"Are you sure this is what Khadgar intended?" Pinter asked from the saddle of her silverback Talbuk.
Corneas sat high on his mount and stuck out his chest, the typical reaction Pinter had seen from the Night Elf whenever she or Mandala asked him something concerning the Archmage. "I speak only what the mage tells me," Corneas said. "If there's a possibility of aid, he reaches for it. You should know him by now, Commander."
"I don't like splitting up," Pinter said. "And I don't like strangers being short with me, regardless of who they work for."
"My apologies," Corneas said, although Pinter wondered how sorry the Night Elf really was. He was a rogue. Pinter hated rogues. Mandala had exhibited the same distaste in the town hall as Corneas briefed them on Khadgar's mission, glancing at Pinter from the corner of her blue-lit eyes. But Khadgar himself had spoken to them via a portal, and Pinter put her trust in the Archmage.
They were raiding Highmaul. They were to ride with Corneas into Nagrand, past the Broken Precipice, right up to the gates of the Walled City. There they would meet seven other Alliance adventurers, and they would penetrate the Ogre fortress and overthrow Imperator Mar'gok, the Sorcerer King, disrupting the Iron Horde's plans and denying Grammosh Hellscream of a powerful ally. It was a simple plan, but there was something in Corneas's eyes and in the way he acted when pressed for details. It was like he was hiding something. Pinter didn't like being in the dark.
And she definitely didn't like being treated like a child, which is how Corneas had treated her since they split up with Mandala. A rune stone bearing the Kirin Torr insignia had suddenly glowed in Corneas's pocket. It was Khadgar, or at least his voice. Apparently the water incarnations at the Throne of the Elements had agreed to provide a stamina orb to the raiding party. Mandala needed to head north while Pinter and Corneas continued west to the Walled City. The Draenei had narrowed her eyes at Corneas, and Pinter felt her friend's rising urge to turn her talbuk around and ride straight to Zangara to see Khadgar in the flesh. But they had split up. Now Mandala was alone somewhere, and Pinter and Corneas were on the road heading west.
"It is a beautiful day, though, Commander," Corneas said as the silence between them grew thicker than a clefthoof hide.
"Indeed," Pinter said. And it was a terrific day. Nagrand days were always a deep sapphire blue sky over rolling hills of lush, green grass. Pinter had seen nothing so beautiful since the Redridge Mountains of Azeroth. She breathed the clean air and let the day soothe her anxiety. It was probably nothing. Corneas obviously had the social skills of a basilisk. In Pinter's experience, rogues were either charismatic braggarts who talked so fast you were in bed with them before you remembered saying hello, or they were complete and utter drolls who were experts of their trade but inept at making friends. Neither was particularly desirable, but Corneas struck Pinter as the latter. At least he would be a valuable fighter when they were inside the Walled City.
"Have you spent much time in Nagrand?" Corneas asked.
"A little," Pinter said. "I helped Yrel build her watch post. And I raided Ironfist Harbor not too long ago with Mandala."
"Have you ever crossed paths with the Mok'Gol riders?" Corneas asked.
"No," Pinter said with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"
"Curiosity," Corneas said. "They are expert wolf riders as I understand. If the Mok'Gul come and you are less than three, you are wise to leave the road and lower your head until they are out of sight. Or so I understand."
"I'll be sure to remember that," Pinter said. Her bow itched on her back, and she removed it, holding it loosely at her side, holding her talbuk reins in one hand.
"Of course as a rogue I can blend with my surroundings and no one will be the wiser that I am there," Corneas said. "So I have a bit of an advantage if our luck turns sour."
"Let's hope you don't have to," Pinter said.
Half a mile ahead there was a thick copse of trees, the wooded border of Ogre territory in Nagrand. The river flowed peacefully on their left with a small herd of elekk grazing lazily on the banks. If Corneas's company was all Pinter had to suffer between here and the Walled City then all the better. They entered the forest and were cast immediately in shade. Golden patches of sunlight glowed through the treetops, but the air cooled considerably as they rode deeper into the dark. Pinter drew her cloak around her arms as a chill overtook her.
A small shadow stumbled out of the trees on the side of the road. Pinter drew up her talbuk and raised her bow with an arrow aimed for the kill. "Who are you in the darkness?" Pinter demanded. "Identify yourself or taste my arrow."
"Easy, Commander," Corneas said, holding out his hand to calm Pinter. "This one is a friend. You are a friend, aren't you, Jeezelrod?"
Pinter lowered her bow as a Goblin came into view. The last time she saw a member of the Steamwheedle Preservation Society was when she came through here with Yrel, but she recognized the purple excavation uniform of their diggers. This little fellow was a far cry from the energetic Steamwheedle Goblins that dashed so comically about their headquarters here in Nagrand. Jeezelrod's ears drooped low, and his bald green head was dotted with a few liver spots. He grinned at Pinter and Corneas, revealing a smile replete with missing teeth. "I'm friendly enough," Jeezelrod said. "I heard you were coming and I thought I would offer you a drink. If that's okay with you, Commander Pinter."
"How do you know me?" Pinter asked, her bow still half ready.
"Anyone who is anyone in Nagrand knows Commander Pinter," Jeezelrod said. "If you travel my road, Commander Pinter, you are my guest."
"That's very nice of you," Corneas said as he dismounted his talbuk, much to Pinter's irritation. He clapped Jeezelrod on the back, the little Goblin coming up to the Night Elf's waist, and they walked to a picnic basket in the brush just off the road.
Did I say it was all right
, Pinter thought, but she bit her tongue and dismounted, guiding the two mounts to the roadside. She joined the Night Elf and Goblin as Jeezelrod held out a cup full of wine. She accepted it only slightly reluctantly.
Pinter waited for Corneas to take a drink before she indulged. The wine bit sweetly on the edges of her tongue. Pinter swallowed and took another drink.
"Word has it you are raiding Highmaul," Jeezelrod said.
"Who told you?" Pinter asked.
"Word gets around in Nagrand," Jeezelrod said. "But I wouldn't worry. We keep to ourselves. Don't we, Corneas?"
Corneas downed the rest of his wine and held out his cup for a second helping. "Tight as a drum," he said.
"Don't overdo it," Pinter said as she sat down beside a large oak tree. "We still have a raid to complete."
"I fight better after a little indulgence," Corneas said.
"Just be ready," Pinter said. "Last thing I need is you wandering into a mob of Ogres before we're prepared." She had had enough of her wine and put down the cup.
"Did Khadgar say if the other raiders had arrived?" Corneas asked Jeezelrod.
