Chapter 10 Chapter nine

"Naclus!" Zuluhed, chieftain and shaman of the Dragonmaw clan, was striding down a long corridor, glaring at any orc who stood in his way. "Nekros!" he roared again. "Here, I'm here!" Nekros Bonebreaker limped out from a cave next to him, his wooden prosthetic leg was leaning against the rough stone floor and making a tinkling sound, he buried his head so as not to hit the door. "What's wrong?" Zuluhed quickly stood beside him and stared at him. "What about the weapons?" Zuluhed asked. "are you ready?" Nekros laughed, showing his yellow teeth. "You can come and see for yourself." He turned around and limped along the way he came, Zuluhed followed behind.He hates this place.It is called Grim Batol, as the Dwarves call it, and it is one of their strongholds.Now it belongs to Dragonmaw. Although the room here is big enough, he despises the low roof, let alone those doors. Although the height is enough for dwarves, it is not enough for most orcs. .They are expanding, but it is not so easy to deal with rocks, and they don't have much time to do these boring things.It is very important that the fort is well-equipped, built in the interior of the mountain, and easily defended.

Nekros led him into the depths of the fortress and eventually came to a vast underground room.Here, heavy black iron chains were attached to the wall, and the sight before him took Zuluhed's breath away.A gigantic creature filled the room, coiled there in comfort or despair, its wingtips sweeping across the roof and its tail beating the far wall.There is a row of torches on the wall, and the light of these fires shines on the scales, red like blood, red like flames. One train. This is no ordinary dragon.This is Alexstrasza, greatest of the red dragons, mother of her kind, queen of her people.Perhaps the most powerful creature in the world, powerful enough to destroy entire clans with a swing of its claws, and swallow all ogres in one bite.

They still got her. Necros did it.For weeks, the entire clan searched for a dragon, and finally they came across a lone male red dragon flying low above the forest with a broken wing.The Zuluhed hadn't given much thought to what could injure such a gigantic creature, but it made their job easier.They followed the red dragon to his family's lair, on top of a high mountain, and dragons were all around them, flying like birds in the sky.They watched the summit for days, unsure of what to do next, until Nekros announced that he had tamed the Demon Soul.Then, slowly and deliberately, they approached the top, where they found Alexstrasza and her three mates.The dragon queen noticed them immediately, opened her mouth, and killed the four orcs in a split second with flames.But Nekros stepped forward and overwhelmed her.Rely on him alone.He ordered Alexstrasza and her family to follow, and they obeyed.In those few days, the whole clan was praising Nekros, an orc who single-handedly threatened the entire dragon clan.

But the crippled warlock wouldn't have been able to do it without the Zuluhed, or the artifact he'd found.Zuluhed would have liked him to use the thing, but Demon Soul didn't respond to him and his shaman spells.Just heed the call of Nekros, now the limping orc is the only one who can use it. But this is also acceptable.Because in this way, it will be Nekros who will stay in these caves, and he, Zuluhed, can fight side by side with the other tribes.Good thing for the crippled orc, too—the moment a human chopped off his left leg, he was useless on the battlefield.Most orcs at this point will choose to kill themselves, or at least jump on another enemy and die on the battlefield.Nekros survived, and no one can say whether it was because of his cowardice or misfortune.

Zuluhed was glad Nekros was alive.Because when he found the Demon Soul, Zuluhed couldn't use it.He could feel the power imprisoned in the disc, even before he found it from a cave in the mountains.But this power is locked inside by a shiny golden artifact.Clearly, something other than shamanic knowledge is required here.He'd considered bringing the thing to Doomhammer—he called it the Demon Soul because he could sense demonic taint in it, or something else he wasn't sure about—but dismissed it. idea.The warchief was a mighty warrior and a noble orc, but he didn't know enough about spells.Although Gul'dan was another option, Zuluhed did not trust the cunning high-level warlock.He still remembered being an apprentice to Ner'zhul when Gul'dan was young.The latter was still a shaman at that time!Wise and noble, respected by all, Ner'zhul has always sought to improve the life of orcs as a whole, not just his clan.It was he who first brought the gifts of knowledge and power from the ancient souls, and it was he who encouraged and strengthened the bonds between the different clans.

It was a great day, but soon, everything started to turn sour.The spirits were proven false and their own ancestral spirits stopped communicating with them out of rage.The shaman lost their powers, leaving their clan defenseless against magical attacks.Then Gul'dan stepped onto the stage.The former apprentice took his master's place and claimed to have found a new way, a new spell.He offered to teach those shamans.Many people accepted his offer and became warlocks. Anyway, the Zuluhed didn't do that.He didn't trust Gul'dan, he felt that this man was only thinking about himself.And this strange power has a demonic feel to it.The ancestors no longer spoke to him, and the elementals no longer listened to his calls, which made him panic, and he didn't want to pollute himself by accepting such unnatural powers of Gul'dan.

Zuluhed wasn't the only shaman to reject Gul'dan's offer, though.But most others accepted.Gradually they began to change, their bodies became larger and darker, as if to show the pollution in them.Their world was also destroyed, the earth gradually died, and the sky turned red.So the tribe came to this new continent, and only by conquering it can they let their clan live a peaceful life again. Nekros was a former shaman apprentice, and the Zuluhed once placed hope in him.But when Gul'dan offered to offer other spells, Nekros followed suit.The young orc learned the spells of a sorcerer, but something happened that made him choose to leave, leaving everything behind to become a warrior.This led Zuluhed to trust the young orc again.He didn't ask what exactly caused these changes, but understood that it was all out of loyalty - between Gul'dan and his Shadow Council and the Dragonmaw clan.Nekros chose his clan.When Zuluhed trusted him again, he had told the warrior to be ready to deal with the warlock's problems.It was Nekros who brought the disc, and although he was crippled, the orc did not disappoint him.He is very grateful to Nekros, because of him, they can stand here and watch their plan work.

"Then," Zuluhed said, preparing to approach the gigantic beast. "Are we—" He was blocked by an outstretched arm from Nekros. "Wait," the orc warned.He took out the Devil's Soul from a pouch on his waist, and lifted the huge, ordinary golden disc high. "Come here," he called. Zuluhed watched countless sparks emerge from the hall and gathered into a figure.The figure gradually began to become clear, a tall and strong humanoid creature wearing strange bone armor.Its skull-like top is blazing, and its eyes are spheres of black flame.The creature stood before them, as tall as an orc but sluggish, exuding strength and alertness.

"We're going in." Nekros said, holding the Demon Soul in front of him.The strange creature once more was a myriad of sparks and disappeared into the room, whereupon the crippled orc nodded to his chieftain to continue. Zulushid moved forward cautiously again. He didn't know if the thing really left, but it did leave-although he didn't know what it was, but Nekros completely controlled him.That was fine, and they all saw what would happen if they didn't.When a member of their clan brought news of Doomhammer, he rushed into the hall without waiting for Nekros to disarm the guard.The creature appeared out of nowhere, its huge fiery hands clutching the unwary orc's head, and flames burst forth, devouring the hapless courier.After a few seconds, he stopped screaming, his body limp and his head turned into a pile of pure ashes.

Now, however, the chieftain was able to enter the great cave without trouble, and he approached the dragon queen, stopping not far from her chains.Her huge triangular head turned to look at him, her yellow eyes staring at him flatly, as if they were in opposite positions. "Are you here to gloat, little orc? Haven't you tortured me and my children enough?" Alexstrasza said.She opened her mouth angrily, but the chains held him tightly, their own strength enhanced by the stone tool. "No," Zuluhed told her, still in awe of her size and strength. "Just to make sure everything is in order. You should know what will happen if you turn us down."

"Quite clear," she replied.Her words were very angry and sad, and she turned to stare at the other side of the cave, where some gray and white objects were placed. Although he couldn't see clearly here, Zuluhed knew that those things were very important. Thin and tinged with gold.Those were the remains of a gigantic egg, the size of an orc's head.A dragon's egg. When they first captured Alexstrasza, she refused to cooperate.Nekros solved the problem by grabbing one of her unhatched eggs, which he held up in front of the captive queen, smashing the egg with his fists, spattering him and her with the yolk.Her screams nearly deafened them, and her blows knocked many orcs to the ground, two of them with broken legs.The chain held her tight, and she succumbed, reluctantly.She tried her best to avoid seeing her unborn child killed in this way. "You will not succeed," Alexstrasza warned him. "You trapped me but my children will challenge you to win their freedom." "Impossible with what we have," Nekros replied, showing her the disk.He frowned, concentrating, the dragon queen began to struggle in pain, and a faint voice came out of her mouth. "I...one day...will...kill...you." She was still rolling, with pain and hatred in her eyes. Necros laughed. "Maybe," he agreed. "Until then, you and your pack will serve the Horde." Zuluhed gestured to Nekros, who nodded and followed him out of the cave.The Queen roared into the air behind them, her defiant behavior meaningless after their display of strength. Zuluhed led the way into another passage, and then into another, larger hall.This one room opened along the side of the hill, and not far from it fiery figures flew and shone in the twilight sky. "Let her go," one of them yelled, and swooped forward, claws outstretched, mouth open. "Let our mother go." "Impossible!" Nekros raised the Devil's Soul, and the approaching dragon screamed in pain, twisting its body and stopping at a high place.The other dragons also retreated slightly, but they were still hovering high above. "Your mother has been captured by us, with her consort," Zuluhed cried, knowing the dragons could hear him. "They will be left here and you and all their children will serve us, serve the Horde, or she will suffer the same pain you just suffered and die screaming. You will be gone. Without Alex Thassa, no more red dragons will be hatched, and you will also be the last members of your own clan." The dragons yelled angrily, but the Zuluhed knew they would obey.He knew the strength of the bond between mother and child, strong enough to drive them into obedience.As long as Alexstrasza still had hope for her own children, she would lay more eggs for them.And while she and her three spouses were captive, their captive children would also serve to free their mother one day. Zuluhed laughed, watching the young dragons hover above him.Although his orcs are working hard now, making leather reins and saddles.But soon, they were able to fly the first red dragon into this cave and harness him.He'd hate that, of course - dragons were so independent that no one would ever dare ride them.But his clan will. This was what he had promised Doomhammer, and the warchief would be enthusiastic about the plan.This will be their secret weapon.Humans have armies of infantry, cavalry, and ships, but they have no air power.When these dragons are under their control, loyal orcs will mount them, and the Zuluhed will attack humans from the air and then retreat out of their attack range.The claws, mouths and tails of these dragons are very powerful.But their flame breath is what really threatens humanity the most.Fire would rain down on them, destroying them and their equipment, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.When the dragon is on their side, the Horde is invincible. And he, Zuluhed of the Dragonmaw, will be responsible for these things.Without that hallucination, he would not have been able to find the Demon Soul, nor would he have been able to detect the thing that was somehow connected to the Dragons, without its power - and Nekros's control - they would not have been able to enslave Alex Tasa.But they did, and soon the first dragonriders would take to the skies to join the rest of the Horde, and await Doomhammer's command. Zuluhed laughed.Everything is going according to plan.