World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm Page 0,109
letting him use. Under the bed was the pack he had brought with him when he had used the hearthstone to escape Ironforge and the gilded cage Moira had wrought for him. He grabbed the pack and hurried back to Jaina and Baine. Jaina had the little furrow between her brows that told Anduin she was slightly annoyed with him. He sat down again and reached inside the bag, pulling out something carefully wrapped in cloth.
“Baine … I don’t know. … Maybe this is a little forward of me, and I don’t really know if you care what I think, but … I want you to know I understand why you’re choosing this path. And I think it’s the right one.”
Baine narrowed his eyes speculatively but did not interrupt.
“But … it feels to me …” Anduin groped for words, heat rising in his face. He was guided by an impulse he did not fully understand, and he hoped he wouldn’t end up regretting it. He took a deep breath.
“It feels to me like you yourself don’t believe the path you’ve chosen is the right one. That you’re worried that … you might not be able to walk it. That you won’t be the best leader of your people, like your father was.”
“Anduin—” Jaina’s voice was sharp, a warning.
Baine held up a hand. “No, Lady Jaina. Let him finish.” His brown eyes bore intensely into Anduin’s blue ones.
“But … I believe in you. I believe that Cairne Bloodhoof would be very proud of what you’ve said here tonight. You’re like me—we were born to become rulers of our people. We didn’t ask for it, and anyone who thinks our lives are fun or easy … they don’t know anything about what it means to be us. To be the sons of leaders, and to have to think about leading ourselves. Somebody believed in me once, and gave me this.”
He unwrapped the item that was lying in his lap. Fearbreaker caught the light of the fire and glimmered brightly. Anduin caressed the ancient weapon as he spoke. His hand ached to close around it, but he resisted the urge.
“King Magni Bronzebeard gave this to me the night before—before the ritual that killed him. It’s an ancient weapon. Its name is Fearbreaker. We were talking about duties, and sometimes the things everyone expects of us aren’t what we’re really meant to be doing.” He looked up at Baine. “I think the tauren will be as angry and as hungry for vengeance as you are. Some aren’t going to be happy that you’re not out for blood. But you know you’re on the right path—for you, and for them, too. They just won’t see it now. But they will, one day.”
He lifted Fearbreaker, holding it carefully in two hands. Magni’s words floated back to him: It’s known th’ taste o’ blood, and in certain hands, has been known tae also stanch blood. Here, take it. Hold it in yer hand. Let’s see if it likes ye.
He didn’t want to let it go. If ever a thing was meant fer someone, that weapon was meant fer ye, Magni had said with certainty.
But Anduin wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was meant for him for only a short time. There was only one way to find out.
He lifted the weapon and handed it to Baine. “Take it. Hold it. Let’s—let’s see if it likes you.”
Baine was puzzled, but obeyed. The mace was too large for Anduin, and yet it looked small in Baine’s huge hands. Baine regarded the weapon for a long moment. Then he took a long, deep inhalation and sighed, letting the breath go, letting his body relax a little. Anduin smiled softly at Baine’s reaction to the weapon.
And sure enough, a few seconds later, Fearbreaker began to glow, ever so slightly.
“It does like you,” Anduin said quietly. He felt a sense of loss. He had never even had the chance to wield the weapon before it had wanted to be passed on. But at the same time he had no regrets about what he had done. In some way that Anduin didn’t quite understand—and perhaps never would—the weapon had chosen Baine, just as it had chosen him.
“It thinks you are making the right decision, too. It has faith in you—just like I do, just like Jaina does. Please take it. I think I was meant to have it so I could give it to you.”