, safe. Anything else gets done only after that.”

“Understood,” Erik said quietly, moving to the side as a pair of priests walked past him towards the portal. “If they..” Suddenly the rogue stopped and started looking around. “Powder.” Erik pulled one of his knives free and looked at the priests who had just passed him. Without warning, they turned away from the portal and started sprinting towards the paladin. “Bragh!”

Braghaman turned to see the two priests running at him, their robes opening to show bottles hanging from ropes beneath. He punched his left hand forward, letting the handle of his warhammer slide in his grip and the head of his weapon slam into the face of one of the priests. As the first priest dropped to the ground, the second ducked under the hammer and wrapped his arms around Bragh’s waist. 

“Let the Light cleanse you.”

The explosion knocked everyone on the platform to the ground. Erik grunted before rolling over and standing up. He shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears and then looked around. As the smoke cleared, the rogue’s eyes grew wide. The spot where the paladin had been standing moments earlier was replaced with a crater from the explosion. Erik ran to the spot and spun around looking. On the ground, groaning, was the first priest that Braghaman had knocked down. Erik knelt beside him and put a hand on his chest.

“What did you do?”

The priest coughed and tried to pull away from Erik’s hand. The rogue gripped the priest’s robes and pulled his knife around so that the blade rested against the priest’s throat.

“What did you do?!”

“We removed the rabble,” the priest coughed out.

Erik stared at the priest for a moment before standing up. As the priest started to move again, Erik kicked him in the side of the head and watched as he rolled over unconscious. He then moved to the site of the explosion and examined the landing. There was a gaping hole at the edge where he could look down in the swirling clouds below. 

Erik took a deep breath and slammed his knife back into its sheath. A crowd was starting to form as people, and guards, were coming to investigate what had happened. The rogue let out a quick growl and started moving towards the city. As he passed the unconscious priest, he kicked him again in the ribs before pushing his way past the spectators and disappearing into the crowd.