Chosen of Gonk

[moonshadows]

“Ah, Ryxl. Come in.”

The orc sauntered into the room, unconsciously mimicking the slouching stride of a troll in the jungle, and sank into the same boneless crouch as the troll on the other side of the small brazier in the center of the room.

“What can dis child o’ da jungle be don’ for you?”

The slouch, the crouch, the drawl – even after all these years, it still startled Vol’jin to realize that the Warchief’s Champion was indeed a troll in an orc’s body.

“Ya can be explainin’ why I be getting’ a dream-message from Zen’tabra insistin’ dat ya be needed in da jungle o’ ya birth.”

“Mebbe if I be knowin’ what she be doin’ dere, I can be more help,” Ryxl countered the accusatory overtone calmly.

“Da loa be sendin’ her dreams o’ where da beasties gonna be needin’ help. Her druids be goin’ ta da worst places, an’ Stranglethorn be da worst o’ da worst, so it be dere dat she be goin’.” He eyed the orc, but her expression gave no hint as to her thoughts. “She just arrive dere last night, but apparently dat not be good enough. She be da greatest o’ our druids, but one o’ da loa be demandin’ ya.”

“Gonk,” Ryxl said shortly, the name more of a guttural half-bark than a word.

“Ya mind explainin’ why da Raptah be askin’ for ya by name?”

The series of harsh sounds the orc uttered weren’t exactly illuminating.

“…what?”

“I be sayin’, ‘hunter obey pack-leader, pack-leader obey Ultimate Packleader, Ultimate Packleader obey Gonk’. Da packs, dey be askin’ for me by name because I be part o’ da pack. Zen’tabra be a great druid, but she not be one o’ da pack an’ dey not gonna trust her.”

Vol’jin just stared at her.

“If you be doubtin’,” she said casually, “Thrall be glad to let you read da report from when I got da packs ta respect Grom’gol’s territory.”

“Gonk be askin’ for ya by name,” he said slowly. “He be demandin’ ya as da link between us an’ his children. Don’t ya realize what dis be meanin’?” When Ryxl was silent, he shook his head. “Go ta Stranglethorn, Ryxl. Obey da command o’ da Raptah. When ya get back…” he drew a deep breath, then let it out. “When ya get back with Zen’tabra, I gonna have da elders o’ da tribes assembled, and we be holdin’ da ritual ta recognize ya as High Priestess o’ Gonk.”

The orc smiled, a very toothy expression that would have looked right at home on any raptor’s face. “Be doin’ whatever you want,” she said with just a hint of smugness. “It no’ be changin’ t’ings wit’ Gonk. He still no’ be takin’ worshippers from da tribes.”

“Mebbe so,” Vol’jin said firmly, “but ya still gonna be given da honah ya deserve. Ya name gonna be remembered for eternity.”

To the troll’s surprise, Ryxl laughed. “My name already gonna be remembered for eternity. It be how raptors say dey be executin’ someone.”

Vol’jin just shook his head. “Ya gonna be a legend, Ryxl, and ya own people not even gonna be da ones dat appreciate ya deeds da most.”

Ryxl stood up just as easily as she’d crouched down. “Spirits be wit’ you, son o’ Sen’jin.”

“Spirits be with ya, chosen o’ Gonk.”

==================================

“Ryxl!”

The orc broke into a broad grin and gave the leathery-skinned troll a hug. “Se’jib! Good to see you, mon!”

The old troll grinned back at her. “You be lookin’ good, girl. ‘Bout time you be getting’ here, Gonk be givin’ me an earful every night.”

“Dis orc be Ryxl?”

Ryxl turned to the source of the new voice. The troll matched her voice well, looking cold and disapproving. “You not be hearin’ da tales o’ a child o’ da tribes who be not o’ da tribes?” she asked lightly.

“No fighting,” Se’jib said sternly. “Zen’tabra, dis be Ryxl Ironheart, true child o’ da Zandali. She be da one Gonk be askin’ for; dis be her home. Here she be born an’ raised.”

“Let’s see what she can do, den,” the druid said stiffly.

Without a word, Ryxl mounted Takk with all the grace of a cat’s leap. “I be assumin’ you can keep up,” she half-asked the other women, who snorted and melted into the shape of a sleek cheetah. “Dere be my answer. We goin’ to da sout’ pack first.”

Raptor and cheetah ran silently through the jungle a ways before the trail started to show signs of regular travel by something with claws. Takk slowed to a stop, and Ryxl let out a series of barks and growls. After a moment, a raptor screamed back in the distance and Takk started moving again in an easy lope towards the sound. Not long after, they broke into an enormous clearing filled with raptors.

Zen’tabra shifted back out of cat form as soon as Ryxl’s feet hit the ground, not entirely trusting the raptors to not take her for a snack. The black raptor called out a few times, and some raptors called back while the orc looked on in tolerant amusement. When the formalities had been completed, Ryxl let out another series of barks and an enormous blue raptor sauntered up. The exchange that followed went completely over the troll’s head, even just looking at body language. Finally, Ryxl nodded to her and vaulted back into the raptor’s saddle.

It was a quiet run back to Grom’gol.

“Okay, what was that all about?” the troll demanded in Zandali as soon as they were within sight of the wooden barricade again, safely in the no-man’s land where enemies could be seen coming and no one would overhear them.

If she’d hoped to trip Ryxl up, she was going to be disappointed. “That was Tethis, the Ultimate Packleader in the area,” the orc answered in the same language. “I did him a favor once; he knows I can be trusted to keep my word. The packs obey his command. He’ll gather them up and make sure that the young are within the walls of Grom’gol when the Cataclysm hits. The adults will be camping here, keeping anything hostile away. They’ll provide fresh meat for everyone.”

“Exactly what I’ve been trying to get them to do. How did you get him to agree so quickly?”

Ryxl grinned. “You’re not a raptor and you don’t speak for Gonk, of course they’re not going to trust you. South Pack is where I spent my early childhood, so I’m considered one of them. Some years ago, I got the packs to accept Grom’gol as another type of pack, so I was able to offer pack hospitality.” She paused. “I may have also offered them membership in the Horde. Raptor-speak isn’t the most precise thing in the world.”

“Membership in the…” Zen’tabra shook her head. “How does that even work?”

“Well, if Tethis decides to meet Thrall face to face, and if he decides that Thrall’s pack and territory are big enough to be a part of rather than an ally of…” Ryxl shrugged. “It happens between sub-packs all the time.”

“But they’re-“

“They have language,” the orc interrupted sharply, “and complex social structure and self-adornment. They have a sense of the afterlife. They have honor. You want to finish that sentence?”

Silence.

“You owe your life to Gonk, I hear,” Ryxl said coldly, “and the Darkspear owe their freedom from Zalazane to you. Are you really going to repay that by calling his children beasts?”

“Are you speaking for him, then?” Zen’tabra asked with equal chill.

The two women glared at each other for a long moment. “I’m beginning to understand why he doesn’t take followers from the tribes,” Ryxl said at last. “Gonk speaks for himself, as he always has. I’m just doing him a favor.”