11.
Swoop waited somewhat impatiently and at a safe distance from the alliance flight point in Azshara, warily staring at the hippogryphs. It had been well over an hour since she'd left Desolace, the stone and the scroll both safely tucked away. What on earth was keeping that druid? As her thoughts grew slightly more murderous, a lone hippogryph flew into the area and landed, the druid sliding off of it and glancing around. He spotted her and trotted over to the road, tablet clutched safely in his hands.
It occurred to her at that point that she hadn't any clue whatsoever as to where exactly this summoning was supposed to take place. As the two of them rode off in the general direction of the coast, autumn leaves gently falling around them, she pondered silently, the druid padding along quietly behind her. A beach, a particular beach, the place was full of beaches...it was at that moment that Swoop felt the stone in her pack, through her pack actually as it appeared to be getting warmer. Pulling Stanley to a halt, the druid babbling something behind her in that curiously effeminate language of his,† she yanked the stone from her pack. It was...glowing, brighter than before. Curious.
"...all right druid, looks like we get to pay a game of hot and cold." The druid stared up at her, confused, as she adjusted her packs again, stone clutched safely in her palm, and prodded Stanley into movement once more.
The druid followed her over hill and ruins, watching her mutter to herself and stare at the stone, backtracking here, moving forward there, for over an hour they wandered until, finally, they ended their trek at a lone, deserted cove, far to the north of the ruins from which they'd originally taken the scroll. It was here that she halted, sliding off of the raptor and patting his rump, to which he hooted gleefully and went stamping off into the nearby brush.†† She turned then, staring at the druid expectantly.
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Ah, the druid thought, this must be the place. His eyes moved warily over the landscape, taking in the oddly quiet cove. Oddly quiet because there was no sounds, save for the soft hush of the waves lapping at the shore. No birds, no bugs, no...nothing. It was positively eerie and downright unsettling really. The dangers of what they were about to do hadn't really sunk in until this moment, here and now. Was it really worth it, all of this trouble?
The priest coughed delicately, and he nearly jumped at the sound, turning to glare at her, his features softening at her expectant stare. Well, if nothing else he'd met someone who was his match in wits at the very least. Whether or not she would be able to defeat him in honorable battle was yet to be seen...but he knew he'd enjoy the fight. Killing her, on the other hand, would be a pity. Shaking his head, he bowed apologetically, taking the tablet in hand and walking silently to the shore, the priest following behind him, stone glimmering like a bright beacon in her tiny hands.
He cleared his throat and began to read, his voice echoing over the shoreline. This was it.
-----
"XUL GI XARANTH TA KEL, WARUN T'KUL ZARKATH NA, ANE" - she watched the druid read, his voice amplified by the rocks of the cove - "-TAR AKEL WASKA GUL GARAN" - and as he read the wind picked up around them, the stone glowing brighter and brighter, burning in her palms - "-ZUA XUL XARANTH TA KEL, KA NE KEZ ARAN, AMESH T'KAR" - it was like a star, the light and heat almost too painful to bear, for the living, but, she observed from a detached standpoint, not at all a problem for the dead, or undead as it were - " XUL GI NA ANE TA CALL FORTH TO YOU, FROM THE EBB AND FLOW EMERGE, SHOW YOURSELF TO US-" Swoop blinked, staring at the druid.
"Hey! I can understand what you're saying now!" From the shocked look on the druid's face, the same applied, and as he paused to say something she snapped at him, "-don't babble at me you idiot, read the damn tablet, if you stop it'll be ruined!"
Whether or not the preceding statement was true could probably have been argued but the druid's eyes snapped back to the tablet and he continued to read, the wind whipping his hair around madly, the din of his voice and the gale and the waves almost to loud to bear-
-and abruptly, it stopped. He looked up from the tablet, peering at her cautiously as she took in the beach which had begun to glow in a most curious fashion, the cove hushed and silent once more. Silent? The waves themselves had stopped moving. Swoop stared at them, but they didn't budge, seemingly frozen.
"I...finished it. That was the end of the tablet..." the druid trailed off uncertainly and the priest glanced up at him, her glowing eyes registering for once, comprehension instead of confusion.
"I can still understand you."
"I can understand you too! But I read the whole thing, it doesn't seem as though it did anything, do you t-" the priest cut him off with a curt wave, pointing emphatically at the waves, or lack thereof. "Look over there, at the water. I...I don't think we're done ye-"
The cove seemed to shimmer, as if the world itself were parting, and out of that nowhere in between this world and next stepped a being of indiscriminant origin, glimmering painfully bright, accompanied by a soft chorus of voices that left forth a soft 'ahh', and then all was still. Stepped? It had no feet, no hands, no eyes...Swoop had no idea what it was, but it didn't appear to be angry.†††
Hello, young ones of a distant world, what may I do...oh, oh dear. He, or she, or it, yes it, Swoop firmly decided, didn't seem to be speaking so much as thinking at them. Loudly. It sounded vaguely apologetic. Apologies, young ones, my appearance is not that of which ones such as yourselves are accustomed to viewing, perhaps I may assume a more pleasing form for you- With that, the light shimmered and in place of the delicately glowing whatever was a gigantic murloc.
Wonderful.
It opened it's mouth, but instead of speech, the curious thought-voice continued. I hope this is less upsetting, young ones. Swoop took a casual glance at the druid, who seemed to have lost his lower jaw somewhere in the sand when he dropped it. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the murloc, who, despite being a murloc, was almost...pretty, really, its scales shining as brightly as the light-being it was before. It has been long since I have traveled here, and longer still since one has called me, one has had need of me.
"I uh...I...so..." The druid appeared to have figured out how to close his mouth, and now attempted to speak. Tossing another glance at him, Swoop addressed the murloc.
"How come I can understand what he says now?"
It is part and parcel of the magic contained here, young one. All who seek knowledge will possess it, all who seek understanding wi-
"Okay, okay. Look. I know you're all into the impressing the easily awed but seriously we don't really need the show or anything, we're just here on some business so you can cut the shock and awe tactics because it's really not necessary."
The murloc blinked, rolling its eyes as it pondered this new bit of information. The scales dimmed to a much more bearable glow. Ah. All right then, sorry about that, have to keep up the show for appearances you know.
Swoop nodded. "Oh, sure. Look...we found this scroll thing here, but we can't read it, and well, everything we've found so far has led to you so I'm assuming you can read the thing and tell us what it says?"
The murloc attempted to nod elegantly, reaching one globulous paw out for the scroll, which Swoop handed over. Oh certainly.
The murloc cleared its throat, pausing dramatically, then continued.
Salad of the Ever-Living: Five bushels of the Blood of Kings
Three parts of the Oil of Shadow
Seventy-six parts Morrowgrain
Dash of Deeprock Salt.
Toss in an appropriate container, ceramic is recommended. May also add Grilled Chimerok Tenderloin for additional proteins. Serve chilled with-
"-a SALAD?!?!?" Swoop whirled at the explosive outburst from the druid. "You mean I've traveled all over AZEROTH, busting my TAIL so that thrice-damned Arch Druid can have a SNACK?" What followed was a series of expletives that would have made Chetter proud, Swoop thought in passing, as the druid continued to rant and rave, face red with fury. The priest stood quietly, assuming the same tactics as she did with the enraged rogue, and as expected the druid finally stalled out, panting.
"Well," Swoop dryly observed, "That would explain why Vol'jin wanted it for a ceremony. Dinner's ever so much better if one has a suitable appetizer before the first course." The druid simply stared at her. "...oh don't look at me like that, you think I'm not angry? Wouldn't have had to run all over the world if I'd KNOWN, you know, it's not like I'm not upset as wel-"
Er...pardon me, the murloc politely interrupted, fins flopping lazily as it gestured to the two of them, -did you want me to continue? Or perhaps I can jot this down on something, in your language so you can read it without all this frivolity, might make it a bit easier for the both of y... He trailed off as Swoop turned to the druid, the two of them staring fixedly at each other. The druid gave in first, sighing and shaking his head.
"Take it. I'm not about to give that damned poncy piece of...some other reason to stuff even more fiber down his simpering maw." Defeated, the druid turned away.
"Hey...HEY!" He stopped at her exclamation, her tiny eyes glowing with...was that concern? He couldn't be sure. "Look, I don't want it. Vol'jin can go stuff himself for all I care, and I'm pretty sure he knew what he was sending me on." The glimmer in his eyes, the quiet glee of those she had spoken too...ah, Vol'jin knew was he was doing all right. The question of why remained to be answered, but she was certain she could beat it out of somebody. "You can have it if you want."
Perhaps I could simply make a copy for the both of you, there are plenty of rocks here for me to put it on, really it's no trouble at all-
The two ignored the murloc, eyes locked in a silent conversation to which they came to an agreement. I won't tell if you won't, druid.
May Elune herself strike me down if I ever mention this to anybody. Ever.
"Agreed?" Swoop said, sticking out a tiny hand.
"Of course." The druid elegantly took her hand in his own, and rather than shaking it, lifted it to his lips, placing a careful kiss on the cool flesh.
The priest got the most curious expression on her face, pulling back her hand as if he'd branded it with fire, and turned to address the murloc, who was waiting somewhat patiently, attempting to twiddle its thumbs with very little luck, the scroll placed carefully on its head.
"Look, we don't want it. Sorry for wasting your time, bud." The murloc blinked, tilting its head to the side in quizzical amazement and catching the scroll as it slid off its head.
A...are you quite sure? I mean there have been many b-
The druid interrupted the murloc. "-yes, quite sure. At least you have your recipe back, that's good then, yes? We'll just be on our way. Sorry for the disturbance, have a good..millenia or whatever it is you have where you come from."
The two creatures nodded at each other, one whistling for a raptor that came bounding rapidly into the small cove, a trail of some unfortunate small furry creature dribbling from his jaw,†††† the other shifting to the form of a cat, both waving over their shoulders and riding out of the cove.
The murloc shifted his feet, blinking uncertainly and staring at the scroll, then gave a great shrug, hoisting one limb into the air and hurling said scroll far, far away, placing a hand over its eyes to watch it disappear in a glorious arc that would surely send it all the way to the Eastern Kingdoms, if not farther.
Well I guess that's that then, I'll uh, be going now, the murloc said to nobody in particular, and with a small chorus of voices disappeared, leaving nothing behind but the sand, the waves, and a red stone lying discarded, glimmering softly on the gentle sand.
-----
And really, it wasn't a wasted trip after all, was it now, the druid thought as he raced over the countryside, For I've learned that my enemy isn't always my enemy, and that cooperation can have unexpected and pleasant results, and that sometimes friends can be found in the most unexpected places-
-I am going to have to take seven layers of skin off of my hand before I feel clean again, the priest thought, trundling towards the gates of Orgrimmar and distractedly wiping said hand on the skirts of her gown, ...make that ten.
"I WIN!" Bovia shouted, the final cast of moonfire finally causing Keebis to fall, exhausted onto the dusty roads of Durotar in defeat, and proving that it didn't really matter whether a druid was resto or feral, what really counted was who could spam the most moonfire.
And also that druid vs. druid duels were quite possibly the most boring yet entertaining things to witness ever, as evidenced by the large crowd of people that stood, blinking blearily, and got on with their lives.
-fin-
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† - It really doesn't matter if a night elf is saying they think flowers are pretty or if they're making disparaging remarks about your mother, they still sound like girls.
†† - The local fauna put out an alert the moment he stepped off the beach.
††† - Glowing ethereal light-beings never look angry. Most of the time, they simply look mildly constipated.
†††† - Poor Sammy the Squirrel was already deaf and missing two limbs. He is, undoubtedly, in a better place now.