Chapter 14 - A bit of rest

John grinned broadly at Rejold, "Ya wouldn't happen to be related to the folks that make Barlybrew ale now would ya?"

"Aye, we're one in the same, laddie. Me family's been brewing ale for over a hundred years."

"And a fine ale it tis. It's been quite a while since I've sipped any though."

"Well, when we get up to the village, come on over to the inn when ya get a chance and I'll buy ya a mug o me best ale."

Then he added with a wink, "What ya do after that is up to you."

As they got ready to walk from the ice bound dock to the village a short distance ahead, Perfyume took a few steps and tried her foot. Wincing, she became angry with herself for tripping on the ice. "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! Why wasn't I watching where I was going?"

She was about to gingerly take another step when she was once again picked up by her companion, "Ya had a pretty bad fall out on the ice back there, lass. I'd feel a lot better if we took a look at your foot before ya tried to walk on it."

As he carried her in his arms, she smiled, "A good rubbing with some lotion and a good night's sleep and I'm sure it will be just fine in the morning."

"Aye lass, but there's no sense in having ya limp all the way up this road now, is there."

Before she could comment further, they were at the 'village'. Her heart sank as she realized that the little town of Brewnall was nothing more than a settlement. It had no real buildings to speak of and was comprised of tents and awnings made of canvas and skins.

An older gnomish woman came running up to the travelers, "What happened? Is she hurt?"

John smiled at the little woman, "Aye, we were being chased by the wolves out on the ice when she had a bad fall. I think she might have sprained her ankle."

"Okay, bring her over here and I'll take a look at it."

John followed the woman to one of the larger tents. "Set her down inside here, please"

He gently placed Perfyume down on the soft furs lining the floor of the tent. The little gnome looked up at him and smiled, "I'll take a look at her now and see what I can do. Why don't you head on over to the kitchen area and grab a bite to eat?"

He hesitated and she continued, "Don't worry. I'll take good care of her. Give me an hour and I should be done with her. You can bring some dinner to her then if you like."

Perfyume smiled, "It's ok, John. I'll be ok. Go ahead and have some dinner and I'll see you later."

John gave Perfyume one of his huge grins, "Alright lass, I'll see ya then."

After he left the woman gently removed the fur lined boots from Perfyume's feet. "Well, I can see you have a bit of a swelling here."

Turning she reached into a small leather bag and pulled out a glass jar. Kneeling down next to Perfyume's feet, she opened up the jar and scooped out a small hand full of light blue cream. Then with a very gentle touch, she placed the cream on Perfyume's foot and started to rub it around her ankle. "This stuff feel's cold at first, but after a short while it will get a bit warm. It soothes the joints and helps the swelling go down. By morning, you'll feel a lot better."

Perfyume jumped a bit as the cold cream was rubbed on her foot, "Wow, that's cold! It feels like ice water!"

The woman smiled, "It always does for a moment or two, then it will start warming up a bit."

As the cream warmed up a bit, Perfyume smiled, "Ah, your right. That feels better already. May I ask what your name is? Mine's Perfyume."

The woman's smile brightened, "Well, glad to meet you Perfyume. I'm called Malinda."

"Nice to meet you too, Malinda. Thanks again for helping me with my ankle."

Malinda continued to work on the ankle, "It's my pleasure. I'm always happy to help a fellow gnome."

Perfyume raised an eyebrow, "I've never seen a gnomish healer before. Are you a priestess"

The woman signed, "No, I'm not a true healer. All I'm doing is applying sensible medical knowledge to your injury. In reality I'm just a mage. When Gnomeregan fell I escaped the worst of it, but most of my family perished. It's much too dangerous for me to go back into the city, so I work here and help those who go inside to fight. Sometimes those that have not been affected by the sickness are rescued or escape. I…have made it my life to take care of them."

Perfyume's eyes widened, "Y-you were at the city when it fell? How could something like that have happened?"

Malinda's eyes began to shimmer as she folded her hands together and placed them in her lap, "After the accident, all communications to the city were cut off. Most of the exiles that we've been able to talk to were the middle working class and had no idea what happened, but after talking with many survivors we now know who was responsible."

Perfyume hissed, "Troggs…."

"Yes. They broke though the walls of the main power generating room and attacked the machinery. There was a great explosion that rocked the city and destroyed the power generator and most of the lower levels. Hundreds of gnomes perished on that day alone. Later, a sickness began to seep from the power station and affect the survivors. It causes a terrible leprosy that rots the flesh and turns it a sickly green. It also twists the mind into thinking that anything not infected must be killed. Most of the remaining survivors are trapped in a protected area below the tramway. Many have tried to escape, but between the Troggs and the infected, they've had little chance to get out alive."

The older woman lowered her head as tears began to run down her cheeks. Perfyume felt her own eyes begin to moisten and without really thinking, reached over and placed her hand on Malinda's. "I'm going to see for myself what happened. There has got to be something we can do."

Malinda shook her head, "No! You can't go there! It's too dangerous!"

"I've got to do something! Our people are still dying in that city. If we can't get them out, they may all perish from the sickness and our people are too thinly spread out as it is. We can't just sit by and allow our fellow gnomes to die off. Their future, as well as the future of our race is depending on us."

The old woman raised her face and looked closely at Perfyume, "For such a young gnome, you seem to speak with the words of someone much older. You are…right of course. I have seen so much death in our people that the fight has left me."

She picked up her supplies and started to put them in her bag. "Just promise me that you will at least be careful. My dad was a warrior and used to say that a dead soldier just might get his image carved in stone, but a cautious soldier lives to fight another day."

Perfyume smiled at hearing the old saying from her youth. She was about to comment when a young little gnome literally hopped into the tent. She had dark brown hair that was pulled back in a single pony tail. Her face was round with two huge dark blue eyes, a small nose and cute mouth sporting a big smile. The clothing she wore was simple, a nice blue and white peasant dress and a pair of sandals. A little shorter then Perfyume, she spoke in a quick energetic voice. "Hello! You're the gnome that was carried across the ice by that hunter. I hope you're feeling better. That's a pretty robe you have on. I wish I had one like that. You're a warlock, aren't you. Do you have a Voidwalker? I think they're scary. Are you going to Gnomer-."

Malinda interrupted, "Ami! Remember your manners!"

The young gnome lowered her eyes and blushed slightly, "I'm sorry Auntie. I guess I got carried away."

"That's better. Perfyume, allow me to introduce you to the youngest member of our little village. This is Amicute, better known to all of us as Ami.

She continued, "Ami, this is Perfyume. She and her friend, Jonathan had a close call out on the ice today while trying to get to our village."

Ami smiled at Perfyume, "Pleased to meet you, Perfyume. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. It's just…I don't see very many gnomes anymore."

Perfyume grinned, "Nice to meet you too Ami. And that's ok. There's nothing wrong with asking questions, as long as the place and time is right."

The little gnome flashed a huge smile, "Thank you. I would like to stay, but I have a couple of chores I need to do before the day ends. It was very nice to meet you."

Ami suddenly turned and left leaving a slightly stunned Perfyume staring where the little gnome was standing just a few moments ago, "Is she…always like that?"

Malinda chuckled, "I'm afraid so. That little girl has more energy than most of us here put together."

"I heard her call you Auntie. Is she your niece?"

I wish she was. When Gnomeregan fell, she was just a little tot. A pair of exiles came through here carrying her with them. They had no skills at caring such a young child and so they asked us if we could watch over the little girl until her parents could be found. We have asked each and every one that has come through and so far, none have claimed her. For the moment, we have adapted her as part of our family. Because I'm a gnome, she calls me Auntie and looks up to me as if I was her mom."

Perfyume chuckled, "I see. She's a real cutie right now, and I can imagine how she'll be when she gets older. Has she decided on a profession?"

Malinda smiled, "Not yet, but she does work some in the kitchen and she cooks up the best apple pie you've ever tasted!"

"I'd like to try that sometime."

"She made up a couple last night. I'll check and see if there is any left."

The older woman got up, "I'll let you get some sleep now. This tent has two rooms and your friend can sleep in the second one. I'll come and check on you in the morning."

Perfyume looked up at Malinda, "It was very kind of you to help. Thank you."

The woman laughed lightly, "Think nothing of it. Have a good night Perfyume."

She then got up and left the tent, closing the flap behind her.

After the woman had gone, Perfyume pulled the soft, heavy blanket over herself and let out a contented sigh as she snuggled into the deep fur bedding. As she closed her eyes and started to fall asleep, her last thoughts were of how nice it would be if she had such nice furs and blankets to sleep on in her own tent.

Early the next morning, John was humming to himself as he worked in the kitchen area of the village preparing breakfast for Perfyume and himself. He always enjoyed preparing breakfast in the morning, especially now that he had someone to share it with. He was so busy in his work that he didn't notice the elderly gnome that had climbed up on the chair next to him until she spoke up, "My, that looks good! You're fixing that up for Perfyume and yourself I assume?"

Just a bit startled, he quickly turned towards the voice that interrupted his cooking. Seeing the older gnome, he smiled, "Aye lass, she didn't get anything to eat last night and I was thinking she'll be having a hearty appetite right about now. Last I checked, she was still sleeping, so once I finish this, I'll wake her up and we'll have breakfast."

"The old gnome smiled broadly, "That's real kind of you to do that, young man. I'm sure she'll appreciate your efforts a lot when she wakes up.

She paused for a moment before continuing, "By the way, my name's Melinda. I treated your little friend's ankle last night."

John gave her a big smile, "Jonathon McDougal's the name, lass. And Thank ya for taking care of her."

Melinda chuckled, "Well there Jonathon, you're quite welcome. It was my pleasure to help her out and we had a great little talk before she went to bed. I hope you know you have a great little friend there."

"Aye, that she is…"

Melinda noticed the faraway look in John's eyes and smiled, "Looks like your breakfast is about done. You wouldn't want to burn it now would you"

John's quickly pulled the pan off of the fire. "Oh man…!"

He quickly checked the food, and after being satisfied it didn't burn, served the ham and egg mixture into a pair of bowls and added a couple of warm rolls. Picking up the bowls, he turned to the woman, "I'm going to take this to her now. It was nice to meet ya, Melinda."

She smiled and looked at up at him, "It was a pleasure meeting you as well, John."

He turned and headed towards the tent. As he walked away, the old woman chuckled to herself softly. "My oh my. That boy's got it bad!"

A couple of minutes later, John was at the tent. "Good morning lass! Are ya up yet? If ya don't mind me coming in, I brought ya some breakfast."

John could hear some rustling sounds coming from inside the tent. A couple of seconds later Perfyume called out, "Come in, John!"

He lifted the tent flap and ducked inside. Seeing his friend he grinned broadly, "I'm glad to see yer looking well this morning, lass. I fixed us up some breakfast seeing how ya didn't have anything to eat last night."

John handed her a bowl and a fork and then turned to the pack he brought in with him. He dug around inside for a moment and then brought out a sealed glass jar full of a light golden liquid. Perfyume looked up from her eating and noticed the jar and frowned a bit, "I hope that isn't some kind of ale, John. It's too early for me to be drinking that sort of thing, especially on an empty stomach."

John laughed, "Don't worry lass. What I have for you here is a real treat."

He poured some into a mug and handed it to Perfyume. She brought the mug up to her lips and after carefully taking a sip, smiled brightly. "This is apple cider! I haven't had this in years!"

John picked up his bowl, "Aye, a salesman from Stormwind sold the innkeeper a whole barrel of it. He liked it so much that when the inn's built he's gonna make it a regular part of the menu."

A couple of minutes later, Perfyume had finished her breakfast and was thoughtfully sipping her cider. Looking at John, she said, "Thank you for the breakfast John. It was delicious!"

John blushed slightly, "Think nothing of it, lass. Besides, you're gonna need your strength when we get to Gnomeregan."

"True enough, John. I really app-"

Before she could say anymore, a young gnome poked her head inside the tent, "Hello! I hope I'm not disturbing you, but Melinda said I should bring this over to you so that you could have some for lunch after you left."

Perfyume smiled, "Hello Ami. Come on inside."

John smiled at the little gnome as she stepped inside, "And who might this wee lass be."

As Ami blushed, Perfyume raised her eyebrow at her companion, "John, this is Amicute, better known around here as Ami."

The hunter flashed Ami one of his big smiles, "Well lass, I'm glad to meet ya! John's the name and any friend of Perfyume is a friend of mine. What kin we do for ya?"

The little gnome turned to Perfyume and handed her a small box. "This is for you and John."

Perfyume smiled and accepted the gift, "Why, Thank you, Ami. What's inside?"

The little gnome blushed again and smiled, "It's a couple of pieces of apple pie I baked the night before last. I hope you like it."

John eyes widened, "Did you say apple pie?"

Ami nodded and John laughed, "How did you know that was my favorite! It's going to be mighty hard for me to keep away from it till lunch!"

Ami blushed brightly at John's compliment and then turned to Perfyume. "I heard that you're going to Gnomeregan. Please be careful."

Perfyume reached out and gave the young gnome a quick hug, "Don't worry Ami, we will."

Ami turned quickly and left the tent. John eyed the doorway and slowly shook his head, "That's one cute little lass there. She is gonna be a real heartbreaker in a couple of years."

Perfyume got up and started to get her things together, "That she is. With her parents missing in Gnomeregan for so long, it's surprising that she's the way she is. I'm hoping that with any luck, we'll find some answers for her."

She stopped for a second before turning towards her friend, "She's just one of what may be hundreds of people driven from their homes by the city's fall. From the moment we left Coldridge valley, I've only seen isolated pockets of gnomes. Ironforge has a small refuge of them, but no more than a hundred or so. There were several thousand of us living in Gnomeregan even in my time over a hundred years ago. I must do what I can to save our city and the people trapped inside. Gnomeregan tied us together and if we can't save it, our race will be dispersed across the globe until we fade away forever…."

Seeing the tears flowing down his friend's cheeks, John pulled her into a hug, "There, there, lass. Ya don't have to tell me the importance of having a home ta call yer own. We've always had Ironforge and I can tell ya that no dwarf could possibly imagine what it would be like to lose her. Gnomes and dwarves have always been close and I can understand what yer going through. We'll find out what's going on over there and then we'll see what can be done about it."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked at her backpack, "Thank you, John. That means a lot to me."

She moved away and began to get her things ready. Together they gathered up Perfyume's things and in a few minutes they were all packed and ready to go. John turned towards his companion, "Alright lass, I had a talk with the folks here about Gnomeregan. From what I've heard, it's not that far, but we can't go if yer ankle's still hurting. How's it feel right now."

Perfyume put her weight on her foot and rocked it from side to side. "It's feeling pretty good right now, John. I don't feel any pain at all."

John was still serious, "Alright lass, but if it gives ya a bit a trouble, we're gonna have to come back."

Perfyume raised an eyebrow at her friend's display of protectiveness, "I'll be fine. But, if it starts to bother me, I'll let you know. Okay?"

"That's fair enough, lass. Alright then, are we ready to go?"

Perfyume nodded and together they walked out of the village and towards Gnomeregan.