Brothers
Book Twenty One
"Urrk?..Kaw-reeek?"
"Kaw-kaaak. Klak klak... errrk?"
"...Terokk?...Maaak rok Teeh-rokk?"
"Neeh, Terokk Mak-to."
"Ehh naah tek, rurrrk?"
"Errhh.. draw it out, unveil this creature who lives in Aznu's world."
"Ehhhs it another orc? Ahhh am so tired of finding orcs here."
"Nhhho.. not an orc, ehht is too strong to be one of those pitiful Shadowmoons.. but ehhht is not Terokk...draw ehhht out.."
The gathering of arakkoa stood back, each of them tilting their birdy heads in turn at what had just been pulled from the darkness. The Outcasts of Arak were well known for their comfort in the shadows, they had taken great strides since the fallen King Terokk had been first betrayed. Those who sought to walk his path, and to learn his teachings, were quickly dealt with, and cast out, cast down, like the great king had been unknown years ago. Since then, the Talonpriesthood had risen among the fallen. They would seek to be the leaders and defenders of their outcast comrades, one of the heads of their order, Shadow Sage Iskar, stepped forward, and crouched over the prone figure that lay before them.
"Urrrk?... are we sure ehhht's not an orc? Ehhht's got tusks like a filthy orc" he said, his slender, talon-like hands gripping at a mammoth-like tusk, hauling the whole head up as he lifted, gave it a shake, and let it drop.
"Ehhht's blue. Orcs aren't blue." chimed in another, a small bird perched on his shoulder.
"Whaaat do you know of it Reshad?" snapped another, stepping closer to Iskar, then glancing down to the prone figure once again.
"Whhy is it naked?" he then asked. The one called Reshad stepped forward, the small bird on his shoulder lifting off and fluttering near by, watching his master.
"Ehhht's not a Shadowmoon orc... and ehhht's obviously not Terokk.. but the strength in him, the power ehhht wields over the darkness...he's certainly a Terokk-Makto..." said Reshad, crouching closer, his beady little eyes looking over the thick red dreadlocks, all the odd objects and trinkets weaved into him. Other then that, the body was completely naked, and heavily tattooed.
"Feeeh.. Terokk-Makto.." snorted another, folding his arms, his feathers bristling "You mean a false Terokk."
"Nhhho.. no not at all Zellek.. There is no reason why others could not have been favored by Aznu." Reshad suggested.
"Blaaasphemy! Saaaacrilege" shouted another, Iskar's head whipped around to glare at the speaker.
"Yooou'll be wise to hold your tounge Ishaal. Forsakening Rukhmar was blasphemy... following Terokk's path was blasphemy..." Iskar glanced back to the figure "Whhe have room for Terokk-Maktos if they do exist." The arakkoa knelt in silence for a moment, all eyes darting from one another, to the prone figure.
The one called Zellak stepped forward, his little talon hands picking through the thick red dreadlocks. Everything he found was tied in. Bones, teeth, he held up a small pink gem, and eyed it cautiously.
"Draeeenei crystal... odd..." he tucked it back in as he rummaged through the hair. Finally, he gave a triumphant squawk and pulled out a flat silver disc, with the Frostwolf emblem carved into it.
"Seeee! See! Ehhht is an orc! One of those Frostwolfs!" cawed Zellak, a few of the others joined in his joyous triumph. Reshad snorted, stepping forward and wrenching the disc from his talon, to tuck it back into the hair.
"Ehhht is not an orc, and eeven if he was, the Frostwolves have forsaken the Iron Horde, they want no part of it, have the ravens told you nothing? Or do you just not listen?!" he hissed. Zellak look afronted, but the scribe's words had a certain logic.
"Ahh trick then!" squawked Ishaal
"Ehht's the orcs alright, they've planted him in the shadows for us to find, to smash the last of us. This is Kaaargath's doing!" he huffed, flapping his crumbled wing arms irritably. Reshad sighed
"Triiiicks? The orcs? Hardly. Orcs work though strength and power of the body, not the mind, no tricks, they're not smart enough." he said shaking his head
"So... what is it then?" asked Iskar, slowly shifting from foot to foot, as a cautions heron might
"Wheell, lets wake him up, and find out. Maaaybe he can tell is what he is." Reshad suggested as he began to rummage in his bag.
"Aaaand what if he is another beast of the Iron Horde?" snorted Ishaal "He'll get up and kill us all.. they've been pushing harder as of late." The other arakkoa nodded, glancing to Reshad, who shook his head again.
"ehhhf he is, which I highly doubt, he is one, and we are many... even if ehhht is quite a large one." Reshad said pulling some smelling salts from his bag with a flourish. "If he is of the Iron Horde, they would have come leaps and bounds into their exploration of the shadows. To gain this control and power... the Shadowmoon still struggle with the void beasts.. not to mention.. have you ever seen one of.. whatever he is?" Reshad finished, now waving the small vial beneath the hooked nose of the prone figure.
Red's eyes fluttered open, and he was met with a blurry darkness. He laid there for a moment, he was unsure what had just happened, or even where he was now. It was day the last he remembered, and now it seemed to be nighttime. He could hear squaking, and clattering just outside his field of vision, which was now coming into focus more quickly. He could see it was not night time, that he knew of anyways, but the darkness was due to an incredibly thick canopy of leaves above him. He blinked. This was not Azeroth. Slowly, he pushed himself up on his elbows. He could see now that there was a thick smokey mist in the air, that hung around him, and below him was a magic circle, one of completely foreign design. The squawking seemed to stop as he sat up, and soon realized he was nude.
"Hullo?... where am ah?...wut's happened?.. where are meh clothes?" the beads and trinkets clattered in his hair as he sat up, taking a little effort to hide his indecency.
A small bird fluttered around him, just out of his reach, various papers and scrolled bound to his back, standing some distance away from him, was another, larger bird. Red had only heard about outland, he had been in Kezan studying while the Burning Crusade raged on, he had heard the war stories and tales of the broken land. Memories came rushing back now, knowledge of a land he had never been to.
"Chu must beh deh Arakkoa...?" he said with a question in his tone. It was his understanding that the Arakkoa were a ruthless, cult-like group, following the Talon King Ikiss. Reshad gave him what could only be described as a smile, but it was difficult to tell with the beak.
"Whhhe are the Arakkoa, the Outcasts." Reshad said, the small bird now perching on his shoulder.
"You may call me Reshad.. this, is Percy" he gave a gesture to the bird, before returning his focus to Red. "And just what might you be?" he asked
"Ahwwwre you from the Iron Horde?!" shouted a voice from the shadows. Red glanced out, beyond Reshad, looking for the owner of that voice. It was then he noticed two things. One, he was no longer wearing his goggles, and was thankful it was dark, and two, these Arakkoa did have some power over the shadows, because they were hiding in it, and beyond his sight.
"Ah, no... ah not beh with deh Iron Horde..." Red said, shifting and turning a bit, still surrounded by the smoke and magic, feeling a bit like he'd just been summoned.
"Deh Iron Horde came to my land, dey attacked mah people, mah friends...an we fought dem.." he looked around again, blinking slowly in the mist
"An now ah am here... Cha kin call meh Red..." he said, as he shrugged, now pushing himself slowly up into a crouch, then erecting himself to stand, towering above the much shorter arakkoa.
"Ah beh Zul'Re'zo, Red Priest of Hir'eek, Shadow-walker of Warchief Vol'jin of deh true Horde." he said as proudly as a man could say while naked. Reshad looked up at him, then glancing back behind him, to where Red assumed his companions remained hidden, before looking back to him.
"Aaaand.. just what are you?... you are no orc.. or gronn..." Reshad glanced to Red's feet, counting the toes a few times then looked back up to him "Or Ogron, you have too many eyes.. or Draenei...you don't have enough hooves.. or tendrils.."
"ah beh ah Troll, one of many races from mah lands...and.. still very naked...do you, have something I could wear?" Red finally asked, almost apologetically. He was proud to stand and proclaim who he was, but now that the risk of death seemed less immediate, he'd like to not have to deal with the draft.
"Urrk? Yes of course... come with me.." Reshad said, turning and walking from the magic circle, and vanishing into the world beyond. Red followed him, and once he passed the rim of the circle, the rest of the world came into view. The dense forests of Arak spread out before him, spires of rock shot up from the land and towered above the treeline.
"Whhhelcome to Veil Terokk, Red Troll" Reshad said, as three other arakkoa followed behind them, watching him closely, but remaining outside when Reshad led him to a small tent, and waited for the enormous troll follow him inside. Red lifted the tent flap and ducked inside, letting it close behind him. Immediately he could hear the three behind him squawking in an angry excitement, they had gone back to their own native tongue it seemed.
"Veil Terokk...?" Red asked, watching Reshad's back as he rifled though a few drawers in a small chest.
"Yes, it is the capital city of the Outcasts of Arak." Reshad assured him
"Ah, an where is Arak?" Red questioned again. Reshad looked over his shoulder at him, his eyes narrowed a bit.
"You really are not from around here... Arak is the southern most point of the Draenor landmass, certainly you know where Draeneor is." he said turning around holding out what was once a blood red robe, but what Reshad had tailored down to be more of a kilt.
"I do not have anything that would fit you, this will have to do." he said, offering Red the garment. Red nodded and stepped into it, then accepted a belt the arakkoa handed up to him, with a raven skull casted belt buckle. With the snap of the belt, Red felt a bit more at ease, Reshad was already pushing past him to open the tent flap up again.
"So tell me Red Troll, what is it you are doing here?" he asked, now that his companions were in view and ear shot again. Reshad glanced back to Red, then to the group of Talonpriests, then back to Red. He considered his own question for a moment, then spoke again.
"As I have said, I am Reshad, this is Iskar, the head of our order. Zellak and Ishaal are his compatriots, they do his bidding and serve as his eyes and ears. I am the scribe, I document our history and our culture. You, are a Terokk-Makto. Terokk was our leader, the greatest king of Arak.. but he was betrayed, cast out, thrown into cursed darkness. Terokk was saved, and learned to harness the darkness, Lord Anzu showed him, helped him, and he in turn saved those who followed him, those who were cast out for believing that his path was the right one. Us." he said humbly, then continued
"A Terokk-Makto, is what we might call, someone who has the same power over shadows, the same control of darkness, that Terokk had, that he wielded to save our people from Sethe void. Terokk-Makto, is he who has the power of Terokk... we have never felt another strength like his.. you are..unheard of, but not unexpected. We had always hoped.." Reshad was cut off by Ishaal's squawking, but with a glare from Iskar, he soon silenced.
"We had always thought, others, may have also been saved by Anzu, to be given the power to guide and teach others in the darkness. How came you by your power?" Reshad asked, then shuffled back to sit, the other three Talonpriests also sat, waiting to hear the off-worlder's explanation. Red licked at his thin lips for a moment, looking over his small audience.
"It really ain't ah short story.." he began, Zellak interrupted him.
"Urrou're going to tell us, yes, and if we're not convinced, we'll kill you." the arakkoa huffed, Ishaal nodded with him, despite Iskar's disapproving glances, but he soon nodded.
"Eehhyes, eehf we're not convinced by your explanation, we'll h ave to assume you're with the Iron Horde, and we will kill you. Reshad's eyes widened a little bit in shock, but they had been patient with him, when he defended this troll creature. It was only fair that they make their own terms, all in all, this seemed fair to him, he looked back to Red.
"Awwas much as I might regret it, these are fair terms." Reshad nodded, as Percy settled down on his shoulder. Red swallowed hard as he tilted his head down to look at the small gathering of Talonpriests. Where to start.
"Ah beh blind" he began, the arakkoa sat impassively
"Ah was born blind, an mah kind cast meh out. I was adopted by ah new tribe an was brought up in deh light. Dey used dere magics and powahs tah try an give meh vision. Dey failed. Aftah some consideration, dey agreed ah should go to zeh island nation of Kezan, to learn from deh Goblins, ah'nother race on my world, how to build mehself new eyes. I had a pair of goggles. "he made a hand gesture as if looking through binoculars.
"Dey helped meh see, an with meh new sight, mah adopted tribe, deh Zandalari, sent meh to Orgrimmar, the capital city of deh Horde." This was responded with a series of caws and squawks.
"As ah said, dis ain't deh Iron Horde, dis beh ah'nother Horde, one ah trust an companionship an brotherhood. One of many peoples, who bound together fer deh grater good. Deh greater good now was beat'n back deh scourge." The arakkoa tilted their heads in unison, Red stopped to think.
"Undead? Dey were bones and bodies, skeletons an fleshbeasts, rot'n and hungry...dey had been sent down from deh north, tah lay waste to deh living. Since ah was attuned to deh light, mah skills were needed, an dey sent me north." Red stopped here, trying to figure out how he'd convey the next part.
"While we were dere, ah temple was found, ah massive building, as big as..." he wracked his brain, trying to remember a land mass they might be familiar with "Nagrand?" he asked tentatively.
"Ehhimpossible.." Zellak said
"Nnnahhgrand is miles and miles long..." began Reshad "Who built it?"
Red smiled, and nodded, glad to have someone on his side again.
"Titans, ah race of god-like people from deh twisting nether, dey built it to imprison an old god, it needed tah beh huge tah hold all deh defenses and guards that kept it contained. When it was discovered, ah was sent. Mah skills of deh light sent me north, my skills with engineering, sent me in to deh temple." Red could see a bit of confusion.
"Meh goggles? Deh art of making dem, is Engineering. Ah scribe!" he said, pointing to Reshad "Makes writings, an Engineer makes machines." this seemed to placate them, they understood.
"Dere were many machines in deh Temple, our machines. Dey were brought in so we could get past the defenses.. we dinna know dere was an old god in dere, we were jus exploring.. while ah was inside ah large machine, dere was ah breech, deh old god was able to reach out. Many were evacuated, but I was not so lucky." he said with a sigh. The Talonpriests looked at one another.
"Whhhat is an.. "Old God'?" Iskar asked, a flash of recollection flashing over his birdy face. Red was afraid of this question, but what some what prepared.
"Dey beh ah ageless, timeless entity, who lives in darkness and chaos, who have been since before any'ting. Dey cause pain an torment, an beh fueled by hate, and devour deh minds of deh living." he said, the Talonpriests looked to one another, and spoke in their own squawky language for a short moment. Red thought he heard 'Veil Anzu' but soon, all eyes were on him again.
"Whhhe understand, continue." Iskar said, folding his fingers into one another. Red cleared his throat.
"Ah was left inside during deh breech, an ah was attacked. Mah mind was pulled an twisted an warped, ah was forced in'tah insanity.. ah came out of dat Temple bathed in shadow, with no sense of who ah was, but I could see. With mah restored vision, came mah first taste of deh darkness. Ah could feel it in mah body, ah dinnah know if dis was a gift or a curse, but ah was alive, an ah could see... it some time tah regain mah sanity, but ah never could regain deh light." Red said with a sigh, the Talonpriests exchanged glances again.
"Bhhuut, you are blind again? You still wield the shadows." Zellak asked, Red nodded.
"In ah time of need, deh old god came tah meh, told me tah give in tah him, to let him control mah body, sacrifice mah self tah survive dis time of need. Ah declined, an he took my vision an he left mah mind. But between his initial attack an his offer, it had been many years, an ah learned tah control deh shadows he cursed meh with. Aftah dat, ah sought out mah people's shadow god, to speak to her, and to tell her what I had done. In my world, she is Hir'eek, the bat, and ah told her dat ah would serve her, as her high priest, an she gave meh her blessing. Troll gods beh called 'Loa', an dere many of dem.. Hir'eek had been long since forgotten, and she was thankful dat ah chose to seek her out, to use my new talents in her name. Deh shadows I use are hers, an not deh old gods, my eyes beh of deh bat, an ah cannot see in deh day." he said, Reshad blinked, and nudged Iskar
"Terokk-Makto ..ah told chu, he even has deh Eyes of Anzu" Reshad said with a grin. Iskar scratched at his chin, if it could be called that. Where most might say that the underside of the beak would be the chin, it's actually back where the beak meets the head. The Talonpriest tilted his head to Zellak, seeing his doubts slowly fading, then he looked to Ishaal, who had been the more vocal of them all, against the off-worlder.
"Uurrrk. You're thoughts Ishaal?" he inquired, ignoring Red for now.
"Errh... I do not think we should kill him. Even if his story is false, it was a good story." Ishaal huffed, as he stood up. Iskar glanced back to Red.
"Reewe are in agreement then, we will not kill you-" started Iskar, but Ishaal interrupted
"Nnno, but I will have you prove yourself to me." said the Talonpriest, rolling his shoulders and pulling out his thin dagger.
"Eehhf you are of the shadows, and truly are a Terokk-Makto, I expect you can best me in combat." he said, fading into the shadows before Red's eyes, becoming a dark purple shape against the night. Red could just make him out strafing around the others at a much faster speed then he's seen any of the arakkoa move. Iskar rumbled in his throat and nodded.
"Yes. I will allow this. Prove yourself Terokk-Makto. Best Ishaal, show us your prowess." Iskar said encouragingly. Reshad and Zellak silenced their conversation to turn to the troll, as he spoke.
"Uh, ah gonnah need ah weapon.. " he said, eyes darting this way and that. Trying to anticipate where Ishaal might strike from. Iskar nodded, and gave a brief squawk to Zellak, who dipped into the folds of his robes and produced a small wand, with a fox skull at it's focal point. He handed it to Reshad, who took it to deliver to the troll.
"Ehh have faith in you, eef your stories are true, and the power we felt was yours to command, it should not be so difficult." Reshad said handing him the small wand. Red took the tool, and immediately collapsed into his own shadows, his vision clarifying in the darkness. Now he could easily see where Ishaal had been waiting for him, knife drawn.
The arakkoa wasted no time, using his knife like a wand, he conjured the darkness around him into glowing orbs of black light, and began to hurl them at the troll. He cawed out a laugh, as all Red could do was produce a barrier around himself, to deflect the attacks. Red could hear the air crystallizing around him. It sounded like water freezing, but the temperature had not changed. What hit him next was something new, something he had never before worked with in his time manipulating the darkness, Crystallized Shadow. He felt it crash down against his head, and vanish as if it had never been there, but the vision it produced, the reminder of what had only felt like a few hours ago, rushed into his head. The orc who sent him here, caught him and contained him in a crystal. This world, their shadow world worked differently then he was used to, just how he had to adapt to the Sha-dow world of Pandaria, he'd have to adapt to the crystalline world of Draenor. Until then, he'd have to work with what he knew.
Ishaal cawed another laugh at him, Red could hear that crystallizing sound again, and just before it had finished forming, he lashed out a hand, to catch the ebony gem before it could impact against him. Red whipped his head around, glaring at the Talonpriest who's laugh had been quickly silenced, and who's brow had furrowed into anger. Before Ishaal could resume his attack, Red took the wand and smashed it into the crystal, shattering it and send out an impact crater of darkness around him. Ishaal was thrown back, and the other two Talonpriests were knocked over, and began to protest as the struggled to get up off their backs. Ishaal was already charging at him, the black light now focused on the tip of his knife. Without even thinking, Red began to conjure, and Ishaal was stopped in his tracks, the long purple tendrils emerging from the darkness and entwining themselves around his feet and ankles. It startled him to say the least, and he dropped his knife.
"W-what?! What is this?!" he cried out, Red continued, and from the darkness, a thin, clawed hand emerged, it was covered in a slowly swirling black and white skin. The small Sha soon hauled it self from the darkness and peered around with it's eyeless face, its jaws snapping and rehinging itself. It set it's sights on the Talonpriest, and began to haul it's body over, arm over arm, dragging it's mess of tentacles behind it. Ishaal went silent, his eyes growing wider as the beast approached him.
"Rhhhthat is enough!" Iskar said in a loud, firm voice. Both Red and the Sha looked to him, before the Sha sank back into the darkness from where it had come. Ishaal was panting as the tendrils released him, letting him stand on his own two feet again.
"...what was that?.." he asked in a quiet voice, Red shrugged, a little uncomfortable that the fiend he created all those years ago was still warped by his time in Pandaria.
"Et started out as wut ah call ah Shadow Fiend... a beast of deh void.. ah kin summon dem now and again, and ah beh able to control dem till dey lose dere shape... but ah spent some time in Pandaria.. a lost continent on our world, and there shadows were twisted and warped.. almost physical.. dey were influenced by ah'nother old god, in ah different way... dat little bit, has bonded to meh..." he blushed a little, swinging his foot to kick a rock.
"Ah named him Ego." he confessed, as if it was a pet. The arakkoa just looked at him, then in turn, they all looked to Reshad, who stepped forward, looking up to the troll.
"Urrk you are indeed the first Terokk-Makto we have ever seen. You do indeed hold power over the shadows that the Talon King once did." he said, a hint of awe on the edge of his voice.
"Dis crystal shadow... kin chu show meh how to do dat?..." Red asked Ishaal, and offering the wand back to Zellak as the four of them came closer to him. Ishaal swallowed, regaining his composure, and Red could see he was dealing with a lot of thoughts right now. It's not that he was humiliated, the brief battle did not prove one was better then the other, just that their skills were different, and Red had a few more tricks up his sleeve then the order of Talonpriests did.
"Yes." he said firmly, nodding and giving him a small grin.
"I will show you, and teach you, in turn, I expect you to do the same." Ishaal said, then Red glanced down to the wand he was still holding out for Zellak, who shook his head.
"Urryou keep it, Terokk-Makto, keep it until you find your own." Zellak said respectfully. All eyes fell onto Iskar now, Reshad left Red's side and approached the sage.
"Sshadowsage, this creature, Red, has proven my theories, he is a Terokk-Makto, he is no orc or arakkoa, he is new here and seeks peace with us. His control of shadows rivals one of your best priests, I suggest an alliance, and to speak with him as equals. He may be able to help us as much as we can help him. The Bladefist, the Rukhmar Adherents, even the Sethekk have been more aggressive these past weeks." Reshad said, pulling out a few of his scrolls as he spoke, reading as he went, to make sure he communicated everything he had documented.
"Yes, yes" Iskar nodded, then looked to Red.
"But why is he here?" the sage asked, looking up at the troll now. Soon the other Talonpriests also looked up at him expectantly.
"Ah came tah fight deh Iron Horde. Dey threat'n my world, jus as dey do yours. More ah my kind, an others.. more off-worlders gonnah beh come'n through deh Dark Portal." he said, nodding. Iskar was a wise leader to be sure, but his priorities seemed odd to Red. The Talonpriests were more concerned with his powers then where he had come from, or why he was here. Iskar nodded, then stopped mid head shake
"Daaark Portal?" he asked, his brow raised, then turned to Reshad.
"Sssend Percy to the Ravenspeakers, tell them to widen their gaze. We need to find this off-worlder's companions, and we need see what the rest of the Iron Horde is up to.. " he glanced back to Red
"Eeh want to know what this Dark Portal is." he said flatly, gathering his things.
"Weeh need to see more, our eyes are not open enough. There is more here we need to know." Iskar said, the facts of Red's information now sinking deeper into his mind. He began to walk away, Zellak and Ishaal following closely behind him, leaving Reshad to send out Percy, and Red standing there alone, and confused. Iskar stopped, and turned to look up at the troll.
"Shadow-Walker Zul'Rezo. Terokk-Makto." Iskar said, beckoning Red to him, as he walked back towards him, his hand outstretched. Red reached out and down, taking the hand talon in his large palm. The sage gripped his hand firmly, his talons nearly piercing his skin.
"Eehou are far from home, your Loa is unable to hear your prayer and thoughts. Here, you are one of us. Here you may speak to Anzu. Here, we are brothers." Iskar said, giving his hand a firm shake.
"Come with us, we head east, we need to seek the council of the Ravenspeakers." he said with a small smile.
"It is time we know more of where this world is headed, and what our part will be."