Argents Lost - Summer Winds (part 3)
The former Ebon heâd met on the trail still hadnât given him her name, but sheâd told him enough to win enough wary trust for him to return to the outpost with her. Â The enterprise had been aided by a sudden ache that began somewhere deep inside his knee and a shift in the wind. Â Heâd lived in Northrend long enough to know what those two things together heralded.
Stormclouds swept down onto K3 as they reached the inn, led by biting wind that stung his face and made his eyes water. Â The inn at K3 was decidedly worn, weather-beaten, but in good repair. Â The windows looked like theyâd been replaced recently and the floors and tables in the common room were decidedly clean, though they still carried a timeworn, hard-used charm, battered and scuffed as they were. Its warmth and shelterâand the smell of venison stew and ciderâwere a welcome comfort after so narrowly dodging the storm.
The table his newfound companion led him toward was tucked into a shadowed corner and was already occupied by a figure tall enough that he guessed it must be another Kaldorei. Â The figure had both hands wrapped around a mug of something steaming, beringedâand there was something else, something he didnât quite see until the figure lifted the mug to drink, a glint of silver.
His heart slammed into his throat and he stopped in his tracks. Â His companion put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.
âShe wonât harm you,â she said softly. Â âYou have nothing to fear from her.â
âYes,â she said. Â âBut something tells me your face will strike her familiar.â
âIt has nothing to do with your resemblance to Ildanan Sunstar.â
He swallowed bile, but started walking again. Â The figureâa woman, and unless he missed his guess, the woman called the Mistwraithâwas looking at them now, argent eyes gleaming in the shadows of a drawn hood. He swallowed again as he carefully drew one of the chairs out from the table and sank into it, glancing back over his shoulder to see where his companion was going to sitâand found her gone.
âSheâll be getting you something bracing,â the hooded woman said. Â There was a faint rasp to her voice but the familiarity was unmistakable. He nearly swallowed his tongue.
âYouâll be needing it, Lord Kyvare.â
He rocked back, eyes widening. Â In the shadows of her hood, there was a flash of a smile, almost but not quite feral.
âYes. Â Iâm aware of who you are. Â Iâm also aware of what you were taught.â
âIâm not certain the answer to your question matters overmuch, but if you really want an answer, Iâll give you one in exchange for an answer to a question of my own, first.â She leaned back and he could feel the weight of her gaze hanging heavy upon him. Â âWhy are you, of all people, seeking them when you have a family and responsibilities that should preclude a mission like thisâone, I might add, that has been forbidden by the organization that saw you bound to them? Of all the sorts seeking those lost, you were among the last I would have imagined to see here.â
âWhat of you?â he blurted. âWhy are you two looking for them?â
âBecause she is my mother,â she said. Â âAnd they are her family and I should think, with all thatâs happened, I should owe her that much. Â And you?â
âBecause I didnât think anyone else was and I wasnât about to ask my family to come unlessâunless I knew.â
âWhatever goes into that gully doesnât come out,â she said. Â âBut theyâre not dead.â
âNo,â he confirmed. Â âNo, theyâre not.â
She fell silent. Â The former Ebon returned to the table, setting a mug slowly down in front of him as she looked between him and the hooded woman.
âWell,â she said dryly. âI see youâve gotten started without me. I thought we agreed that you wouldnât do that anymore.â
The hooded woman reached up to push back her hood, smiling up at the Ebon. Â âOne time.â
âNear unmitigated disaster one time,â the Ebon said, seating herself. Â âAnd a lesson learned. Â What have you told him?â
âLikely no more than whatever you did to get him to come back with you.â
He coughed politely and wrapped his hands around the mug, letting the warmth bleed into his fingers. âMy apologies, ladies, but I think weâve missed a few things.â
âYou already know who I am, Lord Kyvare, and I know who you are,â Mistwraith said, studying him. Â âUnless itâs not pleasantries youâre getting at.â
âIâwell, it was, yes, but also no. Â Howâhow long have you been looking?â
âLong enough to know there are two sites of interest,â the Ebon said. Â âYou stumbled across one. Â The other is a frozen waterfall and a river that donât seem quite right.â
The mug between his hands shattered.