"Legionnaire, the distance from the lake is not too far, and the forest to the southwest is about 400 paces away. This will make a good encampment site" Choruk noted.

"Southwest you say?" Akamosh observed the sun's position relative to when they arrived, clearly indicated that the sun would set in that direction.

"Our men are still to the south around 800 paces away. If they are to reach here before dusk they would have to cut through the savanna before the lake." Choruk added. His resourcefulness would be a huge loss to our survival had he died to that mud. "We should go back and report to them as soon as we can."

"Not so fast" Akamosh observed the lone tree on the grassless hill. "There could be some dangers lurking here, we best thoroughly investigate the hill."

"Our wolves haven't detected any hostility, legionnaire..." he paused himself. "But they didn't warn us about the quick mud earlier, too."

"Exactly, that's why we should be cautious, Choruk. We barely know anything about this land and all our logics on Draenor may not work here." He circled around the tree with his battle staff readied. "There isn't a single creature around the tree, but there is something bothering me about it."

"You mean, like this tree could have eaten all the creatures?" Gorona started to join the conversation, but her untimely joke was frown upon.

"Not exactly that, but on Draenor, trees grow with sufficient soil and water. This tree grow on the hill about the same height as its own, without any water source around beside the lake. How did it make through the early years..." he pondered upon his own words. The same height. He started digging the ground with his staff's end.

"Just as I thought. This whole hill IS the tree itself." Akamosh pointed at the root of the tree two paces below the surface at some distance away. "Its root raised the ground around its trunk into this hill, and still feast on the lake's water."

"That's madness!" Gorona refused to believe, but as she dug the soil in other area further away, the roots were there exactly two paces below.

"We might have to be careful with building structures on this hill, but at least, this flat area won't have any mudslide." He realized something in his own words again. Mud? Not exactly, but these soils are damp even without any grasses. He looked around, looked under some rocks and finally at the tree's trunk. The trunk was dripping something out of its scars. Water, pure and fresh too.

"We might be fortunate to have this site, Choruk, Gorona. It will be a great boon for us later on. For now, let's head back to the Warlord-" he stopped as his eyes met something strange.

"Is there another thing bothering you, legionnaire?"

"No, I just think too much, perhaps." Akamosh replied, yet his eyes were still at the round boulder on the ground. It looks exactly like the one that flew to us earlier, that line of six crystals on it...

There was no other big stone on the hill, and clearly no other stone with crystals on it. This place should be safe from rock shower, Akamosh would have thought so, if not for that one boulder.

He is wise, this "Akamosh".


The twilight sky in this strange world seemed eerie to them. Earlier it was a tint of teal, but as the sun approached the horizon, it became more purple, almost the same color as those dotting the forest's canopy. As the wolves made their way down the hill Akamosh noticed something strange on Choruk's fur-covered boots.

"The mud you fell in earlier... it looks like a stone now." He observed his own leather vest. The mud splattered on it by Choruk's salute earlier was washed away, but the stains looked harden and petrified, as well. "I hope you washed all of them off of your skins; you might be petrified too if you left some on your body." He grinned.

"You think so, legionnaire?" Choruk looked at his own boots and his right hand while kept his left hand gripped on the Icehowl's saddle. "Well my palm is petrified, but it fell off already." He laughed as the petrified mud fell from his hand. "And now I have a pair of stone covered boots for extra protection."

Akamosh smiled. It was the first time Choruk made a joke with him. Choruk always regarded him as superior and followed him unquestioningly, but perhaps his words earlier loosed him up a bit. Just as he thought to himself he realized Gorona was staring at his face with an unsatisfying look.

"So you boys were in the same team for some time now, but you just got along huh?" She said as she turned her head back and looked straight on the road ahead.

"You have to excuse us, grunt lady. Our team works on each mission independently and our legionnaire always take the most dangerous task alone, so we had never been on the same duty. Even in the same mission he would divide it into task and picked the best persons for the tasks."

"Oh, that sounded like Horag's team, although he would picked the most stupid scout to do his suicide missions anyway. I guess I'm fortunate to be in Maak's team. He always feed his men and rally them through any obstacles."

"You should regard your superior with a little more respect, grunt Gorona. Calling him by name without his title like that..." Choruk was stopped by Akamosh's hand signal. They were arguing over his head and Choruk knew his legionnaire hates in-fighting; a simple hand raise was more than enough to make him willingly stop.

"What's the matter? Finish what you say, scout!" Gorona kept bickering.

"Keep your eyes ahead and to your right, Gorona, there might be a rock flying to you if you let your eye off the forest." Akamosh stopped her with more concerning matter. "Choruk has it hard to keep our left clear and to keep his own safety from the rocks, you should not disturb him."

Gorona grunted. Clearly she would like to hit any rock coming at her to let her rage off a bit.


"So the hill is more than suitable! Great! Your wolves must be tired now, let them rest a bit and take them to their real riders! Of course your wolf is yours, Akamosh!" Warlord Goron was pleased with the news. The rock shower stopped for awhile now and they were close to the savanna.

"Scout Choruk said with our pace, we wouldn't reach the hill by sunset if we walk the plain route. However, if we cut through the savanna directly, we should get there in time. But there could be some danger lurking in the savanna, and with the height almost to our head, it is hard to see our men." Akamosh patted Rockfang's head, he knew that the wolves would have to work a little while longer. Goron took the hint from Akamosh's action.

"Very well. We will go through the grasses. Legionnaires! Ride your wolves high and watch out for danger. Maak, you take the left. Horag, to the right. Akamosh, rest awhile and take the rear. And you, scout...Choruk? Come to the front with me, your expertise is required there! You can rest on my Redclaw until you feel like walking." The warlord commanded his men.

"What about me, father?" Gorona asked.

"You can take a rest with legionnaire Akamosh and catch up to the rear, grunt. And remember your place, girl, stop calling me that!"

She was quiet this time. Perhaps her frustration had built up enough she couldn't make a strong face anymore. Akamosh walked his wolf to an open plain just before the savanna and sit down, letting the troops passed them ahead. Choruk bowed his head down from atop the warlord's wolf. He smiled back at Choruk, until Gorona dropped herself right beside him.

"Blasted father. I hated it when he ignores me like he ignores his men. Does he even think I'm his daughter anymore?" She sounded like crying, but kept acting strong. "I hate him!"

Akamosh began to understand why Gorona was furious about almost anything. She never felt loved by her father while in this unit. She was trying hard to prove herself. She might have tried to mimic those of higher ranks to earn some acknowledgement, but now even Kronk or Scout Choruk were more favored by him more than she ever was.

"You don't really hate him."

"You aren't me! How do you even think you could understand my feeling! You men are the same."

"If you do really hate him, you wouldn't be here under his command now. You looked up to him, admire him, and want him to look at you, isn't that right?"

"But now I hate him." she looked down on her knees.

"What you hate isn't him as a person, but you hate how he treats you now. You just wish he would be nicer to you as father and daughter, or acknowledge you as a capable warrior. Am I wrong?"

She was quiet again. A prideful person would hate to admit that one was wrong, even more so to be proven wrong by someone else, but somehow, she felt relieve a bit, relieve that there was someone who understand her.

The silence was broken by Rockfang's timely interruption. He lay down behind Gorona; his fluffy neck just about between the two orcs. Gorona leaned on the wolf and closed her eyes.

Good timing, Rockfang.

He let the two taking a rest for awhile while listening to the footsteps behind. The troops would be too far to catch up if their footsteps were inaudible. Rockfang's ears waggled a few time before he rose up as well.

"Let's catch up with them, we have to watch from the rear."

Although interrupted during her slumber, she seemed to be in better spirit and was not furious at all. "Since you are on the wolf, I'll run ahead on my own. You better catch up quick!" Gorona said as she rush off while Akamosh adjusted the saddle.

"Don't rush! It's dangerous in the grasses!" Still acting tough huh? Or was she trying not to make me blamed for being late to the rear duty. He rode Rockfang and told him to go at his own pace. The wolf sniffed the air, lowered its head and leapt into the savanna.


"Blood?" Akamosh took a careful look at the drops of blood along the trail where Rockfang stopped. He looked back and found a single blade of grass with biggest red stain. What is the cause?

He went back to observe the grass, reaching out to pick it. No, I should be more worried about who was injured. But right as he hesitated, he felt the pain on his hand. This grass; it is petrified and extremely sharp. The petrified blade started from the point where the stem was broken. On Draenor, it would have just withered away, not petrified. He picked up another fresh blade and watched. Nothing happens. He put it in Rockfang's burden.

Then he realized that the trail of blood continued longer than he had seen. One of our men? The legionnaires would have known and treat the wound, unless...

He rode Rockfang and quickly rushed off, hoping that what he feared wouldn't come true.

Gorona was dragging on her feet with her hand on her leg about five paces away from others in the rear, Her stubbornness and pride made her unwilling to ask others for help; just as Akamosh thought.

"Let me see your wound" Akamosh jumped off of his wolf and rushed to her. Her left leg was painted with a few red lines from single, gushing wound.

"It's nothing, just a scratch." Gorona replied. Her face looked pale with sweats, yet she still trying to walk forward.

"A scratch wouldn't bleed you this much. Didn't you see a trail of blood behind you?" He took her left hand off the wound. The bleeding continued. It cut through her vein.

"What? I didn't-"

"Don't speak! I'm going to call for help now." Akamosh put her hand back on the wound. "Press it hard so you won't bleed badly." He took out the battle horn and blew it.

"Stop! I won't embarrass my father any more than this" she resisted, trying to take the horn away from him.

"Do you want to die now? Do you not want to achieve your goal before dying? As long as you live you still have another chance to prove yourself, yet you want to throw away your life because you cannot bear the embarrassment? What do you think LIFE is? Your father would be more shameful of you if you die here from stubbornness than in glorious battlefield. You just wanted to run away, rather than fight, coward!" He blew the horn, loud and clear. The troops ahead stopped and after awhile Warlord Goron approached on his wolf. He sent Maak to watch the front in his stead.

"This is serious wound, warlord, do we have anyone in the rank that can tend the wound?" He kept pressing his hands on Gorona's leg. The warlord looked lost in his thought.

"If there is anyone, they are lost in the Twisting Nether now. You are the best we have." Goron replied. "You should know it the best."

Akamosh was reminded by the warlord's words that he lost his calm decision. Indeed, most combatants were trained to kill and fight, not to save lives, and he was the only one who could treat such a wound. He spent a moment trying to gather his thought.

"I have some herbs that can stop the bleeding, but I will need a piece of cloths to keep them on her wound. Do we-"

"The supply is also lost with them." Goron looked as if he made up his mind. Akamosh hadn't given up yet, he looked behind the warlord.

Ner'zhul's Horde Banner

"The banner, warlord. Can you give me the banner." Akamosh pleaded.

"But... this is the Horde's banner. For a lowly grunt like-"

"What is more important, warlord, your daughter's life - your only family here in this world, or the horde and ranks that mean nothing in this world! The reinforcements may never come, and we may stuck here forever, yet you want us to hold on to it and let someone die? The Horde is just a piece of cloths, or its people?! I will not let anyone die, never again!"

Akamosh and Goron stared at each other's eyes for a moment, then turned back and took down the banner from his wolf's saddle.

"Even if her life is saved, she might not be able to walk or fight again, are you seriously willing to help her? Will you take responsibility if she become just a burden?" The warlord asked with his back turned to them, holding up the horde's flag to take a good look.

"Yes, I'd rather do that than let her die here and now." Akamosh confirmed his resolution.

"I hope you keep your words." In the same instant, he tore the banner into long piece of cloths. Although he kept his back turned to them, Akamosh felt that he sounded like he was smiling. "Take your herbs out now, shaman" the warlord said as he handed him the cloths.

Akamosh was too concerned about the wound and Gorona's live to realize what the warlord was saying.


"It is getting dark now, are we getting out of the savanna soon?" Gorona was being talkative again. She was limping on Akamosh's staff after they traded weapons so that she could carry her own weight.

"The hill is just up ahead, as you can see. I hope you can climb the hill on your own this time."

"Hey, I did climb up on my own last time." She was back to her normal figure of speech.

"No you didn't, none of us did, we were on the wolves. All of us." Akamosh said as he reached back to something on the saddle. The blade of grass he picked up earlier was then petrified and sharp. "Just as I thought." He mumbled to himself. Rockfang slowed its pace.

"What? You thought I would answer like that-"

*Shuffling sounds*

Something was moving fast in the grasses. Even the wolf could not pick up the scent until it made the sound. It was hiding downwind.

"Let's hurry out of here" Akamosh took Gorona's top half up his wolf and rode off the savanna. The sounds followed them not far behind. He decided to blow the horn the second time.

"Wha, what is that thing?" Gorona blurted out.

"It must've smelled your blood" Akamosh handed her the petrified blade. "Let's see if you can aim well while on the wolf."

"I'm barely riding the wolf though, but since you asked, don't be surprised." She threw the blade at the beast. "Right in the eye!"

Akamosh thought she was bluffing, but as he heard the beast roared in pain, he finally turned back to see what happened. The other Orcs, warlord included, rushed to them.

Before them stood a giant, furry rodent, one neck higher than a full grown Orc. Its left eye was dripped blood. It looked angry.

"Have at it then!" The warlord charged in on his feet. The rodent put its forelegs back on the ground, folding its head to its chest.

*Clashing sounds*

The Warlord's warmace didn't harm the rodent at all. Its fur looked stone-solid. petrified around the tips, blocking the attack on its back.

"Blasted mongrel. So you have a thick hide huh?" Goron grunted. His easy prey was not so easy after all.

Horag's men fired arrows at it, but it didn't work. Even Choruk's roped axes in full downward arc didn't get through the fur. Gorona picked up the petrified blade and threw it once more. It pierced through the fur, but stopped short at the skin and stuck there. The beast was even more furious. It roared and tried to attack the warlord.

*Thud*

The beast was knocked down by Kronk's boulder. The size and the speed of the boulder would have crushed any Orc's head, yet for the beast its head was intact, but the neck snapped.

"Nice one, Kronk. You earned the kill, you should take as much meat as you want before the rest of us." The warlord spoke.

"Kronk can't cook" Kronk slowly said, "Everyone should eat together". Everyone cheered at Kronk. His brutish figure belied his gentle nature.

"Speaking of cooking, we lost our charcoals in the supply..." Goron grumbled.

"Warlord" Choruk spoke up, "there is a tar pit a little to the northwest of the hill."

A loud cheer echoed from the hill.


"Earlier you said you would not let anyone die, yet you let that beast get killed." Gorona said as she and the other enjoyed the campfire and the rodent's meat.

"That's different, the lives of comrades and those of the food. Blasted, even food has its own purpose, we should make use of every part of it, skins and bones. Wasting some and you will disrespect its life." Akamosh replied, he did have his share of meat.

"Just like the wolves on Draenor eh? That aside, you saved two lives today. Why do such an Orc like you even join Ner'zhul's mission of conquest in the first place? You don't look like a type of warmonger to me."

"There is a purpose in everything. In time you will understand."

Akamosh

"Dodging a question again hmm? I really wonder, who are you? My father called you shaman earlier. I thought that was just a joke, but to think you have a herb pouch... where are you going?"

Akamosh

"Private business, there isn't any outhouse around here yet. Feel free to follow me though, but you will not like what you will see." He tried to shake her off, going to the other side of the tree. "Eww, go do your business! You dirty legionnaire!"

You hear us, do you not, Akamosh

What is this voice. Gorona didn't hear it. He looked around, only to find nothing but a boulder. The exact same boulder he saw twice today.

"Speaking to a rock, I must be crazy." But something felt familiar, something he used to hear long ago.

The tongue of the Elements.

"So you really do hear us." the voice spoke to him in more direct method. His eyes widened as he looked at the source of the voice.

As the boulders floated up and form a corporeal body of the Elemental Earth, the boulder with six small crystals had two glows lit up below the lines. They looked like a face, with three small crystals as an eyebrow and the glow the eye.

"We are K'vatu, Primal Elemental of the Earth. We have been watching your kind since your arrival. We are pleased that there exists someone who can understand us on this world."

"An Elemental Spirit... No, this is not just a spirit... an actual, Elemental Being. Even on Draenor it was rare sight to see anywhere beyond the Throne of Elements. This is... unbelievable!"

"Draenor, so that is the name of the place you came from? There must be some strong Elementals out there to let you learn the language of ours."

"Well, it was named by another race coming to our world, though. We did not have the name of our world until they started to call that place Draenor in their tongue. Something about refugee's haven..."

"Neither has ours. This is the world where the Elements roam free and live in harmony, yet the mortal races could not hear us. We watch them in secret since the beginning of time, we are delighted to find you, an outsider, being able to hear us."

"So, what do the natives call this world?"

"They just call it 'world' as we do." Although lacked a mouth, K'vatu's eyes looked as if he was smiling "But you may do the honor but giving this world a name."

"Are you sure? I could name something selfish or silly in my own tongue."

"We are pleased to find a mortal capable of conversing with us. My brethren shall be delighted as well to have you do the honor. The fire, the water, the wind, they shall agree with you." Akamosh looked at the campfire; the flame was dancing as if it was answering him. He looked at the water in the lake below; a ripple started from the center despite the calmness around. He closed his eyes, and the wind blew softly at both his ears.

"It would be an honor. I have to choose the name that befitting this world's harmony. Something that the Elements have in common..."

"We Elements of different type share nothing in common."

"What about the language? What is the tongue of the Elements called again? Ah... yes... How about..."

K'vatu's eyes glowed bright, if he had a mouth he would have a big smile on his cheek.

"Kalimag"