In Want for a Wand

by Leila Drake

Level 15 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Jonathan's stomach growled. Again. He sighed and glanced over to Vol'Shalai. The troll ignored him, walking silently as he frowned at the beautiful golden trees. Jonathan had not seen him in such a bad mood since Zul'Drak. It seemed that Vol'Shalai liked being in Elf territory about as much as getting a back massage from a ghoul.

Arcus snorted.

"What?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow, turning his head back to make sure Arcus saw it.

Arcus just kept grinning and muttered something in an amused tone. He looked much better now that he was allowed to walk by himself. The elf guard behind him had bound a rope around his barrel to keep him from running away, something that Arcus obviously really hated but still preferred to getting sick again.

"Silence", the guard reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah", muttered Arcus. Jonathan did not understand the words but the tone gave away the meaning.

It was weird. Jonathan had expected the elves to either tell them what was going on or gag them, toss them onto the cart and carry them off to whatever dungeon the elves had available. There were really only three or four reasons why he was still alive. Maybe the elves did not know which one had the information they needed. They had searched the backpacks so it wasn't about any of Jon's, Arc's or Twilight's possessions. They didn't even bother checking everything from Vol'Shalai's bags. Maybe it was the smell... or maybe they just underestimated the troll's intelligence.

Or the profit was higher when they brought their captives alive. Jonathan shivered, unsure whether he actually wanted to find out what the elves wanted from him. Curiousity and fear balanced each other out on this one. They could be hostages for a bargain but the question was: Who would even want to get their hands on a troll, a human and two little ponies, in that combination? The Forsaken? Did they find out about Jonathan's not-so-secret secret? But then again, how would these elves know about it?

Were they just bounty hunters? No, they were much too disciplined for that, they had to be under orders of some lady or lord. If only it wasn't one of those damned apocalyptic cults. He'd had to deal with enough of those already.

Jonathan smirked to himself. He was glad he had not told Twilight that there had been people with the same name as her, serving Deathwing the Destroyer and attempting to bring about the end of the world. His smile faded away and he clenched his fists when he remembered that she was probably lost or even worse, dead.

Speaking of dead - why was there a Death Knight sitting casually under that golden-leaved tree? He was wearing a suspiciously familiar tabard and the two-handed sword he polished reminded Jonathan strongly of...

"Darren?", mouthed Jonathan incredulously.

"Greetings", said Darren in the Common tongue as he stood up, holding his sword loosely at his side.

The two elves at the head of the group kept walking while the Lady ordered the others to stop. The scouts halted in front of Darren and they exchanged some words Jonathan could not make out. The knight looked strangely relaxed. Jonathan frowned. It was impossible that Darren had not noticed the captives. What did he plan to do, all by himself?

Jonathan, Vol'Shalai and Arc were forced to sit down. It was hard to see anything around the cart. Jonathan managed to crouch in a way that he could look at Darren through a gap between the legs of the guards. It was a pretty uncomfortable position. Darren seemed to discuss something with one of the scouts, a woman armed with a spear. He gestured a bit with the sword still in his right, trying to convince her of something. She took a step back, pointing her spear at Darren and nodding at her companion. The second scout ran off when Darren suddenly raised his sword. Jonathan could hear the clanging when Darren's blade pushed the spear aside, cutting the elf down with a single swift strike, and the thud as her legs gave way and she fell. Dark purple mist rose from her mouth and eyes as she lost consciousness.

"No kidding", muttered Jonathan. Apparently Darren wanted to fight no less than a dozen elves just to free him and his friends. That was either very loyal or very stupid; probably a bit of both. It meant one thing, though. Twilight had to be alive. It was the only possible reason why Darren would - wait a second, he should use the chance!

Jonathan spun around and kicked the legs of the guard next to him, making him stumble. As the elf tried to get up, Jonathan barked in Orcish, "The bonds!"

Vol'Shalai rushed to his side, awkwardly holding a sword between his still bound hands. "Gotcha", he smirked.

Jonathan looked behind the troll - a dead elf had kindly provided him with the weapon. Vol'Shalai sawed at the sealed ropes in a hurry, managing to cut them after a few seconds. They didn't have any time to formulate a plan as three elves, including the one Jonathan had tripped up, charged them with their weapons raised. Vol'Shalai turned his back to Jonathan, gesturing at the small bag bound around his chest.

"Right!" The priest ripped the bag off and Vol'Shalai roughly gripped it, shaking it open. Four small items fell out of it, tiny wooden masks and feathers bound together with red string. The troll caught them and looked at them reverently. He moved the totems in a wide arc, then to his chest, conjuring up a dome of fire and lightning. The elves pulled their arms away from the sudden heat and crackling electricity, nodding at each other in agreement. One of them raised her hands, arcane lightning sparkling in her palms.

Jonathan hurried to add a protective sphere of light to Vol'Shalai's lightning shield and focused his thoughts. It was time to strike back - they would not get another chance. As he said a Shadow Word, the elf next to him gripped his own face, his eyes almost bulging out, and let out a terrified shriek. Jonathan could feel the victim's pain and fear and was momentarily distracted by the exhilerating sensation of power. Jonathan shook his head, trying to keep his emotions under control as he felt the rush of dominance. It turned out to be very difficult. Why did shadow magic have to be so fickle?

And where was Arcus? Jonathan turned around to overlook the scene. Everybody was fighting. Darren was currently dueling the tall guy with the sword. The elf had dismounted from his hawkstrider, setting the bird free to run away. Jonathan had not noticed before but the swordsman's dark ragged cloak was the only one that had a crimson tint to it. It flapped wildly around him as he fought Darren. They looked strangely alike. Both swords let off sparks when they collided, flashing ice blue and dark red. It was hard to keep track of their movements, they were so fast that their shapes blurred into each other.

"Priest!" That was Twilight's voice.

Jonathan looked up. The alicorn was airborne, diving towards him. "Priest, are you okay?" She cast a spell, sending crackling arcane missiles towards an elf warrior. He fell down, gripping his stomach and screaming with pain. Jonathan's eyes went wide with surprise.

Twilight looked different than before, changed. But not necessarily for the better. Dear Light, she had gotten thin.

"Arcus?", he answered with another question, returning to the immediate problem.

Twilight swerved aside and rose again in an elegant arc, pointing her hoof at the green earth pony who was holding his own against an elf woman with a staff.

"Our translation spell wore off!", shouted Jonathan, picking up the fallen elf's spear.

"Got it!" She flapped her wings rapidly, now diving for Arcus, and her horn glowed as she cast the spell.

That was when Jonathan noticed the mace flying towards Twilight's barrel. The weapon rotated at high speed, obviously thrown by an expert.

"Look out!", he shouted, conjuring up a small light shield between Twilight and the mace. It hit the shield, shattering it into glittering shards that quickly faded away, and brushed Twilight's side. She gasped with surprise and lost her rhythm. She fell to the ground with an undignified smack, knocking Arcus over. The mace had changed direction when it had hit the shield but it had not been enough for it to completely miss Twilight.

"Shit", muttered Jonathan under his breath. That stupid spell had been too much of a distraction for her.

"You think?", said a woman's voice behind him.

Before he could turn around, something hard hit the back of his head.

•°

"Thou really needst to take better care of thyself."

Jonathan rubbed the back of his pounding head. "What's - er, what happened?"

Luna was there, eyeing him with a slight frown. The mist of the dreamscape brushed her hooves as she cantered to his side. "It appears that somebody knocked thee unconscious."

"You're worried." Jonathan grinned wryly.

Luna recoiled. "Of course We are! We - " She relaxed and exhaled, smiling sheepishly. "Royal Canterlot Voice. I forget." Her hoof touched Jonathan's arm.

"You must try to wake up. This is an unnatural sleep and you are most likely in danger."

Jonathan sighed. "I know, I know..." He shook his head. "Not gonna be fond of the headache though."

"I will try to help you", said Luna, lighting her horn. "Brace thyself."

•°

Jonathan sat up with a jolt, his eyes wide open. "Argh, holy shit!" The nausea almost made him pass out again. He groaned, rubbing his temple. "Thanks for the heads up, Luna", he croaked. Jonathan could almost see the dent in the back of his skull. "Ow..."

"He's awake!", said somebody.

A hoof touched his chest, preventing him from standing up. "Take it slow, 'kay? You don't look so good."

"Arc?" Jonathan squinted his eyes. The blurry shape in front of him solidified into the green earth pony.

"Hi, Jon. Dude, you took a nasty hit to the head", said Arcus.

"Move a bit, horsie, I gotta check his vitals, mon." That was Vol'Shalai.

"Oh. Sure." Arcus got up and stepped aside.

"How many fingers I be holding up?"

"All four of'em."

"Maybe ya better lie down fo' anodda minute."

Jonathan grinned. "Kidding. Two fingers. And I think I'm okay. Just having one hell of a headache." He grunted with pain as he tried to sit more comfortably. Again, a sharp pain shot through his skull. He dabbed at the back of his hand and discovered that it had been covered in bandages. The gauze also covered his temples and forehead, feeling like a weird headband. "Oh, gods." He frowned, blinking rapidly to shake off the dizziness. "Gimme a moment."

The elves were still there. Nobody's hands (or hooves) were tied. Twilight was alive. She stood next to the leader of the elves, discussing something with her. Darren and the other guy were next to them, both knights looking tired but content, both swords still dripping with blood. Their hoods were down, revealing Darren's face and the elf's. Long dark hair and pale, almost translucent skin plus the same icy glow in his eyes as Darren - he had to be a Death Knight as well, concluded Jonathan. The oversized sword had already been a hint but the dead eyes made it obvious.

"What the hell is going on?", asked Jonathan, unable to connect the dots.

Arc grimaced. "Ahh well, we lost. Technically."

Jonathan curled his lips into a confused snarl. "Huh?"

"We killed some of de elves but dere still be tah many. Looks like Darren ain't been expectin' such a strong opponent. I got beat up too but we gonna manage."

"But why are -"

"Why dey be talking?"

"Yeah. The elves never talked to us! Why the change of mind?"

Vol'Shalai raised both hands and shrugged. "No clue, mon."

They watched as Twilight still discussed whatever what was going on with the elf commander. Eventually, both nodded and Twilight trotted over to her friends with a sour expression. Her ears were pinned back and she had a slight limp that reminded Jonathan that a mace had hit her side. He felt a pang of guilt. He had been the one to distract her by asking her to cast a spell.

Jonathan rolled to the side and pushed himself off the ground, staggering to his feet. Arcus tried to hold him down but he waved him off.

"I'll manage." The priest pointed at Twilight. "You. C'mere."

She frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Jonathan? Are you okay?"

He answered by pulling her into a hug. Twilight awkwardly hugged him back giggling a little.

"Oh. Hehe, I'm glad you're alright, too."

"Well", said Jonathan as they let go of each other, "what was that all about? Can we finally go now?"

She looked at Jonathan, then Arcus and Vol'Shalai. "Yes and no." As Jonathan opened his mouth to ask again, she quickly continued, "Vol'Shalai can go but they won't let us ponies leave... or you for that matter, Jonathan."

"Great", groaned Arcus. "This can't be good. Why did they capture us anyway? And while we are at it, what were you thinking not getting reinforcements before pulling such a stunt? Seriously, Twilight, that's so basic even I would have thought of it!"

Twilight's ears went down and she looked to the ground. "I'm sorry, we couldn't. Please remember, Arcus, we're from another world and can't just ask for some royal guards to help us out."

Jonathan sighed. "Better from another world and with a stronger group than six feet under. You could have asked some Alliance people or maybe even Argent crusaders."

"Not you, too..." She sniffed. "We thought we could do it on our own. It's just that Darren was always so strong and, and... we probably overestimated our abilities."

Jonathan sighed in defeat. "Well, what's done is done. Could you at least negotiate some better terms of our... captivity?"

She nodded. "If we don't struggle and do as they say they will just take us to Silvermoon to run some tests. We're still outnumbered and the element of surprise is lost. So I agreed to help them - under the condition that they don't hurt my friends." She turned her head, looking back to the Commander. "She's not really that bad. She's just following orders, she says."

"Just following... hrmpf." Jonathan grumbled, biting down the insults that were sitting on the tip of his tongue. Who knew what those tests would be about. Besides, one had to choose to follow orders. Being a subordinate was no excuse to act like a mindless drone. He felt a surge of pride as he realized how the Forsaken viewed Queen Sylvanas. She might be intimidating but Jonathan was aware of the many Forsaken that had no problem expressing their scepticism about orders they received. Still, they felt loyal to the Banshee Queen and most would not hesitate to follow her willingly. Those who did not approve of her ways were free to go... weren't they?

"Does she have a name?", asked Arcus, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight shook her head. "She didn't tell me, even when I asked her."

"Well", said Vol'Shalai, "that be nice an' all but there be no way I leave you now, mon. Ya don't know when ya be needing a shaman anytime soon, huh? Besides, if I show up at home an' tell Miwemba I been leaving ya guys on yar own she'd mos' likely be chasing me back ta come an' save ya anyway." He chuckled.

Jonathan nodded slowly, but with crossed arms. Something was off here, he could just feel it. "All right, we'll play along, for now. But I'd really like you to tell us - in detail - what you discussed. Whether we can have our stuff back. And why Darren is suddenly so friendly with tall, dead and handsome over there." He pointed at the Blood Elf death knight with his thumb, then he bent down to get his face closer to her ear. "There's something important you're not telling us", he whispered.

Twilight blushed wildly. "Please, later", she begged, the look in her eyes so desperate that Jonathan dropped the issue.

"Okay", he sighed. "Later." He gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze, then walked off to Darren to see if he was alright.

•°

"Ah, mon, dis city be waaay too clean." Vol'Shalai shook his head in disbelief.

Jonathan could not help but agree. Silvermoon, the capital city of the Blood Elves, was very beautiful, very big and very sterile.

Of course they had bushes. And flowers. The buildings were made of white lime bricks and marble, the towers and spires ended in red and golden domes. Birds sang lovely birdsongs. Many people, most of them Elves, crowded the streets. There were hardly any mounts; sometimes a hawkstrider would walk by, or a light carriage pulled by horses. There was some music in the air, a flute and some strings that sounded like a harp. Silvermoon had everything a city needed to be called a city - except Jonathen still felt like he entered a prison.

In the end, the material of the bars did not matter.

He cast a look over to Twilight who was walking beside him. She looked back at him, then quickly averted her eyes, her ears splayed back. She probably still felt ashamed for the failed rescue attempt.

They attracted a number of stares from the crowd of elves as they made their way towards the Court of the Sun. But still, less stares than Jonathan would have expected. Was it because sometimes there would be human prisoners? He knew that wild forest trolls still lived in the Ghostlands - but they were green, not blue like Vol'Shalai. The other thing that could not be explained away were the two colorful ponies.

Arcus and Darren walked next to each other, Darren's griffin was nowhere to be seen. Their captors formed a circle around them, keeping a few feet's distance.

Jonathan was surprised that Arcus did not seem too impressed by the city's architecture, being a surveyor and all. Maybe Silvermoon was so similar to Canterlot that Arc did not care that much.

They passed through a dark street that felt like the kind of alley where someone would jump out and mug you at night. This street was incredibly clean, too. How the hell did they do that?

The street opened up to become a wide square with a beautiful fountain in the middle - the Court of the Sun as Jonathan remembered from the maps he had studied a few years ago. To his surprise, they did not go to the plaza but turned right instead, entering a house. The door was wide open. A transparent blue curtain divided the first few square yards of the room from the rest.

The Lady pushed the curtain aside and ushered everyone inside.

Most of the guards or whoever they were stayed outside the house. Still, two of them took position at the door and closed it noiselessly. The Lady turned around to face Jonathan. She said calmly, "Everyone, please sit down."

Jonathan glared back at her with as much comtempt as he could muster but obliged slowly. Twilight sat on one of the big pillows that were strewn about, Arc and Vol'Shalai flopped down on the ground without much grace. Darren kept standing. One of the guards at the door was the tall Death Knight from before. Both he and Darren exchanged a look.

The Lady crouched down next to Twilight. "When we talked in the forest, I figured you were the leader of the group. Does that still apply or did you merely speak for them because the human was unconscious?"

Twilight frowned, uncomfortably shifting around on her pillow. She looked over to Jonathan, searching for a hint or maybe some advice.

"I am... the leader", she said after Jonathan gave her a tiny nod. "And I still mean what I said. We will help you with your research - as long as you won't hurt anyone of my friends. We're not going to run away. So there's no need for... for safeguards."

The Lady firmly shook her head. "They will remain in place."

After a few seconds, Twilight nodded, her ears folding back in sadness. "That's what I feared."

"However, we will not deny you anything else as long as you are here, be it food, accomodations or distraction." She took off her hood, revealing blonde hair bound together in a ponytail.

Arcus gasped and started coughing wildly. He beat on his chest with a hoof, almost choking on his own breath.

"Please calm down. There is no need to be scared." She raised her voice a little, taking on a businesslike tone as she stood up again. "My name is Sarithra. I am a Commander of the City Guard, also the current head of Research and Development.

"Since this journey was more than exhausting for you, you may take the following two days to rest and recover. You can call for Alestus to heal you if you are injured. We will begin our research after that. The studies are classified. Any knowledge that is revealed to you will remain within the confines of this house. You may ask the guards if you have any other questions." Her gaze softened somewhat, completely ignoring the accusing stares from Jonathan and poor Arcus, who had finally managed to catch his breath again.

"Good night." Sarithra ordered the guards to open the door with a wave of her hand. "One last thing", she added, turning her head. "You may not leave Silvermoon but, given the usual restrictions for civilians, you may move about it freely. I would not want to deny you the pleasures of our shining city. And I am... sorry... for the inconvenience and the... deception", she added rather stiffly.

After she left, one of the two guards closed the door without locking it and pulled his own hood down. He was a rather young elf, with a round face, long brown hair, and the muscles of a bodyguard. He did not say anything. Instead, he sat down on a chair next to the door, looking bored. He had a peculiar air to him; somehow he managed to appear uninteresting, making everybody else in the room ignore him.

"Tch. 'Inconvenience'." Arcus stood up, looking around the room. There was a small counter at the back wall with a crystal jug of water and some glasses on it. He took the jug's handle into his mouth and poured some water into one of the glasses. After emptying the glass, he nodded over to Darren.

"So what's the deal with you two?", he asked Darren bluntly, jerking his head towards the other death knight.

Darren sighed and finally sat down. The tall elf in question leaned back against the wall, relaxing a little.

"One could say that we are... brothers in arms", said the elf. His dark voice sounded rough, as if he only used it once every few centuries.

The corners of Darren's mouth twitched. "Hum. More like cousins."

"Both of us died in the same battle", explained the Blood Elf knight.

"We were 'resurrected' and turned into Death Knights at Acherus, the Ebon Hold", continued Darren. "After regaining our free will, we parted ways. But for some reason we keep meeting each other by coincidence. It is always nice to see that someone you... like is still around, I suppose."

Twilight cleared her throat. "What's your name?", she asked the elf.

"Gladius", replied the knight.

"Wait, doesn't that mean 'sword'?"

"Yes, it does."

Arcus laughed dryly. "And I thought I lacked imagination."

Gladius glared at him with eyes that were like tunnels.

The earth pony swallowed uncomfortably. "Sorry", he muttered, averting his gaze. The atmosphere was instantly becoming heavy and awkward.

There was something wrong with Arcus, decided Jonathan. Recently, the earth pony had been on edge up to a point of constant aggravation. Was it his way of dealing with trouble? Or maybe it was still a lingering effect from the sickness Arcus had sufferd during the journey to the north? Whatever it was, Jonathan was sure this was not the right time to figure it out. There were more pressing matters to worry about. Sarithra the Commander wanted to experiment on them.

And Twilight had agreed to that - even though she had just wanted to help Jonathan get wand materials. He knew her well enough to realize that something did not add up here. When Twilight had been in Dalaran, she had done research to create a portal. This time, however, there was no need for her to help the elves. Except, of course, something bad would happen if she did not. Twilight was a nice pony. She would probably defend Sarithra's actions based on the hope that she would not go too far with her research. That was just ridiculous; Jonathan was absolutely certain that the Blood Elves did not care about the wellbeing of the two ponies, or his own for that matter. So why? Why this strange arrangement? What would the Blood Elves gain from analyzing the ponies? Did they try to get a grasp of Equestrian magic? What did Twilight mean when she said there were safeguards in place? If Sarithra thought it a necessary precaution to blackmail Twilight, the experiments would very likely be dangerous.

Jonathan sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. It seemed he was so tired that his thoughts began to run in circles. He needed a break from this nonsense.

"Well, I better get some sleep", muttered Jonathan, looking around for a bed. There was none - but he found a generous flight of stairs behind another blue curtain. He went downstairs, rubbing the itching bandage around his head.

Twilight quickly followed him. The sound of her hooves was muffled on the carpet. "Are you still mad?", she whispered.

Jonathan looked at her, furrowing his brow.

"Course I am. I'm gonna stop being mad as soon as we get home. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you, just...", he sighed, "It's those elves. You don't seriously believe they just want to run some boring, harmless tests, do you?"

They reached the bottom of the staircase and found themselves in a circular room that had six beds lined up against the curved wall. The bedsheets were covered by fluffy red blankets. A few crystals and candles hung directly below the ceiling, illuminating the room with a golden light. Twilight sat down on one of the beds and hung her head.

"I'm not clueless, Priest." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Do you remember the safeguards I mentioned? They - they..." She gulped, her eyes fixed on the carpet.

Jonathan carefully took her hoof into his hand. The alicorn was trembling!

"Calm down, Twilight", he said with a low voice. "Please tell me."

"It's Arcus", she whispered, her gaze finally meeting his. "They tagged him."

"What does that mean?"

"He is under a spell. A curse, to be exact. If... when we try to escape, they say a word and something terrible will happen to him, or even worse, to all of us. I think it's also affecting his mood. Did you notice how unbalanced he's becoming?"

"Yeah, I did. Damnit...", breathed Jonathan, wiping his mouth. "Since when?"

She shook her head. "I thought they had placed it on him when they caught you but I managed to sense something when Sarithra left. The spell is at least an entire month old!"

"Wait a second. Are you saying...?"

Twilight nodded vigorously. "Exactly!", she hissed, her eyes wide. "They must have cast the spell at about the same time we arrived in Undercity. And I have no idea how they did it."

"Can you lift it?"

"No... If I try, I might trigger its second stage. I can't risk that. I have to admit I'm not familiar enough with curses." She sniffled. "Oh, Jonathan, what do we do? I feel so bad for him." Tears flowed down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them off, nervously looking at the stairway.

Jonathan took a deep breath and massaged his temples. He felt a headache coming up.

"If we can't escape and you can't lift the curse", he said, "there aren't that many options left. Negotiation - you already tried that. But maybe we should try again. Or we wait. Maybe we can figure something out once we have more information about the whole research thing."

"That sounds reasonable", admitted Twilight. "But shouldn't we get some help from outside?"

"Oh, I didn't really think of that", muttered Jonathan. "Guess I'm still not used to having friends. Wait - do we have friends on the outside? I mean, here on Azeroth?"

Twilight's ears folded back. "The only one coming to mind is Tak. But I'm pretty sure they won't allow us to write any letters. We are trapped."

Comments

[Timuri]

heh The Blood Elves seeming inability to just give the straight truth and their reputation for being deceptive is probably a big part of why a traitorous wretch like Sylvanas was made warchief before Lor'themar...who I don't remember ever seeing outside of Silvermoon.
Going to the Tauren or Trolls would probably be the best for groups within the Horde who could easily accept the ponies. Pandaren, too, but they're more of a third party awkwardly trying to get the Horde and Alliance to talk to each other with more than weapons.

[Silentwoodfire]

8787605

Regrettably the Pandaren are not succeeding.

And even after messing with the timelines, things are still not going any better than they did before

[Timuri]

8789190
That's more because any time anyone gets close to trying to make serious efforts to end the conflict, Blizzard either kills them off, retgones the character development to revert them to a hate machine, or hands the entire leadership of both factions a new series of idiot balls. The developers won't allow that primary conflict to die, despite the fact that between Wrath, Cataclysm, Pandaria, and especially Legion, the main conflict should have been overwritten and crushed by the shared conflicts.

[Silentwoodfire]

8789252

Obvious answer then: Overthrow both sides leadership entirely

[Timuri]

8789299
I wish we actually could. Though I suppose it would upset the PvP Zealots if the Alliance and Horde ever brokered peace.

[Bolshevik Skeleton]

I was pleasantly surprised to find out this story was released after going back and re-reading the other two again, it's turning out great so far.