Eternal Requiem
Chapter 6: Hope Shall Always Remain
The stars flickered in the night sky. Shadows dashed across the jungle landscape of Strangelthorn Vale, a land thriving with beasts of all variety. Among these shadows were hunters, crouching down for the pounce. Hidden beneath the jungle brush, they made their way to the Horde encampment of Grom'gol. Just outside the encampment, there was much movement but little notice.
"Are your rogues ready for the kill?" asked Lithius to Towns, hiding behind much jungle away from the guards.
"Ready whenever your hunters are." responded Towns.
Towns and his rogues stealthily made their way to past Grom'gol's guards. Moving on, they remained in the shadows of Grom'gol's most prized possession; the zeppelin tower. After an unusual owl hoot was heard in the distance, the rogues snuck into the few buildings before them. Towns and three others entered the tower. Moments later, that same owl hoot was heard. This time they locked all the doors. Hearing the sound of the doors closing suddenly and locked from the inside, the guards outside were struck with confusion and fear. They had no idea what just happened, only that all the doors locked at once. Meanwhile, inside the buildings and tower, all Horde residence were slain without knowing what had just happened to them.
Back on the outside, guards were hearing the death cries of their comrades in the locked houses. They attempted to enter, but the doors and windows were also barred shut. No way in. This would mean the end of them, for a shout was heard just beyond Grom'gol's entrance.
"Fire!"
Arrows seemed to pour like water on rock from the jungle upon the unsuspecting Horde. Many perished, but those who remained alive after that wave of arrows charged at their attackers. But before they could get to the entrance, half of them were burned alive by traps that were laid out earlier. The survivors panicked, and all fell to their knees, begging for mercy. The hunters and rogues came from their hiding and walked into Grom'gol victorious.
Lithius stepped before the groveling Horde and kicked one in the stomach. The women wept and the men kept their faces stern, showing some sign of false bravery.
"Send these fools to Stormwind at once." said Lithius to one of his hunters. "I shall leave it to the Emperor to decide the fate of these savages."
Lithius then walked up the tower's steps until he reached the top, where Towns was waiting. Beside him were two goblins, the pilots of the two zeppelin stationed in Grom'gol for the night.
"Here we have Juboo and Kenoo." said Towns to Lithius. "They have agreed not only to pilot these zeppelins back to the Emperor himself as a gift, but also they wish to shall the plans of these aircrafts to the gnomes of Ironforge so that we may benefit from their engineering capabilities."
"Aye." said Juboo. "We may not at all like those little rats you call gnomes, but we shall do anything for our new Emperor."
"Good to hear." said Lithius.
Lithius then stepped to the edge of the tower, looking over Grom'gol. All imperial hunters and rogues turned to him, waiting for his word. Lithius then drew his sword above his head and shouted out to his and Towns's legions.
"For the Emperor!"
"For the Emperor!" echoed their armies.
A few days later the prisoners were shipped over to Stormwind City where they then were moved through the Requiem Halls and into Blackrock Mountain. After entering, they were sent to the underground prisons of Blackrock Depths, once used by the Dark Iron dwarves but now occupied by imperial guards. Relatively it servers the same purpose.
But while most of the prisoners were sent to the prisons, one was left. This orc, roughly stronger, older, and wiser than the rest, was summoned by the Emperor himself to Backrock Spire, of which was just recently taken over after Emperor Darithal personally took care of the black dragonflight the night before. As the guards dragged him through the corridors, the orc could see black dragon bodies still being removed from the blood-stained floor. By the time they reached Darithal's throne, Emperor Darithal had already received the news and was waiting. This throne, once sat upon by the Black Dragon Champion Drakkisath, was now Darithal's. He sniffed the air and grimaced as though he smelled something very foul.
"Is this the general you captured from Grom'gol?" asked Darithal to the guards.
The guards nodded, and they dropped him where he was just before heading for the door. Darithal waved them to leave. So the guards left, and he was alone with the defeated orc general.
"Tell me, are you the one they call General Warrek?" asked Darithal to the orc.
"What is it to you?" barked Warrek.
"Now, now." began Darithal. "You are a guest in my house. Please show some respect."
"Our brothers will come for us, night elf!" threatened Warrek with great rage. "They will crush your fortress and free us from your grasp!"
Darithal laughed. He had not laughed in such a long time. It was almost like he was waiting for this moment, to laugh in the face of a Horde prisoner. Darithal remembered how that one orc warlock had captured him, and how he laughed at his pain. Revenge had never been closer to Darithal.
"Foolish orc!" exclaimed Darithal. "You do not know what power I truly possess! I can topple mountains! Bend rivers! Turn winds! Control flames! Massacre entire governments in a matter of days! You come to me with bitter rage toward me, yet it is I who has the greater rage! I am your master, I am your ruler-"
Darithal strolled up to the orc and grabbed him by the medallion around his throat.
"-I am your god!"
The orc kept his face filled of strength, yet Darithal could see his fear with his unseeing eyes. But this glorious moment for Darithal did not last long, for he had felt the medallion's surface and gasped.
"No..."
Darithal took the medallion of the orc and let him go from his grip. He stared at the medallion, feeling its surface. It beared an elvish symbol, unknown to any other elf born before the age of Queen Azshara's reign. Blue runes skittered across its golden surface in the engravings. But what was odd was that it only did that when Darithal touched it. He felt how warm it had become. From under his tabard he pulled out a brother medallion, alike in every detail. It too had runes scattered across it, and they soon glowed a brilliant blue.
"Where did you find this, Warrek?" asked Darithal as he stroked the object.
"What? Is this a joke?" laughed Warrek.
Darithal abruptly turned to orc with hateful eyes. He rushed to Warrek and began choking him.
"I said, 'Where the hell did you find this medallion!'" he barked.
"It was a gift, given to me by Thrall!" coughed Warrek as he tried to breath air.
"Where did he get it!" barked Darithal.
"I do not know!" panicked Warrek. "At the ceremony he said something about finding it at the Battle of Mt. Hyjal, at the foot of the World Tree! That is all I know, so please, let me go!"
Darithal slowly let Warrek go and turned his back on him.
"That cannot be..." muttered Darithal to himself. "I saw you two burn... I watched as I saw you both burn. How is it that you could still be alive?"
"What is it that you are muttering under your breath, night elf?" coughed Warrek.
"Nothing of any concern to you." said Darithal.
Suddenly Darithal lifted his right and snapped his fingers. Warrek only had a few short seconds to realize that green runes appeared below him. Then from the ground erupted pillars of white hot flame. He was incinerated by the fire, dead just as soon as his skin began to burn. Darithal did not even look back at his prisoner's charred body, but continued to fell the two medallions with his thumb.
"What was once divided shall become whole again..." muttered Darithal.
The two medallions glowed an even brighter blue and then merged into one full amulet. It was golden with sapphire embedded on the outline. In the center was a larger sapphire, the same elvish symbol engraved into it. Darithal wept with the amulet in his hands. He sat hat his throne and put the amulet around his neck. Feeling it one more time, he spoke to himself.
"Perhaps all hope... is not lost..."
Author's Note: Hey everybody! Hoped you liked the new chapter! As you can see, I am updating quickly and listening to all reviews I am getting. As revealed in this chapter, there is more to Darithal than most readers may think (so apparently he is not all bad, though bad none the less), but he may just be going about the revenge bit the wrong way. Looking forward to your reviews! I'll be sure to get chapter 7 up ASAP!