Chapter 12
Varian had not departed his place on his gryphon's back. Instead he had simply handed Besty's lead to the stable master. He instructed the man to move her to the reserved stalls, and keep an eye on her. "She is not to be take out for service for any reason, until I say otherwise." Then with out a word of warning, Varian lifted his arm, and gave Fox a firm push.
The only benefit to riding side saddle, in Fox's estimation, was you had both feet in front of you to hit the ground with. She turned in time to see the grand gryphon begin it's accent. Jumping forward in time to get out of the way of it's mighty wings.
Shaw's eyes followed the King. He lifted the reins to his chest preparing to follow. Looking back to Fox he said, "Get some rest Fox. You deserve it for a job well done."
"I was on guard duty!" Fox scowled back at him. Not that her boss would believe a word she said over the implications the King had tossed out.
"Now, Fox, I don't have time for trival details, but you can give me an accounting when I get back. For now, rest up. There is no telling when your services will be required again." Shaw laughed hard at her. It was certainly not with her. Then moving his gryphon to follow the King.
When it came to Shaw, somethings were not worth explaining. Fox yawned and stretched her hands over her head. She made her way off the side of the hill. The fall of her feet was heavy. She reached up to rub her eyes. Grateful that she would soon be snuggled down on her own little bed.
"Fox!"
Curse words! Fox felt her heels snap together, and a hand fly to a salute on pure instinct at the sound of Admiral Taylor's voice. "Yes, sir!"
"At ease soldier." Taylor crossed the last few paces separating them. "I was just coming from the SI-7 Barracks. Seems Shaw is as busy as I am today. No one was around."
Oh that was sweet, sweet knowledge. She could not repress the delight. To be completely honest the news made her almost giddy with glee. No one was there, and that meant one thing, pure silence. She would be able to sleep in utter bliss.
"Most of my men have been set to work cleaning up the beach and removing the debris that moved in with the storm." Taylor explained.
Fox did not care much for his small talk. The man was standing between her and her pillow.
"But I have received an important message from Sky Admiral Rogers. The Skyfire has learned that Domination Point was hit harder then Lion's Landing."
Yes, yes, good, good, the Horde is suffering. Could he please shut up so she could go to bed now? Fox was hardly making out what the man was prattling on about. Wait! Did the man just saying mage? Fox watched his mouth move some more. All she heard was message, portal, and important.
"So now I have you up to speed on the situation, you can meet up with the portal mage. He is waiting for you by the front gates." Taylor patted her on the shoulder. "Now excuse me, I see one of my infantry men leaning on a shovel. This calls for my special brand of motivation."
Fox groaned in pure misery. She could not even ask what the situation was because it would merely prove she was not paying attention to a superior officer. The sound of Admiral Taylor's voice roared through Lion's Landing behind her as as he approached his soldier. Fox headed for the front gate. There was only one path open to her. Find the mage, meet up with the Sky Admiral, do whatever she required. That way she could get back here as soon as possible and sleep. Could it be possible Varian was right? A week in Paw'don Village would have been the better move.
"Hey Fox!" The mage waved at her. "Fancy seeing you here. I thought you spent all your time over on Timeless Isles?"
Fox brightened seeing someone she knew. "Hinden!" She embraced him in a warm hug. "Given up the Arcane for Frost yet?" She felt at ease enough to tease him. He was, after all, in a serious relationship with one of her fellow SI-7 rogues. Making him almost family as far as Fox was concerned.
"Yeah, I will get right on that." Hinden patted the top of Fox's head. "Are you ready for me to send you over to Domination Point?"
"No, but I have to go anyway. What is happening over there this time?" Fox yawned as Hinden started his channeling.
Hinden concentrated until the portal was open then turned to Fox, "Didn't Admiral Taylor explain the situation to you?"
Fox sighed deeply, "Yes he did. You know Taylor, but I wasn't paying attention at the time."
"Fox!"
Why did everyone enjoy shouting her name? "I'm tired. Maybe you can explain it on the way."
Hinden put his hands up in front of him, "No way I am headed back there. Sky Admiral Rogers has hundreds of angry Hordies tearing into her Sheildwall fighters. I already did my share for her this morning. So I'm going to bounce over to Stormwind and hit up the library."
"Open combat?"
"Poison your blades before you go, girl. They are angry as hornets. Now get through this portal before it closes." Hinden motioned to Fox.
Fox gave up in her mind that this would be a message and home mission. She resigned herself to fate and stepped through the portal. The first sound was the screeching of rocket fire. The smell of smoke and gunpowder came to her as well. She wasted no time rushing over to where Sky Admiral Rogers was looking over a large parchment with two of her advisers.
The Admiral never even looked up at her. The sharp eyes scanning her intelligence. "Fox? They must be busy if Shaw ordered you away from King Wrynn to aid me."
"I can assure you that King Wyrnn is in much more capable hands then my own at the moment. Shaw is attending him personally."
"Good. Then we can be assured neither is having a better day then we are. You should not be preoccupied with anything but killing the blasted Horde that are hell bent on decimating my forces."
If the situation was reverse we would be doing the same. Fox thought silently as she watched Sky Admiral Rogers scribble her assignments on the corner of the parchment. Then tore it off and handed it over. "That will be all, Fox. I know that for you it will not be difficult, but it will take the untold strain off my forces. We should be able to handle it from there."
Fox scanned the list. Protecting some ground forces, collecting commendation patches, and sabotaging Horde machinery. The first task was the only one Fox was suitable for. The second was a waste of her talents. The third, did she look like an engineer? Any tampering she would do could probably be fix with a few turns of a wrench, and that would make the entire effort futility. She glanced around until she saw someone she was sure could help her.
"Sully?" She moved over to the pacing Dwarf.
He stopped to look up. The frown of worry replaced with a heart warming smile. "Ah Fox, Lass. What ya be doin on board the Skyfire?"
"Collecting orders from the Sky Admiral." Fox flipped the parchment so that Sully could see. "I am to mess up some of the Horde's machinery. Do you have anything that could help expedite my job?"
A laugh of understanding as Sully nodded, "So you want me to fashion ya some wee bombs to get ya on your way? Sure Foxy, dear gal. I be willin to do that for ya."
Fox watched him move off to collect his materials. Knowing Sully it would not him long. She sat down and let her legs drape over the side of the Skyfire. She observed the damage below. It could be from the storm, but was more likely from the incessant harassment the Alliance had been raining down on the Horde for weeks now.
A loud yawn escaped her. The warming rays of the sun were doing nothing to aid her efforts to stay awake. What she would do for a cup of Shaw's fragrant coffee from the morning before. So lost in her thought she failed to notice Mishka kneeling down beside her.
"Fox, you need to move away from the edge. I am starting to worry you might fall off." The Draenei offered her hand.
Taking it Fox moved closer to the safety of the Skyfire's deck. "Sorry, I did not realize."
"Have you been drinking? You don't smell like it." Mishka reached out and set a hand on Fox's forehead. "No fever either."
"It's lack of sleep, Mishka. I don't suppose you have any coffee on hand." That was to much to hope for.
The Draenei frowned. "No, I do not. You have missions from the Sky Admiral, no?"
Fox nodded up at the taller woman. "The sooner I get them done, the sooner I will be able to get back to my bunk."
Mishka reached down into her pack, "I do not hand this out very much. Admittedly, I have used it more then I should have at times." Fox looked at the vials of shimmering blue liquid. A shade too light to be mana potions. Mishka continued, "They will keep you alert for a while, but it really does nothing more then that. When they wear off all your tiredness will return to you. I wont lie to you, it is painful, that type of exhaustion."
"I'll take my chances with the potion." Fox took hold of the vials and put all but one in the slots she kept for poison in her belt. "Being tired later has got to be better then being dead down there."
"Which is the only reason I offered these to you. Not a lasting solution for insomnia, but it will get us through this day." Mishka added before turning away. "Take care, Fox."
Fox uncorked the bottle and downed it. Oh, it tasted terrible! She shook her head and glared at the bottle. Maybe it was the taste alone that would keep her awake.
"Fox, I got the bombs ya asked for." Sully walked over. Tossing one to her, the others in a sack at his side.
She reached out with one hand and juggled the bomb a bit before managing to get a good hold on it against her chest. "Sully!" She stared at the crazy Dwarf, "Are you trying to blow us up?"
"Never worried for a moment, gal." Sully shrugged. "Besides, it will take more then a good bounce off the deck to set them off."
" I sure hope so, and Sully, I need one more thing from you." Fox batted her eyes at him. Then pointed over to the flying machine shyly.
Sully looked at the direction Fox indicated and then back to the rogue, "What? Dea nea tell me that Besty dee'd!"
"Would you believe that King Wrynn is holding her hostage, because she twisted an ankle?"
Sully roared in laughter yet again, "Ack! For that joke alone, I will gie ya a ride."
Fox cheered him. She was starting to feel much better thanks to Mishka's magic alchemy potion. This was the life, The sun in the sky, wind in her hair, bombs on her lap, and a Dwarf to chauffeur her into battle! What more could any girl ask for?
Author Note: Thanks for reading. I hate to be a shameless review begger, but if I could get some feed back I would appreciate it. I have also been thinking about doing some art, and adding to my deviant account. That would slow down my updates though. What do you think?