A/N: Please note that this is of course Fan Fiction, therefore the events described would be slightly deviated from the orginal telling.
And nope, I in fact do not own Warcraft or anything else I write about.
Chapter 32
"As I said previously, what brings your clan here?" interjected Wayne again over their talk. Already loosing his patience with the dwarves. Faster even, than he thought he would. So far their discussion was going nowhere fast.
"Before we consider answering you, answer us," said the dwarven commander. "What gives you this 'intelligence' to speak with us? What makes you different from this kindling?"
"You have not done your research commander, that much is clear. You have trespassed into the Kingdom of the Dark Lady. Here, the curse of the Scourge has been lifted by our magnificent Queen...we are free," finished Wayne.
All of the dwarves held their tounge after hearing his words, though their guard had yet to falter. Blunderbusses reflected off the dim firelight. Deadly silence spoke that the next moments would be critical.
"Suppose what you are and say are not some illusion of these cursed lands. And you are of kingdom and title," spoke the commander again, his tone now beginning to change. "You will never cease to be accursed. Your blight on the living..(cough).. will never end unless..(cough).. it ends with you."
"Mmm, spoken like a true fool," Wayne said sadly as he rose from his seat with the help of his staff.
The dwarven guns honed in sharper when he suddenly rose despite the tremble of their owners. Sputtering coughs held their sway among all of the dwarves in Wayne's sight. Their condition becoming more severe by the second.
"It is a shame it had to come to this," said Wayne as he began limping forward.
All the guns laid still as the dwarves thrashed about on the ground, coughing and choking until their air supply ran out. The noise of their frantic illness was reverberating sharply through the forest. With the end of his bone staff, Wayne knocked over the commander onto his back as he continued to struggle for life. Bending down, he searched through his overcoat despite the dwarfs feeble attempts to swipe away his hand.
The sound began to die away with the dwarves, one by one. Nollis and the Deathstalker dropped to the ground from their position in the trees above. Wayne searched through the documents held in the pockets of the now deceseased commander, but found nothing of importance.
"Search their bodies, there must be something that speaks of their purpose here," Wayne directed.
The three continued to search the dwarves as the apothecaries with the remaining Deathstalker accompanied by the horses entered the camp.
"Ah, I've never seen dwarves this fresh before. It would be a shame to let them go to waste Master DeLovely," said an apothecary, bending down to examine one closer.
"I'm afraid there isn't time for us to cart them back to the Undercity," Wayne said to the disappointed scientist.
"Examine this Master, it tells of their intent," said Nollis, passing Wayne several pieces of parchment.
His eyes scanned quickly through the pages, soon finding the answers he thought he would.
"They sought the same as us," Wayne said out loud to nobody in particular, "Alliance."
"With the Scarlet Crusaders?" asked an apothecary.
"Yes...I give them credit for slipping past our nets and getting word out. I'm impressed," mused Wayne. "Enemies of the Dark Lady attempt to strengthen around us, just beyond our borders. This mission just became all the more important for our survival."
"Dwarves...humans, their threat to us is slight," spoke a Deathstalker.
"With overwhelming force it isn't. The Forsaken are not assured victory against such odds, we need allies," Wayne said seriously.
"What then shall we do with the corpses, Master DeLovely?" asked the same apothecary.
"String up the bodies from the trees," said Wayne after a moment of thinking. "Let the Crusaders find their envoy."
Nearly half an hour later the group rushed down the old roads to the docks at full speed. A dreary dawn began with the land growing slightly brighter. Their destination was now very close.
"Tell me how you poisoned those dwarves," said a Deathstalker over the galloping and rushing wind. "I saw you utter no curses and weave no spellwork."
"Hmph, the fools nearly poisoned themselves. The fumes from the burning scourge would have taken their lives over time. But as you saw, that can be sped up with the wind working with you," said Wayne.
"I saw you perform nothing," said the assassin in retort.
"Then perhaps your skills fall a bit short, it's subtle. I am not suprised that you could not notice," answered Wayne.
Ahead in the distance an outline of a ship came into view on the shore. The party rushed onward till reaching the outer hull of the ghostly ship. Several members of the damned crew came forward to salute.
To a living observer the ship would appear to be sunk. The rotting hull and decrepit condition gave the impression that it couldn't stay above the water. But any would be speculator could not understand the power that kept this ship afloat.
With the party on the top deck with all supplies gathered, the tattered sails were unfurled. The anchor was lifted from shallow murky water and the ship pushed out by the crew. Wayne searched again through his maps for guidance.
"Set course west," he said to the skeletal captain. "To the orc land of Durotar."
End of Chapter 32
