CHAPTER TWO: Emily

No way. I swear I have a mini heart-attack as she says her name. Her voice is just as I imagined it would be as an adult. She's just as beautiful. She is Emily. Maybe Warcraft is a real universe, parallel to our own.

"Come on," she says, shaking her tears away. "Let's get you to Cenarion Point." I grab my dagger, and we set off towards the mountain in the middle of the desert. As we arrive, I prepare myself for the sight of night elves, dranei, orcs, tauren, trolls, dwarves, anything. It doesn't work. I'm still blown away by their sheer size. I swear the shortest night elf there is seven foot. The tauren are massive. The trolls are… Well, I don't think I need to go on.

"Moran! Another one for outfitting." Emily yells into the forge.

I never thought anything could be so big. This man must be a dranei. Yep, complete with tentacles.

"So, little one… Emily, what's his name?" the big man rumbles.

Emily's eyes misted again. "His name is Kirk, Moran. I've found him."

Moran stares at me, open-mouthed. "It cannot be… It is! Hah!" The blacksmith lets out a bark of triumph. "So my young rogue, a pair of daggers, some leather-worked armour, and a set of throwing knives? Or would you prefer a different combination this time?" This time? What's he talking about, 'This time'?

"I'll go with what you said, thanks." I somehow push out.

"Very good, Master Kirk. Emily will you be paying for him, or is he the same as always?" Moran gave a questioning look to Emily.

"I'll pay, Moran." She stood on tiptoes, and whispered in his ear. My face flushed with humiliation. I hate not knowing what's going on. Moran looks at Emily gravely.

"Very well. Come with me, Master Kirk, and we shall outfit you!" he thundered as he stomped off to the back of the forge. I looked at Emily.

"Go on!" she said, seemingly ignoring the fact that Moran was still a total stranger to me. "Oh right. Moran never does things by halves. We did some adventuring some time back, so I know we can trust him."

This gave me some relief. I wandered over to where Moran was waiting, near a block with a heap of knives stuck in it. He wandered the eye of a master over the block, picked one out and handed it to me.

"Try this one," he said, pointing at a target dummy.

"What do I do, throw it?" I ask.

"If you like." he says.

Damnit! Ok, let's try throwing this thing. I hurl the dagger, and watch its glittering blade arc over the intervening space, to land straight between the dummy's eyes.

Moran gave a laugh of approval. "Haha! I can see that it's coming back to you."

"Excuse me, Mister Moran, but what's coming back to me exactly?" I ask of him.

Moran looked taken aback. "Kirk, there's no need to call me 'Mister', I'm just Moran to you. And as for what is coming back, I mean your skill, boy, your skill. You may have forgotten, but you, Emily, Murray, David, Tigerlily and I, we did some adventuring a while back. Scaled Blackrock Mountain, delved into Ahn'Quiraj, that sort of thing. Me and Emily in the front, tearing our foes to pieces with axe and hammer, you, skulking around cutting throats, David turning our enemies into pincushions, Murray blasting them to pieces, and Tigerlily there to make sure we never died. Oh and Jess, ripping throats, but she belonged to David." He looked into my eyes. "You don't remember any?"

I shook my head sadly. He sighed, a deep, long, drawn out breath. "Hmm. Try out some of the other daggers, see if they work as well as that one. I need to talk to Emily." And with that he moved off, back towards where Emily was waiting.

Me try them out? Argh, I may as well. I pull one out at random and try the throw again. The blade arcs over beautifully, just as it had before, and wings half a foot wide. Hmm, not that one… I pull out one of the longer ones. I flick it at the target. Whoosh! Right between the… arm and side. Nope, not that one either. I notice one sitting on the table. A long thin poniard sort of thing. I pick it up. It feels like the first one. I throw it. It hits the target, dead centre in its left eye. Ok, I think I have my two. I pick them out of the targets head, watching them as I do. The first one is a little difficult to pull out, as expected, but the second comes out so easily I stagger backwards. I reckon it's enchanted. I find the appropriate sheaths for them on a table nearby, and walk over to Moran and Emily.

I find them deep in conversation, talking about something. I catch the last few words from Emily; "…have to find the others."