A Painful Memory

I had never been to Thunder Bluff before. I had never even been out of Durotar before. We rode the zep... zeb... big balloon from Orgrimmar to Thunder Bluff, and my new daddy pointed out all kinds of exciting places that he had seen during his adventures. We saw the Barrens, with herds of animals. Some of them looked very scary. We saw lots of lions. I like lions.

My daddy can change himself to look like a lion. He looks kind of scary, but I knew the first time I saw him that he was really nice. He saved me from a big rock monster. He was a lion then. Most of the time he is a Tauren. Tauren are very big, and they have horns and hoofs - even the girls. Sometimes my daddy looks like a bear. That is really scary. But I know it is still him, and I love him even when he is a bear. But I am glad when he changes back into a lion, or a Tauren.

The balloon crossed over the mountains into Mulgore. My new daddy was very excited, because he was born in Mulgore. He showed me a small village far away by a big lake. That is where he was born. He called it "Bloodhoof". Mulgore has lots of lions too, and birds and wolves. There are also big animals called "kodo". My daddy has a kodo that he can ride on. They make the ground shake when they walk.

Mulgore is also very green. It is very different from Durotar where I was born, and it is different from the Barrens that we flew over. Durotar is always dusty and hot. There are not many plants, and the ones that do grow there have thorns. Mulgore looks like a happy place with lots of grass, plants and trees, and it does not have dust. There is lots of water, too. Not big, like the ocean, but much bigger than the fishing pond in Orgrimmar. The air is nice and cool.

The big balloon stopped at a bridge next to a high hill with tents on it, and we were in Thunder Bluff. There were bridges to other hills. My daddy called them "mesas". We walked down the bridge to the mesa and I looked all around. I never knew that anyone lived so high up in the air. I would not want to fall!

My daddy says the balloon is called a "zeppelin". They can fly all over the world, and the goblins make them. They fly them too. Goblins are even shorter than me, and they are always green. I saw goblins at the engineering shops in Orgrimmar, across the valley from the orphanage. I like engineering, because I like to make things. Goblins are kind of scary because they have big smiles with lots of teeth, and strange voices. But they also like engineering, so they must not be all bad.

We walked across a long bridge to another mesa. I looked down through the planks and saw the ground far away below us. There were some animals walking around down there, and a person too. There were ropes along the edges of the bridge to keep us from falling off. The next mesa had many merchants. My new daddy knew lots of people. He had been gone for a long time, and many people wanted to know about Northend and somebody called the Licking. I didn't really know what they were talking about, so I looked at all the trees and mountains. And people. Many of them were Tauren, but there were others too. I waved at a couple of trolls, and they smiled at me. I saw lots of trolls in Orgrimmar too. Some of them said they remembered my real mom and dad. I don't really remember them, though.

When my daddy was talking, suddenly lots of people started to point up in the air. Some of them screamed. I looked up too, and the zeppelin was there. Only it wasn't the same zeppelin. And it was on fire. Then we heard someone shouting "BURN WITH ME!". My daddy looked in that direction and then turned me around so I could not see. He asked the shop keeper to watch me. Her name was Fyr. My daddy ran toward the other mesa, shouting to someone else that wore a brown cloak just like his. "It's Quickhorn!" he shouted. They rushed away.

Fyr talked to me, but I was not paying attention. I was curious about where my daddy had gone. I asked Fyr if I could walk around and look at the other merchant shops. She said it was okay as long as I stayed within her sight. I watched until she had another customer, and then I sneaked away in the direction my daddy had gone. I soon saw him with a small group of people. Some of them were wearing brown coats. All of them seemed to be talking excitedly, maybe arguing. They were looking at one Tauren who looked like he was on fire. He was the one who shouted "BURN WITH ME!" Another person was doing something with her hands that made a golden light shoot at the burning man. Suddenly, I felt my legs become weak and I remembered my real mommy and daddy. I fell and everything went dark.

-----

The ball of blue flames danced above his palm. It crackled with excitement as it obeyed each of his commands. He laughed and laughed as the flames danced. A female troll - his wife? - sat nearby, concern etched across her face.

"Xar'tek, dis be unwise. Dat charm have fel magics wit'in it. You canna' control it."

"It be nothin', dear. Look, dey be harmless flames."

"Dat's not what I be callin' it. Dis 'harmless' toy already be costin' ya your best frien'."

"Cut da foolish talk, woman. Vol'mar don'a know fel magic from 'is own backside."

Suddenly the flames burst up brightly. They wrapped around the troll's hands, imprisoning them in a wreath of flame. He tried to pull back, but his arms were suddenly powerless. Then a dark, evil laugh ripped from his throat. The flames grew brighter and colder. He began to speak. "Zalaz..."

The little girl watched from the shadows as her mother rushed to strike the amulet from her husband's hand. The flames engulfed the pair, there was a bright flash and the room was empty. She screamed and ran from the house. A blue comet raced above the surface of the ocean, headed for the dark islands on the horizon.

They never returned to the house. Nor did she. She could not - must not.

-----

I woke up to find my new daddy leaning over me, while Fyr stood behind twisting her hands. His face was stern, but I could hear the care in his voice when he spoke.

"You sure know how to find trouble, little one. Or follow it."

"The fire - the one on fire. What happened?"

"We're going to find out. We're going to stop it."

I was not sure if he believed it, but I knew he meant it. My daddy can fix anything.