Rise of the Saurok

by DougWalkerJumpScareOnMyGenital

Shi-Ru is a mogu living in the age of the Thunder King's first reign. A scholar and learner by nature, Shi-Ru has little room to flourish in the mogu society. But when Lei Shen's new world order comes to be, Shi-Ru finds his services of the mind more appreciated. Under Lei Shen's power, Shi-Ru is able to achieve his true potential and discover what "life" truly means.

The sounds of the deep, rolling claps of thunder and the sharp, stabbing fall of raindrops mixed incoherently with the clash of blades and shouts of alarm and battle cries of hisses and bites. The cacophony spread throughout the small village, the quiet bamboo huts awoken in the middle of the night by the sudden chaos.

The small dirt roads of the village were ripped apart as the rain turned them to thick, heavy mud and the footfalls of invaders and defenders danced upon them in steps of battle. Here and there, in one of the shallow pits created by foot, muddy rainwater swirled and coalesced with the thick, red sinking strings of crimson blood.

All too occasionally, the sound of a body dropping to the mud would be lost in the myriad of noise, and then, there would be one less contributor to the cries and clashes of the night.

"Father, you can't go out there!"

The pandaren looked up from the leather armor he was strapping around his leg, his eyes rising upon the young child who had issued the begging command.

The child's eyes were wide and round, deep with worry and fear. The pandaren smiled, and sighed as he finished strapping the armor around his leg. He rose, and stepped over to the child, resting his hand affectionately atop the young boy's head.

"You are right, I cannot go out there."

The child's small face broke into an uneasy smile.

"But I must."

"But father-" the boy began to protest.

The pandaren fell to his knee and locked his arms around the child, hugging him tight.

"Just protect your mother. I'll be back before morning."

The boy was crying, his tears rolling down his round cheeks, drying into his father's arm sleeves.

"I will try." He said, his soft, hushed voice muffled by his father's chest.

"I know you will." His father added, nodding. He let go of his son, with one last squeeze on the boy's arms. "Keep our home safe from the Saurok."

His voice still quivering, the boy said, "I will try."

With a smile, his father again added, "I know you will."

The mother now pulled the boy away, back into the dark shadows that clung to the back edges of their small hut. Snuffing the small candle, the room's only source of light, out between his two chubby, furry fingers, the pandaren turned to his wife.

"I'll be back soon." He promised, as the entire room was devoured by the black dark, only to be alight whenever a streak of lightening fired across the storming night sky, which would cause radical, sharp shadows to cast off of everything in the room.

"Just stay safe." She responded from the dark.

With a casual laugh, the pandaren stepped into the night, his dry clothes becoming instantly soaked in the heavy rain. "I will try." He said, before disappearing without another sound from the doorway.

The boy, wrapped tight now in his mother's arms, stared at the doorway he could not even see through the darkness. Shutting his eyes tight, he spoke, "I know you will."

Jumping onto the mud of the streets, the pandaren ran. The invaders were not yet to this side of the village yet- and he was not about to let them get so far.

Within moments he was at the back-end of the fighting, a few fellow pandaren sitting within the door of one of the village's homes, getting out of the rain as their wounds were tended before they went back out to the fighting.

He approached the small group, his mouth open to speak, when he was interrupted.

"What took you so long, Xian?" came a voice from the rain behind him.

Xian turned to meet the annoyed face of a female. Shrugging, he explained, "Sorry, Ai-Ying. You know me. I could sleep through anything."

Ai-Ying raised an eyebrow. "Even a saurok invasion?"

"Ehm, well. At least I didn't sleep all the way through it?"

Ai-Ying shook her head. "Whatever you say. Are you ready now?"

Xian pressed his fists together, cracking his knuckles. "Lead the way."

Ai-Ying issued a few commands to a pair of pandaren, who nodded silently and took off down the road, heading out of sight through rain and night.

"What are they even doing here?" Xian asked.

Ai-Ying shrugged. "They must be heading up the mountain to get out of the rain. They either came across us on their way up, or they decided to detour here and catch us off guard in the night."

Xian snorted. "Well, let's teach them a lesson about honor-less sneak attacks."

Heading just a short ways up the road, the pair were now at the front of the invasion. Pandaren and saurok both fought with one another and laid side-by-side in the mud, their lives bleeding out of them from whatever wounds had fell them.

Xian, rushing with such even steps that his feet barely left prints in the mud behind him, picked a target out as he sprinted. A large, well-armored Saurok stood, taking up almost the whole of the road. The saurok's slit, reptilian eyes caught Xian from within the crude metal helm it wore on its head. The eyes narrowed and the saurok's giant, muscled hands tightened on his metal axe.

Xian slid on the mud as he reached the Saurok, the latter of whom swung his axe in a wide arc at the charging pandaren. Xian fell incredibly low, going directly under the axe, before rocketing his body back upwards and countering with a sharp, powerful uppercut to the saurok's throat.

The saurok choked and hissed, shaking his head. For a moment it looked like he may recover from the blow, but then, a thin line of red seeped out from between the monster's scaled lips, dripping down over his chin.

With one last, gurgling closed-mouth cough, the saurok fell to the mud. Xian had already moved on to a new target.

Catching the end of a jagged spear that had been thrust at him with his hand, Xian pulled the weapon, and the saurok at the other side of it, in towards him. With a well-placed stomp to the saurok's knee, the street was momentarily host to the loud snap of bone and shriek of pain as the saurok fell to the mud. Xian wasted no time in silencing the afflicted saurok with a closed-fist strike to the back of its head.

To his side, a second saurok was thrown to the ground, the victor of that fight stepping up beside Xian.

Keeping his eyes forward at the group of approaching saurok, Xian asked, "How many are there?"

With a troubled sigh, Ai-Ying answered back, "Too many."

"How many of us are dead?" Xian asked, as he readied himself to charge again, counting the saurok with his eyes quickly when a flash of lightening gave him a moment to see them. Their reptile faces white with light; the features of their visages were made strikingly clear for a brief moment. Their eyes hazy red, the scaly crests above them casting twin shadows down either sides of each of their faces; their mouths snarled and open, showing off their violent array of twisted, sharp teeth. Like nightmares they ran down the road to meet the two pandaren, their webbed feet smushing quickly through the mud.

Eight of them, he counted.

This time, Ai-Ying answered back with soft contempt. "Too many."

His jaw firm, Xian began to charge. "Then let us end this quickly."

"We will try." Ai-Ying said as she charged after Xian.

Xian let himself laugh out loud, as he added, "I know we will."

The rain fell, the thunder cracked, the lightening flared; and they clashed with the saurok.

12,000 years ago

A legacy of warlords is shattered.

The thick, strong fingers of the large, powerful hand traced with casual, yet deep, thought. The tips of the fingers each ended in sharp, lethal nails that scratched upon the carved stone tablet, tracing the runes written upon the slab.

The creature's brow was furrowed deep, adding thick, dark wrinkles to its already scowled face. One of the sharp fingernails scratched absent mindedly at the stout, heavy chin of the creature, as its pug nose breathed a growling sigh of annoyance.

Suddenly sliding the stone tablet away, the creature turned, and snatched a large paper scroll from one of the shelves in its dark, cramped room. Stressing its eyes to read the skinny, formal writing, the creature compared what he read on the scroll to what was on the tablet.

Shi-Ru shook his short, squat head. He hated trying to translate the pandaren language, but whatever was written on the stone slab he had been studying was of ancient, powerful origin. He'd not gotten far in translating it, however, as the runes upon it were pandaren in origin, and likely to be thousands of years old. The current noted languages of the pandaren were similar to the runes, but much of the old language was missing.

Grumbling, Shi-Ru began to attempt translation, for the countless time. Though in his mind, he knew it was futile to try again and he'd get no further than before, he was stubborn and craved whatever knowledge the slab may have hidden within its text.

His sharp, canine teeth grit tight together. If only his foolish leader would allow him to speak with some of the pandaren slaves, but his leader foolishly forbade any form of racial mingling between Mogu or Pandaren. He was a fool who did not understand the value of progress.

Shi-Ru entertained the thought of his leader, War-maker Kiar, being defeated and ripped apart by one of the other roving mogu warlords; but knew that even if it were to happen, his new ruler would be just as narrow minded as the first.

Not that Kiar would ever be killed, of course. He was the most powerful of all mogu for miles around. He had driven and conquered and defeated scores of other warlords and leaders and had formed many of the separated mogu clans under his own banner.

He was invincible. Untouchable. Undeniable.

Suddenly Shi-Ru's small room was filled with the sounds of blaring horns, being sounded out from the village. Shi-Ru sighed. They were the horns of Kiar's messenger.

Shi-Ru pushed both scroll and slab aside. Time to hear the War-maker's newest decree.

He stepped out, into the hazy fog of the Krasarang jungles, and began his slow, uninspired trek down to the village square to hear the words of Kiar.

Shi-Ru's mind churned as he made his way to the gathered crowd. What could it be this time? Who did Kiar crush? What people did he enslave this time? What works of history and legend did he desecrate in his campaign?

"Kiar the War-maker is dead." The herald announced.

There was a gasp of disbelief from the crowd, as mogu exchanged both shocked and curious glances at one another. Shi-Ru's brow shot up. Even he had to admit; he did not see this decree coming.

But, if Kiar was dead, why was his own messenger relying the information? Surely, this must mean the warlord had died to natural causes of some kind- but Kiar was far too young for that. What was going on?, thought Shi-Ru.

In answer to his thoughts, the herald continued.

"Kiar has fallen to the hands of Lei Shen."

This drew silence from the crowd. Kiar, defeated by another warlord? Impossible! What under-handed tricks had this Lei Shen used to defeat a warlord as powerful as Kiar?

The damp, irritating mist was now clinging to Shi-Ru's face and lips, like sticky sweat. He rubbed his face dry with his hand. Normally, he may be annoyed with the decrees, only wanting to get back to his dry home and studies as quick as possible.

But this time, things were different. He listened intently.

"Lei Shen asks of those assembled, only to bow before him and submit to his rule." The herald continued. "He is now your emperor."

At this, a cry erupted from the crowd, as one of the mogu pushed himself to the front of the crowd and contested with the herald.

"I am of Kiar's lineage! If he has fallen, it is I who should be one of the next in line for his legacy, not an imposter coward who stabbed him in the back! Where is this fool? Let me rip his fingers off!"

The herald's mouth shut tight, and for a moment, no one spoke. The angered mogu simply stood, sizing himself up to the herald. He was an impressive figure, even by mogu standards. Standing over ten feet high, his shoulders were broad and large and his chest heavy with pride and rage.

Finally, the herald, glancing around at nothing, leaned towards the mogu and spoke in casual, matter-of-fact tone in lieu of his rigid, emotionless shouts. Shi-Ru stressed his ears to hear the dialogue; "Look, believe me, do not do this. Just listen to whatever you are told to do."

The tone was cautionary and pleading, but the offended mogu took it as demanding challenge.

Enraged, he struck the herald, sending him falling to the ground. "Do not command me! I am Xiziang! It is I who will restore my family's lineage!"

The herald, standing back up, simply backed away from the raging mogu and bowed his head down.

The mogu carried on, ranting and yelling, even whipping a few of the other mogu in the crowd up. The crowd, either spurred on by the defiant Xiziang or simply caught up in the drama didn't seem to notice the rolling, deep sounds that were echoing off the distant mountains through the jungle mists.

Shi-Ru, however, managed to pick up on it. What was that sound? Drums? No, not drums.

Thunder?

There was no rain, and the sky above the dark jungle canopy was clear. No storm could be so far away as to not be visible, but make thunder that loud.

Shi-Ru looked back towards the herald, and noticed that he too seemed to be notice the thundering sounds, his head bowed low as if in silent prayer for the out-bursting mogu; each rolling smack of the distant thunder causing his strong, monstrous face to contort with almost child-like fear. What was more, Shi-Ru just noticed the herald came bearing no guards to protect him like usual. Why was that?

Again, as if to answer his thoughts, a strike of thunder so loud that it literally shook the ground exploded from the skies, and with it, a streak of hot, purple lightning struck the ranting mogu, his shouts cut off through thunder and electricity.

When the dust of the strike cleared and the dozens of mogu who had been thrown off their feet from the event picked themselves back up, they all beheld a sight of grim, terrible warning.

Xiziang, once standing and defiant was now a smoldering, twisted pile of bones and burnt, melting flesh on the wet jungle ground. As quickly as the thundering came, it stopped, and after a few intense, unmoving minutes the jungle ambience began to sound and the lazy, wet jungle mists reformed and wrapped itself back around the crowd as it had been literally evaporated away by the heat of the lightning strike.

No one spoke for many minutes more, until finally, a second mogu stepped forward from the crowd, approaching the burnt remains of the once towering Xiziang. Shi-Ru; and everyone one else in the crowd, thought for brief moments that the new mogu may begin another rebellious outburst, to summon back the mysterious storm to smite him as well.

But then, bowing down low to the ground, the mogu began chanting, "Hail, Lei Shen! Lightening King of all mogu!"

Faster than even the lightning strike had come and gone, the rest of the crowd followed suit. Even Shi-Ru found himself on the ground, dirtying his garbs with jungle mud as he shouted again and again; "Hail, Lei Shin! Lightening King of all mogu!"

And with that, a new age was born. The unknown, mysterious Lei Shen had undone the work that had taken multiple generations from multiple lineages of warlords to establish in their part of the world in only mere days. No longer did the mogu of the wild jungle kneel to a War-maker, for now they feared and bowed and paid respects to a much different ruler.

A ruler who smote those who rebelled against him with the very skies themselves. A Lightening King.

Lei Shen.

Present day

The leaves of the mountain trees dripped dry under the morning sun, as the rains of the night depleted themselves over the now quiet village.

On a fallen tree trunk, a father and son sat together, overseeing the damage caused to the village on the previous night.

"Father, why do the saurok attack us?"

Xian yawned, shrugging, as he wrapped an arm around his son. "They know no better, Toi."

Toi kicked the back of his feet against the soaked bark of the trunk, clearly unsatisfied with the answer. "It's because they are stupid."

Chuckling, Xian pulled his son close to him with his arm. "It is not for you to decide that, now, my son."

Toi looked up at his father, "But all they do is attack us. Why don't we just hunt them all down and get rid of them?"

Xian's smiling face turned suddenly stoic. He regarded his son for a few moments. The question was fair enough. Xian sighed deeply, his left ribs aching from the deep gash that was bandaged tightly on his side. "Who are we to decide if an entire race of people are vile enough to hunt down and eradicate?"

Toi gripped his father's arm. "Yes, but father, have you ever meant a saurok that you that might be able to be friendly?"

Xian laughed again. "If we killed them all, then I would definitely never meet one."

Toi frowned. "We'd never be attacked again, though."

Xian shrugged. "You are right in saying that."

Toi sat up, looking at a fallen monk being taken off, a white sheet stained with blotches and streaks of red draped over his body as he was carried off to be buried. The dead saurok were simply being drug into the jungle, to be burned on mass pyre. "I hate the saurok."

Xian looked down at his son, and with scolding tone said, "You cannot say that."

Toi pleaded his case, "But father! They kill us and rob us and never want to make peace!"

Xian stood. "And what good does hating them do, except make you feel even worse?"

Toi hung his head. "I do not know, father."

"The saurok do not hate us, Toi." Xian began. "They may attack us, they may even kill us sometimes, but they do it because it is all they know. They can do no better, and I, nor shall you, hold that in contempt against them. I kill saurok only when I must, and I do not enjoy it."

Xian looked out, as several saurok were being drug into the forest. "It is a monumental waste of life. Even saurok life."

Toi muttered, "I still think they are stupid."

Xian shook his head, smiling. "That is one way to put it, I suppose."

Toi perked his head up. "Anyone who would mess with you would have to be stupid, father."

Xian laughed. "I suppose I won't argue with that."

"I wouldn't argue with a brick like you, either, Xian." came a voice from behind the pair.

Xian turned, and Toi spun himself around on the trunk.

"Uncle!" Toi cheered, "You're safe!"

The third pandaren stepped down to the others, his beard messy and ruffled from the prior night.

Xian threw his arms up. "And here I was, hoping the saurok would take you off in the middle of the night."

The pandaren chuckled. "A lorewalker does not part with his writings so easily, now."

"Sit with us, uncle Fu." Toi invited.

Fu took the invite and sat on the log, overseeing the clean-up of the village before them. Sighing deeply, he sat back on the trunk. "I overheard you two speaking of the saurok?"

Xian sat back down on the branch next to Toi. "Toi doesn't understand the nature of the saurok."

"Their nature is one of free choice." Fu said.

Toi still shook his head. "Then if it is of free choice, why do we allow them to attack us?"

Fu smirked. Children were so innocent, and yet so convicted at the same time. "If they attack us," Fu began,

"Then we will end them." Xian finished.

"But it behests no one to cast the first blow." Fu added. "The saurok will one day choose to live in peace, or they will spend themselves on petty violence."

"That," Xian began as he got back up from the log, "is why it does no good to hate or strike back. Violence can never solve more than it harms."

Toi grumbled. "I still don't know why the saurok do what they do."

Fu shrugged again. "Nor do the saurok, perhaps."

"For they are the product of the Thunder King."

Xian laughed. "Oh come on, now, Fu. That is just a legend."

Fu shrugged again. "Perhaps that is something only the saurok themselves know for sure."

Xian smiled. "Why don't you go up to one of their caves and try asking them, sometime?"

Fu sat as far back as he could on the trunk, the fingers of his hand scratching at his messy beard. "Perhaps one day I shall."

12,000 years ago

The Empire of the Thunder King is born.

Almost a year of time had passed since Lei Shen had assumed control of, what Shi-Ru understood to be, practically the entire nation. Shi-Ru was a scholar, but not even he knew all the wonders of their entire land; or where its borders stopped and started.

But under Lei Shen's rule, it seemed the entire world may soon be counted as "the entire nation". After the herald's first visit, it was almost daily that he would return, bringing with him more news of conquered warlords and land. More and more mogu were brought under the hand of Lei Shen, but other than that, no real news had come from the powerful, god-like emperor of the mogu.

Until today.

Shi-Ru was deep in study once again when the herald's horns rang out to summon the villagers to the square to hear Lei Shen's new decrees.

Shi-Ru was currently studying an old map he believed was a charting of the entirety of the known world, though it was a guess-less amount of years old, when he was interrupted by the blasts of horn that told him it was time to herd out with the rest of the villagers, and hear whatever Lei Shen bid them to know.

After most of the mogu had arrived, many of them standing with rigid tension that was as fresh as the day of Lei Shen's demonstration to those who would speak out against him, the herald spoke.

"Lei Shen has come to know that many of the mogu in his lands have been calling him 'Lightening King'." The herald paused at this, looking out across the mogu. He now wore incredibly elegant, complex robes of woven golden strings, the intricate patterns depicting lightening and storm and thunder. Shi-Ru recognized it as pandaren tailoring work of incredibly high quality.

Lei Shen had either befriended the pandaren; or his power was enough that even they were spurred to create such beautiful works to appease him.

Shi-Ru would have guessed it was the obvious latter, but he had no time to think about anything like that, as the herald continued speaking the decrees.

"This title has pleased, but displeased, Lei Shen."

At this, the mogu mumbled and muttered amongst one another. What did the herald mean by that?

"Lei Shen, our emperor, has issued this; in his own words."

And then, the herald cleared his throat, a sound that would have frightened a member of any other race, and recited the lengthy declaration.

"You have taken to calling me the "Lightning King, and I am pleased with your tributes of titles to my power. But you are all misguided and wrong. I am no King of Lightning, for lightning strikes in an instant and is gone in a flash! But thunder. Thunder! Thunder is what proclaims the coming of the storm. Thunder is what quakes the skies long before the lightning strikes, and thunder echoes in the hills long after the lightning's power is spent. It is thunder that sends animals cowering and fills the hearts of peasants with dread. Let thunder by my herald, so that my power is felt throughout the land. I will be…"

The herald stopped there, and let the declaration hang for a few moments, before inhaling deeply to announce their lord's new title. After the dramatic pause, with all the mogu listening intently, he finished;

"The Thunder King."

Cheers broke out immediately, as the mogu began crying, "Hail, Thunder King! King of all mogu!". Shi-Ru recalled the ominous, threatening rumbles of thunder the day Lei Shen had struck down the angry mogu. He realized, perhaps Lei Shen was correct. The lightening was furious and terrifying, but it was the slow bellows of the thunder that foretold of the lightning.

Perhaps it was much more horrifying to know what was coming, rather than having it expectantly slay you.

Or perhaps he was thinking about it far too much and should just listen to the herald.

After the chanting died down, the herald placed the first of his scrolls back into his leather pouch, and pulled another one out, to read from it.

"In addition to this, Lei Shen is preparing to build the capitol of the mogu; his capitol. The Thunder King wishes to conduct much…. research from here, and is actively recruiting all capable minds to join him in his fortress city."

Shi-Ru's interest was piqued by this. Lei Shen was obviously an intelligent and capable leader in accordance to simply being powerful. Shi-Ru had guessed he'd liked the new emperor already, as Lei Shen had done much in his year of rule, such as standardizing language, currency and systems of weight and measurement. Most other mogu rulers would have been content at simply making public displays out of those who defied them.

Not that Lei Shen didn't staunchly practice that part of mogu leadership as well, of course.

Shi-Ru, for a moment, was curious as to why the herald hung up on the word 'research' for a moment before speaking it, but he couldn't be bothered with that, now. The Thunder King was looking for capable mogu minds for his new capitol, and Shi-Ru had had beyond his fill of the muggy, misty jungle.

"Those whom wish to serve our glorious King of Thunder as one of his minds may inform me. I will take word back to the Thunder King and accommodations will be prepared for you to join his thundering majesty."

With that, the herald completed his decrees. Shi-Ru wasted no time.

He was not typically one to get physical or throw his weight around, but for once in his life, Shi-Ru felt truly determined. He pushed and elbows his way past peers to get to the front of the group as quickly as possible, even though the herald was clearly not going anywhere.

"I, me!" he called. The herald turned his head towards Shi-Ru as the latter of the mogu approached him.

"I wish to serve the Thunder King in his city. I am a scholar, and I burn to have the resources to learn more."

The herald nodded, Shi-Ru was well known for his intelligence. "I knew of all the mogu I herald to, that you would waste no time in rising to the request." The herald said, saluting him with Lei Shen's signature salute.

"You will hear from me again in two days. Be prepared to travel to the seat of thunder."

Shi-Ru had no idea what that meant, but he needed no more. He bid the herald farewell and turned to head back to his home. He had a lot of things to pack.

The next two days went by pain-stakingly slowly. Within hours, Shi-Ru had gathered and packed most of his belongings and equipment. Now the impatient mogu had nothing else to do but sit and wait for the herald to return and whisk him off to the unseen King of Thunder.

Several of the villagers had approached him throughout the days, requesting that he somehow weasel them into joining him on the trek to the capitol. Shi-Ru ignored them. They were only impressed and fearful of Lei Shen's strength and ruthlessness, as many mogu were. But he, Shi-Ru, saw a leader that seemed to truly care about real advancements in science and knowledge.

This would be his chance to truly make something of himself and his studies. He would not sully it on the simple-minded.

Finally, on noon of the third day, the herald arrived at the village once again. Shi-Ru was ready.

This time, however, the herald came with a very different looking companion. It was a mogu, but unlike any other mogu Shi-Ru had seen before, this one was tall, and massive. Easily six feet taller and almost just as many wider as any of the villagers. What was more was, from beneath his dark, hooded cowl, the mogu's eyes shined bright with crackling, violent energy.

The same energy, like small streaks of lightning, danced and jumped across his arms, chest and legs. He looked almost like a creature of energy than of mogu.

Of course, the bizarre mogu drew a crowd far before Shi-Ru arrived. Standing around the herald and the titanic mogu, they gazed in awe and confusion. Shi-Ru was just approaching the group, his packed belongings being lugged in tow, when one of the mogu from the crowd suddenly approached the herald and his strange companion.

"It is you!" the mogu cried. "You are Lei Shen. You are the Thunder King!"

The mogu dropped to his knees immediately, and with sudden, surprised awkwardness, many of the other mogu of the crowd, did, too. The mogu who had first spoke now raised his arms. The herald and large mogu stood, with their own looks of surprise. Shi-Ru simply stood and watched.

The mogu on his knees began to cry out "All Hail Lei Shen!" but suddenly, the large mogu forced his hand out towards the mogu and silenced him. The mogu was now choking, unable to speak as his neck was clearly being constricted shut by an unseen force, produced from the large mogu's outstretched hand.

"Keep your tongue, peon! How dare you confuse me with the glorious Thunder King! You are a dog, a worm! It is not for you to decide who would represent the Thunder King!"

Shi-Ru thought that was a bit unfair. For all the things Lei Shen was, publically appearing was not one of them. Of course, he wasn't about to open his mouth and draw the strange, large mogu's ire as well.

Finally, after many of the onlookers thought he may choke the other to death, the large mogu broke his invisible hold on the other and cast him aside. The mogu coughed and limped his way back into the crowd.

"Let us retrieve the one we came for and be out of this jungle, now, herald!" the large mogu commanded.

"Yes." The herald spoke, nodding. "Shi-Ru, come now. The seat of thunder awaits."

Shi-Ru, steeling himself, approached the pair. He stopped in front of them, setting his belongings down. With a large bow, he spoke, "I am honored to be allowed at the Thunder King's side."

Spitting, the large mogu rebuked, "You are not to be at his side. Cut your aspirations of short now, or else I'll have them cut for you. We are leaving, now."

Shi-Ru, doing his best to hide both his fear and his taken-aback from the large mogu's verbal strike against him, nodded and in his strongest voice, said "Then please, lead the way for me."

The large mogu laughed. Sparks of electricity bounced off his teeth and sprung out from his mouth, as if he were chewing on a spark of lightning. "There will be no need for leading, fool."

Shi-Ru was about to ask what the mogu meant, but thought better of it. Whatever the mogu implied, he felt he'd need to say no more of the subject. He'd know soon enough.

The large mogu thrust his arms now to the sky, the long sleeves of his robe falling from his arms to reveal the flesh underneath.

Or, what was left of his flesh.

Charred, ripped skin that revealed charred, chipped bone was all that made up the mogu's arms now. Dancing, waving strings of electricity flowed in the gaps between rips of flesh, as if they were glowing lengths of thread trying to stitch the torn arms back together again. Shi-Ru and all the mogu close enough to see the arms let their fat jaws hang low in shock.

The sky grew dark, and distant claps of thunder sounded across the small jungle valley. The crowd, no longer interested in whatever was happening, fled. Leaving the three mogu to whatever fate was about to take them.

Soon, it seemed the entire world grew dark. Almost as if day had turned suddenly to night. The electric bands and strings flowing up and down and across the torn arms of the large mogu sparked and glowed brighter as darkness enveloped them. Though it was a terrible sight to behold, Shi-Ru couldn't help but be hypnotized by them. The soft, but sharp, glows of purple and yellow that flowed in sporadic, ever-changing directions burnt his eyes, and yet, he could not look away.

Then, without a warning, the electricity simply dissipated from the large mogu's arms and he cast them back down towards the earth.

That was the last thing Shi-Ru saw.

Present day

Fu yawned as he read over some of his texts, splotching a dab of ink here and there to make any edits or changes to the old scrolls of history and tales.

From the ground, a small voiced asked, "When will my parents be back, uncle Fu?"

Fu, shaking his head from his reverie of work, looked down from his desk, to see the bored and impatient Toi sprawled out on the floor below him.

Fu smiled and laughed. "They will back before nightfall, Toi. Do not worry."

"They're fighting saurok again, aren't they?"

Fu sighed and pursed his lips. "Not necessarily. They're only scouting out where the tribe of saurok that attacked the village the other night are holed up. If we know where they are coming from, we can work to avoid them in the future."

"So, they're fighting?"

Fu rolled his eyes. He forgot how impatient youth could be; he forgot even more still how impatient he could yet be. "I doubt it, Toi. Even if they are, your mother and father are both skilled fighters. No saurok will be the end of them."

Toi crossed his arms as he lay on the floor. "That's not why I wanted to know if they were fighting."

Fu, setting his brush down, regarded the boy. "Oh? Why is it you are so obsessed with killing the saurok, Toi? Do you think you can ever train to be a great monk, when all your heart knows is hate and death for something?"

"If they deserve the hate and death!" Toi snapped back.

Fu shook his head. "You will learn, someday."

"Well it's not today, that's for sure." Toi quipped.

Suddenly, the boy was standing up, looking at Fu's work. "What are you doing, anyways, uncle?"

Fu scratched the back of his head. "Oh, just amending some things in history, is all."

"Amending? Why?"

Fu scoffed. "Because some lorewalkers are more interested in stretching truths and bending facts to create 'interesting' tales, instead of correctly recording history! It's an atrocity! The lorewalkers record history as fact, not as fiction! To abuse the lorewalker title is barbaric!"

Toi laughed. "Good thing they have you then, huh?"

Fu slumped his head into his hand. "Of course, Toi. Nothing I enjoy more than sitting here all day, correcting some fool's writing who died a hundred years ago."

Toi now shoved himself into Fu's lap. "Well while we're here, tell me about some more history."

"Hey, hey now!" Fu cried, catching a bottle of ink before it was knocked over onto some spread out scrolls. "Youth must learn patience!"

"Sorry uncle." Toi said, hanging his head down in embarrassed shame.

Fu sighed. "I'm actually amending some things about the saurok."

"Oh?" Toi cooed, obviously interested. "What about them?"

Fu began reading off one of the scrolls, using the tip of a finger to guide his reading of each word. "I believe this scroll is talking about how they were created."

"Created?" Toi asked, confusion ripe in his young voice.

"By the mogu." Finished Fu.

"The saurok were created by the mogu?"

"That's what many lorewalkers have come to believe, at least."

"Why would the mogu create the saurok, and aren't the mogu just make-believe?"

Fu shrugged. "Perhaps they are, perhaps they aren't. History has told us they are true, but as to whether or not you choose to believe the words of the past; is entirely up to you."

"Well if the saurok were made by something like the mogu, it's no wonder they're so mad."

Fu laughed out loud. "Could it be you are coming to understand them a bit?"

Toi shrugged. "Maybe." He then pointed out an inked drawing of a huge, powerful mogu whose hands controlled streaks of lightning. "Who is that, uncle?"

"That's the Thunder King." Fu answered.

"My father says he doesn't exist."

"Your father says a lot of things, young one."

Toi shrugged with a hum as if to say "True enough", then pointed out a second, smaller mogu who seemed to be giving rise to a number of reptile-like creatures that could only be saurok.

"Who is that one, uncle?"

Fu leaned over the scroll, reading some of the text associated with the illustration. "Ah." He proclaimed. "That is the mogu that history believes is the one responsible for the creation of the saurok."

"How long ago did he live?" Toi questioned.

"Over ten-thousand years ago."

"Whoa." Toi said. "The saurok are that old?"

"Possibly." Fu shrugged.

"Why did he make the saurok?"

Fu stretched his neck as he answered, yawning again. "Who knows, Toi. Perhaps he simply wanted to see how far his power could reach. Perhaps he simply wanted to create life."

"What was his name?" Toi asked, his young eyes locked on the illustration.

Fu leaned back in, reading off the name quick. "Hmm, let's see." His eyes quickly read through the text once again. "Ah. Here it is."

Fu did his best to annunciate the mogu name. "His name was,"

"Shi-Ru."

12,000 years ago

The Thunder King builds his palace

In a literal flash, Shi-Ru and the large, electrified mogu were transported out of the steamy jungles of Krasarang, and now stood, on a smooth stone pavilion in a land Shi-Ru had never seen before.

The large mogu, with his arms back down and mercifully hidden by his long sleeves, was stepping away, intent to get on with his next orders of business.

Shi-Ru called out for him. "Where are we? Where are my belongings?"

With an annoyed cackle of electricity, the mogu turned. "This is the palace of your king, dog. Your personal effects are futile, here. The Thunder King will provide everything you need."

With that, the mogu turned and walked away. Shi-Ru didn't bother to say anything further.

Shi-Ru took a few moments of curious, bewildered time to walk down off the pavilion, his clawed feet stepping over the smooth, sanded-down stone stairway as a hazy, unnatural sky blanketed the cosmos above him. Was it night in this new land? He could barely tell. There didn't even seem to be a sun.

He walked down some of the hallways. Some areas of the complex were enclosed with roof, while others stood out, nothing above them but air and sky. Naked wooden pillars and beams sprung up from all over the place and various stacks of building material and stone were here and there.

Whatever this place was meant to be, it was still under obvious construction.

Shi-Ru walked aimlessly, passed now and again by mogu who seemed to cackle and spark much like the large one from before. The herald was not transported with them, and with the large mogu uninterested in him, Shi-Ru had no idea what to do next.

The air was chill, and gusts and breezes buffeted him now and again. Shi-Ru wagered to guess he was far on top of a mountain somewhere, from the cold, thin air. Walking on, he eventually came to fully enclosed area that seemed to be a completed wing of the building.

Glad to be out of the wind, Shi-Ru continued on, hoping to run into some kind of guard or direction that may tell him where to go next.

Walking slightly deeper into the halls, Shi-Ru was given his answer.

Suddenly, a booming, cracking voice stunned him from behind. "Who goes there? Who goes in the domain of the Thunder King?"

Shi-Ru turned, fear evident in his heaving chest. Before him stood two well-armed mogu, much like the large one from before. They wore heavy, incredibly intricate suits of armor that covered almost every inch of their body, save for their bare heads that allowed the guards' eyes to gaze down with contempt and anger at the smaller Shi-Ru. Their massive, ornate polearms were pointed directly at him.

Somehow, Shi-Ru found his voice. "I am Shi-Ru, of the jungle mogu. I have come to serve the Thunder King as a scholar."

At this, the two guards exchanged amused smirks.

The guard spoke again, as they both lowered their weapons to their sides. "Very well. Follow us. We will take you to him."

With that, the two guards set off ahead of Shi-Ru, brushing past him. Shi-Ru hurried to follow, his mind caught on the last word of the guard's sentence.

"Him."

Shi-Ru had obviously made his way quite deep into the Thunder King's fortress, because it was only a short distance of walking before the guards and Shi-Ru came face to face with an incredibly large double-framed door.

Moving to either side of it, the guards slammed one arm onto each of doors, pushing it open to reveal a large open courtyard.

"His throne waits just on the other side. Get moving." The guard commanded. Shi-Ru obeyed instantly.

The doors slammed shut behind him, and Shi-Ru made his way across the courtyard. Quickly, at first, but then he slowed his pace.

His mind was racing to take everything all in. He'd been suddenly taken to some kind of castle in an instant, possibly on the other side of the planet. Now he was walking to meet, in person, the very mogu who had, in only a short time, conquered all the others.

Lei Shen. The Thunder King.

Shi-Ru's mind churned as he imagined what kind of amazing, horrible beast could have destroyed all the other warlords and seized the entirety of the mogu race under his thumb. Who could summon thunder and lightning at a moment's whim to shock and kill any who dared oppose him.

Shi-Ru wondered if he may even survive his encounter with this "Thunder King".

Finally, he came to a stop at the other end of the court yard. The doorway to Lei Shen's inner chambers was before him. This was it.

No guards were posted here, or anywhere else, and Shi-Ru doubted the Thunder King needed anyone to guard his most deepest of chambers. It was unlikely anyone would ever even get this far without the Thunder King cutting their invasion of his palace brutally, and shockingly, short.

Shi-Ru wasn't sure what to do. Did he barge right in? Did he knock? Did he wait to be attended to? He felt himself begin to sweat, cold beads of perspiration rolling down the back of his neck, the sensation against his nervous flesh almost akin to burning as the drips of sweat left trials of wet down the mogu's head.

Was it too late to simply return back to his home in the jungle?

Suddenly, with violent, sporadic energy, the doors before him flew open. Apparently, it was far too late.

Shi-Ru forced himself to step forward, entering into the chamber.

And it was there, that he laid eyes upon the one he knew was Lei Shen. The Thundering King of all mogu.

Present day

"So the Thunder King was a really bad guy?" Toi questioned as he looked at the scroll, listening to his uncle read him some of the Thunder King's deeds and works.

"Hmm." Fu began. "Well, he wasn't a good person, that's for sure. But he did do many things for the mogu people. His achievements yielded both good and bad fruits. Who is to say he is either good or bad, based on that?"

"So what?" Toi exclaimed. "Does that mean he was really a good leader, after all? If he advanced society, was the bad stuff all that bad?"

Fu sighed. "Are you even listening?"

"Only when there's pictures involved." Toi chirped.

Fu tapped the desk. "If you ask me, for everything he accomplished, the Thunder King was still a poor ruler."

Toi looked up at his uncle. "Why is that? It looks like he did a pretty good job making everyone listen to him."

Fu chuckled again. "True, he did. But do you know how he did it, Toi?"

Toi thought for a few moments. "Because he was so strong?"

"No." Fu said, shaking his head. "Because he controlled people with fear."

"Fear?"

"Yes." Fu answered. "And when you control with fear, you create a legacy of it. And eventually, those who you control stop being quite so afraid, and then the fearful subjects suddenly become the kings."

Toi was silent as he mulled the information over in his mind.

"Fear is unique in that it can either stop us; or compel us." Fu quoted.

"Do you think the saurok are afraid?" Toi suddenly asked.

"Do you?" Fu asked back.

Toi shrugged again.

"So, eventually people stopped being afraid of the Thunder King?" Toi then asked.

"Hm, well. Perhaps, in his case, not exactly." Fu said, scratching at his beard again.

"Why not?" Toi questioned. "Didn't you just say eventually people stop being so afraid? So why did they all stay scared of him?"

"Because he was very good at it."

12,000 years ago

Lei Shen begins his terrible experiments

Though, to be honest, Shi-Ru wasn't sure just why he recognized the mogu at the end of the chamber as Lei Shen. Compared to any of the other mogu he had seen of the Thunder King's personal army, this one was relatively plain looking.

He wore only a simple robe and an ornate, somewhat silly, looking crown. He sat, tall and proud, in a large throne that had small sparks leaping and bouncing off of it here and there, as if the seat itself contained a livewire of lightning.

To his sides, sat, low and on their knees, were two mogu women. Their faces completely concealed by veils. To their sides, stood more thundering, electric guards.

The guards seemed more metal and electricity than anything else. They stood, in stiff, mountain-like formation at their king's side. Each one crackled with the intensity that made even the large mogu from before look bland and weak. Shi-Ru blinked his eyes away as he looked upon them.

But for all their display, for all their power, it was the plain mogu at whose side they stood that commanded the most attention. Though he was comparatively plain to behold, there was something about him that did not need any threatening presentation to express the power and might he held. This mogu was the Thunder King, the lord of mogu, slayer of enemies. Conqueror of worlds.

This mogu was Lei Shen.

"Come closer." Lei Shen commanded. He did not speak in any more than a normal, steady voice and yet his words reverbed and shook throughout the chamber, magnifying as they reached Shi-Ru's ears.

Shi-Ru, with rigid, forced steps, made his way closer to the Thunder King.

Shi-Ru now noticed there were even more guards, stationed on high balconies lining the top of the room. They looked down at him, their lightning, sparking eyes tearing into him with gazes whose intents were completely hidden beneath the electrifying twin shades of power each of the guards wore on their faces.

Shi-Ru did his best to remain calm as he approached the throne of Lei Shen.

His advance was stopped, as he suddenly found his left foot had bumped into something warm. He looked down, and saw the burnt, grotesque corpse of a mogu.

Gasping and jumping back, some of the guards began laughing at Shi-Ru. The Thunder King simply let his brow sink and his mouth dip into frown. The guards stopped laughing instantly.

"Forgive me." Lei Shen apologized. "I have not had time to see to it he was properly removed. Guards."

The closest guards on either side of Lei Shen stepped forward, and both took ahold of the corpse, dragging it off to some unseen corner of the chamber. Shi-Ru spared a single glance towards them as they pulled the blackened body away, looking into the eyes and face of the dead mogu.

His eyes were gone, completely burned and torn out, and his mouth was twisted and agape in what could only have been the visage he wore as he died. In place of eyes and within his mouth, dying sparks of lightning cracked and popped, lighting the inside of his skull up, like some kind of morbid candle.

Shi-Ru quickly tore his gaze away and regarded the Thunder King.

Neither said anything for a few moments, until once more the Thunder King spoke. "Tell me, now. Why have you come to me." He commanded.

Shi-Ru felt a heavy knot tie in his throat. He was afraid that, if he slipped up while speaking, the Thunder King would dispose him for showing weakness.

After moments of hesitation, the Thunder King's gaze sunk low into Shi-Ru. It was do or die, and Shi-Ru knew it. He forced himself to speak.

"I have come to serve you, Thunder King." He said as best he could.

Lei Shen chuckled at this and let his grubby, fat lips rise into a smile.

It was one of the scariest, most threatening things Shi-Ru had ever seen or heard in his life.

"I know this." Lei Shen boomed. "All who come, come to serve me. But I want to know why you have come. Why do you wish to serve?"

Shi-Ru's mind instantly went to "because you are the Thunder King", and Lei Shen's expression of subtle disappointment seemed to indicate that he predicted Shi-Ru to say those very words, but then, without even thinking, Shi-Ru changed his mind, and let loose a random assortment of words.

"I have come to serve as one of your scholars. I was a scholar. I can serve you as one."

Shi-Ru's mind and heart sank at that. Surely the Thunder King would execute him violently for such a mindless, stupid declaration.

But to his surprise, Lei Shen sat back in his throne, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I see." He spoke.

Then, Lei Shen leaned towards Shi-Ru. "Tell me, Shi-Ru. Why is it you had no friends, no family, no other purpose back in your home?"

Shi-Ru didn't even worry or wonder just how or why the Thunder King knew his name and knew about his home life. At first he could not answer the question, until another look of the Thunder King spurred him into speaking.

"Because all I did was research and study, Thunder King."

Lei Shen leaned back again. "Of course. But why?"

"Why?" Shi-Ru questioned, stammering.

Lei Shen's visage darkened, and his brow sunk low. In a quiet, sharp voice, he repeated. "Why?"

"Because," Shi-Ru began, but then, he panicked. His throat locked up, and he could not form anymore words.

The room suddenly grew dark, as if all light was swept away. Wind from nowhere began to blow and wail across the chamber's smooth walls. Thunder hummed.

Shi-Ru wasn't sure if he was sweating again, or if it was actually raining. His eyes were shut tight, his throat was throbbing with knots and his fingers were curled so hard into his palms that he could feel blood trickle out from between his nails.

And then, he found himself afraid enough to answer.

"Because I wish to know as much as I can!" he blurted out.

Then, Shi-Ru opened his eyes. The chamber was completely normal again, the darkness and thunder gone. Shi-Ru's chest was heaving wildly.

"That is true." Lei Shen agreed casually, as if nothing had just happened.

Lei Shen looked now, down onto Shi-Ru. His eyes seeming to cut deep into Shi-Ru, reading him. Knowing him.

"You lust for knowledge, not just to know, but to have the power to act." Lei Shen continued.

Shi-Ru found himself nodding. Now that the Thunder King had told him so, he realized, deep down, it was true. He did want the power that knowledge could give.

"You want to know just what kind of power you are capable of. Just kind of things you could do with it."

Shi-Ru simply stood, stiff and unmoving.

Lei Shen smiled again, but this time it was much less threatening.

"So you put aside everything else in your life, and focused only on gaining power."

Shi-Ru nodded once, slowly.

"You are like me." Lei Shen commented.

Then, without another word, Lei Shen rose. Stepping down towards Shi-Ru, he outstretched his arms, as if to embrace the other mogu, and asked;

"Will you serve me, Shi-Ru?"

Shi-Ru nodded quickly and furiously now. "Yes, Thunder King!"

"Will you gather as much power as you can for yourself; for me?"

"Yes, Thunder King!"

"Then rise, Shi-Ru. Rise to the position your lust deserves you to be in!"

Shi-Ru had no idea what the Thunder King meant by that, but suddenly, he felt his body taken by sparks. Underneath is skin, like veins, lightening flowed. His vision was taken completely by blinding, sparking light. His first instinct was the scream, but as the power took hold of him, he found himself strangely relaxed.

Somehow, he became aware that he was up off the ground, floating into the air, his body held aloft by sliding, waving strings of electricity that skittered across the floor before dissipating, as if they were hundreds of tiny legs, supporting Shi-Ru.

And then, he dropped back down to the ground, catching himself on legs that seemed more powerful than ever before.

Shi-Ru opened his eyes, and though he saw everything normally, it was as if his vision was enhanced to near perfection. Colors seemed to be brighter and more distinct, places where there was once shadow were now bright and clear as if the sun itself shone upon them.

And Shi-Ru looked upon the true Thunder King.

For but brief moments, his eyes saw Lei Shen for what he had truly become. A glorious monstrosity of pure, un-abating lightning. There was no flesh, no bone, no muscle. Only power. Unending, unwavering power. There was no Lei Shen. There was only Thunder King.

After a few seconds of this, either his new eyes adjusted or the Thunder King hid himself once again, for the mad cackles of humanoid lightning turned themselves back into the form of the relatively plain Lei Shen.

"Now, come with me." Lei Shen beckoned.

Shi-Ru followed after Lei Shen on steps that were raw with new power, his mind now at ease and able to think and act clearly.

Shi-Ru was lead, deep, down into the mountain the Thunder King's castle was being built on. Down a secret, sealed passage that was situated at the back of the room. Shi-Ru noticed that, as Lei Shen bid the door open, the rest of the mogu in the room instantly turned their backs to it, forbade from looking upon the opened door unless their king himself bid them permission.

Lei Shen lead, and Shi-Ru followed. Twisting and winding down steps in total darkness, though both king and subject could see perfectly. After some time, Shi-Ru was lead through dark, cavernous areas that reeked with some unfathomable, ancient power. But Shi-Ru paid the ominous feelings no mind as he followed his king.

Then, they came to a stop. Another door blocked their path. This one was tall and narrow, a single door of un-ceremonial stone. Plain as any other rock in the mountain's caverns; but Shi-Ru knew that, much like Lei Shen, the door was much more than what meant the eye.

Lei Shen cast his hand aside, and the door opened as if commanded. Lei Shen stepped in, meaning for Shi-Ru to follow.

Whatever Lei Shen had in store for him next, Shi-Ru knew he was ready for it.

Present day

"How do you think the Thunder King got so powerful, uncle?" Toi asked.

"I do not know, child. History does not even seem to recall just how powerful the Thunder King even was, so it is hard to say."

"Do you think he got that way himself?"

"No." Fu answered dryly. "If there is one known thing about him, it is that one does not just obtain so much power by himself."

"So he got it from something?"

"'Stole' is perhaps a more fitting term, if my guess is to be believed."

"Stole it? Who could the Thunder King have taken so much power from?" Toi asked, curiosity evident in his voice.

"That," Fu answered back, "is something I hope no one ever has the misfortune of discovering."

"Says the lorewalker?" Toi sarcastically responded.

Fu laughed. "Well, if there is one thing I do know, it is that true power comes from within ones' self. Not ripped from others, or taken from an outside source. We have, inside all of us, the power to do what needs to be done. Only those who take and force power are the weak ones."

"So the Thunder King was weak?"

Fu's throat shook with a chuckle. "That depends on how you look at it."

12,000 years ago

The knowledge of the makers is revealed

Shi-Ru was definitely not ready for this.

The chamber they now stood in was large, but compact. Dimly lit to any eyes not blessed by the Thunder King, it housed only a single source of interest.

But what a source it was.

At the other end of the circular room, in heavy, unnatural chain was some kind of humanoid creature. Cast down onto its knees, it was drooped over, as if it wished to simply collapse, though the chains held the body and supported it, not allowing the creature to fall to the floor; leaving it hanging by its chained arms and chest.

Shi-Ru could simply stare at it. It didn't seem to be moving. Was it dead?

Strange, disturbing liquid flowed out of various cuts on the creature's body. Blood?

Shi-Ru took a few, cautionary steps of curiosity towards it, as Lei Shen stood at the front of the room, observing Shi-Ru's reaction.

It couldn't be bleeding, Shi-Ru thought, because whatever this thing was, it was stone. Clearly a statue.

Then, it groaned and shook its solid stone head.

Shi-Ru gasped and stepped back as Lei Shen chuckled, his laughter filling the chamber. At that, the creature seemed to growl, and looked up, staring at Lei Shen. Its eyes were strange and glowing, as if they were simply energy shining out of empty eye sockets.

The creature spoke in some language Shi-Ru couldn't understand as Lei Shen approached him.

"This is my first greatest achievement, Shi-Ru. I have conquered a God."

Shi-Ru's mind raced. The stone skin, the shape of the creature. This couldn't possibly one of the legendary shapers of the world, could it? Surely those were just stories written down on the oldest of history scrolls?

As if to answer, Lei Shen spoke. "It is no mere legend, Shi-Ru. I came to the heart of the Thunder, and this is what I found."

Walking further up to the creature, Lei Shen laughed again. "And I took what I found for myself."

The creature seemed to lose his energy and suddenly slumped down again, beaten and near death. Lei Shen turned and regarded Shi-Ru.

"This is the power I wield. The power I share with those worthy."

Lei Shen's gaze dropped once again as he stared deep into Shi-Ru.

"Are you worthy?"

Shi-Ru disregarded the stone creature, and looked towards his king. This is why he had come, this is why he had followed the path of the Thunder King's conquer. He had come to apply his knowledge, to learn more. To become more.

Shi-Ru answered with complete confidence, for he knew, deep down, what the answer to the question was.

"Yes."

Lei Shen smiled. "Then let us begin."

It was many months later, and Shi-Ru had only grown more and more in power; though, so had Lei Shen, from the looks of everything. The palace was complete, finished by the pandaren and jinyu "volunteers" whom Shi-Ru had not seen since the completion of the domain.

Now, thousands of mogu were at the palace. From all different areas of the world, all different shapes and sizes; they were united, and Lei Shen was their king.

Shi-Ru had done well for his social standing, as well. His first big achievement had been when he'd studied the beaten god and noticed that its blood could, with a bit of magical tuning, bring life to lifeless constructs.

When he had shown Lei Shen the animated statues he had created with the blood, Lei Shen boomed and laughed and praised him, and granted him even more power that he commanded Shi-Ru use to destroy his peers who had failed to produce anything interesting for the Thunder King.

Shi-Ru had never been a killer or a fighter, but the looks on the faces of the other mogu as he ripped them from the inside out with pure lightening was one he had come to cherish dearly. It was good to be on top; he never got this kind of gratification back home for his work before, his neighbors all reviling him for what they considered weakness in educating himself as opposed to physical prowess.

Still, however, the constructs weren't perfect. They needed complete and total control and supervision by a constantly alert team of trained mogu, otherwise the volatile blood of the god was liable to spread and consume everything around it, as many mogu had learned first-hand when the initial experiments failed and more than one of them ended up either completely swallowed up, or assorted halves and limbs of bodies.

Lei Shen was pushing them all to create tools worthy of a Thunder King.

Shi-Ru and some various other mogu were currently assembled in a large, stone meeting room. They had all just got done witnessing one of the other lead mogu shapers zapped to black corpse by Lei Shen after he had failed to create a monster under Lei Shen's command.

His only product, a small, tiny little serpent-like creature, was floating precariously in the glass bowl of water it was contained it.

"What shall we do with his work?" one of the assembled mogu questioned.

"I have no use for that…. Little creature." Lei Shen proclaimed. "Get rid of it. Throw it into the depths of the mountain. I do not care, just get it out of my sight."

One of the guards stepped quickly towards the center of the room to snatch up the small bowl, and carried the little monster off with him, out of the room.

Shi-Ru whispered to one of his peers next to him. "What did he call that thing, again?"

"Megaera." The mogu answered back. "The fool has been working on shaping actual flesh for months, now. He claimed to me that the beast he created would multiply its limbs when you cut them off."

"What good is that if it's so small, though?" Shi-Ru commented.

"That's exactly why he's a smoking pile on the floor right now." The mogu laughed.

"Perhaps if it were to have been giant; a creature like that could have been impressive. Imagine, one head being cut off only to create more. It would be nearly unstoppable."

"Well, it's not going to be very unstoppable in the caverns. All kind of stuff is down there, it won't last a day."

Shi-Ru shrugged.

After that, the assembly was called to close and the mogu were left to get back to their work. Shi-Ru began heading back to the chambers where the mysterious Animus was held to continue shaping it into a more easily manageable substance, when his king bade him to stop.

"Shi-Ru, I have a new proposal for you." Lei Shen said.

Shi-Ru turned and bowed. "Whatever it is, my king. I am yours to command."

Lei Shen locked his hands together as he approached Shi-Ru closer. "You may have noticed, my flesh-shaper has just been retired from his efforts."

Shi-Ru glanced at the melted corpse in a way to confirm he'd seen the whole thing just fine.

"I am in need of a new one to continue advancing the field of flesh crafting to create my new army." Lei Shen laid a hand on Shi-Ru's shoulder, much like an old friend would do. "I want you to pick up where he left off, and finish his work. Give me my army."

Shi-Ru was taken aback with the offer, but still, questioned, "What of the animus?"

Lei Shen shrugged. "I am sure it will be finished without you, I need your mind and knowledge elsewhere, now."

Shi-Ru nodded. "Of course, my king."

Shi-Ru was lead to a new area of the castle he had never been to; one that made even the vile animus chamber he was leaving behind seem inviting.

It was a large, round room. On the walls, large metal-chained vats of blood were stored, draining and refilling in a large chamber held under the grated iron floor.

The chamber of flesh-shaping.

Lei Shen stood behind Shi-Ru as the two observed some of the work taking place in the chamber. Mogu here and there were weaving dark energies or working physically with knives and needles, cutting and twisting and bending skin and bones. On the walls, hung by hooks, were failed experiments, grotesque and indistinguishable slabs of meat and skin.

"This is now yours." Lei Shen said. "You will find the previous flesh-shaper's records and notes over on his work bench, laid out for you."

Shi-Ru nodded.

"Do not fail me." Lei Shen warned.

Shi-Ru nodded a second time.

And so, Lei Shen left, leaving Shi-Ru with the incredible task of shaping life.

Present day

"So if the Saurok were created by the Mogu, how do the Saurok, you know, make more of themselves?" Toi asked, his eyes reading the words of the scroll that the young pandaren couldn't understand.

"Hmm." Fu hummed, sitting back again to collect his thoughts on what he would respond with. "Well, you see, Toi, the mogu could never perfect the art of creating life; therefore, the saurok are imperfect in those regards."

"What do you mean?" Toi questioned, looking back to his uncle.

"The saurok lack the means to reproduce naturally, and thus, they must create more of themselves."

"You mean the saurok aren't born like we are?"

"Little is known of how the creation process, but what we do know is all saurok are male and must reproduce by using the eggs of other species to implant their own kind within the eggs, to grow them."

"Grow them?" Toi asked back, confused.

Fu chuckled. "A hard idea to understand, isn't it?"

"In fact." Fu added, "Do you know where in the village the saurok attacked last night?"

Toi shook his head slowly.

"It was the chicken farm."

"Guess what they stole the most of." Fu asked.

Toi said nothing.

"It was the eggs, Toi."

Both were silent for a few moments again, before Toi muttered, "If that's what they wanted, why don't they just ask nicely for them?"

"Why indeed?"

Toi ran through the information he had just learned in his head, his small paws leaving small marks in Fu's desk as claws sank into the soft wood.

"So the saurok don't even have parents? Or mothers?"

"They do not." Fu answered.

"They were created by the mogu as soldiers. They were never meant to have anything like that, or know anything other than anger and violence. The mogu had no love for them outside use in war, their lives spent on conflicts they had nothing to do with."

"And they've lived that way this whole time?" Toi asked, though he knew the answer.

"The saurok are more like us than you may think, though, Toi." Fu said.

"How?" Toi asked, intent on knowing.

"The saurok, despite all that is against them and all the hardships they must face, do only the best they can; just as we must do in the face of our own hardships. To truly understand them, you must understand that you can never understand them."

Toi was silent as Fu added,"Do you think we do not owe it to them, then, to try our best to understand and keep peace?"

Toi's nose wrinkled. "Maybe we do, uncle."

"Then, do you understand why hatred and desire to simply kill the saurok gets neither we nor the saurok anywhere?"

Toi balled his pawn into tiny fists as he stared deeply into the scrolls, considering.

"Maybe I do, uncle."

Fu laughed softly. "That as all I can ask."

12,000 years ago

The first of the saurok are born

At first, Shi-Ru was incredibly daunted and even frightened by the work he had been assigned, though he kept all those feelings completely hidden from his new subordinates as they worked.

The notes and documents left for him were concise and deeply explanative, though even after having worked with the animus to shape life from the blood of a god, the task of creating life was still one Shi-Ru had initial difficulties with.

Lei Shen provided them with all the things they would need for the process. Raw flesh of every kind of creature imaginable was at hand. Pandaren, Jinyu, Mogu, Hozen, beasts of all kinds; even a few dark, solid carapaces and wings of the vile Mantid were present but went untouched for the most part.

And the blood was literally provided in the gallons.

For a basis, the Thunder King had given them small reptilian lizards, tasking them to emulate the design of the tiny animals. Shi-Ru was finding it incredibly hard work with such insignificant life, however.

They had gotten further than the previous flesh-shaper's work, however. Synthesizing the shape and physiologies of the lizards with new flesh had led to major breakthroughs in constructing bodies, and now the hooks that once held indescribable hunks of skin and meat were replaced with distinguishable, sensible shapes of reptilian humanoids.

Though they were still wholly unfinished, and none of them had any scales on their bodies; they were just limp, pink corpses of twisted limbs and hearts that knew no life. But still, Shi-Ru pressed on with the work, until he realized they had hit an impossible barrier in the development of the science.

And so, Shi-Ru did the only thing he could do in his situation. He confronted the Thunder King.

At first, Shi-Ru had no doubt his life would end the moment he informed Lei Shen of the impossibility of the project with the resources they had; but when he explained himself and showed Lei Shen the current progress, the Thunder King simply praised him and told him that any requests he made would be filled immediately.

"I believe the current issue, Thunder King, is that the bodies and souls of the reptiles provided for us are nowhere near capable of being shaped into the creatures you have commanded them to be."

Lei Shen sat back in his throne, his powerful hand caressing his chin in thought as he listened to Shi-Ru's explanations.

"We are getting much better at creating the bodies, but the souls of the reptiles are simply too…."

"Insignificant?" Lei Shen finished for Shi-Ru.

"Yes." Shi-Ru nodded.

Lei Shen rubbed at his chin once more, the gears of his brain churning. Then, he came to a conclusion.

"Then you need something more substantial to work with."

Shi-Ru nodded.

Lei Shen laughed, his chuckle a low, reverbing grumble. "Why did you not say so earlier?"

Shi-Ru said nothing. Lei Shen continued.

"I will provide you with a few samples that should fulfill what you need." Lei Shen promised. "Return to your chambers, I shall be there myself shortly."

Shi-Ru thanked the Thunder King and left, bowing. At first, he had been filled with pride and confidence at how he confronted the issue and left all the stronger from it with Lei Shen's promise to provide them with more suited resources, and reflected on how quickly he had adapted to the radical new art of weaving life.

But as he grew nearer to his chambers, suddenly, Shi-Ru felt pangs of worry and doubt once again inflict him. He had no doubts in his mind that Lei Shen would provide a more suitable subject for their work; but just what kind of new creature Lei Shen would present to them was one Shi-Ru felt himself worried about.

He reached the work chambers and announced to his subordinates what Lei Shen had in mind for them, and then, he waited. Whatever Lei Shen was about to bestow upon him; he would know very soon enough.

It was very soon, indeed, for it was not an hour after Shi-Ru had gotten back to the chamber that the rusted iron doors were slammed open, as a group of mogu entered the room, carrying with them a most interesting and terrible sight.

In a small wooden cart, bound with rope, was a violently thrashing beast much like the small lizards the mogu had been working with so far; though this specimen was much, much different from any lizard.

Shi-Ru stepped the closest to the new beast, looking down at it. Though it was bound tightly in thick ropes, Shi-Ru could make out some of the creature's physical attributes, and how it might stand and move. It hand long, powerful legs that were folded against the body because of the ropes, and a long narrow face that was covered in cloth and tied shut. A long, tail that ended in almost whip-like thinness flew back and forth in anger.

Its body was covered in scale, and laid on its side, one eye poked from its head to scan the mogu looking at it frantically, the primal slit-pupil never staying in one place for more than a few seconds. Shi-Ru could tell the creature was extremely intelligent for a beast.

Finally, Shi-Ru looked up at the mogu who had brought the new creature, though he did not see Lei Shen despite his promise to personally deliver it. That did not hinder Shi-Ru from questioning the mogu, however.

"What is this?" he asked.

One of the mogu who had carted it in looked at him. "I assume you are the project leader?"

"I am." Shi-Ru nodded.

"This is one of many beasts Lei Shen was given as a gift from the Zandalari. It comes from their jungle island homes."

Shi-Ru looked the creature over. "Does it have a name?"

The mogu scowled at this, and fought to shape his mouth into the foreign word. "Ra-puh-ter" he attempted to pronounce.

"I see." Was all Shi-Ru said. At that, the mogu who had carted the strange 'Ra puh ter' in left the room, closing the doors behind them, and Shi-Ru was left the decide what their next step would be.

"You." He commanded, pointing to one of his mogu. "Unbind the creature, prepare it for dissection and get the spirit-shapers ready to synthesize its soul."

The mogu nodded in obedience and moved to carry out his command, as Shi-Ru turned to move back to his desk to prepare himself for the coming work; when he heard a blood-curdling scream from behind him and the sounds of struggle.

Shi-Ru turned and saw the mogu he had tasked with getting the creature out of the cart was now on the ground, his neck and chest ripped open, the small but deadly creature crouched over him, its reptilian face covered in blood, the razor-like teeth of its mouth full of shreds of mogu flesh.

After the outburst, Shi-Ru and his remaining mogu managed to quickly re-subdue the beast and this time, worked in extreme caution. They bound it down as they tore the soul from its body, and then worked to break down the still-living flesh to reshape it.

It was almost two days of nonstop work, but with a beast that was finally capable of withstanding the experiments, they made incredibly quick progress. Mixing the soul with the souls of lizards, they tamed the primal fury of the beast. Re-shaping the skeleton and muscles of the creature's body and supplementing its size with various bits of lizard, they expanded its body.

Then, they put soul and flesh together and made a nightmare.

What they had was life, but it was a terrible, mocking form of it. The creature, once its soul was put back into its body, seemed to do nothing but scream. In only a few minutes, their physical handiwork failed and blood began quickly seeping out of the creature's eyes, and gushing out of its mouth, turning the screeches into wet gurgles.

Then, Shi-Ru managed to pull his fascination away from the horrible sight and quickly issued commands.

"You! Go inform the Thunder King! Go, quickly!" he demanded from one of the mogu. The mogu, in turn, tore his own gaze from the creation and rushed to obey. Then Shi-Ru began organizing the mogu, having them work to keep the creature alive until Lei Shen could get to the room.

They worked to stabilize the physical body while forcing the soul to stay within it, but ultimately, within minutes, they failed. The creature, with a few last kicks and sounds, died in a pool of its own blood.

Shi-Ru approached the small table where the specimen had been given life and death on. The blood, thick and red, trickled off the table and onto the stone floor, leaving soft splashes that echoed off the chamber's metal walls. The eyes of the creature, glazed over and empty in death, stared up at the ceiling, as if the creature's only last wishes were to escape the torture of life it was made to endure.

The body was twisted and no longer resembled the original structure of the beast, instead it was more humanoid, meant to stand on two legs and operate with dexterous hands. The body itself was, in its own way, flawless. The best physical structure they had created yet. It was fully scaled and the skin was thick, with the original wicked sharp claws of the 'raptor' intact on its new hands and feet.

The head was largely the same, and all in all, it was an impressive body. The organs were what gave out, and Shi-Ru found himself thinking of ways to improve upon that on their next attempt.

The doors to the chamber slammed open once again, and without even turning, Shi-Ru knew it was Lei Shen.

Shi-Ru glanced once again at the dead specimen.

The Thunder King was going to be furious.

Present Day

Without any warning, the round door the Fu's home exploded open, drawing the eyes from both loremaster and child.

Fu was about to open his mouth to protest the sudden invasion of his home, but Toi's shout interrupted him.

"Father! You are back!" Toi squealed, sliding out of Fu's lap, bumping into the small desk. The ink bottle being tossed instantly across the surface of the desk, electing a sighing Fu to quickly pick up the scrolls to avoid any of them becoming stained with ink.

Xian strode into the house, embracing his son and picking him up into his arms.

"Ha! Did you think I would be long, Toi?"

"Nah." Toi lied, hugging his father.

"Done playing with the saurok already, are we?" Fu goaded as he approached his brother and nephew.

"It was a little worse than we thought." Xian instantly admitted.

Fu raised an eyebrow.

"You were right about the eggs. They were breeding, or spawning or whatever it is they do in the caves at the foot of the mountain."

Fu nodded. "I thought so. What did you do?"

Xian shrugged. "What else could we do? We crushed the eggs."

At this, Toi frowned. "But what did the eggs do to us?"

Xian, with a bit of surprise on his face, turned his head to Toi. "Well, nothing. Yet. But we can't suffer too many attacks like that, we can't let this group of saurok buffer their numbers so much."

Toi laid his head against his father's chest. "But how is that fair to the saurok?"

"Life and death are rarely fair, Toi." Xian said as he sat his son down. "It is not an easy choice, but if I had to choose between taking the lives of unborn saurok and your safety, I would always choose you."

Toi felt he couldn't really argue with that.

"Besides." Xian continued. "I thought you hated the saurok. Don't tell me this book-keeper got any ideas in your head!"

Fu scoffed. "Toi is actually remarkably smart and inquisitive considering his age, and his father's genes."

Xian laughed as he set his son down, slipping him from his arms. "You can have the brains side of the family any day, Fu. I won't fight over that."

Toi hurried back over to Fu, who was organizing his scrolls again.

"What have you two been talking about all day, anyways?" Xian questioned.

"Uncle Fu was telling me about how the mogu made the saurok, and that maybe the saurok aren't as bad as we think they are."

Xian groaned. "Mogu, Fu? Come on; at least teach the boy something real."

"But history says the mogu are real, father. It's up to us to choose whether we believe it or not, though." Toi recited.

Xian groaned again. "Maybe it's better to take Toi along to the saurok dens instead of leaving him here with you."

"Uncle Fu says hands-on learning is the best kind of learning."

"Uncle Fu says a lot of things." Xian quipped, rolling his eyes.

After bidding their goodbyes, Xian and Toi set back to their home, leaving Fu to get back to his editing work. The two walked together down the dirt roads of the village that had once again dried out and turned back into the solid-packed pathways since last night's storm had turned them into muddy wrecks.

"Where is mother?" Toi asked.

"Already back at home, waiting for us." Xian answered.

"So you really crushed all the saurok eggs?" Toi questioned as they walked past a house that had been completely broken apart in the fighting.

"We did." Xian answered sternly.

The two were silent for a while, until Toi spoke up again.

"Father, do you want to kill all the saurok so they never attack us? Is that why you crushed all the eggs?"

Xian breathed in deeply, thinking of his answer. "No." he began. "I do not wish to drive them into extinction, for though they are violent, they have every right to live like we do."

Toi thought about that for a moment and then asked, "But how will they survive without the eggs to keep their race going?"

Xian twisted his neck to crack his shoulders. "The saurok are far from helpless, Toi. They are like us; they do the best they can. That is all we can truly understand about them."

Xian looked down at his son, and continued, "They are life, Toi. And life will always find a way."

12,000 years ago

Shi-Ru gives rise the to the saurok armies of the Thunder King

The Thunder King was over-joyed.

Laughing with the most jovialness Shi-Ru had ever heard the imposing, threatening king use, Lei Shen quickly stepped up to the dead specimen and picked the blood-soaked carcass up in his hands, admiring it as if it were his own son.

Shi-Ru wondered if Lei Shen realized the creature was dead yet.

"How long did it draw breath for?" Lei Shen asked as he played with the corpse's limp head, opening and shutting the jaws like a child playing with a toy.

At this, Shi-Ru stepped forward and explained. "For a few minutes at most, my king. The soul-binding and creation of the body are perfect; the flaw came from the organs. We're still working to perfect that. The organs failed almost instantly, and it bled out from its eyes and mouth, despite our efforts to prevent it from dying."

Lei Shen nodded in understanding, as if he were expecting that exact thing to happen.

"This is an impressive break through, Shi-Ru. But I expect even better results in your next presentation."

Shi-Ru bowed. "Of course."

Lei Shen, as if he instantly lost interest in the dead specimen, dropped it back down to the table in a sickening soft splash of blood, turned, and exited the room.

Before actually leaving, Lei Shen stopped, speaking to Shi-Ru without turning his face to him. "I will be sending a second beast to you, this one larger than the first. I expect to be impressed, Shi-Ru."

"Of course." Shi-Ru repeated.

Lei Shen left, and even quicker than before, a new cart was pushed into the room, this time with a raptor that was the same shape and species as the one before; but almost three times bigger.

This one was large and powerful, pulling against its bindings as if it might actually break them. Shi-Ru wasted no risks on this one and zapped it a few times, wounding it into submission before they cut it loose, moved it to a clean table and got to work.

This time, despite working with an even larger subject, they completed the work in a little over half the time of the previous specimen, having the new body created and the spirit properly mixed with those of smaller reptiles. Then, they implanted the spirit into the body once again, and prayed their work would bear fruit.

As the spirit-shapers merged flesh and soul, Shi-Ru felt himself sweating. He would not- he could not- disappoint Lei Shen. This had to work.

Spirit and body were fused. This was it.

At first, nothing happened. In fact, Shi-Ru and the others worried the experiment was, for some reason, a failure and the specimen had simply not been brought to life. Shi-Ru stepped slowly up to it, looking down at the new body that was still smothered here and there in blood.

Then, its eyes locked onto Shi-Ru's.

Shi-Ru was almost thrown back in shock as the strange, alive-but-not-alive eyes looked deep into him. Empty expression and yet a touch of deep understanding evident in the frightening orbs. The creature opened its mouth, but all it could do was gurgle and scream.

Shi-Ru grit his teeth. Would this one be a failure, too?

After many minutes of simply waiting, watching and listening, Shi-Ru came to the conclusion that this specimen was clearly in no hurry to die; though it didn't seem to be able to do much else.

Finally, Shi-Ru gave his orders.

"Alert Lei Shen immediately, tell him we have a success."

No one bothered to notice Shi-Ru's use of the Thunder King's plain name as two mogu broke instantly to rush off to Lei Shen and deliver the news to him.

"Keep it stable!" Shi-Ru barked. "Do not let it die!"

Within only minutes the Thunder King burst once again into the room, eager to see the so-called success.

The Thunder King stood, with bewildered fascination on his face. This was it. This is what he had been waiting for.

"How long has it been alive?" Lei Shen demanded.

"Only a few minutes." Shi-Ru answered.

"Will it live?" Lei Shen questioned.

"I cannot say for certain, but I believe it will live, yes." Shi-Ru said.

"Good." Lei Shen commented.

"We will have to go through some preliminary tests to ensure everything is stabilized, and then begin initial tests for its brain to see if it can retain information, then we can begin to-" Shi-Ru began, but was interrupted when the Thunder King simply cast his hand towards the beast and shot it with odd, blue electricity.

The creature wailed and screamed, but not from pain. The light from Lei Shen's power was so bright, it was literally blinding and several mogu fell to the floor, their eyes burning as punishment for looking directly into the energy.

The room was so bright that no shadows existed anywhere; it was as if everything simply turned bright white, with no negative dark spaces able to draw themselves out in the room of Lei Shen's power.

And then, the brightness faded.

The creature was still screaming, but now, audible words were being formed. Words of language.

"Pain!" it screamed.

Shi-Ru's stomach clenched tight.

"The pain! It's all pain! Pain!"

The creature seemed to have no problems grasping the new words it was forming with its strange and unnatural reptilian mouth, and was keen to scream and wail them.

None of the mogu moved for what ended up being almost two hours, all of them simply standing in uneasy fixation upon what they had just wrought; that was, of course, except for Lei Shen who looked upon the wailing concoction of flesh and soul with a look of complete awe and satisfaction, savoring each moment.

Finally, the creature finally stopped screaming, the constant wails and shrieks slowly fading out into wet, murky coughs and gurgles, the creature's body falling lax and its chest heaving up and down frantically but consistently; clearly worn out and short of breath.

"The creature will remain here. Study it, learn from it, perfect newer editions." Lei Shen commanded.

"Your will, be done." Shi-Ru said, bowing.

"I have instilled the beast with knowledge, communicate with it."

Shi-Ru hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Yes, my king."

Lei Shen was off, and Shi-Ru was left with a creature that by all natural and good means should never have existed.

It had been a week since the specimen had been given life, and it was doing quite well. It screamed- a lot- about "pain" and "hurting" and sometimes seemed to bleed from orifices for no reason, but its life had held.

Shi-Ru was plotting his next step. They had created life, now they needed to refine it, perfect it and mass-produce it, and he planned to take care of all three things at once.

The creature was currently drinking some of the blood from one of the tanks, his long, spiny tongue lapping it up between grunts and smacks. Then, after having its fill of blood, the creature scurried on all fours, biting a piece of raw flesh from one of the tables and chewing on it, the sound of sharp teeth ripping skin and sawing against bone filling the small chamber.

It was a handful, to say the least.

The creature was fairly intelligent, however. It had even given itself a name; or at least kept referring to itself by the same word.

"Primordius" it kept saying. The creature was now scratching itself, a few of its scales breaking loose and causing thin streams of blood to trickle from its pink, exposed skin. It lost interest in the meat it had been chewing upon and simply slipped into one of the vats of blood, grumbling and hissing to itself.

"Primordius…. Perfect. Yes, yes it's perfect."

Shi-Ru shivered. The creature was a success, and was intelligent, but something about it was clearly not right.

Well, at least, even more than not right.

"Shi-Ru, we are ready to begin the growth process." A mogu stepped up behind Shi-Ru and spoke to him. Shi-Ru cleared his throat and nodded. It was time, then.

"Primordius." He beckoned. The top of the creature's head poked up out of the vat of blood he was currently soaking in. "Come here, I need to show you something."

At first, Primordius did nothing, but after a few moments curiosity seemed to get the better of the creature and it slid out of the tank, trailing blood behind it. "Yes, yes. Something to see. Something to show? Yes, yes, yes it is." Primordius spoke softly to itself, cocking its reptilian head at Shi-Ru in a way that was both primitively animalistic and yet deeply inquisitive.

"Come, sit on this table." Shi-Ru asked.

Primordius started to obey, but stopped, a hiss grumbling deep in his throat. "You do not trick? No?"

"No, Primordius. I do not trick. Come, sit."

Primordius hissed, a snake-like tongue that he did not have a few days ago flicked out of his red mouth, his head drawn back as he looked over Shi-Ru. "No no?"

"No." Shi-Ru repeated.

At that, Primordius obeyed and leaped up onto the table, sitting, kicking his feet off the edge of the wooden slab as if he were a child awaiting a doctor. Shi-Ru gave a few hand gestures and suddenly, Primordius was pinned down by all limbs by mogu. Predictably, this made the creature quite upset and audible.

"No? No?! Yes! Yes! You tricked! You tricked!" Primordius squealed; his limbs strong but held fast by the mogu.

"Calm down, this won't hurt at all." Shi-Ru lied.

Then, the doors to the chamber opened and in walked two hooded mogu, some of Shi-Ru's old subordinates. Between them, floating above both mogu's outstretched hands, was a swirling ball of animus.

Shi-Ru stood aside, allowing the two new mogu to work their craft, as they wove the animus over the struggling beast, taking extreme care to not touch any of the mogu with the flowing, coalescing orb of dark blood energy.

Then, they lowered it upon Primordius, who was thrashing harder and harder as the animus grew near. As the animus was lowered, the mogu holding Primordius to the table let go and withdrew from the creature to get out of the way of the sinister, oozing energy as it was set upon the table; though it was far too late for Primordius to escape.

Primordius was screaming, but was now enveloped in the animus. Here and there, animus poked out, clearly Primordius attempting to push through the strange goo to no avail.

"Do it already." Shi-Ru commanded, disgusted at the sight of what they were doing, but yet desiring to know what the outcome would be. The mogu heeded his words, and then directed the animus to burn itself deep into the skin of Primordius.

Primordius howled for a brief moment before the animus completely overtook him.

The whole thing lasted mercifully short moments, and once it was done, the animus was all forcefully absorbed into the skin of Primordius, who laid silent on the table.

Shi-Ru approached the creature quickly, praying silently that it survived the infusion. A few moaning hisses from deep in the creature's throat told him it still lived.

"How are you, Primordius?" Shi-Ru asked.

Primordius said nothing, but slipped off the table, landing head-first on the stone floor. Heaving and coughing strange, hiss-like coughs, the creature crawled its way into a vat of blood and sunk into it, disappearing into the crimson.

Shi-Ru let a deep breath escape him. It was another success, from the looks of it. Now they just had to wait.

It was now almost a month later, and Primordius was doing well; if not looking more horrible than ever. Ever since they had infused his body with the mysterious animus, Primordius had grown almost each and every day for a couple of weeks straight. During those weeks, the entire palace of the Thunder King would be filled with the impossibly loud shrieks of Primordius as his body twisted and bent and grew, and his flesh flaked and peeled off.

Many of the mogu were upset and off-put by the screams; highest among them being Shi-Ru himself as he had exclusive knowledge on just what was producing the cacophonous reports of pain, the troubled life-shaper being kept awake throughout the night by the noise. But to Lei Shen, the cries were the symphonies of power and progress, the songs that would foretell the coming of his new army. Many days the Thunder King found himself sitting in his throne room, the doors to the courtyard open, drinking in the faint, distant sounds of the creatures torment.

Physical growth was not the most of Primordius' new features, however. Each time the creature shed its skin, odd swells of soft red flesh appeared all over his face and body, growing larger in size and number with each daily shedding.

It was these strange new cysts that Shi-Ru was interested in the most.

They were assembled once again in the chamber, Primordius having gotten used to his new body. Shi-Ru was studying a sample of one of the larger cysts on Primordius' body as the latter chewed a large bone apart with his strong, new jaw muscles within one of the vats of blood.

Shi-Ru was puzzled and bewildered by the new flesh. It seemed to take features of both skin and the animus, becoming a dripping, wet tissue that pulsed with what, for all Shi-Ru knew, might be a life of its own. Even sliced off of Primordius' body, it pulsed and grew.

Infusing Primordius with the animus had been an extreme gambit, and Shi-Ru had honestly no real idea what to expect based off of his feeble knowledge of both the animus and the new creature; but it seemed that gambit had paid handsomely off.

Shi-Ru, from his previous study and work with the substance, knew the animus had some kind of connection with life, being able to infuse it into inanimate statues and give them some form of basic existence; even if one that was clearly devoid of actual life. But those had been with un-living carvings of stone and metal, the animus had never been infused into something that was a living creature- until now, of course.

Shi-Ru had been doing some personal study of his own, as well; to better understand both the animus and the strange, powerful being it was obtained from. He had not seen the "God" since the first and only time Lei Shen had shown it to him personally all that time ago; but Shi-Ru was positive that, whatever the "God" truly was, he had some tangible connection with the legendary titanic shapers of the world.

Which, Shi-Ru had come to decide, were much more fact than fiction at this point.

But whatever the truth was concerning those things, Shi-Ru did not entertain to discover at the moment, as he was much too busy giving rise to life. Shi-Ru's study into the origins of the shapers was not all for nothing on his current project, however. He had read through many of the scrolls and books and papers obtained from across the globe from all sorts of different historians and archeologists; and from them, learned much.

The most intriguing and incredible of all the gathered works came from a people Shi-Ru were told were the Earthen, a strange and reclusive race of short statue-men that the mogu armies of Lei Shen had encountered on their scouting of the world.

The thought of men made from rock and stone amazed Shi-Ru and secretly, he doubted what the mogu explorers and came back to say about them, but he conceded to one day meet them himself and find out the truth of their strange existence; until then, he would simply study whatever writings of them he could find in the Thunder King's vast libraries.

From the works, he had learned more about the creators of the world than he had ever known before, going off the terribly incomplete and in-concise histories that his people kept. The creators had given rise to the earthen, and to many of the other native races of the world. It was said that all races began from the earth, in stone bodies, but that many had somehow deviated from that and turned to flesh. This was a part of history Shi-Ru deeply doubted, but everything else he found incredibly interesting.

So it was the creators who gave rise to life, Shi-Ru thought. From the earth, they created existence. It made sense that the blood of what could be assumed was one of them was able to also, in minor ways, give life. Shi-Ru took a strange pride in following in the creator's footsteps, giving him both a settled conscience and renewed confidence to continue his work. From the creator's work would come his own, and he would give rise to life in the same way.

He would take his place in the annals of history alongside the fabled givers of life. He would be the one future generations would look to when they studied the art of crafting existence. He would the one to give Lei Shen his army. He would be a creator.

One year later

It had taken some time, but it was done. Shi-Ru shared grins and exclamations of success with the mogu around him. They had not done it without failures, of course, but Lei Shen had been incredibly forgiving and lenient with Shi-Ru, and now that leniency had finally paid off for the Thunder King.

Before them, was metal rack upon metal rack of eggs.

Each laid out carefully and tenderly within each of their fitted-wire holders, the eggs sat. Five racks of twenty eggs each; one hundred in total. It was still unsure if they would hatch, and if whatever hatched from them would grow, but the eggs were alive and showing signs of growing, which was the cause of the celebration after so many eggs had been created, only to either never show signs of life or die within moments.

This eggs, however, had now survived their first month, a major milestone, and if one were to observe them before the light of a candle or other light source, you could make out the strange shapes of developing creatures within them.

Incubated in pure animus, the eggs and the tiny bodies inside them grew quickly each day. In fact, the embryos were now over a half the size of their shelled homes, and at their rate of growth, would hatch within the next couple of weeks.

And Shi-Ru, deep down, prayed the hatching would be successful. Primordius was doing fine, but his flesh seemed to change sporadically once again. Now, samples of the creature's flesh died almost instantly upon being severed from his body, and seemed completely unreceptive to everything; they would be obtaining no more sources to work with from the muttering, skulking beast.

Time passed without much real development to the project. All that needed to be done was an eye kept on the eggs (both to ensure their continued survival and development and to prevent the coy Primordius from devouring any of his baby brothers). But now, the time was dawning that the eggs would be hatching soon. The embryos inside of them were now fully developed fetuses, the tiny reptilian beasts in them fully formed and clearly alive in their shells.

Shi-Ru had summoned Lei Shen, who was observing one of the eggs in his hand with belied gentleness, smiling at it. Finally, he set the egg back and lowered the rack back into the pool of animus, the elongated metal handles poking tall out of the animus, so one could put their hands upon without touching the dark animus.

Turning to Shi-Ru, the Thunder King asked, "How much longer until they hatch?"

Shi-Ru ran his fat tongue across his lips, considering the question. "A few days at most. It could be any moment, really." He casually spoke.

Lei Shen nodded. "I am to be summoned the moment they begin to hatch." He demanded.

"Of course." Shi-Ru replied.

Lei Shen left, and Shi-Ru went about organizing the room, preparing for the hatching.

The room had been cleared out of most of the desks and tables and benches that once cluttered it, and Shi-Ru's team had, for the moment, been downsized so now only four other mogu worked with him on monitoring the development of the eggs. The messes of blood and torn meat and shed flesh that Primordius had made a habit of leaving all over had been cleaned out, and now the chamber seemed large without everything in it.

Shi-Ru was highly anticipate of the hatching. While it was a very true and real possibility that much could still go wrong with the process, he and everyone else seemed to be much more focused on the excitement rather than what might possibly go wrong.

Shi-Ru had formed life with Primordius, this was fact, but when they had done that, they had simply constructed him out of the flesh and souls that were already in existence. This was the first time they had truly sparked life and grew it from nothing.

This was the first time they had created life. That Shi-Ru had created life.

It ended up being only a day later that they hatched.

Shi-Ru was the only one in the chamber at the time, documenting the day's developments, when suddenly, Primordius began to, for lack of any better terms, freak out. The creature, who had been awkwardly laying on its side in sleep (as its right side was now almost completely overtaken by the strange, unsettling growths of mutant flesh), leapt at a sudden moment from it slumber and began hissing and glaring at the eggs, almost like a hound barking at an intruder.

Slapping the metal floor and galloping around the chamber, Primordius finally splashed into a vat of standing blood and disappeared into it. Shi-Ru was wondering just what could have made the creature react like that as he eyed the vat Primordius dived into it. The creature, especially lately, was prone to random acts of shouting and leaping around, but this time it seemed specifically different.

Shi-Ru, losing interest in the outburst, return to his writing, when suddenly, through the empty chamber, he heard the soft sound of a crack.

His eyes shot wide and he snapped his head towards the rack that was currently sat beside him on the lone wooden desk in the chamber. Suddenly, another soft tapping-crack sound came, and a few of the eggs shook on their holds.

This was it.

Shi-Ru bolted from his desk (though took careful thought to not knock against the desk and send the eggs to their doom) as he flung open the doors of the chamber and shouted at a pair of guards standing in attention at the opposite side of the hallway.

"Summon Lei Shen! Now!" he demanded. The two guards stumbled over each other to obey as they left their post and rushed up the hall. Shi-Ru returned to the eggs.

Primordius was still somewhere, hidden in the blood, as Shi-Ru looked upon the eggs as they rattled and shook. Finding his mind, he shook his head clear of his bewilderment and rushed to retrieve the others wracks from the animus pools they were incubated it.

Placing each rack down onto the ground, Shi-Ru stood before them, as they all shook and rattled and thin, black cracks became pronounced against the light-green shells.

From behind him, he could feel Lei Shen and a few other mogu approach him. One of the eggs had a small chip pop off of it. Lei Shen's hand clasp the back of Shi-Ru's shoulder.

This was it.

Then, with that, it was as if every single egg got a sudden command to hatch instantly as they all, in unison, broke open and tiny legs and arms and tails and heads poked through the shells.

Shi-Ru was amazed, staring at them. Each one looked healthy and able, and none seemed to be defective. Each tiny body broke free of the remaining shells and the small, new creatures began to make their ways off of the racks, scurrying into the pools of blood to float and sink into them.

Shi-Ru stared at them with pride and accomplishment; not as a father would, but as a shaper would. He looked at them as a creator would.

Present day

"So what do you think it is the saurok really want?" Toi asked as he and his father continued their way down the dirt street.

"Ultimately?" Xian spoke. "I suppose, ultimately, they simply want to survive."

"I still don't understand why they're so violent, though. If they want to survive, why fight all the time?" Toi questioned.

Xian chuckled. "All we can truly understand about the saurok is that we don't understand them. We cannot pass judgment on them, or carry out punishment. We must simply live in harmony as best we can."

"Well, maybe someday we can understand them." Toi commented.

At this, Xian scoffed and chuckled. "Wishful thinking my son, but if you ask me, don't hold your breath."

"Where are the saurok that attacked the village now?" Toi asked.

"Probably leaving to find new caves. They have a new bunch of eggs and their current cave has been ransacked, so hopefully they'll move on to an area less populated by any of us. Then they can live out by themselves and neither we nor the saurok will need to see any more violence."

"You really think we won't have to fight with the saurok again?"

Xian, this time with no humor in his tone, simply answered, "Don't hold your breath."

"But do the best I can?" Toi questioned back.

Xian's face softened and he laughed again. "Now you're getting it."

12,000 years ago

Shi-Ru perfects life

So many years had passed. Time seemed to be flying by for Shi-Ru, who stayed mostly oblivious to the continual passage of eternity as he focused on his work of maintaining the new army of the Thunder King.

"Saurok" they had been named, by Shi-Ru himself. Thousands more had been "born" under his supervision, the tiny saurok aging rapidly into adult bodies in only a few months. After that, they were ready to be armed and sent off to war.

They retained about the same level of intelligence that the original creation, Primordius did. What was more, was Lei Shen had infused a gemstone with energy, had it set into a medallion, and given the Shi-Ru. The gemstone, once bright green, was now clear and transparent, and glowed with energy.

With it, the saurok were mentally kept in line. Shi-Ru could control them all with only a few thoughts, and as long as he held power over them, the mogu could issue them verbal commands and have them carry out objectives and tasks without question.

The perfect tools for the mogu; and it was all thanks to Shi-Ru, who had since become one of Lei Shen's top vassals.

Primordius, grumbling to himself as he ripped a small mouse apart with his teeth, sat in a corner, minding his own business as Shi-Ru prepared another clutch of eggs to set into animus, an art he had perfected completely through the years, even to the point of teaching the saurok how to do it, themselves. Now certain "egg-bringer" saurok could be used to reproduce saurok on the field, though they seemed to lack the ability to simply create eggs themselves and had to resort to using those of other animals.

Shi-Ru also thought that perhaps the animus was no longer needed for the reproduction of saurok, but never decided to pursue the possibility. He had all of the substance he needed, so there was no reason to go about trying to discover a way to birth saurok without it; besides, the need for the animus prevented anyone else from creating them, so that Lei Shen could carefully monitor any new creations- saurok or otherwise- taking place under his rule.

Sliding the gem medallion absent mindedly across his desk with a finger as recorded the number of eggs currently going into incubation, Shi-Ru was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of distant shouts. Primordius obviously heard the shouting as well, for the creature was on all fours, hissing and pacing in circles, upset by the shouts that were likely much louder to his ears than to Shi-Ru's.

Shi-Ru, curious, stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Primordius with a warning to not touch the eggs. Walking a short ways down the hallway, he followed the source of the commotion, and came out to the courtyard.

A single pandaren was standing among several mogu who were sprawled out on the ground, doing a considerably little amount of moving. At the other end of the courtyard was Lei Shen, standing before the Pandaren as legions of guards aimed their spears and bows towards the offending slave.

Poking a head out of the doorway, Shi-Ru watched and listened.

In the language of the Pandaren, which Shi-Ru had studied in his time at the palace, Shi-Ru caught the words the pandaren slave was shouting.

"I do not fear any of you, nor will I be a slave any longer!" it shouted in its thick, ancient language.

Shi-Ru then realized that he had no idea if Lei Shen understood the pandaren language, but whether he did or not, the Thunder King approached the pandaren, stepping casually and without fear or hesitation across the courtyard. With the gesture of a hand, he bade all the guards to lower their weapons.

He reached the pandaren.

"Do you not value your life?" Lei Shen spoke in pandaren.

The pandaren tensed for a moment, but then his courage caught back up to him and he stamped a foot forward in defiance, shouting, "I value the life of me and my people above all else. To bend and serve such monsters like you would be to take no value in my life; for the life of a slave is not life!"

Lei Shen scoffed. "A fair opinion."

And then, the pandaren shrieked in pain as he was torn apart by lightning.

At that, the guardsmen began dispersing back to their posts, all the action over. Shi-Ru stood in the doorway now, and Lei Shen caught him with his eyes, raising a hand to him.

"Shi-Ru! I hope the commotion did not rouse you from your work." He said, stepping over to his old friend.

Grumbling in his throat, Shi-Ru replied, "Not really, Thunder King. I was done, anyways. The newest batch of eggs are set to incubate."

"Good." Lei Shen nodded. "I was actually about to have you summoned to me, for a meeting."

"Oh?" Shi-Ru exclaimed, an eyebrow rose as he regarded Lei Shen curiously.

"Yes. In fact, let us just go to the meeting room together, come." Lei Shen bid.

As they walked across the courtyard and passed the pandaren, whose body was torn into several smoldering, unidentifiable pieces, Shi-Ru asked, "What happened out here, anyways, my king?"

Lei Shen shrugged. "One of the slaves apparently decided to stand up for himself. Worked out well for him, obviously."

"He's no longer a slave, that is true." Shi-Ru quipped.

Lei Shen laughed as the pair stepped through a doorway and down a hall, on their way to the assembly chamber.

Minutes later, the mogu were gathered. All of Lei Shen's top generals, mages and minds were together in the chamber Shi-Ru had seen the second most of in his time as the palace; after his chamber of flesh-crafting, of course.

They got down to business immediately.

"How close is the wall to being finished?" Lei Shen demanded.

A mogu, Lei Shen's lead architect, cleared his throat and spoke. "It will be no more than twenty more years, Thunder King."

Lei Shen growled, and lightning sparked off of him, causing all the other mogu to shrink back in fear. "That is not good enough!" he bellowed. "The wall must be complete before I leave this world!"

Lei Shen spoke openly about his mortality, and it was apparent to all that the grasp of age was taking its toll on the king of mogu. Though Lei Shen was still far stronger than any other being any of them knew of, his eyes had begun to sink more and more into his head, and his face sagged only slightly. His broad shoulders had since slowly began to slope down, and he seemed to walk ever so minutely slower.

Even the king of Thunder could not completely hide his age.

"Thunder King!" another voice shouted out. "Why do we not just kill or subjugate the mantid! Our armies are always ready, and with the saurok and Zandalari, surely we could force them to bend!"

This mogu speaking out was one of Lei Shen's generals; and it was a protest that was raised often by him at the assemblies.

The Thunder King sighed with soft anger. Lei Shen could not be too angry for the mogu in question's constant desire to war with the mantid; for it was that attitude that Lei Shen himself had bestowed the title "Iron" upon the mogu.

"I have discussed this with you, Qon." Lei Shen began. "And I will be done with it, now! The mantid will never bow to me, nor any other mogu. Fighting them would result in slow defeat."

Though Lei Shen was admitting weakness to the mantid, he spoke of it in a manner that made him still seem victorious, and no mogu could question that. There was no weakness in understanding when victory was not possible.

"So we will wall them off to their lands and leave them there, to their own devices. The wall will keep them at bay until such a day where mogu might finally crush them."

Qon grew silent and sat, though he was obviously unhappy; but he would not push the Thunder King any further, for risk of his life.

Then, Lei Shen glanced towards Shi-Ru. "This is where I must make a request of you, Shi-Ru."

Shi-Ru sat up straight as he was addressed. "Yes, Thunder King?"

"I want you to take the saurok that are currently in the central valley and redirect them to the wall, have them work to help construction."

Shi-Ru's jaw dropped slightly. "I suppose it can be so, my king, but the Saurok know nothing of construction."

Lei Shen shrugged. "You can control them and tell them what to do. It should not be an issue."

"Yes." Shi-Ru nodded, but that's when it really seemed to hit him. He could control the saurok. He controlled them, made them act. Everything they were doing, they did only because someone else was forcing them.

He recalled the words of the pandaren he had just heard. "For the life of a slave is not life!"

And then, Shi-Ru pondered, if the life he created was that of a slave- had he truly created life?

Shi-Ru did not even hear Lei Shen's next words, as he was too lost in realization and thought. The assembly continued on for a short while longer, before Lei Shen dismissed them. Shi-Ru also failed to notice the assembly had been called to end, nor did he notice any of the mogu getting up to leave. Soon, he was left there, alone, sitting at his chair, his expression blank and deep.

It was only Lei Shen's voice echoing into the empty room that broke Shi-Ru from his thought.

"Shi-Ru!" he called, his aged but still deep voice magnified by the echoes of the cleared room. Shi-Ru shook his head sharply to clear his mind and stood up, to regard the Thunder King.

"You are not going to sit there all day are you?" Lei Shen joked.

"N- no. Of course not." Shi-Ru stammered, before bowing and quickly brushing past Lei Shen and out of the room.

Lei Shen regarded his old friend as he left, a glimmer of suspicion set deep within his eyes. Watching Shi-Ru disappear around a corner, Lei Shen turned, and walked back off to his personal chambers. Shi-Ru was not acting himself; but so long as he did as Lei Shen bade, Lei Shen would not go bothering about it.

Shi-Ru slammed the door shut to the chamber of flesh-crafting as he entered it, out of breath despite only walking briskly back to the chamber. His eyes were instantly pulled to the small, clear gem that still sat on his desktop. Then, he turned his head to Primordius, who was sleeping near the wall.

The words of the pandaren played unwillingly in his head once again.

"The life of a slave…"

He looked back to the gem.

"is not life!"

He then looked to the eggs, and grit his teeth. He was being ridiculous. Of course he had created life; even if that life was created in slavery, it still breathed and bled and died.

But, did it live?

He walked slowly over to his desk, and picked the gem up in his hand, looking down at it. One small stone could control the lives of thousands. But one small stone could also set them free. It could also bring them life.

It could also truly make him a creator of life.

He growled and dropped the medallion onto the table, the heavy gem and its weighted setting landing with a dull thud and a few weak bounces against the wood. Then, he turned to Primordius.

"Primordius!" he barked. Primordius jolted up immediately, quivering, but standing his ground, paying attention to Shi-Ru.

"Did you touch any of these eggs?" he demanded.

Primordius wheeled back in offense. "No! No, no! No eggs! No eggs!"

"Why not?" Shi-Ru questioned.

Primordius looked at Shi-Ru from his one eye, the creature's second eye long since overcome by the strange red growths that had covered most of his face, neck and chest. Primordius regarded Shi-Ru as if Shi-Ru were stupid for asking such a question, before finally blurting, "You said no! No eggs!"

Shi-Ru nodded. "Do you want eggs?"

Primordius was breathing heavily now. He was clearly confused and upset with the questions. "Do you trick?" he asked warily.

"Tell me, Primordius. Tell me the truth."

Primordius flicked his long, serpent tongue in and out of his mouth frantically, unsure of how he should answer.

"Tell me." Shi-Ru warned.

"Y-yes." Primordius said. "Eggs is what us want, yes. Yes." Primordius mumbled slowly, obviously uncomfortable to answer the question.

"I see." Shi-Ru said, walking to the other end of the room, to bend down on his knee and pull at the rusted, stuck latch of a grated metal gate before working it open and slamming the small gateway down, revealing a deep, dark tunnel that lead into the bowels of the mountain.

Standing back up, he turned to Primordius again. "But you do not take them because I tell you not to?"

Primordius simply nodded.

Shi-Ru walked back to his desk. Primordius' eye followed him, and then fell back to the open tunnel, though Primordius dare not try to escape.

"Primordius." Shi-Ru said.

Primordius turned his head back to Shi-Ru.

"You are free. Do as you wish."

Primordius' eye widened in surprise and shock, but the saurok did nothing. Shi-Ru sat, and waited.

Primordius gurgled deep in his bloated neck, his eye racing from the hole, to Shi-Ru to the hole again. "Do you as you wish." Shi-Ru repeated again.

At that, Primordius decided to take his chances and bolted from where he was standing, crossed the room and threw himself through the hole, disappearing into the dark chasms below in seconds, leaving nothing behind him but the fading sounds of clawing and deep, animalistic breaths as the creature worked its way down into the maze of darkness.

Shi-Ru picked up the gem. He had not just given freedom; he had given life.

How much more life would he choose to give?

Shi-Ru twisted and turned the gem in his hands, staring through it, as the smooth cuts of the gem casted warped and distorted versions of the room behind it. His mind, as well, was twisting and turning. The look in Primordius' eye as he had been given his freedom, it was a look Shi-Ru had never seen within the reptile's eyes before.

It was a look of strange hope and release and consideration of what could come next; a path unmarred by the demands of others, fully indescribable by words alone. It was the look of life.

What had he created? Shi-Ru asked himself. Could it truly be life if it did not act for itself, if others decided how expandable it was? The saurok were sent off in droves to fight back mantid or rebelling pandaren or jinyu. They were sent into thick jungles to act as shock troops against the wholly obnoxious and dangerous hozen monkey tribes; who hid in their trees and ambushed approaching invaders.

The saurok were sent in before the mogu, to run into ambushes and traps in place of mogu lives; and the saurok had no choice in the matter. They were replaceable, useless, and only served to die.

And it was all because they were made to be that way, by the mogu. By Lei Shen. By Shi-Ru himself.

Shi-Ru considered his beginnings. He was a humble mogu scholar in a village of fools, serving under a leader that did not respect or realize his use and potential. He had let himself grow not content; but conformed to that life. He accepted his fate as a useless mark upon the history of the mogu.

Until, Lei Shen had come. The Thunder King gave Shi-Ru everything he had wanted from life. He gave him a chance to both advance and apply his knowledge, he had given him an outlet for his creativity and in the time Shi-Ru had spent under the king, his prowess had grown incredibly; far more than he had ever imagined it could have or would have.

Most of all, however, Shi-Ru had finally gotten his chance to not just exist; but to live.

So, then, was he any different from the saurok? Creations of blood and darkness, born into a life that wasn't living, simply a directed path they were forced to take until they were cut down in a battle that they didn't even know why they were fighting in. To be a useless mark on the history of the mogu.

Shi-Ru's teeth were so tight together he tasted blood on the tip of his tongue. Suddenly however, his thoughts were snapped away as the chamber resounded with the rapping of knocks on the metal doors. Shi-Ru slowly set the medallion down and walked over to the door, opening it.

It was a pandaren; one of Lei Shen's personal messengers.

"What is it?" Shi-Ru demanded quickly. It was rare for Lei Shen to send a messenger to him, normally the Thunder King opted to instead come himself, and it was rarer still to have one of the slaves come in place of a mogu; but Shi-Ru did not bother himself with that.

The pandaren spoke, her head to the floor as to not make contact with the mogu as they spoke- one of Lei Shen's demands he decreed over those who were slaves. "The Thunder King has sent me to inform you that he wishes at least four hundred saurok sent to the wall, but to make sure that none of the saurok are engaged in battle."

Shi-Ru's bottom lip sunk slightly. "I understand." He said.

The pandaren nodded to the floor and turned to leave, until Shi-Ru suddenly found himself stopping her.

"Wait!" he demanded. The pandaren sunk into herself at the shout, and turned around, her shoulders and knees shaking from underneath her plain white robe.

"Why did you come to tell me that?" Shi-Ru questioned.

The pandaren's jaw dropped slightly as she kept her head towards the floor. "I… was told to. By the Thunder King."

"Made to do it?" Shi-Ru said.

The pandaren stammered, at a loss for words, before bowing and blurting out, "Yes, I must return to him now! I apologize!"

"Look at me!" Shi-Ru shouted.

The pandaren shot her head up in reflex to the demand, her eyes meeting Shi-Ru's.

They were eyes that looked out of place on the young face of the pandaren. Eyes that looked aged before their time; bright-less, colorless; eyes that had sunken down in defeat, conformed to the life they were forced to take.

Shi-Ru felt his teeth grit again and he turned, waving the pandaren off. "I understand."

The pandaren quickly hurried off, eager to leave the awkward situation. Shi-Ru stepped back into his chamber and approached his desk once again, his eyes glancing quickly back to the still open gate that Primordius flung into in freedom and escape.

What had the eyes of the slave Lei Shen executed looked like as he rebelled? How had it felt to live against his repressors; if even for only the shortest time?

Shi-Ru was back at his desk, and found he had mindlessly taken the medallion back into his hand. Was a truly a creator of life; if that life did not truly live? Could he be among the ranks of those who gave life to all, originally?

Could he truly live, himself, if his legacy was to be a hollow one, no more worthy of record than had he stayed in his old home?

The strange, close-by-far-away sounds of quiet thunder filled the room. Lei Shen was growing impatient with Shi-Ru's delays. Shi-Ru was gripping the medallion in his quivering hand, watching as it shook back and forth in a blur.

Then, he issued the commands.

His mind bent and contorted as the essence of his conscience reached out in hundreds of invisible links, all of them connected to the mind of individual saurok, who were listening intently for their mental demands.

"You are to travel to the wall and assist the builders with whatever they need. While you are there, you are under their command. These are the words of your God."

Shi-Ru then dropped the medallion again. "God"? He was more of simple enforcer than any kind of "God" to the saurok. Gods gave birth to life; kings gave birth to service.

The cackles of growing thunder vanished instantly. The king's will was done.

Shi-Ru sat in the empty room for a while longer, before realizing he had better close that gate he opened.

Five years later

The wall was finished.

There they were, assembled before it, the Thunder King standing at their front. His hands were clasped together behind him as he looked over the wall, which was so tall one could barely see the top of it when standing at its base, and looking either way only revealed wall traveling either way across the land for as far as the eye could see.

The Serpent's Spine.

Shi-Ru and many of Lei Shen's personal guardsmen, vassals, consorts and close guests were there along with a small group of mogu who had lead the project. They had traveled across a large portion of the world to be here, at the ceremony to draw honor to what Lei Shen described as his reign's greatest legacy. Far behind them, but still quite visible due to their incredible size, were two stone mogu, carved into twin mountain peaks. The mogu crossed spears with one another as they stood silent, eternal guardian over the small valley.

Lei Shen was giving a short, blunt speech thanking those involved with the wall's hasty finish, listed among them were the "services" of the saurok, many of which had ended up perishing as they were made to scale the walls to mortar in the massive blocks, many either slipping and falling to their doom or getting crushed when a giant stone came loose of its hold and fell on them.

All because they were forced to do so by the will of the Thunder King and the commands of Shi-Ru.

Lei Shen finished his speech, and a mandatory applause came from the gathered mogu. At that, Lei Shen bowed himself, and stepped down, calling an end to the short ceremony.

Lei Shen then stepped up beside Shi-Ru, who was heading to leave back to his small quarters he was staying in during the course of the ceremonies. "Not staying to feast, Shi-Ru?" Lei Shen goaded.

"No, my king." Shi-Ru admitted. "The trip has really worn me out, I am not used to traveling such long distances."

Lei Shen laughed, until for the first time in Shi-Ru's life, the indomitable king of Thunder was interrupted by a cough. Quickly clearing his throat and bucking his head up as if nothing had happened, Lei Shen slapped Shi-Ru on the back.

"The saurok were invaluable for the quick completion of the wall." Lei Shen praised.

Shi-Ru nodded. "I heard they were able to take care of the more difficult of the tasks in the wall's construction."

Lei Shen gave his own short, single nod. "Yes, they truly are a valuable expenditure. The fruits of easily created existence."

Shi-Ru's jaw sunk at Lei Shen's use of words as Lei Shen clapped his back another time, laughing.

"And it is all thanks to you, Shi-Ru!"

Shi-Ru left quickly after that, walking the short distance to his small but high decorated tent, entered the flap of it, fell down to his cot, and slept.

Shi-Ru was awoken only hours later to the sounds of battle.

Voice shouted and thunder and lightning exploded across the sky. Shi-Ru was woken to the screams of mogu, demanding the soldiers in the small camp to get some other location, Shi-Ru's mind wasn't awake enough to catch exactly where; just that the Thunder King apparently needed help.

Shi-Ru almost tripped out of his camp as soldiers from the camp were running in uninform groups, Qon standing there, drenched in blood, directing them with shouts.

"What is happening?!" Shi-Ru shouted to Qon, the latter of whom stopped and stared stupidly at the former.

"Are you just now awake?" Qon bit back as Shi-Ru approached him. Grunting, Qon turned to direct a few soldiers as they hurried to catch up with those leaving the camp. Distant shouts and reports of battle from the lands outside the camp polluting the air around them with noise.

"A large group of pandaren are rising against the Thunder King! They are fighting now, in the center of the valley!" Qon explained before drawing two swords of his own from the sheathes at his sides and running after the soldiers.

The Thunder King? Under attack? Shi-Ru stood in stupor for a few moments, unsure of what to do. Should he go after, to aid Lei Shen, or stay here? He had no combat experience or prowess, and so, after moments of standing alone, decided he best just simply go back to his tent.

He considered it made sense the pandaren would rise up now, since the Thunder King brought very little guards with him and was vulnerable. Shi-Ru was certain Lei Shen would return soon after defeating the pandaren, but couldn't help pondering in the back of his head if Lei Shen may not return.

How many pandaren were revolting? Shi-Ru thought. How much longer would the fighting go on?

Suddenly, his thoughts were broken as the flap to his tent flew open. Sitting up, he, at first, thought it could be victorious pandaren; on their way to execute him for his connection with Thunder King, but was relieved to see it was only several saurok.

"What is it?" Shi-Ru demanded.

"We were commanded to come and protect you." One of them spoke, hissing his tongue out.

"I see." Shi-Ru said.

There was that word again. "Commanded". Shi-Ru wondered if the saurok would have bothered to come protect him if they had any choice in the matter.

Suddenly, one of the saurok emitted a sharp screech that was cut-off quickly, as a pandaren sent the broken body sailing into the tent. The other two saurok spun around, hissing and biting as they engaged the pandaren.

Shi-Ru simply sat there on his cot, watching the three battle. The pandaren, his eyes tight and fully of fury and excitement fought desperately and passionately.

But the saurok, their eyes, even in the combat, were steady and calculated, lacking the depth of the pandaren's. They were locked in lethal combat, and yet, the saurok seemed to only be invested in it as a forced formality.

A splash of red stained the dirt of the ground and walls of Shi-Ru's tent as one of the saurok's necks were torn open by the pandaren and his strange, unfamiliar fighting style. Armed with only his fists, the pandaren was leaping and spinning and fighting against the multiple enemies who were armed with daggers.

The remaining saurok could have fled, but fought on, unable to do anything other than demanded of him. Scowling and open-tooth scowl, Shi-Ru finally thrust his hand out at the pandaren and caught him in a stream of electricity.

The pandaren shouted and fell to a knee, stunned. The saurok stabbed his dagger deep into the back of the pandaren's neck and twisted it, before letting the limp body fall to the ground.

"Thank you for protecting me." Shi-Ru said. The saurok did not respond.

It was not long after that that the distant sounds of battle drew to silence. Shi-Ru and the saurok simply waited there. Shi-Ru was tense and nervous, unsure of what to expect. The saurok simply stood, uninterested in everything around him.

Finally, mogu voices shouting accolades of victory came from the center of the valley. Shi-Ru grumbled before deciding he should go and investigate what was going on now. Rising, he turned to the saurok.

"Er, stay here." He commanded. The saurok nodded.

It was a few minutes' walk across the short, rolling hills and loose trees of the valley until Shi-Ru caught sight of the battle ground. Hundreds of pandaren and mogu corpses littered the center of the valley, with a few jinyu and saurok here and there. How had the pandaren amassed so many rebels and trained them to fight? Shi-Ru recalled the way the pandaren from before had fought against the armed saurok and how the pandaren, those years ago from the palace, had seemingly beaten the guards to death with only his hands.

Shi-Ru then caught Lei Shen, laid out on the ground, surrounded by mogu.

Shi-Ru rushed down the hill to his king, who he thought was dead, but as he butted and shoved his way past the mogu, he realized that Lei Shen still lived, though he was more worn looking than ever.

"Shi-Ru." Lei Shen spoke in a voice that was still strong. "Glad to see you survived."

Shi-Ru thought he should say something, but decided against it. Lei Shen was quick to speak again.

"I want you to make this known; the pandaren and other races grow tired of their service to the mogu. My time is at its end, but those who rule after me must know to keep the lesser races, the pandaren in specific, in check. Do not dirty the image of the mogu by folding into the lesser peoples of the world."

At his admittance of his life's end, the crowd shared collective gasps of disbelief, but stayed silent. Then, with great effort, Lei Shen rose, his power drained from him, he looked worse than ever.

His skin was now a dull color, his face and body withered and sagging, his knees quaking. This seemed to be Lei Shen's condition after a life of unimaginable power. Lei Shen raised his arms to the sky, the heavens rumbling in acknowledgement.

"I am Lei Shen, the Thunder King." Lei Shen spoke. "My legacy is now your legacy." He said this to no one in particular as he continued his speech. "I leave this world to those who will rise to be worthy enough to lead it. Continue the strength and the line of the mogu, and know that, so long as thunder shakes the world and lightning strikes out to the ground, I will always rule from a throne of Thunder."

As he said this, rain fell from the sky. Only lightly at first, hardly noticeable, but with each passing second the rainfall grew heavier and heavier, until Lei Shen's final words could barely be heard from behind the blanket of rain. Thunder drowned out all other noise and lightening lit up the valley, as Lei Shen, the Thunder King, lowered his arms and fell to the ground.

It rained for days. Thick, sleek rain that seemed to wash the corpses dry and cleanse the valley of the battle; the dying throes of the Thunder King. Shi-Ru and the other mogu had taken up refuge in the wall, their small camp of tents and banners long since soaked away in the storm.

Shi-Ru sat, in his own little room. A single candle illuminating the cramped brick space, the feeble light doing little to beat back the deep shadows that stuck to the dank room's corners.

From a plain wooden chair, Shi-Ru toyed with the medallion once again. Having, of course, brought it with him. The saurok from before as well as a few others stood with him in the room, the lizard-men standing in silent vigil, waiting for nothing but more orders.

Lei Shen was dead, and in his dying wake, left them a horrible storm as a last signature to his thundering rule. Shi-Ru had spoken to no one in the days since it had begun raining, simply sitting alone with himself and his thoughts.

Lei Shen was gone, and now, he could be free to fulfill his own legacy. The legacy of creating life.

Shi-Ru stared deep into the medallion. What would be the effects of freeing the saurok? What would be the effects of completing his legacy?

Suddenly, the constant, droning taps of rain fall on the top of the wall stopped. Shi-Ru and even the saurok looked to the ceiling. Was the storm over?

A voice called out from somewhere else within the wall. "The storm has stopped!"

Standing up and feeling his spine pop and crack, Shi-Ru slowly shuffled out of the room on a whim. The saurok stayed behind.

Shi-Ru made his way out into the world, which seemed now to be incredibly bright and yet at the same time, soft and mellow. The horizon was foggy and blurred and the air smelled new and clean.

Shi-Ru followed many of the other mogu as they made their way down to the spot of Lei Shen's death in a group, eager to reach their fallen king.

There, they found him. Laying there in the same place he had died, unmoved by the rain unlike many of the corpses, which had been tossed and turned here and there.

Qon stepped up to it, first, placing his hand over Lei Shen's chest as if it his death still needed to be confirmed. Standing back up, he announced the obvious.

"The king is dead!"

No one said anything.

"We must go back to the palace! A new king must be chosen!"

Murmurs poked out from the crowd. No one had even considered the fact Lei Shen had chosen no successor, nor had any children of his own. What would become of the throne, now? What did the future of the mogu hold?

Qon and another mogu lifted Lei Shen and drug him off, back to the wall to prepare his body for transport and burial. Many of the mogu followed them back, but a few including Lei Shen stayed, simply observing the scene.

Shi-Ru approached a small lake that was in the very center of the valley, and noticed something strange swirling in the middle of it. It was a dark, eerie substance. At first, Shi-Ru had no idea what it was, but it didn't take long for the answer to suddenly dawn on him.

It was animus. But how was it here? Why in the lake? Shi-Ru guessed that the rain fall must have washed some of the animus away from one or more of the saurok hatching areas that were in the valley. Washed it down into the lake, where it was now.

Shi-Ru felt something skitter across his feet.

Surprised, Shi-Ru kicked his foot, sending a small, skinny red lizard flying into the pond, landing right in the animus with a quiet splash. The pond then began to bubble and shake as if it were suddenly boiling. Shi-Ru stepped back from the volatile water as one of the other mogu approached him, standing at the muddy shore.

"What's going on here?" the mogu questioned. Shi-Ru stepped further back.

Suddenly, a giant, crimson flame exploded from the lake, incinerating the mogu at the lakeside. Though it was clearly hot enough to burn the mogu to ash, the strange flame seemed to give off no heat. Shi-Ru simply walked away, deciding it was best to go back to the wall.

With only a handful of mogu left after the pandaren attack, the small group elected to teleport themselves directly back to the palace, which Shi-Ru found no more pleasant than the first time, those many years ago.

From the palace, word was sent out across the world that Lei Shen had died, and a new mogu king would need to take his place quickly before Lei Shen's empire collapsed in on itself.

Shi-Ru pondered to himself, as he made his way back to his familiar chamber, if Lei Shen had purposely intended political unrest like this to follow his death; to force the mogu to act as one quickly enough to preserve their new united kingdom as a sort of 'test'.

Shi-Ru stepped into his chamber, the saurok from before with him again now. He stood, then. Silent with the saurok.

"Why do you serve?" he finally asked, his back turned the saurok.

"Because you command." The saurok that had fought with him in the tent answered.

Shi-Ru nodded and turned. "Do you value your lives?" Shi-Ru then asked.

The saurok exchanged uneasy, confused looks. None of them answered.

Shi-Ru smiled. "Of course not. For what is there to value, when you are slaves? How can one create life if that life cannot live? If that live does not even understand it can live?" Shi-Ru ranted and went on monologue to himself before the confused saurok.

Shi-Ru then brandished the medallion again. "I am a creator bound to service no longer; just as you are life bound to service no longer." Shi-Ru grinned madly as he pulsed lightning into the gem, causing it to spark and shatter into pieces, the sharp, jagged bits of gem and metal falling through his fingers like sand.

The saurok's eyes seemed to change for a moment, and they all cocked their heads, as if they were seeing the world for the first time. They lashed their tongues out, smelling the air, investigating.

Shi-Ru stood, his arms outstretched. "I give you, life."

The lead saurok approached Shi-Ru slowly, his eyes fixed on him. Shi-Ru stood, observing the saurok's actions now that they were free of command. The saurok walked all the way up to him, their faces meeting. For moments, neither did nor said anything. They just simply stood.

Then, the saurok bit Shi-Ru in the neck, and tore his teeth across Shi-Ru's throat.

Shi-Ru fell back, blood gushing from his neck, hitting the hard metal floor. The saurok ran off through the door, wild and free. In his ears, he heard the sounds of guardsmen and others shouting and screaming, mingled in with the hisses and shrieks of saurok as saurok throughout the palace rebelled in open freedom.

Shi-Ru's mind began to darken, but through the blood, he smiled. He had finally created legacy; finally cemented himself in the history of not just the mogu, but the world. He was as the creators were, given rise to creatures of independence and freedom, chained down to no master or reason.

He, Shi-Ru, had created life.

Present Day

Toi and Xian were nearly home when they were stopped by a shout behind them.

"Xian!"

They turned, and Ai-Ying was there, with several other monks.

"What is it?" Xian said, his brows furrowed.

"Brewmaster Choy's shipment of kegs fell into the river and they're drifting down stream, we need to retrieve them!"

With a gasp of shock and speed Toi had not seen his father display even during the saurok attack, Xian leaped to join the monks.

"Toi! I'll be back soon, you can get yourself home, eh?" Xian said, as he and the others set off.

"Well, it is an emergency situation." Toi said sarcastically.

Xian smiled and winked. "That's my boy."

His father and the other monks rushed off to their mission, and Toi stood alone on the road, looking down into the deep jungle before him, going over everything he had talked about that day.

He found himself, all things considered, unable to hate the saurok. Maybe even a little hopeful that one day, there might be peace between their people.

Suddenly, from out within the jungle, a lanky, hunched-over body jolted from its hiding spot, running deeper into the jungle, its reptilian body being absorbed into the leaves and vines and darkness.

Toi smiled and clenched his small fists. And until that day that peace might be found, he'd protect his village and his people from saurok or mantid or mogu. He continued on back home, it was only another year before he could finally start training with his father and learn the ways of the monk, so he could protect all who needed it; be them pandaren, saurok, mantid or mogu.

But most of all, Toi thought, he'd do the best he could.