Chapter 6: Chapter 5
Traveling by a horse-drawn cart was bliss. With his companions not knowing the layout of the Elwynn forest, Corben could easily feign ignorance and use it as a pretense to pay for a cart ride instead of walking.
What made the trip even more pleasant was the generous layer of straws on the bottom of the cart and Osbeorn acting like a gigantic, warm, and fluffy pillow. Corben and Eldum were lying down and smoking one of Corben's concoctions. Lonaraa sat at the cart's open end, watching the forest while swinging her legs over the edge.
She turned her head from time to time to look at Corben with an intense stare.
'She is wisening up too fast. Clever girl, but she can't prove I'm lying.' Corben just smiled back at her.
The cart was driven by an old man who seemingly had given up human speech and responded with short grumbles. The only time he said something comprehensible was when inquired about the ride prices.
As the cart gently bumped over the uneven dirt road, the group slowly but surely got closer to their next destination; the Eastwall Logging Camp. A small settlement at the eastern edge of the Elwynn forest.
The main reason for going there was a simple quest of delivering the orders from Marshal Dughan to the local militia. Not the most profitable endeavor, but the recommendation letter Marshal had written was enough of an advertisement for them to have top pickings for the quests in the area.
Lonaraa continued watching the forest for a while and then turned her head to face Corben once again and said. "You know, once we reach the camp, we will know how to get back to Goldshire and that means we can walk back, enjoying the calm forest even more."
"Do you have a sore butt, or simply hate the idea of relaxing?" Corbern shot back.
Undeterred she smiled. "No, but you could use some physical activity."
"If that is an invitation we can find a quiet place at the end of the trip." Corben said. Such a taunt surely would end the conversation in his favor.
To his surprise, Lonaraa just smirked and said. "You will be out of breath even before finding such a place."
He slowly rose up to a sitting position. "That was a good one. Didn't expect that kind of response."
"I can't always be on the receiving end for your crude jokes." She responded, beaming with pride.
"Heh, we'll see. But you are but a beginner in the noble art of being a smartass." Corben remarked.
"Be careful. Lass will put ye i yer place before ye know it." Eldum said, exhaling a big puff of smoke. Observing a subtle tension between his two companions was an amusing pastime for sure. 'A give thaim a year tops before they will be at it like rabbits i the sprin.' He let out a chuckle.
"She may have some talent but I'm still the master." Corben said, laying back against the Osbeorn's fluffy side.
"Juist sayin lad. Thon lass is smart."
"Thank you." Lonaraa responded to the compliment.
The silence settled once again, until about five minutes later when Lonaraa asked. "How long till we reach to the settlement?"
"Hrm, abt hour." The old man grumbled.
True to his word, the cart arrived at a small town an hour later. Besides the mill, there were only a few houses and one small inn. The few people that were present were bossed around by a brown-haired woman in her thirties dressed in sturdy black leather pants and a gray leather vest.
The group quickly hopped out of the cart, Corben paid a small tip to the old man and then together with his team, approached the woman.
"Good day, miss." he greeted the woman.
She gave them a passing glance and waved them off. "Unless you are here to chop down trees don't bother me. You can get adventurer work from guard Thomas by the bridge."
"Oh, thank you for the tip, miss. We'll be on our way then." Corben said with a small bow.
They walked towards the bride the cart had passed a few minutes ago at a brisk pace. The small wooden bridge was crossing a shallow river, and at the other end stood two guards in full Stormwind plate.
One of them turned and addressed the group. "Hail, brave adventurers. I am in need of your services."
"Sure thing, but can you point as the local guard captain? We have a letter from the Marshal."
"That would be me." The man said and accepted the letter. He quickly skimmed over it and then stashed it away.
"As I was saying, I'm in need of capable men and women and I see Marshal Dughan speaks highly of you. A few days ago we sent two guards, Rolf and Malakai, to investigate along the river, and they have not yet returned. To complete my report, I must know what happened to those men."
"They probably got eaten by murlocs." Corben remarked casually and then asked. "Do you have anything else we can do?"
"Finding what happened to my men takes priority."
"Sure…" 'Think! I need to come up with something to not take this job. Those murlocs likely are still after us. What to say… shit… I can't think of anything that won't make me look like a wimp or a weirdo.'
"Maybe ye have some task thon involves huntin. Ma pet bear coud use some pratice." Eldum came to his aid.
"You can hunt dire wolves and bears while you investigate. I'll pay extra for that, but the first priority is to find Rolf and Malakai. I hope they are still alive but I fear the worst. Their families deserve to know what happened to them."
"We'll take the task." Lonaraa said.
"Lonaraa! What are you doing?" Corben hissed.
"We can't just leave their families in the dark." She said.
"Did you already forget about the murlocs?" He asked quietly.
"Be brave. Together we can overcome any challenge." She responded cheerfully.
Reluctantly, Corben accepted the task and the group walked north about a hundred meters away from the river while looking for any signs of the missing guards.
Once they were far enough away, Corben said. "If I get murdered by murlocs, I will haunt you."
"I will protect you." Lonaraa responded and then put her hands together and added in a clearly fake dreamy voice. "And if we die we can haunt the area together, joined in death."
"I see we have to plan out everything." Corben replied with a deadpan expression. "We can have a ghost house and ghost kids and haunt the murlocs like one big happy family."
"K-Kids?" She stammered.
"Aww, come on, you are giving up already? I thought you were ready for a proper battle." Corben broke out in laughter.
"Hey, I can… ugh… I will get you one day." Lonaraa stopped, pointed a finger at him, and then theatrically swung around to supposedly look for the clues.
"Looking forward to it." Corben let out one last laugh and then returned to a more serious demeanor. They were close to the river after all, and the chance of getting jumped by murlocs was ever present.
While he and Lonaraa looked for any signs of missing guards, Eldum and Osbeorn hunted for wolves and bears. The hunter and his pet remained close by just in case either they or Corben with Lonaraa needed help.
'I know those fuckers are watching us!' Corben's gaze never fully left the shallow river.
Was it just growing paranoia or did his worries have any merit? It was hard to tell, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
They moved up the river to the north for a good hour until Lonaraa almost stepped in mangled remains of something. The few torn pieces of plate armor gave a rather clear answer of who was the poor soul.
One of the two missing guards was torn in pieces and left to rot by the riverside.
"Be on the lookout for any ambushes. I'll try to find anything that can identify if this is one of the guards we are looking for." Corben said to Lonaraa and the cast arcane intuition.
The spell was not an instant answer to any question caster could search for, but it increased awareness by a noticeable degree. After looking around, a glint in the tall grass caught his attention.
Without hesitation, Corben walked closer and found a dented plate helm. 'This definitely is one of the guards. Hmm, the inner padding looks weird.' Corben turned the helm sideways to take a closer look.
The woolen padding looked thicker in one spot. He carefully reached in and touched the spot. There was something hidden underneath. After tracing his finger around the rectangular object he found a small opening.
The hidden object turned out to be a folded note. Corben unfolded and read its contents. 'This is your last warning, human Malakai. Clan Gllmngh does not tolerate broken promises. Negotiate with the Riverpaw gnolls on our behalf or you will suffer the same fate as Rolf!'
'More of this! This is more than enough proof that murlocs are not mindless.' "Lonaraa, Eldum come here. I found something." He called out for his teammates.
Once both were by his side, Corben showed them the note.
"A'll be dammed! Ye were richt lad, these besties are up tae na guid." Eldum said, though, by the looks of it, the dwarf wasn't particularly concerned about the revelation. After giving one glance at the note he turned his attention to stuffing his pipe.
"What does this mean?" Lonaraa asked.
"This means that both gnolls and murlocs are smarter than we previously thought and this guard was working with them… Shit, this is a gang hit not a random accident." Corben came to a sudden realization.
"In either case, we found one of them. The other one is probably not far away. The problem is I already see murloc settlements in the distance. If they notice us, we are boned." Corben glanced at the water. 'Are those eyes glistening under the water? They are watching… clever shits.'
His suspicions were clearly true as Eldum also stared at the water intently and then pointed at the same point Corben was looking at. "Beasties are watching, we better leave."
"Agreed." Corben nodded as he put the helmet in his backpack as proof. "Unfortunately we need to figure out how to retrieve some tangible proof of the second guard's demise if we want to finish the quest."
"If the murlocs got the second guard, we should look around the murloc camps." Lonaraa suggested.
"That's definitely not worth the risk. At best, if we knew where the corpse is we could do a surprise attack, snatch some proof, and then run off before the little bastards surround us."
"A'm on it." Eldum said, sitting down. "Watch ma back."
Eagle eyes once again was the best option. The only thing that could block the ability, which most trained hunters possessed, was an advanced arcane spell, which was unlikely, considering the crude nature of murlocs.
He quickly surveyed the entire length of the river and then set his sight on Stone Cairn lake, surveying both its shores and the large island in the middle. It didn't take long to find the mangled remains of the second guard.
However, the murloc camp looked surprisingly empty. 'Smells like a trap tae me. Corben is richt aboot these beasties.'
Eldum exhaled deeply, opened his eyes, and explained to his companions what he had seen.
"That's definitely a trap. The question is, is that trap set up for any human adventurers, or us specifically? In either case, I would prefer to leave things as is and report our findings back to the militia without sticking our necks in the noose." Corben said.
"We can't just give up!" Lonaraa protested.
"We can and we…" Corben stopped mid sentence. Osbeorn had let out an aggravated growl. The bear then stood up on two feet and started pointing in random directions.
"Murlocs! The beasties are surrounding us!" Eldum shouted. He took off the gun from his shoulder and pointed it at a spot deep into the woods.
"Don't panic. Stay close together. Once they are close enough we charge to the south away from the river and break through their formation. I will use deep freeze to stop most of them. Lonaraa, Osbeorn, you two will clear the way. Eldum and I will assist you to cull their numbers." Corben gave out orders without hesitation.
"I would advise against such actions!" A gargling voice came from the woods.
Corben raised his hand and whispered. "Be on guard. We are sticking to the plan."
A few moments later a single murloc came out of the bushes with a small gun in his hands and a disproportionately large top hat on its head. "You are resourceful but you can't run from us forever." The murloc said and pointed a gun at Corben. "You, the leader of the group, tell them to stay down and none of you will be harmed… for now."
"Not a chance! What the hell do you want?" Corben shouted back as he cast a basic energy shield around the group. Of course, it would not fully protect the group but it could slow down a bullet significantly to avoid instant death.
"We have been watching you ever since you stole from the Mglrgrn clan. And now you are sticking your nose in business that isn't yours. That said, your resourcefulness and quick thinking have been noticed and could be of use to us." The murloc continued speaking with his gargled voice in perfect common.
"Go on." Corben humored the creature. There was no harm in at least hearing out the murloc. They were in a trap either way, and if there was even the smallest chance of talking him and his team out of a fight, he was not about to miss it.
Corben motioned for Lonaraa and Eldum to not make sudden movements but there was no need for it. Both were on the defensive but also were willing to listen to the creature.
"Riverpaw gnolls are getting bolder by the day, making regular attacks on our territories and then retreating back deeper into the forest, putting us at a disadvantage. Take care of their leader, Fedfennel, and we'll make sure your transgressions are forgiven."
"What guarantees do we have that you will not come after us when we finish our part."
"You have my word. Besides, you are not in any position to deny us." The murloc said as more of his kind emerged from the bushes with guns in their hands.
'Dammit. Since when do these fuckers know how to use guns!' "Give us a minute," Corebn said loudly and motioned for his teammates to come closer.
"Do we take up on their offer?" He whispered once they were close enough.
"A dinnae want ma arse tae have more holes. Thae beasties have guns." Eldum whispered back.
"Good point. I will continue negotiations and let's see where it goes. Try to not provoke them into a shootout. My arcane shields will not be enough to save our asses." Corben said and stepped forward to face the head murloc.
The meter-tall creature oozed confidence and knew he was holding all the cards for now. "Your answer?" He asked in his gargling voice.
"We agree but I have a few additional terms."
"Speak!"
"First, we are not blindly rushing into gnoll territory. We need time to prepare."
"You have a week's time to finish the job. We don't care how many additional gnolls you need to kill as long as we get the head of Fedfennel."
"A week sounds like a reasonable time frame. Second, we need to retrieve the remains of the second guard to report back to the militia."
"I would advise against reporting our activities to other humans. The two guards were killed by local wolves due to their carelessness." The murloc said matter of factly.
Corben gulped but managed to keep his calm. "We just need to report that they are dead."
"We will provide the location where the remains of the second guard can be found after the job is done. You would do well to dispose of the note you found on Malakai."
"Got it. One final question: How do we recognize Fedfennel?"
"He is a head taller than most gnolls, has a collar made out of murloc teeth, and wields a dwarven made double axe. Anything else?"
"No. We'll get his head within a week, but you better keep your end of the deal. I'll make sure to insure our position." Corben ended the negotiation with a not-so-empty threat. These murlocs may be smart but a week's time should be enough to make a backup plan on how to expose them if they decide to not honor the end of the deal.
"We are well aware of your abilities and have already considered such a possibility. Clan Gllmngh always keeps their promises." The murloc tipped his hat and walked backward into bushes while still pointing the gun at Corben. The rest of his kind followed his example and disappeared in the bushes as well.
"What was all that?" Lonaraa asked after a moment of silence.
"We got a quest from murlocs of all creatures, and we need to start planning how to finish it before they skin us alive." Corben replied with a sigh of relief.
"This business is strange. A neit a drink." Eldum said, lowering his own gun.
"That we can agree on." Corben clapped his teammate's shoulder.
"Don't you both think we should concentrate on the job and not drinking!" Lonaraa shouted at both with Osbeorn giving her a roar of support.
"Just a mug or two to calm our nerves, then we can start planning." Corben replied.
Lonaraa just gave them a quick snarl and then turned to walk back to the settlement. Osbeorn let out a long roar and followed her.
"Whit dae ye mean ye will let me tae be eaten bi wolves an join her?" Eldum shouted after his pet bear. "This is a mutiny, ye hairy beast!"
The bear gave another short roar in response and continued walking beside Lonaraa.
"We need more teammates, and ones who will be on our side to keep the majority of the vote." Corben remarked.
"Thon we can agree upon." Eldum grimly replied as both catched up to their fun-hating teammates.
Proofreading by Sad_Smiles and Visur Nyxan.
AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (Link is in my profile) where additional chapters are available.
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