' = Internal dialogue
ยจ= Normal speech
* = Sounds / Etc
-Chapter 63-
As I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling, I yawned, then smiled as I recalled the previous night; then, I felt movement on my chest and looked down.
A messy tuft of blonde hair covered her face as Jaina breathed peacefully with her eyes closed while hugging me across the torso with my arm between her breasts while smiling with contentment.
I then placed my arm behind her back and pulled her further into me as I lay there waiting for her to wake up, which turned out would be quite a while as it seemed It wasn't that long ago she had finally tired herself out.
Realizing she would not wake up for another while, I carefully lifted her arm off me and snuck out of the king-sized bed. I then started to get dressed, which was quite a challenge in itself as my wardrobe did, in fact, not have much clothing remaining as I only had several pairs of boots, pants, shirts, and tunics, which were now either destroyed or ripped to shreds.
I only had a few things: two different colored shirts, a pair of leather pants, shoes, and a black jacket; this would have to be dealt with soon. I was probably the only one in the city who had this problem, which made it even more amusing, considering that I was the figurehead of this rapidly growing city.
As I was almost finished clothing myself and equipped the jacket, then attached my bag to my waist, I walked over to the bed, leaned toward Jaina, and kissed her gently, which made her smile as she slept. Carefully backed away from the bed, walked out to the hallway, and activated the teleporter down to the first floor to avoid waking her up.
As I stepped away from the teleportation device on the first floor, I calmly walked over and sat on my chair to review some of yesterday's documents.
But as I reached for the document on the table, I heard soft breathing coming from Lanira's pillow and looked at the source. Lanira was slowly waking up and was stroking her fur as she cutely yawned.
Then her eyes opened up groggily and as if she noticed me from my magic alone, she gazed directly at me before her eyes could open up entirely, then she smiled softly, rose from her large pillow and trotted slowly toward where I sat.
"Morning Lanira, slept well?" I asked as she stretched.
Her response was a raise of her eyebrow that relayed the words without speaking them, and it went something like this, 'Really?'
"Ahh... so we were 'that'... loud..." I mumbled, which made the dryad snort good-naturedly before she walked over and hugged me.
"Want to make breakfast together? Lanira asked as her little tail stump wagged slightly with the hope of spending some time with me.
"Sure, still though, sorry Lanira, I had no idea we were that loud..." I replied with a wry smile.
"Ahh, that is fine, it did seem like you both had a pretty good time though!" Lanira explained while her cheeks gained a rosy tint.
Then as we both made our way toward the kitchen, Lanira realized we were all out of pastry, and with great regret, she asked me if I could make the visit into the local favorite bakery in her stead.
This was one of the best mornings I had ever had the joy of experiencing since my adventure here started. All the harrowing experiences I had recently seen, been part of or had the displeasure of being pulled into faded from the back of my mind, plus all the stress did somewhat exit me overnight, thanks to Jaina.
It was as if a hidden wound had closed itself around my psyche; all the death, killing, and tragedy felt slightly distant now, and finally, I let myself enjoy the moment in a true sense.
Looking away from the fact that Azeroth and the numerous worlds connected to it were, in fact, literal murder worlds where death tended to prevail, and the afterlife was no better as it just were further chaos, decay, and death down the line.
As my mind sank back to the negative parts, I willfully pulled myself back to the now, the enjoyable sight before me.
Children playing in the streets as their parents yawned and smiled early in the morning at the thought of going through yet another peaceful day also made me smile.
Races of all kinds mixed as even the tauren who spoke broken common helped their neighboring gnomes and humans with the heavy lifting, which was rewarded with warm bread and a cold mug of juice.
Our currency in the city was the usual gold, silver, and copper standard; for example, a mug of milk was around fifty coppers, and bread was around one silver; gold was rarely used among the common folk and was primarily used by adventurers, warriors, mages, priests, and wandering traders.
Even then, gold was rare; a complete set of leather or steel armor was around ten to thirty gold, depending on quality.
I kept looking around as I walked toward the stall at the end of the street. I could feel a few wary eyes eying me as I kept pace. Still, most people here knew who I was and just smiled, waved, and even tried to force their wares on me. They soon relented when they remembered I never accepted, whether free or not, and I would prefer to pay. Still, seeing as I didn't need what they sold, I shook my head with a smile and kept walking after waving goodbye to them.
I even saw some brown-robed men and women walk toward one of the small chapels on the way; the brown-wearing people were the church's initiates. Calia had been busy. She was responsible for the majority of the average citizens. And the minority of the noble faction that joined us from Lordaeron and the city's eastern part entirely.
That reminded me that I needed to see how she was doing; I had rarely seen her around the tower these last months. Lanira had even asked questions about it, and Jaina had just shaken her head as she was just as clueless when I brought it up on occasion.
I finally reached my destination and spotted the owner of the bakery, a tauren male, and his wife, who had three small boys running around outside the building. When they finally spotted me, they all ran inside to inform their father about who was coming to visit.
Walking through the door, I was struck by a mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked pastries.
A large female tauren stood at the shop front where they usually took orders or the like with a broad smile and said, "Long time no see, Lord Medan! My husband wondered where you and the beautiful Lanira had been these last days. Has anything bad happened?"
I shook my head and smiled, then replied, "No, miss Tauna, don't worry. We have just been quite busy, that is all. How is the bakery going, by the way? I hope there haven't been more complaints about the issue from last time."
She let out a bolstering roar of laughter at my question and replied with a menacing grin, "No, Lord Medan, those particular people got their asses handed to them by my husband when he returned from his patrol, and then the Peacekeeper's squad took them away after getting testimonies from our neighbors, I got to say that the furlbogs are a pleasant bunch to get along with, they even assisted my husband in giving them a whopping the last time they came around... which was yesterday? Mah, it does not matter.
The new guard told us they were being towed back to Stormwind at the following portal opening and are currently in an area where they would no longer gain access to our bakery."
"And If I see them here again to threaten my children, I will personally break every single bone in their puny bodies.." She continued coldly as her powerful hand clenched, accidentally breaking apart the wooden utensil she held. She was, after all, a well-trained shaman who had once been part of the Earthen Ring but had retired after marrying her husband.
I sighed. The family here had been the target of some humans from Stormwind who had encountered the tauren race before and even attempted to drive them away from our city because of some human superiority complex.
It all started when they first went after their three boys as they played around in the market alongside a few furlbog children.
The humans made a costly mistake, as the family they messed with had connections throughout the city.
This family had been around since only a week after we arrived and previously lived in the barrens before losing their home to the centaur. They had then traveled north with a few other tauren in search of better lands and eventually settled in Azshara, where they built a small farm near the mountains that was assaulted by a mountain giant, making them flee until they spotted our arrival on the shore.
Since then, they have built themselves a cozy home where they can finally relax regarding their safety, or that was what they believed until recently.
Long story short, the humans were promptly beaten to a pulp, put in prison, and given a fine plus a warning for the behavior upon release, which seems by now it would take as much time as needed until we could send them on their way.
'At least they won't be around for much longer... but getting them back to Stormwind for the time being will be... challenging, oh well, prison time is probably doing them well...' I thought, and at the end, I realized the fact our prison was two hundred meters below the surface.
The large wooden door slammed open to reveal a behemoth of a Tauren with bulging muscle, two large white horns, and gray fur covering his torso and mane, who also carefully carried two large wooden trays full of warm bread toward his wife.
Tigor Skychaser is the tauren's full name, and he was previously a shaman in training while he lived in Mulgore but has now been married happily to his wife for eight years.
The tauren in question is a steeled fighter who believes in shamanism and physical might, so something between a warrior and a shaman, and is part of one of the strongest squads of Peacekeepers in the city. No one would believe that he is a baker by day and a Peacekeeper at night. He helps his wife every morning to evening, and then he patrols with the squad later in the day.
In the city, he has been the closest to a racial leader among the tauren. He has since become well respected due to his prowess as a warrior and charismatic side, which always takes care of the ones around him.
As the tauren laid the bread trays on the counter, he walked toward me. He reached out with his hand, which I clasped with a steel grip, which he returned in kind. He said, "Well met. The wife, I, and the boys were getting worried, Lord Medan. There was word about your quest going awry a few days back, but seeing you whole and healthy is wonderful. How is life going in that big tower of yours?"
I shook my head as we released the handshake, "No, there were complications, but they were dealt with. I have no idea why Lanira did not visit, though it goes as well as it can, I suppose." I answered honestly, which made the tauren smile.
After exchanging some pleasantries and getting a rough explanation of how it was going in the town while I was gone, I sighed and realized time was escaping me. Tigor seemed to notice and smile, then asked, "So what can I do for you, oh mighty city lord? We have lots of fresh wares for you today."
"Just need to fetch some pastry for breakfast," I replied.
"The usual?" Tigor asked as he started walking to the back.
I nodded in reply, and after receiving some freshly baked bread, I waved at the three young children hiding in the back, who waved back shyly, then at Tigor and his wife, who smiled, then made my way back to the tower.
I had only been gone for about twenty minutes, so I went through the door as I heard Lanira begin to fry eggs upon realizing I was nearby. Her impeccable accuracy when it came to certain things astounded me at times, but I just realized it was one of her quirks.
The dryad hummed in a soothing tone as she kept cooking breakfast while I prepared the bread and put the remains in the fridge. After five minutes, the food was ready, and I prepared five dishes as I sensed the teleporter on the floor activate and slight movement in the shadows of the kitchen.
Lanira then stopped as a jug of water fell to the floor and shattered, wondering what was going on. I approached the dryad, who had stiffened as tears were starting to fall down her face; she suddenly jerked around and hugged me tightly as she fell silent.
Still having no idea what was going on, I simply acted as her silent support as she slowly wiped her eyes before turning away and spoke, "I... felt it... you know... when your heart stopped... because so did mine... there is a connection between us... that I was too afraid to tell you about..." Lanira explained as she tried to calm herself from her sudden breakdown.
Even if it puzzled me that she could somewhat feel the moment I was close to death due to the dying world-soul. When I focused on her, I noticed a barely visible purple line connecting me with her. It was almost invisible to the naked eye, and considering Aegwynn had not noticed, it would only mean she couldn't see it.
'Could that be why her fur and horns change so drastically compared to her sisters?' I thought but soon shrugged it off as I saw her eyes. Her face still had unshed tears on as we separated from the hug, so I looked her in the eyes and told her, "Then I do have to apologize to you for such a situation to occur, I will do my best to not have such a situation occur once again. Also... did you sense what happened in the master bedroom last night as well?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow at the end.
This made the dryad's cheeks grow red as a tomato as she weakly nodded in affirmation.
I groaned out loud for a moment and couldn't help but laugh the next moment; this situation was something that was directly cut out of a romantic novel.
"Still, let's get on with making the bestest of breakfasts, what do you say?" I asked with a smile.
Lanira's eyes brightened even more at that moment. Her smile grew as she hummed to herself again and turned to clean up the slight mess on the floor.
And when we were done making the food, we picked up two trays each and made our way out of the kitchen, both in a good mood.
Entering the room, I saw Jaina sitting at the table, dressed in a beautiful white pajama-like gown that screamed erotic as the fabric was so thin I could see her nipples, albeit barely.
As Lanira put down the two trays of food in front of her, Jaina looked at me with a warm gaze as I walked over to sit at her side of the table and put a tray of food in front of her and another at my side, and a moment later a shadow suddenly shook, and Valeera appeared seated on my left. Lanira ignored it and sat on the opposite side as she extended a tray of food in front of me.
"Valeera, you need to take off that mask of yours... Don't act as if it is the end of the world, sister; you are beautiful no matter what!" Lanira exclaimed, slightly annoyed but somewhat exasperated.
There was no way Valeera could say no to the dryad, as they had connected to the level of siblings, as Valeera was the edgy sister while Lanira was bright and full of sunshine, polar opposites that seemed to work for the both of them, as Valeera nodded as she took of her hood and chugged down a mouthful of food.
"Great! I'm sure father has things to do today, but I had hoped we all would enjoy a late dinner under the night sky today. Can we borrow the top floor of the tower by any chance?" Lanira asked with a hopefull tone.
"Ehm... sure, but you might have to clean up the area. We haven't been there for weeks, and the lightning attractor did explode and leave lots of mess up there..." I replied, to which she nodded and replied, "Sure, we will clean it up before we start! Right sister?" She turned to Valeera, who just nodded with another mouthful.
Valeera simply nodded as the gulped down the food while a can suddenly appeared in her hand as she chugged down another sugary can of goodness.
'Where did she get that?' I thought the satchel should still be in my personal storage, but then I realized that Valeera was a rogue, and stopping her from her addiction would become a nightmare in the future unless I found a way to prevent her from becoming a highly efficient thief.
It was a very wholesome breakfast. Soon, only Jaina and I remained at the table as Lanira and Valeera had all made their way toward the teleporter toward the roof to make it proper before the promised dinner later.
Jaina and I sat in comfortable silence before she came to sit beside me and leaned toward me with her head on my shoulder.
As we remained in blissful silence for a while, she finally broke it by saying, "I haven't felt this much at ease since before my attendance at the academy..."
I just listened to her as she continued, "My best friend is turning into a death knight and will soon ascend as the Lich King... after killing his people, his father, and his loyal retainers certainly made it hard to forget... I still had hopes that he would return to his senses somehow...
But after witnessing what I have these last weeks... I have decided to move on with my life, and last night... was the start of that self-made promise to myself..."
"You have certainly made movement much more difficult today, showing no mercy to my hips from last night, and here I thought you were a gentleman..." Jaina joked as she drank a sip of water from her goblet.
"I don't want to hear you complain about it; you were wilder than an animal in heat, dear Archmage of mine..." I muttered jokingly as she leaned into me while acting as if the very words offended her.
Jaina then tilted her head up to look me in the eyes and gave me a warm smile, and just as I was going to reply, the entrance door shot open and splintered upon impact with the wall, only to reveal a ragged-looking night elf carrying someone who remained limp in her arms.
Jaina and I shot to our feet and rushed at the two familiar-looking figures.
Pained and Belmont had made their return. Pained gave me a relieved look, bent forward, spat out a mouthful of blood, then dropped to her knees while holding a pale-looking Belmont who breathed shakily while sweat ran down his forehead with his eyes closed as he looked to be in intense pain.
I was fast enough to catch Belmont before he fell to the floor. Pained, she only coughed another mouthful of blood as she collapsed into Jaina's arms.
Turning to Jaina, I said hurriedly, "To the church, teleporter now!" Which prompted a nod as she blinked, and I warped toward the teleporter. Within a brief moment, we both appeared inside the church, which surprised the acolytes and priests, but one, in particular, gasped in horror as she laid eyes on Belmont. Calia had made herself known and quickly took command of the clergy, shouting command after command to the poor initiates to get ready with tools, water, and holy cleansing crystals.
Pained had gone entirely stiff by now, with her eyes rolling into the back of her head. It was obvious that she had been running on pure willpower for a while now. She had been carefully lowered into a comfortable bed, then pulled into a side room of the cathedral where they usually treated the ones requiring emergency help.
Her injuries had all been healed, and she was in no danger, only exhausted beyond measure. At her side lay Belmont, who was barely breathing due to strain we could not see. His eyelids twitched, and he held his clenched fist above where the heart would be.
Now it was Jaina's turn to gasp in horror when she looked at Belmont; she quickly walked over and gently put his arm to the side, then buttoned up his previously elegant and orderly shirt, which was only now covering the top part of his chest, only to reveal a horrible puncture wound that had black veins sprouting out from the spot that seemed to stretch further outward on the torso.
"... How?" Jaina whispered in horror, then she turned to me, and her shoulders sank as she continued, "The last time I saw this... was when Arthas and I saw the exact symptoms on a farm while traveling to Stratholme..." She explained briefly while her voice was losing hope, "Belmont has somehow contracted the Undeath plague... and it's only a matter of time before he turns... we may halt the process with the powers of light, but we never found a way to remove it even with my previous mentor's research..." She continued but was interrupted as the doors opened behind us.
That was when I heard a voice behind me saying, "Yes... It's true, except that Belmont's symptoms are much more extreme, as the process would usually take months.
However, in his case, he seems unable to handle the strain longer than a few hours." Calia's tired tone came from behind us. She looked haggard and worn out, and she had dark bags underneath her eyes that I had not noticed before.
Her tone made me cringe for a moment. Then I looked back to Belmont and finally realized I might lose my friend within a few hours if nothing was done.
Suddenly, the door to the cathedral hall opened slowly, revealing Aegwynn, who calmly walked toward us and the bed-ridden Belmont and Pained.
She kept silent as she approached, only to lean down and seemingly smell at the wound Belmont had gained and recoiled. Her eyes grew furious, and then she brought out a thin vial and a scalpel before slicing off a thin piece of flesh and putting it into the vial before sealing it shut.
Aegwynn turned to me and practically commanded, "Freeze this fool. We may have hopes of saving him. I can't believe you haven't done so already!"
I did not hesitate as I practically entombed Belmont in a thick ice glacier, including the bed he lay on. Then she continued, "How come no one here recognized the fel practically oozing from that wound?! It has been corrupting his body for what would seem like a while now, and you call this the Undeath plague?" Aegwynn turned to Calia, and Jaina stared at them for a moment. After brief consideration, both nodded, and she sighed. Then, she continued, "Well, then we know that this plague of yours is demonic in origin because what powers this so-called plague are its fel properties." Aegwynn said as she massaged her forehead.
"Lucky for us, Medan's ice has the properties of magically enhanced stasis. Even while it would normally fight disease or injuries... it will not heal fel-infused wounds due to it being parasitic in nature..." She stated with a sigh as she eyed the wound.
"I told them to avoid the northern camp so many damn times. Why won't that damn penguin bastard ever listen!" Aegwynn said with evident frustration in her voice.
{Belmont tends to wear a black and gray noble suit, hence Aegwynn's wordplay.}
"I thought you told me they went to the Eastern Kingdoms. Why?" I asked the frustrated ex-guardian.
"Because, dear grandson of mine, that was what I thought he meant by the letter he left behind, but it turns out he did not. And I guess it will be impossible to figure out why before the night elf wakes." She replied as she continued to eye the infection through the thick layer of ice.
"I will be in my lab. I need to figure out how to cure this plague or slow it down somehow... We wouldn't want a mindless undead as a spymaster, now, would we?
Also, message me once Pained wakes. I need to ask her about the details and if she knows more about who managed to infect him."
Then, with a wry smile as she walked through the door, she added, "Congratulations, apprentice, grandson."
Though that went over our heads due to the situation regarding Belmont and Pained, Calia seemed to brighten as she looked at her best friend and smiled, which would look much more natural if she did not look like she would fall over at any moment.
'Why's she so tired though?' I thought curiously as the three of us walked out of the room and into the large cathedral of the church. After going to Calia's office, we all sat down while a young human boy raced through the door with three cups of tea on a tray.
After we sat around the table for a while, Calia brought up the fact that Aegwynn congratulated the two of us, and by looking at her tired face, I realized she was probably just waiting for this to happen.
So, after some small talk and pleasantries, I asked Calia, "We will have dinner on top of the tower later. Do you want to join us? I'm sure Lanira and Valeera will be happy to see you."
She only shook her head and leaned back into her chair, directing a tired gaze at the ceiling. She replied, "No... I'm sorry, but I will need to catch up on some sleep. There have been some problems coming my way lately, and it has unfortunately caused me to miss sleep for the last two days..."
"What has been the problem?" I asked curiously, to which Jaina nodded as she, too, was curious. Calia only sighed and answered, "Assassins... some from Stormwind, and some we have yet to identify as their corpses tend to dissolve into a liquid the moment they are apprehended... though their stature is at the height of an average dwarf." Calia grumbled as she leaned back in her chair.
Then she continued angrily, "Yes, they are even prioritizing my death over the sake of reclaiming Lordaeron from the undead, which is very odd, in my opinion..." Then she directed her gaze to the two of us and smiled tiredly.
'How?' I pondered, but Calia saw my thoughtful visage and said, "A neutral party, of course, people who have yet to be registered as citizens are doing so as they come from either the sea or the goblin vessels are transporting them, under the guise of new citizens for our city.
Though a majority of them are ordinary people... there are still assassins or the like among them."
"...Calia... I'll have a room ready in the tower within the next hour, and if you do not come over and rest there... I will personally teleport you, whether you like it or not." I said sternly, honestly quite pissed off at the fact that she willingly took this into her own hands and that she did not go to either Jaina or me with this, she was after all, Jaina's best friend and pretty much the second in command in the entire damn city, which she shared with Belmont, and she had grown on me these last months.
Looking away from the fact I have been busy doing either one thing or another.
It was unacceptable to leave her to deal with assassins and the like alone, even with the Peacekeepers, guards, and others who handled her security.
Jaina nodded at this and noticed my fist clenching as she grasped my hand, looked toward Calia, and asked, "Why did you not come to either of us with this? We could and would have helped you no matter the problem..."
"... One of the assassins wore my mother's wedding ring... and that assassin melted before my eyes... I... panicked... I... had no idea what to do..." Calia replied as her hands covered her face. She started to sob as the stress and situation finally seemed to impact the small woman.
Jaina slowly walked over and hugged her best friend. She turned toward me and signaled that she would deal with this. I nodded, made my way out of the office, and was fuming all the way back to my tower because someone dared to attempt to utterly devastate the warm and bright woman.
I guessed that it was undead assassins that somehow had been able to get through our defenses.
Along with dark iron dwarves and agents of Onyxia that probably undermined Stormwind's SI-7, right now Stormwind could as well be part of the black dragonflight because the numbskull Varian Wrynn let himself be controlled by a snake for years.
So I went to clean up one of the free rooms on the same floor as my bedroom inside the tower, basically on the opposite side of the hallway outside the main bedroom, and started moving some furniture around to make space for a decently sized bed, wardrobe, lamps and such.
After forty minutes, I was done and made my way toward the main floor to look over the rest of the documents before realizing there was nothing related to the assassin situation.
Which made me teleport to Belmont's building and get his assistant to give me the recent files on what was going on there, as It turns out it was undead and dark iron dwarves; the ones from Stormwind had been captured alive and were being interrogated as I read over the information.
I concluded that the undead was among them because some Peacekeepers spotted that they were like an anorexic adult moments before liquifying, at least according to their reports.
'It seems I may as well deal with Onyxia before anything else because this... is unacceptable. I'm going to rip the head of her body and make her become a fucking trophy on my wall.'
My office grew rapidly in temperature as my magic made the entire floor unbearable for the normal man, I felt my anger reach a new height and realized that my close surroundings were being affected, so I tried to calm down, which only turned it into a cold rage. But as I managed to calm myself down to the point I could think clearly, I sighed while pondering the situation.
And I just knew that there was more to this than what met the eye; something or someone is planning something in the shadows, and for all that is good, they should stay away from the ones close to me... Or I will personally make it my solemn vow to hunt that being or creature down at the best of my ability, no matter what.
F
rom what Aegwynn told me, she assumed Belmont and Pained had journeyed toward a particular mountain area. After re-reading the note, that was confirmed. No more waiting around to see how Archimonde would respond and plan. Now, it was personal.
Still, this did not stop me from getting ready to wring the black dragon's neck off its body first. After all, she was making human assassins, and probably the dark iron dwarves having their go at our defenses and even managing to get through some means.
After all, she was two-thirds of the reason this was happening in the first place. Even if I robbed her blind and killed every draconoid in her lair, I would have believed that she would be much warier of me... though, I had been clearly proven to be mistaken... and as a result... I would deal with a situation that came to be by my own doing...
Personally.
-Chapter 63 End-