A/N: hello, readers! This story takes place *before* "Battle of the Antoran Gates" and thus is set a few years prior to the Legion expac. Pictures of the characters available on DA in my favorites list, or in the profile of the very talented artist, Mischiart. Enjoy!
Zulgha glanced up at the clock on the wall of the study room again. It was the late afternoon, and by her count she'd been in the private library of Dr. Bunsenburger's estate for three hours. Such an afternoon was typical; she worked hard all morning helping the doctor to assemble various minions for the Forsaken army in exchange for the free room and board she and her friends received. Her afternoon study was a two-way part of the deal: necromancy was her passion, and it also helped her perform her job better. But on that particular afternoon, her brain had absorbed about all the information she could.
Closing the post-mortum surgical tome she'd been annotating, the orc rubbed her eyes for a moment before rising to take a much needed break. The chance that she'd actually return to her book after taking a break so late in the afternoon was slim, but it was only Tuesday; she'd need to pace herself if she wanted to maintain her mental energy.
Passing by the musty old shelves, haunted brooms sweeping the floor and random ghosts haunting the library, she exited through the aged wooden doors of the high brick building and walked into the grassy courtyard of Bunsenburger's estate. Brill was chilly that time of year, and Zulgha pulled the hood of her black robes over her head as she strolled around the stone walking path. The weather was pleasant, and a quiet walk was just what she'd needed at that time. Her mind wandered even further astray than her feet had, and she stole away maybe half an hour of walking and clearing her mind before she heard the familiar sound of heavy stone feet landing lightly, almost daintily, next to her. The winged, four legged, two armed creature paced next to her for a few seconds, obviously wanting to chat but too shy to speak first.
"Good afternoon, Rahotepa," Zulgha said to the cat-like obsidian destroyer walking next to her. "Did the gargoyles tire you out already?"
Blinking with eyes that were made from gemstones, the bejeweled being from Northrend almost didn't catch the sarcasm at first. "What? Never...oh...yes, they tired me out so much that they are all napping in the rookery now!" Rahotepa waited for Zulgha to laugh before she laughed as well, but there was obviously something on the destroyer's mind. "The doctor said that he needs to talk to us in his office. He did not specify the topic, but I believe that he has a quest for us."
Although they continued walking, Zulgha's attention was firmly pulled into the conversation. "It's been a few months...I really could use a break from the monotony." She glanced up and noticed some of the skeletal birds flying south, forever playing out the unnecessary rituals from their previous lives. "Winter is coming...maybe we'll get sent to Stranglethorn or some place nice like that."
As the two of them changed course and began walking toward the estate's laboratory proper, they began to speculate about what sort of assignment they could be given. "I have wanted to travel to Outland for some time now," Rahotepa rambled as the two of them walked around a gaggle of ghouls forever patrolling the estate grounds. "The pictures always look so fascinating...plus, so little of the environment seems to have been catalogued since this great catastrophe."
"Yes, my parents were from Draenor prior to the Second War. What they describe is so different from what everybody says now," Zulgha sighed wistfully as they entered the three-story laboratory building with its gothic architecture and mostly undecorated, bizarrely long hallways. "Maybe we'll get one of those quests where we have to world hop and visit a whole bunch of places."
Inside the laboratory building, they only had to pass a few wraiths monitoring the halls in order to reach their employer's messy office. Doors perpetrually propped open by stacks of unread mail, creaky office chairs and end tables kept standing via the support of stacked lab reports and journal articles, Dr. Bunsenburger's personal cave was the epitome of a mad scientist's disorganized work. He didn't notice them enter, so engrossed was he in his attempt to search for a lost item among the piles of packages, files and bubble wrap on his desk. Though Bunsenburger had undergone cosmetic surgery to prevent his body from breaking down in undeath, he was still much thinner than he would have been in life, and he almost disappeared behind all the stacks of loose papers.
Not wanting to be blamed for eavesdropping on his muttered brainstorming out loud, Zulgha cleared her throat to grab the doctor's attention. Bunsenburger was truly as much a genius as he was a maniac, if a very absentminded genius. He literally looked at the wall behind him at first, as if the person clearing their throat had materialized there, and he needed a few seconds to realize that his visitors had entered from the door like all other corporeal beings.
"Hmm? Huh? Yes, you're both here. Just in time, I have a very important quest that needs to be started right away."
It was typical of the Doctor to skip pleasantries, and Zulgha was used enough to his habits not to be offended. Seating herself on one of the oaken chairs facing the main desk, she waited for Rahotepa to awkwardly sit down in the form of a cat loaf before she spoke. "Well, I'm glad to hear that doctor. It's been a few months for both Rahotepa and I to travel for a quest, and it feels like the right time." Bunsenburger continued searching intently for a buried treasure on his mess of a desk, so she continued. "So...anything that requires us to travel outside of Tirisfal? To a place with beaches and warm weather, perhaps?"
"And latent magic permeating the atmosphere until it sparkles?" asked Rahotepa.
Without even looking up, Bunsenburger cut to the chase of his orders. "Yes, well, even better than all of those places! You're going to...Ahn Qiraj!" the mad scientist exclaimed as if it was the most gracious news he'd ever delivered.
Since Rahotepa was made of a flexible stone-like substance, she had an easy time hiding her reactions. Zulgha, on the other hand, had to fake a smile in the face of her boss. "Oh...Ahn Qiraj...a land of sand and bugs and dry cold and...old...ness."
"Actually, Ahn Qiraj is in the Southern Hemisphere, so the region is in the beginning of summer right now," Rahotepa chirped, though she immediately shrunk as if she'd said something wrong. Knowing her, she didn't want to offend Zulgha with overt enthusiasm...but then again, why would anybody be enthusiastic about the land of shifting sands? Zulgha peered at Rahotepa through her peripheral vision, but couldn't figure out why in the world her close friend would be interested in such a place. Or why anybody would, for that matter.
"So...what exactly do you need us to do?" Zulgha asked.
"Aha!" Bunsenburger cried triumphantly as he found the secret which had eluded him so far. Slapping it down on the edge of his desk, he revealed it to be a photograph captured by a Gnomish camera. There appeared to be a lot of grey sand, black stone and the image of a polyhedral object of a light blue color. "See?"
Upon inspection, Zulgha began to make out the details of the being interspersed with loose sand and swarming silithids. "It appears to be one of those Titan constructs that were appropriated by the Qiraji. This one is a horusath, one of those massive..." She paused when she realized that the gigantic construct was actually standing next to a single lost shoe that wasn't that much smaller than the being itself. "Wait, it's a miniature?" she asked in confusion.
"It's an Idol!" Bunsenburger replied excitedly while flipping open the display case in his office. Row after row of deactivated anubisath idols stood idle, lined up like trophies across the shelves of the display case. "I need it in order to finish this wing of my battle pet collection!"
As awestruck as Bunsenburger was, Zulgha still didn't quite understand the point. "Uh, sir...you don't just have a collection; you have all of the anubisath idols in Lordaeron. In fact, the asking price at the Undercity Auction House has topped fifteen thousand gold pieces because you've bought every one of them on the market. Isn't Ahn Qiraj a little far for a battle pet? And isn't it under permanent lockdown by the Cenarion Circle just to ensure that-"
"Nonsense!" Bunsenburger replied, not angrily though she got the feeling that his mind couldn't be changed. "A real battle pet master must travel far and wide for the rarest and most exotic battle pets. Plus, you'll get to see a lost kingdom - it's the tourist trip of a lifetime!"
Zulgha noticed Rahotepa looking up at her hopefully. She knew that the winged warrior was too innocent to have collaborated with Bunsenburger on the idea, but Rahotepa obviously wanted to go on the trip for whatever reason. Plus, the good doctor was still their boss; there really wasn't much for them to consider anyway.
Relenting, Zulgha threw her hands up in the air. "When do we leave, then?"
"Tomorrow."
Zulgha blinked a few times, questioning whether she was losing her sense of hearing or not. Even Rahotepa, who seemed to want to go, crooked her head back in surprise. "Tomorrow?" Zulgha asked in confirmation.
"Tomorrow," Bunsenburger replied while filling out some sort of a form.
"To an entirely different continent?"
"Yes, to Ahn Qiraj, like I was saying. The boat leaves from that new port on the north coast of Tirisfal tomorrow morning at seven. You two can fly there together, since, you know," Bunsenburger explained while motioning toward Rahotepa's wings with his elbow, "and since it will take maybe four hours to fly there...well, you should probably fly there tonight."
Already facepalming, Zulgha mentally kicked herself for her earlier wish for a little change in her routine. "And I'm guessing the voyage will take at least...three weeks?"
"Three weeks and four days, but I already booked all four of you tickets on one of the formal passenger ships. They even have heated water in the on-board showers. That's mainly for you, Zulgha."
She spread her fingers across her face, maintaining the facepalm but peeking at the good doctor. "All four of us?" she asked wearily. Please be someone competent, she thought. Or some manageable minions and a hot Draenei guy.
"Why, you're taking Runa and Finneas with you, of course. That way, Runa can also fly and reduce travel costs over land, and Finneas will provide an endless mana source for everybody!"
Upon hearing the news that they'd have to take the biggest brown noser and the biggest jerk at the entire estate with them, Zulgha just slumped until her forehead hit the surface of Bunsenburger's desk.
