The Opening Act [Daily 10,000, Please Subscribe]

"The queen said she would not interfere in mortal wars. There was nothing she could do about An'qiraj."

At the joint meeting the next day, however, Krasus stated that the Dragon Race would not intervene. It was entirely up to the mortals.

Varian laughed in anger. "What kind of mortal war is this supposed to be?"

Malfurion said, "The situation now is that the Dragon Race will no longer concern themselves with An'qiraj. We must strike first, open The Scarab Wall, and launch an attack on An'qiraj before they do."

Saurfang asked, "What if we open The Scarab Wall and the insects inside all come pouring out? What if we can't hold them back?"

Fandral Staghelm said, "We will do what we can. If we cannot hold them back, there are still the Aspect Dragons. During the War of the Shifting Sands, we Night Elves stood alone at first as well. The dragons only joined later."

Deren raised his hand, indicating that he had something to say. Malfurion recognized him; he had seen him at Illidan's wedding. He nodded. "What does this advisor wish to say?"

Deren asked, "How are we going to open The Scarab Wall?" This was the real Azeroth. He truly wanted to know how opening the gates of An'qiraj differed from the game—whether they would need to gather an astronomical amount of supplies and scour the world for fragments of the Scepter of the Shifting Sands before putting it back together.

Fandral's face darkened. He said awkwardly, "Opening The Scarab Wall requires an artifact."

Deren did not let him off. "And where is this artifact?"

"The artifact is..." Staghelm could not continue. After The Scarab Wall had been completed, the Bronze Dragon Anachronos had given him the key to opening it—the Scepter of the Shifting Sands.