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| Details |
| Author: | Aly |
| Summary: | The rescue team makes its way into the vyrkul stronghold of Voldrune via rope ladder to rescue the prisoners held there. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
It is a startlingly clear day in the Grizzly Hills, the sun beaming through the trees and the temperature mild. It is a day that would be well suited for picnics, or other leisure activities.
Far away in Stormwind, Colson waits patiently on the other side of the rescue portal, ready to receive the wounded. He has made polite small talk with the mages in the mage tower, and now simply stands ready. He's wearing soft, dark gray and black clothing, lightly enchanted to enhance mana regeneration, but nothing of the plate armor that might impede an ability to physically assist with the wounded.
Mordecai waits less patiently next to Colson, holding a pocket watch in one hand and fidgeting. It's early. They probably have a lot of waiting to do, and they have to do it in a room full of strange mages. This is fine. Mordecai's fine.
Alysson stands just outside Amberpine Lodge, staring up at the massive trees, probably looking for fruit on them because why not. With him is a female companion in green, light armor, scanning their surroundings with a wary expression.
Cressidha, in her Shadowcloth robe minus the Cobalt Company tabard for once, approaches Alysson and the mystery woman. "Good afternoon, Alysson. Would you mind introducing me to your companion?" Her hair is up in the Combat Bun, as per usual.
Sil is suddenly there, the next tree over, and he waves at the trio with a smile. He also looks curiously at the new person in green.
"Hey," Estel calls, waving as she approaches the group by the lodge. "Sil, Cress, Alysson. Who's your friend?"
Alysson grins widely at his Cobalt Company fellows. "This here's Ada," he says proudly. "She's a local, an' she's here to help."
Ada stares the newcomers down suspiciously, as if trying to judge if they are anything like Alysson. "I'm Ada." she repeats. The trust is probably not there yet.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ada," Cressidha says politely. "My name is Cressidha of House Aspenwood, a member of Cobalt Company. I shall be facilitating portal transportation of the injured to Stormwind."
"Hey, Ada," Estel says. "I'm our team's healer." She does not look like a healer - she's dressed in dark leathers - but no one tries to contradict her. "Name's Estel. I'm also our alchemist. Cress, this is for you." She passes Cressidha a vial of clear liquid.
Cressidha accepts the potion and nods. "Thank you."
"I brought one for everybody just in case," Estel says, and offers Ada a vial that looks exactly the same as the first. "Invisibility potion."
Ada uncorks it immediately and sniffs at it. Deciding it’s safe, she nods and tucks it away in a satchel at her side. “Smart.” Maybe she’s surprised, it’s hard to say.
Estel nods. "Here," she says, producing two more potions and holding one out to each of the remaining rogues. "Sil, Alysson. Invisibility, if things get bad."
Alysson takes the potion, uncorks it like Ada had, and also takes a sniff. This is what you’re supposed to do, apparently. “Smells like…nothing,” he says.
Estel laughs. "It ain't supposed to smell like anything. It'd be less useful if it did."
Cressidha tucks the invisibility potion into a pocket within easy reach.
Estel pulls out a small bag and passes out another potion to each person. These come in rounded jars a little smaller than a fist, and the liquid inside is a pale shimering blue. "This is called a Catseye elixir, and that's just the name, there ain't actually any cat's eyes in it, yeah?" This is obviously to Alysson. "Folks named it that 'cause cats got good vision, I guess, so this makes your eyesight a little sharper and a little more magical. A dose this size lasts ten minutes. The goal is for it to help us see each other while we're all hidden. Okay? We drink these when we're closer to the place, 'cause of how long they last."
“So what you’re sayin’ is,” Alysson says, holding the potion up to the light, “I drink this, an’ my eyes can do magic?”
“Is he just…always like this?” Ada asks. She declines the potion when it is offered. “I don’t need it. I can track you all even without sight.”
Sil takes it with a nod and slips it in his pocket. "I doubt I'll need it, but I'll keep it in case somebody needs a backup."
Cressidha nods to Ada. Yes. Yes, he's always like this.
"Pretty much. Y'all ready? Light, do the thing." A very half-hearted flick of Estel's hand accompanies a [Prayer of Shadow Protection]. "The other thing too." Ooh, Fortitude and Spirit.
"I know a way in," Ada says, "Should get us where we want to be pretty smoothly." She shrugs, as if to continue the sentence with, but I'm not in charge.
Alysson is still on magic eyeballs. "Can they shoot fireballs? I always wanted to shoot fireballs."
Sil glances around at the others. "If you know your way around the place, that's better than I can offer. I could scout ahead, though, make sure we don't run into trouble?"
Ada sniffs the air. "Wind's not favorable. We'll need to watch for wolves on the way. Any ahead will know we're coming before I can scent them."
"You wanna take us there? You're up, Ada." Estel gives her a thumbs-up.
Ada glances around at the others again, and reluctantly turns her back on them to lead. "Someone keep an eye on… Well, you probably know already."
"Feel the fire of my piercing glare!" Alysson whispers excitedly, falling in behind Ada. "Or maybe… Roast in my powerful gaze!"
Cressidha takes her floating carpet out of her bag, unrolls it, and climbs aboard. It hovers close to the ground for the time being, but its tassels going swish swoosh through the air are still quieter than Cressidha attempting to be sneaky while walking.
Sil falls in behind Ada, moving with careful silence. He keeps an eye on Alysson.
Even Alysson finally falls silent as they approach the cliffs Voldrune sits atop. Following Ada's lead, they keep to the cover of the trees to avoid wandering vrykul eyes, and don't stop until they are almost against the cliffs themselves.
"There's tree cover all the way up, and the towers won't see us from the top. I can climb up and send a rope ladder down, or…" Ada glances at the magically flying carpet, "She can. Probably want to potion to avoid prying eyes before we reach the top."
"I'm afraid I cannot make the carpet invisible," Cressidha whispers. She dismounts, letting it float behind her, and drinks both of the potions Estel gave her one at a time.
Estel nods to Ada. "You're up again. Careful, yeah?"
“I wouldn’t be doing this if there was a chance it could go wrong,” Ada says, drinking her invisibility potion. For those who can see her, she scales the cliff with practiced ease, disappearing over the top edge. There is a pause, then a narrow rope ladder unfurls down the cliffside. It’s probably a good thing there are no draenei on the rescue team.
"Sil, you're first. Find somewhere safe for us to hide up there." Estel gestures at the ladder. "Cress, Alysson, you're after me." Estel reaches into her pocket and pushes a button on her device. They're in place.
Cressidha nods, invisibly.
Sil considers, then does use the invisibility potion before climbing the rope. He doesn't seem to have any trouble.
Estel drinks her potions. The rope ladder sways a little as she ascends, managing not to bump into Sil. "Next," she whispers.
Alysson drinks his potions, then glances at Cressidha. Ooh. Eye magic. “I’ll go on an’ make sure it’s still safe,” he whispers to her. Or is it really because Cressidha is wearing a robe? Either way, he proceeds up the rope ladder after Estel.
Cressidha rolls up her carpet and puts it away in her bag - making it vanish. She waits for Alysson's signal.
“Safe!” Alysson whispers back down. It might be a little louder than a whisper. He might also be receiving a glare from Ada.
Cressidha climbs up the ladder and joins the others at the top.
From their new vantage point they can see straight into the heart of the camp. Conveniently, the building they have come up next to is their target, though from here they can see that all has not gone quite according to plan. There is a cannon pointing in their direction, aimed more at the sky than at them, and Brendol is lying bound at the base of it, by the massive bonfire. Two death knights are nearby. One sits on the cannon looking extremely bored, and the other, Kaela Mondragon if her obviously white hair is any indication, is kneeling beside Brendol.
Vrykul move around the outpost as though it is a normal day, which for vrykul means eating, training, and keeping the fires burning hot. One, however, kneels with Kaela beside Brendol. The rescuers are close enough to hear their voices from their position.
“Will he survive the trip?” Kaela is asking the vrykul, who appears to be some sort of spiritualist.
“You want to throw him into the sky, then ask if he will survive? Keep the body. Offer it to the Lich King. He will be more use, then,” the she-vrykul growls back.
There's a faint intake of breath from Sil as they see the cannon, but only that, and then silence. It was probably the wind.
Estel examines the building they stand beside, looking for windows, entrances, and exits.
The entrance of the building is just around the corner, facing the bonfire, and above them, on the second story, there is a window. Ada crouches by one of the vrykul banners set up by the stairs leading inside, probably impatient to get started.
A horn blast reverberates through the stronghold from the direction of the watchtower near the entrance to Voldrune, blaring so loudly that Ada drops to her knees covering her ears, and Alysson starts whipping around to see if he can spot the thing. Maybe it startled him, maybe he just wants to catch sight of the thing that can make so much noise.
The vrykul cry out, pouring from buildings including the one they are standing near, and gathering around the bonfire in the center. The rescue crew soon lose sight of Kaela and the death knight amid the swarm of giants. Ten split apart from the main force to engage the intruders, while the rest form up according to Kaela’s instruction. Gathered as they are, their backs are to the entrance of the building, and the group hidden alongside it.
Ada tilts her head, scenting the air. No one has gone in yet. Is it go time? She’s ready for go time.
Estel claps a hand over her right ear in particular, wincing.
Cressidha says, underneath the roar of the vrykul, "Orders?"
Estel directs: "Whoever's our best climber, get a look in that window."
Alysson starts to open his mouth — he can climb, except when he can’t — but Ada has already jumped up to the windowsill to take a peek. “Not a second story,” she reports. “High ceiling, I guess because giants. Two vrykul, a cage, one prisoner.” She drops to the ground.
Alysson’s mouth is still hanging open. He probably forgot to close it after seeing how high Ada jumped.
"Alysson, get that door unlocked. Cress, you're first in. Freeze them, don't let them leave the building. Best if we can take care of 'em out of sight of the crowd. Sil, you get that cage open first thing." Estel draws a long, thin knife, holding it low at her side.
"Got it," Sil says in a low whisper, smoothly bringing out his lockpicks. "Then we get out, trust the others to help Brendol?"
“I don’t know about you,” Ada says, “But I’m not charging into that mess with just this group. Maybe once we’ve got the girl secured we can find some sort of opening, but it’s risky and not guaranteed. Worst case, someone thinks to check this building during the chaos, and we’re outed.”
Alysson, finally given a task, eagerly creeps up to the door and begins to whisper to the lock. His lockpicks are suddenly in hand — when did that happen? — And the lock clicks open shortly after. Lockpicking looks to be one of his strengths.
Sil looks at Cressidha, ready to time his entrance to hers.
Cressidha opens the door enough to slip through and immediately freezes the two vrykul to the ground with ice, her invisibility breaking. She brings up her ice barrier and looks into the cage.
Sil steps by her silently, drawing no attention from the two guards as he goes around them to the cage door to examine the lock.
Jenzelle sits in the cage, her hands bound behind her back, feet bound beneath her and a gag in her mouth to keep her from casting. She stares at her rescuers with wide eyes, bolting up onto her knees as if she has something she wants to tell them.
Ada and Alysson quickly join the others, and Ada has the foresight to shut the door softly behind them. Rather than immediately killing the vrykul, Alysson stares at them, whispering something under his breath about fireballs. He’s probably trying out the extent of his new eye magic.
Cressidha points at one of the vrykul, a skein of wool in her hand. How about a sheep in here.
Estel cuts the throat of the second vrykul, which seems to have required her to levitate to even get in range. She drops down to ground level and reaches through the bars of the cage to remove Jenzelle's gag right away.
Sil makes quick work of the cage lock, and then immediately flicks a dagger out of somewhere (one of his sleeves, maybe?) to cut the gag off Jenzelle.
"Are you hurt? Can you walk?" Sil asks in a low voice. Then, injecting as much confidence into as he can, he adds, "The others will get Brendol. We've got a team of Argents and Cobalt and other people."
“You…you’ve brought others?” Jenzelle wriggles forward on her knees. Her hands and legs are still bound, making attempting to stand a balance roulette. “Are they… Bren, is he alive? They took him last night and I… I can heal if you untie me. I can heal everyone, please, just…” Her eyes fill with tears as she pleads.
Estel leans the vrykul's body against the wall. "He's alive. Sil, can you get her free? Thanks. So the plan was to portal you and Bren out, but, like, we expected you both to be in here. Team distraction out there is like six people. I think it's about to get pretty fucking chaotic out there real soon. We saw him tied up by the cannon. We need this escape route open for ourselves, at least, so you're still up with the portal, Cress."
"Understood." Still holding her wool, Cressidha reaches for a portal stone with her free hand and begins to cast.
"As for the rest of us, uh, either we go help get Bren to the portal or we trust the folks out there to grab him. Alysson, keep an eye on that sheep. Ada, the window. Let us know what's going on out there?" Estel gestures up.
Alysson is already on the ground, petting the sheep. He pauses to glance between the sheep and Estel. “We’re keepin’ this fellow, right? I already named ‘im Woolerton.”
Ada, all business, crouches and takes another giant leap up to the windowsill, frowning out and shifting positions to try to get a better angle. “It’s hard to see from here,” she says. There’s a death knight, I think, fighting… something. The vrykul are all disturbed though. I’d say our team’s at least here. Better view out the door maybe.” She drops again.
“The…cannon?” Jenzelle frowns. “Why is there a cannon…?”
Sil nods at Estel and expertly slashes through the bonds without harming Jenzelle. As he listens to Estel describe their situation, his face pales and his mouth sets in a grim line.
"I can imagine, but I hope they won't get a chance to use it. Our team wasn't counting on having to do a rescue out there," Sil says quietly. "Jenzelle should take the portal. I'll slip out after and help them get Brendol out?"
"We were told Bren would need to be carried? That's you two up, Alysson and Sil. Here's another invisibility potion for Brendol." Estel holds it out to Sil. "We got sixty seconds on the portal once it appears, and we all gotta be through it before then or we'll have to find our own way outta here. Clear? Cress can stay here, do some blizzards for a bit, whatever. We just gotta be through that portal in time. Thoughts?"
Cressidha is still casting the portal. Their sixty-second timer has not yet begun.
“Where do you want me?” Ada asks. “I can back them up in case they’re noticed, but I’m not going through a portal to…wherever that’s going.”
“Stormwind,” Alysson says helpfully.
Estel looks at Ada. "You decide. Cause some chaos, don't get caught, get out safe. Yeah? Shield." Ada gets a protective bubble.
The portal finishes casting, and Cressidha points her yarn at Woolerton, turning him into a brown sheep this time. The portal stone splits open to reveal the interior of Stormwind's mage tower.
Alysson grins at Woolerton’s sudden color-changing trick. “Eye magic!” he declares. “I changed ‘im with my eye magic, see? It worked!” Someone might have to remind him he has a job to do.
Sil looks at Alysson with something like envy and resignation. "Alysson, we're gonna go out, see if we can get Brendol and bring him back in here in sixty seconds. If we can't, we get him out on foot. Alright?"
“Sure thing,” Alysson says, popping to his feet. “Only, for the record, who’s foot’s he gonna sit on?”
Ada palms the back of Alysson’s head on her way by, a rough, but probably affectionate gesture. “Don’t worry about it, let’s just do this.” She gives Sil an encouraging nod. “I’ll back you up. You’ll be fine.” She slips out first into the chaos beyond.
"We'll figure that out if it comes to it," Sil says, clapping a hand on Alysson's shoulder. He slips out the door after Ada.
Alysson sends a wink back at the three ladies still in the room, then hurries after Sil and Ada. He definitely doesn’t know how many seconds sixty is, though. It’s gotta be somewhere past infinity.
Jenzelle struggles to her feet and reaches for the door after them. “Please…” she says. “I can heal them. They shouldn’t be risking so much…this is my fault. If anyone else gets hurt, I…”
Cressidha has taken out a second portal stone. "Jenzelle," she says. "We are only bound by the time limit so long as we remain undiscovered in here. If they get Brendol back and through, we can perhaps do our part in the battle before we return. I can create another portal once this expires. But let us not risk our exit route until Brendol is secured."
Estel has kept the door open a crack, and is rapidly scribbling on a piece of paper. She flings the note through the open portal.
Immediately after, before Cressidha can stop her, she shoves the entire sheep in through the portal as well.
On the Stormwind side, where Colson and Mordecai wait, a piece of paper sails through the portal.
It reads:
SHEEP VRYKUL
J safe
still getting B
It is followed by a cute brown sheep.
Colson's brows go up. He doesn't seem alarmed, as he catches the paper. He reads it, and he still doesn't seem alarmed, but everything in him changes from the mild mannered paladin waiting as a healer capable of carrying wounded and morphs into a fully realized battle paladin as he steps in front of Mordecai with a wash of red cascading over him as [Righteous Fury] takes hold.
"The sheep is a vrykul," Colson reports calmly. "Miss Halveris is safe, but Mr. Westwind is not yet secured." And then he waits for Mordecai's [Shield] to secure him as his eyes go molten gold, his right arm crackling with holy lightning in preparation of a [Holy Shock] for Mr. Woolerton's trip to the farm upstate.
"Shield," Mordecai says immediately, moving several steps behind Colson. "It's… what?"
"A vrykul," Colson repeats. "Excuse us for the disruption," he adresses to the mages in the tower. "But we are to have hostile engagement in just a moment." He doesn't know how much longer the ensheepening will last, and so he unleashes the faith infused [Holy Shock] to control the breaking of the polymorph.
A brief half second after the cast, as the vrykul stretches back up to full height, down comes a hammer of the Light down upon the former Mr. Woolerton's head in a stunning blow. Colson has no weapon or armor but the Light itself, but he seems to have enough faith in both that he merely readies another strike, the Light building in his hand in an [Exorcism].
There are quite a few mages who happen to be watching, and in short order, the vrykul is bombarded with a series of arcane missiles, a fire bolt, and a frost bolt. Mordecai doesn't even have time to cast.
Back in Northrend, Cressidha frowns at Estel, but what's done is done. She watches the door and her portal both. She has not been counting the seconds.
Neither has Estel. "How long you got left?"
"I am uncertain," Cressidha says with a sigh. "I was going to use the duration of the polymorph spell to track the duration of the portal."
"Oh. Welp." Estel wipes her knife on the dead vrykul's clothing. "Oops."
Less than a minute later, Sil comes backing through the door, his arms positioned like he's holding something heavy. He looks behind him to check that Cress and Estel are still there, and says, "We got him. Maybe we should get him through the portal and I should go help with the fight?"
“Is this here portal a two-way?” Alysson asks, entering a Brendol-length away. “I gotta find Ada, see, ‘cause I don’t know how to find ‘er again if I lose ‘er, an’ North End isn’t easy to get around on purpose.”
Jenzelle stares at the nothing between the two men. “Y-you got him? You’re sure?”
Sil smiles at her reassuringly. "Yeah, yeah. He was visible before we picked him up. Brendol, say something if you're still awake?"
There is a slightly muffled groaning sound. He’s here. It’s fine.
"Maybe we can just pass him through… and you go too, Jenzelle," Sil looks at her, almost pleadingly. "You're their target."
"It's one way, I'm afraid," Cressidha says. "Please go before it expires, or I'll have to make another one."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the portal, Colson remains now in front of Mordecai, watching the portal with a steady, neutral expression, waiting for whatever is going to come through next. Will it be a penguin that is actually a death knight? Who knows! Not Colson.
Sil shifts around to pass Brendol through the portal, trying to stay behind himself.
Colson watches as Sil's arms appear — and nothing else — on the other side of the portal. Hm. When nothing else immediately happens, he steps forward as though to try to secure Sil's arms to pull — maybe Sil is stuck? — only to encounter solid mass, his hands bumping into Brendol. "Ah." Okay. Again, not the weirdest thing he's ever done. "I believe this is an invisible person," he says, turning his head over his shoulder to speak to Mordecai. He bends slightly to scoop Brendol out of Sil's arms, by feel. Sorry, Brendol, any hands in places are entirely accidental.
The portal pulls on Sil, trying very hard to suck the rest of him through. Don't confuse spacetime like that, Silvestre Silentstep.
"I… I don't think it’s working," Sil says, fighting against the portal. "I don't wanna get cut in half, I'll just go through."
Sil, for once choosing the not reckless path, steps through the portal with invisible Brendol.
Colson steps back as Sil steps in, like a dance. "Ah. Sil. Good afternoon," he says as he blinks. "Who is this?" It possibly says something about Colson that he can't guess from the general weight or build if this is Brendol or Jenzelle.
"It's Brendol," Sil clarifies. "And careful, he's hurt really bad. Jenzelle's coming afterward… right?" He calls the last word backward through the portal.
Reluctantly, at Sil’s urging, Jenzelle follows him through the portal. Bren’s condition is her fault too, after all.
The portal snaps shut immediately after Jenzelle passes through. Cressidha exhales with relief. "That could have been much worse," she says, and begins casting a second one.
Estel peeks out the door to watch what seems to be the aftermath of the fight.
Colson nods to Sil, attempting a [Holy Light] on Brendol, one that very likely will not be able to heal anything at all after so long, but the attempt is being made all the same, as per field healing protocols. "Any other casualties en route?" Colson asks Sil as he works to support Brendol's body as best he can without being able to see it.
Mordecai dispels Brendol's invisibility and smiles faintly as he sees Jenzelle come through.
"I don't think so. It was pretty messy out there, but they got Argents," Sil shakes his head. "They ought to be alright."
Jenzelle smiles back at Mordecai — she is a priestess, she has to be able to smile — though it is through tears. “I’m… I’m so sorry,” she says to no one in particular, or maybe the entire room, it’s unclear.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Colson says, in a gentle but firm voice, a Paladin's Voice of reassurance.
Mordecai beckons Jenzelle away from the spot where people can emerge from the portal to avoid traffic jams or the magical consequences of two people occupying the same space at once, should anyone else come through. "Come here, please?"
“She was after me!” Jenzelle says, trying to scrub her eyes clean, but the tears continue to fall. “No one else needed to get hurt. She wanted… If I could have just talked to her properly…” She meekly follows Mordecai’s instruction.
Mordecai offers her a handkerchief. "Are you injured, Jenzelle?"
Colson glances at Mordecai. His expression doesn't seem significantly different to most people in the room, but Sil and Mordecai are familiar enough with him to note the gentling of his eyes, that faint touch of something to Colson's lips as he inclines his head to his priest. Colson will help Brendol's wounds, while Mordecai sees to Jenzelle's. Colson returns his attention to Sil. "Let us get Mr. Westwind to the Cathedral. He will need time."
There is a stretcher ready and waiting in the room, in anticipation of Brendol, known to have been injured.
Sil stares at Jenzelle in surprise. "It's not your fault, what other people do. It never is."
Then he turns at Colson's request. "Yeah, let's go. Alysson was helping me carry him, but he had to stay behind for Ada."
Jenzelle holds out her wrists, chaffed a bit by the ropes. “Water…” she says. “Would be good. She didn’t…hurt me. I don’t think she was going to, but…that’s only a hunch.” Something in her dejected tone says it might be more than a hunch, actually, but she does not look willing to elaborate on that.
Colson simply focuses on getting Brendol out with as little pain as possible, moving him to the prepared location with Sil's help, leaving Mordecai and Jenzelle in the tower. He glances once more back to the place where the portals open in the tower, a faint suggestion of a movement of his brows. Maybe he's thinking about Cressidha. Hard to tell with a face like his.
Mordecai loosens the cap on a bottle of water before handing it to Jenzelle. "Here." He murmurs a prayer for the rope burns, willing them to heal - or if it's too late for that, simply to stop paining her.
Jenzelle takes the water and sips at it — she knows the dangers of drinking too greedily. The rope burns don’t fade entirely, but they do begin to look less red and irritated. “Thank you…” she says. “Did you hear about a girl named Sophie? She was with us when we were attacked. Do you know if she made it back safely?”
"I'm afraid I don't," Mordecai says apologetically. "Jo might know… do you want do come help us take care of Brendol?"
Jenzelle nods. “Yes. Please. When he’s more stable I want him to know that we’re both okay.” She finally succeeds in banishing the tears from her face. After a deep breath and another sip of water, she calls the Light around her in a soft glow of Fortification. “I’m ready,” she says. “Lead the way.”
Mordecai smiles. He glances at the portal one more time, but no one's come through that he recognizes, so he continues on out the other way, following after Colson and Sil.