Ambassadors - A novel based on Warcraft

Chapter 12 - The Polluters and the Cursed

No amount of sighs would suffice to ease Wilas' tiredness. He was sick of the war and the Legion's invasion, and he had refused to board that despicable draenei vessel to assault Argus. Why would anyone trust a machine crafted with the same technology that the Legion used? Sure, the demons empowered all their machines with fel magic, while the draenei did so with the Light. But, in the end, it was all the same: foreigners, polluting Azeroth.

There, that was it; that was what was important, truly important: Azeroth. A bunch of suicidal so-called heroes had departed following that madman Illidan and his new best friend, the draenei leader, Velen. Why Khadgar trusted those deranged characters, it was a mystery to Wilas. Maybe, after all the old man had been through, his mind had become weaker. In any case, he was certain that the Kirin Tor needed a shift in its leadership. Everyone who dwelled with foreigners ended up having the most dire of consequences. Look at Jaina Proudmoore, for instance. She had befriended that brute Thrall and her life had become an uphill battle after that.

He couldn't believe how so many native azerothian races had accepted so willingly the companionship of foreigners, or, as Wilas called them, polluters. Orcs had been the first ones to contaminate Azeroth, at the command of the Legion itself. They claimed they were free of demonic influence now, but the Archmage wasn't so convinced. Even the Trolls, one of the most ancient of the world's races, had sided with the foreigners. Amani, Gurubashi, even the Zandalari had embraced orcish help several times before all their madness with the Thunder King. And the noble Tauren too! Wilas had never enjoyed killing the mighty people of Mulgore, but they were bent on aiding the orcs. Often, he found himself thinking of all the bloodshed that could have been avoided if the orcs hadn't invaded Azeroth.

And everything worsened when the draenei arrived some years later. How foolish can someone be to welcome a bunch of outsiders who looked just like Archimonde himself! Wilas hadn't hesitated in assaulting them, but the Alliance High Command had declared the draenei as friends of Azeroth. All because of their ridiculous bond with the Light; a bond that Wilas had never believed, even for a second. All the draenei did was consume his precious world even further, igniting the spark of hatred towards the Blood Elves and the orcs. At least, this last thing made sense, but both of those races could take their ancient quarrels back to where they came from.

Fortunately, the man wasn't alone in his despise for anything foreign to Azeroth. There were others who were also against welcoming outsiders, and everything that didn't belong to their precious world. It was impossible to understand why anyone would join the Twilight's Hammer cult, a faction that not only worshiped amorphous entities from the Dark Beyond, but also was lead by an ogre. An ogre! How stupid a person had to be to follow an ogre?

"Lost on your thought, Wilas?", a voice asked at his back.

"Kurdolf, yes, yes", the man answered, greeting his dwarven friend; that one was a respectable, proud race: dwarves. Created by the Titans, stewards and protectors of the world, cursed by those maleficent Old Gods, but still hardworking and resilient.

"I came as fast as I could", the Priest explained. "Our friend, Tigrin, got delayed by a malfunction in one of her devices. She should be here any second now."

"Perfect. How is your research progressing?"

"Slow... slower than I expected" the dwarf answered with a worried face. "Both the Plague and the Curse of Undeath are forces beyond anything I've studied before. I had to study the Shadows and the Void even further, while also progressing in Necromancy and demonic energies."

"Demonic?"

"Yes. I think it's the last piece of the puzzle. I was trying to understand Black Magic, but I wasn't going anywhere; the Plague can't be reverted that easily. But then, I understood: if the Lich King was created by the Legion, then maybe there's where I have to start."