World of Warcraft®

She reached for the finger and as her hand came within inches of it, a light flared up from the pedestal...

Noikona shook her head, taking a step forward again. Her hand, the hand that had been disfigured reached out to grasp what was once her own. She reached for the finger and as her hand came within inches of it, a light flared up from the pedestal...

Noikona shook her head, taking a step forward again. Her hand, the hand that had been disfigured reached out to grasp what was once her own. Laughter interrupted her. To her right, near one end of the room, Imperon sat in a definitely throne-like chair next to a table with two place settings. Another chair, as throne-like as his own, sat opposite it.

"As amusing as it is watching someone fall for that trick repeatedly, miss Noikona, perhaps you'd rather try a different tactic? Or maybe you're feeling hungry?" The wizard waved a hand at the table where both plates were piled high with food. "Sit, eat, refresh yourself, miss Noikona. You gain nothing by rushing headlong at my newest creation again and again and again."

Closing her eyes Noikona backed away. Her fists clenched as she attempted to control the rage that threatened to overcome her. She had scanned the room thoroughly, from what was perceived the room had been empty. Slowly she turned to face Imperon, her eyes flickering emerald as they rested to where he set.

Her voice was controlled, but unmistakably full of malice “I would rather dine with murlocks than sit at your table.”

She continued, standing motionless, her face darkening, “What manner of trickery is this? Give me what I want, and I’ll go away.”

With a roll of his eyes, Imperon pointed to the chair on the other side of his table again. "Sit. You don't have to eat, just sit. You want that finger? Come over here and let's make a deal for it." He grinned broadly. "Your people are all about making binding deals, right?"

Noikona resisted the urge to flip the table, but still imagined doing so in her mind. She walked over to the table, turning the chair so it wasn't facing Imperon. She sat slowly, pushing the plate away; although hungry she wouldn't eat food, without knowing how it was prepared.

“Believe that, if that’s what you wish. What words do you have? I can’t imagine they have anything that will benefit me.” She spoke with her eyes looking out across the room.

"Here's a start for words that benefit you, miss Noikona: Take the finger." Imperon makes a small motion with one hand and the silver finger appears on the table is hers. "It's yours. That said..." Another pass with one hand and there's a piece of parchment on the table next to the finger along with a quill pen in a small ink well.

"Just sign that and you're free to take the artifact. This document informs the reader that you and I had a conflict over a magical artifact - I think we can both agree that the finger is a magical artifact by most peoples' definition of the term - and that we have resolved the ownership issues we had. The finger in front of you is described about a third of the way down the page and you are defined as its current owner. Beyond that, the document simply states that no more property conflicts exist between us. That is, I lay no claim to anything you own, and you lay no claim to anything I own."

Leaning back against his chair, Imperon watches Noikona, looking for some indication as to her opinion on signing the parchment in front of her. "We'll sign three copies, if you agree. One for you, one for me, and one for me to send to the Watch so that maybe Orwyn and his flunkies give up their ridiculous plans to put me on trial for theft and related 'crimes.'"

((Apologies for the long wait on a reply, Noikona.))

The last time she had set at the same table as Imperon, Imperon had told her of his plans for Azheira. Plans that she had relayed to Liore via a letter. The contents of that letter had somehow found their way back to Imperon which led to the cutting off of her finger in retaliation of her betrayal. Now she held a contract in her hands that was supposed to make everything better? She gritted her teeth as she read through the contents. Questions arose in her mind. Why was he so willing to release the finger now? Was she too late? Had he discovered more than what she had thought possible? She cringed as she read on. Her inability to lie was meaningless when applying her signature to a contract. Written words meant nothing to her, she was bound only by what passed her own lips, but in all her life she had never broken a written contract, even though the freedom was there to do so.

Slowly she brought her eyes to meet his, “I must commend you on the time you put into such a well-ordered contract, but nay I will not sign it. I care nothing for your current engagement with the Watch. It actually humors me. I will take it as my own conquest that such a person of your stature is harassed by them.”

She rose abruptly snagging the finger off the table, bringing her knee up hard in an attempt to flip the table, she spoke as she bolted for the door “Now I will be taking this and we can leave it at that”

Imperon barely had time to look surprised before the table crashed down on him. "For the...!" Was all he said before it slammed him into the floor. "Hot gravy! Hot gravy! Ow!" As Noikona fled, she could feel the tower laughing.

Getting to the same door she'd entered through didn't take long. Noikona may have worried that the door would be locked, but it wasn't. She threw it open...and found herself looking at stairs leading only up.

A smirk crossed Noikona’s lips as she ran to the door but quickly changed to a frown as steps only leading up confronted her. With little choice, she slammed the door behind her and started up the steps. She spoke harshly to the stone on her wrist “What manner of game is this you play?”

She didn’t expect an answer as she had felt the towers laughter moments after she toppled the table. She was at the mercy of the towers direction, attempting to swallow her fear she continued in the only direction she could go, up.

As Noikona rushed up the stairs the door behind her exploded in a shower of splinters. Half-covered in gravy and looking very angry, Imperon strode through the doorway. "That was uncalled for!"

As she fled, Noikona could hear Imperon ascending the stairs behind her. She could hear him a little too well. Each foot fall sounded like it was made by something much larger than a short wizard. "When I catch you, miss Noikona, you will wish you had taken the opportunity to bow at my feet!"

Noikona did not want to risk a glance behind her. The wizard's voice, apart from sounding very angry, was just a little different than usual. Whatever the cause, she wanted to get to the top of the stairs as fast as she already could. Nothing she might see behind her could urge her on faster.

Before she'd ran far enough to be more than a little winded, she abruptly came to the end of the staircase. Above her she could see a rough, stone ceiling like in a cave. Running as fast as she had been didn't give her enough time to stop and she charged out of the stair well...into a room, if it could be called that, without a floor.

All Noikona had was a brief impression of uncut stone walls and the ceiling before her first step off the top stair failed to find purchase on anything and down she fell. The room vanished as she fell and she couldn't see any other walls or anything to suggest that she was still in Mahr Carreg at all.

Without any sensation of having changed location, Noikona rolled to a stop on her back. She was no longer falling, although someone had forgotten to tell her heart that. Blood pounded in her ears as she took stock of her situation.

She lay on grass. Cool grass that felt and smelled entirely ordinary. Trees grew near her. She was in the bottom of a valley that she would have called small, except that the walls of the tower rose up all around her.

Somehow there was an entire mountain valley contained within the strange entity called Mahr Carreg. Closing her eyes and shaking her head didn't make the odd picture vanish. Where the sides of the valley would have risen up into mountains anywhere else, the valley in Mahr Carreg only rose up to join seamlessly with the tower itself.

Within that valley were entire groves of trees, with small streams and even one that was almost large enough to be called a real river flowing in...many different directions. Moss covered boulders lay here and there, some of them flat on the top and low enough to the ground that they could serve as picnic tables.

Indeed, one was being used for that. Two adult humans sat next to each other, trying to keep a trio of children from throwing any of the food on their 'table' at each other. To another side, Noikona saw a pool of water, deep and broad enough that half a dozen boys and girls were swimming. She could hear quiet voices nearby, indicating other people enjoying a place so odd that it made the entryway to Mahr Carreg, with its park like appearance to be entirely normal.

Then Noikona recognized one of the girls with the swimmers. It was Pika, the girl who'd first greeted Noikona when she'd entered the tower. Smiling broadly the girl ran over to where Noikona still sat on the grass. "Hi, Noikona! Did you get lost or are you done with your courier stuff?"

Noikona attempted to compose herself, looking around a bit confused. She glared down at her hand where the stone was still wrapped tightly around her wrist.

Noikona turned towards Pika as she dropped her prize in her satchel, speaking quickly “As a matter a fact I have finished what I came here for.”

Standing a bit stiffly she rose “I am just on my way out. Just a bit turned around that’s all.” She again scowled at her wrist.

She began walking away not wanting to involve anyone else in her flight “I will just be on my way”

It wasn't hard to find a tunnel leading out of the odd, underground park. Walking swiftly at first, Noikona soon found herself truly spelunking. However most people got into the park, this wasn't it. She had to avoid massive boulders that had fallen out of the ceiling, detour under stalactites and around stalagmites and stalagnates.

Her going wasn't easy and when she finally came to a large, open cavern, she was ecstatic. She'd been hearing the occasional breath of wind, but so far she'd been so far from the entrance of this cavern that it had sounded more like a monster's breathing than anything else.

Occluding the entrance to the cavern she heard more than saw in the darkness was another boulder, with no way around it. Scrambling over it she used some convenient (if rather jagged) stalagmite handholds and scrambled her way up...where she found herself staring into two giant, glowing, reptilian eyes.

"You had better not be who I think you are. I was napping in order to avoid getting involved," said a deep voice from directly beneath where she stood on a very large dragon's snout. One of her hooves slipped and Noikona had to grab hold of the dragon in order to avoid falling off.

Torches around the edge of the cavern suddenly lit up, giving Noikona her first lit view of the creature. It was jet black, as if made out of obsidian from head to tail. As close as she was to it, the dragon's eyes were focused on her. The dragon raised its head several yards into the air and regarded her for a long moment before speaking again.

"Well? Are you who I hope you're not or are you some other problem entirely?"

Noikona quickly averted her eyes, swallowing her fear, her tone was a bit terse as she spoke “I am unclear as to who you think I am. Nor do I think I’m a problem of yours. I’m merely attempting to find my way out, but this accursed block head of a rock you've chosen to put your lair in has decided that my time is better served wondering aimlessly through tunnels and obstacles it sees fit for its own entertainment”

Noikona took a few steps back, regarding the dragon. She whispered at the stone on her wrist “Not funny, not funny at all.”

The last thing in the world she would have thought of was to be face to face with a creature of this magnitude. Her eyes scanned the cavern for an exit, before looking back, “Are you in the mood to let me pass?”

The dragon exhaled noisily. "Perhaps," it said simply. "What brings you to my lair, one of them at least, little thing? Are you the draenei that my wizard was hoping to lure here?"

As he spoke, the dragon raised his head higher and curled his long tail around himself. He crossed one foreclaw over the other and kept those two big eyes firmly focused on Noikona. "If you are not, perhaps I can come up with use for a little thing who will not be missed."

Noikona almost laughed as she blurted “Your wizard?” Her eyes narrowed as they rested on the exit beyond. She looked back and continued “Does who I am really matter? I pose no threat to you. You’re not an enemy of mine; I would like to keep it that way.”

Taking a purpose filled step forward she spoke “I'm not going to beg or grovel; I need to get to the exit. Now shall I walk over you or must I resort to activities that neither of us will find pleasant? I am not your -little- thing to be used.”

Noikona stood looking at the dragon with her arms crossed waiting for a response.

"Not my enemy? Little thing you are in my lair. Anything in my lair is either my property, or a potential enemy. Or a snack." The dragon began to lower Noikona back towards the ground, but when his snout was only a few feet from touching the ground he suddenly flipped his head back, tossing Noikona into the air.

Looking down, she could see the dragon's eyes, and a very large open mouth with many teeth, waiting to swallow her.

"Dissident!" Shouted a familiar voice and the dragon flinched, spoiling his aim. Noikona landed on his noise, rolled down his face, over his head and slid off his neck to land awkwardly on the stone.

"Dissident you stop that right now! She's not for eating!" Pika strode out of the same tunnel Noikona had exited, yelling at the dragon.

"Oh hells," Dissident muttered. Then, in a louder voice "where did you come from? I hate being disturbed during a meal." Fearing that Noikona might try to flee, Dissident snatched her up in one foreclaw and held her in the air as if fearing that Pika might try stealing her.

"She's a courier, Dizzy! Not food! Mahr must have misheard her directions. She's supposed to be leaving, now!"

"Courier?" Dissident swung his long neck around and eyed Noikona closely. "Looks like a snack to me," he said, but then exhaled again, the breath from his nostrils hot against Noikona's skin. "Fine, give me one solid reason to not eat you for waking me up."

The wave of fear that erupted from Noikona couldn’t be helped; she could only hope that it would be misunderstood by her handlers. The voice of Pika was both unexpected and welcome, but she feared the dragons intentions were not to be persuaded so easily. Skirting the courier remark she answered, “Is it logical for two sentient beings with wisdom and knowledge to feast on the flesh of one another? To do so seems counterproductive and one such as yourself to stoop to such lowly and barbaric act seems beneath your intelligence. I am sure there are ones that deserve such a thing, but I assure you my living is better for the both of us”

Noikona gazed into his eyes “If that is not enough and if you have the gift of sight, you would see the immense amount of power that lays dormant within me. There is no telling what might happen if that power were to be released upon my death. I can’t fathom what the ramifications would be to your digestive system or for that matter your body. I suppose it’s quite possible that the walls of this cavern would have a new paint job.”

Noikona let her eyes flare emerald as she asked “Is that a chance you are willing to take?

She spoke again as if an afterthought ”Though there is one that may be coming behind me that is covered with gravy, I sense that may be much more to your liking.”

Dissident's laughter shook the cavern. Or at least that's how it felt for Noikona. "The one coming behind you? My wizard would give me indigestion at the very least. Showdahs make awful, and very loud, meals." The dragon sighed before continuing. "Hunger has fled me. Are you happy, little thing, you've ruined my appetite. Fine, go..." He set Noikona down and nudged her towards the other side of the cavern with his snout.

When Noikona had first ran into Dissident, she had only seen one exit to the dragon's lair other than the one by which she'd entered the cavern. But when Dissident pushed her towards an exit, she realized there were at least four other exits. Perhaps it was Mahr playing with things again.

Pika ran past Dissident, stopping only to plant a quick kiss on his snout, before grabbing one of Noikona's hands and pulling her forward. "Come on, before he decides to play with his meal more," she said, hauling Noikona into the indicated exit. Once there she turned and looked up at Noikona. "You're not really a courier, are you? Mahr wouldn't have had you run into Dissident if that's what you were."

Noikona frowned “A courier is one that takes haste in giving a message to another.” She shrugged as she continued “I had a message if I were to meet a certain person. I also had other tasks in which to complete while here. So partly yes, a courier I was.”

Noikona looked down at Pika. She didn’t know what to expect. Her play on words must have seen desperate, but she spoke no untruth. She began to walk forward “Your help was appreciated, but I must leave for there is another that follows that I have angered.”

"Right," Pika replied. "You did something that bothered the boss. Don't worry, he always goes easy on girls...well, usually." Pika frowned briefly.

In between steps, the cavern ended and Noikona half-stumbled as bright light and the warmth of the sun replaced the darkness and cool temperatures of the cave. Pika clapped her hands happily. "Look, there's the town!" She pointed and Noikona recognized the buildings of New Wilder in the distance. "Travel safely, Noikona! I should get back, my next shift starts soon." With a friendly wave, Pika vanished back into the cavern and the last Noikona saw of her she was saying "come on Mahr, I need to be in the kitchens in five minutes, no more sulking!"

Aside from a bit of a hike down the mountain from the cave mouth, Noikona had no more obstacles between herself and finding a way out of Ocheliad territory. She saw no sign of Ocheliad forces mobilizing and the tower Mahr Carreg, visible to the north as it was from anywhere in the valley, stood as silent as ever. No sign was visible of the sentience it possessed.

Atop the highest tower of Mahr Carreg, Imperon Showdah leaned his elbows on the crenelation and chewed his lip thoughtfully as he stared off to the south.

"That was funny," said a draconic voice behind him. "She didn't play along the way you thought." As the voice continued it changed, becoming more human. A moment later a tall man in black armor stood next to Imperon.

"Noikona has always been quite entertaining," the wizard replied. "Everything went more or less according to plan."

The tall man laughed. "If that's true, why do you smell like gravy?"

"Shut up."