Day One
I do not own Warcraft
It was in the middle of a dazzlingly sunset and a beautiful evening dusk when the man arrived at the pass. His brown stallion whined in exhaustion, his iron horseshoes clipping slowly up the stone pebble streets.
"We're almost there boy," said the man bracingly, patting the horse on the head.
The horse rolled his eyes at him and snorted in reply.
Several moments later the building appeared, a lone black tower sitting on a hill of green. The sun had nearly finished its glorious descent and the towers shadow was long against the trees.
"Kharazhan," he muttered darkly, "That wizard better pay good."
The land steepened and the horse whined again but the man ignored him.
Finally they arrived at the door. Swinging off his horse he touched lightly on the ground his black and blue cloak falling down around him. His grey eyes were hard as he approached and knocked on the door.
The door swung open as if on cue and a brown disheveled man stepped out. His robes were brown and dirty, his glasses round and thick. He had a great white beard that hung past his chest.
"Hello?" he asked squinting.
"It's me."
"Who?"
"The man you hired."
"I hire lots of people; you can't expect me to remember them all!"
"I'm Darus Astevus," he said with annoyed tone, "You hired me to-"
"To reclaim the Gem of Mendivh!" finished the tower dweller excitedly. He looked at him with a sudden cunning awareness.
"Do you have it?"
Darus undid a pouch on his leather belt, and grasped it with a gauntleted hand. Almost as considering something he hesitated for a moment before, tossing it over to the man. The old wizards claw like had shot out like a viper catching it before it fell.
"Of course I do."
The man looked into the pouch and smiled. He dug into deep robe pockets and drew forth a handful of coins. They glittered in the dying sunlight. Most shined silver but Darus noted the occasional gold shine with an appreciative growl. Taking the coins into his hand he quickly redistributed into one of his own pockets. He then dipped slightly in a bow.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
He turned to leave when the man asked, "I hope the gem's original owner didn't give you too much trouble."
Darus held back a grimace, "She chose to fight back. She is dead now."
He glanced back to see the old man nodding gravely, "Pity."
Then the wizard closed the door and Markus was alone with his horse.
"Let's go Daunter," he whispered after a moment, leading the horse by the reigns as he walked down the path to Darkshire.
--
Several hours later found Darus sitting at the bar of a small inn on the outskirts of town known as the Hanged Man's Luck, his horse Daunter snug and fed in the innkeepers stable.
He sat drinking his sad excuse for a beer an expectant look on his face, almost as if he was waiting for something. It better not be much longer, he thought. He fully intended to getting raving drunk tonight. Suddenly a single agonized scream ripped through the air carried on a heavy wind. Nearly all residents of the room froze in terror. Darus grinned widely.
"That sounds like it came from Kharazhan," murmured one man softly.
"The scream of a dying man," whispered a gnarled scarred town watchman.
Darus hailed the bartender who after a moment's reluctance shuffled over.
"I'll have a pint of your best drink good sir," said Darus still grinning.
The man moved to the back room and returned with great wooden mug.
"So what's this for?" asked the man distractedly his eyes trained on the large inn door. Darus slid over several silver coins and replied,
"Celebration."
"For what?" asked the man bewildered.
"For a job well done."
--
"The gem belonged to a seventeen year old girl?" asked Mayor Ebonlocke in disbelief.
Darus nodded grimly, "The bastard had me convinced she was a succubus in disguise. I probably would have gutted the poor thing if Theocritus hadn't arrived in the nick of time."
"Theocritus? The Azora Tower Mage?"
"The one and only."
"The poison gem was his idea I assume?"
"Yes and he payed me well to deliver it. Though for the life of me I haven't been able to figure what a mage of Azora is doing with a gem that kills anyone who touches it…"
Ebonlocke gave a wry smile, "Have you been working for the Sanctum long now?"
"I've done a few jobs for them and they certainly pay well."
"I suppose strange times call for strange bedmates," he cleared his throat and continued, "And speaking of strange times there have been a number of odd occurrences in Raven Hill. Would you mind checking it out? I have coin to give."
Darus shook his head, "This was nothing but a courtesy call Ello. A heads up to my old friend not to worry about the happenings in Khazharan."
"Still…"
Darus held up his hand, "My business is in Elwynn."
The mayor leaned back with a sigh and rubbed his eyes.
"It's not like the garrison here is doing much," reasoned Darus, "Why don't you send a few of them to check it out?"
"I would if there were any here."
"What do you mean?"
"The order came down a few days ago. There has been increased aggression by the native trolls against Stockcrown. Colonel Kurzen has requested more troops and the Stormwind nobility in all its eternal wisdom has decided to grant him these troops – by taking them away from Darkshire."
Darus opened his mouth but the Mayor ran over him.
"I mean Light! How am I supposed to look after the town when I spending all my time organizing the Night Watch? How am I supposed to raise taxes from people who spend all their time locked in doors for fear of their own shadows?"
He stopped suddenly. Leaning forward he murmured with a tone of defeat," You don't really care about this at all do you?"
Darus leaned forward opened his mouth, still thick with the smell of spirits from the former night, and whispered, "No."
And with that mercenary stood up and walked away.
A/N: Aklis review voiced nearly exactly what I had been feeling. So I'm going back and doing some significant work over the story. This early in the day I am more concerned with getting the story up and running again so much of the work will be about getting as much of the redone story up and running. Then I will go back over it and improve the general quality as much as possible. Reviews in the form of criticism or appreciation are always welcome.