One Wave Unsettled, Another Rises

Archimonde hadn't been lying. The broken sword in his hand really was Gorehowl, Sargeras's weapon. During the War of the Ancients, a mysterious Orc had held Sargeras up. By the time Sargeras dealt with him, the portal was nearly closed. Sargeras, of course, couldn't simply stand by, so he raised his hand and hurled his sword through. Unfortunately, even Gorehowl couldn't stop the portal from closing—and it happened to land in the hands of Archimonde, who had been dragged into the portal.♬💢 💘♧

Because of his injuries, Archimonde couldn't wield it, so he had kept Gorehowl's aura suppressed. Now, by drawing on Nordrassil's power, he had managed to unleash a fraction of the sword's strength and hold on until this moment.

That was right: Archimonde didn't have much time left. Kil'jaeden had used him, leaving him helpless to withstand the explosion of the wisps. Then, when the blast reached Nordrassil, the tree's power had struck back against him. Without Gorehowl, Archimonde would already have crumbled to ash like the other demons.

Now that Gorehowl had been awakened, Kil'jaeden would surely sense it. That was why Archimonde had to hand over the sword: to give Kil'jaeden a reason he couldn't resist coming for it.

"What's the matter? None of you dare take it? Were you cowards the ones who defeated me?!"

After thinking it over for a long while, Cenarius was about to use his thorns to draw the broken sword toward him when a figure beat him to it, snatching the sword from Archimonde's hand.

"Hmph! What use is this broken sword?!"

The one who had snatched it was none other than Illidan. He couldn't stand being called a coward by his enemy. But after picking up the broken sword, he found it was no use at all. It was