(4) Have Mercy
"Get up, Morgana!" a voice called to her.
She woke with a jolt of adrenaline seeing a very large shadow in her room. Her eyes barely adjusted to the lack of light before she rose from the bed. Morgana could barely make out who was in the room with her before she followed it down the stairs letting her rush of adrenaline pulse through her body.
"What's going on?" she demanded, trying to get a sense of the situation.
"There are dire circumstances at the Keep and we have been assigned to take care of it," Morgan explained, shoving a large and heavy case into Morgana's arms. "Put your boots on and let's go."
Morgana was dressed in her leather hunter pants and top that was now being paired by old leather boots. She had her hair in two braids already out of the way knowing what was in the case waiting for her.
She stepped outside seeing a portal ready and waiting for her and Farron. Morgana heard her father groan as Nadine stood talking to her old friend Archmage Khadgar. Morgana had met the man before but never had time to speak to him as Farron was not a fan of mages.
"Thank you for doing this on such short notice, Archmage," Nadine spoke for them all as Farron approached.
"Pass through and I'll explain more," Farron snarled looking at the Archmage but talking to Morgana.
"Yes, Farron," Morgana answered, keeping her voice low and head even lower.
Farron was not in the mood for anything right now.
Morgana passed through the portal with the case in hand. She immediately felt ill when she came out the other end of the portal. She quickly bent over trying to nurse off the queasiness quickly before bolting after her father. Her sense of balance was slightly off as she started climbing the stairs with him.
"An intruder made its way into the Keep," Farron started keeping his gate long. "They're tracking it now but suspect it to escape, that's why we are here."
Farron stopped suddenly at a longer hallway. He turned to Morgana and snatched the case from her then throwing it down to the stone floor to open it. Farron's prized possession, his best invention, waited for him.
Farron started building his sniper. It only came in pieces to make the case slightly smaller but only slightly. Farron would've had Morgana build it but this was a situation that required some haste.
"Which version is it?" Morgana asked.
The snipers that he invented, all called "Mercy", had many versions depending on when he made them and at what power level. A few versions Farron had made had so much recoil Morgana had to speak up about using them.
"Two," Farron answered knowing it was the version his daughter preferred.
He stood then and handed her the sniper. Mercy 2.0 was lighter compared to its counterparts but it also meant its power was slightly lower. Farron enjoyed making thick beefy snipers with bullets the size of his fingers but it meant Morgana couldn't handle them for long periods of time. Thus creating as many different sniper models as he could until he found a good compromise for both of them.
"Start in this first room," Farron ordered, handing her Mercy and opening the door.
"What am I aiming for?" Morgana asked instinctively, opening the window.
"Anything that moves right now until we know for sure what entered the Keep," Farron answered. "I'm going up to the top and will call down to you when we see it."
"How do you not know what kind of intruder enters the Keep?" Morgana asked herself after her father left.
Must be a rogue, she thought.
She groaned and rolled her eyes, How can I shoot what I can't see?
Morgana walked to the window looking out for a moment. It was on the very back side of the Keep facing the mountains. The pond she usually sat near on guard duty would be off to the left. She leaned against the stone then continued to look out the window searching for any movement over the hills.
Morgana's gaze began to wonder after a short time. She turned slowly admiring the room she was in. More than likely a spare bedroom with a large canopy for the royal blue themed bed. An ottoman sat before the bed sprawled on a rich grey rug with blue tassels on the corners. A large mirror was on the wall farthest from her leading to an attached bath area.
"I can't imagine having your own private bath," Morgana said, turning back to the window. "Probably in every bedroom they have."
Neither her father or mother had baths in their homes. They all had to use the bath house in Stormwind's Old Town. It was a public bath that the commoners used.
A sharp pop noise turned Morgana's full attention to the window. She pulled Mercy up to her shoulder ready to fire.
"There it is!" she heard her father yell from above.
Morgana's eyes went wide as she searched for any movement. She kept Mercy close ready to quick scope the moment anything was seen.
"Move to the next room, Morgana!" Farron shouted.
Morgana immediately spun around and bolted to the next room over. She didn't bother knocking as it was a rather urgent matter. Thankfully the room was empty. She quickly opened the window and searched for anything noticeable. Then Morgana saw something move quickly further towards the lake.
"Rogue!" Farron shouted, firing his own sniper.
Morgana turned again and quickly bolted into the next room. Empty again as she hoisted herself up onto the small window. She faced left seeing her target and brought Mercy up giving her eyes a moment to adjust in with the scope. Morgana found the rogue in the scope seeing it run further towards the harbor staying out of the water.
"Straight lines make my job easy," Morgana whispered.
BANG
The trouble with recoil was losing the target at times. Though Mercy 2.0 was low on recoil the mountains and darkness of the night made tracking more difficult for Morgana. She glanced up then with both eyes waiting for movement again.
"What was that?" a voice was heard in the next room over.
"Move Morgana!" Farron yelled down to her.
She obeyed turning in the hallway to see guards at the next door. They saw her and immediately knew what she was there for.
"Please, Your Highness, give her space," one said as they opened the door and blocked off it's resident.
The other guard opened the stained glass window for Morgana. She leaned forward then already seeing her target bracing for the recoil as she didn't have the time to stop and position herself properly. The scope was up, she saw her target, and tracked it's movements predicting it's next move.
BANG
"Need to work on your flick, Morgana," Farron called down to her.
The target however, stopped moving.
"I hit it," Morgana spoke to herself. "Didn't I?"
"Hit it again!" Farron called as they both saw the target stand up.
Morgana raised Mercy up as the occupant of the room stepped closer.
"This is overkill, you already hit it," His Royal Highness stated. "What are you doing?"
Morgana kept her eyes focused remembering her place and how royalty was strictly off limits no matter the situation.
BANG
This time, her target cried out. Morgana lowered Mercy then waited for further instruction. She kept her gaze locked on where it fell still seeing it crawl forward. She cocked her head to the side giving her prey some admiration.
I only missed one shot, this one is determined, she thought.
"Our job here is done," Farron spoke in the doorway. "We will work on that flick of yours tomorrow."
"Did you have to shoot it that many times?" the Prince asked as Morgana crossed the room to the door.
Farron stared the Prince down while Morgana waited outside. She'd never been in their council meetings but from what Farron spoke of earlier that day, there was definitely tension between the two of them. She could only guess two very different points of view on war.
"Do you want it to come back?" Farron answered the Prince's question with a question. "Keep in mind we still don't know why it came in the first place."
The Prince's gaze intensified, matching Farrons.
"Let me guess, that's classified information," Farron continued using a specific word Morgana guessed the Prince used on Farron before. "You demand my services but keep quiet on why you need them."
"It's not a need for anyone to know at this point in time," replied the Prince sternly.
"Until it comes back because someone was too soft to kill it," Farron snarled looking at the Prince over then. "Only when it takes what it wants do you decide it's time for people to know why all the sudden Stormwind has rogue's at night."