It had been the most horrible hour she could remember. Waiting for Yaelra, dreading that no-one would come, no-one would be there in Thunder Bluff. She wasn't patient to begin with, but this …
Modgud told herself it should be nothing to her, that the fate of the living didn't concern her, that for her well-being it made no difference at all if the Sin'dorei lived or died. But if she thought about it like that, she might as well shed the tabard of the Death Dealers and join the Cult of Shadows. They had always been close within the guild, even Cassyndra and Ira were friends after the latter had told the former quite firmly she was taking the leadership into her own hands. One of the Forsaken was sitting small children when their parents were in battle, and they absolutely loved him. They all shared a bond that was unusual, and Modgud was no different.
After ten minutes she got antsy. After thirty, scared. After three quarters of an hour she was on the verge of teleporting to Thunder Bluff, just in case. In that moment, the air before her flickered, and out stepped Yaelra. Modgud rushed towards her. 'Are you all right?' she asked her, and the Sin'dorei nodded vaguely.
'Yes, I'm good. He told me about his immediate plans. We need to get inconspicuous clothes.' She looked the Forsaken up and down. Modgud grinned. She had donned a robe she had taken from a Twilight Cultist in Silithus. 'Something that doesn't send this kind of signal.' Modgud shrugged.
'It means I killed the original owner, no?' Yaelra grinned.
'Yeah. Let's move.' Modgud led the way to the Auction house. When they ran into Agnes in the trade quarter, Modgud struggled with her composure. She greeted her in passing and moved on to the Auction house.
'Modgud, can I see you later?' She cursed inwardly and turned to face Agnes with what she hoped was a warm smile.
'Yes, of course. I don't think this will take long. Meet you upstairs, in the courtyard?' Agnes smiled back.
'Certainly. I'll wait for you there. Take your time.' Modgud felt Yaelra's eyes but refused to speak. They looked through all sorts of dark grey and black clothes. Modgud picked a black set of trousers and shirt and combined it with a balaclava. Yaelra chose a black dress and a shawl.
'That was Agnes, by the way.' Modgud said in the middle of their discussion of clothes in the same casual tone. 'She's Emily Winters, Grollas told me.' Yaelra raised her eyebrows.
'Oh?' she made, holding up a very oddly shaped piece of leather clothing. Realising what it was, she dropped it in disgust. 'Well, be careful then. Want me to come?' Modgud shook her head.
'She thinks I trust her. Best it stays that way.' Yaelra gathered her things and shrugged.
'Well, I've got to be on my way,' she said briskly. 'See you, Modgud.'
ϡ
She felt rather apprehensive about this. The courtyard upstairs wasn't the most populated part of the city. She saw the other Forsaken sitting on top of the stairs and approached briskly. 'Hello, Agnes.' Agnes rose and smiled.
'Good to see you. Modgud, I've come to like and respect you, and I want to share my knowledge of the Cult of Shadows with you.' Modgud raised her eyebrows.
'Oh? Great!' She hoped fervently that she sounded sincere. She made up her mind to listen to what would be fragments of the truth and to sift through the information later in order to extricate whatever could be useful.
'Do you know what their goal is, Modgud?' She shrugged.
'They want to eradicate the living.' Agnes nodded.
'Yes. That is what everyone knows. But there is something else. The Cult seeks independence of Sylvanas, which is the real reason why Lordaeron's Fourteenth is fighting them. They wouldn't bother if it were merely about protecting the living. The Cult of Shadows thinks that it wasn't so much Sylvanas's strength that helped her detach herself from Arthas, but his own weakness.' Agnes turned with a frown, looking towards the entrance to the city. 'There's an elf listening to us.' Modgud's cursed inwardly.
'Should I check? I'll chase them away.' Agnes shook her head and made a quick gesture with her hand. Modgud felt the spell but couldn't tell what she'd done. It was too different to her own magic. She fought the urge to shove Agnes to the ground and run to check if Yaelra was well. Who else could it be, really? What on earth had Agnes done to her? Modgud restrained herself with some difficulty. 'I could go and see if she's really gone,' she suggested. Again, Agnes didn't react at all. Modgud couldn't just leave. For the greater good, Ira had said when she usurped the Death Dealers. Now it was Modgud saying that mantra to herself. 'What exactly did you do? It was nothing I'm too familiar with.' She thought she sounded more interested than worried. She hoped so, at least.
'I laid my spirit onto a wisp of wind, and sometimes it finds its goal.' Modgud decided not to comment on that. 'The Cult of Shadows, I was going to say, uses the living. They give them reasons to cling to their already existent prejudices against the Forsaken, which lends them support from our own ranks in return.' She produced a parchment with a detailed description of a man. 'This is Nuruhangbor. If you see someone fitting this description, tell the first guard you find about him. Don't try and hold him yourself, he is very dangerous.' She lowered her voice a notch. 'And I tried to find out something about your Malakaine. I'm sorry. He remains dead.' Modgud nodded. She realised Agnes had not mentioned that the Cult of Shadows was developing a plague they wanted to spread among all the living, like Grollas had told her.
She took her leave and returned to the Undercity. In her room in the Apothecarium, she changed into the clothes she and Yaelra had bought, wrapping the balaclava around her head carefully. She had to see if the Sin'dorei was all right.