Chapter 25: A Chance to Prove Yourself

Returning to Raven’s Ridge Jace and Grid took the main road, they could feel a wolf or some other predator following in the grass for a long time until they were close to reaching Raven’s Ridge, presumably smelling the bloody scent of wolf meat and bones.

Of course in the end they didn’t attack, after all a Dwarf with a baguette and a longsword and hunting bow on his back was still a bit of a deterrent.

But the two had worried the whole way, the day had drained their strength, it was too much to fight a pack of hungry, crazy wolves again.

In the evening, Crow’s Ridge was as cold as it had been yesterday, and even the old man sitting in front of the inn was gone.

The inn was still brightly lit, though, and a short man sat by the window watching the new patrons as they walked in, glancing disinterestedly at the assortment of luggage they were carrying before returning his attention to the cheese he had in hand.

“Boss.” Grid put the meat cut from the wolf on the counter, hitched the bones to the table and asked, “Can you roast this meat a little, sprinkle it with salt and soothing herbs or something …… so everyone can come along and eat it.”

The owner, a balding man who looked a bit older and was a bit slow to speak and do things, weighed the meat in his hands and said, “With some bread and pickle shish, you can go out and have a party, Mr. Dwarf. It’s been a long time since the residents of Raven’s Ridge have gotten together, and with all this food, there will be plenty of people coming. What do you think?”

“That would be great.” Grid rubbed his hands together and said, “I wonder if there’s any booze?”

The owner slung the meat and bones over his shoulder and said, “There’s still some red wine in the cellar, all left over from before the explosion, a lot of people say that that wine has been contaminated, are you still interested?”

“Why not.” Grid said, “If the pollution was that bad, we’d be dirtier than wine by now.”

Jace reminded, “Did you forget about those black things we saw inside the crypt? The ground could be depositing unsettling energies spreading from the south.”

“Whatever, that’s pre-war wine!” Greed said unhappily, “I’ve nearly lost my life several times today, I can’t get through the day without wine!”

“As you wish, then.” The owner smiled and headed for the back kitchen.

And so it was that a simple little bonfire was held in the center of the town, a large wolf bone, a few pieces of fatty, sizzling wolf meat, a few large plates of dry bread and sourdough cheese, and a few jars of pickles were all the food for the feast.

Many of the townspeople are afraid to come out because they are afraid of the werewolves at night, so there are only about a dozen people here, mostly old people who are no longer afraid of death.

Gred drank his wine while singing and dancing with an old human woman about his age, singing and dancing around the central campfire the size of a central campfire, as if he wasn’t too tired after tossing and turning all day.

Jace clutched the wooden cup in his hand, looking at the red wine inside and hesitating to put his mouth on it, but the particular smell of the wine was particularly appealing, and after a few mouthfuls of greasy wolf meat he did want to take a dunk to relieve the greasiness, but was afraid of being poisoned by something.

Just then, Morgan Radimore came over with his glass and offered to reach out and clink glasses with him.

“For still being alive today.” He smiled.

“To still be alive.” Jace answered, taking a soft sip as he did so.

Upon realizing that Morgan Radimore was the legendary Moradim, he was no longer quite comfortable looking at the young man.

It was especially hard to look at Liz Ladimore in the distance, his young and shy wife sitting on a log in a long pale green dress, holding a child in her arms, smiling and looking this way.

The baby girl lying in her mother’s arms, staring out at the fire, must have been the future leader of the Night’s Watch in Nighttown, Sarah Raddimore.

As it goes in the game, after a decade or so her family will all die in despair from pain and suffering, and will be unable to rest for years after their deaths, wandering among the dark, dense forests, threatening and harming innocents who pass by.

And there was nothing she herself could do to change that, except let the crazy rumors about her parents circulate between Raven Ridge and Nighttown.

“I heard you guys were out hunting today, and it looks like it was pretty productive.” Morgan stared at the glistening oiled wolf leg bone and said, “A wolf this size, I bet Mr. Grider killed it, right?”

“Why couldn’t it have been me who killed it?” Jace asked jokingly in return.

“Even you would have to admit that a dwarven warrior fighting to the death against a giant white wolf is more like a scene described in a poem.” Morgan smiled, “I too look forward to the day when such a tale is written and left for posterity. I will bring such a victory to my wife, Liz, and Sarah, so that they can see their husband and father become a true hero …… rather than a weakling unable to protect his homeland.”

Jace looked to a distant window where the lights had just been turned off and said, “The people here are still able to live normal lives because of your efforts.”

“You call that normal? People are leaving, and the ones that are staying here are thinking about leaving.” Morgan said, “They don’t trust me, and the few other young men I’ve talked to who want to protect this place feel helpless. And, even they’re slowly giving up now, I think they’re going to choose to move to Grantown soon, or somewhere farther away. It’s not because of any werewolf curse at all, but because they don’t think this place is worth protecting anymore.”

He took a sip of his drink, shook his head, and said, “I don’t feel like I’ve done enough, perhaps because I’m not capable. I’m too young and too little exercised to be anywhere near a warrior who can really take on this responsibility on his own. I don’t blame them for seeing me as a child, even though I’m married and have children of my own. So sometimes I envy adventurers like you who can honestly get away from your homeland and have a chance to prove yourselves, and I wish I could get a similar chance to show everyone that I’m capable of making Raven Ridge prosperous again, and that people don’t have to worry about any threats to this town when they see me here.”

He’d had too much to drink and was drunk, Jace could tell, drunker than Grid, who hadn’t broken his drink since the beginning.

“Put your family first.” Jess said, “Family is the most important treasure to you, no …… nothing compares to them, Mr. Ladimore.”

The dwarf who was dancing seemed to have heard the conversation over here, he was still yelling and singing songs he didn’t even understand, but his eyes flickered this way.

“Of course.” Morgan smiled, “I love my wife and daughter, they are the most important people in the world to me and I will protect them and take care of them with my life.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Jess snapped, “But what I’m saying is, never leave them.”

Morgan took a long breath and asked, “Stay in this town forever? That ……”

Jace was tempted to say that the result of the entire war, the outcome of the Celestial Invasion a decade or so later, the fate of the entire continent of Lordaeron, would not change because of Morgan’s involvement or absence, and that once he had left the area, his family had lost all protection.

But he eventually relented, not really wanting to have to influence the direction of the world too much, because if it went on as it was set to go, then the world would eventually be saved from destruction by people of all colors.

But if one intervenes to change one of those tiny variables, where does that lead the future?

Perhaps his words had affected the other side, his presence had changed the world permanently, it just wasn’t obvious yet.

Jace didn’t say anything more, and Morgan looked out in the direction of Liz and Sarah as if he was thinking about something.

And Liz looked so at her husband, her eyes overflowing with love and anticipation, the child in her arms slowly closing his eyes at his mother’s gentle rocking, opening them again, and then slowly closing them again.

The night in Raven Ridge was filled with laughter and warmth, the firelight shone on Jace’s face as he sat in it yet he felt like an outsider, as if he had never really been in Azeroth, and he didn’t like that feeling.

In the middle of the night, Jace lay in bed, staring out the window at his drying clothes fluttering back and forth with the evening breeze, like a harmless ghost.

He had been sore all day, and several of the injuries on his body were still throbbing with pain, which came on more ferociously as soon as he relaxed at the moment.

Though already sleepy and exhausted to the point of exhaustion, he couldn’t sleep peacefully no matter what, as if he didn’t want the night to pass.

Stranger than that, Grider didn’t snore either.

“You didn’t sleep, did you?”

“You’re not up either.” The dwarf whispered.

“Why.”

“Sometimes I really don’t think you’re a seventeen or eighteen year old man, boy. I admit, I heard what you said to Morgan.”

Grid rolled over and looked over with one eye.

“I’m guessing you weren’t in a thrilling relationship in Lordaeron that ended in an extremely dramatic and tragic finale? I get the feeling that you envy that Morgan Ladimore kid.”

“No shit, what kind of relationship can a poor kid have.” Jess asked.

“Look at what you’re saying.” Grid tsked, “A boy of your age should be full of hope for the future, full of love, full of energy, full of passion. Instead, you come across as a cynic who thinks he’s seen through all the hypocrisy in the world and makes some lame excuse to justify his cowardice.”

Yeah, the so-called not wanting to interfere with the pace of the world is really just a form of cowardice, isn’t it?

Jace didn’t make any rebuttal, and Grid seemed to feel that the atmosphere was getting a bit strange as well, and added, “Tell you what, tell me what kind you like, and I can introduce you back in Stormwind City. Young, mature, thin, fat, rich or poor, human, dwarf, gnome.”

“I just want the elf sister.” Jace said.

Grid rolled over on his back and snored with his back facing this way.