Iron is forged, friendship is bought
"Ironforge has never been this hot. The dwarves must be forging too
much metal," she thought in an attempt to forget the fact that her
brother was found alive and that she was to go and rescue him. She
also had to find a way to amass two hundred gold pieces. The details
of her plan were still missing, but generally it involved accessing
many inaccessible pockets.
But all of that didn't matter. Sitting in the dark inn again,
listening to the singing of the dwarves, she realized that this would
be the last time she had to do this alone. By tomorrow night, she
would have her brother back.
That
night was indeed different, but it was not the temperature of
Ironforge that changed. It was her who was different. No longer
enclosed in dark leather armor. No longer concealed by masks and
hats. She sat there in a white dress which spanned her entire length:
from shoulder to foot. The dress was plain white, save for a pink
band around the waist. Soft black shoes graced her feet as she sat on
the chair in the middle of the inn. The chair was made for dwarves,
and so she sat entirely on the chair, her back leaned backwards and
her legs rested in front of her. They weren't long enough to reach
the end of the chair. She didn't wear a hat, and
her pink hair was visible for the entire city to see. Rolled and held
back with an extremely sharp pin, the hair completed the image of an
innocent female gnome. Lelyan, however, was far from an innocent
gnome. The pin was meant to be used in case she needed to defend
herself, and another dagger was inserted between her shoe and leg.
The drunk dwarves
didn't seem to notice her, but on the other hand all they did notice
was the fact that they had consumed the last drop of beer from their
mugs. The dwarf who could afford buying all his friends beer last
night was not present, as he had much iron to gather and sell to pay
for it.
A night elf
entered the inn. He looked around, trying to find
a gnome dressed in black. He shifted his gaze from one side of the
inn to the other, but could not find his client. Then he noticed
something in the middle. A gnome sat there in a white dress. Could
that be her?
He started walking
towards the gnome and when he was closed enough to confirm her
identity he said: "Gnomey, is that you? What in the name of sacred
Ashenvale are you wearing?"
She reached for
her leg and moved the cloth of the dress away. She pointed at the
small dagger and then placed the finger on one side of her neck,
slowly sliding it to the other side.
She spat out,
clearly irritated: "What did you say, Tandir?"
"I said your
dress was quite horrible to look at. But business comes first. Do you
have the gold?"
"I will,
you'll get it when it's all over."
"But I need
it for..."
"Either that
or the deal is off and you go beg in the auction
house."
"Fine, but
you better have it!"
"Don't
worry."
Tandir turned around and walked out of the inn.
Filled, for the
first time, with hope and joy, she walked out as well and turned to
the direction of her home. On her way, she remembered one of her
engineering textbooks from Gnomeregan.
Many things she
has forgotten about engineering, but one thing could not escape her
mind. She would remember the first page of the book forever, for she
intends to follow its instructions carefully:
An open mind
can reach the sky
One's fate only
one decrees
Harness the
wind, it shall take you high
Fly with the
Dun Morogh breeze.