Azerothian Dream

Chapter 14- Brightshield

Four months later-

Birdette and Ebonae stared in open-mouthed wonder at the truly grand entry of Ironforge. The door itself must've been five hundred feet high or more. It was rolled up some fifty feet. Plenty of room for their small house wagon to roll beneath it as they entered the capital of the ancient dwarven kingdom of Khaz Modan.

"Papers!" A guard yelled at the gate.

"Papers," Another yelled at the head of another line, "Have ye papers out and do be ready to disembark and be accounted for!"

Before the final drive up to Ironforge, Shaelah had spent the previous day explaining to everyone what to expect. So, now they had their papers ready and when they were signaled to come forward and stop their wagon for inspection, they did so readily. What a sight they were to behold too, a mountain dwarf, two iron dwarves, and a goblin with a half-human babe and a completely human infant, and topping it all, the three adult females were very--very pregnant.

Birdette climbed out of the cart, one arm holding Bathilde while she gripped the door jam with the other and a seven-month-pregnant belly sticking out like she had eaten a boulder nearly as large as she was. Pinkerpie and Shaelah, only weeks behind her in pregnancy and nearly as large, climbed down from the driver seat. It truly was a sight to behold. Ebonae was the only one not pregnant, and she held Amberdine in her arms making it appear as if she were the child's mother.

More than a few of the dwarven guards were wide-eyed and snickering, especially once they saw that they were all wives of one man--one human. One guard actually chortled, "It do be strange that yer husband do no be here. Did he run off once he heard he gotten all o' ye with child?"

Birdette immediately bristled, but it was Shaelah that answered, "Nay, guardsman, he did defend me honor when attacked by orc raiders in the Searing Gorge. His heroism did save me and me companions. He stayed behind to save me daughter and they both did be taken captive."

"Ye sure he did no get taken on purpose," Another dwarf sniggered as he elbowed the guard next to him and was joined by the others in a round of laughter.

"Nay," Shaelah replied heatedly, struggling to not rise to their baiting, "He killed nearly half a war party of thirty to free me and Pinkerpie. I ask ye, could any o' ye louts done better? Standing around all day, drinkin' and gettin' fat while ye harass good dwarven folk tryin' to go about our business. Could any o' ye go against thirty orc warriors and kill half o' 'em just as me husband did?"

Birdette, Ebonae, and Pinkerpie audibly groaned as Shaelah snubbed the guard's honor and martial prowess. As she went on, the guards quickly started grumbling.

"I do believe we need to search yer wagon," One of them growled nastily, "I do believe there do be nothin' more desperate than a bunch o' knocked-up women. Ye just might do anythin', including smuggling' contraband. I do think this search will take a while."

The guards took a more aggressive position around Shaelah and her companions. There were squawks down the lines of incomers as many of the womenfolk were outraged by what they saw and heard. Three of the guards broke off and headed towards the wagon while the others guarded the women.

Shaelah took a step back and looked at the guards warily before she yelled, "Hey now! Ye lily-livered sheep's guts! Yer captain will be hearin' about this!

"Strip 'em," One of the guards growled, "There do be a chance they do be keepin' contraband on their persons."

Just as the guards reached for Shaelah and Pinkerpie another guard approached and shouted, "On yer sorry lives, ye dogs, ye let 'em women be or I do be havin' ye ears!"

"But, Captain!" One of the guards began.

"Ye shut it!" The Guard Captain ordered, again in a shout that set Bathilde to crying, "I did hear the whole sorry thing. Ye open yer fat mouths and give these good women lip and disparagement,

then ye can't take it in return when it do be given back to ye better than ye gave. Now, ye do be givin' 'em their papers and lettin' 'em pass or ye do be seein' the stockade before the end o' the day!"

"Aye," The guards replied sullenly.

Everything was put right on the wagon and the guards moved away to signal the next caravan to move up. The Guard Captain approached Shaelah and held out his hand for her papers. He looked them over, then looked her up and down, and then passed her papers back.

"Me apologies for me guards rudeness, Mistress Silverstag," The fiery bearded dwarf said in a more normal voice, "Please forgive 'em. They do be good lads usually, but they do be as dumb as rock sometimes. The Stonefire Tavern do have rooms for ye and yers."

"I do be familiar with the Tavern," She replied, then looked over at the guards before cutting her eyes back to the Guard Captain, "Me thanks, Captain."

He gave her a nod and then motioned for her to be moving along. Shaelah curtsied before returning to the wagon and grabbing up the reins. Everyone piled onto the wagon driver's seat and she clicked her tongue until the rams dug in their hooves and the wagon lurched forward.

They all stared in wide-eyed wonder as they trundled slowly into Ironforge. The city was massive!

They turned left on the cobblestone boulevard and stared at the bank and auction house that dominated the great square of the Commons. Thousands of people of all nationalities and races moved and jostled one another as they navigated from wherever they were coming from to wherever they were going. The majority of the population, of course, was dwarven, but there were humans, elves, and gnomes were to be expected too, and a few of the new draenei race that was to be said to have come to Azeroth on a spaceship. There were males and females of all the races and except for the gnomes they all towered over the dwarf folk. But then, even as big as the larger folk were, Ironforge itself dwarfed them all.

"The city do be split into seven districts," Shaelah explained as she carefully watched the people moving around her wagon, "The Commons, do be where we do be now. The Mystic Ward. The Forlorn Cavern, only miscreants and rogues live there. The Hall of Explorers. Tinker Town. The Military Ward. And, the Great Forge."

They rolled past three wide bridges spanning a crevasse filled with lava. The crevasse acted as an invisible shield wall against enemy invaders should an army breach the main gate. Illuminated by massive oil-filled braziers and warmed by the chasm of lava, Birdette watched hundreds of people walk upon those bridges and knew that surely thousands passed over them every day. Carts and wagons crossed, some bearing tremendous loads, and still, those sturdy bridges held. And yet, with only a few hammer falls in key locations, and the bridges would collapse like cards dumping anyone and everything on them into the chasm and lava below.

No doubt the braziers and chandeliers were rigged so that the oil that supplied them, with the turn of a wheel, would rain down oil and fire, quickly turning the Commons into a killing field. After that, should the invaders still wish to fight, then they would either have to span the chasm with ladders or be diverted to the Mystic Ward and Military Ward where they would then be ripped to shreds by the armies of warriors on one side and mages, priests, and warlocks on the other.

"We do no have time to be sighseein'," Birdette mumbled as Shaelah pulled the house wagon off to the side of the boulevard in front of Stonefire Tavern. A young dwarf lad took the reins and guided the rams into a nearby alley that led to a stable carved right into the mountain.

"No one said we should," Pinkerpie replied.

"I just do no want any ye goin' far," Birdette replied as she struggled to moderate her agitation.

"We do be needin' to investigate the Deeprun Tram. We do be needin' to know if the cars do be able to transport the wagon and rams," Shaelah said as she move to take the lead, "No matter her haste, this do be takin' a more 'an a day."

She led them into the Stonefire Tavern and then spoke to the innkeeper. One Basil Firebrew gave them the once over and then nodded before handing Shaelah a key to a room and called his daughter over.

"Me name do be Gwen," She said by way of introduction. She was just shy of her forties with a square face, big brown eyes, and carrot-red hair. She gave them a polite smile and beckoned, "If ye do be followin' me?"

She led them to their room while secretly observing them with intelligent eyes. She came to a door and used the key to unlock it before leading the way inside. As Shaelah then Birdette, Pinkerpie, and Ebonae filed, she observed them carefully.

"As ye do be seein', there do be two beds, and if ye do be desirin' I do think I be able to find cribs for the little ones," Gwen said.

"Nay," Birdette replied, "They do be fine sleepin' with me."

"Where do ye be headed," Gwen asked suddenly. When all the women turned to look at her she added, "I beg ye pardon, but ye do be with child, and nearly due by the looks o' it. For what reason do ye be out traveling when ye should be home sittin' by ye fire waitin' to birth 'em babes?"

"Stormwind," Shaelah replied, ignoring the other dwarf's reasoning and moving the conversation to what she thought was important, "I do be havin' a wagon and rams I do be wantin' to transport by train. Do the Deeprun Tram be capable o' such a task?"

"Aye," Gwen replied, "It do be possible though the price do be steep. Ye might be wantin' to check the Mystic Ward for a mage. Ye might be gettin' a better price there, but I can't say for certain."

"Many thanks to ye," Shaelah said as she took the key to the room from Gwen.

Gwen released the key with a smile, but she still persisted with her questioning, "Now, about the reason three pregnant women are galavantin' from-- Where did ye say ye come from?"

"We didn't," Pinkerpie answered as she moved over to a bed and sat down with a sigh and rubbed her lower back.

"I suppose ye didn't at that," Gwen admitted, then tapped her nose, "But ye see, the only thing that grows in these snow-covered mountains do be gossip. I do just be curious and do be wantin' the right o' it. That way when the gossip do be growin' I can bend it back toward truth."

"It do no be a secret," Birdette said as she laid Bathilde on the bed and started changing her linens, "It do be a long tale though."

"I do like a good story," Gwen replied.

Birdette looked up long enough to meet Gwen's eyes and then nodded, "Me husband do be human. A man by the name o' Hruthgar Anvilsplitter--"

Birdette told her story of meeting Hruthgar in Blackrock Mountain while being a waitress at the Grim Guzzler. The story was much abridged, edited, and some parts were just plain old made up. She could never tell this simple innkeeper's daughter that she had summoned her husband from a different world, or held him prisoner. There would just be too many that would frown upon that method of catching a husband!

Once she was done with her part of the story Pinkerpie took over and told of how Hruthgar saved her and Ebonae from bandits. Then, Shaelah told of meeting Hruthgar one evening when her husband and daughter had stayed out too late and of hiring him to find them. Tears trickled down her cheeks when speaking of the loss of her husband, but then she sniffled and gave everyone a courageous smile and told of how Hruthgar had rescued her from having to marry her brother-in-law.

They all knew the real story behind why Shaelah bought the teams of rams, but there again they got creative with the narrative. Pinkerpie trading caravan suddenly became a family business primarily owned by Shaelah. Then, Shaelah and Pinkerpie both stared off with dreamy eyes as they recounted their many nights in Hruthgar's strong arms as they took pleasure and comfort from him. Finally, they reached the orc raider ambush and the final hopeless leg of the trip home, Thorium Point.

Birdette picked up the story then and shared her unyielding hope of finding her husband and daughter before setting out on their chase to catch the orc raiding party, and either recovering or avenging them. Lastly, Ebonae described taming Cyduna and of how she saw through the animal's memories that, whoever these new abductors were, they had defeated the orcs and escaped through a portal to Shattrath.

The whole tale took an hour while Gwen sat on a stool early on and listened with her mouth half open in astonishment. Shaelah finished their tale with their arrival at Stonefire Tavern, and Gwen looked at the candle on the hearth and gasped. Realizing how much time had passed, she rose to her feet and brushed out her dress as she said, "That do be quite the tale. Sad to say it do no be the first I heard such a tale of abduction. It do be happenin' all across the Eastern Kingdoms. Often enough that there do be a group o' adventures been appointed by the magistrates in Stormwind to investigate."

"Do ye know where we might be findin' one o' these adventurers," Birdette asked from where she was sitting on the bed playing with Amberdine.

"Aye, there do be one o' 'em in this very inn, but the group do be workin' out o' Stormwind," Gwen answered as she made her way to the door. She opened it and stopped and looked back at Birdette before adding, "If ye come down for supper I do be introducin' ye to the one I know."

"Many thanks," Birdette replied, "We will be down soon."

Gwen smirked and nodded her head before closing the door behind her as she left.

In the corner of the room, like most dwarven inns, there was a large barrel with spigots for hot and cold water, and over the next couple of hours each of them bathed and soaked before the babies were then bathed.

After toweling off, Shaelah pulled out of her pack a sheer linen robe that hid nothing of her pale skin, her expansive bosom, or her voluptuous curves. She pulled it around her body and tied the belt around her waist. Afterward, she braided her long auburn hair then rose up and walked over to take Amberdine and Bathilde from Birdette.

"Ye deserve a night out and a mug o' ale," She purred almost motheringly, "Go, and enjoy yerself for the little while ye can."

"What can ye do if the babes' do need feedin'," Birdette asked, concern thick in her voice.

Shaelah grabbed her own breast and squeezed it through the transparent material until her flesh bulged between her fingers and she purred, "I do no have these massive things for nothin'!"

Birdette gasped at that, then giggled, and then cried, "Ye do no say a word! Ye could o' been helpin' me with the feedin' all this time?"

Shaelah smirked as she replied, "Aye, but I do no want to be presumptuous. A mother's work--a mother's bond with her babes'--it do be intimate. I only offered now because it do seem ye do no ever be askin'."

"Aye, please and thank ye," Birdette laughed, "I would love ye eternally for any help ye be given!"

Shaelah smiled, "Aye, then ye get goin'. Enjoy the night and try to relax."

"Aye," Birdette agreed.

Shaelah turned away then and found a book on the fireplace mantle and pulled it down. Seeing it was one she liked, she walked over to the bed and lay down with Amberdine and Bathilde. She tickled and played with them until they were both giggling and then she settled them down and started to read out loud.

Birdette watched and listened for the first few seconds but then she moved to a chest she had brought up from the wagon and opened it. She pulled out a blouse and skirt, stockings and slippers, and dressed. Then, she left to join Ebonae and Pinkerpie who had taken the first baths and had already left to visit the tavern.

----(!)----

The lighting in the tavern was bright and warm and cast shadows against the walls and people as everyone laughed and caroused. A trio of bards played music loudly in a corner of the room while men of all races sang along. Beer and mead splashed as bets were wagered and lost. Wenches with sultry smiles weaved through the crowd with food and drink, some squawking if their bottoms were pinched while others laughed and winked signaling they were willing to be more friendly for a price.

Birdette found Pinkerpie and Ebonae sitting at a table in a far corner. Ebonae was tapping her feet and mug in time with the music while Pinkerpie was standing in her chair dancing. Birdette started across the room but the trek through the tavern hall proved to be a minefield in which she had her behind grabbed more than a few times. Then she was stopped by a very bold human who blocked her path until she looked up at him. He smiled nastily as he used a single finger to hook the top of her low-cut, cleavage revealing, blouse. With unbelievable boldness he brazenly pulled the top of her blouse out so that he could look down at her very large and very exposed breasts.

Birdette didn't react, honestly, she was so stunned she didn't even think to act, then suddenly there were two dwarves there pulling the man back and hustling him out of the tavern. In their haste to remove the offensive man they grabbed him while his finger was still intertwined in the laces of her blouse, and when they pulled him his finger hooked and ripped her blouse all the way down to her belly, exposing her breasts and nearly ripping the entire blouse right off of her!

The males that were treated to a brief glimpse of her copious bosom roared in applause while the females all gasped and blushed with embarrassment. Birdette for her part just couldn't believe what was happening.

Gasping in surprise, she reacted like most any woman would. She snatched at her blouse and threw her arms up to cover her exposure. Leering eyes and laughing faces seemed to be all around her. They were all she could see, and a brief moment of panic overwhelmed her and she nearly turned and ran back to her room, but then she took a hold of herself and realized there was nothing she could do about what had happened. So, she straightened her shoulders, thrust her breasts out proudly, and leveled a very serene smile at every man around her as she very carefully righted her blouse. Folding the ripped neckline inward, she pulled the rest of the blouse down so it looked like it barely clung to her shoulders. Then, gritting her teeth, she kept a smile firmly in place as she continued across the tavern hall displaying a greater amount of opulent bosom than most of the wenches that were also prostitutes. She kept her smile, she didn't grimace, and she marched right on through to her friend's table.

Pinkerpie's eyes opened wide and she ogled Birdette as she walked up. Ebonae on the other hand nearly snorted her beer back into her mug and was left coughing as Birdette said loudly enough to be heard over the noise of the room, "Aye, nearly had me blouse taken right off me back! I no been in a tavern this unruly since the Grim Guzzler. O' course, back then I did be throwin' more 'an me fair share o' a wink and a smile and got a fair bit a gold in me purse for a good roll in the bed."

"It's a bit different when you're a married woman, isn't it," Pinkerpie said with a knowing look in her eye.

"Aye, it do be that," Birdette agreed, "It do no be the first time me blouse do be ripped off in a tavern, but it do be the first I do be upset about it."

"So, what are you drinking," Pinkerpie asked as she stood up in her chair and waved a wench over.

The wench struggled through the crowd and looked absolutely harassed by the time she arrived. She took one look at Birdette's cleavage and her lips thinned. She was human with wide hips and a thick round ass, but she was almost completely flat-chested.

"What do ye be having," She asked in a thick dwarven dialect.

"More mead for me," Pinkerpie said.