The Weariness of Waiting

Felix nodded repeatedly. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

"So our prison break plan has to be flawless," he said. "For example, we can't let Stormwind City know we're the ones breaking into the prison. Ideally, we should pin this on those Dark Iron Dwarves."

"The Dark Iron Dwarves are in a very unusual situation right now. They split apart after their defeat in the War of the Three Hammers." Felix watched VanCleef's expression and saw no sign of confusion on the Defias leader's face.

VanCleef was fairly well educated. Clearly, he knew something about the history of the War of the Three Hammers.

"Some Dark Iron Dwarves are controlled by Ragnaros the Firelord, and so they became enemies of the Alliance under the command of evil forces. But some Dark Iron Dwarves still retain their independence, and they have therefore gained the Alliance's recognition."

"So what are you getting at?" VanCleef was growing a little impatient. He hadn't come for a history lesson.

"It's simple. There's a Dark Iron Dwarf named Kam Deepfury in the Stockade. We can pretend Emperor Thaurissan of Shadowforge City hired us specifically to rescue Kam Deepfury from the Stockade, while Bazil, Joseph, and the others merely 'took advantage of the chaos' to escape on their own. That way, even if Varian is furious, he'll only vent his anger on Shadowforge City. We might even spark a regional war between the Kingdom of Stormwind and the Dark Iron Dwarves."

VanCleef nodded repeatedly. "Good, that's what we'll do. Then, Felix, you'll draw up the prison break plan again. I'll follow your arrangements."

"I'm afraid we'll have to wait a few more months." Felix sighed. "There was street fighting in Stormwind City not long ago. The nobles and military leaders are still fairly vigilant, so it probably won't be easy for our brothers to slip inside with weapons."

"So we have to wait patiently. On the one hand, we need to wait for the right opportunity, such as Winter Veil, when the festive atmosphere will let Stormwind City's guard slip. On the other, we also need to wait patiently for our brothers to grow stronger. You have to understand that our men either don't know Stealth yet or are terrible at it. That level of skill isn't enough to carry out a prison break."

"For this month, we'd best focus entirely on training and hunting, and do nothing else. We should hold off on attacking Gold Coast Quarry, too. Considering that the Murlocs can provide some of our food, the silver coins we've seized are enough to keep us going for a long time."

"Wait until Winter Veil?" VanCleef frowned. "But what if our brothers have already been executed by then?"

He was worried about that after all.

"There's no need to worry about that." Felix suddenly asked, "Leader, what do you think of Varian Wrynn?"

After a moment's thought, VanCleef answered, "He may be a good man, but he's an utterly incompetent king! He knows nothing. Those people on the Council of Nobles have him wrapped around their fingers!"

Good. That was precisely the assessment of Varian that Felix needed from VanCleef.

"For that very reason, he won't execute our brothers. He'll only have them imprisoned."

When VanCleef finally nodded, Felix at last breathed a sigh of relief.

In truth, he had another concern, but he couldn't tell VanCleef about it. VanCleef had a rather one-track mind. He would never betray his brothers in the guild, and perhaps for that very reason, he had never considered the possibility that his other brothers might betray him.

Some of their captured brothers might defect under the enemy's threats and inducements, then confess that this band of robbers was actually the former Stonemasons' Guild, which had once stirred up a riot in Stormwind City, and point SI:7 toward their current hideout.

Then, as long as Mathias Shaw persuaded Varian, the Kingdom of Stormwind's army would soon be on Felix's doorstep.

"Brothers, we have to step up our training!" Felix shouted. "Only by becoming powerful Stealth Users can we gain enough strength to take revenge on the Kingdom of Stormwind!"

"Becoming a powerful Rogue means being able to run for long periods." That was certainly true. What kind of Rogue couldn't run fast?

"So we need to add a temporary exercise to our Stealth User training program: cross-country training with weights. We must be able to run for extended periods while carrying heavy loads."

The weighted cross-country training actually had two benefits:

First, after robbing the Kingdom of Stormwind of its tax money in the future, the brothers would be able to get away faster with the coins;

Second, if Varian listened to Shaw's malicious accusations and sent troops to wipe out the Defias right now, the Brotherhood would be able to flee faster when the time came.

After the day's training ended, Felix walked to the bend where the Elwynn River changed direction, which was also where the Westbrook River joined its main flow. He planned to bathe there, then straighten his clothes.

Before this bend, the Elwynn River flowed from east to west; beyond it, the river flowed from north to south, passing through Stranglethorn Vale before finally emptying into the sea.

"Young Rogue, you know who I am, don't you?" An exceptionally ethereal voice abruptly sounded behind Felix. "I am Sarsarun, lieutenant to Al'Akir, the Elemental Lord of Air. When the Alliance's Stealth Users were hunting you before, we were the ones who extended a helping hand."

Damn it, these air elementals didn't have the Bronze Dragonflight's abilities. How had they found him?

"Thank you very much for your help."

"There's no need for thanks. Lord Al'Akir is imprisoned upon his throne, so he could only send me to carry out his will." A whirlwind swept the weapon from Felix's hand into the sky.

A moment later, the sword fell back into Felix's hand.

"Young Rogue, go and do what you wish. It will be good for all of us." Sarsarun gave three eerie laughs, then disappeared into the wind, slipping away silently without a trace.

Felix held the sword lightly and found it considerably lighter than before. He gave it an experimental swing and discovered that it actually whooshed with the sound of wind.

This was a weakened version of Thunderfury. Felix discovered that simply holding the sword made his steps much lighter than before, making it easier for him to become an excellent assassin.

Why was he helping me? What did "good for all of us" mean?

Felix felt vaguely uneasy.

A conjecture formed in his mind:

The air elementals were tracking the Infinite Dragonflight's movements and had also found him through Mirok. Moreover, the air elementals wanted the Bronze Dragonflight's so-called "correct timeline" thrown into as much chaos as possible, which was why they had decided to help him.

As for whether this conjecture was correct, only time could tell.