The Disappearance of Geis Archrion

=== The Disappearance of Geis Archrion ===
Chapter 1 – A night in Old Town
“Hnngh…S-stop!..Ah..Just Sto-ack”
The coal black hand of the rogue loosens its grip on the human’s neck, but his hand did not let the man’s head turn anywhere but dead centre at the rogue’s glaring green eyes.
“I don’t see why I ought to stop if there’s nothing good coming from your mouth..”
The human almost squeals in frustration.
“I don’t know anything!..Juh…You’re crazy..coming to this part of town!” He was referring of course to the Old Town of Stormwind, where despite the dealings that were rumoured to go on in the side alleys of the rustic buildings, a hive of human Intelligence and Assassins based nearby.
Geis didn’t seem intimidated.
“You can hold onto any comforting thoughts that I won’t make it out of here if you wish, but then it’s not going to help your situation in the slightest.”
The man winces and shakes his head desperately as Geis forcefully turns the man’s head, flashing out a hand holding an injector and releases the capsule inside into the man’s neck. The man gasps and starts to struggle, then begins to scream out as a stinging, agonising pain begins to stab through his body, as if his own blood was filled with sharp shrapnel. Geis muffles the man’s screams with his hand, taking a quick glance around the dusky street in case anyone heard.
“I won’t ask again..and you now already know of the pain you’ll have to endure for the next 40 minutes should you make this a wasted effort..”
The man was groaning and cringing from the fire in his blood. He looks desperately at the rogue, who doesn’t alter his merciless expression.
“Mmmh..MMMMGnnnh!”
“Two weeks ago..”
“She was here..! Nngh..for the Sorceror..*pant* Someone else got him first..Alright? So please!”
Geis frowns and shakes the man for his sole attention.
“Where did she go?!”
The man was starting to look dazed and almost about to be sick. “Hur…sh-she went after others..” He swallows and chokes on his words. “..-dun…I don’t..know where…just..ahh-ah…some girl..a-a..contact..yes..Dalaran..”
Geis blinks and is determined to get everything..this wasn’t enough.
“Come on..who?! “
“Make it stop..please I don’t know anymore!..Ahh that’s it! Stoop!”
Geis sighs not able to do anything to stop the man’s pleading. He shoves the human against the wall and in a quick whip of his arm, punctures a long and thin knife into the side of his ribs, not far below the armpit. The man chokes his screams as the knife punctures his heart. Geis steps away and lets the body slump to the ground; leaving the knife with the body to avoid a trail. He returns to the shadows of the buildings and proceeds to follow the least lit path out of the city.
Chapter 2 – Ledgermain Lounging
Geis sips on a glass of dry cactus cider, lounging in the Ledgermain with his foot up on the seat opposite him. He sat quietly watching the customers coming in and out, the fairly regular food deliveries, and the bored looking barmaid cleaning up the empty or half empty wine glasses.
He didn’t know what he was waiting for; he had been impatient and quick on his objectives up until now. About fifteen minutes ago he was questioning a regular arena spectator about the identity of this contact Cross could have met with; luckily it wasn’t hard to get a name.
Geis frowns as he recollects the steps he had to take to get here, already murdering one informant, avoiding half the human population in his search. It reminded him of a similar position with his late wife, and suddenly wondered what it was with him and his women disappearing..
Geis finishes his drink without realising and suddenly stops thinking about unnecessary things. Looking sternly at the counter he walks up towards it, resting his elbows on the counter casually and pulling down the cloth covering half his face.
“Uh..another one of these.”
The barman turned towards him and nods, quickly looking away to the shelf of drinks to fetch another cider. Geis watches him carefully and quickly reaches for the Inn’s book of room bookings, quietly snatching it and hiding it under his arm and returning to looking inconspicuous (as possible).
The barman turns around to pour Geis a drink into a new glass, barely looking up at him. Geis slides some silver coins across the bar and nods in thanks as he takes his drink and walks upstairs. He pours his drink into a plant pot and leaves the empty glass on a table near the stairs, taking the book from under his arm he walks to a corner in the corridor and opens it, flicking through the pages trying to find room bookings for a few weeks back.
He scans down the list of names, stopping when he recognises a name but then disregards it, a lot of people stay in the Ledgermain after all. He frowns and flicks to the next page and finds the name he was looking for about half way down “Claudia Tel’ilthia”. He reads the room number next to the signature “026”.
Geis closes the book and places it on the small table next to the glass, turning to head down the corridor noting each room number carefully. He reached the twenties and slowed his brisk steps, stopping in front of the room 026. He eyes the quality of the door and guesses the strength of the hinges, it was a good quality wooden door but the hinges were only made of Bronze. Geis takes a step back and slams his right foot into the door just under the lock and the door slams open with a sharp clunk. Geis quickly steps inside and looks around the room immediately looking for anyone inside, but the room appeared to be empty. He makes a double check since the room was definitely occupied, with the bed sheets untidily creased across the mattress; personal items such as books, combs and collected gems lay about the room on work surfaces.
Geis sighs and strokes his hair back, beginning to get a biting feeling in his gut that he had found a dead end in his trail. He searches the room for a lead, could this at least be the room belonging to his target. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary; anything valuable or important was likely to be left on the person. He finds only one thing that would suggest something about this person, picking up a small ribbon made of red fabric with the words “DALARAN COOKING AWARD”. He drops the ribbon and walks back to the door, closing it behind him as neatly as he could, it wouldn’t fit back perfectly. He strolls down the stairs and lifts his mask beginning to blend in with the Dalaran crowd upon leaving the Lounge. His next location wasn’t far away.
Chapter 3 – A Special Delivery
“Claudia?” Katherine Lee called into the Hero’s Welcome Inn from the kitchens. “I have your order today, they asked for you personally.”
The young Quel’Dorei mage lowers her Azure coloured hood from her shoulder-length blonde hair and turns her head towards the kitchen in a surprised manner.
“Huh? Asking for me?”
The Chef nodded. “Must have left a good impression!”
Claudia sighs with a smile and pushes herself off her bar stool, strolling towards the kitchen. She walks up to Katherine to receive her order.
“Eww, Sewer Stew?” Claudia grimaces at the name of the dish and looks up at the Chef. Katherine nods.
“Mhm, it’s quite popular in the Underbelly. Cantrips don’t do their own food so we send down their dishes. Don’t worry it’s nothing bad, read the recipe.”
Claudia reads over the recipe and nods, it sounded good enough. There was still a little mystery left however.
“Who asked for this?”
Katherine looks back and thinks.
“Oh he didn’t leave a name; he just ordered it under Cantrips and Crows. He payed well though.”
Claudia sighs and nods to the chef, placing the recipe into her satchel and leaving the Silver Covenant building.
---
Claudia teleports down to the golden-brown fields of Crystalsong forest along with her steed. She hops onto the horse and begins to ride towards the river running down the centre, it was a good habitat for wild carrots to grow. She halts several times along the bank, jumping off her horse to inspect the quality of different patches of vegetable growth, soon she manages to gather a good number of well grown carrots. 
Returning to Dalaran she rests her horse with Mei Francis and walks back to the Ledgermain where she was staying. She asks permission to use the kitchen facilities and as usual permission was granted, as far as the inn was concerned she was a regular amongst the kitchen staff, serving up her own food.
She smiles and sets her bag of carrots onto the work surface and filling a bowl with water in order to wash them out thoroughly whilst filling a pot with a half amount of water and sets it over the stove. Since the water in the pot would take long to warm up she proceeds to prepare the carrots as well as the fresh chilled meat she would usually gather every few days. Once the carrots are clean she proceeds to chop them into small pieces, big enough to fit in the stew. Afterwards she turns to the meat, and marinates it lightly in special spices before chopping it up into bite-size pieces also.
She cooks the meat over the heat of the stove until it was good to eat and tips it into the bubbling pot along with the carrots and chopped green vegetables; she stirs it slowly for about twenty more minutes.
---
“Sewer Stew delivery..” She approaches the barman of Cantrips and Crows, trying to keep smiling despite hating coming down to the underbelly of Dalaran. She didn’t understand why a name like ‘Sewer Stew’ was a seller, or how anyone would want to eat anything in the wet, dark and unhygienic caverns.
The barman nods in greeting to the mage girl, then nods his head towards the room beside him then looks down to his desk again, not giving the girl much appreciation. Claudia pouts and looks towards the single room next to them, the door was closed so she knocks gently. After waiting a few seconds the Barkeeper remarks from behind her.
“It’s open..”
She turns and frowns, wishing he had told her that earlier; holding up her stew skilfully she opens the door and steps inside. She blinks as the room was dark, only lightly lit by candle lantern and the light streaming in from the open door. She squints and steps into the room some more.
“Hello?”
She speaks quietly and jumps as the door slams behind her, she spins around and sees a dark figure with glaring green eyes sliding his hand from the door. She freezes, taking a firmer grip on her pot of stew.
“What do you want..?”
“For you to be as co-operative as possible..about two weeks ago you met with another Sin’Dorei; female, blonde.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about..”
Geis steps forward, his figure coming more into light the symbol of his tabard showing the only colour on his clothing. He begins to speak more impatiently.
“She was likely looking for someone..What did you tell her?..Where did she go?”
“I told you..I don’t know what you’re—“
Geis quickly steps in front of the door as Claudia tries to make for it.
“I wouldn’t try that..tell me what I need to know.”
The mage girl scowled. “Screw you!”
Spinning her upper body she hurls the pot of hot stew at Geis, but the rogue bring up his arms and knocks the pot aside, the contents beginning to splash over the floor, with the pot clunking heavily on the wooden decking. Claudia meanwhile whips her hand back and conjures a ball of arcane in her palm, thrusting it towards Geis’ chest who takes the hit squarely and is blasted back into the wooden wall. He feels the wood snap under his weight and grunts, but looks back and sees her begin to conjure another spell. He pushes off from the wall and disappears in a slight apparition; the mage’s spell shoots out and blasts the wooden wall in a barrage of arcane magic.
Claudia gasps out a little and blinks, noticing her attack had missed her target. However she seemed to be expecting a trick like that and flashes a magical shield around her completely, holding her right hand out in front of her with a conjured flame lighting the room.
“You cowardly rogue..don’t expect to get the better of me."
Geis scowls in his stealthed state and steps out of the darkness and into sight.
“Tch, have it your way.”
The mage blasts more energy into her ball of flame and fires it towards Geis. The rogue doesn’t make an effort to dodge the fire, he lifts his hand as the spell is cast and almost blends in with the background as his body is surrounded by a cloak of shadow. The fireball is absorbs and fizzles out of existence. Claudia growls and raises both hands to quickly shoot two bolts of ice towards Geis, but the spell is again resisted by the surrounding shadow.
Almost immediately after the spell had landed Geis drops his hand and the shadow begins to fade away from him, and he charges forward in an instant movement and slams his right fist against the mage’s shield. The force of the punch wasn’t enough to break through but his gauntlet whirrs and pops out a small rocket which shoots against the barrier at point blank with a small orange blast.
The rocket pierces the shield and the resulting force blasts the girl back into the opposing wall. She falls with a cry and stumbles up onto her feet again, reaching for her dagger. Geis reaches for his own lethal weapon and paces over towards the mage, who flails her dagger towards Geis with amateur-like expertise. Geis avoids the swings with fluid movements of his body; once his timing was right he catches the girl’s dagger against his own weapon and suddenly thrusts his left hand towards the girl’s side, flicking his wrist out to release a three inch needle-like point.
The girl cries out and winces, pulling away from him desperately and flicking her hands into the air to disappear in a blink of magic, she reveals herself at the other side of the room clutching her side. She pants a little but turns around slowly and laughs in Geis’ direction.
“Ahahah..that didn’t hurt, rogue. Sorry, but whatever information you want about my contact..you’ll never get it.”
Claudia smiles in triumph as she begins to conjure a big spell, Geis was standing still at the other side of the room only one dagger still in hand, there was nothing he could do to prevent his fate now. He speaks slowly.
“You really don’t know who I am, do you?”
The girl didn’t listen she seemed to be concentrating very hard..harder than usual. Geis suddenly starts to step forward towards her, only walking. Claudia blinks and wonders why the spell she had conjured wasn’t ready for firing, she squints and uses more magical power into the spell to charge the arcane missiles before they fizzled out completely.
“Wh-what..”
Her mind was going blank, she was struggling to concentrate on her spell and on Geis who now had almost reached her and suddenly dashed the last few steps and quickly pivoted on his left foot, whipping his right leg into the air sending a powerful kick at the mage’s chest. She grunts and falls backward, dropping the spell completely. She coughs on the ground as Geis leans down to her with a dagger poised threateningly over the cleavage on her robe, the needle at his wrist dripping in Mind Numbing venom retracting back. He stares down at her and speaks in a chilling and demanding tone.
“Where is she…just tell me where I can find her.”
The girl seems to whimper for the first time and refuses to look back at him.
“I-I don’t know where she is..”
“Don’t lie!” Geis shouted. “You must have sent her somewhere..tell me where!”
“No! I can’t…break my deal…even if she was there..doesn’t mean she’s there now!”
She holds her puncture wound again and actually looks back at him. “She was meant to find me again..and she didn’t.”
Geis blinks, understanding that wherever this girl told her to go, she didn’t return from, but he still didn’t know where that was.
“Dammit..tell me where you sent her and I’ll leave this room. If you digress any more, you won’t be leaving it breathing..”
Claudia swallows and pauses a moment, then croaks out in defeat. “A camp in Crystalsong..”
Geis narrows his eyes, Crystalsong was reasonably empty but there was more than one camp.
“The Silver Covenant?”
The mage shakes her head slowly. “No..Sunreavers.”
Geis pauses and thinks about her answer, then stands off her and walks towards the door. Claudia closes her eyes, she tried not to be intimidated, she had encountered many rogues like him before and had learned how to overcome their sneaky tricks, but this time she was admittedly scared.
However, she made a deal with Cross to remain confidential..she was about to let down her friend and leave her to the mercy of that dangerous man. A sudden sense of guilt took over her, as a mage of the Silver Covenant, how could she have been so irresponsible?
Once Geis begins to open the door Claudia picks herself up and steps into line of sight with a determined look in her eyes. Geis stops and looks back at her curiously. She speaks to him as she seemingly conjures another spell.
“I might have told you…but I can’t let you leave with that information!”
Geis looks back at her blankly. Claudia seems to burst with arcane power, her magical aura bursting with more energy. She flashes and creates three mirror images of herself around the room, all conjuring the same spell, and ready to fire at Geis.
Time seems to slow down, Geis turns to face the multiple images of the mage ready to fire a devastating spell at him, both daggers now in his hands. He watches the mage carefully, and starts to bend his knees slightly, waiting for the right moment. His heart beats quickly and his eyes narrow as the mage prepares to fire.
The next moment was over as quick as it began. The mage and her copies launch their powerful bolts of magic towards the rogue. In the same instant, Geis leaps forward and is enveloped in a misty shadow. He disappears as several shadowy images of Geis appear and dart forward. The magic bolts blast into the floor, passing through a couple of the images. The dark misty figures dart around the room, dancing around the images appearing threatening but only passing through everything they touch like ghosts. The mage looks around confused and panicked. Suddenly a shadowy image slices across one of her images and forces it to disappear. The mage turns and desperately tries to fire some magic at Geis but she hits just another image. As soon as she sees the disappointing result another one of her images is taken out on her other side; once again the real Geis was gone as soon as she had turned. She clenches her teeth and releases an explosion of arcane around her, hoping desperately to hit the real rogue but it didn’t seem to have much effect.
She pants as another image disappears, she was the only one left now, she was vulnerable..surrounded by several shadowy images of Geis running around her but causing no harm. She gasps and lets out a frightened cry, as she hears a shadowy presence land behind her.
Geis swiftly pierces the girl’s neck. Claudia at once freezes still, blood running from her mouth and from her neck wound. Geis pulls his weapon back and the shadows around him disappear. Claudia’s body falls freely onto the floor and Geis looks down at her for a moment. She was a young age for an elf, a pretty face and light blonde hair like Cross’; now getting stained in her crimson blood. Geis sighs through his nose, he respected her fighting ability and persistence to protect the confidence she shared with Cross. He steps past the girl in the small chance she could still be saved from her final rest.
He steps to the door and opens it; he is met by the innkeeper who looks into the room with his jaw open. Geis blinks and looks around awkwardly.
“Alright…another thousand then..?”
Chapter 4 – Al Diel Shala
Crystalsong was an unusual state of elegance among the cold harsh ice of Northrend. The ancient woods blossomed in autumn colour, typical woodland wildlife living around the vegetation and along the narrow river running through the middle. The western bounds of the forest turn into something from a dream. Giant crystal trees envelop the landscape in their pure magical glow, with their roots shaping and colouring the ground in a vivid amethyst. The surreal environment is quiet but with a glint of cold breeze and the sounds of the sparkling forest echo around the ancient highborne ruins.
The roar of an engine displaces the natural silence; a beam of light shooting down the forest path alerts the woodland creatures out of the way of Geis’ speedy motorcycle ‘Condor-Hog’. He squeezes the clutch and shifts gear as he approaches a fork turning into one road that would lead him south. He continues west, keeping the large crystal tree in his sight. The path he was on was starting to break up as the ground becomes more uneven; releasing the throttle a little he swerves to the left through a gap of trees. He holds his handlebars tightly to keep his bike on course; the uneven ground was starting to shift the front wheel slightly. He keeps his sight forward, peering through his goggles to protect his eyes from the speed he was going. He sees an obscurity ahead; a large crystal root had raised the ground in front of him and he had no chance of avoiding it. He lifts his weight onto his legs a little and waits until he was about to hit the mound; he pulls up on the bars to lift his front wheel up and hit the slope, feeling a bump he takes the bike up and finally flicks the front wheel into the air at the top of the root to clear the jump. The engine roars loudly as it takes some air; Geis watches the ground and tilts the bike’s weight so that it was straight and the back wheel would land first. He eventually clunks down onto the ground and returns to being seated, squeezing the throttle some more he proceeds onwards towards the snowy mountains edge to his north.
Geis brakes as he sees the red and golden flags of the Sin’dorei against a large ancient tower made of white stone. He lowers his gear and speed until the engine stutters at low revs and drives quietly near to the slope leading into the Sunreaver’s camp. He is watched by the elves guarding the entrance as he parks up his Hog and shuts down at the entrance, then swirls a long brown cloak around himself and marches through the snow and up the slope.
The Sunreaver guards step up to him with an arm raised. One speaks to him in plain Thalassian.
“Bal'a dash.. Anaria shola”
Geis looks back and pulls down his mask to reveal his face and eyes.
“I’m looking for someone who may have passed here a couple of weeks ago.”
The guards look at each other and murmur amongst themselves, then the one speaking turns back to Geis.
“Well we have members come and go from here, but not often many travellers outside the Sunreavers…A girl did stay here one night.”
Geis’ heart skips, he knew he was on the right track, perhaps someone here could help him.
Geis nods as the guard continues. “I can’t help you out with anything more than that, friend..but come with me.”
Geis blinks as the guard nods to his partner and turns to walk up the slope. Geis follows the elf clad in red and gold, it was a very noble uniform. The guard leads Geis into the main settlement the Sunreavers took in this part of the forest, at first glance it was merely an outpost between Dalaran and the darkened kingdom of Zul’Drak. The camp was at rest, the perimeter was defended by archers and the paths patrolled by footmen, but it didn’t look like this area was under attack often. Geis notices usual crafting stations, a forge and blacksmith, an infirmary, sellers of potions and reagents and food stalls, in fact he saw nothing particularly special about it.
The guard stops in the middle and passes a greeting to a passing Sunreaver archer, before turning to Geis and pointing towards one of the food stall keepers. Geis looks up and follows the direction of the point, peering at a brunette haired sin’dorei preparing her fruit.
The guard lowers his hand.
“Speak with her; she’s the only one who had anything to do with the person you seek. But if I were you I’d just get some food and be on your way, she doesn’t tell us anything.” The guard pats Geis’ shoulder as if his journey was already over.
Geis frowns a little but nods in thanks to the guard, who walks back to his post. He steps over to the food stall and notices most of the food trays covered over for the time being; the owner appeared to be busy preparing a tray of fruit and doesn’t look up. Geis tries to find a way to begin some sort of conversation.
“Are you closed or something?”
The owner continues what she is doing, not looking up at the stranger but replies.
“No..this is just food for the Sunreavers..not travellers.”
Geis smirks and steps over a bit, looking over the food trays. “Really? All this food?”
The woman sighs and puts down her tray. She stands up and faces Geis at last; she had light brown hair down to her shoulders and a long flowing crimson robe. Geis faces her as she folds her arms and puts on a little smile.
“What do you want?”
Geis looks down at the stalls again. “Well I don’t know..I mean, there’s so much food..”
“I mean what are you doing -here-?” She snaps back at him; Geis suddenly smirks as he recognises the icy attitude as someone Cross would know.
“Heh, why do you think I’m here?”
“Gosh, I couldn’t answer that..if you don’t know why you’re here..I’m not to have a clue I’m afraid.” The woman’s tone was still irritatingly calm; it made the sarcasm all the more painfully obvious, which didn’t sit well with Geis.
“Tch, I’m looking for Cross…she passed by here supposedly.”
“Oh really? What gave you that impression?” The woman leans forward over her stall with a smile, as if challenging him.
“A little bird told me…and I’m hoping you’ll sing as well.”
The woman pauses for a moment and her smile fades into a ruthless stare. “Well I don’t know what you’re talking about, so buy some food or leave my damn stall.”
Geis falls quiet and peers over the trays of food, he lifts one of the covers and pulls out a roll of bread lifting it up into sight and pulling out some silver. The woman holds out her hand with an unimpressed expression for her change, but as Geis holds the change out he deliberately drops it short of her hand. As the woman reactively reaches out to catch the silver Geis quickly grabs her wrist and tugs on her arm. The woman gasps as she is lurched over the stall and holds her stomach; Geis reaches for the front of her dress to bring her forward and blinks as she winces. Glancing down he notices the bulge at her stomach, out of proportion with her otherwise skinny body. He curses in his head and frowns, but looks back into the girl’s eyes.
“Following this damn trail of breadcrumbs and running into women like you is starting to get on my nerves. She’s been gone nearly three weeks already; now tell me where she damn is!”
To his surprise the girl doesn’t struggle but keeps staring at him mercilessly, as if she was hoping he’d drop down dead in front of her. All of a sudden Geis feels a sudden thwack on the back of the neck and something long and invisible quickly winds its way around his neck and constricts his throat. He chokes and removes his hands from the girl, tugging at the coil around his neck. He couldn’t swallow or breath and he begins to struggle with whatever it was that was around his neck; but shortly he feels a huge tug on his choker and it constricts tighter whilst pulling him off his feet and hard onto the ground behind him. Geis is winded and dazed and looks up at grey clouds in the sky, but sees nothing behind him. He hears the woman’s voice.
“Don’t EVER touch me again, you prick!”
Geis frowns and tugs at the invisible choker, and blinks as a hoofed figure fades into sight above him. A woman’s body with horns and wings, holding a long whip that ran to Geis’ throat. He growls and tries to look back at the woman, who was walking around her stall towards him holding her stomach.
Geis coughs and tries to sit himself up, but a hoof from the succubus plants on his cheek and forces him to stay on the ground, half of his face being pushed into the dirty snow.
“Pff..Ch..ugh..”
Geis splutters as the girl carefully kneels down to him. She seemed relaxed, her frown turned back into her sinisterly calm smile.
“Men..”
Geis looks up at her and rolls his eyes. She continues. “I’m afraid you’ve come to a halt in your search..you may have convinced anyone else, but you won’t get past me. I promise you that.”
Geis sighs and stops struggling, trying to speak.
“Alright..ngh..fine..just..listen.”
The woman frowns and peers up at her minion, and the whip around his neck is loosened and pulled away with a crack. Geis coughs as his airway is cleared and he takes a few deep breaths of the cold air.
*pant*” Don’t you think it strange…she hasn’t come back to you yet?”
The woman frowns. “Stop pretending I know what you’re talking about..”
Geis sighs in frustration. “Oh come on…you’re a perfect likeness..”
The girl can’t help a patronising chuckle. “This is how all women are silly man, some are just tougher skinned than others, some fall into naivety by trusting men like you.” Geis glares up at her, he was sick of her tone, being talked down to.
“You sound just like Dana..”
The woman’s expression turns to a frown again, as if been insulted. “You’ve no right to speak of Lady Danade in such a way..”
Geis smirks a little. “I thought as much…You work for her I bet.”
The woman pouts and stands up, looking down at him condescendingly. “I’m afraid that’s none of your business.”
Geis was sick of wasting time bantering on unnecessary things. He looks up at her seriously. “I’m concerned…whatever she may be going through right now…Ugh..I need to know she’s alright…Help me find her so I can talk to her..please.”
The woman falls quiet and looks away from him. “I can’t help you.”
Geis rolls over and sits up slowly, the food vendor quickly turns back to him defensively, but does nothing else.
“Surely you know where she is right now?”
“I do not.”
“Then..tell me where she went from here!”
“No.”
Geis clenches his teeth and the succubus cracks her whip threateningly. He sighs and tries to calm himself, he didn’t seem to be getting anywhere and threatening the girl would only land him in trouble. The girl frowns down at him and returns to her stall as the demon mistress fades out of sight again. “Just go..before I summon the guards over here.”
Geis picks himself up and throws the cloak around himself fully. He glares at the woman and spins on his feet, marching through the snow and heading out of the camp towards his vehicle. The guard he met on his way in salutes him as he leaves. “Al diel shala, friend..” Geis doesn’t throw him a glance as he jumps onto his Hog and revs through the snow back to the city in the sky.
Chapter 5 – A Third Guest
It was a chilling night. In crystalsong the air had become thick with cloud and mist. A storm from the north hurls wind and snow across the valley and white powder spreads across the auburn ground. The Sunreaver camp was in a bustle to take shelter against the side of the mountain; banners flapped loudly and elves wrapped tightly in their winter garments struggle with tying up their canvases and covering up anything vulnerable to the storm. Many retreated to their tents, apart from the unfortunate sentries still posted on the perimeter. All dragonhawk traffic to the post had been halted in the storm, however the guards on duty were aware of a transfer this evening, their thoughts were sent to the unlucky couple that were to be sent marching across the valley from their Sanctuary in Dalaran.
“Aren’t they a bit late? I thought they’d arrive before the storm got this bad..” A lookout hugs himself tightly as he speaks to his comrade, their breath visible in the icy air.
“Well I’d love to see you march across the entirety of Crystalsong in the snow, you’re about as fit as an Elekk.” The watchman replies.
“If it was this cold I’d make double effort to get here fast, thank you.”
“Yeah right, you’d stay in Dalaran with a hot bath.” The elves chuckle and banter to each other further through the night, but still no sign of them.
The marshal at the post marches up to them later on. “Still no arrivals?”
“No Sir.”
“Well is there no message from Dalaran? Perhaps they delayed the transfer until the storm dies down.”
“Nothing to report.”
The marshal sighs and covers his eyes with his hand to peer into the distance without snow being pelted into his eyes. He salutes to the men and turns back towards the middle of the camp.
“Wait, sir!”
The lookout calls him back and squints into the wind, he spots some shadows approaching, silhouettes of mounted hawkstriders. The marshal turns back around.
“Ah, at last.”
The riders trot up the path, halting the hawkstriders with their reigns and they cry out as they come to a stop, shaking their feathers. The marshal steps forward and inspects the arrivals, furrowing his brow slightly.
“Three of you? I was expecting two.”
One of the newcomers in crimson uniform replies. “That’s why there was a delay, sir.”
“Hmm?...Let me see your papers..dismount.” The marshal orders, and the three riders hop down from their striders.
“Shalara, stable these birds please. Give them water and shelter”. A young girl jogs up to the marshal and nods in obedience, bringing herself up to the birds and stroking their beaks and long necks; she grabs each reign and leads the hawkstriders to their stables.
Each newcomer hands out their papers of identification to the marshal, each signed by Archmage Aethas Sunreaver himself. The marshal nods in acceptance to the two he was aware of arriving, then reads over the third.
“You, Theanor Sunbrand, I wasn’t aware of your transfer.”
He looks up at the elf, dressed in red and gold Sunreaver attire draped over well designed leather armour, a crimson red hood pulled up over his head and a mask brought up to shield his face; the others were wearing similar hoods through the snow. The third elf in the party speaks out.
“No you wouldn’t be aware, it was a last minute decision by Archmage Sunreaver to pad out this post with more from Storm Peaks since a storm is underway.”
The marshal is convinced by the papers but looks up at the speaker again. “You’re not from the Sanctuary?”
Sunbrand shakes his head. “No, I was assisting in the peaks..I would have been sent to the Tournament Grounds once we were done with the Beasts, but it seems I’ve been put here on a more..’diplomatic’ nature.”
The marshal raises his eyebrows and shifts his body language a little, as if he was caught doing something embarrassing.
“Oh, of course, of course…I’ve been requesting it for weeks. Thank the Sun someone listened. Welcome Theanor. You two as well..” He turns to the others. “Welcome to Sunreaver’s Command. More goes on here then you think, I assure you..let me take you through normal protocol then you’ll be shown to your tents.”
Everyone follows the marshal, with Sunbrand hanging to the back of the line peering around the camp with sharp eyes. He grins to himself at his convincing story; he exploited a loophole in the Sunreaver’s transfers and covered it up with the perfect excuse, one that the marshal would certainly protect from being revealed. There was nothing fake about his paper’s either, now no one called Theanor Sunbrand would be reported missing. He murmurs to himself.
“Just as planned..”
Chapter 6 – Eat While it’s Fresh
The night passed with little silence. The storm blew on and tent and stall canvases were constantly flapping as they cling to their frames. A howling wind blew through the valley, whistling down the side of the mountain and bringing a chilling breeze from the north. Come the morning the storm was almost over save for the strong wind, the sky however was light and clear with a sun streaming angelically through the trees. Early risers were up and about recovering goods and equipment blown down or damaged, wrapped from head to toe in furs and winter gear to protect from the biting cold.
The infiltrator had been given his own tent amongst the Sunreavers posted at the camp. He awoke at first sign of light and grunts as he wraps his upper body in his furs some more against the cold air. He sighs and sits up, stretching himself out and circling his shoulders; he rubs his biceps and looks down at his forearm, looking down at the large tribal cross tattooed there by Cross herself. He strokes the design gently and frowns, he missed his lover greatly and his outrageous chase over Azeroth to find her again became more necessary to him than any other endeavour; he could finally let go of a past that plagued him for the last few years.
Geis crawls forward and squints into the sunlight as he sticks his head out of the tent, he was unaware of what duties he’d have to undergo to maintain his disguise here, but he had to do all he could until he found out the next location in Cross’ journey. He slides into his comfortable linen before attaching his new red and gold armour. It felt strange to leave his black Essence gear behind but he already felt quite attached to this new armour; it was tough, attractive and left plenty of flexibility for agile manoeuvres. He reaches for his weapon belt and slaps it across his waist, buckling it on tightly. His new daggers were also far more deadly than his previous; longer and more acutely forged with a much more subtle serrated edge. They sported the horde symbol proudly, but he didn’t mind something so trivial, if anything it helped his appearance. He lifts up the crimson hood over his head, something he was pleased of having; he would need it up for the time being.
He steps out of his tent fully attired and the cool air blows into his face as he breathes in deeply, feeling refreshed. He squints around and notices breakfast being served by the food vendor; he decides to skip breakfast.
---
By the afternoon, Geis had been assigned to guard the perimeter and on a few patrols. Menial tasks to him but there wasn’t anything available to do at this time, including his progress in finding Cross’ location. He had already done plenty of thinking and his options were low. The woman carrying a child made things all the more difficult, as even for the sake of finding Cross, destroying a mother and child’s life wasn’t an option to him; the knowledge would simply kill Cross. What made it worse was that the woman probably already knew this and would use any connection to Cross and Danade to her advantage; including her confidence and strength against being overpowered it made getting what he wanted all the more harder.
Come lunchtime he was regretting skipping breakfast, as doing next to nothing made him very hungry. He put some faith in his disguise and approached the food stall, luckily there was a queue and he wouldn’t stand out at all. He keeps his mask across his face and awaits his turn to receive a ration of the food provided for each Sunreaver stationed at the post. He nods to the brunette as he walked past, trying not to stare into her eyes in case she could recognise them. He takes his bag and walks on, the brunette seems to give him an odd look, but it was perhaps more to do with the mask covering his face more than anything else, either way he opens his bag of food and looks at what he was given, it was a loaf of bread, some cold slices of salted venison and some fruit. It wasn’t a bad lunch and he smiles at the brunette’s expertise before closing the bag and beginning to walk off to his watch station in order to eat. He takes a few steps and stops for a moment as something clicks in his mind. He opens the bag and looks down again at his food, then back at the stall where more and more Sunreavers were beginning to line up to get their food; he stares back at the stall and narrows his eyes. She was providing the whole camp with their food.
---
Another five or so hours passed and compared to his recent busy days, today felt very long and drawn out and it was only just starting to get dark. He stood at his post until it was time for him to patrol, which he preferred to standing on the perimeter of the camp; at least patrolling he could slay a few creatures he considered to be too close to the encampment and exercise his legs in some manner. This time however he patrols a short way and then lets himself disappear into the forming shadows through the trees.
It was getting close to dinner time and as such the stall keeper was busy attending to the preparations of the food. She had declined the help of an assistant despite all the work she had to do; she was very skilled in cooking and took great pride in her recipes, she stubbornly didn’t want anyone else interfering. Today’s meal was a meat and vegetable stew, mixed with pleasant Northrend spices, with a piece of bread on the side. She had a lot of carrots to peel and chop before putting them into her stew bowl and the meat was already hissing over the fire. She smiles and strokes her bulge, happy to be working here despite her many months into pregnancy; she had to stay persistent in objecting to moving back to Dalaran.
A figure approaches the stall, hidden by the very quick falling darkness, but the shimmering gold of the tabard clearly labelled them as a Sunreaver. The cook looks up and blinks, putting on a pleasant smile for her comrade.
“Oh..it’s not ready yet, don’t worry I’ll announce when food is served, you won’t starve.”
Once the figure was closer and into her lit area she notices it as the masked newcomer she served earlier.
“Oh, you..sorry I don’t recognise you as someone from here, I suppose you’re one of the new ones?”
The man nods with a soft grunt in reply, making the woman giggle.
“Not much of a talker, hm? Why do you keep your mask up? There’s no one to hide from here.”
Her smile shines, giving off a much more pleasant aura to when the same man had approached her the first time. He replies this time.
“Oh, I’m not sure about that..”
The woman blinks at him confused, not clicking to the sound of his voice right away considering the uniform. Her eyes start to widen as she looks up at him again but her time to act had run out, she receives a powerful punch to her head and falls backward out of consciousness.
---
As the brunette elf begins to awake from her knock out slumber, she is met with a thumping headache and a light feeling of nausea. She whines quietly and winces, trying to squint forward. The man that must have hit her was still standing in front of her, back turned and stirring her pot of stew. She glares at him for messing with her food and struggles, trying to scream out but is suddenly constricted and she realises very quickly the state she was in. She was tied tightly to a chair, hand crossed and tied behind her back, unable to move at any length of her arm, including her shoulders. Her feet were tied to the chair legs also and reinforced by her legs also being wrapped to the seat. She couldn’t speak since she was gagged by what seemed to be a dish towel and could only release audible groans and mumbles. She frowns and struggles again, peering around desperately to find a way to escape. She gasps at what lay beside her, her succubus was laying still beside her, a large stab wound visible down her front. Her eyes shake and she glares with rage at the man in front of her, suddenly remembering who it was; she starts to make as much noise as she could through the gag.
Geis slowly turns his head; the mask pulled down now, and puts his finger to his lips in a gesture for silence.
“Shh, I’m glad you’re awake I think you need to see this.”
The woman blinks and watches him curiously. The rogue smirks and pulls out a full vial of dark green liquid. He opens it and begins pouring the contents slowly into the stew, pouring in a circle to spread the substance through the food faster. The woman widens her eyes and begins to make a lot of noise again, trying to rock herself off the chair. Geis puts the empty bottle away and walks slowly back to his captive, kneeling enough so he was eye level.
“So, let’s have a chat about how this is going to work..” The woman doesn’t seem to want to listen and keeps shaking her head, but Geis doesn’t seem to care at this point.
“You’ve seen the situation now, take my word that I’ve just put an extremely fatal dose of poison into the food and it’s not worth calling my bluff about that. In about half an hour everyone here is going to be a bit hungry, and come what may they’re going to eat this.”
The woman shakes her head, glaring with all her rage, starting to pant through her nose.
“Uh huh, they are because you won’t be here to stop them from eating it unless you help me out and tell me where Cross went from here.”
This seemed to make her more outraged that he was doing all this just to find Cross, it was still on her mind to never let out any information about her. Geis stands up and reaches for something.
“But, if I let you talk here you’ll just attract attention, so let’s go for a little walk.”
Geis pulls out a needle and reaches for her brown hair, forcing her head to the side and injecting her neck with a substance. She begins to whine and struggle despite the pain until Geis pulls out the needle and waits for his anaesthetic to take effect. In a matter of moments the woman’s eyes were starting to struggle in staying open, and drowsiness completely took over her.
---
Geis manages to carry the tied up body of the Sunreaver cook to his Condor Hog and drives into the forest. It was now getting pitch black apart from the light of the crystal trees, and the front light of his vehicle. He stops somewhere quiet in the forest and steps off, pulling the woman carefully out of his sidecar and sitting her down beside a tree. He unties her gag and sits on his hog waiting for her to awaken.
Since it wasn’t a huge dose she wakes up after a few minutes of being out. She blinks around again and seems much less energetic than before, the drowsiness clearly hadn’t worn off completely. Geis stands up and squats opposite her, looking at her calmly; she doesn’t follow suit and just looks away.
“Tell me.”
She remains silent, refusing to be beaten.
“If you don’t tell me I’ll leave you here to crawl back to camp and by then each of them will be dead..”
The woman seemed to be holding back tears. She stutters her breath and looks back at him.
“ No..why..?”
Geis looked back at her blankly.
“Because I need an answer.”
Her expression turns to her burning anger again.
“You won’t get away with it! If you let me go I’ll tell them everything!”
Geis doesn’t seem phased. “Oh right..tell them what? Cos the way I see it..” Geis stands and starts pacing. “You are the only one in charge of the camp’s food..-by request-, and everyone who ate the food tonight dies…except you. What do you think they’ll say to that?”
The woman is stunned into silence and searches for an excuse or escape. “What…n-no, that won’t happen! It won’t be just me will it? You’ll be gone as well, we keep records!”
Geis chuckles softly to himself. “Ahh, you assume that I’ll be missing and therefore it must be me. I’m afraid not, you see ‘Theanor Sunbrand’ will have died along with everyone else.” He grins as he flashes the identity papers of the Sunreaver he killed just days before, a corpse ready to be littered with the rest.
The woman’s eyes light with fear; she was quickly running out of options and begins to sweat in frustration.
“No…how could you do this..? You’ll never get away with it! Lady Danade will back me up! She will!”
“Oh knock it off!” Geis’ expression turns angry and he snaps back at her. “Danade, Danade, will save me..That’s all you people ever do, why don’t you get a clue and realise you can’t go to her for -everything- . No matter her influence she’ll have no evidence and nothing to save you, unless I’m captured and made to confess...which won’t happen I assure you.”
Geis flexes his hands and begins pacing again. The woman seemed hurt by his words and bites her lip, emotions confused in fear, panic and rage.
“Oh god..this can’t be happening..”
Geis starts to get impatient at the girl’s whimpering. “Tell me now and it’ll all go away…you can go back to your camp and save every one of them, I promise.”
“Why should I trust you!” She screams back at him, not knowing which path to take.
“What reason do I have not to hold my word? I have nothing against the Sunreavers, or you, unless you persist in not co-operating.”
The woman glares up at him and struggles, suddenly opening her hands as much as she could and tries to conjure an incinerating flame behind her. Geis notices this and quickly steps forward and launches a kick to her chest, knocking her out of breath and against the tree in order to cancel her spell.
“You’re so stubborn aren’t you…don’t waste time doing something like that you only have about 12 minutes remaining to save all their lives.”
The woman lies on the floor and begins to cry, curling up to protect her stomach. Geis tilts his head and paces around her.
“You don’t want to be jammed up in violet hold for murdering a whole camp of Dalaran Sunreavers. They’ll take away your child.”
Geis looks down at her seriously. She begins to scream and clench her eyes shut as nightmarish thoughts plague her mind. “Noooo! Not my child! I didn’t do anything!” Geis keeps glaring down at her, an ever intimidating presence. The woman sobs into the ground, clawing her nails into the dirt behind her, just wanting to die and make it all go away.
Geis watches for a moment then speaks softly and plainly.
“Ten minutes..”
Her eyes open quickly as the reality of it all catches up with her, she had imagined the worst possible scenario, a whole camp of elves disappearing all at once, she left as the only survivor and cook; locked in Violet Hold without her baby and no one able to help. She begins to hyperventilate and almost breaks down completely; as Geis begins to turn back towards his bike to leave her here she suddenly screams out to him.
“NOOO! She went to Icecrown!”
Geis stops and turns around to her, her eyes full of fear and pleading. “She went to Icecrown to the Argents…please let me go!”
Geis answers softly “Where in Icecrown?”
The woman’s brown hair was straggly and untidy by now and falls in front of her face. She cries out all she knows in desperation. “I don’t know! It was a job for the Argent Crusade there’s a fortress North West of here! That’s where I sent her I don’t know anything else! Please!”
Geis stares at her a moment, checking her face for honesty, but it didn’t take him long to decide she was telling the truth. His heart beats harder in his chest and he gives a slight sigh of relief that he didn’t have to avoid a full scale investigation of the Sunreaver post. He steps over to her and cuts her legs free and then the binds at her wrists, speaking to her clearly.
“Run straight back...if you stop and fight me here, you won’t get back in time. You did the right thing, now finish it.”
Once free the fragile female falls onto the floor and clambers to her feet keeping her hand over her bulge. She starts to jog through the woods against the cold wind, knowing it would take her North towards the camp. Geis watches her leave with pity and steps back to his bike. He sits on the seat and lifts his mask up, only now beginning to think of what Cross would be doing for the Argent Crusade, and how that would cause a disappearance. He decided not to dwell on it too long and sighs; starting up the machine he drives off through the forest and heads for towards the dark and icy peaks of Icecrown.
Chapter 7 – The End of the Trail
Geis crunches up a foot-treaded path, the snow blackened from dirt and shit off people’s boots. It weaves up the mountainside towards the black icy peaks, the view becoming obstructed by man-made structures. A fort looms closer waving white and black flags of the Argent Crusade; still in the final stages of construction and repair from a recent attack.
Geis approaches the gates; the Argent guards on the way in glance at him but take no action. In his dazzling red and gold attire he walks on past giving a faint nod to them. He wasn’t expecting much questioning of his business here; it was well known the Argent Dawn was working closely with all sub-factions of the Kirin Tor, particularly at the Argent Tournament Grounds. Geis walks further into the main camp and upon looking around he notices only a handful of Argent Crusade guards around; his first thought becomes of Highlord Fordring’s rally to lead a strong force upon the Lich King’s gates and just like the push against the demons in Quel’Danas, the earlier outposts were slowly becoming deserted. Geis sneers and analyses the fort instinctively; the height of the towers, the distance to the exits, the number of guards currently stationed. He was certain his cover would pull off for a while longer, but he couldn’t be too careful.
He wanders on towards the North of the Vanguard, and overlooks the cleanup of Nerubian corpses and broken skeletons of Frost Wyrms. He looks upwards at the mounted cannons on the fort’s towers, pleased at the advancement in engineering technology on the frontlines. He was wasting time standing around however and he tries to distract himself away from the structure and find someone to talk to; not that he was keen on it.
First, he tries to find someone who would have a clue about the personnel that would have passed through the fort. Trying not to stand out as someone a little lost he walks his way back through the Vanguard trying to be careful who he speaks to. On the higher levels he walks past a large collection of tents, in his curiosity he steps slowly near them and finds a handful filled with wounded soldiers.
“Can I help you?”
Geis’ sudden movement at the voice made the woman jump a little. Geis blinks and turns around fully to face the human female. She had fairly short brown hair, and wore a white and yellow dress to somewhat match the uniform of the Argents, she had a pretty face but didn’t show a smile.
“Yes..perhaps. Who am I speaking to?” Geis asks.
The human politely bows her head. “I am Sister Colleen Tulley..I am the nurse…Are you looking for someone..?”
Geis nods slowly. “Would you know people who come here for work?”
Colleen looks away in her thoughts, and lifts her shoulders a little. “I don’t know about that…if they were injured whilst they were here, I’m sure I might have taken care of them.”
Geis frowns and hopes in such a case that this woman hadn’t met Cross. “Then..do you know a Sin’Dorei known as ‘Cross’? Blonde haired”.
The human bites her finger in thought, Geis wondered how many Sin’Dorei this nurse would have treated over the months. The girl blinks and stops biting her finger, beginning to look rather anxious. “Uhm..”
Geis’ heart rate begins to increase, and doesn’t like the look of her reaction. “I don’t like the sound of your hesitation…You’ve seen her haven’t you?”
The woman doesn’t look up, suddenly intimidated by the elf’s body language and piercing gaze. She raises a hand in objection as she stutters her words out. “W-wait, I’m , I’m still trying to remember..”
Geis grows impatient and quickly grabs her arms in a threatening manner. “Yes or no..did you see her?”
The woman quickly cries out ‘Yes!’ as she flinches from his firm grasp. Geis frowns and feels the blood rush away from his gut, if the nurse had seen to her then he feared her injured. Furthermore, the nervous behaviour of the nurse in releasing this information lead to fears of something worse.
Geis’ voice becomes quiet but stern. He releases her arms but holds a finger up to her face. “Tell me where she is nurse..and what happened here.”
The nurse takes a step back and shakes herself out o her nervous state, suddenly picking up her voice. “I..couldn’t do any more for her. I had to send her back to Dalaran for intensive care.”
“Intensive care?! What’s happened to her!” Geis rages.
“I can’t tell you that! I’m just a nurse, I had to deal with hundreds of souls in this mess!” The nurse almost screamed back at him, and Geis backs off a bit.
“You’re certain she’s in Dalaran?” Geis calmly asks.
Colleen sighs and runs a shaking hand through her brown hair. “I’m sure she went back there yes..but I can’t guarantee what state she is in..”
Geis growls and tears himself away from the nurse mid-sentence. He didn’t want to hear any of it; he just wanted a straight answer for a change. His heart was still pounding fast from this discovery, he tries to put the swarming thoughts of the ‘worst’ to the back of his mind. Whilst he felt assured she had gone back to Dalaran, he was all the more curious about what could have injured his lover.
Marching back to the North of the fort he meets an Argent guard on the path. Deliberately stepping in his way Geis raises his voice to him.
“What happened here?”
The guard frowns in confusion and tries to answer. “Uh..wha-When?”
Geis completely stops the guard in his tracks and squares up to the human. “I’m speaking bloody Common here, I want to know what happened that injured so many people.”
Geis could tell the guard understood but something was being elusive.
“I’m not sure what event you could mean sir, there has been many injured in this battle for Icecrown.”
Geis growls and swings the back of his right fist out at the Argent’s jaw, knocking him flat off his feet with a cry. He steps down to him as the guard tries to scramble up. “You bloody Trogg!” Ignoring the insult Geis grabs the man by his tabard and tries to get his direct attention.
“I’ve been trying to figure this out all week and I’m getting very…tired..of this Elekkshit. Now tell me you damn hairless-!”
“Oi thar!”
Geis pauses and looks up at an orange haired dwarf marching up to him, a stern look on his face about what he could see.
“Unhand hem, lad..I’ll tell ye what ye need ta know.”
Geis blinks and relaxes himself after being interrupted in his raging. He lets the guard fall back on the ground, looking disoriented from the whole ordeal. Geis stands up and walks over with the dwarf to a small tent and wooden chair sitting outside. The dwarf gives a tired grunt as he sits into his chair, Geis quickly notices piles of inked parchment and plans, as well as various mining and engineering equipment. The dwarf takes a sip of his brew and eyes up the elf.
“A Sunreavar, mh?”
Geis looks back but doesn’t reply to the gesture. The dwarf shrugs as he sets down his brew.
“Look ‘ere Laddy..What ahm aboot to tell ye is bein’ kept on the doon low..Ye won’t get nowhar slappin’ these guys aboot. Ye follow?”
“Yes, I get it..” Geis grimly responds. “Please just tell it straight.”
The dwarf chuckles to himself. “A’ight..The Argents ‘ere..they ‘ad a wee plan te attack tha Vrykul toon North of ‘ere. What they’d do…is tunnel undar et! And blow et all inte the groun’.”
Geis was aware of the Vrykul towns in the storm peaks, just a moments flight from the Argent Tournament Grounds, he concluded this would be a precaution from Val’kyr attacks.
“Digging a tunnel…and what went wrong?”
The dwarf looked down and pats his beard. “Eh..et wasn’ pretteh. We were blowin’ through nicely ‘til one of tha ‘splosions shook our supports oot. The ‘ole mine we built collapsed..”
Geis swallows and frowns. “What next..?”
The dwarf looks up at Geis. “Wassat Lad?”
Geis spits out his words, not liking to repeat himself. “What..next..?”
“Oh! Sorry lad, hur hur, ahm a wee deaf in one ear!”
Geis didn’t seem amused by it but decided to stay quiet as the dwarf continues.
“Next, well we ‘ad ‘ole regiments tryin’ te dig em oot. We got oot a fair few survivors..Light be praised, eh? Was thar someone you be lookin’ fer?”
Geis sighs and speaks her name. “Cross…blonde haired Sin’Dorei.”
The dwarf looks up with widened eyes. “Great Scott!..Dear Cross..”
Geis blinks and tries to juice his reaction. “You knew her closely?”
“Aye, Laddy…she worked with me hard on tha project. She knew exactly wher te plant tha explosives, and what charge te use. She ‘ad a great sense o’ smell.”
Geis smiles at the comment about her smell. The memory of her suddenly washed away everything else for the moment.
“Ey, lad…are you this boy o’ ‘ers?”
Geis blinks back at the dwarf, who was grinning to himself. “Aye, you’ve got that look in yer eye..She ‘ad fond words o’ ye, lad.”
Geis falls quiet, his eyes darting about the ground, the dwarf continues.
“I must say I didn’t think ye wer Sunreavar material aftar tha lil display back thar..but this explains et. Yer secret’s safe wi’ me.” The dwarf winks and chuckles, he’d obviously gotten to know Cross quite well and could see right through his Sunreaver guise. “I hear ya’r quite the engineer..been itchin’ for a chance te meet a man who thought it be a gud idea to mod ‘is ‘og with an Eternal Boostar Engine. Hur hah hah..”
Geis grins again, finding it interesting that the tinkers on his Hog were becoming travelling news. Indeed fixing such a powerful Fire injector engine to his Hog was a death certificate to a vehicle of its size, but Geis had re-inforced his bike’s structure and could handle it well enough. His voice drops a little.
“Is she alright..?”
The dwarf falls quiet as well, looking down. “I dunno, lad..She was one o’ the furthest in..Thar was not a lot ah could do. Ah tried stoppin’ ‘er goin’ back, but she wus protectin’ this boy. We found ‘er shielden the poor lad..saved ‘is life. She’s an honor’ble gerl, but she messed ‘erself up quite bad.”
Geis falls quiet again and starts to turn around, he knew that part of Cross very well and knew nothing could be changed about it; he clenches his teeth in silent frustration. The dwarf quickly speaks up again. “If ye find ‘er. Give ‘er mah best.”
Geis turns slightly and nods. “Thank you.”
The dwarf smiles with a nod, as both turn towards a disturbance coming down the path. A group of Argent guards were jogging down towards them, clearly the man Geis had smacked had gathered his buddies and wasn’t going to let it slide.
“Hm..time to go I guess.”
“Aye, take care lad..”
Geis steps out and becomes enveloped in shadow. He bends his legs and makes a giant leap onto the higher level of the fort, grabbing onto the ledge with both hands and heaving himself up. The guards below stop in their tracks and point up to him, starting to jog back. Geis sprints along the top and hops over the wooden boundaries towards the hill to Crystalsong. He lands heavily in the snow near the entrance, taking the guards by surprise. He picks himself up and keeps running down the hill, leaving the shouts of aggravated Crusaders behind him as he jumps back onto his Hog and speeds off back to Dalaran.
Category:Story