Disclaimer:I do not own Warcraft or its sequels. Blizzard does.

Thanks to my beta dharak.

Chapter published on 6/9/12


Amanthe

My shoes clicked along the stone streets of Dalaran as I made my way towards Eonar's Greenhouse. The hustle and bustle of people on the streets made my skin prickle with the heat the many individual bodies gave off, in addition to the relentless heat the sun rained down on the city, far too hot for Autumn, let alone Autumn in Northrend. I turned a corner and headed into the Magus Commerce Exchange, ignoring the people on the sides of the road talking with each other, some making wide hand movements to accompany their statements.

I turned around at the appropriate corner and entered the glass dome of the greenhouse I'd worked at for the past seven years, and wilted.

The inside of the glass building, trapping the heat of the sun, did so in order to help the plants survive and grow. Unfortunately, it also gave me the illusion that I was dying. My skin prickled in the intense heat, I gasped through a suddenly dry mouth, my head itched underneath my hair, and my clothes stuck to me. I stumbled my way through into the smaller, sealed-off building inside the greenhouse. Here the heat diminished, thanks to frost magic. I spotted Jonathan behind the counter, face red and gleaming with sweat.

"Hey Jonathan, can I talk to you?"

He gave me a tired smile. "Hi, Liz! Sure, about what?"

I frowned. "One, I told you not to call me that." He gave me a weak smile at that. "And two, I've decided to use my vacation days."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That's a first. How many do you have accumulated?"

"A month's worth." It likely wouldn't be enough to get to Stormwind on boat and track down the apprentice, and get back to Dalaran. But if I came back and ended up fired, I could just use my Orb of Deception for a new form, new job, no problem. Wasn't anything I hadn't done a lot of times before.

He frowned. "Yeah, that seems about right," he whispered to himself. He sighed. "Alright. You've been a good employee. You deserve time off." I smiled. "But if I may ask, out of curiosity, what's the occasion?"

Shit. I wiped sweat off my brow. "Uh, it's for a, um, family reunion," I said awkwardly, unprepared for the question. Should've expected that.

If he noticed my hesitation, he didn't show it. "Ah, nice. Where is it?"

"Stormwind," I said. That lie was easier; after all, the plan Ialion and I came up with involved going through Stormwind.

He nodded. "Nice, nice. Hope you have fun."

"Thank you. If I may, can I go pack my things? It's hotter than a Red dragon's fire here."

He raised an eyebrow at the unusual comparison, but didn't question it. "Oh don't be such a baby." Baby? I was easily twice his age!

A brief blue light lit up his hands, snowflakes floating off his palms, and I scoffed. "Easy for you to say, you're a mage."

He waved his hand uncaringly. "Yes, yes. You can go, Elizabeth."

I curtseyed to him. "Thank you, Jonathan. See you in a month." Or however long it takes to get my hands on that corrupt apprentice. I turned around and headed back out, briefly crushed over the intensified heat in the greenhouse itself, before entering the main streets of Dalaran once more, which were largely unchanged in the short amount of time I'd been inside Eonar's Greenhouse. People still crowded the streets, wandering on their ways to wherever they had to go, as uncaring of presence as I was of theirs.

I found my home again in Runeweaver square, climbed the stairs to the door, and opened it with the key, walking inside. I sighed, looking at the little chest, sealed with strong magic, that contained the puzzle box I'd gotten from the Twilight's Hammer cult a long time ago. My eyes lingered on it for a moment, and startled by that realization, I shook my head and fished out a leather bag from my closet, and stuffed it with a hundred gold coins or so from another chest, one under physical locks as well as magical ones. Living eighty years tends to make one accumulate a bit of wealth, but I didn't spend it, rather hoarded it. Spending large amounts of money every which way would just attract attention, after all.

I grabbed a few other things I'd need for the boat trip; a change of clothes, and a few flasks of water. We could buy food. I lifted the bag onto my back, stumbled under the not-inconsiderable weight for a moment, but then grew used to it. I left my home, made sure it was locked, and left for the Silver Enclave, where I assumed Ialion would be. We'd agreed, at the crack of dawn when he'd barged into my house, that we'd go at high noon.

I passed into the Silver Enclave, and looked at the variety of portals scattered around here. The re-activated portal to Stormwind tantalized me, but I knew Ialion had a point. The apprentice stealing a draenic relic was probably just the tip of the iceberg. We'd need help, help that we'd have a better chance of getting through a longer journey.

It was a risk, I thought to myself as I moved over to the portal leading to Valgarde Keep, to the Howling Fjord. The inside of a port city shone out from the other end, but I turned my gaze from the portal to the sweltering sun high above.

Noon. And where there's noon, there should be a Twilight drake.

So where was the Twilight drake?

I sighed, then realized we'd forgotten, while deciding when we'd meet up, to decide where to meet up. I groaned, palming my face. Of course, Ialion would forget that making these plans in the middle of the night would tend to make me forget a few tiny details like that.

"Okay Amanthe," I whispered to myself. "If you were a Twilight drake in Dalaran, where would you wait?" A lantern flickered to life in my skull. "The middle of the city." I turned around from the relatively isolated portals and made my way towards the statue in the middle of the city, the same one Ialion and I had met up at yesterday to discuss the Ice King's apprentice. The number of people on the streets was a lot smaller, now that most were at their respective jobs, so there was no hassle from bumping into crowds in reaching my destination.

Sure enough, there was Ialion, sitting on a bench, one foot tapping idly on the ground while he looked at the statue, his back to me. He got up when I entered the block, no doubt hearing and smelling my approach. He had a smirk plastered on his face.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up," he said, idly sauntering towards me while the sun beat down on us with all its might.

I growled at him. "I'd assumed you'd be in the Silver Enclave."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, that's not exactly my fault, is it?"

I threw my hands in the air. "Fine, fine. Are you ready to go?"

Ialion continued to take slow, uncaring steps in my direction. "Oh, of course. Got everything you need?"

I nodded. "Yep. Money and water for the trip, and I can't bring food."

Ialion raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because I have my doubts about it not spoiling over the trip to Stormwind. We might be able to find a mage, but I don't think we'll find one who knows how to preserve food right."

"Ah, well, that makes sense. Time to get going then, since you held us up," he said smugly. He clapped his hands together. "Well then, lead the way, Amanthe."

I spun around and led Ialion back to the Silver Enclave, and pointed him towards the portal to Valgarde Keep. I gestured my hands towards the shimmering portal, arcane energy being drawn in towards it.

"Well, there it is. In you go."

Ialion stepped up next to me and reached out a hand. The moment a finger touched the shimmering portal, he vanished with a little pop of arcane energy. I crawled into the portal, and my world turned into a seething torrent of arcane energy around me as the portal yanked me through the Twisting Nether. Bright blue and white walls surrounded me in a tunnel, and I could see a few flecks of dark red and black along the walls of the Nether. Then, just as quickly as I entered, I left. I stumbled for a moment as the portal left me on solid ground, and a sudden wave of cold smashed into me, courtesy of the bright gray clouds enveloping the sky.

Oh yeah. That felt more like Northrend.

I hadn't been to Valgarde keep in a long time. Last I had been there, it was a very small port town, as well as a well-fortified base from the Northrend campaign over a half century ago. Now, it had expanded significantly, with the threat of the Vrykul having died with the Lich King. The river that once ran outside the walls was now neatly situated within a newly constructed, larger, thicker wall on which I could see the dark outlines of archers. More buildings had been created in this new space, and soon enough homes for residents had been erected, however few they were.

A boat was docked at the end of the pier, the sails folded, and chains wrapped around the dock as it swayed on the waves, but was held immobile. Looking behind us, I saw that we'd been transported by the one-way portal to one of the newer buildings, a tower that held twisted labyrinths of stairs and bookcases.

I smiled. "Alright, let's get to the ship. We need to talk with the captain, see if there's still a spot left open to buy."

We got to the boat, and where I easily hopped on, then turned back to Ialion, who looked thoughtful. He sighed, and crouched down, jumping over, his strength letting him clear a very wide distance. He stumbled a bit as the boat swayed on the ocean, but got his balance.

"So, where do we go from here?"

I pointed towards a doorway in the boat. "Go speak with the captain, see if we can't get a spot aboard this ship."

He nodded. "Alright, seems reasonable." He stumbled a bit as the boat rocked again.

"Ialion, have you ever been on a boat before?"

He slowly shook his head. "No, why?"

"That explains it. Hope you don't get sea-sick."

"That explains what?"

"You're stumbling."

His legs buckled again as another wave passed under the ship. "I am not!"

"You just did," I said, placing my weight on one foot and tapping the other. "Anyway, come on, follow me." I turned around and led Ialion into the interior of the ship. We found our way through the cramped wooden corridors easily, arriving in a room that must've belonged to the captain of the ship.

It was a wide room, with a desk pushed against a wall, and a doorway off to the side, who's hallway vanished around a corner. On the desk was a pile of papers, in no recognizable order. As we stepped in, a good dozen sheets of paper slid off their piles with a shrrrrrrr, landing on the floor. A few maps of various regions of Azeroth, some of just the ocean, no land in sight, were scattered around the desk. There was also a compass. In the middle of it all, an open, heavy, green-leather bound book. It was filled with chicken-scratch handwriting, with a pen in the middle of the fold.

The captain arrived in the room a few moments after we did, emerging from the doorway around a corner. He was an aging man, with wrinkles around his face, but laugh lines under his eyes. He wore a blue uniform on and the symbol of the Alliance over his heart. His gray hair formed a ring around the bald spot on top of his head, and he had a little white beard. He looked over us with steely gray eyes as he entered, then smiled.

"Ah, look what we have here! You need something, yes?"

I stepped forward. "Actually, yes. Ian and I want to take your ship to Stormwind."

"Ah! Civilians. Why, of course! The fee's ten gold, each."

I sucked in a breath. That was a bit more than I'd expected, but we could survive on eighty gold easily. "Right, of course. Just give me a moment." I slung my pack off and placed it onto a tiny ledge on his desk not occupied by paper, and ruffled through it before pulling out a fistful of gold coins, giving them over. I closed my leather pack and swung it back over my shoulders as he counted them out.

"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Alright, that's good. I, of course, need names for the log. Um, what's your name, dearie?" Dearie? I twitched at that. We were around the same age. I didn't care he couldn't have known that, he couldn't have been that much older than me, if at all.

"Elizabeth Brown."

"Elizabeth... Brown," he said, taking his pen and scribbling in the green book. He looked up once done. "And what would be your name?"

"Ian Purifen"

"...Purifen. Alright, that's all I need. Your room is five-H, key's on the inside. However, we won't be departing until tomorrow high-noon, so I suggest you enjoy your stay in Valgarde while you can." Here he broke into a wicked, somewhat unhinged grin. "Try to be on the boat by the time we depart. You'll miss the ride, and won't get a refund. Welcome aboard the Northspear."

Ialion nodded to him. "Thank you. Come on, Elizabeth. I think I saw an inn on the way here, we can grab a bite to eat." He stumbled again as the boat rocked, then turned around and led me out. I followed after him, down the docks, and onto solid land once more. Soon, I saw the inn he had meant. As far as inns went, it was on the large side. Out of it poured a warm light, and the scent of meat and tea. We walked in side by side, and I quickly took in the sights.

A worgen woman with steely fur and equally gray eyes stood behind a counter, polishing an empty glass with a snow-white rag, in front of shelves containing all manner of food and drink. There were a few empty tables today, the other occupied by two men of my own race, another with a night elf woman and a tauren man, likely from the Cenarion Circle, judging by the tauren. At another table sat a draenei man with golden clothing, facing us, drinking some kind of yellow drink. I recognized him, but of course, nearly everyone alive back during the Northrend Campaign and the Cataclysm would recognize him.

"Kingslayer, draenei, paladin," I whispered to Ialion in Draconic, eying Aruen as we stepped inside.

"Right. We get his help?"

I nodded. "Right. You go talk to him, get him comfortable around us. I'll go buy us something to eat."

"Got it." We parted ways, Ialion moving towards Aruen, and me towards the worgen who now busied herself with placing away the glass she'd just cleaned. I approached her, and decided I'd get Ialion some meat.

"Hello there!" she said with a disgustingly cheerful tone as I got within earshot. "What can I do for you? Something to eat? Something to drink? A place to rest?"

I frowned. "What do you recommend? Not a place to rest, though. We've got that covered."

She rubbed her chin. "We? Oh, you came with someone else?"

"Err, yes. What would you recommend for us to eat here?"

She kept rubbing her chin. "Hmm... the meat basted Caribou and some seal whey, coming right up."

"Erm, that's okay. We've got drink."

She waved her hand. "Please, I insist! You haven't been here until you've tasted that stuff."

I frowned. "Erm, okay, I guess. How much will that be?"

She paused for a moment, mouth fluttering in silence as she rapidly calculated. "One gold. Hang tight, I'll be right back!" She whipped around and flew into another room. I heard the faint knocking of stairs for a moment, then again after a few minutes as she practically flew up the stairs with two plates expertly balanced on either hand, each one with a slab of dark brown meat glistening with juices, and a glass with the same yellow substance Aruen had been drinking. By that time, I'd fished out the gold, and I handed it over to her the moment she set them down on the counter.

"Alright, thank you! Hope you enjoy your stay here in Valgarde. It's really quite scenic - "

I cut her off. "Yes, thank you," I said, taking a gold-colored plate in each hand, careful not to spill them over. My nose wrinkled at the smell of something... odd. I turned around and found Ialion, sitting across from Aruen, apparently striking up a conversation. He'd pulled another chair to the table for me. How nice of him.

I placed the two plates on the table, and sat down in the chair. Aruen turned his head to me, glowing blue eyes curious.

"Ah, you are Ian's friend, are you not? Or was I mistaken when the two of you walked in?"

My skin tingled. Here I was, before a Kingslayer, making casual conversation. Blood rushed to my face. "Um, uh, yeah. You don't mind, do you?" I asked.

He raised a hand. "Not at all, not at all! We're people too, you know," he stated with a friendly smile. "I can see there's something you two need to ask of me."

The entire conversation felt awkward and somehow fake to me. How would we appear to him? Like beggars, asking for spare coin? Ialion saved me the embarrassment of having to tell him. "Well, we're tracking a criminal, a gnome mage by the name of Whirlgo Fritzsprocket, from Dalaran. We believe he's heading to Stormwind, and he's stolen a draenic artifact."

Aruen's eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward, now that this involved one of his race's relics. Ialion continued. "We have reason to believe he may be corrupted by the Legion, and we were hoping you might be able to help us, in case this matter of a stolen artifact is just the tip of the iceberg." Ialion bit a large chunk out of his meat, and swallowed it like it was the size of a grain of sand. Aruen narrowed his eyes at the 'human' across from him, but I'd long since gotten used to his stronger throat muscles.

Aruen sat back. "Hmm. This is very interesting, what you have told me. The Legion, stealing an artifact of my people." He sipped his drink again, making me eye my own. "Alright. I have little else to do. I will aid you in this journey. We will make a stop in Stormwind, there is someone I know there who would enjoy this mission very much."

I grasped my glass, nearly shaking in excitement. What luck! A member of the Liberality Confederacy, helping us! Victory was practically assured already.

Aruen continued. "I assume we will not have time to stop?"

I shook my head. "No, we're going post haste after them. Think we can get a portal to Stormwind?"

To my disappointment, the paladin shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. You see, Valgarde's mages have been transferred further north to aid to Alliance in fighting the Horde. This happened last week, and there's been no sign of them returning."

Ialion frowned. "Wonderful." At that point, I lifted the yellow fluid to my mouth and drank it...

By the Light! What was that shit? It tasted a little bit like cheese, but only just. It was awful, pungent, and repulsive and I wanted it out of me. I coughed, and accidentally swallowed it while taking a breath, making a small bit enter my lungs.

My eyes watered, and I splayed out my hands on the table, coughing like someone with pneumonia. Ialion sounded concerned. "Hey, um, you okay?"

I spoke in between coughs. "Breathed... in... ach." My eyes watered until I had to close them because they stung. I could breathe, but I almost wished I couldn't. I felt someone pounding my back, with the force as to nearly break my back. I glanced up, and noticed Ialion was missing from his seat.

As time passed, eventually I got that awful fluid out of my lungs, and my coughing subsided, but I still continued to cough since my lungs had not enjoyed that experience and intended to teach me a very important lesson about what goes in them and what doesn't.

I groaned miserably, still coughing. "Elizabeth, are you alright?" came Ialion's voice from somewhere out of reality.

"I'll live," I croaked out, coughing again. I looked up."What in the name of the Light was that shit?"

The Kingslayer frowned. "That would be pungent seal whey. Didn't you know?"

I coughed. Oh gods, it felt like I was going to die. "No. Remind me to never drink that again. I need water." I slung my pack onto my lap and rummaged through it, and pulled out a leather flask. I opened it and trickled water down my throat, making sure not to accidentally breathe it in. When I was done, my throat somewhat soothed, I pulled it away and coughed again, but less forcefully.

"Alright," I said. "That's better. So, what are we going to do for the rest of the day? I mean, there isn't exactly much to see in this place, is there?"

Ialion shook his head, back in his seat. "No, not really. Unless you want to see the aurora."

I sighed. "Yes, but I've seen those in Dalaran dozens of times. They're nothing new." Aruen just looked at the two of us, but said nothing. "Maybe we can go on the boat, read something. Civilian boats always have libraries on them."

Ialion shrugged. "Sure, I guess." The rest of the meal was spent in silence, until we finished our food and I gave Ialion my seal whey, which he downed, drawing a repulsed look from me.

Ialion was the first to stand. "Alright. Thank you, Aruen, for agreeing to help us. It's really appreciated."

He waved his hand. "Oh, it's no trouble. Stopping the Legion is paramount, especially if they have a relic of my people to reverse-engineer." He frowned. "Strange. The Legion has never done anything like this. They're too confident in their own abilities. I'll see you two on the boats." I stood as well, done with my meal. Ialion followed me out of the inn into the open sky, which was suddenly a lot darker than when we'd come in. The last rays of the sun were vanishing over the horizon, stars lighting up the sky. Ribbons of blue and green stretched across the sky, slowly stretching and compressing like accordions, their light making it impossible to see the Circlet of the Titans.

Ialion and I filed onto the ship and headed for our cabin, looking for a way to pass the time. Maybe we could sleep.

As I stepped on, I smiled. We had a Kingslayer on our side. How the hells could we lose now?

I shook my head as that though entered my mind. Don't tempt fate, Amanthe.


This is the chapter from hell. I was ~3000 words into it, when Fanfic decided it hates me, so when I next clicked 'Save', it reduced the 3000 words into an unholy mix of commas, apostrophes, and periods. Anyone who's had this happen knows where I'm coming from, but to those who haven't had a doc destroyed before, pray it never does. It's horribly demoralizing, and I almost couldn't bring myself to write it again. So that's my lame-ass excuse for the delay. Sorry about that. I wish I could promise it won't happen again, but that's entirely up to fanfiction not nomming a chapter.

Review, let me know what you think.