Chapter 11: To Orgrimmar!
Disclaimer: I don't own World of Warcraft
Razor Hill wasn't the biggest place. It was almost like the Crossroads with it's inn, small blacksmith shop, and the various vendors and what not, but it was slightly smaller in size. Thal and I didn't linger for long there. There was no need for us to by anything since Thal had bought everything we would need back in the Crossroads. One thing I was grateful for was the shade. It wasn't nearly as hot in Durotar as it was in the Barrens, but the sun was still rising and I wasn't sure if it was going to get hotter or not. Razor Hill was built under some sort of cliff or maybe it was in a small chasm. I wasn't quite sure. There were many things I was unsure about then. What was really on my mind was what we we're going to do in Orgrimmar. So I asked Thal.
"There are some small things I have to pick up in Orgrimmar. Before you get upset about me leaving again, I'm not. I'm going to have you come with me this time. We also need to secure passage to Undercity via zeppelin," he explained. "Hopefully we won't have to wait long for the zeppelin to return, but if we have to we might be able to get a room at an inn there."
"Why do we have to go to this Undercity place?" I asked. We had left Razor Hill behind at that point.
"There is an orb there that will teleport us to Silvermoon City which is where your parents will most likely be if they're still alive."
"An orb that teleports?"
Thal sighed and began in on explaining to me how teleportation worked. He also explained that since Silvermoon was so far north, it was easier being able to use an Orb of Translocation to get there than flying and the distance was too short to need a Zeppelin. Since the Sin'dorei were so use to using magic anyway, it made it easier for them.
"What's a Sin'dorei?" Thal turned his head over his shoulder and I saw him looking at me from the corner of his eye.
"You're a Sin'dorei. It's what we Blood Elves were called before Kael'thas named us that"
"Who's Kael'thas?" Thal covered his face with his palm and sighed.
"It's a very long story and I don't have time to tell it right now. Once we get to Silvermoon, I'm sure you could go to the library or somewhere and look up our history. Look, we're here."
I hadn't really conjured up an image of Orgrimmar in my head and looking at the massive gate before me I knew if I had it wouldn't have even come close to what I saw. Two huge watch towers stood on either side of the massive brown wall. One was fully built while the other was still under construction. There were wooden platforms along the front of the wall where Orcs were busy scurrying about constructing the rest of the fortress. Supplies and such were scattered about the ground out front and there were even several people outside dueling with each other. The massive gate loomed over me as we approached. We entered the outside mouth and all light seemed to disappear save for a few torches. There was nothing but metal all around and the echo of Brusha's hoof prints.
As we approached the end of the tunnel, a loud commotion stirred. When we came to the exit I saw a city so large and complex it mystified me. The red and black banner of the horde hung from just about every building and there were hundreds of people shouting out what they were selling or looking to buy. The buildings were well made and had spiked edges all over. It was painfully obvious that this was the Orc and Horde Capital of Azeroth. The noise of an engine roared above me and I looked to see a massive flying ship with a purple balloon flying overhead. The streets were very crowded for this time of day. Thal led Brusha pas the intimidating building in the center and off to the right. The sun was blazing overhead, but there were several patches of hide overhead which offered plenty of shade. We walked through "The Drag" as Thal called it which was where the majority of profession trainers lived and where our first stop was located.
We stopped right outside of the Tailoring shop and Thal left me and Brusha outside while he went in and bought a few things. I didn't mind being left outside this time. There was no reason for me to go in and I knew Thal wouldn't take long. He reemerged from the shop and grabbed Brusha's reigns and led her along with me on her back.
"What did you get?" I asked honestly curious.
"Some thread and dye," he replied. "The trip to Undercity will take a week at the least and I'm hoping to get some work done on the way."
We walked a little further down the drag until Thal stopped us in front of a vicious looking path. Five large spikes shot out from the wall and curved in toward the entrance. Two guards stood idly by watching people come and go from the surrounding area. The cave had an eerie purple glow for as far as the eye could see. "We're going in there?" I asked. Thal chuckled and lead Brusha past the guards and into the engulfing shadows.
Glowing blue braziers lit the tunnel all the way through and it took us only a minute to reach the end. A ramp lined what appeared to be more large bone spikes led down into a small area with a purple theme to it. Further down I could see it went up again. There were several tents spread about in the room. "Why are we down here?", I asked Thal.
"This is where the darker members of society tend to hang out," he explained as we proceeded down the ramp. This place sent a strange chill down my spine. There was something enticing about it, but repulsing at the same time. "...such as Warlocks, Rogues, and Magi."
"Wait Magi? You mean mages?" I asked.
"Magi is the appropriate term, but yeah."
"Why are we going to see the mages? Er, Magi," I corrected myself.
"You did want to learn how to port while we were here, didn't you?" He stopped and looked up at me. I gave him a 'how did you know I was a mage' look and he laughed.
"Every one radiates some sort of power, even if they don't possess any themselves. It's how you determine what the others around you are and how powerful they may be. If you'd had popper mage training that would have been one of the first things you would have known. You also would have been taught how to conceal your power. Might as well have them teach you that while we're at it."
He led Brusha and I up the ramp I saw earlier at the farther end. There were three beings gathered in a half circle in the first largest tent. Sensing something odd, I turned my head to the left and saw what I guessed was a portal. It was a large swirling vortex with a picture of a green gate like structure in the center. The arcane magics that poured forth from it drew me closer and before I could realize what was happening I had jumped off Brusha and almost touched the portal.
"Don't touch that, fool!" came a harsh semi feminine voice. My trance was broken and I turned to see a large Orc woman wearing dark robes with strange patterns of enchantment on them. She had short dark hair which might have been a lighter shade than I saw, but the lighting down there was really bad. Did I mention that? Well, it was terrible just in case I didn't mention it. The Orc woman had a scowl on her face and her hands were placed on her hips. I had seen quite a few Orcs upon my arrive to Orgrimmar, but something about this one scared me more so then any of the others.
"Yes Mam!" I said and drew my hands to my sides.
The Orc looked to me and then Thal. She squinted her eyes as if there was a light blinding her and with a certain venom in her voice asked, "What do you want?" I had a feeling that question was pointed toward Thal. She didn't say it as if she knew him. She said it more like she had something against him or more likely Death Knights in general.
"I seek training as a Mage," I said without hesitation. She gave me a once over and sighed.
"Alright, show me what you know and we'll go from there."
The next hour was filled with me showing Gija, which turned out to be the Orc's name, which spells I could preform and what I needed help with. Surprisingly, I wasn't as bad with my frost spells as I had been back in the Barrens, but she still gave me a few stern pointers on everything. The only new spell I was able to learn was Scorch. It was similar to Fire Blast, but more concentrated and less spread out after casting it. She also taught me how to conceal my aura, which is what Thal was talking about earlier. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Gija told me to close my eyes and concentrate. When I did, I could feel the threads of magic flowing off me in large waves. She told me to reach out and pull them all to my body and keep them there. After several attempts, I was able to round them all up and keep them safely glued to me. Gija said they would stay that way until I called on any of the three schools of magic. Then they would unwind themselves and whatever was around me would be able to feel my strength. After that, she sent me off to see Rundok, who was the Portal Trainer.
Learning how to Portal was like learning how to blink, only instead of ripping the fabric of space and appearing a few yards away, I would appear possibly thousands of miles depending on my location when I ported. Again, I had to concentrate on where I could feel the rips in time already created from many a mage porting themselves. While I could always open a new rip, it was easier for a beginner to use ones already in place. That's what Rundok said anyway. Trying to open a portal for myself was hard enough, I couldn't believe I would be able to do it for others once I gained more power. This is sort of what it felt like, to me anyway. First you have to picture yourself in a light purplish place with threads of lighter purple flowing around you. Next you have to look around, or sense, where there are small breaks in these threads. They look and feel like a small tear in cloth. I had to grab both ends of the tear and stretch it so it was big enough for me to fit my whole body through. I lost the rip several times because I have "butterfingers" according to Thal. On my fifth try I finally got it, but since we were already in Orgrimmar, I didn't go very far.
"Good," said Rundok. "I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but if you have special runes it makes teleporting a lot less complicated, since the runes do the hard part for you."
"What? I did all that for nothing?" I asked frustrated.
"It's always good to learn, but yeah, pretty much." he said with a shrug.
"Well, where can I find these runes?" I asked.
"Anyone who sells reagents should have em, just ask around."
"We could probably buy some on the Zeppelin to Undercity," Thal put in.
We bid both Gija and Rundok farewell and headed out of there and back into the Drag. From there I kinda go lost in directions, but I know we went back towards the main gate, up an elevator, past some strange lion scorpion bat things, into a tall tower, up like five flights of stairs, and onto a large boat like structure with a large purple balloon on top to keep it a float in the air. We made it just in time, for the thing was about to depart. There were only three others on besides Thal and myself. An undead fellow who wasn't the freshest person I had ever met, a plate clad goblin, and a quiet Troll shaman. It was probably for the best, since the quarters in which we were staying weren't that big. The Troll and Thal had doubled up in one since neither wanted to be with the Undead who got his own cabin which left me with the last one.
We pulled away from the tower and soared through the skies above Orgrimmar. We flew over the city for a moment to gain altitude and then soared through the mountains of Durotar and out onto open plains. I was so awed by the sky above me and the things around me I hadn't even thought to look down. When I finally did, I regretted it instantly. The ground was so far down and everything looked so small! I became weak in the knees and sank down onto the floor. I didn't feel so good at that moment.
"Have I ever mentioned I'm afraid of heights?" I asked looking up at Thal.
He smiled down at me and then let out a howling laughter.
So, I had to post this chapter earlier than planned because next week is the week we're taking our Graduation Tests. I hadn't meant for it to work out that way when I started doing an update once every two weeks, but that's how it did. Anyway, after next week updates should go back to being at one week intervals. Also I would like to say this was one of my favorite chapters because of all the detail I tried to put into it. I wanted something longer than usual, but it came out to be about the same length. Finally, I would like to let you all know that I have a poll up on my page about which story I should work on after this one. Please vote and leave a review here! Much appreciated!
