#still looking for good images of the boys from the dwarf to make tiny floating versions of

[freshmangojuice]

tiny red dwarf thingies that can be used as custom cursors!

[the-short-stouts-tavern]

Tiny Problems

Far from the cries of an upset business entrepreneur and his duo of elvish lackeys, in the central tower of Dalaran, stood a human mage perusing a collection of books. The Council of Six, the rulers of the city, were quite intrigued by the Broken Isles, temporarily transforming its central tower into a sort of end-all collection of tomes regarding the small continent and its multitude of unique flavors of history. From the bountiful knowledge of the elven ruins to the vrykul’s storied kings to the kind of berries the Highmountain tauren ate centuries ago, it was most likely found here. A little outdated, sure, but the knowledge to learn here was vast.

The human brushed her hand over her robe, making a sound from her teeth. She was no doubt collecting a lot of dust from the lesser-read sections. Far be it from her to make comments about how underprepared the city was in its hasty teleportation over the shores, but she’s just a small cog in a system. It’s not Khadgar’s mission to study the plant life.

That job falls under Sareva, budding alchemist and herbal expert. What a job for her to have procured. As if mages don’t already do alchemy on the side.

Illegal kinds.

“Whatcha doooin’?”

Sareva smirked. “Oh, I’m just attempting to understand this situation that Kegoc’s mentioned to me.”

“Ah! Keggy is having problems?”

Sareva turned around and smiled, seeing a small gnome standing in the doorway. Her eyes hidden underneath a large-brim hat. Her robes were dark purple, a far cry from the blues Sareva is commonly around.

“Don’t worry, Liteena. It won’t be much of a problem once they’re back. Just need to study up on magical extractions of various liquids.”

“Ooo, like poisons or something?”

“Not just anything, Liteena.” Sareva moved her hand out and, utilizing a small incantation, summoned an image of a giant teardrop. “The Tears of Elune, a Pillar of Creation.”

Liteena walked forward, hopping up onto a stool nearby to examine the image closely. “Iiiinteresting.”

“The Tears were said to come from the Moon Goddess herself. It and the other Pillars were used to create the very ground we walk on....when we’re actually on the ground, mind you.” Sareva looked at a small map laid on the table nearby, then pointed at it. “The boys were there when it had somehow been consumed.”

“Just like Keggy...always ending up in some weird situation.” Liteena sighed. “Leaving me out of everything.”

“Were the Pillars to stay in the hands of the Legion, it would surely spell doom for our world.” Sareva continued, still focusing on her reading. “And it’s up to us mortals to...”

She blinked. “Why were you able to get in here, Liteena?”

“Huh?” Liteena frowned. “Whadya mean?”

“This hall is for mages only.”

“Pfff...oh, that.” The gnome smirked and moved her hand out, sparking a small red flame. “Just need to show you can cast fire and boom, Magetown! It’s actually a pretty egregious ID system, you know. Demons can do that, too!”

“I’ll...be sure to mention it.” Sareva frowned, leaning back on the table. “I’d be careful, ‘Tina. Most mages would...frown about-”

The two were interrupted by a shout from the hall.

“Sir, this area is for mages only.”

“Ah! Do not worry, friend! I am pure Mage and these are honored guests!”

Sareva frowned, moving her hand over her eyes. This isn’t going to be good.

Liteena, on the other hand, had her eyes sparkle with anticipation. Her toothy grin spread ear to ear as she moved her hand to her mouth, stifling a small giggle. “He’s heeeeere!”

“Mm....he sure is.”

The hall’s commotion began to get louder.

“Sirs, please stop.”

“We, uh, need to get to the Isles Library. Lady Sareva is there and we, need to see her. We have an appointment-”

“I don’t care, sirs, standard protocol states-”

“Ach, yer protocols are gonna git th’ lot a us killed, ya daft moron. Let us through, we ‘ave a child wit’ us!”

“Right, of-...is that a tauren baby?”

“Do not question our lifestyle, please.”

“Yeah! Baby tauren is rock in relationship, so please be moving.”

“Sirs, I don’t th-”

“Do ye want a hammer t’ yer face or are ya jes’ DUMB? Let us and our baby bull in!”

Sareva grumbled, then shouted from the hallway. “Tenus, it’s fine! Just....it’s okay, they’re with me.”

“......right.”

Kegoc walked into the library, grumbling. “I swear on me tavern in th’ bowels a hell, I will smack yer guardsman.”

“Please don’t, Kegoc.” Sareva sighed. “How was the trip?”

Nysian walked in next, muttering. “Long.”

Nittenook walked in, having fastened the tauren child onto his chest with a bunch of rope and cloth. “We have made many friends! Many-”

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, Noooooookie.”

ba bump

Nittenook’s jovial grin was paralyzed on his face. He slowly turned his head to where the voice laid. There he saw Liteena smiling at him. “Been a while...<3″ She hopped off the stool and, at a very unusual speed, ran up to give the draenei a big hug.

Nittenook’s face contorted into sheer horror. “...eeeeeeeAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH” The tauren cried out, shaken by the loud yell from Nittenook.

“AAAAAAHHHAHAHA! <3 <3 <3″ Liteena giggled as she held the blue oaf still with her tight grip.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”

“AAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAA”

Sareva frowned. “DOES HE STILL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GNOMES?”

Kegoc shouted back. “NAY! HE’S JES’ A BIT ANNOYED BY ‘EM! I think...”

“Well they’re both annoying me.” Nysian sighed.

“WHA?”

“I SAID THEY’RE ANNOYING ME.” Nysian spoke up.

“OH.” Kegoc nodded. “Aye.”

“WHAT?” Nysian shouted.

“I SAID A-”

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU FROM THE SOUND OF THREE CHILDREN SCREAMING, KEGOC.”

Ten minutes later....

Liteena frowned, floating in the air in a small bubble. “Hmph....let me go...”

“Oh no, I won’t.” Sareva sighed. “We both know what happens when you do that.”

“Aww, it’s fine. He’s just playing. I know he’s hiding his true feelings for me.” Liteena smiled with a giggle in her voice.

Meanwhile, Nysian was hushing the child gently while Kegoc was patting the back of the whimpering Nittenook, hunched over in a corner making the most pitiful of pot noises.

“There..there, lad.”

“Her grasp...it is......unnerving. Monstrous.” Nittenook spoke between gasps.

“I...feel as though that’s an exaggeration, lad, but....sure.”

Nysian sighed. “If we’re done, I have a mission from the priestess to fulfill.”

Sareva frowned, noticing an odd shift in leadership at the moment. “Very well, Nysian. I have found a few odd and ended remedies we could reproduce.”

“...remedies.”

“Well, we need to get the liquid out of the baby somehow.” Sareva shrugged.

Nysian frowned. “I could easily find plants to induce vomiting. I’m a druid. The child flew up to Grizzly Hills! We need some sort of magic-sucker.”

“Hmm...” Sareva frowned. “I’m not, entirely sure what we could do. Most processes we have in terms of draining magic tend to leave children at a bad state.”

“...as in...”

“Well, in order to produce some sort of effect on the power drain, it may...drain life essence from the child.” Sareva winched as she said it.

Nittenook’s ears perked up as he heard that. “W...wait, that is...not considered, yes?” He stumbled up from the ground, looking over at the two.

“Well, it’s not...completely off the table, no.” Nysian spoke first, which shocked Sareva.

“I....yes, I suppose we shouldn’t deny it could be a potential solution.”

“Never!” Nittenook shouted, walking over and putting his hand on the baby’s shoulder. “This...will not be debated.”

“Nit...” Nysian’s eyes narrowed. “The fate of the world is hanging on our procuring these artifacts an-”

“An’ if we were ta’ do this, then we ain’t no betta’ than th’ Legion.” Kegoc spoke up, walking over to the druid. “The option is off th’ table.”

Nysian’s eyebrows furrowed, then his eyes closed. “Then what do you plan to do?”

Kegoc frowned, then looked over at Sareva. “That’s what th’ mages are figurin’ out, aye?”

“Mm...” Sareva nodded. “I can’t exactly give a good estimate, but I feel as though, so long as the child stays in Dalaran, it’ll stay safe from the Legion until I find out a better way.”

“Then until then, we’re stayin’ in Dalaran.” Kegoc nodded.

“Very good.” Nittenook nodded, his voice sounding slightly more chipper. “A good plan, to rest!”

“Mmm, maybe we can rest....together.”

Nittenook winced as he looked over at the floating gnome. “A...ah, no. Not likely.”

“Hmph...” Liteena grumbled, then looked at Sareva. “C’mooooon, let me down.”

Sareva stared at the gnome, then brought her down to the ground.

Liteena moved her hand over her robe, flattening out the wrinkles. She then smiled and began to run.

Sareva was about to cast the spell once more and Nittenook slowly began to cower as Liteena ran past him and jumped up. “Keggyyyyyyyy!”

With a tackle, the gnome pushed Kegoc back as she began to giggle. In response, Kegoc smirked and lifted the gnome barely a foot smaller than him up in the air, “Haha, I thought it were odd that ye didn’t even register me, lass! Good ta see ya!” The dwarf moved the gnome down and gave her a warm hug. “Ah, lass, last time I saw ye was at th’ Brewfest last year. Ya never even saw yer pappy’s tavern.”

“Ah, it’s fine. I heard it blew up, so whatever!” Liteena smiled wide, patting the dwarf on the back. “Besides, your ale didn’t taste as good as Thunderbrew‘s.”

“I will throw you off th’ city. I know ye can’t fly yet.”

“I’d like to see you try and not get dragged down, too.”

Silence.

Kegoc and LIteena laughed, Kegoc smoshing the gnome’s hat on her head. “Ahh, I missed ya, lass.”

Nysian sighed, watching the two from afar. Inch by inch he noticed Nittenook walk over, then sighed again as he continued watching.

“Friend Nysian, if I may...will Kegoc not explode in mighty blaze from gnome contact like that?”

“Well, Nit, that is what is known as ‘correlation is not causation.’ That means that just because two elements are similar, that does not mean they are related. In this case, gnomes and spontaneous combustion is not one of them.”

“Ah.” Nittenook nodded. The child also noded, mimicing his gesture.

..............

“Are you sure?”

“I mean, I know it’s Liteena, but still pretty...pretty sure.”

“Mm...well, despite the monster over there...I’m glad things are kind of coming our way.” Nittenook smiled, patting the tauren child on the head.

Meanwhile, far to the southeast, in the human kingdom of Stormwind...

A scream echos through the darkened nighttime streets. A human female stood in horror.

On the ground laid a lifeless form of a male draenei, his once glowing eyes now darkened. His mouth was wide open with blood spooling out onto the concrete ground beneath. From the look of his weapons, it seemed as though he was a paladin. However, the hole in his chest makes it look as though a sword had run clear through him.

Nay, it even seemed like it was bigger than a sword.

The human stumbled back, her hand covering her mouth. “Oh...by the Light, no...no...” She looked around, then gulped. “I....I need to go and find a g-.”

No, no, that won’t be necessary.

.................................

Within minutes, there laid two bloodstains on the ground. But no bodies.

Where did the blood come from, people may ask as they walk by in the daytime. The guards will be informed. SI-7 will investigate.

They will find nothing. They search for missing people, but find nothing. Even families in town, they would search, but find nothing.

The families are gone, too.

Maybe one day the entirety of Stormwind will be eaten up. Devoured.

One day they’ll be there, too. One day they’ll be devoured as well. Oh what sweetness they will be.

Oh what sweetness I will indulge.

Oh what sweetness He will consume.

TO BE CONTINUED