Grim Views

Chapter 1: The Deal

'Oh, and uh.. don't forget. You don't know none of this from me, yeah?"

Two shadowy figures skulked about the alleyway of the Drag in Orgrimmar. One was short, but with long arms, its fingers curling around a leather pouch it held in one hand. The other was taller, though dressed in darker armor. It was stooped over, as if slouching. In its three-fingered hand clicked and whirled an object of unknown origin, too hard to make out in the shadows. The tall figure manipulated the object in his hand, and a spout of flame fired into the air, lightening the dark alley to reveal a clearer view of the troll holding it, and the goblin with him.

"Hey hey HEY!! What're you tryin' to give me away?" the goblin howled, surely his shrill voice bringing more attention than the flame did, not that goblins think of such things.

The troll chuckled, shaking his head as he tossed another pouch of gold to the goblin. "Na mon, jus' makin' sure ju ain't dupin' me outta sem gold." The troll flicked the trinket again, causing another, higher flame to spray into the air.

Gazrit, the goblin, quickly pocketed both pouches of gold and grinned widely up at his customer, "Who me? Bad for business. But uh, again don't be tellin' no-one about that. It ain't illegal or anythin' but I don't need people bangin' down my door for one, they're not easy to come by."

The unnamed troll nodded, "Ju be thinkin' I want dem folks takin' away mah edge? No mon, ju an' me gots a deal."

Gazrit winked and jumped on his turbo trike, starting it with a bang and a roar, waiting for the din to quiet briefly before winking to the other, "You got it, well I'm off. Time is money after all." And with that, he roared out of the Drag, into central Orgrimmar.

Chapter 2: Caught!

It had been a number of weeks since his bargain with the stealthy troll, and Gazrit could hardly remember that the deal had been made at all. After all, the enterprising little goblin did it all the time. One thing that he did remember, however, was the payout. The small pseudo-mechanical device he sold the troll was unlike anything he had ever fabricated before, and Gazrit was glad that his engineering skills hadn't diminished since his initial bargain a few years back. That engineering paid off, literally, as the profiteer had enough to splurge on a lovely weekend stay at the Pleasure Palace in Azshara -- without Gallywix's permission, of course. Apparently the Trade Prince still hadn't forgiven the shaman for the occurrences on the Isles close to Kazan. As he thought about it, he wasn't sure if the islands were ever named. Goldgasket Isles, yeah, that had a nice ring to it. If only he could find an expedition willing to head back out towards the Maelstrom, he'd be sure to make a profit on volcanic island tours! Brilliant!

"Hah! Who needs Kaja'Cola?!" the lounging gobbo murmured to himself, dozing lightly in the hazy sun. Gazrit currently was in Orgrimmar, resting in a hammock near the Goblin Slums district. His eyes slowly began to slide shut as the heat of the day began to relax him, drowsiness overtaking the normal chaotic din of the goblin area of the city. The warmth of the sun was certainly noticeable today as well -- except it was getting warmer, and warmer. Gazrit struggled to sit up, glaring skyward until an acrid smell assaulted his nose: burning crude. Wide-eyed in alarm the shaman looked over towards the pool that was in their district, expecting to see its multicolored sheen around the constantly pumping derrick.

Except it was on fire.

Leaping out of the hammock, Gazrit ran over to where a growing gaggle of goblins gathered (bam!), and shouted to a female waving her arms wildly next to the pool, "Hey! Linza, you crazy or somethin'?! Put it out!"

With a glare that would kill, and did on a few rare occasions, the "environmental engineer" shouted back to her comrade, "You think I didn't try? It ain't listening to my orders!"

Gazrit shoved through the crowd to make her way to the engineer, murmuring at the curses and complaints thrown his way by the other goblins as he plowed through them. Upon arriving at the scene, he dropped a drill into the ground, focusing his will on the pool of oiled water beside him. "Fine fine! I'll do it then.. c'mon let's out this fire."
...
...
Nothing happened.

With a curse under his breath the shaman stretched his hand out towards the flames, "Well if the pool don't wanna, maybe a shock of frost will!" Again, there was no tingle in the air, and no power from his palm. At this point, Gaz was getting a bit uncomfortable. "What?! No, I'm in charge here! That's the deal! You do ---"

"NOTHING for you anymore, Goldgasket!"

The roar thundered around the canyon, attracting enough attention that the troll from down the way started to notice and head towards the commotion. Meanwhile at the site of the fire, all the goblins cowered, and Gazrit specifically had a panicked look on his face. The flames spun and twirled, spiraling up into the sky until they coalesced into an embodiment of flame, white-hot eyes glaring down at the small, powerless shaman.

Said shaman gulped, grinning sheepishly up at the flame elemental, stammering out, "O-oh, heya chief. Er, I uh, I mean Immolus. Uh.. k-kids alright? ACK!" The goblin ducked behind the derrick as a lash of flame struck out at him, the towering inferno growing taller at Gazrit's words.

"How dare you mention the flamelings! I know what you have done.. WE know, and you will pay for your crime, goblin."

The cowering shaman gulped again, peeking out from behind the derrick.
So much for that island vacation.

Chapter 3: Judgement

Lying on a scalding rock was the last thing Gazrit thought of those few days ago, when selling that small little trinket. Yet, after all that planning, and gold, here he was, caught somehow, with fire elementals circling around him. Their gravely voices rumbled in the sweltering chamber, murmuring things in Kalimag that the goblin couldn't understand. Behind the smaller fire elementals, his contract holder, Immolus, hovered and flamed, white-hot eyes burning down as he glared at the powerless shaman.

"We found your device, goblin. You imprisoned a flameling!"

Gazrit gulped, "O-oh, that thing, nah I uh, I asked, chief! I mean.. y'know, for the greater good against Deathwing and all that!"

The towering inferno rose to greater heights, the heat surrounding Gazrit rising to unbearable levels. Sweat rolled down his skin to sizzle upon contact with the rock beneath him. The goblin wasn't sure if he was going to make it out of the Firelands alive. "The Firelord has sided with the Aspect of Death, if you do not recall." Immolus thundered, drawing closer. The smaller elementals shifted aside for the elder being, and Gazrit feared his end would come in seconds. "Tell me," it hissed, "why should we honor a contract, let alone allow you to live, knowing what you have done to damage Ragnaros' plans? Compounded with the offense of trapping a small flameling in a mechanical device! AND SOLD!" The large primordial was obviously referring to the trinket Gazrit sold the troll a week or so earlier.

The little goblin squirmed, chained to the rock by smoldering shackles, the searing pain in his wrists barely felt as the radiating heat from Immolus cooked him upon the rock, like an egg on a skillet. He stammered out a few panicked excuses, stopping just short of begging for mercy, as he would find none here. Immolus raised a fiery claw above him, and he howled out in desparation, "K-kill me and the Horde will come after you!!"

The elemental stopped, burning eyes staring down at the quivering cowering green creature beneath him. "Thrall's Horde?" it rumbled, sounding cautious.

Gazrit's eyes snapped open, and he managed to nod, bumping his head painfully against the searing stone. "Yeah, big guy chief Thrall! I saved him from the Alliance y'know.. he.. he owes me!" Ok, so the little one was exaggerating slightly, but the majority of his statement remained true.

Immolus paused again, slowly retreating into the circle of elementals again. "We know of the Warchief here. He struggles to bring balance back to the world. That he would vouch for you is.... We will not kill you, as much as I want to, little goblin. But know.. we will serve you no longer."

Fire swirled around the goblin, and for a moment Gazrit thought that he was going to die anyway, simply unable to bear the torment of the angered beings. A shout echoed throughout the chamber in Kalimag, and suddenly a cool breeze brushed the former shaman's face. Daring to open an eye, he discovered the hunter trainer, Dankin, standing over him.

"Yo chief! You ok there? You kinda .. y'know, fell from the sky, on fire!"

Gazrit groaned, struggling to his feet. He murmured to himself and flicked a wrist, calling the water spirits to heal himself.

Nothing happened.

With a sigh, the ex-shaman knew, and he turned to his the other goblin next to him, "Y-yeah, I'm ok. Hey, uh.. you got a gun, boss? Looks like I'm in for a new line of work!"

-END-