(AUTHOR'S NOTE:Alright I know the actions kind of slipped a bit, but our heroes needed break =p. Anyways, the actin will pick back up in the next chapter, but until then enjoy the next plot twist...sort of...)
Chapter 9: Little Stowaway, Big Information, And Unlikely Companions
The next day Drake was called to Thrall's chambers once again. He arrived at Grommash hold to see Thrall and Draggo awaiting in the hold.
"Drake Valarian I have a proposal to make with you." said Thrall.
"And what exactly would this proposal be?" asked Drake.
"This gnome character…Nal? I don't believe his disappearance right before the demons arrived and the slaughter of my men is a mere coincidence. I'm creating a search team of powerful soldiers. Considering we are now in allegiance with the Allaince I believe it would be best if you and my men worked together to find this gnome." said Thrall as he turned to Draggo. "I have heard that you two have fought beside each other before. You two should work very well together." said Thrall.
"Uh, yes, Thrall, I believe at the moment that does seem like the most logically plan of action." replied Drake.
"Good. Draggo shall gather his men and join your soldiers. Together I'm sure you will be able to solve this quagmire." said Thrall. "That is all."
"Indeed. I bid you leave Thrall." said Drake as he exited the throne room. Draggo followed behind him.
"A lil blind sided huh?' said Draggo with a smirk of amusement.
"Yes, very much so! I was hoping to have talked this through a little more! This is a very delicate situation that requires extensive planning! We could very well be wasting our time in this search!" said Drake in harsh whispers.
"Well if you feel so strongly then why didn't you oppose the Warchief?" asked Draggo, knowing full well why Drake had not gone against Thrall's orders.
"I can't oppose the Warchief of the Horde! Are you crazy!? Not only is that rude, it's down right suicide!" hissed Drake.
"Drake, you'll never make it as a soldier if you keep being so damn polite. Get some scruff and be aggressive! Be a man!" snickered Draggo. He found he often pestered Drake for his gentle ways.
"I do believe that my assistance in Northrend is proof enough of my battle prowess!" scoffed Drake.
"True. I guess you're an exception you little peach." snickered Draggo as he gave his friend a joking smile. Drake playfully glared at Draggo's comment.
"I'm the one who told Thrall to go through with this plan to be honest." said Draggo.
"Why?"
"Because, Drake, I have a family. I have an astounding son, a wonderful wife, and a beautiful little girl that I care for with all of my being. We may just be going on a wild goose chase, but I'm willing to take a chance if it can save my family from this destruction than to sit back idly while we deliberate on the 'appropriate' plan of action." explained Draggo.
"I see..I knew you had a heart buried somewhere under all that muscle." Drake chortled.
"Don't be fooled Drake, these muscles have brought death too many." laughed Draggo.
"I'm sure. Listen, gather your men and meet with one of my soldiers at the entrance. He will lead you to our ship. Once we regroup we can head out and search for this Nal character….But there is one thing…Neluun…He-"
"Don't worry Drake, I can handle him if he steps out of line." said Draggo calmly.
"Alright then. I will have a talk with him to make sure he does not cause any trouble." said Drake as he headed off.
Drake arrived back at the boat with the majority of his men. When he approached the ship he noticed Tygra was sitting out front with a gnome tied up ad laying next to her. He seemed to be frightened.
"Tygra who is this?" asked Drake as he examined the gnome. The little guy was wearing simple clothes. He appeared to be a commoner.
"Good question. We found him stowed away on the ship. Says his name is Frin." explained Tygra as she snatched the gnome up by the rope with her staff and held him at eye level with Drake. The gnome was frantically flailing his arms and legs around.
"Was tying him up really necessary? I doubt he would try to escape from you. He's probably too scared to run at all. Release the poor guy." said Drake. Tygra sighed and transformed her hand into a claw and slashed loose the rope around the gnomes body and mouth.
"Oh thank you sir Valarian! It is true what they say of your kindess!" screeched the gnome.
"You're not off the hook that easy. What are you doing on my ship? Asked Drake as he stared down the gnome. Frin anxiously tapped his fingers together.
"Um…It's about Nal…I…" murmured the gnome. Drake leaned in close.
"What do you know Frin?" asked Drake in a serious tone.
"Well um…Look, Nal's a good guy. I've known him my whole life! We're like brothers! He'd never do anything to hurt anyone on purpose." babbled Frin.
"Get to the point Frin…" said Drake becoming slightly agitated. Frin released a heavy stressful sigh.
"Look…We're treasure hunters. I'm the brains, he's the brawns. I find the treasure, he gets us there safely. We've been doin it for years! Not too long ago I got news of great treasure in the Maelstrom. We shipped out. The seas were terrible. We barely made it to the island we were looking for, but we made it nonetheless. We found some weird ruins there and so we decided to explore…" Frin paused and sighed
"We found this…artifact. Some kind of pendant. I knew right away there was something wrong with it, something…Evil…But Nal had this weird fixation with it. He grasped the pendant regardless of what I said and we left. I thought nothing of it at the time but he soon began to change…" said Frin.
"How so?" asked Drake.
"Everything, his attitude his appearance. He seemed to become distant and lock himself inside his home all day and read these old books. His skin began to turn pale and these weird marks began to appear on his face. Before I could intervene he left…Next thing I knew we're under attack by demons…" said Frin.
"So it was this Nal guy who's causing all this mayhem! He will pay dearly…" growled Tygra.
"NO wait! You have to understand, Nal's a great guy! He's always fought to protect people, never to harm them, please don't think ill of him! Listen I think I know where he's going, but I'm not going to tell you unless you promise not to har-" before Frin could finish Tygra grasped the gnome by the throat tightly and lifted him high up into the air.
"Listen to me you tinker-tonkering fool! Your friend is the reason my fiance is dead, so you tell me where Nal is or I will take my vengeance upon you instead of him!" hollered Tygra. Frin gasped for breath as his face began to turn as blue as a draenei. Drake quickly intervened and forced Tygra to release the gnome.
"Tygra stop! Look, this could be our only shot at finding Nal, so let's compromise with this fellow. Perhaps he's right and we can resolve this peacefully. It's the only way we can solve this…" said Drake.
"Fine then. Continue with your damn diplomacy." snapped Tygra as she stormed back onto the ship.
"Pardon my friend Frin. She has…suffered great losses. Listen, lead us to Nal and we promise to do all we can to help him if he is causing this." said Drake.
"Thank you sir. Now before Nal left he had this map and marked some locations on it. I made a copy of it while he was occupied once. I'm not sure what's significant about these marks, but I know several places marked down have been…Well everything in that area was laid to waste… Now his marks were labeled in an order so he should be heading somewhere in Tanaris." explained Frin as he pulled a map from his pocket.
"Good. We will find your friend in no time then.' said Drake with a smile.
"So when are we leaving?" asked Frin.
"As soon as our friends arrive…" Drake said pleasantly.
Draggo arrived at the ship accompanied by one of Drake's soldiers along with several other Horde members. Drake recognized Crether, Fenron, and Drek'val, all whom he had met in Northrend, but there was a fifth member to the party. A blood elf woman was following them. She appeared to be a mage from her raiments.
"Draggo, I'm glad you could make it, although I was hoping you would bring a slightly…larger group with you…" said Drake.
"Don't worry, you know how capable the Wrathchildren are…and our guest is also a very capable fighter." said Draggo as he turned to the blood elf. She curtsied respectfully.
"Greetings. My name is Kataya." greeted the the elf. Drake bowed respectfully.
"Kataya is held in high regards amongst my fellow Horde. I assumed we might need her talents as mage." explained Draggo.
"Pleasant to meet you milady. Draggo we have more news on this Nal fellow-"
"Oooh…Goood. I'll enjoy slicing his soft pink flesh with my blades." snickered Crether sinisterly. Frin let loose a nervous gasp as he hid behind Drake.
"This wouldn't happen to be our 'Nal' friend would it?" asked Crether as he slowly approached Frin. Frin let loose another shrill cry.
"Crether, cut it out." Draggo ordered. Crether scoffed and stopped in his tracks.
"No this is Frin, a friend of Nal's. According to him Nal came across an artifact in the Maelstrom and became obsessed with it. Soon after he departed we were attacked by the demons. Nal seems to be traveling to locations on this map and leaving destruction everywhere he goes." explained Drake holding up the map.
"Dis be good at hear mon. Da faster we get ta him, da faster we can kill him." cheered Drek'val.
"Eh, not quite…You see, Frin is a close friend to Nal and doesn't want to see him get hurt. He's the only one who can navigate this map and he refuses to help us if we are going to hurt Nal." said Drake.
"Well well well, it would seem we have quite the dilemma. Perhaps a few, 'persuasive' slashes could convince this gnome otherwise…" hissed Crether as he slid his finger across his blade. Frin grimaced in fear.
"That's enough Crether…Alright then. We'll try to be diplomatic. But I warn you, we will defend ourselves if the situation calls for it." said Draggo. Frin thought about the idea for a moment and then nodded.
"Good so we are all in agreeance! Claire, go fetch Tygra, Longshot and Neluun off the ship." ordered Drake. The young soldier saluted and marched onto the ship.
"Draggo, a moment please…" said Fenron as he stepped to the side.
"Look I'm all for peaceful solutions, but these are extenuating circumstances. I honestly doubt we will be able to come to a peaceful solution. Now you know I have no problem working with the Alliance unlike our friends back there, but if this is going to be how we solve our problems I don't think we should let them be leading this hunt." whispered Fenron.
"I understand your distress my friend, but it's because these are extenuating circumstances that we must seize the only opportunity we have. Drake may not seem like it, but he is a very capable leader. If he doesn't own up then I will intervene when the situation calls for it." explained Draggo. Fenron nodded as they both rejoined Drek'val, Kataya and Crether.
Neluun, Longshot, and Tygra walked off the ship accompanied by the guard. Longshot appeared to be the only one in a pleasant mood.
"Howdy ther!" greeted the dwarf as he approached the Horde. Drek'val and Crether shot at him with nasty glares. The dwarf was becoming discouraged until Fenron approached. The tauren towered over the dwarf staring down at him. Fenron kneeled dwon and grbbed the dwarf's hand in his.
"Greetings. I am Fenron Bloodmane." greeted the tauren. With a happy look, Longshot grabbed the taurnes heavy hand in delight.
"Ey thar Fenny! The name be Longshot!"
"Fenny? I must say, that's a first." chuckled Fenron. The dwarf replied with a happy grin and let go of Fenron's hand. Draggo and Drake smiled. It was good to see that at least someone else besides just them would get along. Then they saw the glares that was being shot back and forth between their men.
"Oh, Drake, I forgot, A package come for ye. 'Twas delivered by a Stormwind messenger. Says it's from a 'Darius Tyring'. It's heavy as an ogre!" said Longshot as he handed a large package to Drake. Drake anxiously grabbed the package and ripped open the box. Inside was Darius' famous sword, the Lion's Fang. It was a large thick golden blade with smooth and curvy sides. On the front of the blue handle was a large Alliance crest and fur came down from where the blade and the handle met. Attached to the handle was a letter. it read,
'Get'em boy!' in Darius' sloppy handwriting. Drake laughed and wiped a single prideful tear from his eye.
"Well…let's get moving then!" said Draggo as he called down Frostwing from the skies. Everyone got onto their mounts and formed up behind Drake and Draggo. Frin sat on Drake's horse in front of him on the saddle.
"Lead the way!" said Drake as he rushed his horse onward. The real journey had finally begun, but the harsh trials destined for the warriors was looming ahead as well.