Andy glared at Larsen for a long while before finally saying, "I want to know why. Don't you understand that unless we figure out why this Fel has appeared, our rear lines will never be safe? Are you really going to put your stupid taboo ahead of the safety of the Elf Race?"
"You don't know. You don't know anything!" Larsen roared, his face twisted with fury. "Those Naga are High Elves who sank beneath the sea and changed. In their eyes, ordinary Elves are nothing but trash, a bunch of pathetic weaklings!"
"So you're afraid of them!" Andy sneered inwardly, giving Larsen a mocking look.
Larsen's eyes narrowed. "What did you say? I'm afraid? Do you really think I'd be afraid? I'm the best scout captain in the Sentinel Unit. I've patrolled the borders of Elf territory alone, and I've faced down thousands of Tauren by myself, trading insults with them. I've charged into battle against hundreds of Naga. You think I'm afraid? You still refuse to admit you don't know anything! Don't you know that any Dark Elf who enters that altar beneath the depths gradually loses their strength, until they're helpless and at their enemies' mercy?"
Andy was taken aback. Larsen seemed narrow-minded, but he'd apparently had his moments of bravery. Andy couldn't help admiring the Elf who was always at odds with him. If it had been Andy, he wouldn't have dared trade insults with thousands of Tauren—not even one or two. Back in his old life, his knees would have been knocking together.
Andy pondered for a moment, his expression softening slightly. "I really did overlook that. In that case, I'll go by myself."
"You, kid—you really don't know what's good for you!" Larsen was so angry he could have slapped Andy. Though he wished Andy would drop dead every day, so he wouldn't have to compete with him for Hilar, Andy was still an Elf, just like him. He couldn't stand by and watch him walk to his death.
"Just tell me exactly where the depths are. Don't worry about anything else. I have a plan," Andy said firmly. He was absolutely confident, too. No one else knew, but he knew himself all too well. Others saw an Elf; Andy knew he was merely a person from another world with an Elf's appearance. He had none of an Elf's natural talents. Of course, he also lacked all the weaknesses Elves were born with.
"You!" Larsen's face twitched. He stared at Andy for a long moment, then finally sighed. "Follow this path all the way. There's an entrance on a cliff near the shore. Go in there, and you'll reach the Naga altar."
Andy nodded and checked his weapons. "You can just wait for me in Maestra. I'm only going to take a look. I won't pick a fight with those monsters. If things get dangerous, I'll run at once!"
Larsen rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Go on, then. I hope you die in there!" He couldn't understand where the kid got the confidence to go somewhere even he wouldn't dare.
Andy glanced at Larsen, smiled, then turned and headed in the direction he'd pointed out.
"Come on, let's go back!" Larsen couldn't even be bothered to look after him. He turned and started back.
"Captain, are we really just going to leave him?" asked Mata, one of the Warriors.
"What else can we do? Go keep him company?" Larsen said. "You all saw it. He wouldn't listen. If he dies, it's his own fault!"
"But it still doesn't feel right," Mata said.
"Are you all going to keep this up? If you're not leaving, I'm going by myself." With that, Larsen really did leave.
As for Andy, he followed Larsen's directions alone for most of the day. At last, when he heard the waves crashing against the rocks, he spotted the cave entrance high above the rocks. A faint mist hung around it, tinged with a dim red hue.
Andy climbed the rocks and stood before the entrance. The pitch-black opening looked like the gaping maw of a giant beast, ready to swallow anyone who approached. A cold wind blew, making Andy shiver. He tugged his worn-out robe tighter around himself, took the bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and stepped inside.
Andy didn't notice that, shortly after he entered the cave and just before he reached a bend, a faint red light suddenly glimmered at the entrance. A trace of bloodshed seemed to drift through the air.
Beneath the depths, at the altar.
"Master, a little Elf has broken in." A male Naga stood before him, six arms hanging at his sides, one of them clutching a great cleaver.
The master nodded without speaking. He silently watched Andy continue deeper into the cave through a magical mirror.
If Orgrim had been there, he would have been astonished. The master was clearly Agmar, the Orc Warlock who wore a necklace of heads. No one knew how Agmar had subdued the Naga here or how he communicated with them. He ordered, "Make some arrangements. Give him a taste of what we can do!"
The male Naga nodded and left. A short while later, he returned to stand behind Agmar, silently watching the images in the mirror.
In the pitch-black cave, Andy groped his way forward. "Elf, could you turn on a light?"
"You have skills of your own. Why come asking me? Can't you let me get some rest?" the Monster Spirit complained.
"You're an auxiliary system. Why would you need to rest?" Andy chuckled. "That flare skill still needs magic, doesn't it? Don't I need you to help me with that?"
The Monster Spirit grumbled under its breath. Andy suddenly raised his hand, and a spark sprang from his fingertips, shooting straight into the darkness ahead. It grew brighter and larger as it flew. By the time it landed, the flare lit up nearly thirty meters of the cave in front of Andy.
Andy continued deeper into the cave, firing off flares one after another. More than half an hour later, a faint glow appeared around a bend. He crept closer and saw torches spaced along both sides of the cave wall. Judging by the temperature, he figured he was already fifty meters underground. It was a wonder the air still circulated; otherwise, he would have suffocated before ever seeing a monster.
Andy had gone another twenty or thirty meters when the Monster Spirit suddenly shouted inside his head, "Andy, get out of the way!" The instant it warned him, he heard something whistle through the air. Andy quickly ducked into a corner. An arrow struck the cave wall with a shower of sparks.
"Damn it, who's attacking me?" Andy muttered. He strained to listen for any movement ahead. From somewhere not far down the cave, he heard a faint rustling.
Without hesitation, Andy thrust out his hand and loosed an arrow from his bow. It streaked away, glowing green.
"Yow!" A shriek rang out from ahead. Andy was secretly pleased. Even if he hadn't killed his opponent, he'd at least wounded them. But his good mood didn't last long. The stone wall behind him suddenly clanged with the impacts of arrows. Andy pressed himself into the corner, ducking his head to keep a ricochet from hitting him.
"I'd get out of here if I were you," the Monster Spirit said. "There are too many of them."
Andy cautiously peeked out. The cave walls were dappled with the shadows of a large group, and the rustling was now constant. A fishy, salty smell seemed to hang in the air.
One look was enough to make Andy's scalp prickle. He'd thought he'd been careful. How had they found him? He hesitated, then turned and ran back the way he'd come. The dark depths consisted of a sloping tunnel. He'd been going downhill on the way in, but now he was running uphill, which slowed him considerably.
Andy had just rounded a bend when the cave wall behind him rang with another series of clanging impacts, followed by the Naga's garbled cries. He glanced back and immediately broke into a cold sweat. A burly male Naga was chasing him, holding a spear high above his head.
Andy wished he'd been born with two more legs, but he couldn't move any faster uphill. He had no idea how these monsters, with their snake-like lower bodies, could slither so quickly up the slope. Just as the Naga's spear was about to pierce him, a gleaming arrow shot into its body. The Naga roared, then collapsed limply to the ground.
Andy didn't have time to think about it. He ran for the exit as fast as he could.
"It's you!" Andy exclaimed, surprised to see Larsen with his bow drawn.
"Save it. Let's get out first!" Larsen jerked his head toward the exit. "I can feel my strength draining away. We can't stay here long."
Taking advantage of the opening, Andy fired an arrow behind him. He didn't know whether it hit anything. Then he turned and ran with Larsen, keeping pace until they burst out of the cave. Outside, the sky was dim. The clouds had gathered while they were inside, and it looked like rain was coming.
Andy saw the others waiting outside the cave with their bows drawn. As soon as he and Larsen were clear of the entrance, several arrows shot into the darkness. A chorus of piercing shrieks immediately rang out from inside.
"What a bunch of useless fools!" The male Naga standing behind Agmar cursed under his breath and turned to leave. "I'll kill them myself!"
After the Naga had left, Agmar snapped his fingers. Several figures emerged from the shadows of the cave. "Brother, should we go too?" one of them asked.
Agmar nodded. "This fool Baisting might not be able to handle those few. We can't let those long-eared bastards find out about our plan ahead of time, or all our efforts will be wasted!"
The others all nodded. Agmar formed a hand seal and murmured a spell. Green flames sprang up, and their figures vanished from the cave.
"Move! There'll definitely be more Naga coming after us!" Andy shouted as he ran.
Andy hardly needed to tell them. The others had already put away their bows and were sprinting away. As for how Larsen had ended up there, it was all thanks to Mata, the Elf Warrior. After Andy left, Larsen really hadn't wanted to get involved again. He'd headed back to camp alone. But Mata had wanted to help Andy from the start. In the end, he convinced the other Warriors to head in Andy's direction, leaving Larsen with one last argument: if they returned without Andy, the High Priest might get angry.
Larsen thought the kid had a point. Tyrande had personally instructed them to keep Andy at the forward camp as an advisor. If he died or went missing after coming out on a mission with Larsen, the High Priest would have every reason to blame him. The problem was that everyone knew Andy and Larsen didn't get along!
Whatever his reasons, Andy felt touched that Larsen and the others had come to rescue him. For a moment, he thought Larsen wasn't as bad as he'd imagined—just annoying at worst. His constant hostility probably had some reason behind it. Andy needed to find a time to sit down and have a serious talk with Larsen.
"You won't get away!" A roar came from the cave behind them, so loud that everyone's ears rang.
Andy glanced back. An even more powerful male Naga had burst from the cave. Andy figured he was probably the only one who could understand what it had said, thanks to his built-in translator. To Larsen and the others, it sounded like nothing but a strange roar.
The group ignored the Naga and kept running. Suddenly, the air ahead of them rippled, and a blazing green flame flared overhead. Andy and the others stared in shock, wondering if the powerful Naga knew magic.
That idea lasted less than two seconds before Andy abandoned it completely. Naga were still simple-minded brutes. The ones who had conjured the green flames were several Orcs standing in front of them: four wore black hoods that hid their faces, while the last wore a necklace of heads. It was Agmar!
"Orcs!" Andy's heart lurched. The Naga corpse had been imbued with Fel power, and now everything made sense. But what were Orcs doing here? Andy looked at Larsen, who was staring at the scene in shock, just as unsure what to do.
"You think you can get away after running into me?" Agmar sneered, unaware that the Elves couldn't understand him at all.
"Who are you?" Andy blurted out. His voice startled Larsen so badly he nearly fell over. Andy's words had come out in the same strange growling language as the Orc's.
"Oh? Little one, you can understand me—and speak our language?" Agmar was startled, too.
"I don't care how you got here. You'd better leave, or we won't go easy on you!" Andy was bluffing shamelessly. They'd just been chased like a pack of dogs by a group of Naga.
"Heh. We were just a few people short." Agmar turned to the four behind him. "Capture them. When Lord Gul'dan arrives, he'll preside over the ritual himself!"
Gul'dan! Andy was drenched in cold sweat. Gul'dan was here too!
Had Orgrim's earlier landing and assault been part of a conspiracy?
Before you continue