Heated

I hate Dalaran.

Let me rephrase that – I loathe Dalaran.

The level of noise gives me frequent headaches. The congestion forces me into close quarters with those I would instead slay in battle. However, those issues pale in comparison to the outright hostility exerted from nearly every corner of the city.

It’s that damned Silver Covenant.

As if dealing with the mages of the Kirin Tor on a daily basis wasn’t already a fine test of patience for both parties involved; humans I can handle.

Sanctimonious “cousins” I cannot.

Remind me to raze their hunter’s lodge in the Hinterlands sometime.

Turning Point

“Luis, I—”

I smacked her hand away.

“Don’t – don’t touch me. Please.”

Shifgrethor kneeled down in front of me and tried to catch my gaze; I looked away. There was silence between us, uncomfortable, raw; and yet none of us could bring ourselves to disturb it.

Time passed, and quietly I managed to force, “I couldn’t save them.”

My cousin gathered my hand into hers. She paused. “You did your best.”

I faced her now. “My sister, your parents… my best ended in failure.”

She gave me a hard stare. “So what are you going to do about it?”

Bad Example

Caiya furrowed her eyebrows, questioning me. “Are you sure this is OK?”

“Sure it is,” I said, scanning the skies. “Hold on tight.”

I pulled on my wyvern’s reins, making him bank tightly to the left, underneath the Aldur’thar Bridge and landing on a small ledge that jutted out from the rest of the rock foundation. I scanned the skies once more, the ground, the bridge above. Satisfied, I lifted Caiya down from the wyvern and then dismounted as well. She brushed off her skirt nervously, shivering a bit from the cold, but her eyes sparkled with excitement. “You know, the other orphans won’t believe me,” she whispered.

I removed my helmet and shook out my hair, and looked down towards the girl. “It doesn’t matter what they think,” I said softly, smiling. “You’re never going to learn anything if you don’t experience it first-hand.”

I untied the strings strapping the SGM-3 to my back and I gently set it on the ground, turning it on and making adjustments. I kneeled to the ground, propped it up on my knee and looked to Caiya. “You see those Skybreakers flying around?”

She nodded.

 “Well, Korm Blackscar – that big ugly orc on the flying ship,”—Caiya giggled—“wants us to shoot them down. They work for the Alliance and they’ve been very naughty.”

Caiya thought for a moment. “So we’re punishing them? Like putting them in time-out?”

“…Right. That’s a very good way to put it. And, well, since you’re such a big girl, I thought that you might like to help me.”

Caiya smiled, then beamed. She nodded, and I beckoned her closer.

“Good girl,” I said, and showed her how to hold the end of the launcher, how to look through the crosshairs, and pointed out the auto-target feature. She repeated the process to me, and pleased with her answer, I pushed the yellow button on the side. “Safety’s off,” I reported out of habit. I locked eyes with Caiya, and we both grinned. “Whenever you’re ready, just aim.”