Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven

Fenris stared at the old building in front of him, looking very confused.He didn't know what to expect at the Tomb of Sargeras, but it clearly wasn't supposed to be like this.What he initially thought to be carvings were actually the shells, bones and spines of various sea creatures that had been attached to the building's exterior walls as a result of years of submersion.From here, it seems to be looking at the depths of the ocean, but it is actually raised from the bottom of the sea and shaped into a habitable building.The door to this eerie place is open. "That fetish is here?" Fenris asked with a frown.It was difficult for him to connect this rough and uneven appearance with the hiding place of the earth-shattering fetish that Ner'zhul said.

But the death knight didn't have this doubt. "It's here," insisted Regnock, "I can feel it, it's hidden deep here." "Let's go, then!" Taga yelled. "Why are you standing here stupidly? The sooner we go in, the sooner we can go home!" Fenris often felt like he had nothing to say to Chief Bonechewer, but this time the orc was right.Fenris was eager to complete the delivery.He beckoned to his orcs to follow Regnock, Taga, and Taga's orc warriors. Traces everywhere show that this building has experienced hundreds, if not thousands of years of time in the water.All the corners have been rounded due to the constant washing of the sea and the moss, shells and corals that cling to the walls.The ground here is also covered in fungi and seaweed.All the decorations that have ever been on the walls are gone because they have been in the water for many years, or have been accumulated over the years.There wasn't any light coming in here—the strange building didn't have a single window—but that wasn't a problem.Regnock raised his hand, and a yellow light burst from his hand.Although the light casts nasty shadows, at least it allows the crowd to move inward.

As they pushed in, Fenris noticed that the walls were cleaner than the ones at the entrance.Not only that, but it is also less subject to tidal erosion.The decorative carvings on the walls have not been completely brushed off as before.Fenris could get a glimpse of the temple's splendor in its heyday.He thought to himself, this place must have been magnificent once, it was a kind of nobility and beauty of architecture that he had never imagined. Fenris felt the echo of rough footsteps in the hall.He found that the warriors of his clan thought much as he did, but Taja and his bonechewers were not impressed by the beauty of the place. They seemed only interested in death and destruction.Regnock seemed to be fully focused on his current task.

Maybe that's why Taga stopped suddenly and said to a spot on the wall where it was about to touch the ground, "Look there!" Fenris looked in the direction he was pointing and saw what looked like a black spot smudge.It looked like... "Blood," Taga confirmed.He knelt down, sucked the smear hard, then licked it with his tongue. "Orc blood," he clarified, standing up again. "Many years ago." "It should be the blood of Gul'dan or his warlocks." Regnock said, "We're almost there!" While this represents their mission getting done, it's not a comfortable thought. "Be vigilant," Fenris said to his orcs, and his warriors nodded gravely.

"Fenris, are you afraid?" Taga taunted, and he stepped forward, bringing his face to Fenris. "Afraid of what we might find?" "Of course I'm afraid, you bastard!" Fenris roared, his fangs touching the young chieftain's cheek. "Gul'dan is a traitor and an idiot, but he is still the most powerful warlock in the Horde! Right here, don't know what killed him and his followers. If you are not afraid, you are either crazy , or you are a fool!" "Well, I am not afraid!" Taga replied, and several Fenris warriors laughed at that.Fenris just shook his head, wondering why he was acting with such an idiot.But he answered himself, that's the reason, because there's got to be some smart people, so that even when those idiots are about to do something close to suicide, they still know what to do.

"Okay." Fenris said with a forced smile. "Then, please go ahead." Taga laughed and rushed forward, his battle roar echoing in the hall.He walked forward with no worries in mind.Others followed. As they headed deeper into the temple, the walls and floors seemed to be in better condition than before.Its grandeur is enough to make people excited.At an intersection, Regnock stopped, looking confused.He turned one way, then another.Fenris frowned. "Is there something wrong?" "It's nothing. I..." The death knight hesitated again, then nodded to himself, and walked firmly towards a passage.Fenris shook his head, but followed anyway.

The corridor ends in a large room.The walls there were blank, and what was even more astonishing was how clean, smooth, and undecorated it was.The sudden contrast made the room look more desolate, but also more dignified.At the other end of the room, a huge archway of black iron covered almost the entire wall. "Here it is." Regnock gasped.He pushed the door open. Then he froze in place with fear. Behind that door there was a real blackness, as if the midnight had condensed and hidden there, and the light could never find it. In that darkness, just behind the door, was a creature straight out of nightmares.

It was much taller than all the orcs, so it had to stand hunched in that room.Its skin was covered in scales, and lumps that might burst at any time covered its entire body. It looked like its body surface was liquid like water.It has prominent spikes on its shoulders, forearms, chest, and elsewhere.At the end of its overly long arm is a huge, clawed hand.Its face is too narrow below and too wide above, forming an inverted triangular head.Its squinting eyes were smoky yellow, and its small mouth was full of sharp fangs.Behind it, a tail wags from side to side. In one of its claws was a long staff that looked like a spear with a wooden handle and a silver end.A huge gem is inlaid on the head of the long staff, emitting a dazzling white light.There are many spikes gathered on that gem.The radiance of the jewel dwarfed the darkness of the room.From time to time the gem gave off sparks, but eventually disappeared into the darkness.

That was the Scepter of Sargeras - the artifact that Ner'zhul asked them to bring back. Fenris determined that it was guarded by a demon, and all they had to do was wrest it from the monster. "You can't pass here." The creature hissed, its voice very oily. "This place has been defiled once by mortals! I will not allow you to defile it again!" "We don't want to be here," Fenris replied, trying to hide his panic, "we only want the scepter in your hand." The demon laughed, its deep laugh sounding like the crunching of bones rubbing against each other.It stepped forward, and its long claws walked across the marble floor, making many deep indentations. "Then try to take it away from me," it suggested, "after you fail, I will tear you apart and enjoy your delicious souls."

"I'll crush your bones with my teeth and drink your marrow!" Taga yelled at the demon—in a language he could understand.Then, Taga raised his battle ax and charged towards the demon. Although Fenris has scolded Taga an idiot ten thousand times in his heart, he himself is not much better.Fenris raised his weapon and joined Chief Bonechewer in battle.About thirty other Thunder Kings and Bonechewer orc warriors followed behind them. Even so, it's a tough fight.That demon was much stronger and faster than all the orcs.His claws can easily tear apart the bones and muscles of orcs, who are as fragile to him as dry leaves.The weight of the scepter in its hand is enough to crush the head of an orc.The barb at the end of Sargeras' staff was the one the demon used to drive into a Bonechewer's chest and emerge from his back, still dripping with blood.Taga looked at the demon and yelled angrily.

But the demon's most terrifying and worst attack came from its bite.Its mouth can be opened to a degree completely beyond physical limits, exposing rows of teeth.Fenris watched as it bit off half the head of an orc.Although he was also in a battle rage, the situation made him feel sick. And it was the battle rage that saved them.Under normal circumstances, Fenris is disgusted by the bloodthirsty of the orcs, but for him now, this is simply a gift.Without it, many orcs—including himself—would have fled in panic and died in the end.But now, the orcs' brains felt a little dizzy, their vision began to blur, their blood was rushing in their bodies, and it was this bloodthirsty that allowed them to maintain their offensive.The demon was indeed fast, but with so many orcs attacking it from different directions at the same time, it still got hit a few times.The demon was strong indeed, but it was crippled by the orcs cutting off its limbs. Eventually, the demon's tail, an arm, and parts of a leg were cut off, and even its remaining arm was nearly smashed by the orcs, hanging from its body like a snake.Fenris and Tajja walked as one, on either side of the demon, delivering a fatal blow with all their might, slashing open its thick neck with their axes.The demon fell to the ground, its neck cut clean from both sides, and its head rolled to Regnock's feet. Fenris squatted down, picked up the scepter that fell on the ground, and felt the energy contained in the scepter beating slightly.It was lighter than Fenris expected. "We've got what we're looking for," he said, turning away. "Let's go." "What?" Surprisingly, Regnock objected. "You know, this is the Tomb of Sargeras! And you just killed its gatekeeper." "That's just a gatekeeper," Fenris replied. "There will be other guards here, pay attention to what I say." He raised the shining scepter. "Fortunately, we don't need to go any further into this abyss." "You don't understand," continued Regnock, approaching Fenris. "We got the scepter, and we're supposed to get the Eye of Sargeras. Do you remember when I was confused earlier? It was because I sensed both artifacts at the same time. It took me a while to figure it out That. But now, I know exactly where the Eye of Sargeras is—deep in that corridor. That's what Gul'dan was looking for, and now it's within easy reach." Regnock's eyes narrowed in anger. "It's really sympathetic. If I think about it, you will all die. Now, do you want to go get your eyes with me, or..." "What else?" Fenris said angrily. "Go, go. Kill us right here, and then you go to the Eye of Sargeras alone. Whatever we choose, we're all going to die." He was almost sure that the death knight was lying to him, but He still insisted on his decision.Regnock might not kill them all because of a little anger, but what is certain is that the thing guarding the Eye of Sargeras will be able to kill them all. Regnock held up his hands, and for a moment Fenris' heart nearly stopped beating.But then, the death knight put down his hand, after all, it was just hitting a swollen face to make a fat man. "You're all idiots," Regnock growled, but there was a note of defeat in his voice. "Perhaps," Fenris agreed. "But us fools can live to see the sun tomorrow." He stopped talking and turned away.The Thundernet clan followed after him, and then Taga and his orcs followed.It was a little satisfying that, after a while, he noticed that Regnock had joined them again. "Did you get it?" Fenris slid off the dragon's back, and his feet landed firmly on the broken ground.After the blood demon found him, he ran towards this side.When the orcs returned to the mainland again, the dragons were already there waiting for them, and then the black dragon gate quickly brought them back to the cursed land, back to the gorefiend and others. "Yes, we have it," Fenris affirmed, holding up the long, narrow, cloth-wrapped scepter.He handed the Scepter of Sargeras to the Gorefiend, glad that he was finally free from it. "What shall we do now?" "Now we have to hurry back through the portal of darkness." Gorefiend replied.Fenris fought back a shudder as his hands gripped the encased staff protectively. "Our mission here is done. Azeroth is no longer important to us. Now we can rid ourselves of those humans and their allies." Fenris was about to ask some detailed questions, but a sudden boom stopped him.He looked up and saw the orcs leading several large wagons, pushing them into the valley.He remembered the conversation in Blackrock Mountains, and knew that these should be the cargo that Deathwing asked them to bring to Draenor.In his spare time, he once thought that there would be something important that the black dragons would have to transport them to another world, but he still told himself that it was best never to know. The other orc, who seemed more curious than Fenris, started walking towards a wagon.But just before Fenris stopped him, a black figure swooped down from the sky.The orc screamed and fell to the ground, covering his face with his hands.From between his fingers, blood dripped continuously. "Go back!" Fenris yelled. "Stay away from those vans!" The black dragons who had just returned with the orcs were now flying into the sky to defend their cargo.Some of them couldn't wait to fly up before the riders had fully landed. "Gorefiend!" Fenris remembered the voice's owner, none other than Warsong Chieftain.Grom Hellscream and his troops have just returned from harassing the Alliance forces at Keepwatch.Although he was still some distance away, everyone could hear his voice clearly. "Did you bring these creatures?" "Yes!" Gorefiend replied, Grom could hear him clearly even though he didn't raise the volume. "The black dragons are our new allies!" A low-flying black dragon narrowly missed Grom's claws, and Chief Warsong ducked to dodge.Frowning, he yelled, "Allies! Do something to your winged friends before they cause chaos, or kill us all!" The death knight looked at the black dragons, studied for a while, finally nodded, and shouted, "Deathwing! I promise you, I will protect those trucks and their cargo! Please let your black dragons back to the edge of the valley !" All the black dragons began to fly aside, and Fenris could not distinguish the king of black dragons.After a while, the black dragons began to circle, looking for shelter on the cliffs at the edge of the valley. "Much better." Grom muttered, walking towards the crowd.He and Fenris nodded at each other—the two had always been on good terms.Fenris considered Grom the most competent of all the chieftains of the Horde, and an excellent warrior. "Have you got what you need?" Grom asked the two. "I got it." The Gorefiend replied, but he didn't say anything more.Grom looked over at the vans. "What's that?" Grom asked. "Goods," the Gorefiend replied curtly.Each wagon was made of thick timber, with high side rails, and was completely covered by a thick tarpaulin.From how much it was covered, Fenris concluded that the wagons were full, but other details were unclear to him. "I thought all we had to do was get the fetish," Grom said. "The plan can't keep up with the changes." The death knight answered him. "Don't worry too much." He used some kind of magic to amplify his voice, and in an instant his voice echoed throughout the valley. "I will personally protect those trucks. If anyone dares to interfere with them—or want to take a peek—you have to pass me first." Several orcs were stunned, and they looked up.After hearing this, two orcs near the back of the truck hurried back. Fenris shrugged.He accomplished his task.If the Gorefiend wanted to play any tricks, it was between him and Ner'zhul. "How long are we going to go?" he asked. "I need a part of your clan to stay here and continue to defend the Dark Portal. You and the rest of the clan can go back now if you want," Gorefiend replied. "Taga, you too, I need some Bonechewers." Fenris frowned, but nodded anyway.He had hoped that all members of his clan could go back, but he understood the Gorefiend's decision. "What about us?" Grom asked, but Fenris walked away.Now, he didn't care much about the orders given to Warsong.He waved for his deputy, Margrim Thunderfist, and together they chose twelve orcs who would serve Magrim and stay here.Those orcs didn't protest, they were Thunder King orcs, and they responded to the tribe's request. "Go to the portal!" The other Thunder King orcs crossed the valley and came to the tall new portal of darkness.Ahead of them were the covered vans.Fenris could see some of the death knights who had been guarding the borders of the valley walking beside the wagons, and the Gorefiend was there. In the distance, Taga was shouting at his Bonechewers, trying to sort them out.The ogres were also shouting, and one ogre shouted excitedly, "I can't crush you to death!" From the orc comments Fenris had just heard, the entire Warsong clan would remain here.The Dark Portal will be well-defended.Fenris thought about staying here too, but another thought told him that he was tired now, and that he missed his hometown.Perhaps, in the near future, he will bring his orcs to help those companions guarding here. Fenris hurried up the slope, facing the Dark Portal.Fenris was still on edge with the energy surging through the portal.Something so small - he could easily walk around the portal, and the portal was not as wide as the stone frame around it - could connect two completely different worlds.He had also thought that maybe one day the portal would stop functioning, or collapse, and tear apart anyone who passed through him.The thought quickened him, and he ran through the door.There was a strange whistling sound in Fenris' ears, the same feeling he had felt when he left Draenor, as if his body was suddenly moved a long distance.A chill ran through his skin, and a fleeting light flashed before his eyes.Then, he saw the familiar, red sky of Draenor again.With a sigh of relief, Fenris left the Dark Portal, pausing to wait for his clan to assemble. After him, he saw that some other clans were also lining up, and the Gorefiend had already left with those wagons.Fenris has endured these machinations long enough.Now, he has completed the mission assigned to him by the Gorefiend. The Thunderlord orcs could finally go home and rest before Ner'zhul gave them new instructions.