The Pony Loa

by Leila Drake

Chapter 20: Something Smells Fishy

Vol'Shalai's wyvern was smart - but not so smart that it did not roar in surprise when the troll yanked the reins around. He had flown off towards the Horde's zeppelin tower in the west until he had been sure he was out of sight. Then, he nudged his mount to steer starboard and fly north instead.

Following his friends unnoticed would not be easy. Vol'Shalai knew he would have to travel mostly at night and avoid roads or any other chances of stumbling into Alliance guards.

---

It was a long ride and it was boring. Vol'Shalai flew for several hours at a time. He eventually spotted a tiny dot in the distance. That had to be the two gryphons, the living and dead one. He slowed his wyvern down and made sure to lose altitude. The closer he stayed to the trees the less likely he would be spotted.

---

The night was freezing cold, reminding Vol'Shalai of his time in Northrend. He set up camp in a valley close to the borders of Duskwood. That gloomy forest was infamous for its cursed inhabitants. Hundreds of years ago, something had gone terribly wrong when Night Elf druids had tried to become one with nature. In a way, they definitely had achieved their goal. They turned into wolf-like beasts, feral and dangerous. The tales were so well-known that they had even made it across the ocean, scaring children and worrying adults. Who in their right mind would voluntarily spend a night in this forest? Well, except for death knights, demon hunters and shadow ponies... or ghosts...

Would they even need his support? Was he kidding himself? Back in Tirisfal, his help had consisted of covering their tracks. That had been important, granted, but this time he would stay true to his promise and be of actual use. The chances of finding someone who could make a portal were better with one additional person searching. That was good enough for Vol'Shalai to keep following them. He was responsible for the mess he had made.

He pulled his blanket closer and tried to sleep. An hour had already passed since sundown. It was extremely uncomfortable to sit on the lower branch of a tree for this long. He wished for a hammock. Vol'Shalai just hoped he would not fall down. He had used a rope to tie himself to the trunk but it felt like nothing at all. Mending one's self would be hard if your neck was broken and near impossible if you had been maimed by a Worgen.

Oh, whom was he fooling anyway. This was a risk, period. If he wanted to go with it he should stop complaining already, even if it was just to himself.

---

Two days later, he finally made it to Stormwind. Vol'Shalai landed his wyvern in the forest that surrounded the human city. It took some convincing to make the animal fly off into the night sky and return to Booty Bay by itself. Vol'Shalai wanted to rest for a few hours. He needed his strength for the magic he was going to do.

---

Shortly after midnight, it began to rain. In a manner of seconds he was soaking wet. Vol'Shalai decided that he had rested enough, quickly packed his things and shouldered his backpack. Then, he turned into a spirit wolf. That should keep him from being discovered or getting a cold from the rain. It had worked well enough in Silvermoon.

---

The spirit wolf ran as fast as he could, swiftly approaching the enormous gate. Vol'Shalai pressed on, not even stopping to look at the magnificent statues. The longer he stayed in one spot the more likely it was that someone noticed his aura. He could hide himself from the naked eye in his spirit form but a shaman or undead would probably be able to spot him. Maybe even advanced mages or warlocks could do that - anyone who was closely in touch with the spirit world.

Where would he go if he was a traveller like Darren, Tarik or Nylene? There was probably an inn close to the flight master. Vol'Shalai the spirit wolf hesitated. If he remembered his map correctly he was now in the Trade District... He turned right and followed a street to the east. The rain was annoying but it had the advantage of keeping the streets mostly empty.

There was a loud bang and something searing hot hit his backside. He howled, pain clouding his vision. Vol'Shalai stumbled and fell down on the cobblestones, his left hind leg twitching like crazy. His flank felt as if a torch had burned it to a crisp. He looked around to figure out where the lightning bolt had come from.

A bearded, robed, really angry looking dwarf stood behind him, his open palms still facing him. Vol'Shalai's eyes widened. He wanted to dodge the next strike but found that he could not move. Instead, he felt himself slipping back to the mortal plane, painfully shifting into his natural form. As the dwarf shaman threw another bolt of lightning, Vol'Shalai closed his eyes in defeat.

---

"Wait," Eclipse interrupted Vol'Shalai's story. "He had the same special talent as you?"

The troll nodded. Darren translated as Vol'Shalai clarified, "It ain't my special talent but yes, dat dwarf been a shaman like me. Anyway, I hadn't expected dere to be dwarf shamans. Bad luck, I guess."

---

Vol'Shalai awoke to a sharp sting in his elbow and a dull throbbing in his hip. He shook his head, holding the aching arm. With a loud clang, a barred metal door was shut.

He was in a large cage. This particular one, judging by the humid smell and the lack of clean straw, was probably what the humans called their Stockades. That was indeed a problem. The Stockades were infamous among the members of the Horde. Vol'Shalai knew that there had a been a prison revolt not long ago. The city of Stormwind kept murderers, rapists and thieves in here but also enemies of the state or of the eastern kingdoms in general - anybody whom a regular prison might not hold. Vol'Shalai noticed a lot of guards who looked alert, well-trained and armed to the teeth. The walls were thick and completely surrounded by the waters of the Stormwind canals. The air felt off as it a weak electrical current saturated it. The cell was apparently a magic isolation chamber. Vol'Shalai had learned about it from a mage back home on the Echo Isles. If you built a cage out of iron bars and applied certain spells to it you could prevent magic from being performed inside that cage. It also cut you off from anyone who tried to track you from outside and made teleportation impossible.

The prison stank to high heavens and it was loud. The shouts of prisoners who were touched in the head echoed through the corridors, along with crying and muttering and the drip, drip, drip of water on stone. And it was cramped - Vol'Shalai had to share his small cell with somebody else.

Vol'Shalai shifted his weight until he sat upright on the straw heap he had been thrown onto. Metal scraped on metal as he tried to move in spite of the shackles on his ankles. He groaned. His left leg still hurt from the burn. To his surprise, a salve had been applied to the area where his leather armour had been burned away. But the wound had not been cleaned.

"Lazy Alliance amateurs," he muttered angrily, inspecting the wound. He winced as he removed a bit of straw from the wound. The juices of his blood had filled it to clean it and mend the damage. But he would have to use a proper healing spell. He had no fire or alcohol to disinfect the wound. His totems, his axe and his bags were gone. Sadly, that was not a surprise.

"The did quite a number on you, didn't they." His cell-mate raised a hand to wave it lazily at Vol'Shalai's leg.

"True." Vol'Shalai nodded. Naturally, the human had talked in Common. Did the guards mix Alliance and Horde to keep the number of prisoners down? Better not to think about it.

"You understood that?"

"Uh-huh." Vol'Shalai nodded again, stopping his inspection of the wound.

He eyed the human instead. The man was a little shorter than Darren which still made him taller than most human women. He had shaggy, black hair that went down to his shoulders, an equally shaggy beard, dark eyes and a healthier skin tone than Vol'Shalai's knight friend. The man gaped back at him just as Vol'Shalai was staring at the man, suspicion, fear and fatigue mingling on the relatively young face. Vol'Shalai felt his mouth twisting into an amused smile.

"What ya in here for?" he asked the human, leaning back with a grunt.

"Wrong place, wrong time... wrong crowd," the man said, a statement that told Vol'Shalai absolutely nothing.

He rolled his eyes. "Dat probably apply to everybody here. Can't ya be a likkle more specific?"

"Not really, no. I didn't even expect you to know Common... or something of the like." The human's voice was hoarse; he sounded as if he had not spoken in days or even weeks. "Are you a Horde spy?"

Vol'Shalai burst into laughter. His everything hurt as he did so but it still felt good. "People actually ask dat? Who in their right mind would answer truthfully?" He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to stop snickering. "Well, my answer: No. I just be a friend of some humans."

"Then why...?"

"I be a troll. A troll. In Stormwind. Do da math, mon."

"I see."

"I'm Vol'Shalai of da Darkspear. What's yar name?"

"Mark Veren."

"Nice ta meet ya, though I wish it be under better circumstances."

"Likewise. I suppose."

---

"You made friends with yet another human?" Nylene smiled. "I think I can see a pattern emerging here."

"Har har," Vol'Shalai said, sounding tired. "If ya be in a cell wit somebody, wounded and unarmed, and ya don't know for how long it's gonna be, would ya try and piss dem off?"

"Okay, I know I wouldn't," Eclipse said. "But what happened to him? He wasn't there when we... bailed you out."

"I dunno," Vol'Shalai admitted. "We talked a bit. But da next morning, he was gone. I guess I was so tired I did not even wake up when they took him out of da cell."

Nylene suddenly frowned and perked up. She moved her chin around as if chewing on something.

Vol'Shalai hesitated. He looked at her expectantly.

"An'dorei, may we talk in private?" she said eventually.

---

Eclipse followed Nylene upstairs and into her room. She shut the door and invited him to sit down.

Instead, he stepped closer to her, raising a hoof.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"We promised Vera to visit her today." Nylene frowned. "I completely forgot about it until now."

"Oh, me too..." Eclipse slumped down on his rump and ran a hoof over his muzzle. He heaved a deep sigh. "I'm tired," he admitted. "Do we really have to?"

"It's for Darren," Nylene reminded him. "And we promised." When she noticed the mood Eclipse was in, she also sighed. "I see."

Eclipse hung his head. "I really wanna help him but there is so much going on! Vol'Shalai's suddenly back and Levinia's gone and we still need to find her! And I'm supposed to help Khadgar with the journals! It's just too much!" He felt sweat breaking out under his coat. His vision blurred; dark shades moved in the corner of his eye.

"Moon and Stars..." Nylene rubbed her forehead. She huffed, thinking hard. "Alright, little one. How about we forget about the journals for today? The wizard won't mind. And I am certain that Darren and the others are working on ideas to find your ghost friend."

Eclipse nodded, sniffing. "Okay..." he said slowly.

"Do you wish to meet Vera again? Or shall I go alone and you stay here and rest?" Nylene offered.

Eclipse took a deep breath. He sighed. "I promised," he said slowly. "And I meant it. I don't really want to keep it right now but I meant it. So. We should go together."

Nylene smiled and gently touched his cheek. "Very well. But first, you still get to rest a little. You seem indeed very tired. I will come for you in half an hour, alright?"

"Okay." Eclipse sniffed again and wiped his muzzle.

Nylene knelt down in front of him and gave him a careful hug. Then, she stroked his mane and stood up again.

"You may use my bed or the carpet, whichever you prefer. See you later, An'dorei."

"I like it when you call me that," Eclipse said through his tears.

---

When Nylene entered the library, she found Darren sitting alone at the same table as before. Vol'Shalai was gone and so was Tarik.

She sat down next to the human, leaned back and crossed her legs. His aura was purple, dotted with red and yellow. Darren was brooding, trying to make up his mind.

"Where did they go?" Nylene jerked her head towards the empty seats.

"Tarik left. Vol'Shalai's napping."

"So is Eclipse." Nylene uncrossed her legs and shifted her weight, leaning onto the table. "This whole affair is exhausting the poor child."

Darren sighed and rubbed his chin. "Thank you for keeping an eye on him," he said.

"Of course. But he will need your guidance. We agreed he will not go to Khadgar today."

"Oh?"

"He wants to take a walk in the city. To clear his head."

Darren exhaled slowly. "Something's not right," he observed. "I can guide his meditation again, I suppose, but there is something else. Not just the stress."

"I'm afraid so. Darren, I think the shadow is looming inside Eclipse. He's being pulled down, we must be careful that the current will not drag him under."

"We lose a friend, we find a friend and we have gained no headway concerning the damn portal," Darren groaned. "Damn it, Vol'Shalai, why did you perform that ritual?"

Nylene leaned forward. "What's done is done," she said quietly. "We need to focus on the present."

The knight rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Levinia takes priority," Darren muttered. "But before we can create that portal, Eclipse needs to find his inner balance. With an energy source like that, we cannot risk him to be in that state. He may be tempted to absorb the magic of the portal. We're heading into uncharted territory here."

"If we get him home soon it would be for the best. But we don't know how quickly that archmage does his research. Elune knows how many projects he might be working on simultaneously." Nylene stood up. "I think we all should get out and clear our heads like Eclipse. I will join him. What about you?"

Darren shook his head. "I'll take a walk on my own."

Nylene left a rush of disappointment, then she remembered her plan with the colt. "Very well. Shall we meet again for dinner?"

"Fine by me." Darren nodded.

---

"Veraaa..." Beatrice sang in an extra annoying tone, bending over her little sister's shoulder.

"What." Vera frowned at her.

"How about a game? I'm bored."

"No, sorry, I'm not in the mood." Vera stood up and crossed her arms. "Actually, I don't feel so good. Couldn't you, I dunno, ask Carl?"

Beatrice rolled her eyes. "As if. He's at that stupid game again. With his friends. You know, the one with the cards."

"Whatever. But I think I should sleep or rest or something. Please?" Vera tried her best puppy-eyed look. She sat down on the bed, suddenly limp, and pulled her blanket over her belly.

"What are you up to?" Beatrice narrowed her eyes. "You don't look sick to me."

"Well, I have a stomach ache. And I think I can feel something big coming along the road to..."

"Oh, fine, fine, I'm leaving! Gods!" Beatrice threw her hands into the air. "You can be really gross sometimes, Vera!"

"Why, thank you, Beatrice!" Vera snapped back.

Beatrice snatched her scarf from her clothes chest and left the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her. "I really don't need to smell that," Vera could hear her say to herself.

As soon as Beatrice was out of earshot, Vera grinned and threw the blanket back. She walked over to the window and opened it. Then, she sat down at the table and thought about ways to talk her father into taking a walk in the park with her. Maybe she could use her claiming to be sick as an angle. Maybe she had eaten something bad and needed some fresh air? That could work. Better to think of more ideas, though. This one was still a little risky. She did not want to have to go to an actual healer. They would know immediately that she had been faking.

The thump of hard shoes on her windowsill made Vera jump. Her heart racing from the unusual noise, she turned around and saw Nylene and Eclipse waving at her through the window. Eclipse seemed a bit tired, Nylene looked as demonic as Vera remembered her.

Vera hurried to the window to let her guests in.

---

The sky was mostly clear when Darren left the inn. He decided to follow the street leading west. Threading through a not-too-dense, mostly human crowd, he passed a stone arch and found himself at a bridge. The canal water was clean, so unlike the canals of Undercity.

He needed a place to think, a place that was not inside a house. Now was the perfect chance. Nylene was taking care of Eclipse. Vol'Shalai was probably out like a light. When you were not used to it, nights in a prison were short. And they had drugged the poor guy. Vol'Shalai was pretty resilient concerning that kind of thing so the substance must have been strong. To what purpose, Darren did not know. Maybe he should ask Vol'Shalai about it.

Darren passed the Stockades, frowning at the fortress-like structure. He was now on the edge of the Mage Quarter. The roof tiles of the houses that cast their shadows on him were mostly purple. Darren noticed that the percentage of robed people had inclined. Some threw odd glances at him. Did they know the meaning of his tattoo?

Vol'Shalai had seemed strangely relaxed about his whole ordeal. But the troll had known the risk of his endeavour. He sometimes seemed not to give a care in the world but his willingness to help out even if it meant walking into the enemy faction's capital city meant something.

Darren's feet had carried him down a broad flight of stairs, then another, and a decline. The air changed, the smell of the streets was replaced by the salty scent of the ocean. As he turned a corner, he left the Mage Quarter and stepped into the sun once again. A tiny park was here, looking out on the sea. Darren followed the carefully paved path to the monument in the centre of the structure. He stepped closer, curious, and read the inscription. It was dedicated to the former king and to the fallen soldiers of Stormwind.

A man wearing the tabard of the Argent Crusade, a bright sun, sat nearby. He was apparently meditating but as Darren passed him, he looked up. Darren nodded at him, getting a nod back - he was used to greeting people wearing this tabard since the Ebon Blade had worked with the Crusade in the war against the Lich King. Darren doubted the crusader recognized him though there was something oddly familiar about him. Or Darren had fought him or some relative of his at some point. His stomach cramped, a sensation that occurred to him sometimes, ever since his recovery. Darren had noticed that it usually happened when he remembered his times as a member of the Scourge, often accompanied by dizziness and a light head. It was distracting and annoying. He would have to address this problem eventually. But not today.

He was out of place here. With quick steps, Darren left the park and kept following his nose like a pony would. That was probably also a thing, wasn't it. He had gotten used to the Crystal Empire and its ponies and adopted their outlook on the world. Being among humans once again, he realized with a jolt that he had less in common with them than with Twilight, Eclipse or even Nylene. He had become quicker to speak his mind, slower to solve problems with violence and felt a strong loyalty towards the Princess of Friendship as well as his other new... friends. Too much had happened for him to remain the same. No wonder his own cousin did not trust him. He must have noticed that something about Darren was different.

Darren was nearing the docks. One plateau after another seamed the hillside that surrounded the harbor. This place was better than the tranquil monument. The bustle did not bother Darren, he liked the fact that nobody gave notice he was here. Everybody was busy going somewhere, preparing goods for transportation, looking for something or someone. The perfect place to disappear in a crowd, apparently - though Darren did not overlook the numerous armed city guards watching the harbor.

He followed the smell of fish. The more distinct it became, the more people he saw and the louder it became. As he entered what had to be a market, the flow of bodies, carts and goods had almost come to a standstill. Darren had to make use of his elbows to keep going. But he had been right. Where freshly caught fish was sold, there were also stands with fried, grilled and cooked food. And with drinks to go with the meal.

He managed to shout at a vendor long enough to get a mug of something or other along with some fried salmon. Holding the fat-dripping, delicious fish in an old newspaper sheet he had been offered, he found a free spot at a tall, round table which was apparently for eating while standing. That made sense; sitting down did not get you any advantage in this busy place.

The beer was luke warm, though, Darren noticed with a sigh. He closed his eyes so nobody would see them glowing, then firmly held the mug with both hands to lower its temperature. He smirked as he took a sip. Now that was better. Luke warm was wrong for beer or just anything else, really. It had to be either warm or cold all the way so you could decide what to do with it.

Like with Eclipse. He was halfway between being a powerful spell-caster and a dangerous void slinger. Darren pulled a face as he remembered the shadow that had showed up in the corner of Eclipse's eyes recently. Losing his way home, then a friend, his efforts to help Khadgar - the stress took its toll on the colt. Distraction and meditation would only get them so far. Eclipse needed to vent his frustration. But Stormwind was no safe place for that. Besides the archmage, Darren did not know whom to ask for help. On the other hand, Khadgar seemed genuinely interested in getting acquainted with Eclipse, probably because the pony was from another world. He should train in the tower of Karazhan, if possible. Darren made a mental note to ask Khadgar about that.

Then there was Nylene. She had claimed to know family in Stormwind but made no efforts to meet them, spending time with Eclipse and with Darren instead. What was she after? She seemed to like Eclipse, maybe she saw some of her deceased sister in him? Or was it because she was treated like a normal person by her new friends?

Chewing slowly, Darren let his eyes wander. A few purple-skinned Night Elves were among the people here, armed warriors and druids, but also civilians in torn clothes and with very few belongings. Even though they towered above the humans, they looked miserable, holding their heads low. Some had an all to familiar vacant look in their eyes. Maybe they were refugees like the ones Darren had seen in the Cathedral.

Strictly speaking, Darren was a refugee, too. But the ponies had never treated him like an oddity. Once they had gotten over the initial shock of meeting a bipedal person almost twice their height, they behaved as if he was a tall pony. Alright, so Nylene probably avoided meeting her family in fear of feeling like an outcast. That made sense, at least. And she had grown increasingly friendly towards Darren, too. Though probably no more than towards Tarik or Eclipse.

Being friendly to each other did not get them any closer to finding Levinia, though. Darren still had no idea how to track her. According to Nylene and Tarik, there was no trace left of her. There were no witnesses of the abduction. How were you supposed to find an ethereal pony? Summon her? She had been given a Kirin Tor badge by Khadgar but that did not help since the badge was not magical. Had they nothing whatsoever that connected them to her?

Darren resisted the temptation to slap his forehead as the obvious answer came to him.

Vol'Shalai had summoned her before. And now that he was out of prison he might be able to sense her again. Eclipse's idea actually made sense. Vol'Shalai only needed to recreate or modify his summoning ritual from the Echo Isles.

Hopefully he would not need any exotic items or ingredients for it. Still, it was the most promising idea so far. They were not yet out of time but maybe Levinia was. Besides missing her, Darren did not want to find out what would happen to Eclipse once he found out that she had been destroyed.

He quickly finished his meal and headed back to the inn.