Jaina stared at the runic array drawn on the paper, before falling back with a loud sigh.
Banishments were the bain of her existence. Summon a water elemental? Easy. Releasing them after they did what she needed? Just as easy. Forcing one back out of Azeroth when it didn't want to go? Annoying.
The ritual in front of her should have done it. It was a modified version of the one that the Kirin Tor had used to force demons and undead back into the Twisting Nether during the Second War.
The one, the little part of her that had never recovered from the destruction of almost everything she held dear over the course of the Third War pointed out, that Arthas had torn through like so much paper to kill Antonidas.
Jaina hoped her message to Thrall had made it. There was always the risk it wouldn't, that the courier was compromised or turned away.
She had wanted to ask if there was anything his people could do before she went drastic and tried to kill the fire elemental raging through the swamps.
Jaina looked up as Aegwynn entered the room unannounced. The former Guardians were pulled tight, "Yes?"
"There's a girl asking for you," Aegwynn said simply, "Says she's from Orgrimmar."
Jaina frowned slightly. What was that supposed to mean? It shouldn't have been hard to tell.
"Do you believe her?"
"Yes," that one, clipped word made it clear that while Aegwynn did believe whoever was out there, she wasn't happy about it.
"Then send her in."
"If the guards haven't clasped her in chains," Aegwynn turned to exit the door, "last I saw they weren't getting along."
Jaina hung her head slightly at that. She wished the people of Theramore would realize that the Horde wasn't the same one that had crossed through the Dark Portal.
A couple minutes later, a soft knock came from the door.
"Come in," Jaina said.
The girl (though Jaina wanted to assume she was probably an adult) who stepped into the room wasn't, as Jaina expected, an orc. And she wasn't a troll or tauren either. She was human.
Her face was slightly gaunt, like she hadn't gotten enough food in a long time and was only starting to regain weight. It made it slightly uncomfortable to meet her silver eyes. Her hair was a brown the lightened to a crimson, though streaked with lines the color of straw.
She was wearing a black blouse with a high collar and long sleeves with a black corset, which clashed slightly with the brown pair of pants tucked into leather boots. She was also wearing a heavy, red, fur lined mantle, despite it being mid summer and blisteringly hot out.
All in all, it looked like two outfits smashed together, and Jaina strongly suspected it was.
Neither of them spoke for a long moment, before Jaina gestured to the chair across from her, "Hello. You said you're from Orgrimmar?"
"Oh," the girl gave a wide smile as she searched a pouch for something, "Yes. Sorry, I really should've pulled this out before I got here, but the Warchief said this was for you and I didn't want to lose it."
"Thank you," Jaina took the letter, turning it over and muttering a few elvish words as she did. If there was any Fel magic on it, she would know immediately.
Nothing, and the seal on the letter looked authentic, a snarling wolf head. Jaina grabbed her letter opener, stopping to run her finger over the monogram on the flat of the blade. K. R.
Her mother had given Jaina her letter opener as a gift before she had left for Dalaran. Her father had commissioned it during the second war, an apology for being gone for so long.
Her parents had always done things like that a testament to the deep love they had felt for each other.
Jaina hadn't contacted her mother since the Third War, unsure of where her mother stood on her actions, or lack thereof, during her father's campaign against the Horde. That years had stretched by with her mother being similarly silent made Jaina worry.
Slitting open the envelope, Jaina pulled out the sheet of parchment, unfolding it.
Jaina,
I'd like to apologize in advance for the shortness of this letter. I'm in the middle of some negotiations and can't be away for too long.
Unfortunately, I can't send any official assistance. If word made it across the sea that you were given Horde assistance, Stormwind would likely remove Theramore from the Alliance.
Which is why I sent Ruby, who, if all went accordingly, should have handed you this letter. Ruby is a shamaness that lives in Orgrimmar, but is not a member of the Horde.
I admit Ruby is far from the perfect agent, she has only been a Shaman for a few months, but you said this was a Fire Elemental, and Ruby is good with fire.
Your Friend, Thrall.
Jaina looked up at the girl currently fidgeting in her chair, tapping her fingers on the armrests, "You're… Ruby?"
"Yes!" Ruby sat ramrod straight, "I am. Sorry, probably should have introduced myself. I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose."
"Jaina Proudmoore," Jaina greeted, "Thrall said you- I'm sorry, did I do something to offend you?"
"He's not a slave," Ruby muttered, eyes downcast as she gripped the chair so hard Jaina could see the veins.
"His name is Thrall," Jaina pointed out softly.
Ruby's eyes jumped up to meet hers, "Which means slave."
Jaina glanced down at the letter. This was who she was supposed to trust to do this?
"The Warchief," Jaina corrected herself, "says you can help with our Elemental problem?"
"Yep," Ruby sprang right back up, "I can leave any time you'd like."
"Can you do it now?" Jaina asked
Ruby nodded, standing up, "I'll be back before you know it!"
Jaina watched the door swing shut behind Ruby, before reaching for a piece of parchment to begin another letter to Thrall.
-X Line Break X-
Ruby wobbled on the water between Theramore and Dustwallow. She stuck out her tongue, trying to keep focused.
"About time you got back, Pinky!"
Ruby plummet into the water as her concentration broke. Swimming up, she broke the surface of the water, "That wasn't funny!"
"Yeah it was," Bloodeye laughed from his place on the shore. As Ruby walked up to him, he threw the wooden scythe Rehgar had gotten her.
Ruby frowned as it creaked, she missed Crescent Rose.
Oh crud, she had forgotten to ask around in Theramore for Blake.
"So," Bloodeye said, grabbing the greatsword he favored from where it leaned on a tree, "What did the pinkskin queen want?"
"She not a queen, she's a lady."
"Do I look like I care?" Bloodeye barked, "What are we doing?"
"There's a fire elemental around here," Ruby said, wondering why Rehgar had sent Bloodeye with her.
"Great," Bloodeye's mouth split into a bloodthirsty grin, "I don't get to fight elementals very often."
"We're only going to fight it-"
"If we have no choice, I know, I know," Bloodeye waved her off, "So, we need the Warg?"
Ruby placed her left hand to the ground, closing her eyes and began to pray under her breath in Kalimag.
"O, Spirits of Earth and Wind," Ruby followed the mantra Rehgar had taught her, "guide me on this hunt, so that I might- might-" crud, what came after that again? "Uh… find what I'm looking for?"
Apparently the spirits decided that was good enough, as she suddenly gained the exact location of the fire elemental as it rampaged through the forest.
"Well?" Bloodeye asked.
"We don't. It's close enough."
"Good," Bloodeye said, "Lead the way, Pinky."
Ruby turned, walking into the brush and following the spirits direction.
It took almost half a hour before one of them broke the silence.
"Listen," Bloodeye said, scratching at the corner of his missing eye.
"Can you please wear an eyepatch," Ruby blurted out, "it's gross when you do that."
"Why should I? I lost an eye, I'm not ashamed of that fact, so why should I hide it? Would you hide a scar?"
"Yes," Ruby said, rubbing at the right side of her neck.
Bloodeye grunted, "Well, that's your opinion. Anyways, back on topic. I know you and I don't talk much. You're busy with your spirit-y training and I'm busy drinking, fighting and whoring."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Bloodeye nodded, "but I just wanted to make sure you know, if anyone's giving you a hard time about being a human, point me their way, I'll fuck 'em up for you. Same with Rehgar."
"Uh…" Ruby realized that this was one of the only times she had heard Bloodeye say her race, "Thanks?"
"We orcs are creatures of a pack," Bloodeye said, "and no matter how much you or I don't like it, until you find that girl you're looking for, you're part of our pack."
"I'm fine with it," Ruby protested. She honestly prefered training with Drek'thar, but Rehgar was ok.
Bloodeye grunted again, falling silent.
Within the next ten minutes, they found the trail of the elemental. Not that it was hard, you just had to follow the trail of burned trees.
"Why don't you use that sem-thingy to run ahead," Bloodeye scratched his eye socket again, "that way if we don't need to fight, I don't need to go all that way, and if we do, I'll catch up."
"Ok," Ruby lowered herself, before launching forward in a storm of petals flecked with cinders.
Ruby stopped in front of the elemental, opening her mouth. The collection of burning stones didn't bother to hear her out, merely smashing her back and through a tree.
Well, that answered that question, at least.
"Wind," Ruby spoke under her breath, "grace me with your… whatever."
It wasn't nearly as easy to remember those when you had a couple hundred pounds of angry stone and fire charging at you as it was at the mesas around Orgrimmar.
Luckily, Wind once again was willing to overlook it, and Ruby came up, launching a blade of air from her scythe.
The elemental staggered slightly, and Ruby muttered another prayer, one she could actually remember, "Fire and earth, grant me the use of your union."
Ruby planted her scythe into the ground, and the ground between them became molten, causing her to smile as one of the elemental's legs started to melt. Lava was powerful.
Ruby let the ground harden, yanking her scythe up from the earth. A wave of stone launched forward from the arc, crashing into the elemental and knocking it off balance.
Incapacitated, now she needed to…
"Creature of the elements," Ruby spoke in Kalimag, "return to your home. Azeroth is not for you, return to the burning mountains of the Firelands," Ruby winced as the elemental punched the ground with a defiant roar that sounded like a thousand fires crackling at once, unleashing a wave of fire. She needed to finish this, so she could deal with that, "Watch the storms of fire, behold the oceans of flame, and- and-" Not now, not now, "-Stride across the plains of ash! But Azeroth is not yours, be gone from her!"
The elemental froze as the words echoed through the forest, carrying with them the powers granted to a Shaman by the Elements. The flames flickered and died, leaving nothing but a pile of black rocks.
Ruby fell on her butt, panting for breath. Banishments were a lot harder in the heat of the moment. Looking up at a cracking noise, Ruby got hit full in the face by a burning branch.
Yeah, it was that kind of day.
Ruby staggered up, planting a totem on the ground and summoning her contracted Fire Elemental, "Can you help with this?" Ruby gestured around the area.
It gave the closest thing it could to a nod, sweeping its arms in a giant gesture, dragging the fire into itself before using the totem to return to the Firelands.
Ruby sat on the cooling rocks, still surprised at how worn out the banishment had left her.
When Bloodeye finally jogged up a few minutes later, he looked around and gave a pitiful whine, "Did I miss it?"
Bloodeye looked so saddened by that, Ruby was half tempted to undo the banishing.