Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Deathwing found himself lost in memories as he examined the weapon that had recently been hung on the walls of his manor.

The masterfully crafted greatsword was covered in potent elvish enchantments that he was unable to recognize. It was also thoroughly imbued with Void magic, which wasnt a surprise given where it had been for the past few millennia. Deathwing couldnt help but wonder how the sword came to be buried in the brain of the being he had been looking for, but he supposed it didnt matter in the end.

Despite being an immensely powerful weapon, it wasnt the greatsword itself that filled Deathwing with nostalgia. No, the fact that he had taken it from the Tomb of Tyr was the true reason for that. It had been a long time since he had last thought of the person responsible for convincing the Titans to empower him and his siblings. He could remember a time when he had once looked up to Tyr with nothing but reverence and admiration, but such memories were tainted by the knowledge that Tyr was responsible for the suffocating burden that had set Deathwing on his path.

It's their fault. Theyre the ones who placed such a burden on you. We freed you from the Titans chains.

As had long become habit, Deathwing forced away any thoughts of his life before he had surrendered himself to his current masters and focused on more recent matters.

When his masters had first whispered to him the location of the tomb so that he could resurrect one of the creatures that had killed Tyr, Deathwing had expected it to be a relatively simple matter.

Of course, as one of the nine constructs who the Titans had empowered and given orders to watch over Azeroth in their stead, Tyr was an enormously powerful being and his tomb had once possessed defenses worthy of a being that many mortals had once worshiped as a god.

In fact, the tomb seals and wards were very familiar though he didnt bother looking deep into those memories.

However, those defenses had degraded significantly over the long years and the only thing left had been a few powerful wards and an Order of mortals who had been entirely unprepared to defend themselves against a being like Deathwing.

Despite this, the entire affair had been far more tedious than he had expected. The humans had been studying Tyrs hammer, The Silver Hand, and had become annoyingly proficient in wielding the Light as a result. It would have been simple to slaughter them all if he used either his true form or the Void, but matters would have become greatly complicated if his efforts were discovered.

Deathwing didnt want his siblings to know what he had done until it was already too late.

It had taken him some time, but he had eventually succeeded in sneaking his way into the portion of the tomb holding the creature, pulling the greatsword from its skull, and sealing the tombs exit as it slowly returned to life. The few remaining mortals who managed to survive the subsequent slaughter had hidden themselves behind an immensely powerful ward that was not only tied to their life energy but also empowered by Tyrs hammer.

Deathwing could almost admire their ability to survive against such overwhelming power, but he knew that they were just delaying the inevitable. Once the creature returned to its full power, there would be nowhere left for them to hide.nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.

He looked forward to finally being able to access both Tyrs corpse and his weapon.

Resurrecting him was probably impossible given his nature as a constructed being and the hammer would probably fight him every step of the way if he tried to use it, but Deathwing was certain he could find a use for the contents of the tomb.

Perhaps Ill hang that damned hammer on my wall as well, Deathwing thought with dark amusement. Only after corrupting it, of course. Id love to be able to see the look on Tyrs face after seeing his precious weapon being corrupted by the Void.

Of course, the greatest prize of his little expedition was the being that he had brought back to life. The creature would be fully capable of keeping the Dragon Soul completely and utterly safe from the other Aspects, especially in their weakened states.

If it had only taken two of the creatures to slay Tyr, arguably the greatest warrior to have ever served the Titans and empowered by Aggramar himself, then what hope did his siblings have?

The only thing that was left for Deathwing to do was to wait for it to fully recover from its wounds, and then there would be nothing on Azeroth able to stop him.

Just as he was feeling satisfied with his future plans, Deathwing's eyes widened with shock and he looked up as a brilliant beam of arcane energy instantly tore apart his wards and slammed into his body. The attack completely obliterated his manor and left behind a path of devastation as it carved a furrow in the earth.

The beam finally ended once it pushed Deathwing into a crater in the nearby woods.

That actually hurt, Deathwing thought with a hint of surprise. How long has it been since someone actually managed to cause me pain? Although I have a feeling about whos responsible.

Neltharion! an angry and very familiar voice roared out in pure hatred, confirming his suspicion.

So theyve come.

Deathwing let loose a roar of his own as he abandoned his mortal visage and willed the earth away from him. He exploded out of the crater in his full glory and glared at those foolish enough to face him.

Flying high above and glaring at him with expressions ranging from grim determination to sheer hatred were his siblings.

His foolish sisters had both arrived with their consorts, but it seemed like his brothers had come alone. Nozdormus mates were likely tending to his duties in his stead, but Malygos was almost certainly alone for an entirely different reason.

What a pleasant reunion. I admit, Im surprised that youre all so willing to face me, especially with your consorts at your sides, sisters, said Deathwing, letting out a sadistic chuckle. I didnt expect to see you alone, Malygos. I could have sworn that I left one or two of your consorts alive, no? Did you leave them behind out of fear that I would kill them as well, or did they simply lose interest in you while you were wallowing around uselessly for the past ten millennia?

Unfortunately, Malygos didnt charge at him in an insane rage as Deathwing had expected. He instead simply glared at him with murderous intent before speaking softly with his voice filled with utter loathing, Today is the day that you die, Neltharion. Im going to capture the memory of your life leaving your eyes and treasure it dearly.

And how exactly am I going to die, brother? Deathwing called out mockingly. Even with your combined might, you all have little hope of defeating me in your current state. It was clever of you to ambush me away from the Dragon Soul, but it wont be very long before my servants bring it here and youre all brought under my power.

Much to his surprise, his siblings failed to respond to his taunts, causing Deathwing to suddenly become suspicious and attempt to contact his daughter Onyxia through the Void. The destruction of the wards around his manor should have already triggered a magical alarm to notify her of the situation. His children and that ogre should be on their way with the Dragon Soul.

When the spell completely failed to make contact with Onyxia, Deathwing let out a growl of frustration, What have you done?

You always did forget, brother, that you werent always the smartest being in the room. Nobody is going to interrupt us, Neltharion, said Nozdormu, his voice as annoyingly calm as ever.

Deathwing didnt have the time to respond as his siblings and their mates lost interest in the conversation and went on the attack.

At Yseras command, massive roots from every tree in his vicinity simultaneously emerged from the earth and wrapped themselves around his wings and body, holding him in place. Alexstrasza descended from the sky and smashed into his trapped body like a meteorite, and he immediately began wrestling with her with claws, fangs, and fire.

Deathwing called on his command over the earth and slammed his tail into the ground with all of his strength. The effect was catastrophic as the earth for a mile around shook with his fury and every tree in the forest was instantly destroyed and uprooted; most importantly the shaking threw off Alexstrasza. He attempted to use his geomancy to knock the relatively weak consorts out of the sky with massive boulders, but Nozdormu used his magic to slow the boulders down and they were easily dodged.

Malygos attempted to skewer him by launching a barrage of enormous ice spikes down on him, but Deathwing merely created a large stone barrier between him and his brother before smashing his tail into Alexstraszas side and sending her flying away.

Incoming!

Krivax had to pull his attention away from the attacking team once Ansirem yelled out in warning as a veritable tide of pale orcs, a few two-headed ogres, and many of the strange Void-mutated dwarves charged at them from every direction. The Dread Stalkers had already taken a defensive formation around the entrance to the tunnel with their spears out while the Krivax and the mages began casting their spells.

A vast array of fire, ice, and arcane spells flew from their position and painted the battlefield in gore. His alchemically enhanced sense of perception allowed Krivax to see in great detail as one of his own bolts of ice pierced through the chest of a charging orc. The battle continued in this fashion for several minutes with the Horde force struggling to advance against a line of elite nerubian warriors and several extremely powerful mages. One of the Viziers even used his geomancy to create a spiked trench around their position that slowly started to be filled with corpses.

Despite taking such severe losses, the Twilight Hammer Clan was utterly relentless and didnt hesitate to step over the corpses of their comrades to get to them. At one point, several of the orcs managed to get close to their flanks and Krivax promptly created an ice barrier around himself and turned the ground in front of the Dread Stalkers into mud. Masruk in front of him used the opportunity to impale one of the creatures on the end of his spear with a quick thrust.

Krivax lost himself to the tide of battle as everyone around him frantically killed as much of the enemy forces as possible. Unfortunately, their endurance was not inexhaustible, and it was quickly becoming clear that the Horde had more than enough forces to bury them under a mountain of corpses.

Krivax found himself pulled out of his strange trance by the voice of Ansirem as he shouted over the chaos, Magister Rommath, we need some space!

The elvish mage responded by stepping back from the chaos of the battle so that he could begin casting a spell. Around ten seconds later, Krivax was forced to look away as a massive pillar of fire erupted from just outside their perimeter and bathed the enemy forces in flames.

Rommath was quickly caught by one of the Dread Stalkers as he started to collapse to the ground from mana exhaustion.

Well done, Magister, Ansirem shouted over the sounds of screaming orcs. Im sure we dont have much longer before they resume their assault. Do everything that you can to preserve your strength and start preparing for a fighting retreat into the tunnels. Well still need to last for a while longer until Crinis is able to open the portal and we can receive reinforcements.

The groups mood seemed to lift at the reminder that there was a light at the end of the tunnel and everyone quickly began making preparations. Krivax retrieved a healing potion from his spatial bag and poured some of it on a minor wound on his leg that hed gotten from one of the pale orcs. He checked up on Masruk and was relieved to see that in spite of the nicks on his armor, he had not suffered any significant injuries.

Archmage Modera, I think youd be better off helping Vizier Hadix retrieve the Dragon Soul, Ansirem said to his colleague. We need to secure it and bring it to the portal as quickly as possible. With the advantage of the tunnels, Im confident that well be able to hold out without you.

Modera nodded and set off for Hadix and Chogall without another word, summoning a deluge of water elementals that quickly began sweeping away any enemy in her path.

Soon after that, the Horde forces managed to regroup and resumed their ferocious attack. The group continued to kill wave after wave as they slowly retreated toward the tunnel entrance. Once it became clear that they couldnt hold any longer, Ansirem ordered them to fully retreat and Archmage Karlain threw a flask at the tunnel entrance that exploded into violet fire that streamed toward any living creature that drew close.

Im starting to get way too used to the smell of cooking orcs, Krivax thought as he descended the tunnels, feeling slightly nauseous.

Hadix teleported out of the way as the Void-corrupted abomination attempted to cave in his skull with its huge hammer. The Void's interference made it slightly difficult to cast spatial magic, but Hadix was more than accustomed to dealing with such inconveniences.

As soon as he was out of the way, Hadix activated the spell that he had left behind, causing a spike of earth to erupt from the ground and lift the creature into the air as it was impaled. Hadix didnt let his guard down for a moment, as he knew how difficult it was to kill anything that had been so thoroughly infused with the Void.

His assumptions were proved accurate as it promptly smashed through the pillar in its stomach with its weapon and threw a stream of shadowy flame in Hadixs direction that splashed against his already prepared shield.

Hmm. Its even stronger than I had expected, Hadix mused to himself as he watched the creatures wound heal itself before turning his attention to the Dragon Soul hanging from its armor. Completing this mission is going to be difficult

While it seemed like his allies were fairly successful in distracting their designated enemies, none of them would be able to provide aid any time soon. Thankfully, the fight between Anubrekhan and the largest dragon was causing so much destruction that most of the enemy forces decided to focus on the other groups, which meant that the abomination wouldnt be receiving any aid either.

Why do you fight me, nerubian? I can feel the presence of the Old Ones within you! You should be helping me in carrying out their will, said the abomination through its twin mouths, pulling Hadix out of his thoughts with its insane ramblings.

Your actions are futile. Only through serving us can you protect your people from what is prophesied to come.

With practiced ease, Hadix fortified his mind with magical defenses and pushed the whispers away.

Your masters offer nothing that I want, you ignorant fool, said Hadix, deciding to indulge the creature while he considered his next course of action. The Old Gods want nothing more than to bring death and destruction to everything that they touch. The creatures are akin to parasites that serve no greater purpose other than to be a blight on the world.

How am I the fool when youre the one who fights uselessly against the inevitable, Chogall snarled in anger as his second head babbled incoherently. I know youve felt their power! Do you really believe that this world has any hope of standing against them?!

Perhaps we dont, Hadix calmly admitted. But I have every intention of fighting your masters to my last breath, and I know that Im not the only one.

Seeing his chance, Hadix instantly cast a spell that caused the earth to rise from underneath the creature and clutch onto his legs. It was only a moment later that a streak of arcane energy smashed into the Dragon Soul from the creatures flank, breaking the piece of armor it was attached to just enough to and sending it flying away.

Hadix released the geomantic spell holding the ogre in place as a tide of water collided with the creature and swept it away from the Dragon Soul. By the time he finished running over to the artifact and picking it up off the ground, Archmage Modera had already emerged from her invisibility spell and was standing by his side.

So, this is what the fate of the world rests on then? Malygos had already shown us what it looks like, but I still cant help but feel a tad bit disappointed.

As much as he might wish otherwise, Hadix found himself agreeing. The Dragon Soul looked like nothing more than a flat golden disk connected to a golden chain, which was hardly what one would expect from such a powerful artifact. It was only his magical senses that revealed the object to be anything more than it looked, as Hadix could sense ancient and powerful magic radiating from the artifact in his hands.

And what exactly were you hoping to accomplish with that?! the abomination growled out as it shuffled towards the two of them. Neither one of you could ever hope to damage the masters artifact, nor will you be taking it away from here alive!

The creature had seemingly given up any hope of recruiting him and channeled its foul magic into the ground, causing a writhing forest of tentacles to rise all around them. Hadix quickly took in his surroundings and realized that there was no path of escape, and the dense layer of Void energies was making it impossible for him to teleport away.

This isnt good, muttered Archmage Modera, her face filled with determination as she called her water elementals back to her side

No, it definitely isnt, said Hadix, throwing a massive ball of fire in the abominations direction as he prepared to fight for his life.

Several miles west of Capital City, the surface of the lake commonly known as Tirisfal Lake began to violently ripple, the waves growing larger and larger. The waters of the lake slowly began to turn as dark as the night sky as a shadowy body within the lake emerged from its depths.

Soon, a monstrous figure that hadnt been seen since ancient times broke the surface of the water, causing water to cascade over its body as it stood to its full height. The trees near the lake started to decay and rot and the earth churned as corrosive blood dripped from its various wounds and congealed into small horrors that immediately began attacking the local wildlife.

The beast, taller and bulkier than a hill, looked as if someone had placed the face of an octopus onto a humanoid crab, but even this bare description could not truly encapsulate the horrid evil being inimical to all life not of the Void.

The creature waved its facial tentacles in the air and sniffed out a great gathering of mortals to the east. The earth shuddered as it took the first steps out of the lake and toward its target.

Soon all will be one with the Void, it rumbled in a tone that promised nothing but madness and destruction to all.