Chapter 5: THE DESTINED FATE

(Disclaimer is at the prologue of this story) Story may not be accurate to that of written accounts in various sources.


Quel'Thalas-Tirisfal Border

For a couple of days, the two agents hired by the Quel'Thalas messenger have traveled far into the western area of Tirisfal Glades. Their first aim in discovering the whereabouts of the Alliance and the Horde had to start somewhere and that somewhere had to be by the coasts of Lordaeron. Nortrom had reasoned out to Rikimaru that the coasts were the best place to start.

The crisp morning air brought a strange stench to the duo's campsite. It was the smell of something decaying nearby. The smell instantly woke the resting satyr.

"Nortrom!" Rikimaru jumped out of his tent and screamed into the camp. "Nortrom!"

In the other tent, the elf stirred but was still oblivious to the deathly aroma. "Nortrom! Get up!" the satyr cried, barging into the tent and shaking him awake.

Nortrom jerked awake and the smell suddenly filled his nostrils. "Rikimaru?! What happened? What's rotting?"

"Exactly!" Rikimaru cried running outside and pinching his nose. "But I have a rough guess on what this could be."

Nortrom left the tent with his weapons on his shoulder. "What is it, then?"

Rikimaru scanned around the hill that their camp was located. The stench seemed to come from all directions. "Undead."

"Scourge?" Nortrom joined Rikimaru in his search for the armies of the dead.

"Most likely." Rikimaru squinted to see further. His head went around the camp trying to look for the source...

And there, beyond the countless tress, an icy blast erupted, a blast that can only be created by none other than a Frost Wyrm. Using a compass, Rikimaru checked the direction of that area.

"Southwest, Nortrom." Rikimaru looked up at his friend. "What do you think we should do?"

"We could go the long way round." Nortrom was rubbing his chin with his fingers as he glanced at their puny supplies. "But it might be possible to loot that place. We need more supplies if we want to reach the coast. And frankly, I got the feeling that our journey won't be over even if we get to the coast properly."

"Well, I'm game." Rikimaru said. "I also haven't had a chance to practice my spells properly since that fight at that Silvermoon tower."

Nortrom picked up his stuff. "Let's go, then."

The dense forests that bordered Quel'Thalas and Tirisfal Glades held many astounding creatures, both friendly and dangerous. It was in these places that brought back memories for Rikimaru. This was his home before they got Silvermoon. This was the pure blood satyr's realm long ago. And he can't help wondering what happened to that forsaken race. Was he the only survivor? It was hard to imagine.

Nortrom who was a city elf all his life, did not appeal with the surroundings. Every crack of a twig, every hoot of an owl made him twitchy and paranoid. He never dreamed of ever journeying like this, hidden among the trees. But this was the only way to go into enemy territory unseen, especially if your enemy was the undead.

The trip for the nearby Undead camp took nearly most of the day. It made Rikimaru worry that they would miss their chance to raid the camp because their enemies could leave at any moment.

But on their arrival, the camp was still there, filled to the brim with monsters of every kind that the Lich King could think of. The smell was more horrid than it was back on the hill. Rikimaru didn't like it. So did Nortrom.

The duo gasped at the immensity of the place. The Undead camp was a real camp with a Crypt and a Necropolis. It was busy even as the night drew nearer. Acolytes here and there were working endlessly, mending broken Meat Wagons or repairing the Crypts.

After a couple of circles around the camp, the two decided that the place was too heavily guarded. They had to break in purposefully. But that didn't mean breaking in noisily.

Rikimaru hid behind a clump of bushes waiting for an incoming necromancer. The magician didn't seem to know that they were there. That was good. When the necromancer was within range, Rikimaru used his Blink Strike, hitting the magician at the back. Normally, a planted alarm would alert for intruders but since Nortrom had his Global Silence power on, the alarm went down silently. (The alarm worked on the dying necromancer's mana pool. Upon death, it was supposed to ring but since the mana pool connection was cut off, the alarm did not go off)

"Nice job." Rikimaru whispered. "Come on."

The two went silently. They hid behind a shadow of a tent just in time before a gargoyle patrol soared overhead. That was close.

"Wait, Nortrom." Rikimaru suddenly had an idea. "Didn't you have that Edge artifact? That makes you invisible?"

"It's only temporary." Nortrom hissed back at Rikimaru. "And it requires some mana."

Rikimaru didn't know these facts. "That's too bad. Anyway, just in case we need a quick getaway, use it."

The two hurried over to another tent heading towards the outer tents. All they needed to do was to sneak in a couple of ziggurats to snatch some of the camp's supplies. For Rikimaru, this would be a piece of cake, since he had the ability to become invisible for most of the time. For Nortrom, his only edge was the Lothar's Edge and that didn't even give him permanent invisibility.

They found the perfect ziggurat somewhere near the northern side of the camp. The guards of the vicinity seemed to have taken a break. No undead was found for the meantime. It was time they took the chance.

"Don't follow me. Just cast Global Silence when you find the undead getting all active here. Then cover yourself with Lothar's Edge." Rikimaru burst out of his hiding spot and settled for invisibility. "I'll be back in a while."

Rikimaru left Nortrom and head straight for the ziggurat. The nearest Spirit Tower was no where nearby so his invisibility won't be revealed. True to his name, he stealthily trudged down the stairwell of the ziggurat. Cobwebs filled every inch of it. Behind each door, food fit for the army can be found. If there was one thing Rikimaru was glad of, it was the fact that the Undead's staple food was the cooked kind. Even if the undead feast on raw, they still had the ability to eat cooked.

Rikimaru filled his bag to the brim. So far, the coast up above was clear. He did not feel Nortrom's Global Silence. But the mission was far from over. They still had to get out of the base alive.

Rikimaru was scaling the staircase, still cloaked, when he heard the whisper of some necromancers outside the ziggurat. Rikimaru paused to listen.

"- an elf, you say?"

"I didn't know what I saw." the second necromancer whispered. "It looked like an elf but a second later, it faded away."

"You sure, you're okay?" the first necromancer laughed. "Hallucinating is the worst thing we can have during our guard shift."

"Fine, fine." the second necromancer sighed. "I'll go back to Lord Magnus to get relieved. I might've gone all hallucinating after helping excavate that artifact."

Rikimaru held his breath. The Scourge was able to excavate a magical artifact? This was serious news! If it turned out that the artifact would double the Undead's strength, it would be bad for the whole of ESU! He had to tell Nortrom of this.

Sliding out of the door as quite as possible, he head for Nortrom's hiding spot. Hopefully, the power of the Edge was not yet out. "Nortrom! You there?"

"I'm right here," Nortrom whispered back. "Did you hear about the..."

"Yes," Rikimaru interrupted. "We better get back to the woods to decide on what we'll do next."

They swiftly evaded the crowd of undead and reached a safe part of the forest. Nortrom unveiled himself. So did Rikimaru.

"I didn't know an artifact existed in this area," Rikimaru spoke up first. "I always thought artifacts existed farther south."

Nortrom's eyes grew dark. "This place holds dark magics. Our history books speak of an unknown power unsettled in Tirisfal Glades. Maybe this is what the ancestors were talking about."

"Well in any case, we have to check this development out and inform the ESU right away!" Rikimaru whispered. "For all we know, this could be a power the Undead could utilize!"

"I agree with you on that," Nortrom nodded. "Let's go."


Temporary Undead Camp, Somewhere in Silverpine Forest

Abbadon and Leshrac were having a bad time planning their trip to the ruins. There were two simple facts that hindered them from going into Lordamere lake and reaching Alterac. One, the Forsaken had heavily guarded this area with their troops since it contained the Undercity of Sylvanas Windrunner and the recently 'deceased' Varimathras. Two, going on a trip on the lake was a slow process and would increase their chance of getting caught by the Forsaken Navy. It was really difficult to plan such things when you had such pestering enemies...

But there was good news and it came from the Lich. Apparently, on the night of their departure from his temporary camp, the Forsaken leader, Sylvanas had fallen. It was even said that her son had killed her. The Forsaken really had bad family ties...

The Lich also said in his message, that the Forsaken's leadership had fallen into the hands of the traitor-son Balanar, a notably strong and unique dreadlord who wished nothing more than to return to his kind, the Nathrezim.

After much time spent on painstaking decision-making and analysis of effects each decision held, Abbadon and Leshrac had put this turn of events to their advantage.

"Bring... the messenger... in." Leshrac called through the tent canvas.

The necromancer tasked by Kel'Thuzad entered and bowed his way in.

"The Orb, messenger." Abbadon growled.

The necromancer fumbled with his robe and pulled out a glass sphere. It was the Orb used for official messenging. It could record an unlimited amount of message and could be stored for long periods until it would be revealed. The necromancer pulled it open so that the Orb could start recording.

Abbadon cleared his throat and spoke. "In the name of the King of the Lich, I bring humble greetings to you, Kel'Thuzad. You have brought me news that has helped me form a plan to execute the King's wishes. Leshrac has arranged with the King of the Lich to honor you, his friend and servant, with a gift only he can give. But for the King to fulfill his promises, you must do for us the following: The Dreadlord, Balanar will serve under us as long as we have not finished with the ruins of Alterac, then afterwards, he can have his freedom. The Dreadlord, Balanar must order his forces to surrender to the Scourge and merge the factions together. Focus, then, Kel'Thuzad, on both eastern and western borders for we have enemies to annihilate in Quel'Thalas and potential allies as well as enemies arriving from the distant lands of Kalimdor. Achieve these and you will be honored by the King of the Lich as he has not honored anyone before. In the name of the King, I bid you farewell and good luck on your endeavors. Hail the King of the Lich and may his cold blessings rain on us..."

The necromancer shut the Orb and left, bowing his way out of the tent. Abbadon looked at his companion. Things are turning out good for them...


Quel'Thalas-Tirisfal Undead Camp

The excavation site wasn't really hard to find. The Necropolis was right beside the place.

Nortrom, ever since he arrived at the camp, had felt the dark magics of the area churning through his essence. This was not good, whatever it was. Rikimaru, on the other hand, was more determined than ever. This new discovery might be the very reason for another war in Lordaeron!

The excavation site came in the form of a cave with a very eerie air in it. At the moment, the mouth of the cave was quite empty and there was no sign of undead in the area. It was too convenient for them...

"I feel bad, Rikimaru." Nortrom looked quite sick at the moment. "Could you go inside by yourself?"

Rikimaru shook his head. "You elves really have it bad for magical places, do you? Quite an irony..."

He left the elf outside and entered the cave slowly. Darkness immediately enveloped him. It was an unusual darkness, as if a fog of blackness was trying to strangle him.

Rikimaru inched forward and he suddenly remembered what Nortrom said about the dark magics of Tirisfal. The satyr stopped in his tracks. This could be one big trap. What if all those undead missing from the mouth of the cave was an omen?

Rikimaru looked back. He could not see anything at all. Everywhere, the dark fog covered him. He knew it. It was the end for him. He was driven into this cavern for the sole purpose of dying in the hands of the evil magic Nortrom had talked about.

Rikimaru closed his eyes, ready to accept death. He hoped it would be a painless death... And Rikimaru fell, down, down, down into an endless void...

Light suddenly filled Rikimaru's mind. It was unusual in all that darkness. Was he dead?

Rikimaru opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a lush garden where light flashed from an eternal sun above. It was a calming sight. It was paradise.

Somewhere nearby, he could hear someone weeping. It was a hysterical kind of weeping as if someone was close to laughing and crying at the same time. With all the light, Rikimaru couldn't really see who.

Then the weeping stopped, as if noticing Rikimaru's presence. "You must think I'm crazy."

Rikimaru still couldn't see who it was but he knew that the figure was quite huge. Nevertheless, it spoke gracefully and in a gentle way.

"If you must know, I'm on the edge of my essence," it said. "But don't listen to me..."

Rikimaru stayed silent.

"Do you know why you're here?" the figure said. "Do you know what will happen to the world of where you come from?"

Rikimaru knew nothing.

"I think not." the voice continued. "I don't know my purpose either. That makes the two of us."

Rikimaru still said nothing.

"Listen, Rikimaru," the voice hesitated, as if thinking if he would confide his secret to the satyr. "Bad things will happen to your world. I could feel it inching closer. A certain doom will fall and the whole of Azeroth will perish. I also have the feeling that I'll be involved in that mess. And..."

Rikimaru said nothing. He couldn't.

"Please, Rikimaru," the voice pleaded. "Go to Alterac Ruins... before..."

The voice began fading away. Rikimaru could not say anything. He felt his body falling fast, falling from a great height...