Nineteenth chapter

Exen’tor opened the door at the end of the hall.
A lone suicidal troll charged at the duo n bloody rage.
Afterwards it was difficult to see whether it had been scorched or frozen to death.
Behind the carved stone door lay the once great city of zul’gurub.

They both gasped, the beauty and Excellency of the city’s former past was obvious.
The towers they had seen were even more magnificent within the city, somehow bearing a thunderous and magnificent aura of what mortals can accomplish by putting their minds to it.
Littered around the city were ruins. Big, small, half torn and the rare half standing houses made the destruction here so evident it was overwhelming.

Made of white marvelstone the buildings would not have been easy to break and bore witness to the awesome power of whatever it was that destroyed them.
The only parts of the city were five temples with standing walks connecting each other,
But despite the magnificence of the ruins or even the thundering towers nothing compared to the main temple sitting on a high plateau surrounded by a gaping ravine.

So big it seemed to be able to reach the end of the sky, so wide that one of the wall appeared to be falling of the plateau and intow the bottomless ravine and so obviously infected with cruelty and evil that the duo felt a sudden lapse in their hearts by just looking at it.
The city was also filled with trolls.

Finally noticing the patrolling guards they looked for a hiding place.
the corridor had been a part of a massive, ruined, gatehouse and had multiple doors on the sides.
Only one however seemed to be open and properly useable. They ran through the door into the cooled off room.
None of the patrols no more than hundred meters away from them paid them any heed.
They just walked their routes and looked blankly forward as if some how controlled.
Mizra panted when inside.

„You aint got the stamina you used to have ehh?“ Exen’tor taunted.
She looked at him threatingly: „shut it I just feel emptied out somehow.“
Exen’tor stretched out with a smile on his face:„ funny I feel energetic as ever.“
Again she looked at him with an evil eye but said nothing.

Then they heard rumbling from the inside of a door that led inside the gatehouse. Something was walking towards them.
From the noise it made Exen’tor guessed it had to be an ogre. Yet it was swearing in a much more sophisticated nature, although not sophisticated enough to be written here.
Crates were kicked at, the creature seemed to fall down more than a couple of times, and most of the time it seemed to hit whatever lay in its path proclaiming that he was better than the rest of them.
Finally it seemed to quite literally hit the door. After yet another swearing the door was broken down and out came Ankthar in his elven form.

He was lying on the newly destroyed door, looking quite destroyed himself.
He looked up with a swollen right eye and said:„ heh I knew you couldn’t handle yourself without my guidance.“
Exen’tor smiled and raised the Dwelf up. He stood a bit wobbly on his feet but he stood. Until a panther came and jumped on his back.
After taking Ankthar down the panther proceeded into washing himself as if completely oblivious to the fact that he was sitting on someone.
Exen’tor muttered a few words of power, but was abruptly stopped by Ankthar.

„Stop! that’s my new pet!“
Exen’tor passed with his hand stretched out near the cats head.
„Pet?“
„yep, we did leave my good and trustworthy elfbred wolf in the plaguelands so I just thought it would be allright to get a new one. I call him hvenfifa.“
The cat begans licking exen’tors hand.
„Hvenfifa? Maybe you do deserve to have him on your back, what kind of a name is that?well it’s a, very…, you know ,elven and exotic name, it’s a great name that exceeds all lesser ones!…. i´m sorry i´m being really elvish today“
Exen’tor laughed for a while at the dwelfs struggling, and then grabbed his hand and raised him up. The cat wasn’t happy but relented and took off from Ankthars back..
„Now tell us what happened will ya,“ he said with a smile.

Ankthar told them about his battle with arlokk’s poison and panthers, how he had barely defeated him and how he had found a connection with the panther he now called hvenfifa.
„Now hold on“ mizra stated with her hands held up in front of her.
„What connection? That … thing was about to rip off your head off , what kind of connection can you get from that?“
Ankthar looked proudly to the roof:.„ There are things in nature that cant be explained!“
For a second there was silence everyone waiting for each others pun.
Exen’tor broke the silence: „How did you live all that by the way?
Oh well I just happened to find two healing potions near hvenfifar, quite the lucky break I must say.“
„You just happened to find healing potions near the panther?“
„Yep that about sums it up.“
„don’t you think that’s pretty strange?“
„I see your point. She must be a lucky panther.“
„that’s…. not… my..“
mizra interrupted with a careful voice,„But you are still pretty bruised up.“
„Well healing potions can’t be expected to do the full trick. Keep me out of any melee attacks and I should be all right.“
Exen’tor looked at Ankthar then looked at Mizra and then back at Ankthar.
„Ankthar do me a favor?„
„Sure what?„
„Touch Mizra for a second.„
„ Do the what now?! They both sung in unison.“
„Its an experiment.“
Ankthar shrugged, stretched out his left hand and took hold of mizra’s right breast.

For the second time there was utter silence in the room.
Mizra punched Ankthar in the left eye and screamed at him: „PERVERT!“
Exen’tor shocked as he was turned the other way and looked hard pressed by thoughts.
„Interesting“ he said, it now had „completely reversed effects.“
Mizra hit the back of his head in a furious rage,„ don’t make assumptions like that!“
A deep sound of thunder broke this relaxation of theirs.

They all looked at the wall facing the direction it seemed to have come.
„What the hell was that?“ Ankthar asked in hope someone had heartwarming answer.
A second thunder this time much more powerful followed by a warcry from the trolls in the ruins.
„Whatever it is I don’t think it will mean anything good for us.“ Exen’tor replied.


Sworddevil paced around in the temple. normally undead warriors had the patience of glaciers but he was different from most normal undead.
He had retained his individuality and personality, and he never had had any patience.
Not before death and certainly not after.

Sira’dreth had passed out about ten minutes ago ,Sworddevil wasn’t surprised, most victims succumbed to the pain instantly.
Still he liked the screams of pain and sorrow, they were somehow…uplifting.
Sworddevil wondered how he would capture the rest of the blood elves they would without doubt try to save this one but they couldn’t really succeed.
Then where would they go? Kalimdor? Sworddevil had some accomplices there.
Maybe he could…

His thoughts on the matter were abruptly interrupted by the coming of hakkar and gehennas.
Hakkar said with his irritating snaky voice,„
Ssssshut it down, we will sssssacrificsse her right now.“
„What but its not night yet“ sworddevil retorted and reached for his sword knowing where this was going.
„Merssely a formality wess only waited for youssss and nowss we can wait no moress.“
„What. why?“
„The othersss have come“
„Others? what others?“
„The other blood elvess of coursse.“
„What they’re here? Then send in your best men and get them.“
„Wess already did.we ssssent three of our priests“
„And?“
„They’rss dead.“

Swordevil was indeed quite shocked. He knew the gatekeepers were powerful, but to defeat three high priests was no small feat, he wasn’t sure wether he could take one on himself.
Hakkar began moving towards mizra.
Wess have no choicsse but to sssssummon our father to make ssssure wess are able to dosss it allss.“

Sworddevil drew his sword and stopped hakkar.
You will do no such thing until she has completed the transformation, I don’t know or care what you intend to do with her after we have used her, but we had a deal. And you just don’t simply break a deal with the lich king that easily. Stop that transformation and these hills will be swarming with undead by the end of the night.“
“Ssstupid fool. If sssstop that transssformation by the end of the night no army of any kind could helpss youss.„
Sworddevil dead eyes narrowed.
„You’ll have to go through me!“
„Not a problem. Gehennasss!“

Gehenneas disappeared from the floor ina blast of fire and appeared behind sworddevil ready to bit his head off with his fangs.
Sworddevil then showed an incredible skill by turning around in the blink of an eye and slashed gehennas chest wide open.
Gehennas cocky face turnedto despair as he saw his own intestines lie still warm on the floor.
„You take me for a fool?“sworddevil said with a smile and thrust his sword behind directly into the blood gods chest.
„Well yesss I do.“
Sworddevil tried to pull the sword back but it was stuck in hakkars body.
He turned back only to see hakkars „face“ smiling and his „hand“ coming towards him.