Chapter III

It begins

The adventurers sat in near-silence as the tavern began to empty. Vinaiya very much wanted to ask who this dreaded 'William the Many' was, but something in the way Heida and Elizabeth acted told her she was probably better off not knowing. Heida was still clutching her blunderbuss and glancing around every now and then. Elizabeth stirred her drink occasionally, her one good eye half-lidded and pensive. Aluum hadn't said anything since the whole ordeal with Dawn Evenstar.

"I don't see why all the hostility," the voice of William the Many said at some point. "After all, I didn't do half the things they blame me for, and I'm afraid there were a few very unfortunate misunderstandings concerning the other half."

"'at's what ye say," Heida muttered darkly. "'at business in Redridge was no misunderstandin', let me tell ye."

"Oh I do beg to differ. The villagers misunderstood my intentions completely."

"Ye mean they dinnae understand ye were nothin' but a common thief who'd make away with all their gold first chance he had?"

There was a pause, then, "M'lady, please. 'Thief' is such a harsh word. I'd rather you all thought of me as... 'self-employed'."

Heida snorted.

The bartender edged past and placed a square envelope on the table with the extra care someone might take when they happened to be around anyone looking like Elizabeth. "A goblin left this here for ye," he said respectfully. He didn't wait for an answer as he scurried off.

Elizabeth picked up the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment. From the other side of the table, Vinaiya saw that it was covered in a familiar-looking handwriting. She felt a twinge of excitement. "It's from the Author, isn't it?" she asked with excitement. The others had snapped to attention as well.

Elizabeth shrugged and began to read aloud. "Greetings to you all. It brings me great pleasure to see that you have answered my call so swiftly. You will begin your adventure two days from now, so I would advise you to use this time to ready your supplies. You will travel to the Plaguelands... Plaguelands?" Elizabeth repeated blankly, one eyebrow arched.

"I've never been there," Vinaiya muttered, only to be largely ignored by everyone else. The Blasted Lands were a place traveled by only the most seasoned heroes of her race. She'd heard stories of... she frowned as she tried to remember... giant bats, giant bears, giant spiders, and... well... giant things, really. And undead. Plenty of them, too.

"There's still some mopping up left to do, I hear," said the voice of William the Many. "And plenty of spoils to go around."

Elizabeth's mouth formed a silent 'Oh.' "Fine," she snapped. "As I was saying, ...travel to the Plaguelands, where you will be met by one of my agents. She will tell you what to do next. Hmph. Doesn't sound too exciting to me."

Vinaiya disagreed. The proposition had a lot more excitement than she was accustomed with.

Elizabeth turned the paper around. "There's something else here." She squinted. "PS.: There seems to have been a misunderstanding with another Author. If any of you see a woman named Dawn Morticia Evenstar, keep well away. Well, that I don't mind."

There was a long, thoughtful silence. At some point, Aluum said, "Plaguelands, hm?" It was so faint Vinaiya wasn't sure she'd heard right. There were many things that she wanted to ask, but something about the others made her decide against it. They looked and behaved like real heroes, all of them. They probably saw her as a bother and nothing else.

"So," Elizabeth boomed at length. "Where does everybody plan on spending the night?"

"If ye have nowhere ta' go, I can offer me brother's hovel. Except for ye, mister 'Many'." Heida glared behind her for emphasis.

"Actually, I'm over here now," William said from somewhere close to Vinaiya. "And I have already arranged for accommodations, but thank you all the same." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. Heida groaned.

"I'm gonna hit the taverns. Anyone care to join? Besides him," Elizabeth added with a meaningful nod towards Aluum. Vinaiya suspected that the draenei was too far gone to realize what was going on.

"He's never been drunk before," Elizabeth whispered with a wink. "I figured he might as well get a run for his money. Good thing I brought some thistle tea with me, too. Cuts through a hangover a dagger through a throat."

Vinaiya was slightly disturbed by the comparison, but she was wise enough to keep it to herself. "I see," she said weakly. "I'll just... um, I'll find an inn, I think." On that note, she stood up. "It's been very nice meeting you all. I think I'll be going now."

Elizabeth stood up herself and gave Vinaiya's hand another hearty shake. "The gates of Ironforge, two days from now, at dawn. Don't be late or we leave without you." Vinaiya must have had a miserable expression, because Elizabeth patted her on the back, so hard that it almost knocked the wind out of her. "Oh, you. I'm joking, of course!" Then, she seemed to remember something. "...Bring your own mount though. I ain't sharing mine."

…

Vinaiya didn't have a mount, so as the following day dawned, she began her search for one. She found several dwarves who dealt in riding rams, but the prices they asked were far higher than she could afford. Besides, the tall, horned beasts unnerved her. Back in Darnassus, the highest-ranking of her kinds rode to battle on swift nightsabers that could give as good as they got in a fight. Dwarves, it seemed, had no mind for such practicalities.

As the day was coming to a close, Vinaiya sat cross-legged in one of the many low-ceiling tunnels that spanned through Ironforge and took a few pieces of dried meat out of her backpack. She had almost been tempted to try dwarf cuisine, until she'd caught a glimpse of a dish made of what looked like eyeballs of different sizes and a few radishes on the side. Eyeballs were, apparently, a delicacy in these parts. Vinaiya couldn't understand why. They looked disgusting.

Her own mate was nothing like these dwarves, she concluded as she began to eat. He could handle a nightsaber as well as any of her kind, and he had no qualms about elven food. And he didn't shout all the time, like most of his kin here seemed to do. And...

"Greetings, m'lady!"

Vaala almost dropped her lunch before the recollection of the previous evening kicked in. She looked around. Predictably enough, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Um. Good afternoon, William the Many."

"Call me Will." A shape flickered briefly directly in front of her. It bowed. "And what's your name?"

"Vinaiya Nightbane. Um." She couldn't help it; she had to ask. "Why do they call you 'the Many'?"

There was a chuckle, then, "That's because of all those wanted posters of me they put up all over the place. Maybe you've seen a few?"

Vinaiya shook her head, "Sorry."

"They just can't seem to reach a consensus on how I look. I could be anyone. And anywhere."

"You're here now," Vinaiya pointed out dryly.

"Yes, but who else knows about it?" He had a point. "So what do you think about the rest of our fine party?"

Vinaiya took another bite as she thought. "I don't know if I'll ever quite measure up to the rest of us," she said finally. "Everyone looks so strong... so ready. A year ago, I wasn't even sure I had it in me to leave Teldrassil. I fear I'm going to be a burden." She said the last phrase quietly, and for a moment she almost wished she was back in her stone-and-wood home, reading and meditating and waiting for her mate to return from whatever strange land he'd gone to this time.

"A level mind is the best sort of weapon sometimes," William said thoughtfully. "Me and Lizzy used to work together, until that whole business with the murlocs up in Redridge Mountains. Oh – by the way, don't call her Lizzy yourself. She doesn't like it." He chuckled, "That's why I do it."

Despite her better judgment, Vinaiya found herself grinning. "She mentioned it. Not a word about you, though."

"Figures." There was a wistful sigh, then a faint rustle, and finally an unseen hand thrust a small, jingling pouch in Vinaiya's lap. "For a mount. No need for 'Thank you', by the way, and make sure it's a big one."

"I – I can't accept this!" Vinaiya blurted out, eyes wide.

There was no response.

"William?"

Still nothing.

"Who'r ye talkin' to, lass?"

Vinaiya jumped to her feet, cheeks darkening in embarrassment. The dwarf guard gave her a quizzical look, then walked away. "'Tis them pointy ears, I tell ye..." she hard him mutter as he rounded a corner and disappeared.

"William?" she called out again, in a whisper this time. "Are you there?" She waited for several seconds, then took the pouch gingerly and opened it. There had to be at least fifty gold pieces in there. Fifty! Those were enough to buy mounts and provisions for a party twice as large as theirs. Surely, this had to be a mistake! Not even William – wait, what had he said to her? Get a mount and make it a big one.

Of course! William wanted her to buy a mount for himself!

Now... what kind of mounts did humans usually ride...?

…

The sun had yet to rise when the party met by the gates of Ironforge. Heida had been the first to arrive, with Vinaiya closely in tow. She assumed that William was around, too, but with all the guards milling around, the rogue probably chose to keep himself out of sight. Elizabeth and Aluum showed up much later, the first humming a quiet tune to herself while the second looked like he had seen much better days. For the first time, Vinaiya got a good look at the draenei. His stature was impressive, but his demeanor was kind.

Well... usually kind, anyway. As Aluum spotted the other party that was gathering outside the gates, his expression went from blank to an open sneer.

A little distance away, Dawn Morticia Evenstar stood with two other men who looked remarkably like each other, except that one was clad in plate armor and the other wore some sort of a dress. They both looked like high elves. And they both looked smitten. As for Dawn herself, she looked regal, or at least as regal as one could look while wearing an almost shapeless fur cloak and shivering in the cold.

As her own party saddled up and set off after the customary morning greetings and well-wishing all around, Vinaiya felt an added weight suddenly settle in the saddle behind her.

"Good morning," said William the Many. "Excellent tastes, by the way. I couldn't have chosen better myself."

"I can get off if you'd like," Vinaiya muttered. After all, this was his mount... right?

"No need. If the mount gets tired, I can always get off and run."

"What? I – you can't really -"

"Oh, it would be no problem at all. I can run very fast, you know. Just ask Lizzy."

"Die. In. A. Fire," Elizabeth growled without turning.

And with that, the journey began.