"Never Trust a Rogue"

Kthae divulged everything she knew about Plugger and the key over several more Sulfuron Slammers. It wasn't going to be pretty.

The story went that once Plugger discovered the key was missing from his back pocket, and he would discover it, he would immediately place a quarantine on the Inn. No one would be allowed to leave or enter. Worse, he'd refuse to sell any more alcohol until the culprit was caught. Of course this would infuriate the Dark Iron Dwarves, and you didn't want to infuriate them. A brawl would ensue, one you wouldn't want to be caught up in, Phalanx would be angered and start crushing heads in those cavernous appendages.

The plan, as the two Night Elves had devised, was to have Kthae cower in the shadows near the rear door while Rumer innocently plucked Plugger's key. Then a quick pick of the lock and the two would be long gone before Phalanx even noticed.

"And what's in it for me?" Rumer asked.

"Gold. Enough to fly you anywhere you want."

That was good enough for her. The quicker she got the hell out of BRD, the quicker she could get to Redridge and reunite with Pasha. Providing he would make it there alive.

Draining the last bit of drink, Rumer stretched. "Let's move out."

"Anyone know where a girl can powder her nose around here?" Kthae's movement across the room created enough distraction without suspicion for Rumer to slip into stealth. It wasn't exactly clear how the druid was able to do it, but she within seconds, she was nigh invisible inside the shadows at her post. As long as she didn't move, Phalanx wouldn't even bat an eye at her. If he had one.

Slinking through the throng of patrons, Rumer positioned herself behind Plugger who was still barking orders from his bar-topped perch. She took care to not touch his leprous skin as her fingers slipped into his pocket and withdrew the Grim Guzzler Key.

With it concealed in her hand, she headed straight for the back door as fast as she could without breaking stealth.

She was a mere inches away from her destination when Plugger cried out, "Stop everything! Nobody move! Someone has stolen my key!"

The Dwarves remained motionless for a mere five seconds, but they had been through this before. Once the alcohol stopped flowing, they would be reminded of their miserable existence and never-ending servitude to Ragnaros.

They sprang to life, fists-a-flying and beards-a-swaying. Phalanx hurled their stocky, sooty bodies at various walls around the room, and Plugger shot fireballs with the accuracy of a one-eyed hunter. Topsy jumped into the fray and jumped on top of a burly Dwarf, riding him like a bucking mountain goat and whooping up a storm until he stopped pummeling the other guy to deal with her.

K and Rumer's shadows exchanged incredulous looks. "The second I move, they'll be able to see me."

"Then make it snappy. On the count of three. One…" Rumer stuck the key in the lock and turned it. "Two…" She threw down a Distraction, though doubtful it would work. "Three!" She kicked open the door, and Kthae bolted through.

Ducking just as one of Plugger's fireballs was about to light up her face, Rumer lurched over the threshold and slammed the door, locking everyone else inside.

The two Night Elves raced through the stone tunnels putting as much distance between them and the angry, trapped Dwarves as they could. Rumer was sure, though, it wouldn't take long for Phalanx to pummel his way out.

When they reached a vestibule, Rumer stopped. "All right. I did my part. If you'll just pay up and point me to the nearest exit, I'll be out of here."

"Not yet."

She unsheathed a dagger and bared it on the druid. "I did what you asked. And I don't do anything for free."

"We're not done," Kthae said, placing a hand on Rumer's arm to lower the weapon. "I still need you. Behind this door is Incendius. I need you to help me get what I came for."

Rumer replaced her weapon. "Look, picking a Leper's pocket is one thing, but sticking my hand into a hot, flaming mess is not part of my skill set."

"Please," K begged. "I can't do this alone. This is the closest I've ever gotten and time is running out. I have to get back to Darnassus with that ember."

"Then I'd say you better get moving." Backing away, Rumer opened her hand and revealed a leather pouch clinking with coins.

K grabbed for her belt and the money pouch that should have been hanging there.

"Never trust a rogue," Rumer said and ran off.

Despite the potency of the Sulfuron Slammers, she was beginning to feel that annoying nag in the pit of her stomach. Usually she only felt it when Pasha badgered her about helping some poor soul in distress.

True, the druid was in a bit of a bind, but Pasha wasn't here to talk her into helping out. Besides she'd lost so much time; it seemed like ages since she'd met Captain Brightsun and learned her sister was still alive.

If she didn't get to Mathias Shaw soon, Whisperra could be long gone. Or long dead.

In fact, anything could have happened to her since Shipmaster Grimble had seen her with Glittergold. Whisperra could have confronted Master Shaw and been assassinated by his First Finger, whomever that had become after their father's execution.

She wouldn't be surprised if Mathias Shaw promoted the bastard executioner himself.

A faint rumble pricked Rumer's sensitive ears as she hurried along. The sound echoed against the stone tunnels. A sound she'd heard before that grew louder and more distinct with each step she took.

Dwarves! Dark Iron Dwarves. And lots of them. Marching toward her.

Her options were few. The tunnel was narrow, curving with no exits or escape. Without a ferocious cat to help even the numbers, she had no choice but to turn around. Strange she hadn't realized before how much she relied on Pasha. And here she had always considered herself to be self-reliant. A loner who kept the giant saber around out of pity and a free ride.

In her younger, wilder days, she would have been foolish enough to fight her way through a throng a Dwarves—after all, they were only waist-high, and a swift knee to their chins could easily knock them out for a while. But she wasn't drunk enough now, and the fever had left her muscles weak and sore.

Groaning at the thought of fleeing from a fight, she turned on her heel and raced back toward K. Elune only knew the druid would need help if the Dwarves reached her before she finished with Incendius.

The door to the fire lord's lair was open partially as Kthae was assessing the situation from the crack.

"We've got company," Rumer said.

K whipped around. "What?"

"Either we take out an army of Dwarves or we face that flaming demon and get your spark."

"Ember," she corrected. "You get the demon, and I'll get your back."

They burst through the door, Rumer's daggers bared, K's spells at the ready, into an orange cavernous room. Except for a small platform at either end of the room connected by a precarious stone bridge and larger platform in the center, the rest of the floor was several hundred, if not thousands of, feet below in a fiery pit of hell. One false move and they'd be toast.

Three groups of two fire elementals each that had been guarding the entrance immediately rushed the Night Elves with fireballs and arrows of flame. Heat seared and skin blistered as they whooshed past Rumer's face and arms. She dodged the onslaught with the agility of a Dark Moon Faire acrobat. Each tiptoed step forward thrust her poisoned daggers deeper into the elements' cores, squelching the flames and their casting time.

With Kthae's heals, Rumer made quick work of the guards. "I thought there'd be more."

The druid gestured toward the far platform. A blinding light pierced their eyes, and the temperature rose so quickly that Rumer broke out in a sweat. She felt feverish again, though this time not from any illness.

"I don't think he needs that much protection," K said.

The hunchbacked fire lord, alive with yellow and orange flames, glided across the bridge onto the middle platform. At the very center of the demon, where any living creature's heart should have been, burned a deep red fire.

"That's the ember. That's what you need to get."

"I'll be burned alive."

"I can protect you with a buffering spell long enough to get you into position. Drink this Fire Resistance potion just before you take the ember." Kthae handed over a vial of pink effervescent liquid. "Oh, and you have to get it while he's still alive."

"What?"

"If you don't, the flame will be extinguished and useless to the druids."

"Suggestions on how I'm supposed to do that?"

Kthae punched the air with her fist, gripped an invisible object in her long, slender fingers, and pulled. "Once you get it, then you can kill him."

Groaning, Rumer replaced her trusty daggers with a set of brass knuckles she only used when someone complained about her not fighting fair. Never one to leave an enemy alive, she was skeptical on how well this would work. Fire Resistance potion or not, thrusting her fist into a wall of fire just didn't seem practical. But if it was the only way to get across the platform and out the other door, she would just have to suck it up.

"All right, Druid. Buff me up."

Kthae cast her spell of protection, and Rumer slipped into stealth mode.

"Be ready to run as soon as I grab the ember. That thing won't live much longer, and the Dwarves will be here any minute."

As quickly as she could, the rogue crept along the narrow bridge to the center platform. Incendius was even more hideous up close. A nasty flaming overbite and licks of fire reaching out like sharpened claws.

Despite the buff, sweat trickled down Rumer's face, stinging her eyes. Luckily, sight wasn't the only sense she relied on. The heat became infinitesimally more bearable and the crackling quieter. The fire lord was heading back to his perch on the farthest platform.

It was now or never. Sneaking up behind him, she downed the potion and thrust her fist deep inside his core. Lord Incendius writhed and screamed. Now out of stealth mode, Rumer was flung about as she fished around for the ember. Finally grabbing onto something solid, she clutched it in her hand and yanked it out.

Flaming claws swiped at her, not tearing the flesh but charring the skin several layers down. K healed her as quickly as she could, which wasn't quick enough for Rumer's taste, and cast Moonfire spells down upon the demon.

Incendius grabbed the rogue and hurled her away. She skidded across the bridge and felt herself sliding off. At the last desperate second, her fingernails gripped into the mortared cracks between the stones and held on while her legs swung wildly.

"Rumer!" K yelled in terror.

As she dangled, Rumer caught a glimpse of the pit below. There was no bottom, just an endless fall through flames and fire.

The door to the entrance burst open and in raced the army of Dark Iron Dwarves accompanied by more fire elementals. K looked back in horror and ran toward the inner platform. "Get up!"

The druid's head appeared over the edge of the bridge as she thrust her hand down. Rumer grabbed it and sprung up.

"Get back!" she said and pushed K back.

Incendius called upon the element of fire and cast his most deadly spell. Pillars of flame shot up from the platform in random fashion, and Rumer ducked and darted around them until she was face to face with him. She shivved again and again until his rage finally ceased and he collapsed into a pile of smoldering coal on the stone floor.

"Do you have it?" Kthae breathed as she ran up to her.

Rumer held up the glowing ember and placed it in the protective sconce the druid held up.

With one look across the cavern into the steely Dwarven faces, the two Night Elves raced across the bridge. The rogue looked back once more and saw the slayed fire lord gathering oxygen, sparking back to life. He burned brighter, hotter, until he grew into his massive hunchbacked form.

"Incendius just respawned!"

"Yeah, he tends to do that. Just run!"

A final surge of adrenaline overtook them, and they threw themselves through the exit, not stopping until they were safely on the other side of Blackrock Mountain.