A Nerubian's Journey

Deathwing found himself lost in memories as he examined the weapon that had recently been hung on the walls of his manor.

The masterfully crafted greatsword was covered in potent elvish enchantments that he was unable to recognize. It was also thoroughly imbued with Void magic, which wasn’t a surprise given where it had been for the past few millennia. Deathwing couldn’t help but wonder how the sword came to be buried in the brain of the being he had been looking for, but he supposed it didn’t matter in the end.

Despite being an immensely powerful weapon, it wasn’t the greatsword itself that filled Deathwing with nostalgia. No, the fact that he had taken it from the Tomb of Tyr was the true reason for that. It had been a long time since he had last thought of the person responsible for convincing the Titans to empower him and his siblings. He could remember a time when he had once looked up to Tyr with nothing but reverence and admiration, but such memories were tainted by the knowledge that Tyr was responsible for the suffocating burden that had set Deathwing on his path.

It's their fault. They’re the ones who placed such a burden on you. We freed you from the Titans’ chains.

As had long become habit, Deathwing forced away any thoughts of his life before he had surrendered himself to his current masters and focused on more recent matters.

When his masters had first whispered to him the location of the tomb so that he could resurrect one of the creatures that had killed Tyr, Deathwing had expected it to be a relatively simple matter.

Of course, as one of the nine constructs who the Titans had empowered and given orders to watch over Azeroth in their stead, Tyr was an enormously powerful being and his tomb had once possessed defenses worthy of a being that many mortals had once worshiped as a god.

In fact, the tomb seals and wards were very familiar… though he didn’t bother looking deep into those memories.

However, those defenses had degraded significantly over the long years and the only thing left had been a few powerful wards and an Order of mortals who had been entirely unprepared to defend themselves against a being like Deathwing.

Despite this, the entire affair had been far more tedious than he had expected. The humans had been studying Tyr’s hammer, The Silver Hand, and had become annoyingly proficient in wielding the Light as a result. It would have been simple to slaughter them all if he used either his true form or the Void, but matters would have become greatly complicated if his efforts were discovered.

Deathwing didn’t want his siblings to know what he had done until it was already too late.

It had taken him some time, but he had eventually succeeded in sneaking his way into the portion of the tomb holding the creature, pulling the greatsword from its skull, and sealing the tomb’s exit as it slowly returned to life. The few remaining mortals who managed to survive the subsequent slaughter had hidden themselves behind an immensely powerful ward that was not only tied to their life energy but also empowered by Tyr’s hammer.

Deathwing could almost admire their ability to survive against such overwhelming power, but he knew that they were just delaying the inevitable. Once the creature returned to its full power, there would be nowhere left for them to hide.

He looked forward to finally being able to access both Tyr’s corpse and his weapon.

Resurrecting him was probably impossible given his nature as a constructed being and the hammer would probably fight him every step of the way if he tried to use it, but Deathwing was certain he could find a use for the contents of the tomb.

Perhaps I’ll hang that damned hammer on my wall as well, Deathwing thought with dark amusement. Only after corrupting it, of course. I’d love to be able to see the look on Tyr’s face after seeing his precious weapon being corrupted by the Void.

Of course, the greatest prize of his little expedition was the being that he had brought back to life. The creature would be fully capable of keeping the Dragon Soul completely and utterly safe from the other Aspects, especially in their weakened states.

If it had only taken two of the creatures to slay Tyr, arguably the greatest warrior to have ever served the Titans and empowered by Aggramar himself, then what hope did his siblings have?

The only thing that was left for Deathwing to do was to wait for it to fully recover from its wounds, and then there would be nothing on Azeroth able to stop him.

Just as he was feeling satisfied with his future plans, Deathwing's eyes widened with shock and he looked up as a brilliant beam of arcane energy instantly tore apart his wards and slammed into his body. The attack completely obliterated his manor and left behind a path of devastation as it carved a furrow in the earth.

The beam finally ended once it pushed Deathwing into a crater in the nearby woods.

That actually hurt, Deathwing thought with a hint of surprise. How long has it been since someone actually managed to cause me pain? Although I have a feeling about who’s responsible.

“Neltharion!” an angry and very familiar voice roared out in pure hatred, confirming his suspicion.

So they’ve come.

Deathwing let loose a roar of his own as he abandoned his mortal visage and willed the earth away from him. He exploded out of the crater in his full glory and glared at those foolish enough to face him.

Flying high above and glaring at him with expressions ranging from grim determination to sheer hatred were his siblings.

His foolish sisters had both arrived with their consorts, but it seemed like his brothers had come alone. Nozdormu’s mates were likely tending to his duties in his stead, but Malygos was almost certainly alone for an entirely different reason.

“What a pleasant reunion. I admit, I’m surprised that you’re all so willing to face me, especially with your consorts at your sides, sisters,” said Deathwing, letting out a sadistic chuckle. “I didn’t expect to see you alone, Malygos. I could have sworn that I left one or two of your consorts alive, no? Did you leave them behind out of fear that I would kill them as well, or did they simply lose interest in you while you were wallowing around uselessly for the past ten millennia?”

Unfortunately, Malygos didn’t charge at him in an insane rage as Deathwing had expected. He instead simply glared at him with murderous intent before speaking softly with his voice filled with utter loathing, “Today is the day that you die, Neltharion. I’m going to capture the memory of your life leaving your eyes and treasure it dearly.”

“And how exactly am I going to die, brother?” Deathwing called out mockingly. “Even with your combined might, you all have little hope of defeating me in your current state. It was clever of you to ambush me away from the Dragon Soul, but it won’t be very long before my servants bring it here and you’re all brought under my power.”

Much to his surprise, his siblings failed to respond to his taunts, causing Deathwing to suddenly become suspicious and attempt to contact his daughter Onyxia through the Void. The destruction of the wards around his manor should have already triggered a magical alarm to notify her of the situation. His children and that ogre should be on their way with the Dragon Soul.

When the spell completely failed to make contact with Onyxia, Deathwing let out a growl of frustration, “What have you done?”

“You always did forget, brother, that you weren’t always the smartest being in the room. Nobody is going to interrupt us, Neltharion,” said Nozdormu, his voice as annoyingly calm as ever.

Deathwing didn’t have the time to respond as his siblings and their mates lost interest in the conversation and went on the attack.

At Ysera’s command, massive roots from every tree in his vicinity simultaneously emerged from the earth and wrapped themselves around his wings and body, holding him in place. Alexstrasza descended from the sky and smashed into his trapped body like a meteorite, and he immediately began wrestling with her with claws, fangs, and fire.

Deathwing called on his command over the earth and slammed his tail into the ground with all of his strength. The effect was catastrophic as the earth for a mile around shook with his fury and every tree in the forest was instantly destroyed and uprooted; most importantly the shaking threw off Alexstrasza. He attempted to use his geomancy to knock the relatively weak consorts out of the sky with massive boulders, but Nozdormu used his magic to slow the boulders down and they were easily dodged.

Malygos attempted to skewer him by launching a barrage of enormous ice spikes down on him, but Deathwing merely created a large stone barrier between him and his brother before smashing his tail into Alexstrasza’s side and sending her flying away.

“You might have found some way to prevent my children from bringing me the Dragon Soul, but your efforts will lead to nothing!” Deathwing yelled out as soon as Alexstrasza was flung away. “Every moment that you’re here fighting me is another moment that your precious mortals are being slaughtered!”

This isn’t how he wanted to reveal the creature, it was much too early to make the most use of the monster, but his siblings had pushed him and the mortal world would suffer as a result of it. Alexstrasza had always been a bleeding heart, and she would be distracted by the mortals’ suffering for the rest of the fight as a result.

Perhaps he’d even have the chance to capture her and Ysera after all…

It only took Deathwing a single moment to contact the creature through the Void and order it to attack Capital City, sealing the fate of countless mortal lives and ensuring the destruction of the Alliance leadership.

“Neltharion, what have you done?” asked Alexstrasza, outraged.

“Something horrifying and foolish in equal measure, no doubt,” Ysera responded in a disappointed tone.

“Since you seem so intent on keeping your own plans secret, I see no reason to share mine,” said Deathwing smugly. “But know that as you fight with me here, my plans are already underway elsewhere. We’ll see in the end which of us came more prepared.”

“You won't see it no matter what!” Malygos roared.

At that, Deathwing threw himself back at his siblings with murderous intent.

Krivax could feel the tension amongst their group grow as they approached the camp of the Twilight Hammer Clan.

Nobody had said a word for nearly twenty minutes, and the only sound that could be heard was the loud grinding of the jormungar ahead as it carved a tunnel through the earth. One of the Archmages had summoned a floating ball of light that followed the group, and another had created a ward around them that produced fresh air. Krivax had expected that the long trip from the Alliance’s frontline to their destination would have been a bit more difficult, but one of the Archmages whom he had never met had given everyone an Elixir of Endless Stamina.

An elixir like that would normally cost a small fortune, but nobody had any intention of going into this without using every resource at their disposal. Pretty much everyone was covered in powerful enchanted artifacts in preparation for the battle ahead of them. Krivax himself was wearing robes that had been made from some of the most valuable silks that Azjol-Nerub could produce.

Krivax glanced at his friend and was satisfied to see that even Masruk was also equipped with the expensive artifacts that were standard issue for Dread Stalkers.

Eventually, the silence was broken once they got close enough to their target for them to begin making preparations.

“I can sense the Void’s foul blight directly above us,” Hadix said with disgust before turning to address Anub’rekhan. “We should be beneath the Twilight Hammer Clan’s main camp.”

The Spiderlord had been chosen as the leader of the operation due to him possessing the most experience against the Horde as well as familiarity with nerubian tactics and underground assaults.

“Understood,” Anub’rekhan said before turning to address the group. “Worm Handler Crut’zok, order the jormungar to begin digging defensive tunnels immediately. Viziers and Archmages will follow behind you laying out traps. We likely won't have much time before the black dragons sense our approach. Vizier Saltik, begin creating the wards to protect the tunnel network from the enemy's geomancy. Vizier Crinis, wait for the assault to commence before you begin creating the portal, we want to be as prepared as possible before we alert them.”

A part of Krivax had been expecting Anub’rekhan to give some kind of inspirational speech before the big battle, but it seemed like the time for that was long past. Now was the time for them to prepare to fight for the fate of their world.

Everyone immediately moved to carry out their respective tasks. It only took a few moments for the jormungar to finish expanding the main chamber in which Crinis would be opening the portal, and Krivax quickly found himself a corner, climbed to the ceiling, and began spinning a defensive web.

Against what was likely to be overwhelming numbers, exploiting his advantage in mobility as a nerubian and creating a defensible position would be essential. Many of the Dread Stalkers were doing so as well, and he had no doubt that more than a few orcs would be suddenly killed by nerubians falling down on top of them.

The Archmages followed behind the jormungar and thoroughly covered the tunnels with magical traps set to activate when anyone who wasn’t a member of their group passed by. Once he finished spinning his web, Krivax quickly followed after them, intent on memorizing the path of the tunnels.

After nearly a minute of extensive trap setting and tunnel digging, the loud bellow of Anub’rekhan echoed throughout the tunnels, “Our presence has been discovered and the dragons are assaulting the wards! Gather at the jormungar! Crinis, start opening the portal!”

Krivax immediately stopped what he was doing in alarm and began sprinting through the tunnels toward the distinctive sound of the jormungar. It didn’t take long before he arrived at the same chamber as the rest of the group, most of whom were looking up as the earth began to shake around them.

“The assault will begin now,” Anub’rekhan said solemnly as a thin sheen of Light began to grow around his body. “The attacking team will follow the jormungar to the surface and engage the dragons while searching for the Dragon Soul. The defending team will follow behind us after a few moments, engage the rest of the Twilight Hammer Clan, and carry out a fighting retreat into the tunnels if necessary. Any questions?”

The chamber was silent. Everyone had already known what to expect.

“Good, then we begin. Worm Handler Crut’zok, open a path to the surface. Everyone, drink whichever elixir was provided to you by Archmage Karlain.”

The jormungar promptly started tunneling to the surface as everyone prepared for the coming fight.

Archmage Karlain happened to be an alchemist and had personally created a variety of invaluable elixirs that would help tip the scales in their favor. Krivax could feel his mind expand and reaction speed increase dramatically as soon as he drank his own Elixir of Alacrity. Seconds later, he heard the hissing of the jormungar and the bone-chilling roar of an enraged dragon as their tunnel connected to the surface.

“Attacking team, follow behind me. Defending team, wait thirty seconds before ascending,” said Anub’rekhan, immediately charging up the tunnel with startling speed afterward.

Antonidas, Prince Kael’thas, Kel’Thuzad, and Hadix quickly followed after him, each of them glowing with potent arcane energies as they prepared for the fight of their lives.

The next thirty seconds were probably the longest Krivax had ever experienced as the sounds of hissing, roars, and explosions resounded above him. He knew that every member of the attacking team was an absolute powerhouse in their own right, but their enemies weren’t exactly slouches either.

When Ansirem finally gave the order for the defending team to advance to the surface, Krivax actually felt a hint of relief break through his anxiety.

Once he reached the surface, Krivax took his position at the tunnel entrance and looked around the chaotic battlefield. Anub’rekhan was glowing brightly with the Light as a swarm of angry locusts flew around him while he traded blows with a massive black dragon that Krivax assumed to be Deathwing’s eldest son, Nefarian. The two of them left a path of trampled orc corpses in their wake as their fight moved throughout the camp.

A half dozen images of Prince Kael’thas were bombarding a significantly smaller black dragon who was most likely Deathwing’s youngest son, Sabellian, with a barrage of arcane missiles. At the same time, Archmage Kel’Thuzad was preventing the dragon from going airborne by continuously freezing its limbs to the ground and using barriers made of ice to block its fiery breath.

Meanwhile, Antonidas was busy proving why he was considered to be a once-in-a-generation genius and the most powerful mage in Dalaran. Krivax watched in awe as the Grand Magus simultaneously cast multiple spells at the airborne figure of Onyxia, Deathwing’s eldest daughter. Massive orbs of violet fire chased after the dragon as a summoned water elemental created long spikes of ice that erupted from the ground in an attempt to disrupt her flight path.

Onyxia attempted to bury Antonidas in magma with her breath, but the Grand Magus simply teleported to the side without interrupting any of his spells.

Krivax forced himself to pull his attention away from Antonidas and check on his mentor. Hadix was fighting Cho’gall and was currently attempting to turn the ogre to ash by bathing him in a whirlwind of flames. Unfortunately, the ogre had been exceedingly empowered by the Void and was merely laughing insanely as his skin melted in the heat and quickly regenerated. Grotesque tentacles were beginning to grow all along his body and his immediate vicinity was utterly drenched with waves of corrosive Void magic.

Krivax was more than a little surprised to see that Cho’gall was actually carrying the Dragon Soul on his person. The ogre must have been afraid of someone sneaking by and stealing it once it became clear that their camp was being assaulted.

“Incoming!”

Krivax had to pull his attention away from the attacking team once Ansirem yelled out in warning as a veritable tide of pale orcs, a few two-headed ogres, and many of the strange Void-mutated dwarves charged at them from every direction. The Dread Stalkers had already taken a defensive formation around the entrance to the tunnel with their spears out while Krivax and the mages began casting their spells.

A vast array of fire, ice, and arcane spells flew from their position and painted the battlefield in gore. His alchemically enhanced sense of perception allowed Krivax to see in great detail as one of his own bolts of ice pierced through the chest of a charging orc. The battle continued in this fashion for several minutes with the Horde force struggling to advance against a line of elite nerubian warriors and several extremely powerful mages. One of the Viziers even used his geomancy to create a spiked trench around their position that slowly started to be filled with corpses.

Despite taking such severe losses, the Twilight Hammer Clan was utterly relentless and didn’t hesitate to step over the corpses of their comrades to get to them. At one point, several of the orcs managed to get close to their flanks and Krivax promptly created an ice barrier around himself and turned the ground in front of the Dread Stalkers into mud. Masruk in front of him used the opportunity to impale one of the creatures on the end of his spear with a quick thrust.

Krivax lost himself to the tide of battle as everyone around him frantically killed as much of the enemy forces as possible. Unfortunately, their endurance was not inexhaustible, and it was quickly becoming clear that the Horde had more than enough forces to bury them under a mountain of corpses.

Krivax found himself pulled out of his strange trance by the voice of Ansirem as he shouted over the chaos, “Magister Rommath, we need some space!”

The elvish mage responded by stepping back from the chaos of the battle so that he could begin casting a spell. Around ten seconds later, Krivax was forced to look away as a massive pillar of fire erupted from just outside their perimeter and bathed the enemy forces in flames.

Rommath was quickly caught by one of the Dread Stalkers as he started to collapse to the ground from mana exhaustion.

“Well done, Magister,” Ansirem shouted over the sounds of screaming orcs. “I’m sure we don’t have much longer before they resume their assault. Do everything that you can to preserve your strength and start preparing for a fighting retreat into the tunnels. We’ll still need to last for a while longer until Crinis is able to open the portal and we can receive reinforcements.”

The group’s mood seemed to lift at the reminder that there was a light at the end of the tunnel and everyone quickly began making preparations. Krivax retrieved a healing potion from his spatial bag and poured some of it on a minor wound on his leg that he’d gotten from one of the pale orcs. He checked up on Masruk and was relieved to see that in spite of the nicks on his armor, he had not suffered any significant injuries.

“Archmage Modera, I think you’d be better off helping Vizier Hadix retrieve the Dragon Soul,” Ansirem said to his colleague. “We need to secure it and bring it to the portal as quickly as possible. With the advantage of the tunnels, I’m confident that we’ll be able to hold out without you.”

Modera nodded and set off for Hadix and Cho’gall without another word, summoning a deluge of water elementals that quickly began sweeping away any enemy in her path.

Soon after that, the Horde forces managed to regroup and resumed their ferocious attack. The group continued to kill wave after wave as they slowly retreated toward the tunnel entrance. Once it became clear that they couldn’t hold any longer, Ansirem ordered them to fully retreat and Archmage Karlain threw a flask at the tunnel entrance that exploded into violet fire that streamed toward any living creature that drew close.

I’m starting to get way too used to the smell of cooking orcs, Krivax thought as he descended the tunnels, feeling slightly nauseous.

Hadix teleported out of the way as the Void-corrupted abomination attempted to cave in his skull with its huge hammer. The Void's interference made it slightly difficult to cast spatial magic, but Hadix was more than accustomed to dealing with such inconveniences.

As soon as he was out of the way, Hadix activated the spell that he had left behind, causing a spike of earth to erupt from the ground and lift the creature into the air as it was impaled. Hadix didn’t let his guard down for a moment, as he knew how difficult it was to kill anything that had been so thoroughly infused with the Void.

His assumptions were proved accurate as it promptly smashed through the pillar in its stomach with its weapon and threw a stream of shadowy flame in Hadix’s direction that splashed against his already prepared shield.

Hmm. It’s even stronger than I had expected, Hadix mused to himself as he watched the creature’s wound heal itself before turning his attention to the Dragon Soul hanging from its armor. Completing this mission is going to be difficult…

While it seemed like his allies were fairly successful in distracting their designated enemies, none of them would be able to provide aid any time soon. Thankfully, the fight between Anub’rekhan and the largest dragon was causing so much destruction that most of the enemy forces decided to focus on the other groups, which meant that the abomination wouldn’t be receiving any aid either.

“Why do you fight me, nerubian? I can feel the presence of the Old Ones within you! You should be helping me in carrying out their will,” said the abomination through its twin mouths, pulling Hadix out of his thoughts with its insane ramblings.

Your actions are futile. Only through serving us can you protect your people from what is prophesied to come.

With practiced ease, Hadix fortified his mind with magical defenses and pushed the whispers away.

“Your masters offer nothing that I want, you ignorant fool,” said Hadix, deciding to indulge the creature while he considered his next course of action. “The Old Gods want nothing more than to bring death and destruction to everything that they touch. The creatures are akin to parasites that serve no greater purpose other than to be a blight on the world.”

“How am I the fool when you’re the one who fights uselessly against the inevitable,” Cho’gall snarled in anger as his second head babbled incoherently. “I know you’ve felt their power! Do you really believe that this world has any hope of standing against them?!”

“Perhaps we don’t,” Hadix calmly admitted. “But I have every intention of fighting your masters to my last breath, and I know that I’m not the only one.”

Seeing his chance, Hadix instantly cast a spell that caused the earth to rise from underneath the creature and clutch onto his legs. It was only a moment later that a streak of arcane energy smashed into the Dragon Soul from the creature’s flank, breaking the piece of armor it was attached to just enough to and sending it flying away.

Hadix released the geomantic spell holding the ogre in place as a tide of water collided with the creature and swept it away from the Dragon Soul. By the time he finished running over to the artifact and picking it up off the ground, Archmage Modera had already emerged from her invisibility spell and was standing by his side.

“So, this is what the fate of the world rests on then? Malygos had already shown us what it looks like, but I still can’t help but feel a tad bit disappointed.”

As much as he might wish otherwise, Hadix found himself agreeing. The Dragon Soul looked like nothing more than a flat golden disk connected to a golden chain, which was hardly what one would expect from such a powerful artifact. It was only his magical senses that revealed the object to be anything more than it looked, as Hadix could sense ancient and powerful magic radiating from the artifact in his hands.

“And what exactly were you hoping to accomplish with that?!” the abomination growled out as it shuffled towards the two of them. “Neither one of you could ever hope to damage the master’s artifact, nor will you be taking it away from here alive!”

The creature had seemingly given up any hope of recruiting him and channeled its foul magic into the ground, causing a writhing forest of tentacles to rise all around them. Hadix quickly took in his surroundings and realized that there was no path of escape, and the dense layer of Void energies was making it impossible for him to teleport away.

“This isn’t good,” muttered Archmage Modera, her face filled with determination as she called her water elementals back to her side

“No, it definitely isn’t,” said Hadix, throwing a massive ball of fire in the abomination’s direction as he prepared to fight for his life.

Several miles west of Capital City, the surface of the lake commonly known as Tirisfal Lake began to violently ripple, the waves growing larger and larger. The waters of the lake slowly began to turn as dark as the night sky as a shadowy body within the lake emerged from its depths.

Soon, a monstrous figure that hadn’t been seen since ancient times broke the surface of the water, causing water to cascade over its body as it stood to its full height. The trees near the lake started to decay and rot and the earth churned as corrosive blood dripped from its various wounds and congealed into small horrors that immediately began attacking the local wildlife.

The beast, taller and bulkier than a hill, looked as if someone had placed the face of an octopus onto a humanoid crab, but even this bare description could not truly encapsulate the horrid evil being inimical to all life not of the Void.

The creature waved its facial tentacles in the air and sniffed out a great gathering of mortals to the east. The earth shuddered as it took the first steps out of the lake and toward its target.

“Soon… all will be one with the Void,” it rumbled in a tone that promised nothing but madness and destruction to all.