Chapter 10
Back at the inn, Quin'Thalan washed his face and hands, rinsed the blood out of his hair, and brushed out the tangles. He then set to cleaning and polishing his armor. He carefully wiped away the blood, then rubbed beeswax and animal fat over the metal and leather. Elven made armor didn't need to be scratched at like human armor, one only needed keep it clean and protected against water.
As he worked Tamuura watched him from the next bed, though she pretended to be buried in writing a report. She sat scribbling on a knee, glancing up at her elven partner every few words. She's never seen him without all ornate armor and he was quite well built, far more so than most rather wispy elves. He muscles rippled beneath his red silk clothes but they didn't bulge grossly.
She had almost expected to see him have chest hair beneath his thin shirt, apparently that was a solely human trait, from what she could see of his rather well exposed upper body he had no hair on his chest, or arms. It almost led her to wonder; no, she wouldn't let herself think about that. She focused on her report and stopped glancing at him.
Quin'Thalan was almost disappointed that Tamuura had stopped sneaking peeks. The draenei seemed to finish her papers quite quickly once she was no longer distracted by him. She sealed two separate copies, in spell and wax and ported them back to Shattrath to the Aldor and Scryer command.
"Our superiors will be most pleased when they hear of our success in shutting down Mana Forge B'Naar. I've sent them detailed descriptions of the Mana Forge workings as well."
"Good." He said, not looking away from his chest plate.
"In the meantime we can talk with the Consortium again, see what information they may be willing to give us." She leaned back on the bed she was sitting on, swinging her legs onto it. Now Quin'Thalan had to pretend to ignore those shapely legs, he couldn't hide behind his fauld this time.
He did let himself look at her hooves. Sharp and shoed he still didn't feel turned on by those. Tamuura noticed him looking at them.
"I'm sure our hoofed feet look odd to most people, but think of how strange your feet must look to us."
Quin'Thalan cracked a smile.
"I am curious as to why you have them."
For a moment he thought he'd gone too far, but Tamuura didn't seem at all put off by his question.
"Argus was a mountainous planet, the terrain was rough and jagged, even in forests and plains there was little even ground. We evolved from hoofed creatures who thrived in those regions."
Quin'Thalan couldn't contain his next question.
"Did you ever see Argus?"
Tamuura merely shook her head.
"Too young?" he asked. He knew well he should just shut up but he couldn't stop any of this from spilling out.
"Yes, I was born here on Draenor like many of my kind. You must understand, our flight from Argus took place over 25,000 years ago."
Quin'Thalan's eyes widened.
"Our War of the Ancients was 10,000 years ago."
Tamuura smiled.
"We draenei are very long lived, and have been since our days on Argus. Though 10,000 years is nothing to scoff at it is still very little compared to the history that lies with us and our ancestors."
She looked pensive for a long moment, then turned away. Quin'Thalan almost opened his mouth to ask about Draenor but forced himself to remain quiet. Despite his burning curiosity he felt such things were a little too delicate to talk to about.
Finally his armor gleamed again, and Quin'Thalan began the slow business of re-donning it. He started with the blacked leather and mail pants, fastening them to a plate armor belt. He then had to put on his steels boots, attach the red greaves to them and tie the tops of the greaves tight around his calves. He picked up the black pleated cloth he wore in place of a cloak and tied it to his belt loops, then tucked it into the belt itself.
Tamuura looked at him as he stood up and checked his work on the bottom half of his armor. Even half dressed he managed to be quite captivating. The top half was a little more tricky for him, first there was leather and mail encasings for his arms, like the ones he wore on his legs, then he had to get on the huge chest plate and fasten it. This proved the hardest part off all.
"Agh," Quin'Thalan tried to reach the more ponderous of the many buckles, but couldn't, "I'm sorry, Tamuura I need some help."
She sighed and stood up, and went to his left side to fastened them. They were rather small and the leather they held together was very stiff, even her nimble finger s had some trouble.
"This is why plate wearers don't like to take off their armor. Not from any fear, we just hate the struggle it takes to get this stuff on."
"I can understand perfectly." She said, tightening the buckles.
"Is that good?" she asked.
"Yes, just fine."
She stepped back and continued to watch him. With his chest plate secure he attached the giant, phoenix spaulders, then added the similarly designed pieces that protected his hips, then the fauld over his belt buckle, and finally those intimidating claw like gauntlets.
He picked up his blade and shield and strutted out of the inn. Tamuura saw another reason why his might not like taking off his armor. A good deal of his ego was attached to that crimson and gold suit.
Yet that suit still looked a tad dull in the purple light of the Netherstorm. There was no difference between day or night here, and even the brightest jewel barely gleamed.
"Back to eco-dome Midrealm then?" she asked.
"Yes."
She climbed on her hipoogryph's back.
"I'll let you do the talking this time." She gave him a small smile.
He answered with his own dashing smile, and took off. She followed close behind. This time they flew round the outside of the dome till they spotted the etherials through the pulsating skin, and descended by their camp.
Quin'Thalan dismounted, approached the etherials, and bowed politely. They returned with their own bows, and the one they spoke to before came up.
"We have heard that Mana Forge B'Naar was shut down by a whole band of blood elves and draenei working together." Once again his bandages seemed to show him smiling, "the Sunfury elves are gossiping about it, among others, and each time we hear of it the numbers of this band grow. Though I am inclined to believe that Kael's elves seek only to make themselves look a little less pathetic."
Quin'Thalan laughed.
"And how had the fall of B'Naar affect this eco-dome?"
"Quite well," the bandages twisted even more, "Though I'm afraid that the rest of those forges still bother us, with B'Naar gone the dome is much more stable."
"Well my friend, we have up held our end of the deal, what of yours?"
"Of course," he bowed again, "we of the Consortium are nothing if we are not honest in our deals."
Tamuura detected more than a whiff of irony in that.
"Indeed, we have many deals with the Sunfury forces. But there is one they seem to have more interest thing than anything else."
"And that is?" said Quin'Thalan.
"They commissioned Prince Haramad himself to have us find this for them. Something called that Ata'mal crystal. I know not what it is," the therial held up his hands, trying to seem sincere, "I only know that Kael'thas wants it desperately. And I have reason to believe that the Legion has interest in it as well."
"Hmm…" Quin'Thalan stroked his chin. "I have never heard of it, but this is certainly useful. That you very much for that."
"And, the other Mana Forges?"
"We have dispatched information to our forces back in Shattrath, they have still to decide what to do with it. They may order us continue shutting them down, or they may send other teams. Either way, the Mana Forges will stop production very soon."
"I find that quite agreeable."
Quin'Thalan shook hands with the Consortium agent, then returned to the air with Tamuura. While flying she beckoned him to land with her just outside Area 52.
"What is it?" he asked, dismounting.
"Do you have any idea how important this is?" she said, with possibly the most serious look he'd seen from her, and that was saying something.
"I…guess not."
"The Ata'mal crystal was first given to the Prophet when our people fled Argus. It was shattered millennia later, but its shards remained in his possession. When the orcs were corrupted and the war began, some of the shards were lost. If this is really one of the shards, not only is it a priceless relic of my people and the rightful possession of Velen, but it is a source of unimaginable power that must not fall into the hands of Kael'thas, or worse yet the Legion itself."
Quin'Thalan rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"Well then, what should we do?"
"We must notify Shattrath at once."
"Very well."
As they stepped into town, a goblin girl waved to them.
"You got mail!" she called.
Tamuura nodded to her, and reached into the tiny portal that served as a mailbox. She pulled out a piece of parchment that bore two seals, that of the Aldor and the Scryers.
"At least we know that the negotiations are still going." said Quin'Thalan.
Tamuura went inside with the parchment and opened it.
"Our superiors are pleased with our progress, and they say they will send additional teams soon to deal with the remaining Mana Forges." She reached into her bag and quickly pulled out another piece of parchment, "I will tell them about our lead right away."
"Wait," Quin'Thalan put a hand on hers as she picked up her quill, "try not to be too obvious."
Tamuura bit her lip and nodded. She wrote the letter in old eredun for the sake of secrecy and worded it in such a way that only an Aldor would understand what she spoke of. As she finished, she paused.
"Quin'Thalan, you need to write one too, only a draenei will understand this, and they may not want to share this with the Scryers. Any great secrets may destroy this fragile alliance."
Quin'Thalan nodded, and took a piece of parchment, and began to slowly write in an ancient, elegant language. Tamuura watched his strokes, it almost looked like he was drawing rather than writing. She looked at the eredun script, it gave the impression of carved glyphs on stone walls. Their two races were of different planets, different histories, yet somehow had ended up with inter-twining destines.
"It's done." He said, putting the quill down. He carefully folded the letter, and dripped wax onto it. He pulled a small necklace out from under his armor, which Tamuura had not seen before. A silver seal dangled from the chain. He took it off his neck and pressed the bottom of the pendant into the soft wax. He replaced that chain about his neck and tucked the little seal away again.
Tamuura looked at the emblem left in the wax. It had the eagle wings of the normal blood elf emblem, but rather than the drop of blood, a blazing sun sign was in the center. There were also two double blades crossed beneath wings. Tamuura surmised it was an old family seal, a relic from the time before the Scourge.
"Good," she said, "Now to get these off."
Quin'Thalan handed her his letter, and she sent them back to Shattrath. As she turned back to him, Quin'Thalan noted a certain un-ease in her expression. She seemed like something was weighing heavily on her thoughts, and if he didn't know better he'd think it was the crystal. But she'd been acting like this before they went back to the Consortium agents. He'd never seen her bite her lip before either, and she only did that after he touched her.
He thought back on what the etherial at Eco-Dome Mid Realm said. Those creatures were uncanny when it came to reading someone. Perhaps they had noticed something he was only now beginning to grasp.