Chapter 43: A Torrential Rain in the Throne Hall |
Deep at night, the high walls of Stormwind Keep cast a forbidding shadow under the moonlight.
Wen Lei kept glancing back at Allen. "Are you sure this will work? Can it really understand what you want it to do?"
Allen gave a faint smile. "Don't worry about it."
Time rewinds to three hours earlier.
After escaping from Stormwind Prison, they hid temporarily in the Dwarf District. The carriage driver brought them to an old friend's blacksmith shop.
The blacksmith was a red-bearded dwarf named Blorn, and he was generous to a fault. The carriage driver only promised, "I'll buy you a good drink later," and the dwarf waved a huge hand, lending them the entire smithy.
There, Stella crafted an extraordinarily, extraordinarily, extraordinarily long grappling rope.
Allen planned to bypass everyone in Stormwind Keep and climb from the back of the keep straight into Varian's bedchamber.
How could the rope possibly hook that far?
"Hey, little guy, can you do me a favor?"
The sparrow tilted its head and chirped a flurry of sounds: "What are you doing? Got any food?"
Allen pulled out a handful of grains.
"Find me a bigger bird. These grains are yours."
The sparrow pecked a few grains and fluttered away.
Not long after, a plump pigeon flapped down before him.
"Human, are you calling me?" The pigeon's voice was slow and earnest.
Allen looked it over and shook his head. "You're not big enough. Find me a larger bird, and you'll be handsomely rewarded."
The pigeon cooed and flew off.
After a while, a sudden gust of wind pressed down from the sky.
Allen looked up and saw an eagle diving. Its wingspan was over a man's width, and clutched in its talons was that poor pigeon.
The eagle landed on the wall and released its grip.
The pigeon lay motionless on the ground, clearly dead.
"Human." The eagle spoke, its voice low and majestic. "I have heard that you are a wish-granting god of the wilds. Make a wish to you, and a reward will be returned."
Allen glanced at the innocent pigeon on the ground and his mouth twitched.
"Uh… you could say that. If you help me with a small task, I'll grant you a wish."
The eagle's eyes brightened.
"No problem, human." It lifted its head with extreme pride. "I desire the most dazzling plumage to attract a mate!"
Allen inspected the eagle's gray-brown feathers and nodded. "No problem."
The deal was sealed, and Allen, as promised, gave the pigeon a proper… proper burial.
As for the eagle's wish…
That night they quietly "borrowed" dye from a textile shop in the Dwarf District and painted the eagle a vivid pink. Allen left enough coin in the shop to cover the dye and labor.
Back in the present, the pink eagle sat ostentatiously on Allen's shoulder, strikingly conspicuous in the moonlight.
Allen muttered a few words to the pink eagle. It nodded, took the tip of the grappling rope in its beak, and shot into the sky.
Wen Lei tilted her head and followed the silhouette with sharp eyes.
She watched the eagle fly to the highest point of the keep, the Stormwind lion banner snapping in the night wind. It circled the flagpole, winding the rope round and round.
At the end, it even used its sharp beak and talons to tie a knot in the rope.
Wen Lei's eyelid twitched.
Is this… okay?
She turned to Allen with envy. So he really could talk to animals.
Judging by that, he was more suited to being a Ranger than she was.
"Go ahead." Allen made a hand gesture.
Wen Lei did not hesitate. She grabbed the rope, tested its stability with a hard pull, then launched herself upward.
Her silhouette in the moonlight was like a nimble cat, climbing the rope at a breathtaking speed.
Morgan went second.
Stella went third.
Allen dawdled until the end.
He grabbed the rope and looked up at the towering wall, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"I'm not afraid of heights," he murmured to himself. "I'm not afraid of heights. I have Feather Fall. Don't be scared, don't be scared…"
He drew a deep breath and began to climb.
---------------
In the king's bedchamber of Stormwind Keep, Varian lay in bed, frowning, tormented by endless nightmares.
Varian didn't know how long he had been in the dark.
A blood-red scene stretched before him.
He stood in the Throne Hall of Stormwind Keep.
Someone sat on the throne.
His father.
Llane Wrynn.
Garona's dagger pierced his chest, blood streaming down the throne, drop by drop onto the floor, pooling into a river of blood.
"Father…"
A young Varian knelt beneath the throne, his hands coated in blood. The warmth and stickiness of it seeped through his fingers, impossible to clean away.
"You must…"
His father's voice came from far away, broken, like a candle in the wind.
"You must… become a worthy king… you must…"
"I can't!" Varian shouted, terror loud in his voice. "I can't do it, Father! I can't!"
But his father's figure blurred, and along with the throne and the blood, dissolved into the darkness.
Then he saw the day the Orcs broke Stormwind.
The wall collapsed, flames towering, green-skinned monsters roaring as they poured through the gate.
He saw himself being carried away in panic, fleeing that burning city. Behind him was the ruin of his home, his father's kingdom, the blood of countless people.
"You must become a worthy king…"
His father's voice sounded again in his ear.
"You must…"
But another voice rose too.
"Run. Go somewhere safe. You can't do it. You're not capable. Run, run far away…"
It was his own voice.
The cowardly self that had taken root in his heart the day his father was murdered.
Over the years, that coward had lain dormant inside him, emerging whenever he was alone, weary, or frightened.
"No!" Varian ground his teeth. "I will not flee! I am Varian Wrynn! Even if I die fighting here, I will not run!"
But that cowardly self was so determined. He felt himself split into two: one who wanted to fight, one who only wanted to flee.
"I…"
He returned to the Throne Hall and lay weakly on the floor, staring up.
Above the Throne Hall were stained-glass windows.
Those windows once depicted the glorious deeds of Stormwind's kings.
Now those images were twisted.
They warped, reshaped, constantly changing: green-skinned Orcs, tentacled Demons, and… a black dragon.
A massive black dragon sprawled across the stained glass, its golden eyes staring through the panes, fixated on him.
They laughed.
They waited for him to break.
They waited for him to become a coward.
"I…"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A heavy impact sounded from overhead.
Varian raised his head in confusion.
The grotesque monsters on the stained glass had vanished. In their place stood a blurred human figure.
That figure stood beyond the thick glass, shouting something at him.
The voice filtered through the glass, distant and muffled, like words through water.
"…Rian…"
"…Wake…up…"
Who was it?
He watched the figure outside the glass, mouth opening and closing as if shouting.
"…We're here…to…rescue…wake up!"
The voice came in broken fragments but grew clearer. Varian forced his mind to focus to hear it.
"…Knock…this window…is it…unlocked?"
Varian saw the figure stand up.
"…Whatever…just break it…forget it…"
Then the figure leapt high.
A foot pushed off.
Bang—!!!
The stained glass exploded.
Countless colored shards rained like falling stars, glittering, spinning, cascading in the moonlight.
That shower of fragments was like a brilliant downpour, engulfing the entire Throne Hall. The twisted monsters, the crimson eyes—all dissolved with the shattering glass.
And that person, that figure, fell toward him through the rain of broken glass.
In the room, Varian finally opened his eyes.
Moonlight spilled through the broken window, illuminating the whole bedchamber.
A silhouette stood in the shattered window frame, backlit by the moon, face hidden. But Varian recognized the outline all too well.
Allen Prestor.
He stood amid the broken glass, night wind whipping his robes.
Moonlight traced a silver edge around him; the fallen shards glittered at his feet as if he were stepping on stars.
He steadied himself and brushed glass fragments from his clothes, then looked down at the man in the bed.
"You're finally awake. Get up, quick. Stormwind is about to be turned upside down!"
Varian opened his mouth, about to speak.
Outside, Wen Lei's voice called immediately:
"Allen! Are you okay?!"
Stella's small exclamation followed: "Wow! Our benefactor kicked the window open!"
And Morgan muttered in a low tone: "By the Light, this is the royal palace…"