Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen

"Quiet, don't make any noise," Zukin warned his kind.They were moving quickly through the forest into the depths of Quel'Thalas, but now, his keen sense of smell alerted him to elves somewhere nearby.So he slowed down, taking each step carefully up the tree, his hand gripping the ax tightly to avoid the clang of metal as he moved.He didn't want the elves to know they were coming, not yet, at least. All the Amani trolls around were silently readying their weapons just like him.Most of them were smiling, showing their triangular teeth, and Zu'jin knew exactly what they were feeling.They were going deep into the homeland of the elves, and were about to attack them where they thought they were safe.He could almost taste it.

These elves have tormented them for far too long.Ever since the pale-skinned, point-eared interloper first set foot on the continent thousands of years ago, they have been stealing territories from the vast Amani Empire, gradually wresting control of the land. , they have troll-like speed, sneakiness and even agility, and these elves have many powerful advantages, the most powerful of which is their damn magic, trolls have never been exposed to magic before, they have no way to fight back against those Mystical attacks or breach their arcane defenses. Fortunately, the trolls have a large number advantage, and they can suppress these hateful elves by numbers.

Afterwards, the elves and humans formed an alliance. These two pale races shattered the Amani Empire completely, they captured the fortress and slaughtered thousands of brethren.Zu'jin was lost in thought, luckily his thick scarf absorbed the sound.Before this war they were numerous and very powerful, controlling much of the land.After that, they were broken, the shadow of the past loomed over them, and they could no longer restore the way they were before and take back everything that belonged to them. until now. The Horde gave them the promise of vengeance, and Zujin believed them.The leader of the orcs, Doomhammer, made a promise to him, and the promise of a leader with great personal power is reassuring.He won't let Zukin down.And he once vowed to help them rebuild the Amani Empire.

Zukin has been doing this for a long time.He was the first troll since the terrible war to try to reunite the clans.One by one he challenges and defeats the chiefs of the other clans, be it through battles, tournaments or whatever.All of them have bowed before him, and they and their tribes will obey him.The forest trolls are united once again.With the help of the Horde, they will clean up the world in a similar way to the human elves, and then re-rule the forest.The orcs showed no interest in the forest, and Zul'jin suspected they would take over the valleys and plains of the world.Let them go, all he wants is wood.

But first, he needed to get them back from the elves, and that would be very pleasant. Even now his sense of smell twitched, reminding him that he was getting close.Zu'kin stopped, raised a hand in a signal to stop, and it felt like his kind stopped too.Gazing down through the leaves, his piercing eyes piercing the darkness easily, he waited. Appeared!There was a tremor below, and something traveling in the forest came into his sight.Whatever it was, they wore cloaks of brown and green like the trees, but he caught the flash of pallor nonetheless.They moved without making any sound, walking among the trees as if they were on the ground.

an elf! Another emerged behind the first, then a third, a fourth.Soon, a whole hunting party passed below, ten of them in total.They are not looking up.The peace of mind in their own forest made these elves have no basic vigilance. Zukin grinned. It was easier than he thought. After signaling to his kind, he put the ax back on his waist, and it fell silently on a branch below, and then turned to another.Now, he was only 20 steps away from these elves, and he could clearly see them and the cloaks behind them.Behind them hung the hideous longbows and arrows, but their hands were empty.They didn't suspect at all that something was hiding above them.

Zul'jin jumped from the tree, drawing his ax as he moved, and landed easily between the two elves, slashing through before they could react.His first blow struck the throat of an elf facing him, while his second slashed deep into the head of the elf in front of him.Both fell, spattering the leaves with blood. The other elves turned, yelped in surprise, and reached for their weapons.But Zujin's kind fell from above, axes, daggers, and clubs already in their hands.The elves dodged, desperately trying to get enough room to draw their swords or draw their bows, but the troll didn't give them the chance.The elves were swift but the trolls were taller and stronger, and they caught the rangers before the elves could move.

One elf dodged the attack, taking two quick steps back before turning around, using a tree for cover.Zu'jin thought the elf would draw out his bow, but instead he pulled a long horn from his belt.The ranger raised the horn to his lips and blew a resounding blast—but the sound was cut short when another troll stabbed the elf in the stomach, and as the elf fell the horn became With a faint gasp, blood flowed from his mouth and abdomen. The skirmish was quickly over.Zu'jin jumped down and cut off the ear of the first elf he slew, and put it in a pouch that hung around his neck.After a while he would dry the ear and put it on his own necklace as a show of valor.But now, they have other things to do.

"Come here," he said to his own kind who laughed and cut off the ears, hair, and other parts of dead elves.Many of them drew the elf's slender swords as trophies—good enough but not strong enough to withstand the mighty thrusts of the trolls. "More elves will come here," Zul'kin warned them. "Go back to the tree. We're going to make them follow and wear them out." He laughed, and his kind responded with a look of cruelty. "And kill them all." Soon the forest trolls jumped up, grabbed the lower branches with their long-fingered hands, and flung themselves into the cover of the leaves.They left the place, leaving corpses and blood all over the place.Their eyes look warily around and their noses sniff for approaching elves.

Zukin wasn't worried at all.He knew other elves would be here soon.And they will be prepared.It had been a long time since he had seen a splatter of elf blood, and this little battle had reawakened his hunger.His kind felt the same way, and most of them gritted their teeth, eager for the next battle against the pale elves.Soon, Zujin said to himself silently.Soon, they will have the opportunity to kill more elves.The forest will be red with blood, and the elves will know what it feels like to have their empire fall, just as the trolls felt it long ago.And he, Zu'jin, will take up the responsibility.He will hold up the head of the Elf King, so that he may see the death of his people before he is completely eaten by himself.

He felt like he couldn't wait any longer. "Is everything ready?" Gul'dan asked impatiently.Not far away, Kogall shook his head with both heads.The gigantic ogre grunted as he walked across the clearing with the last fragment of the runestone in his strong arms. "It's fine now," he yelled, rubbing his shoulder with one hand. Gul'dan nodded.It took them several hours to dig out a runestone, smash the huge stele into several still-large pieces, bring five of them to the clearing, and then spend a few more hours letting the stones sit In the clearing between them formed the correct pentagram.Luckily Doomhammer allowed them to use some ogres for this, and Cho'gall could command his stupid one-headed kin more easily than any orc.The runestone fragments were so large and heavy that two ogres could lift him, though it would take a dozen orcs to do the job.Gul'dan wondered idly how the elves had moved the intact runestones to their proper places in the first place.Maybe it was magic, or maybe they just used some slaves to do it.Forest trolls have about the same strength as ogres and are much smarter, and they will be better at following specific commands. The stones ended up in the right place.Gul'dan made a gesture, and the other three orc warlocks chose to stand beside three of the rune stones.It's a good thing Doomhammer didn't kill all of them, otherwise there would be no chance of completing this ritual.As always, Gul'dan wasn't entirely sure, though he thought it would be a success.Likewise, he fully believed that if he failed, he would survive unscathed. He nodded to Cho'gall, who yelled at the assembled ogres.After a jolt and a grunt, one of them stepped forward.Cho'gall barked orders at the ogre, who shrugged listlessly into the clearing among the stones.He stood in the middle of the pentagram and waited, motionless.One advantage ogres have is that they will stand firm when asked.In fact, if it wasn't for another order or to find food, an ogre could stand there for hours, motionless as a statue.Gul'dan often felt that these guys evolved from stone.This would also explain their thick skin and low intelligence. His thoughts returned to the work at hand, and Gul'dan raised his arms, and began to call on the dark energies given to him by the demon leader in Draenor.This energy filled his whole body, and then he poured it into the rune stone directly in front of him.Cho'gall stood in the last position, and he and the other warlocks did the same thing, choosing the stone in front of them to be infused with energy.When all five stones began to vibrate as they charged with power, Gul'dan managed to utter a brief incantation.More energy arced from his fingertips into his runestone, but this time, the energy flickered through his stone and jumped towards the nearest stone to his left.The energy didn't stop there, he went on to the next one, and another, and another until he was back in the stone in front of him, a dancing arrangement connecting all five stones.The sky on this altar also darkened, with heavy energy condensed, and a huge storm appeared in the sky.The ogre still stood there motionless, although Gul'dan thought he could see a trace of fear in his eyes.Well, Cho'gall picked a nice guy. Now, the power of these stones was directed by Gul'dan among them, approaching the tall creature that stood there.The orb of dark energy emanating from his stone hit the ogre's chest squarely, wrapping him in a black halo.Other fragments of the runestone also channeled energy, and the ogres had all but disappeared into the darkened clearing.More energy danced into the sphere as if it were feeding itself, and now they could only vaguely see the outline of the ogre.Gul'dan felt his arms shake from fatigue and mana drain, but he was still shaking with excitement from the energy. After a few minutes, the shadow glow gradually began to dissipate, and the creature standing in the middle was slowly revealed.There was still an ogre standing before them, except for Cho'gall, though something about the creature had changed.Gul'dan waited impatiently for the light to fade so he could see better.In the end, all the brilliance disappeared in an instant, and Gul'dan finally saw clearly for the first time the creatures created by his Altar of Storms. It's clearly still an ogre, bigger than ever, though some proportions have changed.His arms are not as long as before, and his legs are not as bent as before, making him appear more agile. Then, of course, he has two heads. In Draenor, two-headed ogres are very rare.They are larger, stronger, and more coordinated than their kind.They were worshiped, and Cho'gall was one of them.Even rarer, he proves wise enough to be a mage.Gul'dan found the two-headed ogre when he was still young, and trained him very seriously.Cho'gall was a reliable assistant and a powerful warlock who accompanied Gul'dan to this day.It seemed that Cho'gall was no longer alone. The new two-headed ogre turned to stare at Gul'dan, who seemed to be the leader here. "What am I?" he asked, and while one head spoke, the other looked around.His language ability is much better than that of ordinary ogres. "You are an ogre," Gul'dan replied. "Or an ogre mage." "An ogre magi," asked the other head of the new ogre. "What does it mean." Gul'dan found himself needing to explain what mages, warlocks, shamans, and other magic users were. "Am I one of them?" asked the new ogre. "Probably." Gul'dan narrowed his eyes. "It's just a simple test." He bent down, picked up a leaf from the ground, and handed it to the two-headed creature. "Hold this." The ogre's movement of holding the leaf is surprising, showing that his sensitivity has also been greatly improved. "Now, focus on the fire, its heat, and its flames," Gul'dan said to the ogre. Both heads of the ogre were frowning as they studied the leaf.Then nodded slightly, first the first head and then the second. "Very good." Gul'dan said softly, not wanting to interfere with the creature's concentration. "Now bring the fire to reality. Let it appear on this leaf, and let the flames rage through it, and let the heat warm your skin, as if setting your fingers on fire." While he was staring, a burst of sparks suddenly appeared in the center of the leaf, and then quickly turned into a small flame that spread hungrily around.In the flames, the leaf quickly withers and turns black and crumbles.The breeze carried it all away, and then the ogre looked up, and both parts met Gul'dan's eyes. "I'm an ogre mage, right?" Sounded delighted.A head with an open mouth laughing.The other smiled slightly, though still looking confused. "Yes." Gul'dan was equally happy. "You're one of us." "What does one of us mean?" the creature asked next, his other, not-so-spirited head frowning. "I need to do something with this gift." Gul'dan explained about the Horde.He also told the ogre of the need to conquer this place, and those of the other races they had encountered.The ogre mage listened quietly, absorbing everything. "You made me," said the ogre at last.It wasn't a question, but Gul'dan nodded. "Then I'm your man." The ogre said with certainty. "I will serve you. Your business is mine. Tell me what to do." In his heart, Gul'dan was very happy, this was exactly what he hoped for.There is a bond between these two-headed ogres created by his personal spells and him.This creature is completely true to itself!On the surface, however, he must be careful not to show too much joy.He gestured to Cho'gall. "This is Cho'gall," Gul'dan explained. "He, like you, is a trustworthy assistant and an ogre mage. He will explain to you everything we do here. He will also give you your own name." The new ogre lowered his head. "Thank you, Master," said the slightly sad head as the creature walked towards Cho'gall.Gul'dan knew that his assistant would teach the new ogre mage to strengthen the altar once more.Each use can bring him another two-headed ogre.He also knew that he couldn't expect most of them to become ogre mages - that was unlikely.But if even a tenth had enough wisdom, he could gather another altar and infuse it with energy as well.Gul'dan secretly smiled.He could convert all the ogres in the Horde, so if Doomhammer didn't stop him, why should he?For Doomhammer, these are bigger and more powerful warriors.The warchief did not doubt that these new creatures were completely loyal to Gul'dan rather than him, and Gul'dan was sure that his new servants would not prematurely reveal their true allegiance until the time came.Doomhammer would then discover that a new power would exist within the Horde, one that he could not easily destroy or abandon. Gul'dan laughed again and turned to leave.Cho'gall will do the rest.He has other work to do, a work that will lead him to the power that lies somewhere