Not in My House.
The two Orcs skidded to a halt in a large underground chamber, finding themselves standing on a small lip of rock that overlooked a primitive arena, which was contained mostly by a moat of lava, interrupted only by an immense painted statue of a demonic figure. But what alarmed Thrall more than the detailed statue before him, were the figures imprisoned in barbed cages at the statue's feet.
"Thrall!"
Eitrigg, Varokk Saurfang, Rexxar, and Drek'Thar were imprisoned in black iron cages at the statue's feet, with demonic runes at their feet to keep them weakened.
"Don't come any closer!" Varokk said, when Thrall made to jump into the arena. "You've walked into a trap!"
"Kargath's allied with the Legion, his warlocks are already summoning demons to aid in conquering Kalimdor." Drek'Thar added. "The elements scream in pain as fel magic pollutes the area."
"We know, we've come to stop Kargath and prepare our people to fight the Legion in the east."
"The invasion's begun?" Eitrigg sounded panicked.
"Of course, how else would that demon-loving filth have returned after the Portal closed years ago," Rexxar replied.
"Filth?" Kargath laughed, as he emerged from a demonic portal and stood in the middle of the arena. "You dare speak to me of filth half-breed?"
Rexxar bared his teeth but said nothing.
"Our people were stronger when we stood with the Legion, we almost conquered this world, before weak-minded fools caused our downfall." Kargath looked up at Thrall and Gromm when he said this. "The Legion promises us endless conquest if we join them, our people are warriors; bringing death is in our blood."
"Not in my blood!" Thrall challenged.
"Many beasts are bred to bring death too, are you calling us beasts for the Legion to put a leash upon?" Rexxar noted, but in the spacious cavern his deep voice echoed off the walls.
Kargath kicked his cage to silence him, before returning his attention to the newcomers.
"Well come on then Hellscream, you challenge me to Mak'gora yet are afraid to enter the arena."
Gromm went to leap down, but Thrall grabbed his shoulder.
"It is customary to bless the weapons before combat in Mak'gora, or has your love for the demons also tainted your knowledge of our people's customs."
"Fine! Get on with it. Your blessings will not save Hellscream from meeting his fate at my hands!" Kargath spat, pacing back and forth in front of the cages.
Gromm unsheathed Gorehowl and held it out to Thrall, but rather than take the weapon, the shaman put one hand on the blade, the other on his friend's shoulder.
"Spirits of the elements, aid and defend this champion from harm," he said quietly, again the chamber making the words carry easily. "Bless him with the speed and strength to overcome this fel foe, and shield him from the corruption his opponent brings in his wake."
The two Orcs' eyes met for an instant, before they each gave the other a curt nod of acknowledgement. Gromm turned and leapt into the arena, as Kargath stepped forward to meet his opponent.
"The rules are simple, Hellscream, first to kill their opponent wins, no wounding or incapacitating, that's not our way."
"Fine with me." Gromm replied, before they ritually tapped blades and moved away from each other.
They faced each other from opposite sides of the primitive arena, the light of the lava painting crueller visages on their faces as they stared their opponent down.
"For the future of our people," Thrall declared before Kargath could speak, "let the Mak'gora commence."
The moment Thrall's pronouncement was finished Gromm leapt at the fel-tainted Orc, swinging his axe straight for Kargath's head, but he dived forward. Thrall watched the fight closely, seeing each relying on their fury and anger to lend strength to their swings, meaning they were fairly evenly matched; the blessings Thrall had given were likely equal to the fel-infused opponent he was facing.
Thrall was distracted from the fight by movement on the edge of his periphery. At first he thought to dismiss it as a trick of the glow of the lava, but he turned his attention to the demonic figure that towered over the fight.
'It has not been long since the Legion invaded, even with a team of masons they'd never create a statue that intricate.' He thought, quickly reaching out to the earth spirits around them. 'Only Kargath and his pawns from beyond the portal would know what a demon like that would look like...'
"Think Gromm! You're both relying on brute strength to win!"
"Yes Grommash, think, it's served your people well so far." A deep, booming voice laughed, making the dueling Orcs freeze, and the imprisoned ones cower in their cages. "Afterall, if Doomhammer had not thought about betraying his Warchief, your people would not have been enslaved to lesser races."
The elements warned Thrall of danger seconds before it revealled itself. The thin layer of cavern dust fell away like a curtain as the demon lord stirred, clearly irritated with what it had watched.
"Finish this Kargath!" it roared down at the red-skinned Orc, who cowered in fear before bowing.
"Yes, Lord Mannoroth."
"Demon pawn!" Gromm laughed, which only enraged Kargath.
"Human's pet!"
"I was never captured! I liberated our people!" Gromm roared, kicking Kargath to the floor. "While I was first to drink the poison, I was strong enough to break its hold on me."
Kargath made to swipe one of his bladed hands at Gromm's stomach, but Gorehowl severed the arm at the wrist, perfectly slicing between the blade and the armour. When he made to raise his axe again to deliver the killing blow, Mannoroth swung a fist and sent Gromm crashing into the cave wall; Thrall called to the earth to stop him from falling into the lava.
"Nice trick, little Orc, but it will not save you or your people from the fire." The demon laughed.
"You violate the sanctity of our rituals!" Thrall snarled. "You and your ilk view us only as pawns to be cast aside!"
He leapt into the ring, again calling on the earth to aid him; this time in liberating the four Orcs from captivity.
"We will never be slaves!" Gromm bellowed, his veins rising to the surface as his anger grew.
"Then you will be ash beneath our feet!"
"Lok Tar Ogar!" the six Orcs roared in unison, before charging the Pit Lord.
Despite being unarmed and armourless, the four liberated Orcs aided their weapon-weilding compatriots by distracting Mannoroth's focus; appearing to attack with just their fists, before retreating as Thrall and Gromm struck. Kargath, meanwhile, hung back, leaving his demonic overlord to fight while he tried to staunch his bleeding wrist; it also did not help that the demon was just big enough to turn in the cavern, so every sudden twist or turn aided the other Orcs more than him.
"Meddlesome gnats!" Mannoroth snarled, smacking Eitrigg and Saurfang back with his tail, before moving to kick Rexxar.
Thrall dived in the way of the kick, being flung across the chamber and dropping the Doomhammer when the foot hit. Mannoroth laughed as Thrall lay in a heap on the floor, turning to face him while swatting Rexxar and the blind Drek'thar away with a disinterested swipe of his wings.
"Did you really think you were worthy to lead your people, little gnat?" the demon mocked as he towered over Thrall. "You were, and will always be, a human's pawn, and all who follow you will share that weakness."
"Strength through unity." Thrall spat blood into the lava. "Strength through diversity. Strength through strategy. Victory through sacrifice."
"What have you sacrificed for victory?"
"A few broken ribs." Thrall laughed.
Too late Mannoroth realised he was an Orc short, and before he could turn his huge scaly head, Grommash Hellscream ran up his spine.
"For Draenor!" Grommash roared, slamming Gorehowl into the back of Mannoroth's head.
The demon bellowed and thrashed wildly as vivid green light erupted from the wound.
"Run!" Drek'thar yelled, sensing what was coming.
With a quick wave of his hand, he and the unarmed Orcs were carried up to the mouth of the tunnel to the surface, but before they could offer aid to their rescuers, Mannoroth's tail collapsed the passage.
Gromm leapt to the ground and sheltered Thrall with his body from the demon's flailing limbs. As fel fire escaped from the demon's deteriorating form, an image sprang unbidden into Thrall's mind; an Orc being bathed in the emerald fire of a twisted inferno. Mannoroth's tail carved a great gash in the ground, and without warning Thrall shoved Gromm into it.
It was then that Kargath struck, swinging his remaining blade hand up and disarming Thrall at the shoulder. The Orc Warchief bellowed in pain and kicked Kargath back, diving into the furrow with Gromm before calling on the earth to shield them. Nestled in the embrace of the earth the two Orcs were protected from the blast of Mannoroth's combustion, though they still felt the heat cooking them where they lay.
Once the explosion subsided, Gromm dragged his friend out and propped him against the cavern wall; most of the lava had been buried in the explosion, but there were now burning fel fires dotted about the chamber, causing dancing orange and green lights to flicker across their faces.
"You saved me..." Gromm breathed.
"You saved our people from its hold." Thrall pointed with his remaining arm to where Gorehowl lay, embedded in the skull of the demon it had slain.
"You may have won, for now, but the Legion cannot be stopped." Kargath's voice rasped.
The fel Orc was badly burned, his armour having been seared to his skin by the heat of the fire, and his once red skin was now black and horribly burned.
"You've doomed our people to death."
Gromm got to his feet, before picking up the Doomhammer with both hands.
"Our people will be free because of us," he growled. "While you will die an honourless pawn."
"Lok Tar..." Kargath began.
Gromm slammed the Doomhammer down on the Orc's skull, splattering it like a ripe fruit. He took a moment to relish in the kill, before rushing to help Thrall who was clasping the stump of his shoulder.
"I should have slain that scum before the demon..." He growled, before the cave-in exploded over their heads, revealling the passage out again.
"Any survivors?" Drek'Thar called, being the first to step up to the lip of the passage.
"They're alive, but Thrall's wounded."
"Dip the wound in the lava, let the flames cauterise the bleeding." The elder Shaman counselled.
Putting his good arm around Gromm's neck, Thrall hobbled over to the nearest puddle of lava, and with Hellscream holding him close, he dipped his shoulder into the lava, calling on the spirits to protect him from burning. As the pain burned the bleeding wound, Thrall felt the spirits of fire tending to his wound with fingers of fire, each caressing up his shoulder and across his chest. As he was about to pull back, he felt another spirit reach out and touch his stumped arm. As Gromm lifted to his feet, a blackened mass clung to him, dregs of lava and magma falling away to reveal an earthen replica of his arm.
"A gift from the earth," Drek'thar was the first to comment. "You have clearly pleased them."
"Looks like the boy's the new Blackhand," Eitrigg laughed.
"I doubt he'll be anyone's puppet like the last one," Saurfang noted.
Thrall cautiously flexed his stone appendage, curling his new fingers one by one before raising it up so he could examine it in the flickering light of the flames.
"This will take some adjustment." He noted.
"Let's leave this gloomy place behind," Gromm said with distaste. "Can that new arm hold your hammer or do you need us to carry it too?"
Thrall chuckled, standing on her own and taking Doomhammer with his remaining arm. The six victorious Orcs walked in silence back to the Drag, Gromm and Saurfang dealing with any warlocks or Fel-corrupted soldiers who refused to surrender when they saw that Kargath had been defeated. When they reached the hall where Kargath had ruled from hours before, Eitrigg asked;
"Shall we ready our people for confronting the Legion to the east?"
They were distracted by plumes of smoke rising in the sky to the north.
"What's happened now?" Saurfang growled in frustration. "Does the Legion's meddling ever end?"
"It's Hyjal!" Rexxar realised. "The Legion's assaulting the Elves' world tree!"
"It's not the east that should concern us right now, there's a more pressing threat to the north." Thrall threw Doomhammer up into the air, before catching it with his stone hand. "Lok Tar Ogar!"