The waddle back to Alric's place left Danny mostly alone with his thoughts. Those dark, gloomy thoughts that should never see the light of day only to be laid bare in your most trying moments as if only to kick you while you're down.

Bruno Riverfrost was one of the most unbelievable fifteen-year-olds Danny had ever met, with the unwarranted pride that comes only from those pampered sons of wealthy men. Bruno purposefully roped Abigail into going with him just because he saw Danny give a poem to her just days before just because he saw it as some way to step on Alric's social shoes. Danny refused to believe it had anything to do with said poem, it was the product of several weeks of work. He even compared her eyes to the most lively of swamp water, dancing with an electrifying mix of moss and mud. That was clearly a winner.

Alric should've never had to step in for him, that only set the nail in the coffin of a terrible plan. The big oaf, if even he had to step in then there was an unhealthy amount of chance left, the effects of which he was currently struggling not to feel.

Danny couldn't help casting a side-eye at his brother, already his infamous Ironforge training routine was starting to show results, he was a few inches taller than Danny but built as if carved from a boulder, with curly brown hair that could be an endless debate on whether it was truly brown or black in its luster. However, as if in a cruel joke to his frame, he carried clear blue eyes that usually rippled with the inner hesitation he always tried but failed miserably to suppress like dense foliage in the shade under a great oak. His jaw was already losing that rosy fat of infancy and turning his face into the kind that seemed to be capable only of hard stares and stern silence; his nose was the piece that only ever so slightly ruined the illusion of a statue as it was swollen and bent from their earlier fight. It was a mystery that Balin knocked him out. Danny was frankly surprised his hand didn't snap off.

Danny really should get stronger, more than just the empty vibrato spoken to Alric, to be able to take care of the goons by himself. Danny took one more look at Alric before chastising himself. No, if even the Ironforge physique isn't good enough to just relentlessly crush the chaff underfoot, then Danny had about as much chance as he did at becoming a Lord in the high court. It's more than just brute strength, he needed status and influence to make sure they never step up against him to get beat down in the first place.

The maelstrom of Danny's thoughts continued their neverending cycle of hatching new plans and conniving schemes. At least it would have if they didn't flee like leaves in the wind once the fear of death set in.

Trying to cheat the world in a new life plan tends to preoccupy you in a way that you should've spent preparing for a plausible excuse for why you were delivering the demoness of Northrend's little brother battered and bloodied. Or making peace with the Lords above. Most likely the latter, as even a completely valid excuse would just mean a swift death as opposed to a torturous one. There's a reason why even the "prestigious" Riverfrost Barony didn't directly instigate a fight with Alric, instead choosing the roundabout way through Danny, and that reason stood five foot four inches and pointing a glare of pure death right through Danny.

"Seems I should go play dice with all this blasted luck," Danny muttered under his breath with a calm finality that frankly scared him.

Having already decided on execution through a totally impartial jury, Erin Ironforge stepped forward towards Danny, ready to beat him into rubble. Then beat that rubble into dust. Every ounce of her surged forward with that same promise of unrelenting pain reflected on her grey hazel eyes, that both highlighted the uncanny resemblance between siblings and proved how different they were. Where both had the lighter eyes of their mother, Erin's held none of the blue uncertainty of Alric's. Instead, they looked like a freshly smelted blade, a beautiful work of art that was equal parts death and destruction.

Normally, people would think she'd be an elevated of water with her lithe physique and small stature. Those people would be idiots. And dead.

Erin was not packed with the characteristically large muscles for which earth domain is so famous for because she managed to gain some sort of essence towards refining or smithing or some such at a young age making her body as hard as a suit of armor and hit with the force of mountain. Danny wasn't entirely clear on the circumstances as most sensible people go pale and run away as quickly as possible from you when you bring up Alric's older sister.

"Hey, Sis I did it! I managed to stand up against my fears and fight alongside Danny," Alric, Lords above bless the simpleton, was actually approaching the demoness with a smile on his face. Well, at least attempting to, it was more of a stumble that tempted to bring both Danny and Alric down in a heap. It's the thought that counts in these circumstances, as in any thought means death.

It felt like Erin's claws stopped inches from sinking into Danny's supple throat, just close enough to have him break out into the funeral rites of the high court.

Erin turned towards her little brother, all traces of the demoness of Northrend melting away, and in her place stood Alric's elder sister, Erin Ironforge, with a face filled with pride and concern. Danny needed to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't having some delayed hallucinations from all the head trauma. Without the blatant bloodlust, her eyes that were the grey steel of a soldier's blade now seemed nothing but the loving shield protecting her brother. Talk about a whiplash.

"That's... wonderful Alric," Erin spoke softly through grated teeth, a valiant effort to tear the words to pieces before they could be heard aloud. "I'm... certainly... proud of you. However, what happened to the both of you? Who do I need to ki- talk too?"

Danny felt a headache growing. Lords above, help Mr. Ironforge trying to prevent the destruction of Northrend's ruling family. Hopefully, she didn't destroy half the city in her wake. It would make it difficult to show up to school tomorrow. One, the debris would mean taking a totally different path and two, Danny would most surely have to take some measure of the fall for what should be Balin's fault.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Oh, well Danny got into a fight with Bruno River-" Alric suddenly faltered for a moment once he got a glimpse at the frantic gestures Danny was making and was scrambling to try and decode the gesture. Oh, there was an obvious gesture of understanding. "-man, Bruno Riverman." So close to sticking the landing too. "Sis, no need to worry, you always said a man needs to stand up for himself, so Danny and I will show this guy not to mess with us!"

He even finished by patting himself on the chest, how innocent. Alric made one think he was some hero out of a story, not to mention he'd soon look the part. Wait, what did that make Danny? Oh, no. Oh, blast it all to the high court. Danny refused to be the squire of anyone, even Alric. The Lords might as well cast him out to be a dung herder’s sworn brother if he was doomed to be the lackey carrying the weapons.

Erin seemed to have finished carefully considering her words, "Well, I certainly said something like that, didn't I?" Danny could've sworn he heard her mutter curses under her breath, "Very well, I will let you fight your little battle, but only if you agree to run straight towards me if you get injured again, alright?"

How was Alric not just the most pompous tool with one of the strongest elevated in the town willing to crush mountains if he found them irritating to look at? It would be one of those great unexplained mysteries of the world, just like Balin's right hook.

"Now you look horrible, come on. Let's see if Pa has some medicine to heal you up, make the swelling on your nose go down long enough to set it." Erin took Alric's weight easily enough from Danny and nearly made it into their house before remembering he existed, "Fine I guess you can come in too, just remember no shoes on the rugs."

Danny, never one to turn down free medication began to wander down the path through the front gate. Most medicines sold for way past their worth, not due to any malpractice on the part of physicians, but more that everyone and their uncle spent their lives learning how to fight and that typically entailed injuries far worse than the schoolyard fight that the brothers had just fallen victim too. Thus, they were typically held in high regard, but not as high as the said elevated they heal.

Maybe Danny should consider the path of healing as a way for status? Nah, he immediately discarded the idea. He would only be valuable in the absence of another physician that had skills near enough to his own, and that would be hard to find when it was so commonplace. Not to mention the idea of being surrounded by stuffy old men in white coats. No thanks, Danny would have to pass.

The Ironforge family stood at the cream at the top of the milk that is the high society in Northrend and their tiny mansion in the heart of the city reflected it. Though calling it tiny was an understatement, it was tiny for a mansion as most of the land they owned went towards training fields and staff quarters and not a luxurious main house.

There was a small gravel path that led from the iron gates to the small two-story abode that looked like it would belong among many other identical houses all owned by middling merchants. It was a mix of browns and greens that made it seem like some hidden huntsman lodge deep in the forests of Grendale but was just one of several motifs referencing their illustrious history as earth elevated and blacksmiths. Danny personally thought it was a bit melodramatic as if someone would forget how the Ironforge's made their name. Not to mention the boulders and trees everywhere, even inside the inner sitting lounge, gave away any hope someone would forget. It even smelled of the woods for the Lords' sake.

The play for humility was dropped at the front door, as the insides were dripping with opulence. Made Danny feel like a king. Didn't hurt that several servants were swarming over him. Especially pretty servants. The magic of being a practitioner in the mystical arts that slowed aging and trimmed out the fat, especially the Ironforge servants that were entirely muscles. It was a wonder they didn't trip over trying to examine his wounds. The room was furnished with ornate chairs that were trimmed in several different metals and woods like trying to mold a whole forest into a single piece of furniture.

Danny couldn't help but gaze at the budding spring flowers throughout the room, each perfectly trimmed and the only source of vibrant color in a room filled with dull metals and dark woods. He was quickly ushered into a chair near the empty fireplace though noticeably without shoes, he wasn't stupid enough to tempt his life twice. Next to Danny on the couch was Alric who seemed noticeably more relaxed now that he was at home but, noticing the glazed look in his brother's eyes it could just be a concussion taking over now that he was sitting still. Danny hoped he was okay, would just eat him alive knowing that he harmed Alric over a girl.

Erin was pacing in front of them, having already made some subtle and not so subtle threats towards the nearby servants to get the medicine they kept on hand for training accidents. There just had to be some advanced warning system in place because it seemed like within seconds Mr. Ironforge burst through the door in a fit of parental pride that only fit as the strangest counterpoint to Erin's worry.

Both seemed to have taken on vastly different attitudes towards Alric in the wake of his mother's death. Erin grew fiercely overprotective and worrisome about the smallest hair on his head in the hopes of preventing any potential harm. Mr. Ironforge on the other hand... he, well he seemed to be trying to kill the boy off in ludicrous training before Death got a chance. Alric's father was always a bit of an aficionado for sweat, something that only reached a frankly unhealthy degree when his wife passed. Worse yet, it seemed contagious. Both his children continually pushed themselves through whatever negligent scenario Mr. Ironforge could cook up next. At least the results showed, right?

Fergal Ironforge stood like a bear of a man, with muscles on top of his muscles, seemingly smothering out the hair on every part of his body, he had his hair trimmed close to shear on his scalp, an old habit from his army days, but was sporting a wild bushy brown beard that barely hid the scare on his right cheek from under his ear to his brown eyes that saw to it that no one would mistake him for some off duty commander. Overall if Danny saw Mr. Ironforge in the woods, he'd assume he'd be tortured in a cabin somewhere, but he was already numb to the old man's visage. It is impressive what the human spirit can become conditioned too.

"Heard you got into a fight Alric? Atta boy! How many hits did the bobbin take before he went down? You show him the ol' one-two like your old man?" Mr. Ironforge, never one to disappoint came in shadow boxing and nearly hitting the nearby servants.

Alric for all his worth had at least had the humility to look embarrassed. "Well... Pa, I... I didn't get the chance to hit him," the poor guy looked like he'd be willing to dig a hole to escape the atmosphere. Mr. Ironforge was paused mid-strike, equally embarrassed as his son. Danny could feel everyone in the room hold their breath, him included.

"Alric, I'm sure you are exaggerating. After all, who would be able to even stand before you after all the training you've gone through? there must be a better explanation..." Mr. Ironforge spoke with deliberate slowness, an effort to not break into the strict anger of a teacher that his white knuckles betrayed. "Daniel, what really happened? Who did this to my son?"

Oh great. Why did Danny have to get dragged into this? Lords above, he was too young to be killed. Well, there wasn't much to be said beyond the truth.

"Balin Pot has one blasted good right hook."