Finder's Seekers
Throughout her stay with her cousin, Sasha and her newfound allies had planned what they would do, toward Gorthan's, Taz'jani's, and Utakis' rescue effort. Their first stop would be of course Stormwind, they must somehow access the prisoner manifest held in the Stockades. Sasha knew enough from what her father told her, that records of prisoners were indeed kept, and hopefully they could find out just where Gorthan had been transferred. The trail was not altogether cold, even though it had now been well over a year.
Erin could easily teleport them all directly to Stormwind, Redridge though was not so easy, they would have to ride. Sasha had to confess she really didn't understand the mechanics of teleportation, and portal magic, and why they could teleport to one location, but not another, but she trusted her friend when she said direct travel to Redridge was not possible.
Kali'vas owned his own hawkstrider named Arturias. It was a very handsome creature with golden glowing eyes much like his own, and a shining array of black feathers, that shone purple and green in different lighting. This rather large bird was swift, but it could only carry one rider.
Erin was going to have to ride double with Sasha on Frostfyre.
Well, they had a plan of sorts, and tomorrow they would attempt to enact it. They had no idea if it would work, but they were going to try.
*****
Kali'vas had arrived early to Erin's apartment, the rising sun was beginning to turn the sky a surreal shade of pink. Sasha had already made the dreaded step climb to take Frostfyre to the park, they had everything they needed packed and at the ready.
"All right then, this is it, is everyone ready?" Erin announced.
"Most certainly my love." Kali'vas seconded.
"Yes,' Sasha said. Readying herself for she knew not what.
"All right." Erin closed her eyes and began her spell.
Sasha decided to close her eyes too, she still felt a bit uneasy at this kind of portal magic, and she rested her hand on Frostfyre's shoulders. The close contact greatly calmed her.
Suddenly there was a great deal of noise, Sasha was aware of many individuals around her, other than her friends. She opened her eyes, and they were in the bustling Stormwind portal room.
"See, nothing to it," Erin announced cheerily.
Sasha smirked at her cousin. "I think we should try and remain as anonymous as possible, considering what we are about to do, though I'm not so sure how we can do that with my companion," she said frowning a little, at once pulling the full hood of her cape over her head.
"Good idea," Kali'vas replied. "The Alliance are not too fond of us blood elves either, even if the Silver Covenant are allies."
"I know what we can do," Erin said, "it will look a little odd, but this might help." She took a pretty scarf out of the depths of her bag and wrapped it about Frostfyre's muzzle. Hiding her telltale tusks, at least now she could pass for just an extra large wolf. Frostfyre accepted the makeshift muzzle without protest. She had become very accustomed to having her fangs wrapped.
"Well guys, where do we start. Redridge or here?" Sasha questioned.
"I think it best if we get rooms, there we can strategize and plan." Kali'vas advocated as they left the crowded vestibule.
"We would be pretty anonymous at the Slaughtered Lamb," Erin suggested, as she turned to look over her shoulder, and up the winding pathway toward the rather shady establishment.
"Oh, I don't know if it's wise to stay with a bunch of warlocks. I say we get rooms at the Gilded Rose, it's within striking distance of the Stockades." Sasha countered, not feeling at all easy over Erin's suggestion.
Fortunately, the weather was cold, and most about them also had their faces shrouded, against the icy wind. So they didn't look in any way suspicious to passers-by. The trio meandered along the snow-covered pathways of the Park quarter and crossed the bridge toward the Trade district. Sasha could not help but turn to gaze at the forbidding entrance to the Stockades as they crossed over. She stared down at the almost frozen waters, that drifted sluggishly in the canals below.
They found their way to The Gilded Rose, Crier Goodman was announcing all the latest happenings as they passed. One event was to Kali'vas, most noteworthy.
"You see, they are starting to talk about the scourge here too," Kali'vas mentioned. "Looks like there might be some substance in those rumors after all."
"By the Light! I really hope not!" Erin said, distress in her tone. "Scourge in the Eastern Plaguelands again! I hope they are wrong."
The door always stood open at the gilded Rose, in fact, it didn't seem to have a door at all. The establishment was open twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, except early on a Tuesday of course, to many complaints from the locals. Innkeeper Allison was always on deck to welcome travelers and hand out hearthstones.
Erin and Sasha tried to stay as obscured by their heavy cloaks as they could. They had decided that Kali'vas should do the talking, he was a stranger here after all. The two girls would likely be recognized.
"I'd like two rooms please."
"Well Sir, I only have one single, and a double available, will that be fine with you?" Allison asked.
"Yes certainly," Kali'vas took out his coin purse and paid the price she was asking for the night.
Allison escorted them up the wide wooden staircase to the upper floor. For an inn in a busy city, the place was very plain, but it was quieter up here away from the open entry and small dining room.
"These are the rooms," she said, handing them the keys. "Checkout is at eleven tomorrow morning."
The trio thanked her and she left.
"I guess I will take the single," Kali'vas indicated with a winsome smile, pulling back the cowl of his cloak, and shaking loose his abundant hair, as it was rather warm up here.
They settled down in their rooms, and all reconvened to sit on the large four-poster bed, beneath its royal blue canopy, to further fine-tune their plans. They spoke long into the night and didn't sleep until they were quite sure they had a workable scenario.
*****
They woke early, none of them had slept particularly well. Today anything could go wrong, yet the trio felt a sense of tight unity. They hoped that if all went smoothly, the infiltration would be a success, and they would all be riding out of Stormwind long before checkout time. Sasha once again covered Frostfyre's sizable tusks with Erin's scarf, and they left the inn long before the innkeeper was doling out breakfast.
The dawn was cold, gray, and gloomy, perfect for this reconnaissance. It was only a very short walk to the entrance to the Stockades from their lodging. There were only two entrances to this forbidding structure, with a pair of guardsmen posted at each. Sasha had to hope that once inside this unfamiliar space, she could quickly procure the information they sought. None of them were familiar with the layout of the prison, so she would be going in blind.
Sasha checked to see if any of the guards knew her, with a cursory pass by, once she was satisfied with her anonymity the trio began to enact their plan. She nodded at Erin and Kali'vas, and they began to conduct their 'dispute.'
Sasha waited, Erin and Kali'vas' voices were loud, echoing off the walls of the empty square, as Erin pretended she had been accosted by of all things a blood elf. Sasha was very impressed at her cousin's acting skills. If she had not have known her so well, she would have believed her distress. She hoped though the situation didn't get out of hand, and Kali'vas was arrested.
Shopkeepers emerged from their early morning store inventorying to see who was making all the fuss. She could hear the duo clearly, even from her distant vantage point as she waited with Frostfyre for the right moment to breach the defenses. Already she could see the closest pair of guards had been drawn into the argument, and to give their comrades back up the other two guards left their post. Sasha knew they were breaking protocol, but this was the moment she had been waiting for.
The potion bottle was warm in her hand, as she rubbed at the smooth enclosing glass, thumb ready to pop the cork.
'Frostfyre stay, lay low.'
She wordlessly commanded, as she crossed the distance to the Stockades entrance with purpose, consuming the little vial of liquid, as her slight form wavered for a moment, then blinked out of existence.
She had eighteen seconds to remain unseen. She ran into the large stone hall and looked about, the place was empty, and there were no guards in sight. She could sight the ominous entrance that ran down to the dank depths below, the prisons. She tried to imagine how it would have been for her love there. A creature of the wild, locked up without sun or fresh air, far below.
To the rear of this hall, there was located a small office. Sasha was running out of time. She made for it as fast as her legs could carry her. The potion wore off just as she ducked inside. Luckily there was no one there. Only a desk festooned with paperwork, a single chair, and a shelf full of ledgers lining the rear wall.
She scanned the papers on the desktop, but there was nothing of interest there. Then she examined the rows of ledgers on the shelf behind it. They were, fortunately, all dated, and in order, by date. She reached for one of the last ones, it was the book she sought. She opened it on the desktop and began thumbing through its pages. There were many entries made by hand in scrawling black script. It was only some moments before she found the list of orc captives taken that day in Redridge. There were pages of entries, orc prisoners transported to the Lorderon Internment camp. Some of the prisoners were named, and others only merited a description. Gorthan was not mentioned, nor was a Mag'har, or golden-eyed orc.
A terrible realization rose in her then, Gorthan didn't look at all like the Blackrock orcs. Even the most ignorant would realize he was Mag'har. With the dark portal incident in the Blasted Lands of recent times, perhaps SI 7 had taken an interest?
Oh by the Light, she hoped not! She could not save him then.
She cast about her frustrated, she had to leave here and soon, preferably before the guards resumed their posts.
The information must be somewhere!
In a last-ditch attempt for success, she opened the drawers in the desk, laying there among numerous other sundries was a small, red, leather bound book. It was old and stained. She flipped through the pages, the majority of them were blank, but the beginning few were filled out. That's when she saw the mention of the golden-eyed orc, and the dates correlated!
She shoved the small volume into her shirt front and pulled the second invisibility pot from her pants pocket.
