The Jade Forest
“I will gather the rest of our party here,” spoke Tolkar to Halvor, “so we can discuss the plans for the journey.”
“Yes, friend cow,” replied the vrykul, “and I suggest we keep our eyes on orc and human. They are too eager to fight.”
“True,” frowned the tauren, “we cannot succeed as a team if we have trouble within our own ranks.” Tolkar then motioned at the others to join him and Halvor.
“Ok. So. We have to go to Temple of Green Snake and put evil vase there, yes?”
Vel’rosh grunted. “We must return that wretched object as soon as possible.”
Mori pouted in disappointment. The death knight looked down at her and placed his hand encouragingly on her back. “Don’t worry, little one,” he told her quietly, “I will make sure you get to speak to him.”
Tolkar cleared his throat and pointed towards the steps down to the path in the eastern direction. “I have been given several maps of the area by one of the kind townsfolk. We will proceed via that road to the Temple of the Jade Serpent.” The tauren led the way, followed by the vrykul and the orc. The death knight trailed them, thus keeping any potential enemy in front of him, and the young warlock walked by his side. She struggled to keep pace with the much taller adults and often stopped to catch her breath.
The group walked past the guards and approached the side of the hill onlooking the great statue of the green serpent. Mori noticed several turtles of different sizes to the right of the main path and tugged on Sahtra’s cape.
“Psst, do you like turtles?”
Sahtra looked straight ahead at the statue as he answered, “I’m indifferent, I suppose.”
Mori, having attached herself to Sahtra’s right leg, continued playfully. “I think turtles are cute!”
The death knight looked down at her and smiled. “Then go enjoy them, little one.”
Mori ran off to catch up to the turtles, laughing as she caught one and knocked on its shell. She sat down, gently picked the turtle up, and admired it from head to tail. Sahtra’s blue eyes followed Vel’rosh as the orc walked over to Mori.
“These turtles are, er, cute.” The paladin had to force himself to remain calm amidst the joy of observing turtles. He had not seen much plant or animal life thrive in the barren land that was his home.
“Do you like turtles?” Mori asked the orc, “I think they like me.”
Vel’rosh answered awkwardly. “I-I suppose I do. I mean, I do like them. I like them a lot.” The orc sighed and stood firmly. “I am sorry if I do not show positive emotions. I am still learning the disciplined ways of the paladin. My anger can be,” he paused, getting angry at himself, “BAH! It gets in the way.”
Mori laughed. “Don’t listen to the big death knight! I think you can both be nice people and be friends.”
The orc glanced at the death knight and found Sahtra’s icy gaze upon him. One wrong move, it warned, and you’re finished.
“I don’t think…he and I can be friends. That man makes my blood boil!”
Vel’rosh forced his eyes off the death knight, who had not ceased keeping his watch on the paladin and turned to Mori.
“I will try to be your friend, little elf.”
Mori looked up at the orc. “Really?”
“Of course, small child,” replied Vel’rosh. “The Light welcomes all. I should…learn more about its tolerance and compassion.”
At the mention of the Light, Sahtra began making his way over to the young blood elf and the orc, one heavy step at a time.
Mori smiled and spoke cheerfully, “I’m sorry if you don’t like my magic, but I won’t hurt you! I just want to make friends and become stronger!"
The death knight stood behind Mori. “Enough of this talk of friends; anybody can be an enemy with the right justification. Come now, little one, let’s go.” He turned his back to the glaring orc and motioned for the young girl to follow.
“Why?” She stood up and stared at Sahtra, confused. “But he said—"
“Do not believe his lies,” the death knight snapped, “the Light does not show any tolerance and compassion to our kind.”
Mori looked at the large green statue one more time before continuing on the path along the edge of the hill. She passed by a pond covered with lily pads and surrounded by large willow trees. The road took the travelers across another bridge and into a collection of cherry blossom trees. Mori stared at the round blobs of blue and white spots hiding behind the tree trunks, consuming patches of green leaves. She would have to ask what those strange creatures were.
The road to the temple took the travelers by the southern border of the Arboretum and past a small circular patch of land near a river that housed what appeared to be stockpiles of supplies and food. A glance behind the stockpiles revealed numerous pandaren and colorful dragons in the distance, and the young blood elf became immediately curious. Forgetting the reason for their expedition to the Temple of the Jade Serpent, she quickly ran up the dirt path and found herself surrounded by a series of fenced enclosures with the same dragon-like creatures of all sizes! Pandaren here and there tended to them, feeding them tiger meat, providing fish cakes, and an occasional bucket of fresh river water.
Mori felt a gentle nudge from behind.
“Oh--!” She exclaimed as she turned around and found herself face-to-face with a joyful creature, one of the hatchlings, it seemed. The dragon-like animal had short horns, like the ones Mori had seen back at Quel’Thalas, but this one had no wings. Instead, it hovered in place, small fins lining its long eel-like body with little arms and legs. A shy pandaren girl giggled behind the creature and waved at Mori. Mori smiled warmly and waved back.
“Come with me, now!” spoke the pandaren to her pet, and the dragon-like creature followed her. Mori ran past several larger dragons up to a barren patch of land next to the river, where pandaren woman sat facing likewise seated pandaren, each possessing a hatchling of a different color.
“Wow!” Mori spoke aloud, enthralled. “These dragons look amazing!”
“If you like these dragons,” Sahtra began, “wait until I show you undead frost wyrms.” The death knight, ever keeping a watchful eye on the young blood elf, had silently followed her into the Arboretum. His dark armor looked rather out of place amongst the vibrant colors of the life surrounding him.
Mori looked up at him in amazement. “Undead dragons?”
He returned her gaze and nodded. “Indeed so. They were blue dragons in life, but upon death they were raised by Arthas to serve the Scourge. I especially miss Queen Sindragosa, his favorite one. She was a real beauty.” His blue eyes drifted off into the distance.
The pandaren woman who had been seated near the river stood up and approached the two. She had brown-grey eyes and green-streaked black hair tied up into two small buns on the back of her head. The woman was clothed in in a burnt orange robe with a matching cloak.
“A warmest welcome to you, travelers. I am Instructor Starbloom.” Sahtra nodded in greeting, any facial expression blocked by his cold helm. “What brings you to the Arboretum?”
“We’re on our way to the Temple of the Jade Serpent,” Mori pointed to the south, “and I wanted to know why you had all these dragons here!”
The woman chuckled. “These are called cloud serpents, young one, and here we train them.” She pointed at a black and white checkered flag at the top of a small hill to the east. “Do you see that flag? That is where we take the young serpents and race them so they can become faster.”
Mori absent-mindedly grinned, visions of cloud serpents running around filling her mind.
The pandaren woman looked at Sahtra. “I can see that the young elf here has taken a liking to our cloud serpents.” She placed her hands on her knees, slightly crouching to be at eye level with Mori. “Would you like one for yourself?”
The little necromancer very nearly screamed. “I can have my own dragon?!”
“Yes!” the instructor laughed upon seeing Mori’s eyes widen. She did not recall ever having seen a child who had adopted a serpent so excitedly. “We love spreading the joy of these beautiful creatures to those who will take care of them.”
Instructor Starbloom momentarily left and came back with a serpent egg about as large as Mori’s head. Its lovely blue shell glistened in the sun. She held the egg out to Mori, who received it with open arms. “Every so often,” she explained, “we rescue these eggs from the Windward Isle, where the saurok hunt them for sport and money. Dreadful fate for such precious animals, and anyone who can help take care of them will help restore the species.”
“Thank you, lady!” She examined it closely. “Is it a blue serpent egg?”
“Correct, my child!” replied the pandaren woman.
“Neat! My mama’s a dragon, too, but she’s red and black! I wonder what she’ll say when I show this to her.”
The instructor gave Mori a quizzical look, but the young elf didn’t notice. “Take especially good care of it until it hatches. If you have any questions on how to raise or train your serpent once it is born, please come back here and I will do my best to help you.”
“Thank you very much, lady!” Mori exclaimed. She had been given a precious gift, and she would do her best to ensure the serpent hatchling’s birth and survival.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” asked the instructor.
Mori thought of the strange bugs she had seen earlier. “Yes! What are those blue and white blobs under the trees?”
“Those are sift worms,” the pandaren responded kindly, “They feed on plants so that they may produce silk thread for beautiful garments.” Instructor Starbloom looked at Mori’s oversized robe. “Maybe you can get a new outfit for yourself!” She laughed.
Mori looked down at her clothing. She had been used to picking it up everywhere, but now that she thought about it, it would be more convenient to find a tailor. The young blood elf had no further questions.
“That’s all, thank you, lady!” Mori smiled warmly and waved goodbye as she started back on the path to the Temple of the Jade Serpent. Instructor Starbloom waved back with a pleasant face. “Safe travels, little one!” she called out.
Sahtra eyed the blue serpent egg eagerly. How ironic, he thought, that the child’s egg bears the color of the flight that served the Scourge so proudly.
“Can…Can I turn it undead?” he asked the young blood elf.
Mori looked up at the death knight, horrified. “No!”
“Listen, it won’t need any sleep or food. It’s easier to take care of that way.”
“I’m going to keep my dragon alive for now,” Mori insisted. “If it dies early, we can bring it back.”
“As you wish, little one,” Sahtra begrudgingly agreed, and added with a smirk. “If you drop the egg, however, I will use it to practice my cooking technique.”
The young blood elf let out a cry and held her serpent egg close. I’m not going to drop my blue egg, she thought to herself, the big death knight doesn’t even eat food!
Mori had been absorbed in muttering to herself about how she would take proper care of her cloud serpent when a nudge from Sahtra brought her attention back to the task at hand. Her jaw dropped as they came across two red semicircular doors lined with gold and decorated with green serpents facing opposite directions.
“Whoa…” Mori spoke in awe.
“Ah. There you are,” Halvor motioned at the newly arrived necromancer and death knight. “We are finally here at Temple of Green Snake.”
* * * * *
Mori stepped into the courtyard and looked around her. To the left and right were ornate dark green columns decorated with gold resting on spherical jade supports. The two sets of columns each supported a rooftop, equally green in hue. Twin banners bearing the emblem of the serpent hung from both ends of a rope connecting the left and right halves of the courtyard, and from it were strung a series of lanterns.
Halvor noticed Mori holding the large dragon egg, and the vrykul walked over to where she was standing.
“Is that…your dragon now?” Halvor’s face was lined with concern.
“Yup!” Mori exclaimed, “and I’m going to raise it!”
“I can raise it too,” Sahtra remarked. The blood elf glared at him and he grinned, his blue eyes sparkling through the cracks in his helm.
“Ah yes, child, I’m sure you will do good job raising small dragon. But how do you plan to feed small dragon when small dragon becomes big dragon?”
Mori thought for a few moments, blissfully unaware that Halvor suspected she might want to feed her large serpent with her other party members. The death knight was safe, at least, but the orc would likely make a good snack for the large serpent.
“I’ll find little animals for it?” the child guessed. “I need to ask the instructor.”
“Good,” responded Halvor, “that is a relief.” The vrykul glanced at Sahtra, who had perfectly comprehended the vrykul's intent with his question, and motioned towards a pandaren woman standing at the center of the courtyard with Tolkar and Vel’rosh.
“We speak to friend panda there.”
Mori and Sahtra approached the pandaren woman, Priestess Liu Flameheart, who appeared to be identifying several locations on Tolkar’s map. At their arrival, she gracefully bowed to them and spoke in stern but warm tones.
“Thank you for accepting this mission, travelers. With the presence of the Sha ever increasing in the temple, it has become very difficult for me to leave the grounds. I do promise you will be compensated for your help.”
* * * * *
The full party reconvened just outside the temple grounds. Tolkar held his map out in front for all to look at, save Mori, who was unfortunately lacking in height. The tauren pointed a thick finger at their current location on the map.
“This is where we are right now,” he moved his finger towards the northwest, “and this is the direction the missing cartographer was last seen.”
“We have been promised a big reward if we find panda map maker,” explained Halvor, “so while it is not my business really, reward sounds nice.”
“The Light compels me to do acts of good,” spoke Vel’rosh, “I would do it even if they offered no reward.” Sahtra rolled his eyes at the paladin’s remark and looked down at Mori. He had helped her tie her robe together to form a pouch for the blue serpent egg and prevent some of the cloth from dragging on the ground.
“Are you ready?” the death knight asked her. Mori nodded.
“Very well then,” began Tolkar. “Let us proceed into the forest.”
The party began their journey on what appeared to be a long uphill stretch of cobblestone road. The young blood elf stopped to watch a family of silverhorn stags feeding on the grass, and subsequently chased an ivory starling soaring above her. Before she knew it, the adults were out of sight and Mori was lost.
“Oops.” She took out her pet rock and held onto it tightly. It would calm her when she was nervous, and she clung to it when she was scared.
After walking around for several minutes, Mori came across a welcoming sight – a group of pandaren children playing on turtles. They noticed the young blood elf immediately.
“Hey! Come and play with us!”
“Yeah! There are lots of turtles here!”
Mori grinned widely, placed her pet rock back in its pocket, and ran off to greet the others. She had no friends in the little time she had spent in Quel’Thalas, and living with Kaelstrasza on the outskirts had left her with little interaction with young blood elves. She would often watch others her age frolic on the streets of Silvermoon City while she visited there for warlock training, but she had no time to join them. Mori welcomed the opportunity to behave as normal children did.
Her ears perked up at the sound of chanting. The pandaren youth were humming and singing to themselves, and she could make out the words:
Beware of the witch in the valley
And if you go, leave quickly
Those who too long have stayed
The witch has crafted into jade!
Mori approached one of the pandaren boys.
“Is this true? Is there a witch in the forest who turns people into jade?” she asked him.
The boy turned to her with a smile and said, “Nah! It’s just a legend! No one has ever seen the Jade Witch, but I double hozen dare you to find her house!” The child laughed with glee.
Not completely convinced, the young blood elf climbed onto a turtle and decided to enjoy herself for a while. There was not much else she could do for the time being.
* * * * *
Further along the road, Halvor, Tolkar, Vel’rosh, and Sahtra walked through a patch of forest covered with spiderwebs. To the east lay the familiar town of Dawn’s Blossom, and several of its tallest buildings could be seen through the openings between the trees. After climbing several sets of stairs, the four reached a fork in the road. One direction led to the Valley of the Four Winds, the other to Dawn’s Blossom.
“You three go on ahead,” spoke the orc, “I will investigate this path and find you later.”
Three? Sahtra stopped in his tracks. There are supposed to be four—
“Where is the child?” the death knight demanded. He frantically searched around him, but Mori was nowhere to be seen. Her small size and light stature had made it difficult to notice when she had gotten away. Sahtra cursed and kept looking.
Halvor walked by several rows of jade statues of panther-like creatures. They were frozen in motion, it appeared, ready to strike if set free.
“These statues are spooky,” the vrykul declared, “we should get out quickly.”
“But the child, where is she?” Sahtra was furious. “I need to find her.”
“I may be able to help,” replied Tolkar. “Let me check for magic in this part of the forest, and we can investigate several locations she may have disappeared at. I can also sense traps and secret entrances.”
The shaman held out his arm and produced a bubble of magical energy that scanned the surrounding area.
Sahtra stared intently at the tauren, hoping he would find clues. “Can you sense any—ARGH!” The death knight dropped his weapon as he was knocked to the ground by a reanimated statue that looked exactly like the ones Halvor had walked by.
“The statues move?” exclaimed the vrykul. “How?”
The tauren shook his horned head. “I apologize. They must have reacted to my release of magical energy for the search.”
The death knight had been rendered immobile on the ground. He sat stunned, unable to do anything, as his blue eyes glowed fiercely with anger and frost formed in the air around him.
“Quick, friend cow,” Halvor spoke, “let us kill these statues before it is too late!”
The jade statues would be frightening to a mere villager but were no match for the skilled shaman and the strong warrior. One by one, they felled the large cats until all that remained were broken boulders and pebbles of jade.
“I told you the statues were spooky!” the vrykul exclaimed. “I told you!”
“I am glad that is over with,” sighed the tauren with relief. He turned to the death knight, who had been freed from the stuns of the statues and stood up. “Are you all right?” Tolkar asked him.
Sahtra grabbed his axe and marched back down the path the travelers had taken, silently fuming with rage. He had been utterly humiliated, and an unfortunate soul would have to pay the price for it. The death knight walked past the fork in the road and turned towards the Temple of the Jade Serpent. A few moments later, he heard the sounds of children laughing and singing and heard a familiar voice among them. He combed through the trees and spread apart two branches to take a peek.
There she is.
Sahtra spotted the young blood elf instantly among the pandaren cubs. He held out his gloved hand and slowly curled his fingers into a fist.
“AIYEEEEEEEEE!”
Without warning, Mori sailed through the air and through the trees right into the death knight’s palm. She grinned sheepishly at him as he brought her closer to his helmed face. Sahtra sternly looked her in the eye, and the blood elf’s expression quickly changed into one of fear and worry.
“A-Are you mad at me?” she asked. The death knight sighed and placed her gently down onto the grass.
“Stay close to me at all times, little one. Do not get lost again.”