True Love- A Goblin Tale

The tavern in Silvermoon was bustling, the decorative tables laden with food and the soft divans covered with lounging patrons idly chatting away. Here and there a voice would rise above the din in laughter or anger before the general buzzing drone of conversation continued on its way. Drinks flowed freely, and the atmosphere was light and celebratory throughout the confines of the place. That was, of course, with the exception of a lone patron sitting at one of the tavern's smaller tables.

The elf was best described as golden. His long flowing golden hair cascaded down around his sun-kissed skin, resting atop the shoulder plates of his gold and red armor. On the floor beside him sat a leather backpack with golden thread and a sheathed sword, it's length predictably decorated with gold. Although the Sin'dorei sat in brooding silence, given his appearance the sudden arrival of a second patron at his table was somewhat less than surprising.

At first the elf didn't notice as the small goblin woman slipped into the chair across from him. Swaying drunkenly, she placed a large bottle on the table in front of her and then promptly rested her hands on the bottle's neck and chin on her hands, peering at the golden elf through her glazed, purple little beady eyes. She sighed happily, just taking in the look of all that GOLD!

After a time, the brooding elf noticed his diminutive and uninvited drinking companion, his fel green eyes meeting her gaze. Not too politely, he growled out a few words in a low tone, “Can I help you with something?”

The goblin giggled, the high pitched sound discordant amongst the relatively melodious sounds of the laughing Sin'dorei in the tavern. After a moment she stopped, lifting her head up and offering him a sharp smile. “The name's Zeppi Sparkflash, honey. You can call me Zepp or Z if you'd like though. As for helpin' me, I just saw you sittin' there and started wondering what could make a doll like you so gloomy.”

The Sin'dorei's eyes widened slightly for a moment and he snorted, “I don't see how that's any of your business goblin. Why don't you go find someone else to swindle?”

Zeppi's face fell for a moment and then she shrugged and took a long pull from her bottle. “Don't gotta be like that honey. Besides, I already got business in Quel'Thalas. Buncha nobles hired me from some coalition or another.”

She set her bottle down and squinted at the golden elf, making him shift somewhat uncomfortably. “The way I figure it, either someone died or you lost something pretty special.”

The Sin'dorei nodded once, sighing as he spoke, “That is an astute guess. If you insist on sitting there, I will admit that I've lost something dear to me. It's not something you would understand though. My one and only beloved has run off with another you see, which is why I was sitting alone enjoying my solitude.”

Zeppi perked up in her seat, shaking her head even as the elf finished speaking and completely ignoring the not-so-subtle hint to leave. “What do you mean I don't understand? You lost your first love. 'Course I know what it's like to have a first love!”

The little green woman nodded vigorously as the elf looked at her with some degree of disbelief. She took another pull from her bottle and set it down again, more firmly this time. “Love's the thing that makes your heart race like an engine on turbo. It blooms in your heart like the biggest explosion you could ever see. It cuts through the night's darkness like...um, like a welder's torch cuts through metal! No matter how far you travel, or even how fast, you're always gonna remember your very first love. Can't ever forget 'bout it, because it turned your heart's key for the first time. Ya see sugar, I know alllll about it. Had just as much of it as you did!”

The elf blinked a few times, absorbing the rather unusual lecture that a goblin of all things had given him, watching the little woman sway drunkenly in place as she made her final point. For her part, Zeppi swept up her bottle, taking another gulp as she continued on.

“I remember my first love clear as day, sugar. It was back when I was home with my Ma and Pa. They ran a sweet little chop shop outta the house ya know? Had all kinds of trikes and tricked out rides comin' in and out of the place, and all sorts of folks. Sometimes even a few that were in the Trade Prince's eye ya know? It was there that I first found love. I remember the feelin' I got in the pit of my stomach. The way my heart raced each time my eyes caught a glimpse. I remember layin' in bed at night, wishing I could slip outta bed and knowin' my Pa's custom built security system would take out half the house if I tripped it. Let me tell you goldie, those were the best times of my life, and they got even better once I got to be WITH my love.”

The elf snorted, taking a sip from his own neglected wine glass as the goblin's story wound down and she sat across from him, staring happily into empty space and lost in a drunken stupor of memories. After a moment, he interrupted her daydreaming, his tone softer, “And what happened to your love? Did you lose it as I have? Did cruelty snatch it from you when you thought it would be yours forever?”

Zeppi shook her head, coming out of her trance and grinning at the elf, “Nah, wasn't nothin' like that. Fuel tank leak caused this HUGE fireball. It was really amazing to see, but man am I gonna miss that trike. Was my very first one ya know? Nearly four feet long with custom alloy rims, eighteen hundred horsepower dual throttle, turbo charged engine. And it even had a sweet nitro-boost rocket on the back for extra speed. Painted the thing this beautiful red color, even put a little heart on the side. I can't even tell you how many street races I won with it, and how much coin. Was some of the best years of my life when I was growin' up.”

The Sin'dorei nearly spit out his wine, his face breaking into a scowl as he slammed the delicate glass down, nearly shattering it. His head leaned forward, his golden hair half-covering part of his face. “Are you trying to tell me you are comparing the loss of the love of my life to a trike that you had once that exploded?!”

Zeppi blinked at the Sin'dorei, tilting her head sideways in confusion, “Course I am sugar. As far as I'm thinkin', it don't matter one bit what it is that makes your heart race. What matters is the FEELING you get when it does. That moment when your blood is pulsing and you know, without havin' to second guess, you KNOW that you belong in that moment. If that's not love, what's the point of it?”

The elf across from her leaned back in his chair, falling into a brooding silence. Zeppi took another sip from her bottle, frowning when she discovered it was empty. She shrugged, setting it on its side and idly spinning it on the table, a grin creeping across her face. She began to speak, her words almost slurred with drink, “You know goldie, the best way to get past a loss like that's to go and get your heart pumpin' again. Why don't you go order us another bottle and get one of the nicer rooms here. I don't gotta be back at the worksite til morning.”

The Sin'dorei's eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he sat up in a huff. “I should certainly think NOT, Miss Sparkflash. I didn't ask for your company at my table OR your advice, and I certainly don't need...whatever it is you're implying.”

Zeppi shrugged, her laughter floating out and jarring with the general droning of conversation within the tavern, “Honey, I was just jokin' with you. Judging by the fake diamonds you got on your ears, I'm gonna guess you can't afford the kinda wine OR room I'd like anyway sweetie.”

The elf flushed red with outrage, his hands darting up to his ears, “W-what...how DARE you...do you have any IDEA how much these cost? I had them imported from...from...”

His face fell as a toothy grin cross Zeppi's face. Her voice finished his sentence for him, “From a goblin who got them from some pirate's cove, right dollface?”

The Sin'dorei abruptly rose from his chair, his face so flushed with anger he could hardly speak. As he stormed off, Zeppi's laughter followed him, redoubled now at his embarrassment. After he was gone she laughed to herself at the table for some time before she noticed the glint of red and gold near where the elf had been sitting. She leaned down, looking under the table and spotting his travel pack and sword. With an even larger grin her deft little hands soon had the coin-purse he'd accidentally abandoned.

Zeppi leaned back up in her chair and waved one of the tavern's barmaids over, nodding to the Sin'dorei as the other approached. “Hey toots, can you get us another bottle of your best wine? Golden boy had to go relieve himself but he'll be back. He said put it on his tab.”

The waitress nodded and hurried off to fill the order while Zeppi grinned and grinned.

Ten minutes later the little goblin woman was walking drunkenly towards the Sheppard's Gate, a bottle of extremely expensive, imported wine in her hand and a song floating discordantly from her lips hovering drunkenly in the air around her. At her belt, a thick pouch of golden coins jingled.

Sometimes you get to meet the love of your life more than once.

To Cheat A Goblin

A high pitched laugh echoed through the golden forest, the sound playfully flowing through the warm breeze that was always present in Eversong. Although laughter was not uncommon in the forest, the tone of the person making it was quite unusual. Not quite child-like, and with an accent that would make a grown orc wince, the goblin woman's laughter echoed again as she was told another joke.

"Never heard that one before Big G," Zeppi said with a sharp-toothed smile. She was hunched over her trike, trying to reconnect a fuel line that had come loose and set the ground behind her on fire for the last fifty feet of their ride before they stopped.

Around her were two other goblins, their own trikes parked as they lounged against them and watched their boss at work. The bigger of the two goblin males, the one she'd called Big G, smirked as he watched the smaller red-haired goblin try and fix her trike.

"You'll never reconnect that fuel line if you don't weld it in place Boss," Big G said casually. The thought that putting flame to a rubber pipe that had volatile fuel in it might be dangerous didn't cross any of their minds.

Zeppi shook her head and opened her mouth to comment when the second male goblin chimed in, his voice only slightly lower pitched than Zeppi's own, "Nah. Don't waste time Boss. I wanna spend our cut already. Just put a bolt in it and weld it back at the shop. You can use the geothermal fuser to get it on there really good."

Zeppi nodded at the speaker, the smaller of her two brutes named Znar. He was one of her better techs, and she always brought him along for longer trips in case they had to fix something on the fly, or better yet destroy something large. Like Zeppi herself, he carried enough blasting powder to level a small mountain as a matter of course.

"Ya know what? I think I'll just connect the secondary fuel tank," Zeppi said thoughtfully. "Should have enough that the extra burn off won't matter." With that, she quickly set about hooking a second fuel line to the injectors on that side of her trike, ignoring the fact that the Sin'dorei would likely not appreciate her burning half the foliage on her way out of Quel'Thalas.

Her two brutes, both members of Sparkflash Industrial Weapons Inc. of Orgrimmar, continued to lounge against their own machines, chatting while she worked. Just as she finished up and leaned back to admire her handiwork, a shadow fell over her. She looked up to find herself staring up at a blonde Sin'dorei, his fel green eyes studying her carefully. Around the group, several other Sin'dorei had approached, all in thick plate armor and wearing tabards bearing an emblem that looked like a sun rising out of the ocean.

All of it meant nothing to Zeppi, and she looked up at the elf, one eyebrow raised, "Can I help you with somethin' champ, or are you just admirin' my sweet ride?"

The elf smirked at her, the look on his face one that might make others uncomfortable from the malice in it, that is, if they weren't goblins. Zeppi just waited patiently for golden boy to start talking.

"Two days ago you received payment," the elf began. "This payment was given to you by House Felo'melorn. The expenditure was not authorized by all members of the Blackhearts military coalition, and must be relinquished immediately."

Zeppi's other eyebrow joined her first way up by her hairline. She tilted her head further, studying the elf, "I'm sorry honey, I don't think I heard that right. You sayin' you're going to TAKE my GOLD?"

"Essentially, yes." the elf replied. "If you have issue with this, House Felo'melorn should be contacted."

Behind Zeppi, her two brutes had straightened up, angry muttering coming from Big G. Two of the Sin'dorei Blood Knights surrounding the three smaller goblins half drew their swords, the glint of metal a dire warning. Zeppi held up her hand, looking at the other goblins and nodding slightly, "Easy now. No need for that. We're reasonable people after all sugar."

She looked back at the elf before her, who was staring at her impatiently. She rolled her eyes, reaching up to the top of her riding jacket, "Just hold on a minute. I gotta at least get it out before you get all weepy and ruin your eye makeup honey."

The elf rolled his eyes as Zeppi unzipped the front of her jacket. The tight corset she had beneath it drew his gaze as she leaned forward, letting quite a bit of her generous green cleavage peek out of the jacket. Partially distracted and/or disgusted with himself, the elf noted that there was something there, and nodded as he realized that a goblin woman would keep her money close to her heart.

Zeppi seemed to confirm this, her hand darting into the space and pulling the object out. A second later the elf realized his mistake when he was staring down the barrel of a derringer. Clearly there was something this goblin woman liked even more than money; weapons! Zeppi grinned a toothy grin at him as she cocked back the hammer on the small gun. Behind her the other two goblins had drawn larger firearms from the frames of their trikes, covering two of the Blood Knights. The elves, in turn, drew their swords, creating a tense moment.

"Be cool! Everyone just be cool!" Zeppi yelled, her purple eyes darting from one elf to the next and her gun held firmly in her grip. "I don't wanna hafta splatter you all over your pretty forest here, but nobody takes my pay ya got that honey?!"

The blonde elf sighed, taking a step back, "You should rethink this Miss Sparkflash. I'd hate to have to slaughter all of you. That wasn't in my instructions but if need be, it'll come to that."

Zeppi laughed, the sound not holding a hint of fear. "Honey, if you think this is the first time I've been double-crossed you got another thing comin'. Just beat it so I don't have to put a hot one in that pretty head of yours."

The elf shook his head and gestured with one hand, speaking to Zeppi as he did so. "I don't think you understand the situation Miss Sparkflash."

From around the forest, several more Sin'dorei appeared with bows in hand. The goblins were outnumbered a good five to one now. Zeppi frowned, not liking the odds.

"You see Miss Sparkflash, accommodating my request would be in your best interest," the elf said again.

Begrudgingly, Zeppi lowered her derringer and snarled at the elf, "Gonna hafta pay for this at some point honey. A goblin always remembers who owes 'em."

With that she stormed over to her trike and pulled out a brown sack, holding it in her hand. She jingled it once and the sound of metal on metal came from it. The elf nodded at her and she tossed it to the nearest Blood Knight.

"Thank you Miss Sparkflash, I'm glad you could see reason," the elf said.

Zeppi smiled at him, her hand coming up from off her trike, a small little metal object with a button on it in her hand, "No, thank you sugar. Been about two hours since I've blown something up!"

With that she depressed the button on the detonator she was holding, and the sack she'd thrown to the Blood Knight detonated with a spectacular blast. The elf was thrown back into one of his companions, shrapnel from the sack striking several of the other elves, felling two of them. It sailed harmlessly over the heads of the shorter goblins, although a few pieces peppered Big G's trike, which made him snarl in irritation.

Less than a second later, the clearing erupted into a full-scale battle as the three goblins opened up on the Sin'dorei around them. Zeppi crouched down behind her trike, using it for cover from the Sin'dorei bowmen as she worked her shotgun free from one of the trike's saddlebags. With a whoop of joy she rose up from behind the arrow-studded machine and let her gun roar out at the elves who were futilely using bushes and trees as cover. Behind her the other two goblins had similarly taken cover, and were systematically blasting any Sin'dorei that came into sight.

It was over less than a minute later. Taken by surprise by the blast and unable to find adequate cover, most of the Sin'dorei were cut down in the first seconds of gunfire. Those who had managed to get behind trees fled as the bark and wood was slowly cut away by sharp flying bits of metal. The goblins appeared to have more than adequate supplies of ammunition and were happy enough just blasting at the trees themselves if no elves were available as targets. After a few moments of cowering, the last remaining Sin'dorei fled the scene.

Zeppi smiled as she rose up from behind her trike, gunsmoke trailing from the end of her shotgun. She stepped out from around it, surveying the dead elves around her before hearing one of them groan. She walked over to the source of the noise, discovering the elf that had originally been leading the group laying in a pool of blood, his gut hit by one of their rounds.

Zeppi paused, looking down at him and smiling, "You see honey, never cheat a goblin. We cheat way better than you. 'Sides, we did that work fair and square. Can't let you take our coin back. That'd be bad policy!"

The elf groaned, looking up at her with glassy eyes, "Y-you'll never get out of here alive fool. Y-you can't just....kill...Sin'dorei in Quel'Thalas. S-someone will find our corpses and you'll be done for."

Zeppi just kept smiling, setting her gun down and pulling her arclight spanner from her belt. She tilted her head, leaning close as if sharing a secret. "Well honey, you know, I know a guy that knows a guy who buys corpses and body parts offa people. Says there's good business in it with the Forsaken. So I'm thinkin' there won't be no bodies to be found toots. Just more coin in my purse."

For one brief horrifying moment the elf looked up into the goblins eyes and came to realize that his life was nothing more than a sum in her head. A figure in golden coins that weighed against the amount of work it would take to cart him off. He shivered as she brought her spanner up, the truth finally coming to him as it came down hard on the side of his skull and blackness claimed him.

You really can't cheat a goblin.

Zeppi giggled, wiping her spanner clean on the dead elf's clothing before looking at the other two and nodding, "Big G, go and fetch the atv and trailer from the storage garage at the Blackhearts compound. Looks like we got one more stop to make before we head back to the zepplin and hit the shop. This trip just got a lot more profitable."

As the two goblins whooped and bellowed with joy behind her, Zeppi turned back to the fallen elf, the glint of gold at his neck catching her eye. With a smile, she leaned down and grabbed the pendant from around his neck, murmuring to herself, "What have we hear lovely?"

The golden emblem, the seal of House Dawnsea, found its way into her coin-pouch. The one she kept in her pants pocket, not her corset. With a smile Zeppi went back to her trike, stowing her shotgun so she'd have two hands free to loot the other corpses. It was all about maximizing profit after all!

What a good trip. Quel'Thalas was a great place to do business!

A Change in the Winds

The catapults shuddered as they fired, the huge projectiles arcing out over the water and heading towards the red and golden ship fleeing in the distance. Two of the shots missed entirely, splashing in the water and sending up huge plumes from the near misses. The third projectile hit the the target ship's mainmast, cracking some of the wood and sending rigging and elves plunging down to the deck below or into the sea near the stricken ship. The vessel shuddered, turning slightly as its crew desperately attempted to correct its course. While they were successful, the action served to slow the ship's speed and allowed the two pursuing vessels to gain ground on their target.

Aboard one of the pursuing ships, the Sin'dorei captain raised a spyglass to his fel green eyes, nodding to himself as land appeared in the distance.

“It won't be long now,” he said quietly to himself. “They have no place to go except the cove if they wish to repair the damage. They can't escape now.” He nodded in satisfaction and glanced at his subordinates nearby, inclining his head. The elves moved quickly and gracefully at the unvoiced command, beginning the preparations for a boarding action.

In the distance, the stricken vessel grew larger as the two pursuing Sin'dorei vessels caught up with it, the land behind it also coming closer and revealing a natural cove on a deserted island. The target ship was heading directly into the cove, and its fate was sealed at this point. The captain raised a hand, signaling to the artillery crews to stay their next shots. There was no point in wasting a fine vessel after all when it could be captured by force.

The three ships moved into the cove, the pursuing vessels slowing as they blockaded the entrance, their hulls turning to allow their deck catapults in the bow and stern of each vessel a clear shot on their victim. As they came to a stop and began preparing boarding ships, both vessels raised their flags, the red banners flapping in the wind and unfurling atop the mainmasts. The flags were large, the image of a golden sun rising over the waves on a red field clearly depicting House Dawnsea's colors.

The captain smiled to himself, leaving the bridge to one of his underlings as he joined the boarding parties preparing to disembark. Both Sin'dorei vessels launched their boats, dozens and then hundreds of hardened House Dawnsea fighters preparing to row over to the trapped ship and take it. House Dawnsea had been plying the seas for many hundreds of years, and they knew this business well. The captain smiled as the serene waters of the cove slipped beneath his boarding boat, the sandy shores of the deserted island surrounding the small body of water. Ahead of him, the Sin'dorei vessel he sought to capture awaited him like an unlocked treasure chest.

They had been told that the vessel carried a valuable cargo, and that High Priestess Seluna Dawnsea would tolerate no failure on this venture. It would be a simple matter to take the ship, execute the elves aboard and then indicate that they found it wrecked on the rocks. Whatever House owned the vessel would simply write it off and business would continue as usual. House Dawnsea knew THIS business equally well.

As they approached the vessel, he could see the elves that crewed it running in a panic. They were trying to untangle the damaged rigging so that they could make repairs on the ship, while others were hastily grabbing weapons to repel the boarders. They would stand little chance against so many boarders though; it was only a matter of time now.

As they drew closer to the ship's hull, the captain noticed one figure amongst those on the deck that was not moving about in a panic. Wearing a dark robe with a cowl that covered its form, the figure stepped towards the edge of the hull. Two delicately manicured hands reached up, resting on the ship's gunwale. From beneath the cowl, the captain could see two glowing green eyes; clearly she was a Sin'dorei passenger that the ship had been transporting. It mattered little now. She would die along with the rest of the crew.

Even as he thought this, the elf on-board the enemy vessel brought her hands up, lifting her cowl and letting it fall behind her. Flame red hair cascaded around her face, blowing in the winds coming off the sea. She looked out into the distance, towards the blockaded end of the cove. As she stared, the captain could swear he saw the burning fel in her eyes glow brightly, as if the legion itself marched in her gaze. Her hands rose above her head, and flickering embers began to dance in the air around her as the captain realized she was casting a spell.

He tried to call out, but it was far far too late. With a rushing FOOM! sound the air in the distance superheated, flaming balls of fire forming in the sky and raining down upon the surface of the sea. The two vessels that he and his boarding parties had left were the target of the spell, and even from the distance the heat coming off of their burning hulls tightened the skin on his face. He could see elves in the distance hurling themselves from the burning wreckage as the vessels began to sink, the flames so intense that they burned to the water line. It was no ordinary fire, and the captain could swear that amongst the dancing flames imps cackled and played.

With wide eyes, he turned his gaze back to the target vessel. The elf that had cast the spell stared down at the boarding boats, a smirk playing across her red painted lips. One of her hands reached up and casually tucked a few errant strands of her red hair behind one long, tapered ear as her eyes roamed over the boats bobbing in the water below her ship. Her eyes still glowed brightly, the fel magic she'd been using dancing there like a threat. That she was a warlock was now beyond a shadow of a doubt.

After looking over the elves that were now trapped in the small boats below her vessel, she raised a hand, snapping her fingers. Elves raced across the deck, weapons at the ready and two of them raising a banner on the mainmast. As the flag rose above the ship, the captain gasped and many of the elves in the boarding boats began to mutter. The flag flapped once in the breeze, its colors plain for all to see.

A golden sun rose above the waves on a red field.

The warlock turned, gazing down at the elves below her, her voice carrying out over the water like a sensuous whisper. There was an underlying threat in it that was unmistakable.

“My name,” she began, smirking at the elves that she could now burn alive at will, “Is Calexa. Calexa Dawnsea. And I am one of House Dawnsea's true heirs. That you dare to strike at me is a testament to the depths that our House has fallen to. The High Priestess may direct your hand, but when you strike at me, you strike at the pure blood of this House. This will no longer be tolerated.”

The captain opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was forestalled as the flame-haired Sin'dorei brought up one of her manicured hands again. She smiled at him, as one might an old friend. “Your excuses are not necessary. You have already committed the act and thus anything you may say would simply be a lie. You don't wish to contest my word or will, do you?”

The question hung in the air, the threat obvious now. Slowly the captain shook his head. He was rewarded by beautiful laughter that was, to his ears, cold and callous. “Excellent. You have already learned a valuable lesson. It is shameful that such learning came so late in your life.”

Calexa turned, smiling at her own ship's crew. “Repair the damage and get us underway. I have much to do, and the High Priestess must be greeted properly. It is high time that the survivors of this House come together for a long...chat.”

One of the crew stepped forward, bowing before the warlock, “M'lady? What of the survivors?”

Calexa smiled again, the malice on her face obvious now. Embers danced in the air around her, and in the water just beyond the hull of the ship fires began to rain down upon the boarding boats. Horrific screams rose up, and many of the crew winced as the elves began to burn alive upon the surface of the sea.

Calexa tilted her head, her glowing fel green eyes boring into the crew-member that had asked the question. Her voice was soft and casual, as if nothing at all had happened, “What survivors?”

With wide eyes the crew-member bowed, turning and running to attend to his duties. All across the ship elves rushed to their stations, making the ship seaworthy again.

Calexa leaned on the railing, watching the remaining flames as they danced upon the surface of the sea, a smile on her face. Soon she would return to the mainland. She had been in exile for far too long, but she had the power she needed now to ensure that her rightful place in House Dawnsea would not be denied her by usurpers and liars. The High Priestess and High Scion would be obstacles in her path, but she would find a way to work beside them, and slay any of their agents that blundered into her path.

House Dawnsea would regain the glory that it once held. She would see to it herself.