Chapter 3
"You're crazy!" the goblin shouted. "If you go out there, you'll get sucked right up into the sky! That storm will tear you apart, all of you," he added, theatrically indicating to the other night elves in the tent. "Do you want to die? 'Cause that is how you die: You walk into a full-blown, Intensity 9 netherstorm. Back in town it's all hands on deck just nailing our shit to the ground. Once it hits we won't be able to leave the buildings for days. The last time something like this came through, we lost people." The goblin paused. It looked like he was doing sums in his head. "Mixxi, Resh, Andrea, Dr. Flertrap. We even lost our dog, Brass." He made a fluttering gesture. "Storm just picked him up, and off he went."
Ero'then was seated on his bedroll. His vest was to his side, discarded, and his arms were locked over his folded knees. He looked relaxed, or at least Sel'uen thought so. He certainly looked calmer than he had when she'd left him.
When she'd brought back the goblin (no small feat itself, but she'd managed to entice him with a vague remark about up-front pay), the other students had been drawn out, curious. They'd followed her and the goblin into the Shan'do's tent. The teacher had told them to stay and given them instructions, so they had filed obediently along the edges of the tent. There wasn't much room.
The goblin's name was Drex. They had made his acquaintance in a place they called Area 52, a tiny workshop of a town they'd stumbled on soon after leaving the mountains. Drex had been waiting at the entrance, and had given them an enthusiastic welcome.
It had soon become apparent that he was a guide by trade, and was looking for gainful employment. He had bragged to them that no one knew the wastes as he did. The Shan'do had engaged him, and gotten it out of him that he had given directions to a group of elves (the goblin called them green-eyes) not two days ago, though they had begged off hiring him, saying they had no money. The goblin also mentioned that theses elves had called themselves pilgrims.
Seeing the Shan'do's interest, Drex hadn't hesitated to offer to lead the kaldorei to the elves, for the right price.
But that had been yesterday, before the storm had appeared on the horizon. They'd awoken to Area 52 in a frenzy of activity. When the Shan'do approached him again, Drex had no longer been so enthusiastic about a trip into the wastes. He had urged them to wait until the storm passed.
Sel'uen watched her Shan'do. It seemed he was not willing to wait.
"You say the storm will diminish," Ero'then spoke. "But it has been doing just the opposite."
Drex treated him to an exaggerated shrug. He was layered in heavy cloaks and a turban, a style that the students themselves had considered adopting to protect themselves from the harsh climate. But when their teacher made no sign of wearing anything but his thin leather piece, they had reluctantly abandoned the idea.
"Do I look like a mage?" the goblin asked him. The only green Sel'uen could see was Drex's sharp nose jutting angrily out of the front of his turban-like headgear. "Storms come and go. We got great guys and gals watching the weather, but we ain't prophets. We just see the storm, we gauge its intensity, we collect a little data, and we shut everything down till it's gone. If you want to know when it'll be gone, I'm guessing inside a week." A glint from his eyes beneath the turban. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall, you get me?"
"Yes," Ero'then said. "I understand."
"Great!"
"We will be leaving momentarily and we will need you to guide us. You will be recompensed well."
The goblin's eyes bulged. Sel'uen had to hide her smile.
"You got shit in those ears?" he yelled. "It's a no deal. It ain't about nothing but safety, pal. I'll gladly take your money. Seriously. And I ain't even asked what you're gonna do to those green eyes when you catch 'em. Your business is your business. Fine! I don't give a shit. But I've got news for you, pal. They ain't surviving this storm any more than you would. They're in a thousand little pieces, scattered in the sky."
"They survived," Ero'then said.
Unable to find a response, Drex turned to the students. He had apparently decided Ero'then was beyond hope of reason.
"You hearin' me?" he shouted at them. "You follow this nutcase into the storm, you're done. It'll be the ride of your life for about five whole seconds."
When they didn't react or respond, he threw his hands up in the air.
"I tried," he said. "Your lives ain't on my hands, that's for sure. Have a grand time." He clapped his hands together, like he was washing them. But he did steal a longing glance at the pay-chest that was sitting next to Ero'then. He shook his head and headed for the exit. "Wish we could do business," he said.
Sel'uen glanced. Brim and Yeshaila were standing in front of the exit. Drex glared at them.
"Scram, huh?" he said. "I wish you all the luck and all that. Gods be with you."
The night elves did not "scram." They remained where they were. Behind the goblin, Ero'then pull himself into a standing position.
"You tell your pixies to get out of the way, or—" Drex turned and stopped.
Ero'then was tall, even for a night elf. At his full height, he was more than three Drex's stacked high. The goblin had to crane his neck to meet his eyes. He looked around, maybe for an exit.
"If you lead us true," the Shan'do said. "Then no harm will come to you. Lead us astray, however, and you'll never see your town again."
The lump at the front of the goblin's throat bobbed up and down. He managed to glare up at the night elf with some dignity.
"You threatening me?"
"Must I?"
The goblin looked around the tent again. She could see his mind working, counting his odds. He knew who they were, but from the way he'd talked to them when they'd first arrived in town, Sel'uen had thought that he'd taken them for a bunch of pacifists (not uncommon for those who knew little about druids but rumor and legend), talking to trees and animals and such. But now, it seemed he was considering other stories he'd heard about druids. Stories that made him look twice at Ero'then.
Sel'uen almost felt bad for him.
After a long pause, the goblin evenly returned Ero'then's gaze. "Triple my usual rate, and it's a deal, partner!" He grinned widely, and held out a hand.
