A Story for the Sproutling

This story was inspired by Big Bear Butt's writing challenge. Check his post for all the other offerings!

~o~

The calf gurgled and cooed as Leesah wiped the remnants of the juicy berries from around his mouth. She picked him up as she stood, kissed him on the top of his furry head and put him down on the packed earth floor of the house, smiling as he ran outside.

She walked over to the door and leaned against the wooden frame, shielding her eyes from the low sun casting its light across the Mulgore plain. A few children of the village were running around after a dog, trying to pull its tail.

Not for the first time, Leesah wished that her mate Melof could have been here to see how much their son had grown. It was already his first birthday and he was getting so tall - he would surely grow into a strong bull like his father had been. Leesah felt grief building up in her throat again. She glanced at one wall of the house where Melof's polearm hung, several charms hanging from the slender shaft, light winking on the keen blade.

She hadn't been up to Thunder Bluff in a while, but she had heard the rumours - Deathwing lay slain, the Twilight Cult scattered. She swallowed back tears and stood straighter, comforted that her mate's death at the assault on the Bastion had not been in vain, and had been avenged.

There was no use in dwelling on the past, though. Soon, she would have to leave the peace of Bloodhoof Village and rejoin her fellow Druids abroad. She could feel the urge to travel in her bones, the nature magic stirring, ready to heal and nurture the regenerating forests of Hyjal. She would have to leave her calf behind for a little while, but he would be in safe hands with the elders of the village.

As the sun dipped below the line of mountains to the west, one of the Elder bulls came around lighting the torches of the village. She nodded a greeting to him as she walked out across the grass. She called, "Come, little one!"

The calf ran over to her, reaching upwards and saying, "Num num num?"

Leesah laughed as she swung him up over her head and down again. "No, silly, you already had num nums. It's time for a bath and sleepy time." She carried him back inside their home and out to the hidden alcove that served as a bathroom.

Outside, stars began to appear in the evening sky and cast their silver light over the plains.

~o~

Yes, it's my Sproutling's first birthday today. It seems like such a long time ago that he was born, but at the same time it feels like just the other day! He's not quite at the running stage, but Tauren calves learn to walk a lot faster than human ones. He does ask me for num nums quite a lot, though.

Like Leesah, I've gone back to work and left Sproutling with the "elders". He's surrounded by an adoring fan club every day so I don't feel too bad about leaving him.

Don't worry, Mr Ang is still here... but he stopped playing Wow just before Sproutling was born so it fit well with the story for his Tauren to have died. I'm sure he won't mind me taking the liberty :)

Licence to Fly

A little storytelling today, from my Druid, Leesah.

Leesah reached into the bottom of the backpack. Her nose wrinkled as she pulled out what had once been a wrapped package of Very Burnt Worg but was now looking slightly green and furry around the edges. It made a kind of wet splat as she dropped it onto the pile of rubbish she had just pulled out of her bags. Other items lay scattered around her where she sat on the floor of her room in the Valley of Wisdom.

"No wonder Max has been sniffing around the Kodo a bit more," she thought as she looked fondly at the little windrider cub, curled up asleep with the moonkin hatchling on a cushion nearby.

A loud screeching cry from outside in the valley made her look up in alarm.  "What in the world..." She quickly packed about her potions and other useful items back into one backpack and plonked the pile of rubbish into another. It was amazing what vendors would buy these days.

Leesah headed outside and looked up in wonder at the sky, her jaw dropping.  There were dragons, drakes, sparkly flying horses, windriders, gyrocopters, rockets and all sorts of other flying creatures and apparatus flying around the air above Orgrimmar, swooping and diving. She turned to a Tauren standing just outside the door and said, "What's going on?"

The Tauren shrugged and said, "I heard the Warchief had started allowing people to fly in Kalimdor airspace now, but you have to have a licence.  I'm not sure where to get them."

Leesah thought she could probably guess. A good number of flying creatures were hovering above the new flight master and Zeppelin towers on the top tier of the city.  She headed up the ramp to the lift.

As the lift reached the top of the shaft she was almost unable to get off it. An enormous crowd was gathered around the general location of the Flight Master, shoving, pushing, shouting, mounts crying out in panic and flying creatures squawking and screaming above. Someone riding a War Mammoth was trying to push through the crowd, and a large number of swearing people were busy ducking out of the way of the large tusks as the huge creature swayed back and forth.

Leesah joined the back of the crowd, peering over the heads of those in front of her to see what was happening in the centre. Gradually, she was pushed from behind towards the centre of the crowd, where she could see the Flight Master, Maztha, frantically scribbling on bits of paper and shoving them at members of the jostling crowd. A goblin standing just behind her was collecting gold from those lucky enough to be handed a licence.

"Do you mind, you're standing on my foot!" shouted an unfortunate Blood Elf who Leesah had been shoved into from the side.

"Sorry!" she said helplessly as another shove pushed her forward suddenly and she found herself with a piece of paper in her hand.

"Well?  Hand over the gold! 212 please!" The goblin was looking at her expectantly and holding out a hand. Leesah blinked and quickly counted out the coin, then realised she was free to go.  With a grin she muttered a few words and transformed into her Stormcrow form, shooting straight up above the crowd with a strong flap of her wings.

"Orgrimmar looks so different when you're not coming in on a zeppelin!" she thought as she circled higher above the city, then suddenly had to dive out of the way as some idiot on a Green Drake almost rammed into her from one side.

"Watch where you're going!" the orc on the back shouted, shaking one fist at her. She glared after him, then hurried back down to the Valley of Wisdom to finish her preparations.

~o~

Incidentally if you're having trouble clicking on an NPC for a quest or training because of people standing on them, try keybinding the "interact with target" command.  Type "/tar " then the NPC's name to target them, use your keybind, then step back and leave the suckers to it.

Thanks for the top tip, Sunfyre!

Victory in Icecrown

Balindah's breath came out in puffs of steam in the chilly Icecrown air as she panted up the steep hill, slipping slightly on the icy surface. She looked back behind her at the tents and arena of the Argent Tournament.

The herald had told her that less people came to try their skill at the Tournament these days. Now that Lord Tirion had his armies assaulting the Citadel, the purpose of the Tournament was over but there was still enough work around in clearing up the Scourge to keep Balindah busy in her off days from training.

She headed over the crest of the hill, bracing herself as an icy blast of wind blasted in from the west. To the southwest through the mists she could just about make out the silhouette of the Citadel, pointing up into the snowy sky like an icicle. She shivered as she thought of the heroes battling through the place, momentarily glad that she wasn't quite at the level of training to be sent in.

~o~

Leesah gasped as a wave of dark energy swept over the group, gesturing with her branches to calm the pain in her chest to a dull ache. She quickly scrambled to one side on the icy platform as someone screamed out to look out for the expanding circle of darkness heading her way.

The group of heroes backed into the middle of the platform as another Val'kyr began to hover above, ready to pounce on someone and drag them to their deaths.

~o~

Balindah eyed the Frostblood Whelp warily as she got a little closer. She was just about in range to fire off a jet of flame when she stepped on a loose rock under the snow.  She gasped as a small avalanche was dislodged and tumbled down the slope near to the waiting enemy.  A half dozen whelps and undead Vrykul looked up, saw her and started to head towards her purposefully.  Balindah gritted her teeth and hefted her axe and fist weapon, ready for the charge.

~o~

The Vile Spirits circled overhead. The Lich King roared a challenge and began to suck Taintedscar's soul into Frostmourne. Leesah ducked away as a spirit dive-bombed near her.  She frantically tried to heal Tainted but soon he was beyond her help. She swallowed her panic at losing her fellow healer and directed her attention to trying to keep Razorleaf alive as the Lich King rained down blows on him.

Someone screamed behind her as more Vile Spirits dived - the group was starting to fall. Leesah threw around as much healing as she could and tried to innervate herself to regain some energy.

Just as another spirit dived and two more heroes lost their battle, the Lich King uttered a mighty cry and suddenly, everyone was dead.

~o~

Balindah tried to focus her blows on one of her attackers but more and more were hitting her from behind.  She frantically tried to heal herself but the blows were coming more quickly than she could cast.  She roared a challenge as she fired off another fire nova, and waited for the end.

Suddenly, with an odd gurgling cry, the Scourge threw back their heads and screamed.  Blue energy shot upwards out of each of them then fled south towards the Citadel.  The Scourge, bereft of their animating life-force, fell to the ground in a pile of bodies around her.

Balindah looked around in open-mouthed panic.  All along this valley, the Scourge were falling to the ground, their energy fleeing south.

Then, silence fell.

Balindah staggered back from the mess of bodies and uttered a quick healing spell.  The Scourge... they were defeated?  She looked away to the south, but the Citadel was once again shrouded in mist.  A deathly stillness lay over Icecrown. Even the icy wind seemed to have abated for a moment.

~o~

Tirion Fordragon walked slowly down the icy stairs and came to stand by the body of the fallen Arthas Menethil. Bolvar Fordragon sat, encased in ice on the Frozen Throne itself.

Leesah looked up at the paladin from where she had fallen to the platform in exhaustion. One of her comrades offered her a hand to stand up, and she smiled weakly when he said, "So, it's all over."

She nodded, wondering at herself for being so calm.  She was sure the shock would catch up with her soon enough.

"I think," she said as she looked down at the fallen king, "I'd like to go home now."

~o~

Congratulations, Disciples of Sneer! It was a hard battle but great teamwork paid off. Bring on Heroic!

Max

If you'd like to read about how Leesah came by the cute lil Max, head over to Kiss My Alas!

Sindragosa's Lair

It's time for a story.  This one is about my guild's efforts in ICC this week!  I hope you enjoy it.

~o~

Leesah winced as she splashed the icy water on her face and rubbed vigorously. The group had a brief respite at Light's Hammer before the next attempt at the Spire of Icecrown Citadel.

The assault had had a few days of successes recently. Leesah hadn't been with the company who had taken the Blood Queen down and saved the green dragon, Dreamwalker, but she had made sure she had been front in line when it was time to assault that rotten Professor's lair again.

She was idly wondering how she was going to get the green gunk out of her hair, when the call came up to be armed and ready to move. "Here we go again," she muttered to herself as she quickly gathered her dagger and trinkets and joined her company near the teleporter as they went about renewing their blessings and spells on each other.

They teleported up to the Upper Spire and gathered together, shivering in the cold wind that constantly whipped around the frozen core of the Citadel. Their captain explained that an opening had been found beyond the room Dreamwalker had been in, and they had been ordered to check it out to see if there was a way up to the Frozen Throne from there.

As a group, they ran around the edge of the long drop in the centre of the Citadel and up the hallway towards Dreamwalker's room. On the far side, there was indeed another hallway and an elevator leading down to yet another hallway ending in a round room with a barred door on the opposite side. The group cautiously moved forward, until someone said, "Ugh, spiderwebs".

Leesah looked around at the walls. There were cobwebs reaching almost from the floor, all the way up into the shadows at the ceiling. Something was moving up there. She suppressed a shudder and moved closer to the group, drawing the nature magic to her to help her transform into her Moonkin form. She shook out her feathers and felt a little more calm, but not for long.

Someone yelped in terror as suddenly, a large spider descended from the ceiling on a long tendril of thick silk. Leesah glanced around the room in fright as other creatures started scuttling out of dark corners.

"Stick together!" the captain yelled as the group started to fire spells or swing their weapons at whatever was in reach. Leesah pulled herself together and called down the power of the stars, then summoned a hurricane in the room, thunderclaps rolling off the walls. Spells flashed around the room and still spiders of all sizes came, hurling themselves into the fray.

Someone shouted, "The door's open!", just as a large group of Vrykul warriors came running in to join the defense. Leesah renewed her summoned Hurricane and gradually the Vrykul and spiders fell, and the group were through the door, finding themselves on the outside of the Citadel, facing two enormous frostwyrms.

A freezing wind whipped up from the frozen mountains and chilled Leesah to her bones, as the weary company rested for a moment for a bite of strudel.

"Alright, I'm going to see if I can get the attention of just one of them," said the captain, hefting her mace and moving forward slowly. "Stay back!"

She tossed a spell at one of the dragons and it roared in anger, charging towards the captain and the group. Leesah held her breath until it was clear that the other dragon hadn't noticed, then gathered in her nature energy and started hurling spells at the frostwyrm attacking the group.

Just as it seemed they were getting the upper hand, the dragon reared back and let out an enormous bellowing roar. The group scattered in blind panic, and the other frostwyrm turned at the sound, roared in response and rushed to join the battle.

Leesah could feel her energy fading as she frantically threw spell after spell at the dragons, dodging out of the way of their tails and flailing wings, but she drew on ever power she could muster and soon, with a great scream, each of the dragons fell.

The company stood by the corpses of the frostwyrms, panting.

Above them, there came a mighty screech and the sound of air being forced aside by massive wings.

The captain shouted "It's the Queen! Fall back to the stairs!"

Leesah's eyes widened in awe and terror as Sindragosa descended to the platform in front of them. The gigantic frostwyrm had seen them, and screamed in a crazed voice, "You are fools to have come to this place! The icy winds of Northrend will consume your souls!"

~o~

A Fairy Story about Real Names

"Come along children, I'll tell you a story." Matron Mercy said as she led one of the tiny blood elf orphans over to the reading area.

The children gathered around, sitting on cushions strewn around the floor, and madam sat down on a chair and settled herself.

One of the children piped up. "Tell us about that scary dragon Onyxia!"

"No no, " another tiny child said, "the one about the nasty baddies in the Icecream City!"

"Now now, perhaps another time," Matron said, smiling.  "Today I have a special story to tell you. It's about Picksies."

One of the older Draenei boys snorted, saying "Picksies?  Everyone knows they don't exist."

Matron shook her head seriously. "Oh no, they're quite real.  They're probably hiding all around us as we speak."

A few of the children looked around nervously and one of the tiny girls climbed into Matron's lap.

"Picksies love to play tricks on people. Did you ever think you saw something out of the corner of your eye, but when you turned to look, there was nothing there? Picksies!" Matron said, looking around at the wide-eyed children.

"Did you ever lose something that you are sure was in its place, look everywhere for it, and then the next day it was back in its right place again? "

The little girl in her lap looked up in wonder. "Picksies?" she said. Matron nodded and continued.

"Picksies are very devious and they love to cause mischief.  They can change form to look like a person, and cause tricks that way too. The only way to stop a picksie from playing a trick on you, is asking it to stop using its Real Name. If you know something or someone's Real Name, you have power over it and it must do whatever you ask it to."

One of the boys said in a cheeky voice, "Does that work with real people too?" as he eyed the group of girls sitting nearby.  One of them poked her tongue at him and looked away pointedly.

Matron chuckled. "It does work for people too, Halvaar, if you know their Real Name."

Halvaar looked crestfallen. "You just said my name though.  Does that mean I have to do what you say?"

Matron laughed again "No!  Well yes, you do have to do as I say, but not because of the name.  You see, Halvaar is what people call you, but it's not your Real Name.  Most people, in fact nearly all people of Azeroth and Draenor don't know what their Real Name is. It's a special other name that belongs only to you. If you ever find out what your Real Name is, though, you must not tell another soul what it is."

A small Blood Elf girl said "Why not?"

"Haven't you been listening to me, Amie? If a picksie finds out your Real Name, they can make you do nasty things, really horrible things, and you won't be able to not do it!"

Matron continued in a slightly softer voice, since little Amie looked terrified. "So not only must you keep your Real Name a secret, but you must not trust anyone until you know them very well, just in case they are a Picksie out to play a trick on you. Okay?"

The little girl on matron's lap looked up again thoughtfully.  "But, how will we know if they're a picksie?"

"Well, I'll have to let you work that out for yourself, sweetpea," matron said, gently, "Just be careful. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes matron, I'll be careful."

The boys up the back of the group looked bored. One of them said, "Can we hear about Onyxia now?"

Matron sighed and started the new story. "Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a brave group of adventurers..."

~o~

Topical?  Probably not, but it inspired this story :)

Midsummer

This story was inspired by Anna's Friday Five Hundred: Midsummer Sun post from last week, where she asked us to write a ficlet for this prompt:

A record-breaking heat wave hits Azeroth just in time for Midsummer.

My lil fic-snippet features my shaman, Balindah, just after she arrives in town after being out questing. I've also tried to describe how the citizens of Orgrimmar might deal with a heatwave just as the fire festival is in full swing.  I hope you like it.

~o~

The air in the Valley of Strength barely stirred in the late afternoon heat. The sun now only touched the tops of the rock walls of the valley, but the heat of the whole day radiated up from the stone streets and the city remained a baking dust-bowl.

Balindah grunted as she laboured up the hill towards the Drag, and wiped the sweat out of her eyes. She had long since given up recasting a cooling water shield, as the energy required to hold the water globules together and prevent evaporation just tired her out more than she already was.

The Drag was becoming crowded with Orgrimmers, venturing out in the cooling evening air. Lazy peons still slumbered under the branches of the huge tree in the area, and an enterprising goblin had set up a stall selling sliced watermelon, and also had a small captured ice elemental making cold moonberry juice for a queue of thirsty citizens.

As Balindah approached the entrance of the Valley of Wisdom she could feel the heat radiating around the corner. It seemed they had kept up with tradition after all - a massive bonfire burned just outside the Drag's entrance. Nothing could get in the way of Orcs when tradition was involved, even the hottest summer in Orcish memory.

Rather than keeping people away, the bonfire had drawn a huge crowd of people, honouring the flame and joining in the festivities. A huge tent had been set up to one side, with a stall containing all manner of festival clothing and paraphernalia. A ribbon pole stood in the centre of the action, with several laughing children and a few braver adults spinning around the magical flames at its base.

As Balindah took a step into the valley to try to pick her way through the crowd, she was nearly knocked over by an Orc crashing into her from her left.

"Oh! Oh no!" he cried as he stumbled, and a flaming torch came crashing down a few inches from his outstretched hand. The torch broke apart, sending flaming fragments in all directions, and one landed on the Orc's shirt and set it alight. A scowling Shaman chucked a Riptide over him from behind with a splash, and the now damp Orc got to his feet and shuffled away, sheepishly. Balindah rubbed her bruised shoulder, shook her head in irritation and continued up the hill towards Grommash Hold.

The crowd ebbed and flowed to and from the side of the bonfire. There were people trying their luck with tossing torches into braziers on one side. On the other side of the road, in an out-of-the-way corner, a short blood elf woman was practising juggling torches. The torches were not lit, but she was flinging them up so fast that they were barely visible and catching them again just as quickly. Every so often she would stop, look quickly at a timepiece on a chain attached to her shirt, and curse violently.

Balindah nodded a greeting as she passed the nervous-looking Kor'kron guards at the front of Grommash Hold, and headed inside to find the Shaman trainers.

Eleventh Hour: Thousand Needles

This is a story inspired by Liala's Eleventh Hour challenge. My task was that my character has been brought to Thousand Needles by important documents which turn out to be false (with or without the knowledge of my character). Since Balindah has been questing in Ferelas recently I thought I might as well centre the story around her.

The story isn't so much about exploring as it is about a couple of the quests in the zone, but I tried to give a feeling of how the zone might feel to be in.

So, here you go.

~o~

The heat was stifling. Balindah wiped the sweat from her face as the midday sun beat down and filled the Thousand Needles with hot, dry air like a rocky furnace. Even riding in the shade of the rock pillars didn't help, as the heat radiated from every surface and a hot wind blew up from the south, whistling around the canyon.

Balindah murmured to her Kodo, who was suffering with the long journey. "It's alright, girl, soon we'll be in the forests." The road continued between the tall pillars.

Off to one side of the road Balindah noticed something. She pulled up her Kodo and squinted into the bright sunlight. There was definately something lying there, under the shadow of one of the tall rock spires. She dismounted and went over for a closer look. It was the body of a centaur - one of the Galak tribe who lived near this area of the Thousand Needles. 

Another corpse, she thought. The cries of birds of prey had been following her for a little while - Balindah realised she should have guessed.  She had seen a few corpses of different species on the road from Tanaris, lying around in the sun, victims of the hyena packs or casualties of the skirmishes between Centaur and the Tauren tribes who lived here.  It was a hard land, and hard fought over, and the corpses lent the place a certain smell in the hot climate that made travelers hasten their way to cooler and safer places.

She was just about to continue on her way north when she noticed the unfortunate centaur clutched a piece of paper. Balindah eased the letter out from under the lifeless hand.  It was a letter, sealed with a wax circle stamped with a small skull symbol. She looked around furtively, then curiosity got the better of her and she broke the seal and unfolded the letter. 

The note looked like it had been scrawled in a great hurry.

Balindah sighed and took a quick swig of Moonberry Juice before mounting up again.  As desperate as she was to be away from the heat of the valley, she decided she had better go and warn this Kanati Greycloud to expect trouble.

Some distance up the dusty road, she approached Whitereach Post, a small hut dwarfed under the massive rock pillars.  Several Tauren men stood around the camp, but it was a goblin who saw her coming and called out a greeting.

"Hey, how you doin'?!" he called, as she approached. "I'm Wizlo Bearingshiner. I'm just passing through myself, but with all the delays I'm starting to wonder whether I'm going to make it to my clients in time! So what is it that you're doing in these parts?"

"Um, hi. I'm actually looking for Kanati Greycloud?" Balindah dismounted and held her Kodo steady as she looked questioningly at the others standing around the campsite.

"I am he." A large Tauren stepped forward, looking curiously at Balindah.  She pulled the letter out of her pack and handed it over, saying, "I found this on a centaur not far up the road." She gestured with a toss of her head.

Kanati Greycloud scanned the note and nodded. "Those damned centaurs! Why can't they just leave us be?" He looked angrily at the area around the outside of the camp, then glanced at the axes hanging from the young Tauren's belt. "Thank you for your warning, Ms...?" he trailed off.

"Balindah Stormcaller." She smiled grimly. "You're welcome.  The centaur never delivered his note but I'm guessing the attack may still come."

"It's likely," Kanati Greycloud nodded, scowling. "I'll send word to Freewind Post to ask for some extra protection, but for now could I ask you, Miss Stormcaller, to fight with me against these vile assassins?"

Balindah groaned inwardly. She had really been looking forward to reaching the cooler forest, but these hunters were most likely impressed by the Lightning flickering around her, marking her a Shaman. She rubbed the flank of her Kodo gently - the poor thing was thirsty after their trek up from the Shimmering Flats earlier in the day. She said, "I will stay until the morning."

As the afternoon passed and the sun dropped behind the edge of the canyon, the air cooled a little and a warm breeze blew through the valley.  Balindah sat in camp near the cook fire and chatted with the Tauren hunters as the shadows lengthened and the late sun cast a golden glow over the tops of the mesas.

One of the hunters, Motega Firemane, was troubled about the assassination note. He said to Balindah as he passed her a plate of Hot Wolf Ribs, "This is unusual for the Galak.  They will defend their territory but an offensive attack isn't their style."

She looked at him, surprised. "You think someone else may be behind this?"

Motega Firemane chewed thoughtfully. "I wonder, " he said, "if the note you found was planted there. We have had many clashes with the Grimtotem Tribe lately, but would they really stoop so low as to send the centaurs against us?"

Kanati Greycloud threw a rib bone into the basic campfire in disgust. "Those Grimtotem are capable of anything, but do you think any of them could write well enough to produce that note?"

Motega Firemane laughed loudly and thumped Kanati Greycloud on the shoulder. "By the Earthmother, you're right!" 

The goblin, who had joined them for a bite to eat, suddenly put down his plate and motioned to the others "Quiet, quiet!  I heard something." Wizlo's pack Kodo grunted nervously behind them.

They had all turned around to peer into the shadows when, with a whoosh and a thud, a single arrow landed in the dust just next to Wizlo's plate. 

The group jumped up with a shout and raised their weapons. Balindah had placed her totems around the camp earlier just in case - now she uttered a few words and refreshed their power.  Her lightning shield arced and popped as she recast it.

Three centaurs leapt from the shadows behind one of the rock spires and charged towards them, screaming battlecries. Balindah leapt into battle, swinging her axes at the centaurs, muttering spells to summon the power of the earth and storms to shock them. She could tell the others weren't as experienced in close battle, but they managed to hold the attackers off while she finished each centaur off. Balindah felt the rush and fury of the wind as she rained down blows on the last centaur, finally planting her axe in the centaur's back and severing his spine as he tried to stab Kanati Greycloud.  The lifeless body dropped to the dust and the victors stood, panting in the twilight.

Belindah allowed her summoned elemental power to flow back out of her and into the soil, as she took a deep breath and exhaled again.

"Nice work," said Kanati Greycloud, eyeing Balindah's axe, still buried in the centaur's back.

Wizlo Bearingshiner sidled out of the spot behind the hut where he had been hiding.  "That was great!" he enthused. "They all came at us and then down they went, bang, boom!!"  He made chopping axe motions with his hands.

The others rolled their eyes at each other and headed back to the fireside to treat their minor wounds. Balindah smiled at Wizlo as she cleaned her axes with an old rag she pulled from her pack.  "I saw your masterful evasion efforts there, well done!" She winked at the goblin, who blushed and stammered something about protecting their rear.

They passed a watchful night without further attack and in the early morning, Balindah bade farewell and good luck to the hunters. They thanked her for her help and Wizlo urged her to keep it real, and she set off to the northwest to get to Ferelas before the heat of the day set in. 

Garrosh's Landing

Aefa grumbled as she crunched across the gravelly beach. She'd only been in Northrend for a few hours and already the cold had seeped into her bones. The cold didn't seem to bother the Orcs who called Warsong Hold, well, their base - she doubted whether anyone called Warsong Hold home.  It was a cold, soulless place in the middle of a war zone.  The people there did what they had to and prayed to go home to their families. 

Aefa didn't hold any particular allegiance to the Horde or their Warchief, but she had joined the fight for the North because she had a bone to pick with the Lich King. Her father, along with other sin'dorei, had followed Prince Kael'thas and Illidan to Northrend many years ago. They had been defeated by the then Prince Arthas Menethil and forced to retreat. Aefa's father never survived that battle. When her magical studies had required her to visit the city of Dalaran in order to progress, she had jumped at the chance to see the place where her father had died and perhaps take part in another successful attempt at the Lich King's life.

The reality of the trip to Northrend hadn't been so glamorous. She had been told on arrival at Warsong that she was required to help the war effort in Borean Tundra for a while first before continuing her journey to Dalaran. Now she had been sent down to the icy beach near the Hold and ordered to fetch some goblin's toolkit and a few shiny trinkets for one of those strange walrus-people. As if the task couldn't get any more distasteful, a cold, damp mist was covering the beach and it was hiding all sorts of creepy Kvaldir spirits, who weren't hesitating to let Aefa know that she was certainly not welcome there. At least her Molten Armour was keeping the chill away a little. 

Aefa fired another frostbolt at an angry spirit and turned away as it froze in place, letting her water elemental finish it off. She looked up the beach at a damaged building.

What a forsaken place, she thought as she called the elemental over. "This must be the shack the goblin was talking about. Let's go check it out. " 

The elemental muttered something and followed after Aefa obediently. The elemental didn't say much and Aefa didn't speak Kalimag, but Aefa found it was as good a companion as any after she had parted ways with Mengfu back in Draenor.

She poked around in the hut but the thingummy-jig the goblin was after was nowhere to be seen. She was just about to head out the door again when she heard a faint whimpering noise from somewhere above.

Aefa crept up the rickety stairs, trying to be quiet in case it was another spirit up there, but instead she saw a young Tauren girl huddled in a corner, wide-eyed and whining slightly.

"Are.. are you here to... rescue me?" she asked pitifully. "Please don't let the bad things hurt me!"

Aefa sighed. She hated escorting pitiful souls out of their predicaments but there was usually something in it for her at the end. Plus, this Tauren girl looked like she could use the help more than some others she had helped recently.

"Alright, " she said, helping the Tauren to her feet. "Have you a name?"

"It's Mootoo. My fathers name is also Mootoo, Elder Mootoo. Oh, will you help me find him? I think I know the way out of this mist!" She set off down the stairs with a clatter.

Aefa and the water elemental shared a withering look, and then hurried after the Tauren.

By the time they got downstairs, Mootoo had already wandered out of the hut door. She announced, "I think it's this way!" and headed off straight towards a group of Kvaldir ghosts.

Aefa saw where she was headed and said in a loud stage whisper, "Don't you think it would be better to go this way?"

Mootoo shook her head. "It's definitely this way. I can feel my father's aura!"

The ghosts fell upon her in a few seconds and Aefa and the elemental dove into the fray, throwing water and ice at the attackers. Once the ghosts were reduced to piles of seaweed on the beach, Aefa stood panting. "I'm sorry, I don't know any healing magic to tend to your wounds but..."

"No matter," said Mootoo, "this way!"

Aefa hurried after the girl as she wandered into another pack of Kvaldir. The girl has a death wish, she thought as she wound up another frostbolt. She was sure the muttering she heard from the elemental was a few choice elemental oaths.

Eventually, the mist thinned. Mootoo shouted "Father!" and ran into the enormous embrace of a large Tauren standing on the edge of the camp.

"Daughter! You've returned!" He turned to Aefa with a look of joy. "Thank you so much, blood elf! Please accept these gloves as a token of my thanks. "

"Well, you're welcome," Aefa smiled at the happy reunion, even as she wondered what kind of father would bring their daughter to such a dreadful war-torn place as the frozen North.  Her own father certainly would never have allowed such a thing.

She turned to the Goblin, who was looking hopefully at her from a short distance away.  "I'm sorry, but you can go find your own thingummy-whatsit," she said, shuddering.  "I am NOT going back into that mist again.  I wonder if there's anywhere in Warsong Hold a girl could get a hot bath..."

~o~

This story sums up my feelings about escort quests.

It also raised a couple of questions:

• When you summon a Water Elemental, is it the same one each time? Warlock demons have names so you know you have summoned your old mate Flaadhun or whatever, but elementals all look alike. We should be able to name them.  Aefa usually refers to hers as "Welly", which she suspects it hates.
• There are a distinct lack of bathrooms in Azeroth! The occasional dip in a stream or the ocean is all very well, but sometimes a girl just needs a hot bath, y'know?

Flirting with Disaster

Leesah sipped her glass of Pinot Noir as she sat in a quiet corner with Aefa in the Orgrimmar Inn.

Aefa filled her glass again from the bottle and smiled.  "Do tell," she said conspiratorially.

"Well, " Leesah began, looking left and right to make sure none of the orcs were listening.  "I had only gone to Undercity to drop something off at the bank, and stop by with a gift for Lady Sylvanas.  I happened by Jeremiah on the way back up to the surface.  I happened to be carrying with me some bourbon, so I sat and shared it with him for a little while."

"As any friend of Jeremiah would," Aefa agreed, although she definately wouldn't have gone near the cockroach seller.

"So anyway, one moment I was sitting there and he was telling me about how he enjoyed this time of year since all the ladies come to see him, and... it sort of all goes fuzzy after that..."  Leesah trailed off, embarrassed.

Aefa gasped with glee. "No!  So what happened?  Do you remember anything?!"

"Not really. The next thing I knew I woke up in Dalaran.  I have no idea how I managed to get back there - I suppose I must have remember how to use my hearthstone!  I smelled like this cheap perfume, and I had rose petals in some interesting places..."

Aefa burst out laughing and several of the orcs looked up from their ale to look over curiously.  Leesah shushed her and she tried to contain her laughter.

"The worst part is, I do vaguely remember something..." Leesah said hesitantly.

"What, what is it?" said Aefa, barely able to contain herself.

"Well um... I think I might have.. kissed him."

Aefa gasped again and roared with laughter.  Leesah blushed bright pink around the nose but she grinned sheepishly and sipped at her wine.

Rumblings in the Hinterlands

Aefa and Mengfu stopped next to a small waterfall, where the water in the stream formed a pool between the rocks.

Mengfu jumped off his riding wolf and approached the water, the electrical current around him arcing and popping. He muttered under his breath and waved a hand, dismissing the lightening shield before reaching into the water to wash the Silvermane Stalker blood off his hands.

Aefa looked disappointed. "I thought I was going to be treated to another fried orc impression," she complained.

"Ha ha," Mengfu said, unamused. He scooped up a handful of the streamwater and took a drink, then stood up, wiping his hands on his leather armour, then muttered again to recast the lightening shield around himself.

"At least I never get zapped by my own protection," Aefa chuckled as she recast her own Mage Armor and sat down to drink some of her own conjured spring water.

"What's that? You hear something?" Mengfu looked around apprehensively.

"I can't hear a thing over your sparkly spellcasting," Aefa joked.

"That's what I mean," Mengfu said quietly. "It's too quiet. "

Aefa looked around the forest clearing. He was right. Apart from the stream trickling downhill, there was no other sound - no birds, no insects, not even the howl of an owlbeast.

Suddenly out of the bush to the left of where Aefa stood, a Silvermane wolf came crashing out, a crazed look in its rolling eyes. Aefa let out a shout and started casting a Frostbolt, but before a surprised Mengfu could ready his axes the terrified wolf had already dashed into the bush at the other side of the creek.

"What was THAT all about!?" Aefa said, slightly panicked.

Before Mengfu could answer, a low rumble began. Aefa looked around to try to identify which direction the sound was coming from, but she realised with a cold knot of fear that the sound was coming from underground.

Then the ground began to shake. It started like a shiver, then there was a horrible cracking sound and the ground beneath their feet jolted sideways. Aefa grabbed Mengfu's shoulder to stop herself falling over.  Her hawkstrider let out a terrified squawk and flapped in terror.

It was over a few seconds after it began  A few small rocks in the creek tumbled against each other and a branch crashed down somewhere in the forest behind them. Then silence again.

Aefa turned in horror to see that the waterfall had stopped. A few heartbeats later, the water filled up over whatever new obstacle was at the top of the cascade and the water spilled over and flowed once again.

Aefa realised she had been holding her breath, and she let it out with a stream of expletives. "An earthquake?" she continued, "I've never heard of there being earthquakes up here before!"

Mengfu looked shaken, but checked over his armour to make sure nothing was damaged. "Last week in Gadgetzan I heard a traveller talking about an earthquake over in Ferelas." He frowned.

Aefa looked back at the waterfall, now splashing gently into the pool again.  She shivered, and compulsively renewed the magical barrier around herself.

"Come on," Mengfu said, coaxing his wolf out of the bushes where he had been cowering. "let's go back to the village, I could use a stiff drink. "

Aefa agreed wholeheartedly and they headed back into the forest away from the stream, trickling down its new course.  Gradually the insects resumed their chattering and an owlbeast hooted into the evening air.

~o~

How are your characters dealing with the changes happening in Azeroth?  Have they experienced any earthquakes?

I am going to try to write some more fic snippets leading up to the world events the Cataclysm will bring - thanks for indulging me ;)

PS.  The photo is of a waterfall in the Gold Coast Hinterlands, 24 Jan 2010.

Introducing Aefa

Allow me to introduce the next pair of adventurers to travel together as refer-a-friend buddies:  Aefa the Blood Elf Mage and Mengfu the Orc Shaman. 

At first, Aefa thought "He's green - that sooo clashes with my hair!", but as they travelled on into the Ghostlands, she found a nice green robe to wear so that she matched a little better with Mengfu.

As they increased in power, they found that Mengfu had to continue to travel all the way back to Orgrimmar to learn new Shaman skills, plus undertake an epic quest all over Azeroth to earn his fire totem.  This left Aefa with time on her hands.  


The Alchemist's Shop

Aefa pulled another handful of Silverleaf out of the ground and shook the soil off the roots.  She muttered under her breath, "This is so boring.  Why can't I go questing off across the continents too?".  She frowned as she lazily hurled a fireball at a passing Vampiric Plaguebat, cheering up a little as she saw it Ignite and burst into flames.

As the plaguebat dropped to the ground she felt a whoosh of inspiration - her 24th season had arrived.  She noticed that her pack was getting full of wilting Peacebloom and squashed Silverleaf, so she decided to pack it in and head back to Silvermoon City to see if Master Quithas had anything interesting to teach her.  She looked around for her hawkstrider and saw it a short distance away preening itself, as usual.  Aefa whistled and it looked around in confusion.  "Dratted bird," she muttered as she stomped over to it and mounted up. 

In Sunfury Spire, Master Quithas had some news for Aefa as well as some new lessons.  "Aefa, I want you to travel to Undercity and speak with Anastasia there, in the Magic Quarter," he said, fussily brushing some Strange Dust off his robe.  "I believe they are having some kind of rift disturbance there and I said I'd send some help."

Aefa was overjoyed.  "Oh thank you Master, I haven't been to the Undercity in aaaages so I'd be happy to go!" And have the chance to do a bit of shopping as well, she thought excitedly.  Finally, something to do!

Her hands tingled as she cast the teleportation spell, concentrating on the thought of Undercity so that she didn't end up in Orgrimmar again.  A few seconds of dizziness and blurred vision later and she was standing in the Magic Quarter of Undercity.  She inhaled and started coughing as the damp smell of the sewers assailed her.  She steeled herself to the slightly unpleasant thought of dealing with the Forsaken and looked around for Anastasia.

"Anastasia, how are you?" she gushed as she spied the mage trainer at the top of some stairs.

Anastasia's decaying face looked stressed.  "Aefa sweetie, I'm glad you're here.  I'm flat out with trying to get this treatise on the applications of Arcane Magic to the Kirin Tor magisters finished by the close of business today - would you do me a favor?"  Her smile looked strained.

"Sure thing, what do you need?  New boots?  A Netherweave Bag to go with your new robes maybe?"  Aefa grinned hopefully.

"Sorry, you'll have to leave the shopping until later," Anastasia said apologetically.  "Algernon's alchemist shop in the Apothecarium is the locus of a strange disturbance. Invisible creatures, made solely of magic, wander the shop--there must be a reason, and we must find it!  I need you to take these coffers and capture a few of the creatures."  She gestured behind her with one finger dangling slightly from her rotting hand.

"I-invisible creatures?" Aefa said, looking apprehensive.

"It's okay, just read this scroll and they should appear.  You should be able to deal with them easily after that.  Embrace the shadow," she added cheerfully.

Aefa took the coffers and the scroll and rode around to the Apothecarium, wondering how exactly she was supposed to deal with the creatures.  She found the Apothecary shop and nodded to Algernon.  "I hear you're having some magical trouble?" she said, shivering as the cold creepiness of the shop crept over her.

Algernon nodded and grunted.

Forsaken are so helpful sometimes, Aefa thought sarcastically as she turned away and rolled her eyes.

She stood in the middle of the shop and looked around.  Nothing but shadows, she thought, but felt her skin crawl as the magical rift made the air feel slightly greasy.  She stood up straight and waved a hand, chanting the scroll's contents under her breath.

She started violently as several apparitions appeared around the room.  They silently all turned to look at her, then started rushing forward towards her.  Aefa screamed and cast Frost Nova in panic and ran for her life away from the shop and over the bridge toward the centre of the city.  She stopped running near the Enchanting shop and stood, panting, watching for a few moments to make sure the void spawns weren't following her and trying to look as nonchalant as possible with a beating heart thumping in her ears.

Those little monsters, I'll teach them to make me look like a fool, she thought as she headed back to the Alchemist's, readying the scroll again.  This time she read the scroll and as the spawns came towards her, she Frost Nova'd them again and backed up, summoning a Blizzard to rain ice on them.  As Aefa stood struggling to retain control of the powerful Blizzard, the Frost Nova broke and the spawns charged in and beat her until she was no more than a broken heap on the stone floor.

Aefa hated the spirit world.  It was cold and grey and generally messed up her hair.  It had the added benefit though of not allowing emotion so she calmly ghosted back down into the city and thought about how to avoid another death.

The first breath is always very painful after a resurrection.  Aefa sat on a step and drank some conjured water to get her strength back, and realised just how quiet it was in this corner of the city.  She stood up and moved carefully into the Alchemist's shop again.  Alganon barely paid her any attention.

She crept forward, carefully feeling the air around her for magical traces.  A rat scuttled in the corner, making her jump slightly.  Pull yourself together, girl, she thought as she released a small burst of arcane energy from her fingers.  She moved forward a little further, releasing another burst. 

This time, she felt a slight resistance in the air, a pushing back.  She released more arcane energy and suddenly a void spawn exploded out of the air almost on top of her.  She leaped back in fright but managed to gather her senses and charged up a fireball quickly. She threw one of the containment coffers on the ground and it opened, drawing the struggling void spawn into it and closing with a snap.  The coffer lay there on the floor, jumping around slightly.  Aefa let out a whoop of triumph and repeated the process, creeping around the room and casting Arcane Explosions until she soon she had a bagful of struggling void spawns in coffers to take back to Anastasia.

"Oh, Aefa, there you are, what took you so long?"  Anastasia put down her pen and looked up, taking in Aefa's ripped dress and tousled hair.  "What happened to you?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

Aefa was upset.  "Your magical disturbance has ruined my dress," she said indignantly.

Anastasia said hurriedly, "Oh I beg your pardon, allow me to replace it for you."

Aefa looked mollified, but changed her mind when Anastasia added, "I'd get it myself but the pattern requires Dalaran Power Gems from Silverpine Forest and I really am flat out this afternoon..."

Aefa sighed and called her hawkstrider over again to get ready for a long ride.

~o~

Thanks for reading my first attempt at a Wow short story.  Please feel free to let me know what you thought of it (but try to be gentle!).

The quest Aefa did was part of the chain for mages that ends with receiving the rather fetching red [Lesser Spellfire Robes].  The top tip for using Arcane Explosion to pull just one void spawn at a time came from the comments on the wowhead page for the quest, and worked like a charm.