Above the Stars and under the Flames

3. An Adventure to Remember

Lorithiel growled in frustration, nudging with her feet at the sides of the Darkmoon pony she sat upon. "Dimpy! Move, damn you!" she exclaimed, grumbling sourly. "Gah! I knew I should have bought the dancing bear when I had the chance." She huffed an exasperated sigh, then slipped off of her mount and landed with a squish in a muddy puddle.
"Elwynn Forest," she muttered, tromping through the damp soil as she made her way from the Darkmoon Faire staging site to Goldshire. "It just had to rain today, didn't it?" Her leather boots clicked onto hard stone as she found herself standing on the town's cobblestone roads. She heaved a sigh, then brushed a strand of soaked hair away from her face and began walking through.

The area was bustling with activity. The blacksmith's building was emitting a loud racket, with shouts and calls coming from inside, and large billows of smoke erupting from the chimney. The tradesmen all stood around beneath their tents, haggling with customers and roaring out their advertisements in futile attempts to overcome the noise of pounding rain. The stable boys were guiding their horses beneath shelter, while the steeds whinnied and neighed against the touch of falling water on their pelts.

A blonde-haired woman walked by, holding a basket of bread that was protected by a thick cloth. Her hair was drenched, but she was clearly intent on completing the day's job.

"Oi look, it's Miss Kira Songshine!" a man yelled, gesturing toward the woman.

"Hey, Kira! We were about to head inside the Lion's Pride! Why don't you join us?" another man exclaimed, cackling mirthfully.

Kira scoffed and waved her hand. "Me, go in there? Would you like my dad to blow his gasket?" she replied, then laughed. "Perhaps you'd enjoy the idea of him chopping your manly parts off?" This earned her a flurry of raucous laughter.

Lorithiel blinked, then chuckled faintly to herself. Ah, of course, she thought. The infamous Lion's Pride Inn. How could I have forgotten? She could hear some of the unsavory sounds coming from nearby inn, and she wrinkled her nose a bit. I think it would be best if we avoided that.

She continued onward, trudging down the cobblestone road, jumping around puddles every few seconds. Stormwind, here I come. One step closer to finding my family, she thought to herself, squinting through the dense rain as the shapes of Stormwind's gates began to come into her vision, looming up into the stormy sky.

Lorithiel walked through the streets of the city, wrapping her cloak around herself tighter and pulling down her hood a bit as the rain continued to fall. She eventually came across a building in the middle of the Trade District. Outside, a sign hung from its roof.

"Weller's Arsenal," she read in a murmur. Smiling a bit, she roped her pony to a post nearby and went inside, pulling her hood down and glancing around the shop.

A man behind the counter waved her over. "Say, miss elf! Are you looking for anything in particular? Can I interest you in the finest weapons this city has to offer?" he inquired, grinning up at her in a hopeful manner.

Lorithiel pulled out a satchel of gold from her bag and fingered through it, pulling out a decent amount of gold. "Give me your best. I'm going to need it," she replied, looking down at the money in her palm. It had been the money her parents were saving up for a family vacation, but of course.. there would be no family vacation anymore, so Lorithiel felt it would do no harm to put the gold to good use.

The man blinked at the coins, then scurried around the store, searching through boxes upon boxes for a few minutes until finally coming back, a lethally sharp dagger resting in his hand. "Northern Kris," he whispered. "The blade is made of the sturdiest, most trusty Arathorian steel, and the hilt is wrapped in the strongest leather from the winter-hardened rams of Alterac."