Chapter 641

Seated on a chair built from bones, Zul'jin tapped the armrest with his one remaining arm. Before him stood a troll with fiery red hair and a body of deep blue, utterly out of place among the surrounding forest trolls.

Ten years ago, Zul'jin and Gul'dan had invaded Quel'Thalas. Things had gone smoothly at first, but in the end, Anasterian had outmaneuvered them all, turning them into stepping stones to pave the way for Kael'thas. Gul'dan had been quick to flee, but the forest trolls had suffered heavy losses. Even Zul'jin himself had been captured by the High Elves in that battle. In the end, he had paid with one hand and one eye to escape them and return to the Hillsbrad Foothills.

With one hand and one eye gone, Zul'jin no longer commanded the same fear as he had in his days as Troll King. Many troll tribes that had once trembled at his feet "betrayed" him. Only after enduring countless hardships had Zul'jin reclaimed his throne, blade by blade. The throne beneath him now had been made from the skulls of the chieftains of those tribes that had "betrayed" him. It was meant to tell the world that Zul'jin's authority could not be defied.

After weathering many ups and downs, Zul'jin had gradually reined in his once volatile temper. He had changed from a raging griffin into a coiled viper, keeping his fangs hidden as he waited for the chance to strike down his enemies in a single blow. At last, after all that waiting, the opportunity had come.

Lordaeron, Stromgarde, and Alterac had all fallen beneath the Scourge's iron heel. Apart from the humans clinging to life in caves like rats, everything else—even the bones buried beneath the earth for hundreds or thousands of years—had been unearthed