Chapter Ten: Planning Stages

The war room of King Llane was a large round chamber with a round table at the center. On it was a large map of Stormwind and the surrounding lands. The top officers of King Llane crowded around it. Among them were Lothar, Garithos, Aiden, Bolvar, the Archbishop Faol, and many others. Llane looked across the table at Sylvanas, who was now clothed in flowing white garments.

'Well, what was so urgent that you had to speak to us all on such short notice, Sylvanas?'

'The orcs are amassing a new army.' said Sylvanas.

'That's it?' asked Garithos incredulously. 'You dragged us out here for that? They amass a new army every year-'

'This isn't like the last one.' snapped Sylvanas. 'It's larger, much larger and it's growing. I journeyed deep into the lands of the orcs, farther than anyone has before me. What I tell you now nearly killed me to learn. The orcs do not come from Azeroth as some believe. They come from another world.'

'If this is the case,' said Llane, 'then Medivh's theory was correct. And our worst fears have come true.'

Beyond the Black Morass lies a portal which leads to another world entirely. It looked like unholy magic to me, and its magic blights the land surrounding it. I listened in on a few conversations, and…'

'What?' said Llane.

'It seems that the orcs have been fighting more than one war. A general called Hellscream has apparently ended another conflict which was plaguing them. He is going to bring his forces through the portal and assist. And the orcs already have a larger army amassed than any on record.'

'How large?' asked Llane.

'…Fifteen thousand at least,' said Sylvanas, 'I didn't have a lot of time to count.'

'Fifteen thousand?!' said Bolvar. 'That's impossible, how…' Llane raised a hand for silence.

'What do you recommend in these circumstances, Lothar.'

Lothar looked at the map gravely. 'Fifteen thousand is a force we would be hard-pressed to defeat, even if we bolstered our defenses. If they are bringing in more, we might well fail. I suggest we send Uther to King Terenas and request his assistance.'

'You would allow a foreign monarch to bring his armies onto our soil?' asked Aiden. 'Have you lost your mind, Lothar?'

'Why Uther?' asked Llane.

'Uther Lightbringer is not technically a member of the Stormwind Royal Court. Officially we may say that he merely brought the word of the situation to King Terenas.' said Lothar 'Thus we are spared the humiliation. We can call for adventurers and reinforcements to help defend the tome of divinity.'

'My King, you cannot possibly be considering this!' said Aiden. 'Stormwind stands or falls alone! If we allow foreigners in, they will look at our defenses. Find our weaknesses. Defeat the orcs with them, and we will face a new war the very next day.' Murmurs of agreement came from the officers. 'No offense, Sylvanas.' he added suddenly.

'None taken,' said Sylvanas. 'We elves are not fond of outsiders.'

Lothar shook his head. 'This war has taken a heavy toll on Stormwind, and the orcs badly outnumber us. If we are to defeat them, we must have allies.'

'…Aiden, you have thus far said that we must not allow a foreign nation to assist us.' said Llane 'Do you have an alternative plan?'

'Provoke the orcs to battle.' said Aiden 'Force them to commit their forces before they are ready. They can't use all fifteen thousand; some will have to remain behind to guard supply lines and such. If we destroy their vanguard, the reinforcements will be forced to defend. or assault us in a weakened form.'

'Both plans seem sound to me.' said Llane 'And both may be done at once.

'Elywynn Forest is a strategic key to securing the borderlands. I have received reports that several orcish villages have begun setting up towns in that area. Aiden, you have my permission to do this. I will send Bolvar with you as well. Lord Garithos, you will harden our defenses and repulse any attacks which might slip by.'

'As you wish.' said Bolvar.

'Lothar, I want you to undertake a mission to King Terenas, accompanied by Uther.' continued Llane. 'Speak to him on my behalf, make a few implications, but do not ask for anything. Send me a report on whether you think he can be trusted. Based on your findings, we will decide whether or not to allow outside assistance.

Sylvanas, do you believe that you can rally any support from Quel'thalas.'

'Never in a million years.' said Sylvanas casually.

'…That was blunt.' said Aiden.

'Don't misunderstand me; I'm considered eccentric for coming here.' said Sylvanas. 'Stormwind could be burned to the ground, and I doubt anyone in Quel'thalas would shed a tear. So long as whatever did the deed was no threat to them. Some might even rejoice, your magics are considered a rival to our own, and we don't like rivals.'

'You have a very unflattering view of your own people.' mused Llane.

'One does one's best.' said Sylvanas.

'Who will be replacing Uther?' asked Aiden suddenly 'He's been invaluable to me thus far, and we'll badly lament his loss.'

'That is Archbishop Faol's decision, I think.' said Llane 'Who do believe will be suitable?'

'There is a new initiate to the order who has been trained in the ways of war.' said Faol 'I believe he may make an excellent leader for the army monks.'

'Who?' asked Aiden.

The boy stood before them, dressed in brown monk's robes with a staff in hand. Aiden stared at him, speechless. 'Turylyon?!'

'Hello Aiden, I uh… I'm still getting used to these robes.' said Turylyon.

'What are you…' Aiden paused, 'you decided to become a monk?'

'Well yes, I mean… after what I saw Uther do, I felt I had to.' said Turylyon 'I never felt very at home in armor and on a horse, and I know you're disappointed but-'

'Just forget it,' said Aiden. 'Uther, has he been instructed?'

'Oh, he's taken to wielding the light very well. I've never seen someone master healing magic so quickly,' said Uther. 'He still has a ways to go, but then we all do.'

Things were looking up.

In a side passage, Llane took Garona aside with a very serious expression. 'Garona, did you know about this plan? Answer me, honestly.'

'No,' said Garona.

Llane looked at her hard, examining her face for a moment and Garona became afraid he suspected her. Finally, he sighed and looked down. 'I don't want you to go back to the orcish lines.'

'What? Why not?' asked Garona.

'Because you didn't know about this. It's obvious they have begun keeping you in the dark. Which means they don't trust you anymore,' said Llane. 'They might kill you if you go back, and… you're important to me. I don't want to lose you.'

'Right, alright. I won't leave this time.' said Garona.

'Good,' said Llane, 'thank you.'

Garona parted ways with Llane and found a point overlooking the city. As the days passed, she more and more began to have doubts about her mission. It just didn't sit right with her.

Blackhand awaited the arrival of Gul'dan. The small orc dismounted from his wolf and handed the reigns to a servant before walking past. Blackhand went to meet him. 'Welcome Warlock Gul'dan, the Horde is-'

'Yeah, wonderful, stupendous, I don't care. The operation was a damn nightmare, Warchief!' snapped Gul'dan. 'Those idiotic ogres let Uther just walk off with the Tome of Divinity. Just after he stole back a ton of life force, I'd drained at that. It was like listening to the screams of a thousand Draenei while they were crucified. Or sitting through one of Velen's prayer services while on a diplomatic mission."

'Yes…' said Blackhand, not at all sure how to respond. At the same time, several servants brought forth a number of bags from the wagon train. '…Are those your things?'

'Yes,' said Gul'dan, 'or so I assume from the fact that my servants are carrying them.' He grabbed each one and looked inside in turn before looking up. 'Unfortunately, a closer inspection reveals that these are the wrong bags. My material components are gone. Doubtless, Cho'gall has stolen them by now.'

'You might be able to ask some of the Shadow Council for help?' said Blackhand.

'Yes, and they will take it as a sign of weakness!' snapped Gul'dan. 'Which means I'll have to fend off assassination attempts all over again! And you just know that some damn warlock will get it into his head that he can defeat me in a straight up duel! This always happens!

'Take my advice, stay out of politics. It's… not worth it. Trust me.'

'No.' said Blackhand. He refused to do that.

'Fair enough.' mused Gul'dan before walking off in disgust.

Later that day Gul'dan sat down in a chair by a window and admired the sunset. Then he felt the breeze. The very prominent breeze. Looking up he noted a glowing white rune which was the source of the freezing wind.' "This is an excellent chair actually, with an excellent view of the dying landscape.' he said to a lesser warlock. 'Unfortunately, it's sitting under a constant source of freezing air. What do you have to say for yourselves?'

'Well we thought that in the blazing heat of the day you might enjoy some cold air.' said the warlock.

'Ah, and in a typical example of Shadow Council incompetence you forgot that it is freezing at night.' surmised Gul'dan. 'Turn it off.'

'Uh… it wasn't designed to be turned off.' said the warlock.

'Then improvise you imbecile!' roared Gul'dan at his wit's end. The warlock stepped forward and tried to disenchant the spell creating the air. 'Honestly, can't you people do anything without my guidance…'

The air intensified, throwing Gul'dan's hood from his head. Without another word, Gul'dan raised a hand and blasted a hole through the warlock's chest. He then pointed upwards and blasted the rune to pieces. 'I'm surrounded by idiots.'

There was a surging of power behind him. Gul'dan turned around to see a dark-haired human with handsome. He was dressed in fine black clothes and had an easy gait about him. 'Greetings to you, Gul'dan. I am-'

Gul'dan decided he had a fix for the situation. 'Die.'

Then raising a hand, he fired a massive surge of unholy green energy that consumed the man in the light. There was a flaring of power, and the walls shuddered as an enormous explosion rang through the room. Eventually, it cleared, and the man was standing where he was, one hand upraised and a smile on his face.

'There is no need for that.' he said in a pleasant tone. 'I am Daval Prestor, and I have a gift for you.'

'Really?' said Gul'dan. 'I assume that is an alias, seeing as you are a dragon. A very powerful dragon at that, probably extremely ancient.'

'You are perceptive for an orc.' mused the man. 'In truth, I am the black dragon. I am Deathwing.'

A lesser being would have perceived the power inherent to the creature before him, and been awed. Gul'dan, however, had seen such powers before and was somewhat unimpressed. 'Six out of ten. What do you want?'

Deathwing narrowed his eyes, his smile fading. Obviously, he was annoyed at his reception. 'As I said, to give you a gift.' His smile returned as he brought out a shimmering golden stone. 'This is the demon soul. It is a powerful artifact-'

Gul'dan took it from his hand before he could finish and looked over it. 'Hmm, capable of massive destruction, and also bending godlike beings to its will. It seems to have been engineered to enslave dragon aspects into submission. Thereby gaining control of an entire flight.' He looked at Deathwing with a raised eyebrow. 'I assume it doesn't work on you.'

'Don't insult my intelligence, mortal.' said Deathwing, voice holding a note of contempt.

'Yes, that would be a monumental level of stupidity.' mused Gul'dan. 'The first rule of being a warlock is that you never call up anything you can't put down.'

'A revelation which many sentients are forced to learn the hard way.' mused Deathwing.

'Why are you giving me this?' asked Gul'dan in a conversational tone. 'What do you gain from it?'

'Suffice to say that I am no friend of the other dragon aspects. My agenda would be advanced by their enslavement.' said Deathwing. 'Do with it as you will. Farewell, I doubt we'll meet again.' Then he was gone in a blue mist.

Gul'dan looked at the keys to ultimate cosmic power which had been handed to him with no conditions. '…This is an obvious trap and I am not going to fall for it.' he decided aloud.

The next morning Garona awoke to find that her pendant was vibrating. Obviously, Gul'dan wanted to speak with her. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she pulled it up and opened the channel. One explanation later, she sighed. 'So let me see if I've got this straight. This dragon aspect… what was his name?'

'Deathwing.' Gul'dan supplied.

'Deathwing gave you something which can enslave any dragon aspect except him.' said Garona. 'Do I have that quite clear?'

'Yes.' asked Gul'dan.

'…What do you need my advice for again?' asked Garona 'Use it.'

'I can't use it!' said Gul'dan in frustration. 'Nobody would be stupid enough to give away this kind of power without a reason! Even if I can't target him, I could still use it to enslave the other aspects and sic them on him! It's probably designed to kill the one who uses it. Then default the ownership over the enslaved Dragonflight to Deathwing.' He paused. 'That's what I would do anyway.'

'Okay, so get someone else to use it for you.' said Garona. 'Be creative.'

'But if I give it to any of the Shadow Council they might use it to kill me.' snapped Gul'dan. 'This thing is so powerful that even a terrible warlock might get enough of an edge to kill me with it. A competent one might be unstoppable.'

'Okay, okay, so you need to find someone to use it for you who you know won't betray you.' said Garona.

'And where pray tell am I going to find that?' asked Gul'dan. 'This is the Shadow Council Garona. I found three separate poisons in my cup, in my stew, and on my spoon this morning alone.'

Three at breakfast? That was three times the normal weekly ratio. '…They're sensing weakness.' she surmised.

'More or less,' said Gul'dan in a long-suffering tone. 'If I could find someone like Lothar I might manage it, but people like that don't become warlocks.'

An idea occurred. 'Then find one.'

'Hmm?' said Gul'dan.

'Find someone who is interested in the good of the Horde. Make them have a debt of honor to you. Then have them trained as a warlock, and then give them the Demon Soul once their capable of controlling it.' said Garona. 'Better yet, train them to wield the Demon Soul and nothing else. That way they will be reliant upon outside forces, and so more susceptible to control.'

Silence for a moment. '…Thank you Garona, I'll have to give the matter some thought. Oh, and when you get back, I'll need a couple of people killed.'

'Yeah, well I'm not going to be back for a while.' said Garona. 'I kind of had to convince Llane that you don't trust me anymore to keep from blowing my cover. Which means he wants me back in Stormwind.'

'Garona that's brilliant!' said Gul'dan, gleeful.

Well, that was unexpected. 'How so?'

'Don't you see? You now have a place at the high command, and you don't have to give them one shred of information. They no longer expect you to act as a double agent.'

'Oh, um… I didn't think of it that way.' said Garona.

'I'll get back to you. In the meantime, try to keep gathering information.'

Things were looking up.

Authors Note:

So you know what was never explained, ever, in the entire Warcraft mythos?

How the hell did the horde get the Demon Soul?!

It's a pretty big event, and they skimmed over it, despite it being central to the Horde war effort. So this is my answer to that question. Deathwing showed up and handed it to Gul'dan without so much as a price. After all, he was the last known person to be in possession of the Demon Soul before Nekros Skullcrusher. We never hear about him losing it. As for Deathwings plan… well…