Burning Flame: The Weeping Naaru Wants to Go Home

Entering the Ashen Wilds was no easy task.

As an eternally unhealed wound in Revendreth's history and the place every Venthyr feared most, Sire Denathrius had clearly endowed this war-torn land, steeped in disaster, with a special meaning.

He exiled the failures cast out by Venthyr society here, and he also threw those "Oathbreakers" who disobeyed the ruler's commands or used forbidden means in their intrigues into this place to await death.

Though the Venthyr were either fighting among themselves or plotting their next internal struggle, they still had a "bottom line" for their conflicts. Once someone crossed that boundary of "fighting without breaking apart," the judgment awaiting the Oathbreakers was hardly any gentler than the fate of those who lost the struggle.

Thus, Venthyr society often existed in a bizarre superposition of "conflict and peace." It was a complicated concept that outsiders found difficult to understand.

But since the Ashen Wilds had become the Sire's private execution ground, the Venthyr naturally could not be allowed to enter at will. Spinning all manner of terrifying legends around the place while maintaining its mystery clearly helped reinforce the deterrent power of the Sire's decrees.

Putting on an act was a skill every leader had to master.

Therefore, Sire Denathrius stationed powerful giants to patrol outside the walls surrounding the Ashen Wilds, preventing those "without sin" from entering freely.

The reason sounded noble: to spare innocent souls the agony of light-burn. But if the Sire had truly been so kindhearted, he would never have ended up at such irreconcilable odds with Diakum, that "moral paragon."

"That giant should be called Stonehead, right?"

The Vigilant and Queen Azshara dismounted outside the gates of the Ashen Wilds. He watched from afar as the hulking, simple-minded giant guarding the entrance stood with its eyes wide