Chapter 6
Wonki didn't feel like getting out of bed, despite the noon sun that shown through the window. She wasn't necessarily lazy, but everything that was happening, it was easier to just hide than face it. In fact, she could have stayed in bed forever, the blanket pulled over her head, but a stubborn knocking on her door made those hopes impossible. She thought of shouting, "Its open," but that would allow anyone to come in. She thought of not answering, but who ever was at the door was determined, and showed little sign of letting up.
Groaning, she pulled a dark green robe over her head, pulled on a pair of slippers, and slowly made the trek over the floor. There was a peephole, low down so that Wonki could use it. When she looked through, all she saw was a pair of shapely, dark grey legs, each ending in a cloven hoof. It sounded silly of course, but Wonki, and all gnomes, didn't see the world like the taller races did. After a while, she could recognize someone easier by their legs than their face.
"Gredel?" Wonki asked, opening the door. "What are you doing here?"
The draenei bit her lip and nervously shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "May I come in?"
She was dressed nice: leather pants that hugged her hips tightly, a loose fighting, long sleeved shirt, crème colored, only the top button left undone. There was a pendant around her neck, gold with a sapphire stone in the center, probably for aesthetics than anything else, as well as a few rings on her fingers. Wonki realized this was the first time she had seen Gredel out of her heavy armor. She looked pretty.
"Sure," the gnome squeaked. "What are you doing here?"
Wonki's apartment was small, consisting only of one main room, a small kitchen and a bathroom. The furniture was built by gnomes, for gnomes, so Gredel looked comical standing inside. Chairs seats were as wide as her hooves, tables didn't even clear her shins. She sat down on Wonki's bed, her ample rump nearly swallowing the entire mattress. The springs whined beneath her weight, and the whole thing threatened to implode at any moment.
"Where were you last night?" she asked.
"I was here, sleeping. Though I may not be able to do that again, seeing that my mattress is about to collapse beneath your ample posterior."
"Anyone that can confirm that?"
"Have you looked in the mirror?"
"No, can anyone confirm you were here all night?"
"I live alone. What's going on? Is Twoblades dead," she chuckled.
Gredel shifted nervously.
"You can't be serious."
"He was found dead in his house this morning. His wife and children were dead too. I'm supposed to bring you in."
Wonki sat down on the floor and rested her head in both hands. "You're not wearing any armor, or carrying a weapon."
"I don't want it to be like that. Just come with me."
"How did he die?"
"Does that matter?"
"How did he die?" she repeated.
Gredel sighed heavily, her shoulders and cleavage rising and falling down three times before she said anything. "By the look of it, I would say the weapon was a claymore: heavy, dull. There was a lot of blood, the assailant hacked the bodies up pretty bad. To be honest, we're not even sure its Twoblades at all. We'll attempt an autopsy, but who knows."
Wonki chuckled. "Gredel, look at me. I'm not even three feet tall. I can't lift a sword, let alone beat some to death with one. Someone is setting me up."
"You had your demons kill him, or you hired someone to do it. It doesn't matter. My orders are to bring you in?"
"If you bring me in, my weapons will be confiscated, and I will be put in a cell with a dozen others. They have drugs, that make it impossible to use magic. I'll be defenseless. Don't you see. Someone is fucking me. Just say you couldn't find me, please. Let me find who is doing this. Then I'll turn myself in. I swear."
"Nessus," Gredel said.
"What?"
"Nessus. There was a centaur named Nessus. He told me to give you this," she said, taking a slip of paper out of her bag."
Wonki snatched it and read it over. "Why are you just giving me this now?"
"I forgot. Who is Nessus?"
"He was a comrade. Bracha and I worked with him during a mission about a year ago. He wants to meet tonight. He might know who's behind this. Gredel, please. Just say you couldn't find me. I swear. I will turn myself in when this is all settled. I swear."
"Go," the draenei uttered, turning her head to the side and closing her eyes. When she looked back, Wonki was gone.
Wonki would have to move fast. Her only hope was that the city's guards wouldn't be looking for her yet. It was noon, the sun was high, so it would be impossible to sneak out of the city. She would only look more suspicious. Instead she went to the stables and retrieved her mechanostrider, nodding nonchalantly at the stable master. She nodded at the soldiers and the guards, and the farmers that walked the streets, restraining an urge to speed to safety. She had to act natural.
About a mile outside of Goldshire, rested a small cave, deep within the trees. A lacking human presence had allowed a tribe of Kobolds occupy it. Small, fearful creatures, they usually avoid conflict, even with a creature as small as a gnome. It was the perfect place for an anonymous meeting. Wonki powered her strider down and left it where it stood. Slipping her dagger into the sheathe on her belt, her wand up her left sleeve, and a small bomb up her right sleeve, she set off towards the cave.
For the first time, with only the trees and the distant sounds of pickaxes hitting stone, she realized how stupid this was. She was wanted for murder. Now they could add evading arrest to the list of charges. The best thing to do would be to return to Goldshire and turn herself in, beg for mercy. She had been accused of working with the Horde several times, there were plenty of higher-ups who would love to her put away for good. But she had also completed dangerous assignment after dangerous assignment for the glory of the Alliance. She would be given a fair trial.
Instead she continued forward, at last reaching the threshold of the cave. Inside the dark tunnel, she could see distant flickers of light. The kobolds, she decided, fearful of the dark yet living in darkness. She could relate.
She heard a twig break behind her, and turned to see a centaur approach, his upper torso lost in the shadows. It was when he stepped forward into the noon sun's light that Wonki gave a nervous giggle.
"You're not Nessus."
---
Wonki was conscious for exactly five full seconds before she realized she was hanging upside down, her feet shackled, her blood pooling in her head. After another moment, she realized she was completely nude. Her head felt light, her muscles stiff. The marks on her arms told her of the drugs she had been injected with.
"You're not Nessus," she said to the centaur that accompanied her in the room.
"Your powers of observation boggle the mind," the centaur snorted. "No, I am not that turncoat Nessus. Nessus is rotting on the floor of the Great Sea. I am Magnus."
"You're not Magnus either. Magnus is dead. I should know. I killed him."
"Yes you did kill him. You and your band of savages murdered my people's savior. Cut him down in his prime. But his dream is not lost, for I have taken his mantle. I am Magnus II."
"Well la-di-da. Now that you've told me your sinister plan, and you know that the carpet matches the drapes, would you mind killing me?" she asked.
"Magnus was a visionary. He would unite the warring tribes under a single banner. And you murdered him."
"I've heard this story before," she groaned. "Come on, kill me. Avenge your fallen leader. Unite your warring tribes. But someone else will come along, and he'll kill you. We'll always win. You know why? Cause we're the good guys."
Wonki hoped to anger the centaur enough that he would kill her. Instead, laughter rolled out of his stomach.
"You fancy yourself the good guy? Your Alliance is composed of racists, bigots, elitists, and hate mongers. It was founded on the ideal of supremacy over those that are different, inferior. We are the rebels. We struggle for unity, when every other race seeks only to push us down."
"Its amazing you can stand up, what with that huge chip on your shoulder. The fact that all you centaurs turned on each other with Magnus dead should display how weak you really are. The Alliance is held together through mutual respect and common goals. Your tribes were held together by fear. All our leaders could die tomorrow, but the Alliance would hold strong. You pathetic bastards were held together by Magnus. If we hadn't killed Magnus, something else would have come along, and you would find yourself right her: leaderless, misguided, and blaming everyone else for your own inadequacies."
Wonki laughed slightly. "That's why we didn't do a salt. It just wasn't worth it to hunt you little shits down. Cause we knew, if we just killed Magnus, you would all fall apart. By the Light, I was ordered to salt a bunch of murlocs. The Alliance considers them more of a threat than you."
Magnus cringed, and swallowed down his rage. "You desire a quick death," he observed. "But that is a luxury not afforded to you. This is an old military base, abandoned during the Second War. No one is coming to save you. No one's ever going to find you. Another AWOL soldier. Just a statistic to your precious Alliance. You should have just died along with your dwarf."
The centaur turned and left, a lantern held tightly in his hand. It was the cell's only source of illumination, and when the door closed behind him, Wonki was left in darkness.
Magnus was content to leave the gnome in the cell for all eternity, allow her to rot alone in the darkness. There was work to do after all. There were others to make pay, and tribes to unite. He locked the cell, and turned, but was shocked to see a draenei blocked his path. Before he could draw his sword, she swung her hammer in a wide arc, the head of the weapon colliding with his jaw. He stumbled, reeling. The draenei woman let out a battle cry as she leapt forward, the hammer held tightly in both hands. She brought it down on the crown of the centaur's skull, caving his cranium The body collapsed.
From the centaur's corpse, Gredel found a key. Taking the lantern, she opened the door and stepped into the cell.
"Gredel?" Wonki asked.
The draenei, seeing the chained and nude gnome, instinctively covered her eyes.
"Its alright," Wonki assured. "Would you please release me? All the blood is in my head."
Gredel unlocked the shackles and eased Wonki to the ground, but still averted her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Wonki asked. "Not that I'm complaining, but…"
"I followed you, ma'am. I didn't want you running away, its my responsibility to take you in. Besides, were are partners. We should watch over one another."
Wonki shrugged her wiry shoulder. "Thank you," she squeaked. "Now let's go find my clothes, I'm fucking freezing."
Well this is it for the current arc, I hope who ever has been reading is enjoying it. I wrote three more chapters, making up a second arc, after that I don't think I'll continue with this story. I'd like to do a few one-shots: I finished one that takes place three years before BBB, and focuses on TaffAloos and Eck. I wrote another one that takes place a year after BBB (same time frame as this), and follows Taff. I haven't decided on titles for those two though, so they may not be up for a while, or they may be up tomorrow. I don't know. Anyway, the three chapter arc after this is going to have Eck, as well as two new characters, and Gredel and Wonki in a cameo role, so you can look forward to that next Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed the gripping conclusion.