Taelan Fordring saw the Dragonkin General abandon him and charge at Jaina. He nearly cursed out loud! This wasn't a game! Everyone here was smart! Even some nobody whose name might not even exist knew to capture the leader first!
Taelan stopped the Dragonkin General. To be honest, he wanted to run. Staying here meant he could die at any moment. But he knew that if he ran now, he'd never be able to stand his ground again.
So he decided to stick with his choice. He used Mortal Strike again, and a new round of torture began. The effects of the Blessing of the World Tree had the Dragonkin General questioning his life choices. The boy could hit him every single time. All those levels he'd trained were wasted!
Jaina truly lived up to her future title as Archmage of the Kirin Tor. She wasn't nearly as scared as before. She quickly found a bottle of green potion, but didn't stop searching. Soon, she held a bottle of green potion in each hand and shouted to Taelan, "I found them!"
Taelan Fordring glanced at the two bottles of green potion clutched in Jaina's chubby little hands with satisfaction! The Dragonkin General couldn't understand why a Princess would rummage through a pile of trash. Shouldn't she have abandoned the boy and run? Taelan Fordring shouted to Jaina, "Quick! Drink it!"
Jaina obediently downed the bottle of green stuff. Then, with a pop, she burst into a cloud of smoke. A Little Bee flew out! Thank goodness he'd guessed right! Just then, Taelan Fordring used Hammer of Justice again. The Dragonkin General shamefully passed out once more, and received a debuff: World Tree is Watching You.
Taelan Fordring reached out, picked up the Little Bee that Jaina had transformed into, and took the green potion bottle. Then he started running for his life. He soon reached a spacious area, where a grate appeared beneath his feet. Below it was the sewers' second level. There was no entrance here, so Taelan first sent Jaina down through the gaps in the sewer grate. Then, fighting back his disgust, he drank the green liquid and turned into a Little Bee too.
The Dragonkin General came charging over. He punched the bee Taelan Fordring had turned into with all his strength. Polymorphing into a bee hadn't affected Taelan's skills, but it had made him tiny. Like a fly being swatted, he was slapped down into the second level of the sewers.
After entering the second level, the blow dispelled the Polymorph. Taelan Fordring returned to his true form, blood flowing from his nose and mouth! His life was slipping away.
Jaina was a clever little girl with a great talent for magic. Taelan had no idea how she managed it, but her Polymorph was dispelled too. The two of them stared at the Dragonkin General through the grate. Taelan was secretly relieved that this guy wasn't a warlock who wielded shadow magic. Otherwise, they'd both have been done for. He also prayed that he wasn't a Defias.
(This gag came from My Name Is MT.)
The Dragonkin General stopped disguising his voice and rumbled, "Brat, you're clever and lucky. You don't think I can't break these few iron bars, do you? Even enchantments won't stop me."
Taelan Fordring's eyelids were growing heavy. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto Jaina's princess dress. He could feel his life slowly draining away. At this rate, he'd die soon. Jaina hurried to support him. She could see that Taelan was in bad shape. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. I'm not dead yet." Then he summoned his skill tree and put a skill point into Prayer:
Prayer
When activated, slowly restores your and your party members' health.
Radius: 20 yards
Healing +9
Mana Cost: 2.3
Then Taelan Fordring activated Prayer Aura. A blue aura appeared beneath his feet, and the mist it produced gathered around him. Now that he was resting, his Holy Light power also began to recover—in other words, his mana bar started to regenerate naturally. It was just enough to cover the Prayer Aura's cost. (Five seconds after you stop casting, the five-second mana regeneration kicks in, and humans have a racial trait that improves this effect.)
Jaina, standing beside him, immediately felt her body grow lighter. The few cuts she'd gotten in the sewers began to heal. Warm Holy Light embraced her. Delighted, she said, "You're amazing! So you've already learned a Paladin's class skills. I don't even know your name yet!"
"My name's Taelan Fordring. What's yours?"
"My name's Jaina Proudmoore. You'd better remember it!"
By then, the Dragonkin General outside was furious. Did this human brat think he'd be safe behind a grate? He put away his dagger. The sewer wasn't very tall, so he'd been using a dagger for convenience. Now he took a long-handled weapon from his magic pouch, preparing to break through the sewer barrier.
"Idiot, you'd better take a good look. It's not just the three of us here."
Taelan startled Jaina. There was someone else down here? She looked behind her. Two lights were hanging there. Who'd been thoughtful enough to install magical streetlamps in such a remote sewer? But when she looked closer, they weren't lamps at all. They were two eyes!
More precisely, they belonged to an enormous crocodile. It was three times the size of the one in World of Warcraft.
To her, the crocodile was even more dangerous than the kidnapper outside. She quickly grabbed Taelan Fordring's hand and pressed close to him. Taelan Fordring didn't look scared at all. The Dragonkin General had already raised his weapon, ready to cut through the grate. He'd also spotted the giant crocodile blocking the tunnel, and was startled into stopping.
The Dragonkin General was stunned. As an intruder, he could clearly see that the crocodile was drooling at him. A Dragonkin was much tastier than some scrawny little brat.
The crocodile felt extremely dangerous. And through the Dragonkin's unique biological Perception, he could tell it was a transcendent creature. If it had a status bar, it would surely show a huge, blood-red skull.
In other words, the crocodile was at least level 58. But Taelan knew that when this crocodile appeared in World of Warcraft, it was level 80—a famous, named silver dragon elite. (Named elites often had unique skills! They also had special loot tables.) Based on that, it had to be at least level 60 now.
Taelan Fordring switched on his sharp tongue. "Idiot, you'd better not make it angry, or you're dead." The Dragonkin General said, "Brat, stop talking nonsense. It hasn't attacked you, so why would it threaten me?" Taelan Fordring said, "Ha! You're the intruder. Would you be nice to someone who broke into your house? If it were me, I'd crack his skull open."
The Dragonkin General hesitated again. No reward was worth more than his life.
An anxious voice came from around the corner. "Taelan, where are you?"
Then a booming voice said, "Tirion, trust the instincts of a child of the sea. Those two little ones are still alive."
The Dragonkin General felt that if he didn't leave now, he was finished. The two presences rapidly approaching behind him were incredibly powerful. Once he'd made up his mind, he bolted. Just then, Taelan Fordring, down on the second level of the sewers, very thoughtfully tossed out Hammer of Justice. After such a long argument, the skill was ready again. Aside from its cooldown, there was nothing wrong with it at all.
Thank the World Tree. The Dragonkin General could only stand there as two middle-aged men ran around the corner.
The man behind wore a captain's hat. As soon as he appeared, he shouted, "Jaina, are you all right? Are you hurt?"
"Father, I'm fine. Taelan saved me!"
Tirion Fordring nodded at Taelan without saying anything, but raised his hammer.
Daelin Proudmoore looked at Taelan and said, "Kid, thank you for saving my daughter."
The two men, both seething with rage, quickly gave the Dragonkin General a sound beating. Daelin Proudmoore took out a magical rope and tied him up like a dumpling. Why a Grand Admiral carried magical rope was something only the heavens knew.
Taelan Fordring briefly explained how they'd gotten down there. Tirion Fordring returned to the garbage heap and fetched two more bottles of green potion. Then Taelan Fordring and Jaina turned into Little Bees and flew out of the sewers.
Although Val—the giant crocodile—hadn't hurt them, Jaina was still badly frightened.
Two chapters released together. Posted first, revised later!
Before you continue