Volunteer

The first guest arrived at the Tower of Observation prison. When the Orcs captured by Nathanos groggily awoke, the darkness almost made him think he had gone blind. He struggled to sit up, groping his way around to make sure he was unharmed except for slightly wet trousers. He let out a long sigh of relief. Through the dim flames of the prison, the Orcs saw two soldiers standing at the left corner of the cell. He realized he was a prisoner. How would humans treat him? A chill ran down his spine.

Nathanos entered the prison, exchanged glances with the soldiers, and then approached the Orcs. The orc recognized his face immediately. "It's you?"

"I was worried you wouldn't speak human language! It seems I was overthinking it," he said, holding up a cloth bundle for the Orcs to see.

"It's my medicine bag."

Nathanos nodded and then asked, "I saved you. What's your name?"

"Rogue," the Orcs replied, glancing again at the somewhat damaged medicine bag. "Rogue, the field medic, is just a doctor. I didn't attack any of your people."

Nathanos put down what he was holding. "Answer my question, and you will live."

"When I leave?"

The human shook his head, and Rogue's gaze lowered slightly. "Ask away."

"Your skin color is very special. I've hardly seen any brown-skinned Orcs in the Horde. And what's surprising is that your eyes haven't turned red. Is this what you Orcs originally looked like?" Nathanos asked slowly, leaning against a wall.

Upon hearing his question, Rogue slumped to the ground as if deflated, his eyes filled with sorrow, and he sighed silently. "Yes, I... I didn't drink that stuff, and I didn't participate in the war between the Horde and this world, I..."

"Stop!" Nathanos interrupted him, walking closer to Rogue and crouching down to face him at eye level. At this distance, Rogue could easily grab Nathanos by the neck, but Nathanos could also subdue him, and he believed Rogue was powerless to resist.

"You're saying you didn't participate in the war between the Horde and the Alliance?"

Rogue nodded.

"So, you came into this world later?"

"I only arrived here a month ago."

Nathanos frowned. "How did you get here again? Tell me everything you know!"

"Ner'zhul?" Khadgar asked, frowning.

"That's what the Orcs called their new leader. He also said that Ner'zhul opened a rift in spacetime around the Dark Portal, teleporting the Orcs back to this world. And Ner'zhul promised them all that he would open more worlds. It seems they've decided to abandon Azeroth, and all their recent actions here are for that purpose."

"Other...worlds?" Turalyon's voice was weak with shock. "Azeroth and Draenor ...are not the only worlds?" He looked at Nathanos, struggling to say something. "Worlds...are not just our worlds. Endless worlds, countless innocent people will suffer because of them... May the Holy Light redeem us."

"Are you alright?" Khadgar asked Turalyon with concern.

The other person shook his head; he just wanted some peace and quiet.

"This is insane! There are thousands of them," Danas pointed out, clearly questioning the results of Nathanos's interrogation. "I can understand a few hundred people being transported through a small rift, but..."

"It's entirely possible," Nathanos explained. "I heard from that Orcs named Rogue that Ner'zhul was Gul'dan's mentor. Since Gul'dan was able to open the Dark Portal, Ner'zhul should be able to as well, or rather, he received some help that allowed him to bring a large number of Orcs through that tiny crack."

"That's not without reason," Khadgar said, but what he was truly worried about was the Eye of Dalaran the Horde had stolen and the Medivh's Book that was still missing.

A dark shadow swept across the sun, then dispersed into several winged figures that swirled and flew towards the group. These figures were not as slender as dragons; they were wider and stronger, and comparatively smaller. They were covered in brown fur, with white and gold feathers.

"Kurdran, what have you found?" Khadgar asked. Kurdran Wildhammer, leader of the Wildhammer Dwarf, sat atop his Gryphon.

"Bad news," the Dwarf admitted, lowering his Sky'ree to the ground. The enormous beast landed gracefully with a raven-like cry. It flapped its wings one last time before the Dwarf leaped down.

"We found dragons, not red ones, but black ones, and they were transporting a lot of goods, several cartloads in total. It's clear that these are things they value, even though we don't know what they are."

Khadgar cautioned, "Perhaps it contains the Eye of Dalaran, or some treasure they stole from elsewhere."

Danas thought for a moment, "If that's the case, wouldn't that be good news? Maybe those Orcs won't invade here anymore. Aren't they going to other worlds?"

"What about the other worlds?" Turalyon suddenly shouted. Everyone looked at him strangely. Nathanos felt a pang of anxiety. The Paladin seemed to have made a decision in his heart!

"We need to stop them," Turalyon said resolutely. "We cannot allow other innocent worlds to suffer...disaster. It will end here, right here in Azeroth. Others should not suffer like we have. The Holy Light shines on other worlds besides ours, and now it needs our help. We will certainly lend a hand."

Kurdran and Danas exchanged a shocked glance. Nathanos was extremely disappointed by his words and found it unbelievable that Turalyon would actually dare to say such a thing.

Khadgar heard a murmur of complaint coming from Turalyon's soldiers. Turalyon frowned; he had clearly heard it too.

"If you have something to say, say it clearly," he commanded. The soldiers who had been talking just moments before exchanged glances. One soldier stepped forward.

"Sir...why can't we just let them leave like this? If they have other worlds to conquer, maybe they'll just leave and stop bothering us."

"Even though things may be as simple as you say, we can't let that happen. Don't you understand? We need to stop them. We can't sacrifice more innocent lives to save our own world," Turalyon said.

"Then sacrifice ourselves?" Turalyon turned and glared at Nathanos, who had uttered those words, while Nathanos stared back at him with the same look.

"Do you know what you're saying? Are you planning to bring everyone to danger? Are you planning to invade Draenor?" Nathanos questioned three times in a row.

"I know perfectly well, I heard the instructions of the Holy Light!"

"So you are the spokesperson for the Holy Light?"

Turalyon's face turned deathly pale. He couldn't answer such a tricky question, but he suddenly said, "They do want to go to other worlds, but can we guarantee they won't come back again? Once they've looted enough, what can stop them from returning here, from returning to Azeroth?" Clearly, this had some effect, and some soldiers had already begun to whisper among themselves.

"What will we do when Horde Orcs grow to be several times larger than Orgrim's Horde and can open up access to Azeroth from anywhere?"

Nathanos grabbed his collar in excitement!

"Nathanos!"

"Let him go! Are you crazy?"

Khadgar and Danas immediately stopped him.

"Turalyon!" he said warningly. "Listen to me, I don't care what you do, but please don't force those who have risked their lives for you!" Nathanos released him and turned to leave.

Turalyon roughly straightened his clothes. He had never felt so helpless. He needed someone to trust him. Khadgar had been able to before, but what about Kurdran and Danas?

"Young man, are you really sure you want to do this?" Kurdran asked in a low voice. Turalyon. The Dwarf remained silent in the face of this harsh reality.

"So what do you plan to do?" Turalyon asked Kurdran.

The Dwarf glanced at the Gryphon feeding not far behind him. "You know, Turalyon 'Aerie Peak has had very little contact with humans. We deal with the most primitive inhabitants of nature, and we don't know how to speak properly, so humans and Elf alike think we're no different from barbarians. As a result, even though we joined forces to defeat Orgrim, we couldn't earn the respect we deserved!"

The Alliance commander nodded, acknowledging that the Wildhammer Dwarf' voices carried little weight within the Alliance, and they were often excluded from important decisions, a fact that Turalyon had always felt guilty about.

"So... you?"

"We have to do something worthwhile, don't we?" the Dwarf suddenly burst into laughter. "To change how others perceive you, you must first convince them of your actions. I think this is an opportunity!"

"What?" Turalyon looked at him in surprise, but Kurdran just smiled at him, and in an instant, Turalyon felt a sense of trust.

"Just as Nathanos said, we cannot force our soldiers!" Danas also stepped forward. "Only volunteers can participate in this operation! If you really want to do this, General Turalyon, I will be the first to follow you!"

Turalyon patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you. I think the King need to know about this first, and we need some time!"

Kurdran nodded and said to his companions, "Get moving, lads! That way the Gryphon will have dinner." The Dwarf nodded, bowed to Turalyon, boarded their Gryphon, and took to the air. Turalyon turned to his friends.

"Now," he said somberly, "We must prepare ourselves, gather those who share our Will, and prepare to leave our world."