Daega. She had heard that word a great deal lately. In her native language it meant “spirited” or “blessed by spirits”. She smiled a half smile. It suited her. She wasn’t sure where the strange, dark furred female from Azeroth had heard it when she so casually assigned it to the young elekk that followed her around but she was sure she didn’t know its true meaning. There was much the female – what had the Anchorite called her? Tauren. That was it. – it was obvious there was much the female did not even know about herself. The elements swirled about her like moths to a flame. The voices of the spirits could be heard shouting to her but she did not hear them. The word “daega” could be easily applied to her.
The tauren female left, her small Daega following close at her hooves. The Draenei woman that had been watching her from a darkened corner dropped a few coins on the table and left a few moments later. She had come seeking something and had found it in a most unexpected place.
She pulled her hood up over her head, carefully arranging it around her horns. Keeping her head low she walked casually through Lower City to the gates leading to Terrokar forest. A burly guard stepped in her path as she moved to leave the city. “The forest is riled up tonight,” he grunted. “It isn’t safe for the unwary to be traveling. Who are you and what business do you have outside the city?”
She smiled. “I am Daega. Apprentice to Nobundo. I have come to commune with the spirits of the forest.” She brandished a small carved Earth totem at the guard and smiled when he pulled away with a snarl.
“Be on your way then. And don’t be crying for the guards to protect you when the beasts come to devour you. You’ve been warned of the dangers in Terrokar.”
She nodded and slipped past him, tucking the small totem in her pocket.
Once out of the city, and out of sight of the guards, she found the hidden outcropping of stone she called home. It sheltered a small shallow cave where she slept at night sheltered from the elements. She crawled inside and shoved the large rock over the entry. Certainly wasn’t the most comfortable place she had ever stayed, but it was safer than staying in the city.
What she told the guard wasn’t entirely untruth. Many of her people changed their names over their long lives. So she could now be Daega. And at one point in time she had been apprenticed to those who had studied the ways of the shaman. That had been some time ago, though. However, she would use whatever misdirections she needed to to avoid catching too much attention. Her freedom, her very life, depended on it.
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