Chapter Four
Tira groaned, trying to figure out how she had let herself get talked into this plan in the first place. Looking down, she swayed and clutched the side of the deck railing. Far, far below her were the green hills and forests of Azeroth. She had thought she was sturdy enough, never having gotten sick on ships at sea or on gryphon-back, but for some reason this contraption she was in made her queasy. She was riding in a zeppelin far up among the clouds, and she thought she must be turning bright green – except, looking down at her hands, she really was at the moment.
Sighing again, she played back the scene in her mind. Valia and Graph both laughing and suddenly looking at her, their eyes gleaming. Valia asking her if she trusted her, and her own reply that she did, of course. She was beginning to wonder. She was en route to Ogrimaar via the Horde zeppelin routes, and she was already beginning to have third and fourth thoughts of the wisdom of this plan. She was painted green, and had fake teeth in her mouth, making her look, to a quick glance, like an orc woman. She couldn't speak Orcish, however, which was why she had a goblin from Graph's crew with her. She was pretending to be a mute retired mercenary, and the few orcs that had approached her with a gleam in their eye led her to believe two things. First, that Graph's makeup job had been very well done, and second, that there weren't many retired mercenaries in the Horde, making her a "prime" romantic target.
The zeppelin dipped in a breeze, and her stomach once again left her to play among the wispy white vapor. The goblin standing next to her laughed and muttered a comment under his breath about weak humans. Clenching her teeth she stood straighter, determined to prove she wasn't weak. She turned to look over the deck, and froze in place, shock turning her legs to stone.
The goblin saw her expression and laughed harder, thinking she was growing more upset about the ride. As time seemed to slow down round her, Tira reached out one hand and pointed across the deck and slightly up from the ship itself. The goblin looked where she pointed and choked on his laughter. A moment later he was screaming. Though he was screaming in Orcish, she had no trouble understanding him, as the single word wasn't that different between the languages.
"DRAGON!" Crew and other passengers all whirled in surprise at the goblin's cry, and stared in horror at the giant shape approaching them. Jet black, with a wingspan longer than the zeppelin itself, the dragon roared and revealed wicked foot and a half long teeth and a serpentine tongue a moment before it sent a stream of flame towards the vessel. Tira absently noted that the flame was almost liquid, arcing towards the zeppelin instead of moving straight as she would have expected. Then the flames slammed into the opposite railing and the deck ignited in a rush, wrapping a few over-curious trolls in red and orange light. They barely had time to scream before they dropped to the smoldering wooden planks, motionless.
The captain of the zeppelin, up in the fo'c'stle, was shouting orders, and the ship began to drop quickly through the air, heading for the land so far below them. Not quickly enough, however, as the dragon folded its wings and dropped on them, vicious talons slicing deep into the balloon keeping them aloft. The balloon exploded, turning in an instant from a floating support for the ship into a set of tattered ribbons tangled in the dragon's claws. As the buoyancy of the balloon disappeared, the weight of the ship and all its passengers suddenly fell squarely on the Dragon, caught as it was in the scraps of balloon.
They fell again, the dragon now beating its wings furiously, trying to stay aloft, and slowing their screaming path downwards. They shook from side to side and bounced with each stroke of those mighty wings, passengers and crew flying from railing to mast and back. Tira clamped her hands on the railing and held on, struggling to keep her feet on the deck.
Glancing over the side, she saw the ground spinning beneath them, growing larger and more distinct with each passing moment. The dragon must have seen it as well, for its cries grew louder, and it began attempting to chew through the cloth tangling it. As its head drew near, Tira lunged forward without thinking, drawing her blade in one motion and plunging it deep into one of those giant eyes filled as much with panic now as rage.
A shriek filled her world, louder and more piercing than any noise she had ever heard, as the dragon threw its head up and pure pain tore from its throat. Tira's sword was still trapped in its eye, torn from her hands, and she stumbled backwards and fell to the burning deck, staring up at what she had done. Realizing she was still hundreds of feet in the air, and the only thing between all of them and a quick trip directly down was the dragon she had just half blinded, she heard herself say softly, "Oops."
Just then the dragon refocused and whipped its head about to stare directly at her with its good eye. She had a moment to think to herself that having the undivided attention of a large angry dragon was not one of the things Valia had mentioned to her before she left, then the dragon's maw was plunging down at her, teeth ready to tear her into ribbons vaguely resembling the ones left of the zeppelin balloon.
She threw herself to one side and groaned as her back slammed into a ladder post, covering her face as the deck exploded under the dragon's muzzle, wood splintering and flying everywhere. Getting her feet under her, she launched herself at the dragon again and grabbed her sword in both hands, pulling it out and whirling in a circle, stabbing again, this time at the exposed ear, its sharp steel edge sliding smoothly into that scaly skin up to the hilt. The dragon roared again, choking, and the hilt suddenly surged up and slammed into her forehead, sending her crashing to the ground again. Staring at the fuzzy forms in front of her as she lay there, she saw the dragon cough blood and claw at its head, trying to dislodge the large steel sword.
Tira took a moment to wonder at her own audacity, and then the world disappeared in a roar.
When she woke, she found herself lying in grass, trying to remember what had happened. Opening her eyes, she cringed as light sent a blast of pain into her skull. After a few moments she managed to open them – and found herself surrounded by a circle of orcs, trolls, and Tauren. The were glaring at her, weapons drawn and held menacingly. Then she looked at herself and groaned. In the fall, and the fire, her makeup had burned off. She was smeared with some, but it was very clear she was no orc now.
The apparent leader of the orcs barked a question, and she stared at him blankly. Then a voice next to her made her look over, seeing the goblin, bound in the grass a few feet away. He answered the question and glanced over at her. "He wants to know why you are here, and why he should not kill you. I told him you've come looking for someone, and that the truce between your peoples is reason enough."
The orc gazed down at her for a moment, then reached behind him and swung a sword around and pointed it at her. She froze, then realized it was her sword. The orc laughed. Reversing the sword, he handed it to her hilt first. The goblin translated. "He says the dragonslayer is welcome here, and for your deeds they will help you." The goblin sounded amazed. "I.. ah.. I think you need to understand, this is something that has never been done before. It's quite an honor.."
The orcs then stepped forward and unbound the goblin, and helped Tira to her feet. The leader clasped her arm and wiped some green paint from her cheek. The goblin laughed. "He says you have no need to hide your skin, anyone who will assault a dragon in the air has the heart of an orc." They broke up and began walking towards the city, visible in the distance. Tira thought over everything that had just happened and began to laugh.
Pulling a small crystal vial from her bags, amazed it survived the crash, she poured a small bit of liquid to the ground, where it froze solid and then began to glow. A moment later Val's face appeared in the scrying pool, and her familiar voice came through, alarmed. "Tira! What happened! Your face, are you ok?"
Tira smiled. "I'm fine Val. Just the usual, you know.. Slaying a dragon, winning the key to Ogrimaar. I wanted to let you know things are interesting here, and I'll check back when I know more. Take care."
And with that, enjoying the absolutely amazed look on her friend's face, Tira wiped the pool and walked on after the orcs.
