"What is it, Aaron? What are you thinking about?" By the time Vereesa roused Aaron from his tangled thoughts, it was already broad daylight.
Realizing that he had spent half the night lost in thought, Aaron gave an awkward smile. He seemed to have been a little too irresponsible. Fortunately, they had not encountered any orcs.
"All right, let's hurry up and finish lunch, then set off to find that mage the Black Dragonflight carried away," Falstad urged. Even the goblin he had tied to his gryphon received a dry piece of military rations.
"This is the place." The goblin led them around the area for quite some time. They did find traces Rhonin had left behind, but they never caught sight of Rhonin himself. An anxious expression appeared on Vereesa's face, while Aaron felt quite relaxed. As he saw it, since Rhonin would live until Garrosh Hellscream attacked Theramore, nothing could possibly happen to him this time.
"Goblin, you'd better tell the truth. Did you really see that mage?" Falstad stared impatiently at the green-skinned, big-eared creature. The goblin's hands were bound with rope, the other end tied to Falstad's gryphon.
"Kreel would never dare deceive Mistress. Kreel brought Mistress here as agreed. Mistress should let Kreel go!"
Vereesa ignored the goblin and instead walked into the bushes with her sword in hand. When she emerged, an empty waterskin hung from its tip. She brought her nose close to the skin and sniffed, then closed her eyes, seemingly savoring the smell.
"Ha, smells awful, doesn't it? Must be wine brewed by those mountain dwarves." Falstad seemed to have misunderstood Vereesa's expression.
Aaron grumbled inwardly from the sidelines. Even at a time like this, Falstad did not forget to take a jab at his distant kin. Was the hatred between the two dwarven peoples really that enduring?
Vereesa shook her head. "You might not even find this wine on the king of Quel'Thalas's table. It's very fine wine."
"You know wine, too?" Aaron asked, looking at Vereesa in surprise.
Vereesa rolled her eyes at him, and Aaron sheepishly lowered his head. This did not seem to be the time to discuss that.
Still, if Vereesa was right, this was rather interesting. Had Deathwing treated Rhonin to an extraordinarily lavish meal? Did the old Black Dragonflight have a habit of giving people a last meal before killing them?
Shaking his head to dismiss that utterly implausible idea, Aaron said thoughtfully, "Judging by this, Rhonin should be getting decent treatment. At the very least, his life probably isn't in danger, or Deathwing wouldn't have prepared such luxurious wine for him."
"You have a point, but..." Vereesa frowned, her gaze continually searching the wooded mountains. Every so often, a Red Dragonflight could be seen flying across the distant sky. "Why exactly did Deathwing take Rhonin? At first I thought he wanted to stop Rhonin from completing his mission... but from the looks of this, that doesn't quite seem right..."
"I think, whatever Deathwing wants to do, as long as he hasn't killed Rhonin, Rhonin will probably keep carrying out his mission," Aaron said after pretending to think for a long while. Although he knew perfectly well that Rhonin would complete this mission, how was he supposed to state that conclusion? It really was a headache.
"I think so, too." Vereesa turned to Kreel and fixed him with a hard stare. "Kreel, do you know why Deathwing took Rhonin?"
"No, Mistress, I don't know. I... I brought you here as promised. You can let me..." Under Vereesa's stare, Kreel gave a humble smile, though the expression was rather unsettling on a goblin's face.
"I'll let you go now." Vereesa appeared ready to release him according to her earlier agreement with the goblin.
"Wait a moment." Aaron raised a hand to stop Vereesa.
Vereesa said with some displeasure, "I already gave him my word. You can't stop me from keeping my promise!"
Aaron turned to give Vereesa a puzzled look. Her expression seemed rather stern. It appeared she truly would not allow anyone to stop her.
Aaron shook his head. "I'm not trying to stop you, but I have a few things to discuss with this goblin gentleman."
"Kreel has nothing to discuss with you!"
"Kreel, you work for Deathwing, don't you?" Aaron had only just remembered that Deathwing had a whole bunch of goblins working for him. Even the armor on Deathwing's body had been forged for him by goblins.
"Kreel doesn't know what you're talking about. Mistress, hurry and let Kreel go!"
"You're changing the subject. You don't dare admit it, but that's all right. You know the way to Grim Batol, don't you?" A smile appeared on Aaron's face. "That should be where Rhonin went."
"Grim Batol? What's that redhead going there for?" Falstad jumped at Aaron's words. "Those Dragonmaw Clan orcs are there!"
"What else? To rescue the Red Dragon Queen," Aaron said. "That fellow claimed he came here to scout the orcs' movements, but really, what sense does it make for a mage to risk his life coming all this way to scout? Even Duncan the knight would be better suited to the job."
"I noticed something too, though I wasn't as certain as you, Aaron. Still, I keep feeling that you know something else." Vereesa agreed with Aaron's "guess," then looked at the goblin. "I'll set you free now, but you'd better tell us how to get to Grim Batol."
"Mistress, do you really want to go there? It's very dangerous." Kreel looked miserable and seemed very reluctant to tell Vereesa the way.
"I really do want to go."
"Lady Vereesa, you..."
"Falstad, it's all right if you don't want to go. And you, Aaron-you can choose to return to Hasic now and check on my mount for me. I can go alone." Vereesa's expression was resolute.
Aaron and Falstad exchanged a glance. Falstad spoke first. "By my beard, I would never abandon a beautiful lady."
So you could abandon her if she weren't beautiful? Aaron grumbled inwardly, then said, "Rhonin is my employer, after all. I'm still waiting to squeeze a fortune out of him."
Despite what he said, Aaron was actually thinking that this was probably his best opportunity to make contact with the Dragon Aspects. If he wanted to establish contact with them later, he would likely have to travel to Northrend or Kalimdor. As for Nozdormu, whom he wanted to find most... even if he went to the Bronze Dragonflight's home, he might not meet that fellow who traveled back and forth through so many timelines.
"All right, next is you, Kreel. Are you willing to tell me now?"
After his expression shifted several times, Kreel finally raised his head and said, "I can't tell you... I'd better take you there myself."
"Kreel... I've already set you free."
A smile appeared on Kreel's face. "Mistress, without me to guide you, you won't reach Grim Batol at all. No one can find that little path, whether elf, dwarf, or human."
"We have gryphons, you little thief!" Falstad immediately pointed at his gryphon in protest.
"Kreel thinks taking flight somewhere with so many dragons flying overhead isn't a good idea, unless your destination is a Red Dragonflight's mouth. But we're going to Grim Batol, aren't we?"
"You little..." Falstad was so angry that his beard bristled. He looked determined to teach the goblin a lesson, and Aaron hurriedly stopped him.
Following the goblin's directions, they could even ride their flying mounts for a while along certain stretches, and Aaron's ability to summon a gryphon out of thin air left Kreel dumbfounded. Although they kept flying low, Red Dragonflight members still passed overhead from time to time. Whenever that happened, the group had to follow the goblin's directions to find somewhere to hide.
Overall, the journey went fairly smoothly, and they gradually approached the mountains where Grim Batol stood.