A Room With No View

There wasn't usually much light in the cell anyway, but the little that had been suddenly reduced by half. He stretched to look out the high, tiny window. It only afforded a small view of the roof next door and the sky beyond. A sky suddenly filled with dark ash and ominous clouds. Outside he could hear indistinct shouting, though most of it was muffled by the mumbling and chanting from the cells around him.

What's going on out there? Does anybody even know I'm here? Did Gammok let one of the Browncoats know about my arrest? Did he get arrested too, after the scene at the gate? What happened to the device - did it ever make it to the Earthen Ring?

How could I have been so stupid, not to realize that I would have to dismount?

Maybe if something is going on out there, I'll have an opportunity to form some new questions.

He paced up and down in front of the door again, glancing out occasionally to see if a guard would wander by. Anymore they mostly ignored him; the only excitement any of them had shown had occurred the previous evening when he had shifted into cat form and prowled to the corner of the cell during the evening head count. He had hoped one of them would open the door and present an opportunity to escape, but apparently they'd seen this trick before. The guard verified that both the door and the window were closed and locked, then called a nearby hunter with the ability to track hidden things. Within a few seconds, the hunter had verified his presence within the cell and marked him. The guard had not even said a word as he dejectedly came out of stealth and slumped by the wall, but merely chuckled and walked away.

I wonder why they keep the jail in the Valley of Honor?

From the various sounds around him, he had come to the conclusion that about half the prisoners were actual cultists. The others had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or with the wrong items in their possession. However, the cultists were making tremendous progress in recruiting the rest. With the unusual events in the city, even some of the guards appeared to be listening more closely.

He glanced again at the small, barred window. The ash seemed to be falling even thicker now. The shouting seemed to have settled down, though there was an occasional outcry. Of course, the back of the Valley of Honor was far from the center of any activity.

An earthquake shook the ground. After a while one tended not to notice them much, since they never did much damage. However, this one continued for a minute or two longer than normal. He could now hear the worgs in the stable next door, howling and snapping. The shaking eventually stopped, but there was still an odd rumble in the air. Then the rumble was mixed with the clash of arms and the barked orders of military commanders.

He went to the cell door and looked around. One terrified guard ran down the hallway toward the main door, ignoring the questions and calls from the prisoners. The guard disappeared through the doorway, only to return within seconds, his face an even more sickly shade of green. Close behind him, a large earth elemental pounded the ground at his heels. The guard apparently hoped the doorway would halt or slow the elemental, but it paid the doorway no mind, crashing through the door and the wall beside it.

The guard grabbed a staff from a nearby rack and turned, ready to make a stand.

Hey, thats... "Hey, you jerk, that's my staff! If it gets damaged, I'll..."

He clearly didn't know what to do with a staff, especially one with flails attached to the headpiece. His swing missed and he nearly brained himself in the process. The elemental never slowed, even when the end of the staff poked it in the eye. The first impact from the boulder fist sent the staff clattering to the floor as the guard smacked against the far wall in a spread-eagle position. His eyes rolled back as he crumpled to the floor.

Having lost his target, the elemental now looked around for another. Sixty pairs of eyes glinted back at it in the darkness, and it rumbled in indecision. Matosawitko decided that it was time to act.

"Come here, you!" he taunted. "Let's see how tough you are without this wall between us!"

Moving with surprising speed, the elemental hurled itself at the cell door. The beams and bars shuddered, but held.

"Is that all you've got? No wonder we're not really scared of you!"

With the second blow, the door casing began to crack. Dust and stones were falling around Mato, but he held his ground. The elemental reared back and delivered its third blow.

As the elemental's rock arms began to move forward, Mato shifted into bear form and launched himself at the bottom half of the doorway. He hit the door just after the elemental's strike ripped it from the wall. The rotation from the elemental's force combined with his own caused the door to spin upward out of his way, striking a hard blow on the elemental's head as it passed. Mato shifted out of form, grabbed his staff from the floor, rolled with the momentum and shifted into cat form in one fluid motion. He glanced back to make sure the elemental was still following and leaped through the enlarged doorway of the jail.

I'll just have to worry about armor later.

The scene outside was one of utter chaos. A few horrified citizens ran screaming or cowered in terror. Nearby, a large rift spewed earth elementals even larger than the one he had just faced. On the other side of the valley he could see a similar rift spawning fire elementals. Around both milled a crowd of guards and citizens, fighting against the elementals with anything at their disposal. Two guards protected a small portal, into which most of the terrified citizens were fleeing. Other guards appeared to be erecting large siege barriers.

Having taken all of this in with a glance, Mato was reminded of his own, more pressing problem when he felt the earth begin to rumble beneath him from the approaching elemental. Turning to face it, he decided that it must have been a scout since it was barely half the size of the ones milling around down the street. It still was not one to be trifled with, however. He dodged its first attempt to crush him, using the opportunity to pounce behind it.

Mangle. Rake. Gah, it's turned already - can't shred. Mangle. breathe. Dodge. Rip. Sit still, you overgrown pebble! This is easier with a tank. Or, you know, somebody with armor. Mangle. breathe. Rake. Hey, let's go find a tank!

He turned abruptly in mid-strike and fled down the street toward the melee at the nearest rift. As the elemental neared the group, a nearby warrior taunted it and it turned away to attack him.

That's better. Okay, I had two strikes on it already. Let's put some hurt on it. Shred. Shred. Ooh, nice crit. Rip is still up, let's Ferocious Bite it. Ouch, think I maybe broke a tooth. Note to self - don't FB these guys anymore. More combos. Let's see. Mangle. Rake. breathe. Shr...

The warrior's axe crashed down on the elemental's head, splitting the rock cleanly in two. The rest of the elemental came apart in a shower of rocks and stones. Mato breathed hard for a second, then sprinted back up the street toward the jail in search of the rest of his gear. After a brief but frantic search, he found it neatly piled in a cabinet near the rack where his staff had been. He slapped the armor onto his body as he ran out of the building, ignoring the cries from those in the other cells.

As he approached the jumbled crowd ahead, he heard a small voice crying to his right. He turned, seeing the orphanage just ahead and a large elemental rumbling at its doorway. The cries came from inside. Shifting into cat form, he stealthed and slipped past the elemental into the building.

A small Troll girl sat huddled in the back corner, sobbing in terror. Somehow she had been lost in the evacuation and had returned to the only safety she knew. He padded back to her.

"Hi, I know you can't see me, but I'm here to help you."

The girl squeaked in terror, looking around with saucer eyes.

"Why can't I see you? How do I know you're not another scary monster?"

"Do you know what a Tauren is?"

"Oh, yes, the cow-people. Are you a Tauren? But they're big! I should be able to see a big person. Matron Battlewail says I have very good eyes."

"I am a druid. That means I can change shape. One of my shapes is a large cat, like a lion. When I look like a cat, I can prowl. That means I sneak around without anyone seeing me."

"I like cats. We have a cat that lives here in the orphanage. I don't know where he went, though. He ran away when the rock monsters came."

"If you promise not to scream, can I come out of my prowl now? Become visible, I mean?"

"Okay."

When he materialized in front of her, she let out a quiet "eep," but quickly relaxed.

"I've seen cats like you in the city before. Sometimes they're with people who carry guns or bows. I thought they were pets."

"Some are just lions. The ones with horns are Tauren druids, and we are no one's pets."

She giggled at this.

"My name is Matosawitko. It means 'Crazy Red Bear'."

She giggled again. "You don't look crazy. Or like a bear. Your hair is kind of red, though."

"My father hoped I would be a great druid tank - like a warrior. But I never really liked it. 'Red' is fairly obvious. I'm not sure about the 'crazy' part. So what is your name?"

She looked down. "I did not have a name in Sen'jin. None of my friends did, either. We had not yet earned a name. After..." She paused. "When I came here, Matron Battlewail called me Lith'atal. But I don't even know what it means. I wish I had a real name." Her eyes began to fill again.

He reached a velveted paw under her chin and lifted her grimy, tear-stained face. "Lith'atal is a beautiful name. Perhaps you will grow into it. Or perhaps you will find your true name. How old are you, Lith'atal?"

"I will be ten my next birthday."

"So you will soon leave the orphanage to learn a trade or profession?"

She nodded.

"What do you want to do? What kinds of things do you like?"

"I like making things. Matron says I would make a good engineer - I like figuring out how things work. Of course, she asked me not to take apart any more things in the orphanage, after the bunk-bed fell down." She giggled again, the clouds from a moment ago forgotten once again.

"Oh, my. Well, that's understandable. I know many fine engineers. If you want to be an engineer, you probably want to learn how to mine ore, too. That is a good skill - it will make your body tough and strong. Anything else?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye for a second. "I... I think I would like to be a druid. Like you. Can I be a druid?"

"It is rare, but not unheard of. I met a troll druid once." She smiled with glee, but he grabbed her hands before she could clap. "Shhh.... I think it's time we get you out of here to safety."

"Okay. Is the rock monster gone yet?"

He turned. The elemental was no longer by the door. "I'm going to disappear again for a moment. I will be back for you. Wait right here." Stealthing himself once again, he prowled to the door and looked out.

The elemental invasion appeared to be winding down. The rifts appeared to have closed, and the elementals that remained were vastly outnumbered by defenders. Rock shards and elemental bracers littered the ground. He left stealth and turned back into the room. "I think it's safe, Lith'atal. I will take..."

The doorway shattered around him, spraying shards around the room. He rolled to the left as the elemental's fist smashed to the floor in the spot where his hindquarters had just been. Getting to his feet, he sprinted out into the street, shouting behind him as he went. "Stay there, and stay down! I'll be right back!"

The elemental lumbered after him, back toward the melee once again. Unlike the previous fight, he found it difficult to shake in its determined efforts to turn him into a Tauren pancake. However, as he dodged around, avoiding the elemental's blows, other fighters ran to his aid, attacking the elemental from every side. They quickly destroyed it, and then roared with approval as they noticed that no others remained. Slipping out of the crowd, he returned to the orphanage to retrieve Lith'atal.

"Lith'atal? Lith? It's safe now. Where are you?"

Trembling at the silence, he burst through the orphanage door. "Lith'atal?"

The girl lay at the end of a bunk-bed, a nasty cut oozing on her forehead. A rock from the doorway lay nearby.

"Oh, Lith'atal!" He stood frozen for a moment. Then she groaned, and he sprang into action. Laying one hand on her forehead and another on her shoulder, he began casting Healing Touch - the restoration spell he knew the best. He concentrated on her small face as the healing magic flowed through her. The spell complete, he sat back and continued to watch her intently. Then her eyes fluttered open and she smiled thinly.

"You're a lot bigger than you were before."

He chuckled. "And very much relieved, now that you're awake again. Come, we need to get you to a real medic."

He stooped and picked her up like a sack, her body hanging over his large arm. She giggled that giggle that made his heart skip a beat. "You don't know much about carrying kids around, do you?"

"I'll learn."

----

The medics at the clinic in the Drag had taken good care of Lith'atal's cut, and she rested easily all night as Mato sat beside the cot watching over her. They returned to the orphanage in the morning, Lith'atal riding on his shoulder with one arm wrapped around his neck. Matron Battlewail met them at the door. Matosawitko spoke first.

"Matron, I discovered something completely unexpected yesterday. Or, someone, rather. And even with all of the crazy things going on right now, I don't want to let her go. I want to adopt Lith'atal as my daughter."