Today, Jag found his first major break in the search for his family. This success has relieved some of the frustration he'd been feeling, but has also, unfortunately, brought up many more questions that as yet, like the many others that have come up before in the last eleven days, cannot begin to be answered properly. But at least Jag has something to go on, something tangible. He has a lead, of sorts. But best of all, he has made some progress. He's not standing completely in the dark anymore. Where before there was only complete and absolute darkness, there is now a dim light, away in the far distance. To many others, this would not be much of an improvement over the darkness, but to Jag, it shows that he has a spatial position and somewhere he can go from this point.
It all started innocently enough. Well, as innocent as tracking down a traitor to the Alliance can be. The search took Jag all over the Eastern Kingdoms, from Duskwood to Stormwind City, into the Wetlands and Menethil Harbor, to Theramore Isle and the vast marsh that lay beyond. It was in this marsh, Dustwallow Marsh to be exact, that the search came to its victorious end. It turned out that the traitor was a soldier employed in the Alliance's defense force near Witch Hill, a man by the name of Hendel. Jag intercepted and caught Private Hendel, who after a brief physical confrontation, turned himself in. Handcuffed, he and a pair of accompanying guards rode on horseback to Theramore Isle. As they were riding off, Jag noticed something shiny drop from Hendel's horse onto the damp ground. "It must be something Hendel had in one of his pockets," Jag said to himself. Curious, Jag walked over to pick the object up and examine it. Immediately, he recognized the object. It was his wife Jaina's wedding ring! He knew so by its size, its shape, the clear, perfectly polished crystal socketed to it, and by the inscription that he himself had engraved into the underside of the band: "You are my Light, always and forever."
Jag's emotions ran untamed for a moment. Shock, surprise, confusion. Sadness, worry, anger, fury. Realizing he'd do no one any good as a raging emotional furbolg, he calmed himself by summoning a cool, refreshing breeze to surround and envelop him. Once he had regained his calm composure, he took off for Theramore Isle as quickly as his elekk could take him there.
Once at the Isle, Jag requested to speak with Hendel, but he was told he didn't have the proper clearance to do so. Irritated, though not outwardly showing so, Jag nodded, then asked if it would be possible for him to propose a few questions to be asked on his behalf. Seeing that the guard was a bit perplexed by his request, Jag filled him in on his story. The guard nodded sympathetically - sincerely, as though he actually understood and was not merely trying to get Jag to go away – and told Jag he would be willing to carry out the request. The interrogator would ask Hendel Jag's questions, and Jag would be mailed a letter express if anything significant were to come from Hendel's replies to Jag's indirect inquiries.
Hitting what seemed now to have become another dead end, Jag had no choice but to continue onward, to the Hillsbrad Foothills. But first, he sent a letter to Serac, to update him on recent events and to ask a favor of Serac's priestly comrade, Symur. See, since Jag did not know Symur all that well yet, he figured Serac could act as his "in" at this particular time. Relationships would surely grow and prosper, but for now, Serac was his man. While out hunting down the traitor that would eventually be identified as Private Hendel, Jag had learned from Serac's other friend Voudka that Symur was a skilled jewelcrafter. This knowledge now came in handy, as Jag wanted to see if Symur would make him a bronze necklace with which he could slide on Jaina's ring, so he could have his one and only current physical reminder of Jaina close to his heart at all times.
It was such a simple favor that Jag figured it would be no problem at all, and so while he waited for the necklace to arrive in the mail, he decided he would go on wearing the ring on his own ring finger. He wouldn't care what others might say to that, a grown male Draenei wearing a female Draenei's wedding ring. "To Illidan's Hell with them all," Jag muttered with deep, meaningful strength behind the words. Few could understand what he was going through. To explain it to each person he encountered would not only be tiring, but entirely futile. All that mattered to Jag was finding his family and the truth of what happened to him. His shamanistic training and exploration of the lands of Azeroth were just a means to an end at the moment. He could appreciate the power and beauty some other time, perhaps when he was reunited with his family. But at present, he was on a mission.
As he lay in a bed at the Theramore Isle Inn, he pondered what may have happened to Jaina. Maybe nothing at all, but then, it may have been something bad, or worse yet, she's in the midst of something dangerous. What kind of trouble could Jaina have managed to get herself into? Was it related to what happened to him? Was it something he did that caused all of this to happen? Just what was the relationship between Jaina and the traitor Hendel? Jag still didn't know much and that really frustrated him. What he did know, he didn't like.
What he knew didn't calm his nerves. What he knew only made him more worried, more distraught. Though, what he knew now also made him more determined than he had ever been earlier in his journey. Subconsciously, he looked down at his right hand and noticed he had forgotten to take off Jaina's ring. As he did so, the crystal reflected the light from the lamp. He placed the ring down on the night table and gazed intently at it. Here it was, a physical reminder of Jaina to keep him focused, a symbol of their love to constantly show Jag why he's doing what he's doing. He won't give up. Until he finds her, he will keep training and wandering through the lands. He will not believe her dead unless he gazes upon her lifeless body with his own eyes. He will hope, and continue to hope, truly and deeply, that Jaina is okay, wherever she is, whether in danger or safe. He has faith that wherever she is, she will be able to persevere on her own. He knows she's a fighter and a survivor. It's one of the qualities that he loves and admires about her. Of this, he has faith...but perhaps the amount of time remaining for her is of a lesser quantity than the longevity of Jag's faith in his wife.
Again, the stress and heavy hearted concern began to take over in Jag's mind, starting to overwhelm him again as it had at times in the week before he bought his elekk. Luckily for Jag, this time, exhaustion won out and he was in a deep and comfortable slumber before the panic could claim a sturdy hold on him.
The candle in the bedside lamp burned down into nothingness and went out itself, a couple of hours later.