A Tale of Three Druids
Chapter 11: MUST KILL ROGUES
Resdlen, Yeow, and Fliflax snapped back into reality, staggering at the vertigo. Resdlen snarled. "Anyone feeling like fixing da tusk?"
Yeow stumbled to her feet and fixed Resdlen with a suspicious glare. "Who were those people that dragged you away, and what happened next?" She demanded, her paranoia un-soothed.
"Dey were criminals. I joined up wit dem. Twenty five years I spent murderin' and tievin'. Den a Death Knight came along. Thought I was Tokgarad, ma brother. Informed me dat he's a Death Knight now. I left. Dey never let go of da grudge I left. I've got a few scars from ma encounters wit dem. I imagine by now I should be able to deal with all five of 'em." He stated dispassionately, as if commenting on a stranger's misfortune.
Yeow, once again, was impressed with this enigmatic troll.
"You seem to have a knack for hurting yourself, Resdlen." Fliflax observed.
Resdlen flung a knife at the unsuspecting Tauren's head and screamed "No maudlin for you! To da land of da Lich King! We shall unleash da rage of da great Jack da Monkey! All shall fear his magical powers!" he dashed out of the hut, his monkey friend clinging to his back.
Fliflax stepped away from the knife embedded into the wall next to his head. "To Northrend we go, I suppose." He sighed
%&%
Resdlen, Yeow, and Fliflax continued bickering with the troll at the registration counter.
"Protocol is protocol, mon. I'm putting ya at da bottom of da pile, and dat's dat. If every adventurah dat wanted to try ta slay da Lich King got through, all da warriors would be gone at once, and da Alliance would get us. Ya got ta wait."
Fliflax opened his mouth to spit out a withering reply, but Resdlen shushed him.
"He's right. Protocol is protocol. But, if I'm correct, we wait in a different line since we're already in a group." The Northrend Registrar grinned.
"Well, dat would be da case, but ya argued wit me, so I tink ya be waiting in da regular line."
Resdlen simply grinned and replied "Good policy. I'm sure dat ya follow it rigorously. But ya know, sometimes one gotta take a break. Come wit me, I'll buy us both a round at da pub."
This caught the drowsy registrar's attention, and he quickly agreed. Fliflax and Yeow gaped, dumbfounded, as Resdlen cordially took the man to the Valley of Strength pub. Fliflax shook his head in disgust.
"Traitorous troll." He muttered, turning to leave. Suddenly, Resdlen came dashing down the road, jumping and clicking his heels as he went. He smirked impishly at the Taurens. He held up a sheet, complete with signature from the registrar.
"Good ol' druid magic. And beer. Beer helped too. I gave 'im a few shots o' Sulfuron Slammer, convinced 'im to sign, den cast Hibernate on him. He'll wake up mad in about an hour." The troll announced proudly.
"Hibernate only works on semi-sentient beings, Resdlen…" Yeow warned him, expecting a somewhat drowsy Registrar leading some guards towards them at any moment. The troll snorted.
"Two tings. One, I'm a powerful druid. Two, he was drowsy and an idiot. I'm not sure if he counts as a sentient being." Fliflax nodded grudgingly, accepting the insult.
"Well," Yeow stated briskly, clapping her hands together, "time to hop a ride to Northrend, eh?" Suddenly, a bedraggled Forsaken seized her forearm.
"Help me, madam. Let me join your group, please? I'll carry my own weight." He promised, a desperate gleam in his eye. Or what was left of it, anyway. Yeow hesitated for a moment, but finally shrugged and connected the rogue to her consciousness, as well as the males'. He grinned at her. Well, he tried, but he had no jaw, so it came off more as a slight shift of the rotten skin on his face. The Tauren grimaced, and led the group to the zeppelin.
#$#
Resdlen glanced around at the others on the airship. Almost all of them were grimacing Death Knights, revenge on their mind. The rest were hunters or warriors. All of them shot Resdlen derogatory looks. An orc snickered behind the back of his hand, and whispered something to a Blood Elf Death Knight sitting next to him. Resdlen shook his head.
Everybody blamed the druids because they didn't wear plate. Let's see their plate armor deal with a frickin' bear paw.
A troll death knight rose, and two seeming cronies rose with him. Resdlen glared at them. He could have sworn he knew one of them… damn.
Resdlen staggered to his feet and backed away. Fliflax glanced questioningly at the troll, but had come to expect nonsensical acts from Resdlen, and dismissed him.
"So…" a deep rumbling voice emanated from the Death Knight.
"I swear, if ya come near me, I'll blow you off dis ship and laugh as your guts spill onto the desert floor." Resdlen snarled, drawing a glowing dagger from his belt. A tendril of purple light sprung from the Death Knight's hand and yanked Resdlen towards his forbidding blue eyes. Resdlen slammed the curved dagger into the troll's outstretched palm, punching through the gauntleted hand to emerge on the other side. The Death Knight withdrew his hand hurriedly, but showed no sign of pain. Two pairs of plate-clad hands seized him and held him in front of the Death Knight. The troll drew a flaming warhammer from his belt and drew it back for a crushing blow. Just as the hammer shattered the troll's jaw, shadows wreathed it, dancing and twirling in the ethereal light cast by the Death Knight's visage. The druid fell limply to the ground, like an oversized broken marionette.
A powerful bear paw raked across one of the crony's chest, and he collapsed as Fliflax snarled his victory. Yeow staff struck the other Death Knight's temple, and the heavily armored warrior dropped.
The remaining Death Knight chuckled, and chains of ice sprang from the deck of the ship and wrapped around the struggling bear. Frost rippled over Yeow's fur, and she froze in place, an enraged expression on her face.
The Death knight knelt and placed either hand flat on his head, and then lifted him so that his eyes were level with the druid's dull gaze. "So, Resdlen. Do you remember me?" he asked, shaking the druid. Resdlen nodded weakly, pain evident on his face. "What's my name?" he demanded, his expression concealed by his massive helm.
"Tok- Tokga- Tokgarad." Resdlen answered weakly.
"How do you know me?" The Death Knight asked.
"Brother." Resdlen muttered, his strength draining out of his body. Downstairs, a vending machine popped open, and beverages spilled over the floor. A tiny smile graced the druid's face for just a moment, and was gone just as quickly. The combined seltzer, water, and alcohol began to pool in the middle of the floor. Directly under where Resdlen was.
"What did you do when the Scourge came and attacked, when they killed Father?" The Death Knight demanded, rage seeping into his voice.
"I ran." Resdlen whispered, all of his strength dedicated to another task.
"That's right. You didn't kill a single thing, because you were too weak. You knew some magic, you could have helped. So hit me with your magic. Show me what you've accomplished, what you used that precious time that cost our family's life for."
Resdlen looked his brother dead in the eye, and responded "I learned to do this." And a great wave of mixed beverages blasted Tokgarad over the rails and plummeting towards the ocean. The Death Knight laughed.
"I'll just sink into the water, and escape without a single injury!" he called up to the zeppelin.
And then his boots gained a light blue hue, and the Death Knight sucked in his breath. It was a spell that allowed one to walk on water. It turned the water below oneself to ice as hard as rock. Hard enough to easily smash the Death Knight's plate armor.
A sickening crunch somehow carried to the passengers of the zeppelin, and the Blood Elf Death Knight Resdlen had noticed earlier caught the druid's eye. The blood Elf nodded almost imperceptibly, and Resdlen knew that he was the one that had cast the water-walker spell.
Two rogues unstealthed next to Resdlen and muttered "I was going to help, I promise." Resdlen shot them a dirty glare, and then realized that there were two hitching a ride with him. The authorized rogue noticed his rising rage and muttered "He needed help, we'll hold our own weight, we promise." Resdlen struck both of them back-handed, and then plopped into his chair, as he thawed the Taurens. All that he could think was MUST KILL ROGUES.
I really hate rogues. The next chapter is by me, not Groose, like usual. God, I really hate rogues.