A mangy cat wandered down the winding, narrow streets of a small neighborhood in Ratchet that night. All the shops had been locked up in that quarter of the port city, and the stray took its time perusing all the bowls of various scraps that the locals had left out for it. The cat didn't have a home, but it was well fed and happy; as outstanding a member of the community as all the sentient denizens of the neighborhood.
In between the stucco and plaster buildings of the empty little street, a ball of energy materialized. Silent at first, the power soon grew until a flat, two-dimensional disk opened up into the air, swirling around with images of pine trees, tombstones and a continent across the ocean. The stray cat sat down and watched, mesmerized by the way the disc all swirled around the central point like the Maelstrom. It was a perfectly conjured portal...had it not been conjured at about the same level as the awnings over the second floor apartment balconies of the goblin port.
Dark figures approached from the other side of the disc, poking through with their metal boots and gauntlets without pretense as a dozen skeletal soldiers marched through. Entirely unaware of their inaccurate teleportation, they quicky dropped down to the street, landing almost as gracefully as the stray cat that they squashed beneath their silent steps.
"Well, this doesn't look so bad SHIT-"
Unaware and unprepared, a previously jovial orc donning black robes and flip flops walked through at fear them, immediately shrieking as she tumbled twenty feet toward the street below. Two of the skeletal warriors caught her and set her on the ground, though she was shaken enough to stumble once before regaining her balance.
Zulgha glanced back up at the portal. "That's completely inaccurate," she grumbled.
A larger figure emerged, partially blocking the light of the portal as it dissipated. The disappearance of the interfering light revealed Runa, her head tilted toward the sky pretentiously, as she carried Martha and Kaelystia in one hand each. Which looked a bit odd since both the val'kyr and the banshee were incorporeal ghosts but somehow it worked.
Martha brushed her dress off as Runa landed. "Well, that was almost like one of the rides at the Darkmoon Faire," she chuckled.
"I'm a frost specialist, not a portal specialist," Kaelystia chucked in return as she surveyed their surroundings. "Now, eh, let's see...ah yes, I believe the warlock coven is wedged against the bluffs in the very back of this neighborhood. Let's go."
Not wanting to spend any more time in such a warm climate than necessary, Zulgha followed behind their two guides quietly as they traversed the winding, disorganized streets of a less busy Ratchet neighborhood. Thankfully, the two class trainers were content to just chat with each other as they led the way, leaving the only sounds to be their two low voices, the clap of Zulgha's footwear and the surprisingly quiet marching of twelve fully armed undead soldiers.
And the zap of Runa resurrecting something behind them.
Knowing that the lesser val'kyr possessed the intelligence but lacked the good judgment of her kind's more advanced fellows, Zulgha closed her eyes for a second and tried to pretend that she hadn't heard anything and that Runa hadn't done something that would result in their being exposed.
"Please be the wind, please be the wind, please just be the wind-"
"Hey everybody, we have a new pet!" Runa beamed as she flew up toward their two guides.
"Awwww!" both Martha and Kaelystia cooed.
Opening her eyes, Zulgha was met with the street cat that the skeletons had landed on, raised like a ghoul complete with the jagged, jerky movements that signified a completely useless, hollow undead. "Mrrrooowwwrrr," it meowed in a warped, baritone voice that spoke of a stunning lack of even basic intelligence.
"You've got to be kidding me," Zulgha muttered under her breath as Runa proudly carried the brain dead creation in her arms like a pampered princess pet. She tried to tune out the ensuing conversation, falling back among the skeletons that Barghash had instructed to follow her every command and using them as a sort of bulwark against inanity.
Soon enough, both Martha and Kaelystia stopped in a rather narrow, unpaved alleyway, ducking into the tall Barrens grass that had sprouted up in the poorer section of the city. Just around the corner, Zulgha could sort of see the outline of a building constructed with fel architecture, thought Runa obliviously blocked the entire alleyway with her wings and obstructed the view.
"Well, that's unexpected," Martha whispered, her tone of voice laced with unpleasant surprise.
After failing to see around Runa's strategically obstructing frame, Zulgha relented. "What specifically is the problem?" she asked, hoping they could just get to the point.
Pausing for a few seconds, Martha just continued to stare at what appeared to be a warlock hut. "The lights are on in the central training room; we assumed that they would be asleep. We'll have to incapacitate them all the same, but I'm worried about them escaping and alerting the bruisers."
"I don't see any bruisers...or anybody else, for that matter," Kaelystia whispered back. After a moment of thought, she conceded to her companion's point. "Better safe than sorry, I suppose."
Pushing forward, Zulgha's heart raced at the thought of a good fight. "Alright, I got this. Martha, Kaelystia, you both might want to hang tight; once we have the packages secured, we'll call you in for a final sweep of your new home base to ensure that there aren't any traps or stragglers. And Runa, by the shadow, leave that atrocity here and stop flying because your wings create too much noise."
"His name is Mr. Happy," Runa replied in a voice that was a little too loud.
"Runa! Keep your voice down! Leave whatever its name is here and get walking!"
Without even waiting to see Runa's jaw drop open in sincere offense, Zulgha waved the skeletons forward. The area behind the alleyway was not only unpaved but also a bit of a mess; just the warlock hut hidden from view of the street, a few storage huts and an outdoor water pump next to an unused mount hitch. The skeletons proved surprisingly intelligent if in the sense of only following orders; they moved around a tumbleweed and a crumpled up newspaper in the ground so as to avoid making noise, and they even walked in a single file line away from the light of the window in a path that Zulgha herself hadn't realized was stealthier. Pulse racing, Zulgha listened for the sound of a man quietly singing in Thalassian inside the main hut, and her mind conjured images of death versus demonic magic clashing in green, red and black explosions. Everything seemed just fine until Runa, who'd been walking on the ground silently until that point, conjured her ghostly battle axe.
::SHOOOOON::
"Shit, Runa!" Zulgha hissed in reaction to the ethereal sound caused by the weapon conjuration.
Looking back, she could see the burly beauty in a stance that looked threatening but was too loose to actual be an effective battle stance, as if she was posing for the cover of the Undercity serialized weekly. "Sorry," the lesser val'kyr said out loud.
"What the fu...Runa, shut up!"
"Why? Whoever is in there obviously heard the sound of my Munificent Warpiece of the Wailing Skies, so they already know we're here."
"Runa, I swear, stop talking!"
"That sentence doesn't make any sense."
"We don't accept trainees at this hour," came the voice of the blood elf man inside of the hut. "Please come back in the morning."
Both women paused for a moment, Zulgha ducking low and trying to peer through the window while Runa continued to stand like what must have appeared to be a giant winged lumberjack to whoever was inside. The sound of two feet creaked on the floorboards until the man reached the door, and Zulgha quickly took a casting stance in case she had to cripple him with one of her status ailments. The door flung open, casting light on visage of their first target.
"Listen can you just - why hello!" Matero, the demon trainer of Ratchet, paused mid sentence as he began practically leering at Zulgha and Runa both, as dumbstruck as if he was dreaming at first. Like a character straight out of a comedy at the Stormwind theater, Matero leaned against the door frame in a manner so cliche that Zulgha didn't even bother concealing her eye roll. "Anything you ladies need help with tonight?" he asked in a suggestive tone.
Having prepared for a fight, Zulgha tried to think of a great comeback before they rendered him unconscious. Runa, however, had other ideas.
"Vengeance!"
For a good few seconds, Matero appeared confused, though his expression slowly turned to one of intrigue. Zulgha turned around to see that the val'kyr hadn't even moved from the pose she'd struck, and was just standing there preening with her battle axe.
"Well?!" Zulgha asked after a few more seconds of Matero leering at them.
Shaking her head as if she'd been zoning out, Runa turned her helmeted head toward the orc. "Huh? Oh...I thought you were going to-"
"Damnit Runa, just use the flat side of your axe!"
"Say, didn't I see you two at the costume party last week - ACK!"
::THUNK::
"Like this?" Runa asked as the incorporeal blade somehow banged against Matero's forehead like a solid striking a solid. The blood elf's eyes rolled back and he wavered for a moment before slumping against the door frame. The blow was a clean one, and Matero didn't even appear that hurt by the fall.
"Finally! Yes, like that, Runa," Zulgha sighed in relief. Relaxing her stance, she turned to a few of the skeletons. "Take him back to Kaelystia and have her freeze him into hibernation. We need him alive."
"Yesss..." hissed one of the skeletons with a voice that sounded like the wind. It lifted Matero over his shoulder and promptly left, the other two at either side of it. Zulgha watched them both walk back toward the alleyway just to ensure that they understood her instructions, and was pleased to find that the semi-sentient creations were probably the more competent of the minions that the laboratory produced.
"What's going on?" piped up the voice of a gnome from inside of the hut.
Turning around, Zulgha could see that a berobed figure stood atop a loft inside of the one-and-a-half story hut. The little gnome looked disoriented but not drowsy, as if she'd been reading for a very long time and had pulled away from the pages too quicky. Perfect.
"Good evening, miss Shadowcleft," Zulgha said with mock politeness as she invited herself inside of the hut. The place was disgustingly well organized, and exuded the sort of anal retentive nature of casters who spent too much time writing refutations in journals and not enough time getting out and wreaking havoc. "We've come to escort you on your trip!"
Despite her age and her profession, the middle aged gnome appeared scared in a way that just tickled Zulgha to no end. "But, but I wasn't planning on a trip!" Babagaya stammered.
Zulgha snapped her fingers. "Runa!" she called, and for once the lesser val'kyr actually accepted a direct order, walking on foot and ducking beneath the doorway in an obvious attempt to intimidate the tiny warlock.
"What is this? Who are you people?"
"We're-"
"We're your worst nightmare," Runa said before flipping her battle axe around in her hands. The line sounded cheesy but Zulgha had to at least give the ghost credit for trying.
Babagaya covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide with almost too much fear considering her abilities. Zulgha clenched her fists, uneasy at how easy the abduction seemed. "Oh no, you're here to kidnap me, aren't you? That's just awful!"
Keeping her hands clamped over her mouth, Babagaya walked over to the top of the stairs. Runa shouldered her battle axe, reaching upward toward the loft with her free hand - she was almost tall enough to pull the gnome down - and grinning smugly. "You're coming with us, ma'am."
"Well, I guess I'd better surrender then!" Babagaya replied through her clamped fingers. Zulgha only noticed the faint dark glow in between them at the last second.
"Runa, don't!"
Throwing her hands apart, Babagaya sneered at the two much larger people, sending a stream of darkness toward the val'kyr. "Shadow bolt, sucka!" the gnome snarled as her spell smashed right into Runa's chestplate.
The blast hit the val'kyr so hard that she didn't even groan or flinch. Her large frame flew straight back and slammed into the wall, her limbs and wings flailing around like a rag doll until she hit the floor. Because Runa was incorporeal, the wall she hit and the table she landed on were undamaged, but enough of her essence was grounded in the physical plane that she was just as hurt as Zulgha would have been. Little undead skeleton chicks were practically dancing around her head, and even the helmet that covered most of her face slipped partially off, revealing dazed blue eyes as her black hair came undone from its two braids.
Pulling her eyes away from her unprepared comrade, Zulgha grinned with her gummy smile, delighted that she no longer had a reason to play nice. "The gloves are off, you steaming pile of bird-"
"Terror fiend, defend my honor!"
Interrupting the orc necrophyte mid sentence, Babagaya rubbed some sort of a trinket that rendered her summon instantaneous. Without even the typical rubix cube of fel symbols that signified a summoning circle, a ginormous winged, hooved, horned demon materialized right in the middle of the hut. With teeth and talons and a sabre and a whip and fire coming out of his nostrils, the terror fiend looked like the red death coming to steamroll the orc caster right then and there...if it weren't for the fact that it was so big that it couldn't even move inside of the hut.
"What did you do this time?" the terror fiend bellowed at the gnome wedged in between him and the wall. It was almost curled into a ball and even when it tried to flap his wings in frustration, it found that one was wedged in between the rafters and the other was inside of the reagant storage beneath the loft.
"What - it's not for you to question me!"
By that time, nine skeletons had already filed in behind Zulgha. A few of them looked as if they were about to charge up the loft, but the necrophyte had other plans.
"Cut that thing's throat out so it doesn't alert the guards!" Zulgha hissed while pointing at the shocked terror fiend.
Grunting in frustration as it tried to slide free of all the furniture, support beams and pesky walls boxing it in, the terror fiend actually began to look worried. "Why would you summon me in the middle of one of your puny Azerothian dwellings in the first place!" it yelled, this time a bit more urgently as the skeletons impaled its wrists and ankles with their greatswords to pin it down.
"What did I tell you about questioning my - uh oh..."
Babagaya was so focused on her demon's insolence that she hadn't noticed Zulgha walk halfway up the stairs. "Double dare you, twerp," the orc taunted, her eyes glowing red.
Defiance shone in the little gnome's eyes, and she rolled up the sleeves of her demonic robes. "Alright," Babagaya huffed while wiggling her energy-laden fingers, "let's see what you're made of when you get him by my shadow-"
Cutting her off, Zulgha pressed her pointer to her thick lips and whispered: "Hush."
-bolt, Babagaya mouthed soundlessly at the end of her sentence. Her eyes widened like saucers as the dark energy dissipated from around her, and she waved her arms a few more times in an attempt to cast again. You silenced me, you freaking cheater? she silently mouthed again.
Zulgha grinned wide and flashed her gums as she pulled a burlap sack that had been tucked beneath her rope belt. "All's fair in love and war!" she hissed, lunging upward for her target.
Like a dropped bar of soap in the shower, Babagaya shot away from the bag and slid down the banister, ignoring her own demon as the skeleton soldiers severed its wings, limbs and horns without actually having the mercy to kill it. Runa stumbled to her feet, readjusting her helmet as Babagaya slid beneath the val'kyr's long legs and rushed out the door.
Realizing that her silence spell wouldn't last forever, Zulgha stuffed the bag into the neck of her robes and tried to give chase. "Runa, get your ass out here and help me catch Shadowcleft before she alerts the bruisers!" the orc huffed as she faced down her second greatest enemy after stairs: running.
Outside, the isolated, undeveloped part of the goblin city was dark, but the enchantments on Babagaya's robes left a demonic trail wherever she went. "Damnit, I should've worn shoes," Zulgha huffed again as she removed her flip flops and stuffed one in each pocket of her acolyte's robe.
Barefoot and royally pissed off, Zulgha dodged puddles and dirt as she followed Babagaya's trail toward a commercial district. There were a good thirty seconds left to her spell, and she felt herself panic a little as thoughts of such an easy capture quest failing mocked her in the back of her head. Her fear spiked when she heard the sound of little fists beating on a door; the gnome didn't need her voice to cause noise via other means.
Like a bat out of hell, Runa sped right by Zulgha, turning a corner on a dime and growling in fury and probably a lot of heated embarrassment through grit teeth. Zulgha followed her, but she already heard the sound of a fist crashing against a face prior to even rounding the corner herself. There, right at the doorstep of what appeared to be the workshop and house of a hatter, was one slumped over gnome with a lump on her head and Runa looking rather unpretentious for once as she folded her arms over her chest plate like a bruiser watching a troublesome traveler.
"Stupid, Shadow-damned Alliance scum..." the val'kyr muttered under her breath as she folded her wings behind her back and didn't even bother striking a pose.
"Damn, you pulled a nice one there," Zulgha said while slapping Runa on the back. It was weird; she couldn't feel anything at all, but her hand stopped moving in midair as if it had collided with a solid wall; as an apprentice of the dark arts, she made a mental note to research why ghosts were suspectible to physical damage later. For the time being, she busied herself kneeling down to inspect Babagaya's vital signs. "She's still alive, which is exactly what we need."
"She's lucky that our quest objectives mandate her survival," Runa muttered again.
Just then, hoof clops sounded off from the other side of the door, and the pair were once again caught unaware as they found someone else listening in on their conversation. The hatter who lived above his shop, an older draenei fellow wearing a fedora, apparently decided to see what all the racket was about, and Zulgha just barely managed to stand over Babagaya's body and hide the gnome with the excess fabric of her robes.
The man stood in the open doorway, noticing that Zulgha's robes were billowing from recent movement but otherwise more concerned with two obviously non-Alliance citizens on his doorstep at night. "Can I...help you?" he asked suspiciously.
Zulgha froze, peering at Runa via her peripheral vision and finding that the val'kyr looked just as lost as she did. Seconds passed like hours and a hoof tap spoke of the hatter's impatience. A light bulb went off in Zulgha's mind and she pulled the bag out from where she'd wedged it in her bra.
"Trick or treat!" she chirped while giving the hatter innocent puppy dog eyes, as if she hadn't just led a hostile takeover of one of his neighbors' workshops.
Furrowing his forehead crest, the hatter stared at them in disbelief. After all, Zulgha was a little old to be asking for candy door-to-door and Runa was partially transparent and obviously to just a kid in a costume. Shaking his his in disapproval, the hatter reached behind his door and pulled out two pamphlets with pictures of naaru on them, handing one each to the two women on his doorstep.
"May the Light guide your heathen souls," he mumbled as he shut the door.
Only when the sounds of hoof clops disappeared on the second floor did Zulgha finally toss the tome-thumping pamphlet into the trash. "Alright, let's get this little mongrel over to Kaelystia for freezing," she said while dragging the surprisingly heavy gnome into the burlap bag. "Runa, can you carry her?"
The val'kyr didn't even bother looking up from her pamphlet. "I'm a little bit busy." So busy, in fact, that she knocked over a garbage can while flying back toward the others, creating a ton of noise that caused Zulgha to bristle.
