Above the Stars and under the Flames

16. Fixing a Broken Toy

Rishe perused an ancient scroll, sitting at a table in her cave. An explosion of fire sounded behind Rishe, causing her to turn around. As the flames faded, she saw a new guest and offered a brief smile.

"Ah, Tharos," she greeted. "It is good to see you. Do you have a status report on the condition of your settlement?" She tilted her head, eyes boring into the man. She watched as he wrung his hands and dropped his gaze.

"Er.. well.. yes, sort of," he replied slowly, causing Rishe's eyes to narrow. "You see, I found a woman and her two friends-a dwarf and a human-who said that they were looking for Thellandria. The woman's name was Lorithiel, I believe; she claimed to be Thellandria's sister." He paused and took a deep breath.

Rishe frowned and scratched the back of her head. "We sent our best scouts and spies to locate her information. They said nothing about a sister-only that during an attack on her home, her sibling was killed."

"Presumed killed, actually," Tharos added nervously. "As it turns out, she's been alive this entire time." He paused, then continued. "I.. I confronted them and offered to escort them south, as I said I knew where Thellandria was. That way, I could get them out of the town and kill them more quietly."

Rishe folded her arms across her chest. "What do you want, a trophy? I'm not here to shower you in praise for your deeds," she snapped sourly. "Tell me where you are going with this."

Tharos bit his lip. "Well.. er.. when I attacked them, I suppose I had.. underestimated their ferocity, and.." He swallowed hard. "I killed one, and then.. then I barely escaped with my life." He slowly lifted his gaze up to meet Rishe's.

Rishe stared at him for a long time, then slowly rose from her seat and walked over to him. Swift as a hare, she sent a sharp smack across his cheek, causing him to stumble back. He cupped his cheek in pain, then sent a frightened glance up at Rishe, who was looking down her nose at him.

"You fool," she spat. "You incompetent, idiotic, bumbling buffoon! You're just like my brother! The both of you, complete simpletons!" She growled and clenched her fists angrily. "You do realize that Hyjal is the first place they will look? You have basically told the enemy exactly where to find us!"

Tharos flinched and cowered back a bit. "I didn't mean to; honestly, I tried to stop them-"

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU TRIED," Rishe bellowed, eyes ablaze. "You FAILED. And I do NOT accept failure." She snarled menacingly, then pointed angrily toward the exit of the cave. "We are going to need our Champion of the Flame. Lirandil and I will perform the final ritual, and we cannot afford to be interrupted. In the mean time..." She jabbed her finger once again toward the exit. "You are going to get back out there," she said slowly, gritting her teeth, "and you are going to wait for them to come. When they do, you are going to kill them." She reached her other hand up and yanked on the man's hair, causing him to yelp. "Do you hear me? You're not going to try to kill them. You are going to kill them. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Tharos gulped and nodded quickly. "Crystal," he squeaked. Rishe released him, and he scrambled out of the cave, disappearing into another eruption of flames.

Meanwhile, nearby, Lorithiel and Koran were crossing the border into Mount Hyjal, followed by Dimpy, who was, at this point, getting a bit used to the idea of getting tossed around like a sack of potatoes. They flew over the mountain tops and entered into Hyjal, then lowered themselves closer to the ground so that they could get a better look at their surroundings.

Suddenly, a bolt of fire came hurtling past them, scarcely missing their heads. They pulled back immediately, then glanced down to look for the source of the spell. Below them, on the ground, they saw a flame druid conjuring another attack.