Klingon Proverbs (Part II)
Meb stepped through the portal into Shattrath looking about to the now so familiar surroundings. The sun was out and the temperature was a perfect 426 Wingsprockets. Meb dashed over to the stable master always eager to ride Downy in the outlands. The stable master saw the round gnome running and gathered the white gryphon up, holding the reins out as Meb locked her arms around the bird’s massive neck.
Meb thanked the stable master as she settled into the saddle and urged Downy into the clear sky, the exhilaration of free flight almost making her forget the mission of ore gathering for the day. Lazily zig-zagging over the mountain’s edge watching for lucrative mineral veins a clear voice came to her as though a whisper. Though not unusual in these lands, the new voice was a bit unsettling, “Mebane, The Unspoken Word as seen your dark magic, we will see to it you perish along with your children! We shall see them torn limb from limb!”
Meb rolled her eyes, it wasn’t the first of these she had heard. The Darnassian nobility, the unspoken word. She had been hearing these threats for so long and no one had taken the time to even try to live up to them. It seemed after all the talk, it was just that. Undoubtedly these people were resorting to sheer intimidation knowing that any action ever taken against her or the children would prove to be a fatal mistake. Between the support of the Retribution, the Vagabonds, and an overly protective father, anyone that even tried to actually hurt the children would suffer a grisly and painful end. “You’re pathetic, you couldn’t lay a finger on me if you tried. You know what would happen if you ever did harm these children. Take your worthless chest pounding and talk elsewhere.”
“We managed to take Kitra, we’ve gotten closer than anyone thought possible, you don’t think we could reach you?! You underestimate the unspoken word!.”
“Pffft, I’ll believe it when I see it. Go away and save your hot air for someone that scares easily”
“Perhaps for Kitra here then? She’s keeping me company here in Duskwood, though I’m beginning to think she would be better company dead. In fact I think I’ll fix that problem now. Enjoy what remains of your futile existence!”
Meb tugged Downy’s reins veering him to the mountains’ peak overlooking Terokkar Forest and Nagrand. The lush green and brown fields of Nagrand much like Mulgore to the right, and the dark deep forests of Terokkar, eerily resembling Duskwood to her left. Meb pondered the situation as the mighty bird craned it’s neck, begging for a few scraps of food as they perched from their lookout. She began digging through her bags, mind racing. She knew that it was most likely a trap. The Unspoken Word had been extremely careful to hide their whereabouts. They wouldn’t risk giving away their location if they didn’t think they had the upper hand. It didn’t matter either way, Duskwood was a large place with many hiding spots. There would be no way that she could find them…. unless.
Meb tossed a large hunk of clefthoof meat from her pack, Downy catching it and gulping it with barely a bite. She rummaged through her pack again coming up with a coffee stained piece of parchment. A small note on it mentioned a building at the south end of Raven Hill. She couldn’t remember where she had heard the information, but certainly there was a good chance that was the place. She slid off the bird standing on the peak pondering. She shouldn’t go, but she really should be there for Kit. Kitra had helped her so often. She couldn’t forgive herself if she didn’t at least try.
Meb tossed another hunk of clefthoof meat to Downy before scratching him on the neck, then whispered to his ear. The mighty bird leapt off the mountaintop flying back towards Shattrath. Meb watched him fade into the distance before looking at the surroundings again. Warning bells were sounding in her head, though she ignored them grabbing a rune of teleportation and starting her chant. The peak of the mountain disappeared in a flash of light, quickly replaced by a view of the portal in the Stormwind mage’s tower.
***
Gizban walked through the trade district a fresh return of unsold items from the auction house in his pack. A pretty young warlock smiled blowing him a kiss resulting in the usual bright red face and moment of speechlessness. He turned back a pair of Stormwind guards chuckling at the incompetent young man as Gizban fell to his knees, a sudden spasm of pain wracking his body from head to toe. The guards kept laughing not understanding the pain Gizban was in, a few passerby turned a curious head towards the warrior. Giz straightened up the pain subsiding. Something was wrong, but there was no telling what yet.
***
Meb mounted into her mechanostrider as soon as she was out of the tower, and pushed the carrot on a stick into the strider’s expansion port. She never did figure out how the strider got extra energy from the thing, but it was times like these that she was simply happy to have it. Racing through Stormwind and out the front gates, she decided it would be faster to ride it out than grab a gryphon. There was some kind of a mild commotion going on in the trade district, but she was far too distracted to pay attention to what was going on. It was important to stay focused on the task. She had to be alert, who knows what kind of a trap they had set.
She tried to go over the possibilities in her head as the land whizzed by under the steel feet of her mount. It wasn’t long at all before she found herself standing at the south end of Raven Hill, several abandoned buildings stood around a circle, their rafters caving in and looking rather unsafe. As though being guided, Meb stepped into the one on her left, strange memories coming back to her of times early in her training when this place seemed dangerous. Many seasons of battle had long ago made this place feel like a comfy tavern in the valley of trials, but something at the moment brought back a rush of memories, a whole new sensation of unease filling her soul warning her that this was not a good place to be.
Meb ignored the inner warnings, pushing inside and looking about for signs of Kit or the cultist that had taken her. The place seemed abandoned at first, cobwebs all over the place dust on every piece of furniture, broken chairs strewn about in a impressionist artist’s dreamland. The stairs caught her eye, stripped of cobwebs and not a trace of dirt, someone had taken the time to clean them, no doubt to prevent tracks, and numbers, from being detected. Meb walked up the stairs voices beginning to waft down from above, some familiar, some not. She took them without hesitation, whatever it was up there, it had already been seen, the chances of them getting a drop on her were slim if the cultists had already been found.
At the top, Meb found several of her friends from the Retribution gathered in a circle around a small woman looking as though she was still new to the land, no more than fifteen seasons at best. There were rogues hiding in the shadows, albeit poorly, in the adjoining rooms. Meb took note of it, but moved on pretending not to notice. Revealing that she knew of their presence would only tip her hand, best that they think she was ignorant of their presence. The woman at the top was speaking with the members of the Retribution, her voice already familiar, the one that had whispered to her mind in the Outlands. Meb scowled walking towards a crate near the woman for high ground, the woman’s eyes following Meb around the room with an evil mirth.
Meb knew that it was a mistake to get close, but she refused to back down or be intimidated, she had been taunted long enough, been patient long enough, it was time to face these vile creatures claiming to be of the light. Meb listened dispassionately as the woman in front of her screamed for Ravine to be brought before her, demanding to claim revenge or that Kitra would be killed. When it became evident that no on in the Retribution was about to hand over one of their own, the woman grew more impatient, her skin becoming green and a strange glow coming to her eyes. With unexpected speed the demonic woman in front of her released a blast of energy catching most of the room off guard. Meb threw up a small barrier but not in time, the blast knocking the wind out of her, leaving her stunned for a second. The woman in front of her cackled with glee and demanded Ravine as she charged another blast.
Meb straightened up, calling forth a bolt of pure ice at point blank range, releasing it into the creature before it could unleash another blast of energy. The woman collapsed onto the ground grievously wounded, many from the Retribution calling for her death or worse. Meb stepped forward holding a quieting hand up. Wordlessly she pulled some bandages from her pack. Though she was still an enemy, she had information they could use. Whoever this stranger was she was worth more alive than dead. The room watched in stunned silence as Meb leaned in to bandage the woman’s wounds.
***
“Listen lad, ye really should learn how ta be wit’ the ladies. If yer always getting flustered like that ye’ll never get anywhere with them ya know?”
Gizban smiled at the guard, “Ah, well, I’m working on that, no doubt one day I’ll get over some of…”
Gizban was cut short, he fell to the ground screaming in pain, the guard began to reach out then stopped as Gizban flickered, like a light bulb about to burst his image shifted for a second leaving the young warrior gasping for breath on the ground.
“In Uther’s name! what the hell kind of sorcery is this?!”
***
The woman seized upon the opportunity, a dagger flicking out from her waist band cutting a swath across Meb’s distended belly. Meb lashed out with her own dagger slicing the woman open leaving her gasping on the floor. Cries came up from the room, many of the healers sending prayers of warding and mending into Meb. The wound on her belly healed fast. Meb tried to stand up, but an immense pain sank into her guts, leaving her kneeling on the floor again. From somewhere below the familiar voice of Kitra rang out begging for help. The lifeless form of the strange woman was next to Meb eyes seeming to mock the poor gnome. The room started to clear the group looking to find their friend downstairs. Meb crawled to the door, the pain inside her too great to stand. Frore and a new initiate Daemetrius were at the back of the group waiting to go down when Frore turned around, “Meb? What’s wrong? Are you all right?!”
“Something wrong… Inside, it hurts! It’s not mending!”
Daemetrius turned with worry sending more words of mending into the gnomes’ body, “It’s nae takin lass, something else be wrong ‘ere! We need ta git ‘er to a doctah, quickly miss Frore, make us sim transportation ta Stormwind, we can git ‘er th ‘elp she need thar.”
Frore nodded grabbing a rune of portals, pushing the incantation through then looking down the stairs to where a new cacophony was starting up, “I need to help them, take her quickly!”
Daemetrius nodded and grabbed Meb before jumping through the portal.
***
Gizban wrenched his guildstone from his pack, gripping it tightly, “Surya!... Meb!.... DUSKWOOD!... help us!”
Every word painful, his breathing tight as though a noose was about his neck, Gizban’s vision swam some guards nearby pulling the crowd back, some calling for the chaplain from the temple of light to come purge the man possessed.
Gizban started crawling away, something told him the mage district was where he needed to be, a guard stepped into Gizban’s path his words barely heard, “Like hell boy! We can’t have you running about the city like this!”
Gizban rolled in pain on the ground, another wave shaking him as he faded for a second becoming translucent. As the pain subsided Giz summoned all his strength, pushing off from the ground and barreling over the guard, running as best he could for the mage district.
***
“Someone Gi’ meh a doctah! Damnit ya hair brained mages gi’ meh a runnah! Are ya deaf?! Damnit!”, Daemetrius turned back to his charge, doubled over on the floor of the mage tower cringing in pain. He called forth more words of mending into the gnome’s small body, easing the pain a bit, but not fixing whatever was happening inside. A worried look crept over his face. He wasn’t used to this, the healing light usually fixed anything that was wrong.
“The babies… inside… something wrong! We have to save them!”, Meb gasped another bout of pain wracking her.
Daemetrius shivered looking about the room, the placid mages simply looking at them dispassionately. He grabbed his guild stone, “Damnit! Th’ lass needs a Doctah, thar be sumthin wrong wit th babies! We need someone o’er ‘ere right now!”
Meb only faintly heard an exasperated reply from Ravine over the guild stone, the sounds of hoofbeats as the warlock charged off towards the city.
***
Gizban reached the edge of the mages tower, doubling over in pain again. For a moment it seemed he could see his own body, then things went black, then he was looking through his own eyes again, the long winding path to the top seeming a daunting task. From somewhere behind him he heard the guards redoubling their efforts. They weren’t far behind him. If he could get into the mage tower he would be safe. The guards knew better than to cause a stir around a bunch of prissy mages.
Summoning what strength he had left, Gizban charged up the ramp, limping and gasping for breath the whole way. By the time he made it to the portal entering the inner sanctum, he could hear the clanging feet of the guards close behind. Giz fell through the portal seeing a small dwarf leaning over his mother on the other side, “Save us… please!”
***
Daemetrius turned to the man at the portal with a strange glance, then turned back to his charge, “I ‘ope ya be pardonin meh lass, it ‘pears ah be the only one ‘ere. Ah need ta feel if th babie’s comin.” Daemetruis placed a hand on Meb’s forehead, using what little knowledge he had to figure out what was wrong. After a second he looked to Meb with a worried glance, “Lass, th babies, they need ta be comin, but they cannae gi out. We be ‘avin to do this a diffrant wae, bu we ‘ave ta do something, th babies be coming now.”
Meb’s face reflected the obvious shock of the priests’ words, “No! they’re not ready yet! It’s too soon! They won’t be able to survive! We can’t do that!”
A form appeared at the teleportation site, Ravine rushed forward, “What’s wrong here, what’s going on?!”
“We be ‘avin ta take th babes out bah ‘and. Tis a bit dangerous.. Ah could be usin yer ‘elp lass. Try t calm the poor gnome down if’n ya coul..” He turned to look at Meb eyes distant from the pain wracking her small form, “This be dangerous lass, I dinnae wan ya t think otherwise. Fer you an th babies. Please believe meh when ah say it be th only way we cin save them.”
Meb nodded barely speak through the pain, “Save them… don’t worry… about me”
“Ravine took Meb’s hand worry unusually evident in her features, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you all though this”
A scream pierced the sanctity of the mage’s tower a small cut made into the gnome prone on the ground. Gizban watched helplessly from a distance vision becoming blurred his form now completely translucent, his words and cries soft and echoing as though heard through a long hallway, “I’ve… failed…”
Ravine and Demaetrius worked diligently, unable to stop to listen, or perhaps not hearing Gizban through the din. A breath of relief escaped Daemetrius’ lips as he pulled the first child out a smile creeping across his face wrapping the child up, “It be a boy lass! A bit weak.. but ah think we can save ‘im yet.” He quickly wrapped up the babe and handed him to Ravine, then set about working for the next one. The smile faded quickly as he wrapped the small form into a cloak. “Ah be needin a minute ‘ere lass…” With one hand he reached down calling the light to mend Meb’s wounds, sealing her belly and drying the blood.
To Meb’s surprise he turned and walked to a bench muttering, repeatedly calling forth words of mending. He seemed frustrated working furiously to do something. Meb could sense something was wrong, it wasn’t right, who was he healing, what was he trying to do? Daemetrius started walking towards the door carrying the small form, “Ahl be back shortly lass, wait ‘ere….”
Meb stared in realization, hearing him start the words to bring back the dead. She had seen paladins and priests do it many times, her comrades brought back, but… Meb panicked, “NO!! bring her back! No! don’t take her! Where are you taking her!”
Ravine reached out to hold Meb back, the gnome surprisingly strong for having endured such an ordeal, “Meb please, you have to trust him, we’re doing what we can! You have to stop Meb,! You’ll hurt yourself!”
Meb leaned back a bit, tears streaming down her face, waiting helplessly to hear if the priest could save her daughter. When Daemetrius returned, his expression told her everything she needed to know. The mages in the tower simply stared as Meb screamed, voice cracking at the strain as she pleaded to the gods to take it back, to save her girl, but it was all too late. Lorielle Oakheart, would not live.
***
Meb sat in the corner of the Crimson, a shawl covering her chest, the little babe Gizban suckling at her teat. Somewhere in the confusion of the mages tower Ravine had noticed Gizban, the older Gizban that is, fading from existence. It had taken a heroic effort but they managed to bring the premature baby to health of some type. His time as a baby would be difficult, he would be very sick for quite some time
“Mebling go ahead of me, don’t worry, I’ll see you in Ironforge”
She leaned back, still unable to stop her tears, her daughter, she had so wanted to save her daughter, she wanted both the children. One lived, she did love him already, but how she wanted to know her daughter as well.
“Hiya mebby, why have I been in the bank so long? The bankers never give me lettuce…”
Meb cradled the small boy close, the battle of the day had been horrible, Frore had been wounded, the bruises would undoubtedly show the struggle for weeks. Aellex was having trouble controlling his powers. The warlocks had such strange ways of controlling arcane energies.
“If I free you from the dungeon will you take me to your dimension Meb? The mistress is cruel here”
Something was very wrong with Kitra, it was hard to tell what, but she wasn’t right. She barely spoke. Meb’s mind turned trying to seek the thoughts of her husband. “Where were you love? Why aren’t you here now? I need you love…. Please…”
“I keep warning you about this but it’s always, ‘Go away squeaky!’ fine, just ask Kitra if she has lettuce”
Meb sat in her quiet contemplation, “How am I supposed to tell Oak this? It’s my fault, I risked my children’s’ lives, I lost one of them thanks to my arrogance! What am I supposed to tell Oak?!” Oak’s silence in her mind, and the horrible thought of her actions ate away the last of her resolve, Meb sobbed quietly in the corner, her face in her hands, the loss of a child, and the day’s trauma too much to bear.
((Warning! Spoilers!))
((For those new to Meb’s background, reading some of my previous posts on her history and early days in the Retribution would shed a bit of light on the italicized part towards the end. The rest that remember things like squeaky the mechanical squirrel are probably grinning already at the thought of squeaky’s return. This also is a prelude to Meb losing her marbles which is coming up very soon, I’m liking where this is going and it will be interesting to see how everyone interacts when Meb loses it))
Meb thanked the stable master as she settled into the saddle and urged Downy into the clear sky, the exhilaration of free flight almost making her forget the mission of ore gathering for the day. Lazily zig-zagging over the mountain’s edge watching for lucrative mineral veins a clear voice came to her as though a whisper. Though not unusual in these lands, the new voice was a bit unsettling, “Mebane, The Unspoken Word as seen your dark magic, we will see to it you perish along with your children! We shall see them torn limb from limb!”
Meb rolled her eyes, it wasn’t the first of these she had heard. The Darnassian nobility, the unspoken word. She had been hearing these threats for so long and no one had taken the time to even try to live up to them. It seemed after all the talk, it was just that. Undoubtedly these people were resorting to sheer intimidation knowing that any action ever taken against her or the children would prove to be a fatal mistake. Between the support of the Retribution, the Vagabonds, and an overly protective father, anyone that even tried to actually hurt the children would suffer a grisly and painful end. “You’re pathetic, you couldn’t lay a finger on me if you tried. You know what would happen if you ever did harm these children. Take your worthless chest pounding and talk elsewhere.”
“We managed to take Kitra, we’ve gotten closer than anyone thought possible, you don’t think we could reach you?! You underestimate the unspoken word!.”
“Pffft, I’ll believe it when I see it. Go away and save your hot air for someone that scares easily”
“Perhaps for Kitra here then? She’s keeping me company here in Duskwood, though I’m beginning to think she would be better company dead. In fact I think I’ll fix that problem now. Enjoy what remains of your futile existence!”
Meb tugged Downy’s reins veering him to the mountains’ peak overlooking Terokkar Forest and Nagrand. The lush green and brown fields of Nagrand much like Mulgore to the right, and the dark deep forests of Terokkar, eerily resembling Duskwood to her left. Meb pondered the situation as the mighty bird craned it’s neck, begging for a few scraps of food as they perched from their lookout. She began digging through her bags, mind racing. She knew that it was most likely a trap. The Unspoken Word had been extremely careful to hide their whereabouts. They wouldn’t risk giving away their location if they didn’t think they had the upper hand. It didn’t matter either way, Duskwood was a large place with many hiding spots. There would be no way that she could find them…. unless.
Meb tossed a large hunk of clefthoof meat from her pack, Downy catching it and gulping it with barely a bite. She rummaged through her pack again coming up with a coffee stained piece of parchment. A small note on it mentioned a building at the south end of Raven Hill. She couldn’t remember where she had heard the information, but certainly there was a good chance that was the place. She slid off the bird standing on the peak pondering. She shouldn’t go, but she really should be there for Kit. Kitra had helped her so often. She couldn’t forgive herself if she didn’t at least try.
Meb tossed another hunk of clefthoof meat to Downy before scratching him on the neck, then whispered to his ear. The mighty bird leapt off the mountaintop flying back towards Shattrath. Meb watched him fade into the distance before looking at the surroundings again. Warning bells were sounding in her head, though she ignored them grabbing a rune of teleportation and starting her chant. The peak of the mountain disappeared in a flash of light, quickly replaced by a view of the portal in the Stormwind mage’s tower.
***
Gizban walked through the trade district a fresh return of unsold items from the auction house in his pack. A pretty young warlock smiled blowing him a kiss resulting in the usual bright red face and moment of speechlessness. He turned back a pair of Stormwind guards chuckling at the incompetent young man as Gizban fell to his knees, a sudden spasm of pain wracking his body from head to toe. The guards kept laughing not understanding the pain Gizban was in, a few passerby turned a curious head towards the warrior. Giz straightened up the pain subsiding. Something was wrong, but there was no telling what yet.
***
Meb mounted into her mechanostrider as soon as she was out of the tower, and pushed the carrot on a stick into the strider’s expansion port. She never did figure out how the strider got extra energy from the thing, but it was times like these that she was simply happy to have it. Racing through Stormwind and out the front gates, she decided it would be faster to ride it out than grab a gryphon. There was some kind of a mild commotion going on in the trade district, but she was far too distracted to pay attention to what was going on. It was important to stay focused on the task. She had to be alert, who knows what kind of a trap they had set.
She tried to go over the possibilities in her head as the land whizzed by under the steel feet of her mount. It wasn’t long at all before she found herself standing at the south end of Raven Hill, several abandoned buildings stood around a circle, their rafters caving in and looking rather unsafe. As though being guided, Meb stepped into the one on her left, strange memories coming back to her of times early in her training when this place seemed dangerous. Many seasons of battle had long ago made this place feel like a comfy tavern in the valley of trials, but something at the moment brought back a rush of memories, a whole new sensation of unease filling her soul warning her that this was not a good place to be.
Meb ignored the inner warnings, pushing inside and looking about for signs of Kit or the cultist that had taken her. The place seemed abandoned at first, cobwebs all over the place dust on every piece of furniture, broken chairs strewn about in a impressionist artist’s dreamland. The stairs caught her eye, stripped of cobwebs and not a trace of dirt, someone had taken the time to clean them, no doubt to prevent tracks, and numbers, from being detected. Meb walked up the stairs voices beginning to waft down from above, some familiar, some not. She took them without hesitation, whatever it was up there, it had already been seen, the chances of them getting a drop on her were slim if the cultists had already been found.
At the top, Meb found several of her friends from the Retribution gathered in a circle around a small woman looking as though she was still new to the land, no more than fifteen seasons at best. There were rogues hiding in the shadows, albeit poorly, in the adjoining rooms. Meb took note of it, but moved on pretending not to notice. Revealing that she knew of their presence would only tip her hand, best that they think she was ignorant of their presence. The woman at the top was speaking with the members of the Retribution, her voice already familiar, the one that had whispered to her mind in the Outlands. Meb scowled walking towards a crate near the woman for high ground, the woman’s eyes following Meb around the room with an evil mirth.
Meb knew that it was a mistake to get close, but she refused to back down or be intimidated, she had been taunted long enough, been patient long enough, it was time to face these vile creatures claiming to be of the light. Meb listened dispassionately as the woman in front of her screamed for Ravine to be brought before her, demanding to claim revenge or that Kitra would be killed. When it became evident that no on in the Retribution was about to hand over one of their own, the woman grew more impatient, her skin becoming green and a strange glow coming to her eyes. With unexpected speed the demonic woman in front of her released a blast of energy catching most of the room off guard. Meb threw up a small barrier but not in time, the blast knocking the wind out of her, leaving her stunned for a second. The woman in front of her cackled with glee and demanded Ravine as she charged another blast.
Meb straightened up, calling forth a bolt of pure ice at point blank range, releasing it into the creature before it could unleash another blast of energy. The woman collapsed onto the ground grievously wounded, many from the Retribution calling for her death or worse. Meb stepped forward holding a quieting hand up. Wordlessly she pulled some bandages from her pack. Though she was still an enemy, she had information they could use. Whoever this stranger was she was worth more alive than dead. The room watched in stunned silence as Meb leaned in to bandage the woman’s wounds.
***
“Listen lad, ye really should learn how ta be wit’ the ladies. If yer always getting flustered like that ye’ll never get anywhere with them ya know?”
Gizban smiled at the guard, “Ah, well, I’m working on that, no doubt one day I’ll get over some of…”
Gizban was cut short, he fell to the ground screaming in pain, the guard began to reach out then stopped as Gizban flickered, like a light bulb about to burst his image shifted for a second leaving the young warrior gasping for breath on the ground.
“In Uther’s name! what the hell kind of sorcery is this?!”
***
The woman seized upon the opportunity, a dagger flicking out from her waist band cutting a swath across Meb’s distended belly. Meb lashed out with her own dagger slicing the woman open leaving her gasping on the floor. Cries came up from the room, many of the healers sending prayers of warding and mending into Meb. The wound on her belly healed fast. Meb tried to stand up, but an immense pain sank into her guts, leaving her kneeling on the floor again. From somewhere below the familiar voice of Kitra rang out begging for help. The lifeless form of the strange woman was next to Meb eyes seeming to mock the poor gnome. The room started to clear the group looking to find their friend downstairs. Meb crawled to the door, the pain inside her too great to stand. Frore and a new initiate Daemetrius were at the back of the group waiting to go down when Frore turned around, “Meb? What’s wrong? Are you all right?!”
“Something wrong… Inside, it hurts! It’s not mending!”
Daemetrius turned with worry sending more words of mending into the gnomes’ body, “It’s nae takin lass, something else be wrong ‘ere! We need ta git ‘er to a doctah, quickly miss Frore, make us sim transportation ta Stormwind, we can git ‘er th ‘elp she need thar.”
Frore nodded grabbing a rune of portals, pushing the incantation through then looking down the stairs to where a new cacophony was starting up, “I need to help them, take her quickly!”
Daemetrius nodded and grabbed Meb before jumping through the portal.
***
Gizban wrenched his guildstone from his pack, gripping it tightly, “Surya!... Meb!.... DUSKWOOD!... help us!”
Every word painful, his breathing tight as though a noose was about his neck, Gizban’s vision swam some guards nearby pulling the crowd back, some calling for the chaplain from the temple of light to come purge the man possessed.
Gizban started crawling away, something told him the mage district was where he needed to be, a guard stepped into Gizban’s path his words barely heard, “Like hell boy! We can’t have you running about the city like this!”
Gizban rolled in pain on the ground, another wave shaking him as he faded for a second becoming translucent. As the pain subsided Giz summoned all his strength, pushing off from the ground and barreling over the guard, running as best he could for the mage district.
***
“Someone Gi’ meh a doctah! Damnit ya hair brained mages gi’ meh a runnah! Are ya deaf?! Damnit!”, Daemetrius turned back to his charge, doubled over on the floor of the mage tower cringing in pain. He called forth more words of mending into the gnome’s small body, easing the pain a bit, but not fixing whatever was happening inside. A worried look crept over his face. He wasn’t used to this, the healing light usually fixed anything that was wrong.
“The babies… inside… something wrong! We have to save them!”, Meb gasped another bout of pain wracking her.
Daemetrius shivered looking about the room, the placid mages simply looking at them dispassionately. He grabbed his guild stone, “Damnit! Th’ lass needs a Doctah, thar be sumthin wrong wit th babies! We need someone o’er ‘ere right now!”
Meb only faintly heard an exasperated reply from Ravine over the guild stone, the sounds of hoofbeats as the warlock charged off towards the city.
***
Gizban reached the edge of the mages tower, doubling over in pain again. For a moment it seemed he could see his own body, then things went black, then he was looking through his own eyes again, the long winding path to the top seeming a daunting task. From somewhere behind him he heard the guards redoubling their efforts. They weren’t far behind him. If he could get into the mage tower he would be safe. The guards knew better than to cause a stir around a bunch of prissy mages.
Summoning what strength he had left, Gizban charged up the ramp, limping and gasping for breath the whole way. By the time he made it to the portal entering the inner sanctum, he could hear the clanging feet of the guards close behind. Giz fell through the portal seeing a small dwarf leaning over his mother on the other side, “Save us… please!”
***
Daemetrius turned to the man at the portal with a strange glance, then turned back to his charge, “I ‘ope ya be pardonin meh lass, it ‘pears ah be the only one ‘ere. Ah need ta feel if th babie’s comin.” Daemetruis placed a hand on Meb’s forehead, using what little knowledge he had to figure out what was wrong. After a second he looked to Meb with a worried glance, “Lass, th babies, they need ta be comin, but they cannae gi out. We be ‘avin to do this a diffrant wae, bu we ‘ave ta do something, th babies be coming now.”
Meb’s face reflected the obvious shock of the priests’ words, “No! they’re not ready yet! It’s too soon! They won’t be able to survive! We can’t do that!”
A form appeared at the teleportation site, Ravine rushed forward, “What’s wrong here, what’s going on?!”
“We be ‘avin ta take th babes out bah ‘and. Tis a bit dangerous.. Ah could be usin yer ‘elp lass. Try t calm the poor gnome down if’n ya coul..” He turned to look at Meb eyes distant from the pain wracking her small form, “This be dangerous lass, I dinnae wan ya t think otherwise. Fer you an th babies. Please believe meh when ah say it be th only way we cin save them.”
Meb nodded barely speak through the pain, “Save them… don’t worry… about me”
“Ravine took Meb’s hand worry unusually evident in her features, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you all though this”
A scream pierced the sanctity of the mage’s tower a small cut made into the gnome prone on the ground. Gizban watched helplessly from a distance vision becoming blurred his form now completely translucent, his words and cries soft and echoing as though heard through a long hallway, “I’ve… failed…”
Ravine and Demaetrius worked diligently, unable to stop to listen, or perhaps not hearing Gizban through the din. A breath of relief escaped Daemetrius’ lips as he pulled the first child out a smile creeping across his face wrapping the child up, “It be a boy lass! A bit weak.. but ah think we can save ‘im yet.” He quickly wrapped up the babe and handed him to Ravine, then set about working for the next one. The smile faded quickly as he wrapped the small form into a cloak. “Ah be needin a minute ‘ere lass…” With one hand he reached down calling the light to mend Meb’s wounds, sealing her belly and drying the blood.
To Meb’s surprise he turned and walked to a bench muttering, repeatedly calling forth words of mending. He seemed frustrated working furiously to do something. Meb could sense something was wrong, it wasn’t right, who was he healing, what was he trying to do? Daemetrius started walking towards the door carrying the small form, “Ahl be back shortly lass, wait ‘ere….”
Meb stared in realization, hearing him start the words to bring back the dead. She had seen paladins and priests do it many times, her comrades brought back, but… Meb panicked, “NO!! bring her back! No! don’t take her! Where are you taking her!”
Ravine reached out to hold Meb back, the gnome surprisingly strong for having endured such an ordeal, “Meb please, you have to trust him, we’re doing what we can! You have to stop Meb,! You’ll hurt yourself!”
Meb leaned back a bit, tears streaming down her face, waiting helplessly to hear if the priest could save her daughter. When Daemetrius returned, his expression told her everything she needed to know. The mages in the tower simply stared as Meb screamed, voice cracking at the strain as she pleaded to the gods to take it back, to save her girl, but it was all too late. Lorielle Oakheart, would not live.
***
Meb sat in the corner of the Crimson, a shawl covering her chest, the little babe Gizban suckling at her teat. Somewhere in the confusion of the mages tower Ravine had noticed Gizban, the older Gizban that is, fading from existence. It had taken a heroic effort but they managed to bring the premature baby to health of some type. His time as a baby would be difficult, he would be very sick for quite some time
“Mebling go ahead of me, don’t worry, I’ll see you in Ironforge”
She leaned back, still unable to stop her tears, her daughter, she had so wanted to save her daughter, she wanted both the children. One lived, she did love him already, but how she wanted to know her daughter as well.
“Hiya mebby, why have I been in the bank so long? The bankers never give me lettuce…”
Meb cradled the small boy close, the battle of the day had been horrible, Frore had been wounded, the bruises would undoubtedly show the struggle for weeks. Aellex was having trouble controlling his powers. The warlocks had such strange ways of controlling arcane energies.
“If I free you from the dungeon will you take me to your dimension Meb? The mistress is cruel here”
Something was very wrong with Kitra, it was hard to tell what, but she wasn’t right. She barely spoke. Meb’s mind turned trying to seek the thoughts of her husband. “Where were you love? Why aren’t you here now? I need you love…. Please…”
“I keep warning you about this but it’s always, ‘Go away squeaky!’ fine, just ask Kitra if she has lettuce”
Meb sat in her quiet contemplation, “How am I supposed to tell Oak this? It’s my fault, I risked my children’s’ lives, I lost one of them thanks to my arrogance! What am I supposed to tell Oak?!” Oak’s silence in her mind, and the horrible thought of her actions ate away the last of her resolve, Meb sobbed quietly in the corner, her face in her hands, the loss of a child, and the day’s trauma too much to bear.
((Warning! Spoilers!))
((For those new to Meb’s background, reading some of my previous posts on her history and early days in the Retribution would shed a bit of light on the italicized part towards the end. The rest that remember things like squeaky the mechanical squirrel are probably grinning already at the thought of squeaky’s return. This also is a prelude to Meb losing her marbles which is coming up very soon, I’m liking where this is going and it will be interesting to see how everyone interacts when Meb loses it))