Dawn of the Dragon | By : RotSeele Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 3746 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft. I do not make any money from this story. |
Twenty-Seven
Anduin guided his mind-controlled Orc through the twisting halls of the cave and did his best to avoid other sentient life, like the dead Orc a few meters back that Shalya was doing her best to conceal. She caught up to him quickly, and then moved ahead. In the gloom, she would pass well enough for a full-blooded Orc, and hopefully no one would question her. Unless they got too close, which, inevitably, someone did.Which was why they'd had to silence the Orc a few meters back, and why Shalya had to spend a few moments trying to conceal the corpse in the event someone walked by to find it. Considering their luck lately, that possibility seemed all too real.
The cave went deep under the earth, with long snaking tunnels that led to more dead ends than actual places. Anduin felt the draw of the darker side of the Light, and knew there wasn't much time before his mind-control spell wore off. When it did, he'd be faced with two choices - kill the Orc or recast the spell. The second seemed unlikely, considering on the tight quarters of the tunnels there was barely any room for Anduin to cast, let alone for anyone to really attack. Shalya had gotten lucky and had had one of her swords out when they'd stumbled upon the unfortunate welcoming party, and had managed to slide the blade through the orc's ribs before she'd had a chance to scream. Now that they were in the belly of the beast, Shalya found it difficult just to be able to maneuver so her sword wouldn't spark on the tunnel's low ceiling.
"You okay?" Shalya whispered over her shoulder.
Anduin nodded, but even he felt the beads of sweat rolling down his temples. "You might have to do something soon." He whispered back.
She paused and turned to face him. She looked at their captive, then glanced behind herself and behind Anduin. "I could take care of it now. I don't hear anyone, and the less baggage we have to worry about the better. Especially if we're sneaking around enemy territory."
She had a point, and Anduin knew it. He didn't know how much longer he could maintain the spell, and now that they were this far, he wasn't sure if it was practical to keep the spell going. Anyone who got close enough to see that Shalya wasn't a full-blooded Orc would get close enough to see that their captive wasn't exactly in his right mind. He took a shuddering breath and opened his mouth.
The heavy clomp of boots on stone stopped him. Both Anduin and Shalya looked for the source of the sound, but here the sounds echoed, and there was no telling if they'd be fleeing from the sound or heading right to it. The hall they were in had small depressions in the walls, but nothing that could give them true cover. Sucking in a breath, Anduin moved to grab Shalya's hand and pull her along, all while their mind-controlled captive led the way. The sound of clomping boots began to grow louder, get closer, and finally Shalya grabbed Anduin's wrist with both her hands and pulled him into a tiny side corridor that really wasn't a corridor but more of a fissure. It was a poor hiding place, but they had no where else to go.
"What should we do about him?" Anduin whispered. "If I release the spell, he'll go blabbing to the first person he sees about us."
"Too late to kill him and stuff his corpse where we are." Shalya replied. "See if you can-"
She closed her mouth abruptly as the sound of boots got louder. Both of them shrank back as far as they could from the opening. That meant Shalya was flush against Anduin, and Anduin, being the teenager he was, began to immensely enjoy that. Shalya turned her head slightly to glare at him, but Anduin could only shrug and mouth an apology.
Then the dim light outside their hiding place dimmed even more as a massive Orc stopped in front of it. Anduin tensed as the Orc regarded his mind-control victim, and then a deep, gravelly voice boomed out, "What the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you at your post?"
Shit, Anduin thought, what should I do? Mind-controlled persons usually couldn't speak. They also couldn't do anything that their "master" didn't order them to do. Gritting his teeth and hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, Anduin released his spell. He sagged against Shalya. She did her best to support him, holding him up as best she could.
"Uh..."
They both looked at the two orcs outside their hiding spot at the sound of the voice. The massive Orc was staring at the one Anduin had mind-controlled. That one, from what they could see, looked groggy and confused, as if he couldn't quite remember where he was or why.
"I'll ask again, since it seems you've been shirking your duty and have been in your rations early." Growled the massive Orc. "What are you doing here? Why aren't at your post?"
"Uh..." The smaller Orc seemed to cower in front of his larger counterpart. "I... I don't know?"
In the span of five minutes the massive Orc gave an amicable nod, then lashed out with a mailed fist and caught the smaller Orc in the jaw. There was a distinct crack as the smaller orc's jaw broke, and a wet splat as he hit the opposite wall. The massive Orc stepped away from the fissure where Anduin and Shalya were hiding, his boots heavy on the stone. "You don't know, eh? Do you realize that we have in our possession two very special specimens, one of which will bring our greatest foe right to our doorstep? The other one is very near and dear to our benefactor. So get your ass back outside and keep a watch for any unwanted guests! If I catch you in here again, if I catch you fooling around, I'll kill you."
"Uh, y-yes, Korvek."
There was a beat of silence. Two.
"Move."
The word was said with deadly calm, but even still, there was undisguised violence in the voice. Then there was a scrabble of feet on stone, then nothing. Shalya and Anduin waited, tense. After another moment, the heavy tromp of boots began, slowly fading into the distance.
The two waited a few minutes longer, then slipped out of the fissure, looking left and right. When they weren't immediately attacked, they both let out a sigh of utter relief.
"Well," began Anduin, "now we know some things."
"This bastard knows who Wrathion is." Shalya said.
"Not only that, but he also is working for someone else, and he's waiting for someone to come here."
"You think it's Karidormi he's waiting for?"
Anduin shook his head. "I think it's someone else. The way he said it, it was like he's almost anticipating an attack. Kari doesn't know about this yet. She doesn't know we're gone at all."
Which meant that they'd all be ripped a new one, not just by the bronze dragon but by Shandris as well. Shandris was probably going out of her mind now, especially since she probably hadn't been able to locate them for some time now, and she was responsible, at least in some capacity, for Anduin's well-being.
"So," said Shalya after a moment of quiet, "which way do we go?"
Anduin thought for a moment, then pointed in the direction that the massive Orc had come from. "That way. Let's see if we can find our wayward dragon."
Shalya smirked and took the lead down the hall. Anduin rummaged in a small pouch attached to his belt and pulled out a piece of dried jerky, stuffing it in his mouth as they went down the tunnel. Even though he was a priest, and the Light was his medium for spell-casting, it still ate up his mana reserves like any spell cast by a Mage or warlock or Druid or shaman. Aunt Jaina had impressed upon the young Anduin the importance of eating after casting a particularly large spell and snacking after casting even a minor heal. Without a constant supply of energy replenishing one's mana reserves, the mana would eventually run out, leaving the spell to draw on the only other available source - the spell-caster's body. So Anduin always carried a small personal supply of something, whether it was dried meat, dried fruit, cheese, nuts, or seeds.
The tunnel curved westward after a few dozen feet, taking the pair deeper into the stronghold. By the time they reached a four-way split, they could hear the roar of voices and the cries of whelplings. Shalya slipped along one of the tunnels with Anduin a few feet behind, and both came to a wide open cavern were a group of orcs were carefully tending black dragon eggs.
"They don't look right," Shalya whispered.
Anduin agreed. The eggs were smaller than the dragon eggs he'd seen before, and looked sickly. Their shells looked paper thin, and he thought he could see movement beneath the shells. They were the same color as black dragon eggs, but some were lacking the spikes, others had too many, and some looked like they hadn't survived the birthing, so misshapen they were. "If this is what the eggs look like, I don't want to see the parents."
Shalya's eyes narrowed slightly. "Anduin, you don't suppose the girl they captured with Wrathion is...?"
Anduin frowned. "I hope not."
"What are the chances?"
"At this rate, considering our luck, pretty good."
They jerked back behind a shielding pillar as two orcs moved by, struggling to carry one of the healthier looking eggs. As soon as they passed, Anduin and Shalya slipped out of their hiding place and hurried down the hall, away from the egg chamber. They were soon immersed in a dimly lit darkness, and Anduin had to rely on Shalya's keen night vision to lead the way, since they both agreed that using the Light to help them see would only get them into trouble.
As they came to the end of one corridor, Shalya slowed until she was standing stone still at the crossways of another tunnel. Her head tilted to the side, and then she tugged on Anduin's hand. "This way."
She led him down the left side corridor and finally Anduin was able to hear the muffled sound of voices above the sound of his boots on the stone. He immediately recognized Wrathion's voice. As they came closer, the talking abruptly stopped.
"Wrathion?" Anduin hissed out, his voice a harsh whisper.
"Anduin?" Came the equally harsh whispered reply. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Shalya and Anduin finally found the small divot in the cave wall, a makeshift prison. Both Wrathion and the girl were there, with frayed rope around their wrists and ankles. The girl looked suspicious of them, but Wrathion only beamed at Anduin and Shalya, though his eyes held a little bit of worry.
Anduin grinned at his best friend. "We're here to rescue you."
Shalya moved forward, moving first to the girl. The girl's crimson eyes narrowed at Shalya's approach, and narrowed even more when Wrathion said, "It's okay. You can trust her."
Anduin went to Wrathion and started helping him undo the knots he'd almost gotten completely loose. "How'd you get caught?"
Wrathion gave Anduin a humorless grin. "Completely against my style, isn't it?"
"Considering it's you? Yeah."
Wrathion glanced at the red-eyed girl. "Her. She's a black dragon, Anduin. She's Outland-born, but she's a black dragon who's managed somehow to escape the touch of my father's madness and the whisperings of the Old Gods. She's free, and there are others like her, including a full-grown dragon."
Anduin heard the excitement in Wrathion's voice and smiled slightly. Of course his friend would be excited. Here was a very real chance of meeting more of his own kind, along with a very real chance to rebuild his flight. As Anduin pulled at a knot, he asked, "Do you think she'll introduce us?"
"I don't know, but it seems to me we might not be able to give her an option." Wrathion said. It was as pragmatic an answer as Anduin had ever heard Wrathion give. "Never mind my own flight's concerns," Wrathion continued, "but Kari's been searching for a black dragon. If one of Tyra's flight fits the bill, we're on our way back to Azeroth."
"Maybe."
Wrathion gave Anduin a sharp look. "What do you mean?"
Anduin glanced over his shoulder where Shalya and the girl, Tyra, struggled with Tyra's own bonds. "What if they are affected by Deathwing's madness, and it hadn't presented itself because they're here rather than Azeroth? What if none of them want to go to Azeroth? I mean-"
"They'll go."
"Wrathion. Be reasonable."
"They'll go, or I'll stay."
Anduin looked at Wrathion in shock. "You can't stay! Azeroth needs to be balanced! All five flights need to be there, even if you're the only one."
The look Wrathion gave him disturbed Anduin. It reminded him of some of the soldiers he'd encountered when his father had taken him to siege Orgrimmar. The look was one of pure determination, the fierce desire to win no matter the cost. Finally Wrathion looked away and after a moment, Anduin resumed pulling at the knots.
When both Wrathion and Tyra were free, the two black dragons struggled to their feet. Shalya steadied Tyra, then unsheathed her second sword and offered it to her. Tyra smirked dangerously and grasped the hilt, holding it down at her side. Wrathion rubbed his wrists then stepped away from Anduin and closer to Tyra.
"Any idea how to get out of here without raising alarm?" Shalya asked.
Tyra, ignoring Wrathion, nodded. "We just go back the way you came. All the tunnels lead to the main mouth of the cave eventually. It's avoiding everything in between."
Anduin studied Wrathion for a moment, then stepped past the small party and headed to the entrance of the makeshift prison. "Looks like the coast is clear. We should be able to make a quick escape before anyone realized we're here."
Tyra stepped up beside him. "Did you see any eggs on your way here?"
Anduin and Shalya exchanged a look. Then Shalya said, "Some. They were all sickly. We shouldn't bother spending the time or energy to destroy them."
Tyra's crimson eyes sparked. "I'll be the judge of that."
With that, she took off down the hall with Wrathion on her heels. Anduin and Shalya quickly followed, unsure of exactly what Tyra's plan was.
They didn't make it too far before the entire cave rumbled and dust and debris rained down on them.
"What in the name of the Light was that?" Anduin gasped out once the walls stopped shaking.
Tyra smiled grimly. "That would be my sister."
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