บท 2: Chapter 1
They knew of legion and Man'ari, the fallen ones of her kind. This world had fought off the demonic hordes in the past, and this world called Azeroth still stood proudly in defiance against the unrelenting legion and its crusade to end all life.
Lonaraa was one of the few hundred who volunteered at the prophet Velen's request, to go out and help the Alliance in whatever way they could, to show them both the might and resolve of her kind. The Draenei, or the exiled ones in her native tongue, needed to show that they were willing to stand with the people of this world and protect it.
Her birth world, like many others the Draenei fled, was found and destroyed by the legion, leaving only a broken husk of the shattered planet behind. The horrors her people experienced had shown them that there was no point in running from the onslaught, and that they needed to stand their ground and fight bravely.
The journey, however, was not an easy one. Even at Stormwind's harbor, the race called humans had tried to attack her on sight, thinking she was one of them, the corrupt ones. To the humans, she, the over two meters tall horned woman with hooves instead of feet, was the very picture of demons they once fought.
It was only thanks to official papers written by one of the human fleet commanders about Draenei being a part of the Alliance, did she gain entrance into the city and could continue her journey. The rulers of the city had informed denizens of her kind joining the alliance, but that didn't mean the locals would just trust her easily.
Thankfully, some people did respond to her polite questions and pointed her to the best place to start her journey in the Kingdom of Stormwind, a place called Northshire Abbey. It was a full day's walk away from the capital, but it gave her a wonderful opportunity to walk through the lush green forest.
Lonaraa stopped to look at her reflection in the puddle that was forming on the uneven dirt road. Her light blue skin was getting paler due to the cold rain, and her neck-length silvery hair was a dirty mess. But it didn't matter. Her lips were still curved in a gentle smile and her light blue eyes still shone as brightly as before.
She looked up, feeling the cold droplets hitting her face. Only when you have lived in a dried, destroyed world do you truly learn to appreciate something as simple and otherwise unpleasant as the cold rain of a summer's morning.
The place she was looking for was only about an hour's walk away. Her hooved feet were covered with thick leather boots without soles, which were custom to her people.
The few carts that passed her looked at her weirdly, but luckily, none tried to attack her so far. Considering that she was two meters and twenty-two centimeters tall, and her straight, upwards growing horns added another thirty centimeters or so to her already impressive stature, only a fool would try to take her on unprovoked.
Just as the rain ended and the morning sun appeared at the top of the tree line, she reached a huge wall separating the Abbey from the rest of the forest.
She took out her papers to show them to the guards, but they already knew what she was and let her go on through without trouble.
The area past the entrance had three sides surrounded by tall mountains and one side with a tall stone wall. She swiftly passed through and arrived at the abbey itself within half an hour's walk.
Suddenly, her attention was caught by a disturbing sight. A young human dressed in purple robes was laying in a puddle of a red liquid that resembled blood. She frantically looked around to whom she could ask for help but there was no one near. As a warrior, she could only provide basic first aid and nothing more, but this man was likely gravely injured.
What's worse was that, unlike the majority of her kind who enjoyed the guidance of the holy light, her calls for help were never answered.
'It is my duty to help, even if I can only ease the last moments of this man's life.' She quickly approached the man, then kneeled before him, looking for a wound from where the blood was coming. Right away, she noticed a strange smell and the fact that the man didn't have any noticeable wounds. Even the limited exposure to humans had given her the knowledge of how their blood smelled. 'Why does it smell of alcohol?'
"Sir, can you hear me? Are you alright?" She asked in a loud clear voice as she gently lifted him into a sitting position.
Someone was talking to him, asking some sort of question. 'My head!'
"Don't shout, lady." he whispered, trying to open his eyes.
"Sir, what happened?" She continued her loud and obnoxious questioning.
Corben finally managed to get his eyes open and was met with a sight of a female creature with light blue skin and horns. 'What in the dwarves' hairy ass? That's… that's… fuck… What should I say? That's a demon. Hey, I can pretend to be one of them. It has to work.' His still clouded mind came up with an idea that 'surely' would work if that was a real demon before him.
He weakly raised his hand and mumbled. "Hail… legion."
The horned woman let go of him, making him fall back into some sort of puddle, and shoved some kind of official-looking paper in his face while screaming something about not being a mari or something of that sort.
"Lady, give me a minute. I'll sign whatever you are… shit, my head." Corben whispered and tried to sit up. The demon lady helped him sit up again as he was looking around for his backpack.
"Oh, there it is." Thankfully, his backpack was not gone. Somewhere in there was just the potion he needed. Not paying much attention to the woman beside him, he fished out a small vial with green liquid in it and gulped it down.
"Man, that hits the spot." Corben exclaimed. The mad genius who created the hangover cure was deserving of every coin he got for his invention.
He casually stood up, glanced down at his robe that was covered in wine and whatever he ate on the way there from his drunken revelry the day before. He then looked up at the very tall, horned woman who was staring at him with a confused expression.
"Hey." he said, giving her the best smile he could muster in this situation. Whatever she was, she at least was not hostile.
"Are you alright, sir?" She asked once more with the same concerned expression as before. The very tall, blue skinned, horned woman, dressed in obviously cheap chainmail hosen and armor with a sword and shield strapped on her back towered over him with a rather reserved demeanor.
'Huh, have I missed something? She doesn't look hostile. In fact, she seems concerned about my well-being. Let's assume she just looks like an… I know this… stupid head… Eredar! Right, she looks like an Eredar. Let's go with a friendly approach and see where this leads.' "I am now. So, what can I help you with, lady?"
The question seemingly stunned her as she tried to give a response. "I…I thought you were grievously injured. I tried to help. I'll… I'll be off then." She awkwardly pointed towards the abbey with both hands.
"Oh, sure. Good luck with questing." Corben flashed her another smile.
She awkwardly waved goodbye and walked off, clapping her hooves against the hard sand road.
'What a strange woman.' Corben mused as he stretched and looked around. It was clear as day that he was missing some critical information, but at the current moment that wasn't a particularly big concern for him.
What was important was to start earning funds, and it meant he needed to start working and stack up on raw supplies. The tall grass beside the road was packed with all kinds of useful herbs, and if there was one way to get easy money it was selling useful potions for the unlucky chump who thought they would have a great career in adventuring.
About an hour later, he was sitting on a stone bench just ten meters from the abbey entrance where the local marshal was handing out tasks that paid pocket change. The abbey, built with polished grey stone with a red tile roof, stood out from the rest of the small town with both its size and architecture.
Humans had a tendency to build massive stone buildings to show off their ingenuity, and this place, which was rebuilt after the second war, was no exception.
The rest of the town was rather simplistic and clearly built with the idea of catering to the adventurers that chose this location to start their careers. It had a few small taverns and inns, a marketplace, and a blacksmith shop. That was pretty much it.
Since it was still morning there was no need to hurry. Corben lazily mixed potions while looking at adventurers. Warriors, priests, hunters, and even some of his former mage classmates were mingling around trying to form parties. His gaze fell on a rather familiar figure. The tall demon lady was trying to approach people but, by the looks of it, most just avoided her like the plague, and the few who let her come closer just flat out turned down her offers to team up.
'Not sure what she expected. What's even her deal? If the marshal is not doing anything about her, then she is probably allowed to be here. She seems polite and friendly, so she clearly is not some sort of wayward demon. Maybe she is from some race that was recently discovered in Kalimdor? Who knows what sort of creatures that continent holds.' Corben continued to watch her absentmindedly.
The best time to start selling health and mana potions would be somewhere around noon, as the newbies would start to realize how hard it was to do combat quests. Not that he had a lot of experience, but one of the few classes he actually paid attention to was practical combat and freelance questing.
Corben leaned back on the stone bench, rolled up a mana cigar, and took out the last wine bottle from his backpack, just enjoying the warm morning. However, his empty stomach rumbled in protest against his laziness. What made the situation much worse was the nearby food stalls inviting adventurers to spend their hard-earned money on all kinds of tasty treats with the pleasant aromas of freshly made food.
Unfortunately, he had no money left and the base-level conjured food didn't taste that good. 'Ehh, I could just start selling my stuff right away. There is no point waiting for that long.'
He cut down a branch from a nearby tree and made a crude sign from a page he tore out of his notebook. 'There, I don't even need to shout.' He observed his handiwork with a satisfied expression and sat down on the bench once again.
By the looks of it, people were not that eager to spend their hard-earned copper on the health and mana potions just yet, but there was no need to worry. All he needed was some suckers who got their asses kicked by the local wildlife or the kobolds, which seemed to be one of the main threats in this otherwise peaceful area.
While he patiently waited and smoked his cigar, the demon lady finally realized that no one would team up with her and sat down against the tree with a droopy expression. No one else was paying any particular attention to her. Even guards seemed unphased.
After about ten minutes of sitting like this, she stood up and looked around noticing Corben, and walked towards him. Without saying anything, she sat down at the other end of the same stone bench he was sitting on and looked down.
"Not much luck getting a party?" he asked out of politeness.
She shook her head and let out a long sigh. "No."
"I'm sure they'll warm up to you. Or if nothing else works, get a chainmail with a deeper neckline and some sucker surely will follow you around wherever you go." Corben said with a chuckle.
She looked up with her cheeks getting a darker tone of blue and said defensively. "I would never! Please don't make such crude assumptions about me. How would you like it if someone made such comments about you?"
"Lady, If I could get something out of that kind of stunt, I would not wear pants… Ever." Corben responded with a laugh.
"You are one strange man." She said incredulously, shaking her head.
"You gotta do what you gotta do to get ahead in life. Since you are not getting a group any time soon, why don't you buy some potions as a backup?" He pointed at the sign that advertised his potions for eighty copper coins a piece.
"I'm sorry, I don't have enough money to buy your wares." She said and looked down again with another long sigh.
By how pitiful she looked, Corben couldn't help but to reach into his bag and pick out one minor health potion. "Here, one on the house." 'What am I doing? It's not like I'm trying to get in her pants.' Charity work was not his shtick after all, but something about her situation spoke to him on a personal level.
"I can't accept that, sir." She said, pushing the potion away.
"With that kind of attitude, you'll end up dead in a ditch." Corben remarked.
Reluctantly, she accepted the potion with her cheeks once again getting a deeper shade of blue. "Thank you." She then gave him a smile and said. "I will pay you back when I earn enough money."
"Good luck with that. The cheapskates don't pay much in the quest rewards. Oh, where are my manners? I'm Corben." He said, extending his hand.
"Lonaraa." She grabbed his hand in a crushing handshake.
'Ugh!' Corben bit his cheek to not show any pain. "A… pleasure to meet… you."
"Sorry!" She quickly retracted her hand and then promptly blushed again. "I haven't had much of a chance to interact with humans. The crimes of our fallen brethren had followed us even to this world. You see…" Lonaraa broke into a long-winded explanation of her origins.
'Draenor. That sounds familiar. Isn't that the place the orcs came from? Maybe I shouldn't have slept so much in the history class.' Corben did his best to follow her explanations. 'Oh, so Eredar is the same kind as her, and these Draenei are the uncorrupted part of her species.'
Lonaraa just went on and on. How her people were hunted by orcs and the Legion. How they escaped the ruined world of Draenor. How everywhere she went she was reminded of the crimes of her people.
"Hey, hey, let's stop the pity party. I'll join you for a quest or two." he finally said to stop the floodgates.
"You would team up with me?" She asked with her eyes widening.
'If I was a bigger asshole, I could get this girl to eat from my hand in no time. Damn, it surely sucks to be her.' Corben mused. 'She looks like the naive idealist type. Easy pickings for someone who would use her as a meat shield and a sacrifice without thinking twice if things go south.' "Sure. You look like you could use some help."
"But what about your potion business? I… I wouldn't be able to properly compensate you for your time." She asked.
"Hmm, you could put on something skimpy and serve as an advertisement." Corben chuckled as she instantly scowled. "Relax. I'm just joking. I planned to start questing anyway. Selling potions to newbies isn't making enough for a good living, you know."
"I would appreciate it if you refrained from jesting in such a crude manner." She said with a pout.
"No promises. Crude jokes come in a package with me." Corben laughed. "I'm sure a big, tough warrior like you can take a joke."
"How did you know I'm a warrior?"
"Unless your people have some additional classes, then it's rather obvious. You are dressed in chain armor, have a shield, and you didn't try to heal me when you woke me up, so you are not a paladin."
"Oh, you are very observant." Lonaraa remarked.
"I'm not sure what sort of people you worked with before, but that's basic observation skills." Corben said as he slowly stood up and took out another cigar from his pocket and lit it with a candle spell from his index finger. "How about we go get some work?"
Lonaraa nodded enthusiastically, jumped to her feet, and followed Corben as he approached the man standing at the entrance of the abbey.
"Hello, I am Marshal McBride. I hope you strapped your belts on tight, young mage and warrior, because there is work to do here in Northshire. And I don't mean farming." The Marshal started an obviously practiced speech with little passion in his voice. Clad from head to toe in the official Stormwind plate set, the man exuded the authority of the Crown.
"How about we skip the spiel and you just give us the base-level task?" Corben said as he puffed out a cloud of smoke.
"Don't get cocky, kid. We can't fill the body bags fast enough with the greenhorn know-it-alls." The Marshal spat back. "Just go around the corner to the right and speak with Eagan Peltskinner. He will give you an easy enough task to not get killed on the first day."
"Don't worry, we don't plan on dying today." Corben casually replied and accepted the small note.
The man around the corner on the other hand was dressed in patched-up leather clothing. He noticed the pair approaching him and turned his attention to them.
"Ah, Marshal finally sent some help in my direction." Eagan greeted them enthusiastically.
"Yes, he indeed did. So, what do you need help with, and how much are you paying?" Corben responded with a somewhat professional tone.
"I need you to kill those nibble timber wolves. I hate them!" the man raised his voice. "But I like to make steaks out of their meat. Bring me back a pair of them and kill as many as you can… let's say ten of them, and bring their ears. I'll pay each of you fifty copper and you can pick a piece of equipment from my stash."
"Fifty copper, seriously?" Corben spat. 'No wonder this cheapskate has been waiting so long for help. He can take that pocket change and shove it up his ass.'
Lonaraa, noticing that her companion was about to turn down the task, quickly stepped in front of Corben and said with a bow. "We accept the task, sir."
"Good. Come back with the pair of carcasses and eight pairs of ears and I'll pay you the promised reward." Eagan said as he took a step back in response to the tall, horned woman.
Corben just turned around and quietly swore to himself.
"We have to start somewhere, right? I know fifty copper isn't much but the room in the inn and the meal were only thirty copper." Lonaraa said with enthusiasm, recalling the sign she saw at one of the inns.
"Seriously, you need to let me do the talking, or we will get ripped off by everyone." Corben grumbled.
"Oh, sorry. I'll follow your lead on the next task." She looked down with an apologetic expression.
"Eh, it's fine. I can make some profit after the quest." Corben said, looking around for useful herbs as they reached the treeline.
The first timber wolves showed up not even ten meters into the forested area. One of the wolves growled and charged them. Lonaraa instantly took off the shield and sword from her back and blocked the wolf's attack. While she was dealing with one of them, Corben shot the other one with a frost bolt, slowing it down significantly.
The third one prepared to jump Lonaraa from the side. "Look out, to your left." Corben shouted and started to cast the next frost bolt.
"I got this!" She shouted back and kicked the wolf as he lunged at her while simultaneously holding off her prime target with her shield.
'Not bad. She has some skill.' Corben mused as his frost bolt found its target. The final wolf was cut down by Lonaraa.
"Looks like that's all of them at the moment. I think we can search for a few more and then pick up the last two ones." Corben said. He then took out a small, worn-down knife from his pocket and cut off the ears of the wolves.
Overall, the wolves didn't provide too much of a challenge and both were out of the forest within an hour without sustaining even a minor injury. Lonaraa was carrying two wolf corpses over her shoulders while Corben carried a small bag with the wolf ears.
He would have offered some help, but first, she was a warrior and could take the offer to help carry one wolf as an insult. Second, Lonaraa surely was strong enough to carry around a full-grown bear while Corben, as a mage, would likely be out of breath wrestling an elderly rabbit.
Fifty copper reward for this work seemed a rather low reward, especially considering the risk of injury and the healing prices, but the leather goods made by Eagan surely made up for it in spades. Corben picked a nice pair of shoes made from the same wolf skin they were just hunting and Lonaraa picked up a pair of leather gloves. Of course, getting plate-covered gloves would have been much better, but such rewards likely were given for much more dangerous tasks.
"Looks like that's it. We can hit an inn and relax." Corben said as he gave Lonaraa her share.
"But it's not even noon." Lonaraa protested.
Corben looked up at her enthusiastic expression. 'I should have guessed that she has enough energy to run around all day long. Hmm… I could just part ways with her but she is a decent warrior, and if I leave her on her own she will likely get in trouble.'
"So you are one of those types that can't just lay back and relax for a bit?" Corben asked.
"I can." Lonaraa said defensively. "But look, we have enough for a room and a meal, but I also need to buy oil for my sword. Plus, there is a sale on restored pickaxes and there is a free-use mine to the north." She pointed at a nearby stall that advertised both the tool and the location where to use it.
"It's cheap because they just gather them from corpses of all the schmucks that run in there and die." Corben remarked.
"But we can't give up now. We just started, and you promised to do a few quests with me." Lonaraa didn't back down. Intentionally or not, she employed the very devious tactic of puppy eyes to coarse her new partner to agree.
"And we can do them tomorrow or the day after that. It's not like this place will run out of quests." Corben sighed. "You will be the death of me, lady."
She looked down with a worried expression. "I'm sorry for not considering your abilities. Casting magic must be exhausting. I just didn't want to use your kindness for too long."
'Should I go with this? Heck, I doubt I can find someone better. Unlike her, so many warriors are such self-centered pricks.' "I want you to ask something." He started.
Lonaraa looked up, even more worried as Corben continued. "What do you plan to do in the long term?"
"I was given a task by prophet Valen to show the people of the alliance that our kind can be trusted. I guess… I will continue adventuring." She gave Corben a weak smile. "I hope I will find more people like you who are willing to give me a try."
"How about we just make a permanent team and you don't have to worry about these things? I could use a warrior like you for my team and it's never too early to start one."
Lonaraa tilted her head and stared at him silently.
"That was not a joke." Corben said as she seemingly was having difficulty believing what she had just heard.
"Y-you would let me join your team?" She asked cautiously, still not believing her ears.
"Yes, but if you don't want to…"
"Yes! I want to join your team." She exclaimed and in raw excitement grabbed Corben in a hug.
"Hey!" he protested as both heard a crack. She immediately let him go with a panicked expression. "Sorry, I just got excited and… I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I'll live." Corben said with a groan and started to rummage through his backpack for a minor healing potion. After drinking one, he remarked. "I'll seriously need to stack up on these."
"I-I'll be more careful from now on." Lonaraa stepped back and looked critically at Corben to see if he wasn't just playing off being injured.
"Yeah, yeah." Corben waved her off. "Now then, if you are so eager to get more work then we can take another quest, and meanwhile, I will stack up on herbs."
Not wanting to deal with the Marshal, who would likely send them to do something dangerous, Corben looked around at what was posted on the notice boards by the taverns.
"By the looks of it, a lot of these are about hunting. Oh, here is one about boar meat. Let's go inside and find out more." Corben said as he pointed at a poster with a crudely drawn pig on it.
"How dangerous are boars in Azeroth?" Lonaraa asked with a slight concern.
"I don't think there are the really big ones around here but even they are not that bad. Just what sort of pigs did you face in your homeworld?"
"Big, spiky, fel infused." She recalled the monstrous creatures that were able to not only survive but thrive in the broken world she came from.
"If we ever find a portal to that place, remind me to not go through it." Corben remarked and waved for her to follow.
He quickly noticed a tavern keep, an older woman on a bit of the wider side. He put on his best professional smile and approached the woman. "Good morning, lady, we are here to inquire about the boar meat quest."
"Need a whole boar. You can find them roaming to the east. I'll pay two silver."
"Two silver for the whole boar. Have you no shame, lady?" Corben's smile faded.
"Don't get uppity with me, boy. I need to make a profit. A bowl of boar stew costs just five pieces of copper." The woman spat back. "If you don't want to do it, someone else will."
"Sure, I'm sure the meat is just piling up in the basement." Corben called her out. "Tell you what. You add two big bowls of stew and a mug of a good drink and we'll bring you back the biggest boar we can find." Corben said.
"Deal. Now scram, I have patrons to deal with." She said with a shooing motion.
"Was the additional payment necessary? Two silver is a lot more than we got for the first quest." Lonaraa asked once both were outside.
"These types would make you work for free if they could. If the reward seems low, always haggle for more. But you don't have to worry, partner, since I'll do the talking and get us the best deals." Corben said.
Before setting out, he bought a map and a guide of the local area for five copper and both set out to get a boar.
On the way to the area where boars frequented, Corben made sure to gather every single usable herb he could find. After all, to keep up with the overly enthusiastic warrior, he would need a lot of stamina potions.
Dealing with a boar turned out to be an easier task than killing a pack of wolves. Carrying the carcass of the massive beast back to town was a different case entirely. Lonaraa started to stagger halfway back.
"Corben, wait up." She said with a shallow breath as the mage had gotten quite far ahead while absentmindedly picking herbs.
He turned around and walked back to her. "So you do have a limit. Put the beast down and rest a bit. I have enough ingredients to make a potion for you."
She dropped the boar and sat down. "Do you have a potion for everything?" She asked curiously.
"Not exactly for everything, but I probably can mix something up for every situation. So don't worry, I'll make our first night special."
She blushed once again. "I told you I don't like those kinds of jokes!"
"And I told you 'those' jokes come in the package with me." He chuckled. "You don't have to get so bothered like you have never done it."
She looked away as her face became a deeper shade of blue. 'Oh, that's why she acts like this. Heh, who would have thought I would find a female warrior that isn't dragging silly smiling victims to their fates on a nightly basis.' "Relax, I'll tone it down if it upsets you."
"Thank you. I would appreciate that." Lonaraa said while still looking away.
"Don't mention it. Here, this should give enough of a boost." Corben gave her the potion he had made on the fly. Lonaraa drank it and with renewed strength picked up the boar and resumed walking.
In the end, carrying the massive beast back to the inn was worth it. The lion-sized portion she got as a reward all made up for it. As she was happily eating the food, Corben was haggling about the room prices.
'If I haven't met him, I would likely still be on my own in this strange world. I wonder how others are doing?' She couldn't help but think about other volunteers that likely had the same problems as her. Draenei would have to fight an uphill battle to show their trustworthiness, after all.
As she thought of her brethren while eating the food, Corben returned to the table and said. "Good news! I got a room for us for just thirty copper and it has a big bed."
"Oh, so cheap. Wait!? You said a room?"
"Yes, if you want to live like a noble and get your own room then you'll have to pay for it." Corben casually remarked and dug into his own food.
"Can you at least promise not to do anything weird?" She asked quietly.
"I will not do anything weird. We can keep the freaky stuff for the honeymoon."
"Hey!" She shouted as the whole room turned to look at her. "Sorry!" She said more quietly and looked down at her bowl.
"Just put some trust in me. We are a team now." Corben said.
"I know… I guess I should just get used to it."
"That's the spirit." Corben let out a laugh.
'We are a team.' Lonaraa thought to herself. 'And if my teammate decides to do something weird, I'll just shove him into that backpack of his.'
Proofreading by Sad_Smiles and Somnium Hypnos.
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