World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm Page 0,47

will have a chance tae make things right.”

Anduin hoped so, too. It would seem that father–child difficulties were not limited to humans.

As they rode together, he got to know the people of the neighboring areas of Kharanos and Steelgrill’s Depot. Once they even rode as far as Thelsamar in Loch Modan, where they broke for lunch and Anduin, exhausted, fell asleep by the loch and awoke two hours later to an exquisitely painful sunburn.

“Och, ye humans, not smart enough tae come in out o’ the sun,” quipped Aerin.

“How come you aren’t burned?” asked Anduin crossly. Ninety percent of the time he saw her, Aerin was in full armor, and the rest of the time she lived underground. What skin was now revealed was even paler than his own.

“I went and napped in the shade o’ yon rock outcropping,” she said.

He gaped at her. “Why didn’t you suggest that to me?”

“Thought ye’d figure it out for yerself. Ye will in the future, won’t ye?” She smiled placidly at him, and although he was in terrible pain and the color of a crab when it was boiled, he found he could not be angry at her. He hissed as he put his shirt back on; the fine runecloth fabric, soft as a feather, was agony. Aerin was right. He would never let himself drift off on a sunny day without making damned sure he was well protected by the shade.

He returned to his quarters to find a letter waiting for him. It was in Magni Bronzebeard’s own bold handwriting:

Anduin—

Come to the High Seat as soon as you return. Bring Aerin, too.

He’d hoped to ask High Priest Rohan for some help with his sunburn, but Magni’s summons clearly brooked no delay. He showed the letter to Aerin, whose eyes widened. She nodded, and as one they turned and hastened to the High Seat. Despite the pain of his sunburn, Anduin broke into a trot. Worry flooded him. Had something happened to his father? Had war finally broken out between the Horde and the Alliance?

Magni was there, leaning over a table. Two other dwarves, their garb travel stained, were on either side of him. A third dwarf looked on eagerly. Anduin recognized him as High Explorer Muninn Magellas, the head of the Explorers’ League, a dashing dwarf with red hair and beard who liked to sport goggles most of the time. On the table were three stone tablets. Anduin skidded to a halt, exchanging a quick, confused glance with Aerin, who shrugged, clearly just as confused as he.

“Ah, Anduin, lad, come here, come here! Ye’ll want tae see this!” Magni waved him forward, his eyes alight with excitement. Relief filled Anduin, leaving him feeling momentarily drained, and then he felt a twinge of annoyance.

“Your message sounded urgent, Your M—Uncle Magni,” he said, moving forward, feeling the sunburn with renewed awareness.

“Och, not urgent, but most intriguing! Come take a look for yerself!”

One of the dwarves nodded and stepped out of the way so Anduin could stand beside Magni and Magellas. He looked at the tablets, realizing now that there were not three, but only one, which had been broken into pieces. There was writing on each part of the shattered tablet. Anduin knew several languages, but this was unfamiliar to him.

“Me brother Brann sent this tae me,” Magni said. He pulled off one of his gloves and ran bare, powerful fingers over the texts with a startlingly light touch. “He was intrigued and thought I might be as well.” He glanced at Anduin. “And as soon as I saw these, I sent for ye. I imagine ye’ve no idea what ye’re looking at.”

Anduin laughed a little and shook his head. “I’ve never seen this before.”

“I’m not sure anyone has, at least not in a long, long time. This writing … it is of the earthen.”

Anduin’s skin erupted in gooseflesh and he stared at the broken pieces with new respect. The earthen were creations of the titans, long, long ago. And it was from the earthen that the current dwarves were descended. The stone in front of him was unspeakably old, perhaps as old as ten thousand years—maybe even older. He, too, reached a trembling hand to touch it, lightly, as Magni had, with profound respect.

“Do you know what it says?”

“Nay, I’m not schooled in such things. Even Brann had a wee bit o’ trouble with this. That’s why he sent it here, to the experts at the hall. He got something … let me see