Chapter 9

The dead of the night whispered silently upon the land of Lordaeron. Not only have trees been defiled and decayed, but now, they have also suffered the fate of being burnt to cinders. White ash filled the area where trees were crisped, but that did not stop the vile Undead from finishing their work.

"Hurry up, you mangy ghouls. The master lich wants us to finish this shipment of corpses and wood in this settlement," a sharp, impatient necromancer barked at some ghouls who were clumsily and slowly loading wood onto a meat wagon. The dead ghouls merely snarled in acknowledgement and quickened the pace, afraid of any punishment that would involve them being eaten by an abomination or worse.

The necromancer walked off to check upon the other lines of ghouls and wagons, making sure that each and every one were working on their task obediently; no one would be slacking off while he was in charge. Finally as he came upon the last line, he only observed charred wagon remains and ashes around.

Snarling in anger, he whipped back toward the ghouls and bellowed, "Who's been playing with a torch?!" Flinging his staff, he aimed at an unfortunate ghoul who shrieked; its limbs tore off of the body, as well as the head. The dismembered ghoul, or the remains of its parts, fell to the ground in a clatter of bones.

The necromancer held his staff upright again and yelled once again, "Answer me!"

A chilling voice behind him yelled, "I did…" The necromancer turned back, and was promptly reduced to a pile of ash. All the ghouls immediately began to swarm the attacker, but as they struck Ragnaros, all their hands dissolved and melted in a slick liquid. The handless ghouls staggered back as the rear ones began their assault. When all the ghouls were handless, Ragnaros, with a smile, waved his hand horizontally across them all, unleashing a wave of fire that enwrapped around the living corpses. When the smoke cleared, only black and charred bodies remained. Ragnaros laughed evilly as he raised his head into the night sky victoriously, his body of fire casting tree shadows everywhere eerily…

At the burnt village, a lich and crypt lord rushed in, examining the place. A group of necromancers and meat wagons followed them, armed and ready for battle. The creaking of the wagons echoed through the woods, as though they were in a cave. The mages' steps crunched the burnt and charred leaves scattered throughout the ground.

Finally, Kel'Thuzad spoke up in an icy tone. "It certainly looks like the work of the master fire elemental, Ragnaros. No other being can cause greater fiery devastation than him."

Anub'Arak looked around after the lich's words. "He cannot be too far ahead. These wood remains look only recently burned."

Kel'Thuzad suddenly raised his head. "I sense magic in the air…very strong magic."

Anub'Arak abruptly turned backwards and quickly shouted, "Meat wagons, move!"

A huge fireball shot toward the siege weaponry with the speed of a meteor. The projectile crashed upon the wagons with destructive force; they were destroyed, burned to a form lesser than atoms. The necromancers were incinerated from the blast; Anub'Arak and Kel'Thuzad, being the farthest ahead from the wagons, braced themselves and defended.

When the smoke cleared, Ragnaros hovered above the crash site smugly and looked around. "You puny Undead are so easy to destroy. My fire isn't even worth being spread for you useless beings!"

Kel'Thuzad immediately started conjuring his twin ice swords from the air, but there was no evaporation to form the ice due to the intense heat emanating from Ragnaros's body. Water vapor gathered near his hand, only to turn into steam after a few seconds. Muttering in anger, Kel'Thuzad held out his palm to launch a Frost Nova; the icy explosion erupted from his palm, ice shards sticking out to impale the fire elemental. Ragnaros merely smirked and waved his hand to summon his fire wave; the ice melted as it approached the wave within five feet. The lich tried to unsheathe his Blink Dagger to dodge the attack, but the fire wave suddenly increased acceleration; it struck Kel'Thuzad across the stomach area. The lich was sent flying backwards as the wave dissipated, and he landed on the ground painfully.

Ragnaros laughed loudly. "This is the power of the Undead leader on this land?"

Anub'Arak charged in behind him while extending his claws, attempting to impale him. Ragnaros, sensing the Crypt Lord coming from behind, twisted his body around. "What is it with you mindless Undead and suicide?" He laughed as he tossed a fireball at Anub'Arak. The beetle braced himself with his claws as the fireball approached; it slammed into him with amazing force, but Anub'Arak's strength was greater; he held on to the fireball, and eventually managed to stop it.

"You were saying, elemental?" Anub'Arak smirked as he struggled to hold onto the fireball. Ragnaros brought up his right metal claw, and snapped his makeshift fingers. The fireball exploded. Anub'Arak sailed backwards and landed with a crushing weight, moving no more.

"Stupid Undead…not even worth a challenge." Ragnaros looked upon the unmoving lich and crypt lord with almost a pitying look, then traipsed off, leaving trees in flames during his wake.

"We cannot go on like this! Ragnaros merely rampages around our land and destroys our supplies! We are running out of wood and gold, and something must be done." Anub'Arak said angrily and loudly. He then started pacing around the throne room of the Black Citadel, shaking his head. He and Kel'Thuzad had awoken to find themselves still alive, and even miraculously in little injuries, although they were suffering from burns.

Kel'Thuzad stood up from his throne chair and whispered, "Yes, but there is nothing that we can do. My powers of frost and ice are no match against his natural element of fire, while you cannot strike him directly unless you be injured with burns. We have no weapons or troops that can strike him without us losing something greater in return."

Anub'Arak then growled, "Then you suggest we rest here while the firelord walks around, blasting our forces into ash?"

Kel'Thuzad sat down wearily and put his head in his skeletal hand. "I do not know…I truly do not know. We are stuck in a corner."

Suddenly, a hiss rang throughout the room, followed by a snake-like voice calling out, "And so are we."