Cooperation Between Mortal Enemies
As Sylvanas approached, the hills grew taller and more precipitous, eventually forming the first mountain range. Finally, the Female Elf's gaze settled on a particularly striking peak. Despite some hesitation, she decided to investigate.
"Oh, beautiful Elf lady."
"Who?" Sylvanas looked behind her, initially thinking it was a human speaking, but she quickly realized it wasn't. The Ranger lowered her gaze slightly. Falstad stood proudly behind a bush. The Dwarf's eyes gleamed, he grinned, and a massive warhammer hung behind him.
"It's you!" Sylvanas squinted at him. "You've been following me, Lord Falstad?"
"Following? No, no, no." Falstad shook his head, his words clearly hesitant. "I just happened to see your Dragonhawk lingering not far away, and then I came here... well, I was looking for you, but I absolutely did not mean to follow you, although your charm is in no way inferior to your sister's."
"Looking for me?" Sylvanas looked at him strangely, not bothering to criticize the Dwarf's particular opinion of her; what she cared about was Falstad's purpose in coming here. "What do you want with me?"
"Of course I'll go with you to rescue Nathanos." The Dwarf grinned sheepishly, the word "lie" practically written all over his face.
The Female Elf had no time for riddles; she skillfully drew her bow and aimed it at Falstad.
"Wait..." The Dwarf took a step back. Although he could easily dodge Sylvanas's attack, he didn't want the Female Elf to misunderstand. Seeing that the Female Elf was about to let go, Falstad immediately shouted, "Stop hiding, you damned mage! Come out and explain things to this Elf lady!"
"Hmm?" Sylvanas immediately turned to the side and aimed the arrow in another direction. There was a magical scent in the air, which did not escape her sense of smell.
Rhonin's figure appeared intermittently before him until it became completely solidified.
"How dare you show your face in front of me, mage?" Sylvanas glared at Rhonin.
"Please let me explain." The mage placed his hands in front of him, hoping the Female Elf would give him a chance to explain. This was important to him; whether for completing his mission or for some other purpose, he needed Falstad and Sylvanas's help.
Grim Batol
Nathanos ate the food Grot had brought him very quickly.
"So, you became a chef?"
The Orcs snorted coldly, leaning against the wall and turning his head to the side. This treatment was an insult to him! Yes, that's right, an insult. Ever since he returned to the Dragonmaw Clan and reported his defeat to Zuluhed, Grot had assumed death awaited him. He had thought for a long time that running away was better than admitting it, but he never expected the Dragonmaw Clan chieftain to mock him in such a way. He had lost his status as Dragon Knight, and Zuluhed had even personally placed a human chef's hat on his head, warning him not to take it off even when he slept.
Grot's dignity was taken aback; he was assigned to the kitchen, to act as a "nanny" for the other Orcs and the Red Dragon. This subjected him to no shortage of ridicule and sarcasm from the other Orcs. He had had enough, but had no choice but to endure it.
Nathanos burst into laughter upon hearing his explanation, trying to control his voice so that the other Orcs wouldn't discover that two races who considered each other mortal enemies were actually chatting happily, which would be detrimental to both him and Grot.
"It sounds like everything you're going through right now is thanks to me. If I hadn't defeated you, you might still be a Dragon Knight."
"And then be defeated by someone else like you?"
The Orcs' reaction surprised Nathanos. To be honest, when Nathanos saw Grot bring him food, he thought he was there to torture him or poison the food, but Grot did not.
Aren't you angry? I made you lose everything.
"At least you didn't kill me or mistreat me. Although you are my enemy, you didn't treat a prisoner of war like Ner'zhul did," Grot explained.
"Ner'zhul?" Nathanos seemed to recall hearing Grot mention him once, but back then their positions were reversed. "How did he treat prisoners?"
"Huh? You're trying to get information out of me again."
"No, I just want to know what I'm going to face next."
Grot blinked, then he understood. "Don't worry, he won't do anything to you, at least not now."
Nathanos was somewhat puzzled, but he roughly guessed what was going on. "If the Queen of Dragons's belly doesn't show any signs of pregnancy, will he throw me into the Red Dragon's feeding trough?"
The Orcs nodded, surprised that Nathanos already knew about Ner'zhul's little scheme.
"Looks like I'm not going to die anytime soon." The human smiled bitterly.
Grot scratched his neck with his left hand, glanced at Nathanos, then turned his head and glanced at him again, seemingly gathering his courage to say something to Nathanos.
"What is your purpose here?" Grot asked, genuinely puzzled as to why Nathanos had been captured, and more importantly, captured alive. He had personally witnessed Nathanos being dragged into prison by several Orcs. Normally, Grim Batol almost never took prisoners, as the Dragonmaw Clan always sent Dragon Knight. Who could survive the flames and then raise their hands in surrender? There was only one possibility: Nathanos himself had come to the Dragonmaw Clan territory.
"I didn't want to come, but something unexpected happened."
Grot nodded, then looked around before crouching down and asking Nathanos, "Are you here to deal with the Dragonmaw Clan?"
"I didn't think about it at first, but now I have to." The human smiled and drank the last drop from the water pouch.
"I can help you!"
Nathanos suddenly widened his eyes and almost sprayed water on Grot's face.
"What did you say?"
"Shh!" Grot gestured for Nathanos to lower his voice, then continued, "I can help you. You must be wondering why, right? Let me tell you, I hate the Dragonmaw Clan right now, because..."
The sound of flowing liquid came from the left wall of the prison. Humans and Orcs turned simultaneously, and a dark purple portal appeared above. As Nathanos had expected, it was Prysto who emerged, or more accurately, Deathwing.
"You seem to be doing well." Deathwing pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve and covered his mouth and nose. The air in the prison was dry. Nathanos found it strange that someone like him would have the same bad habits as those nobles.
Deathwing glanced at Grot with disdain, and the Orcs a chill run down his spine and wisely withdrew.
"What are you up to?"
"Just checking to see if my puppet is still intact." He smiled, treating Nathanos like a toy.
The humans, bewildered, sat silently on the ground.
"You'll be able to leave this cage soon, don't ask me when. I'm just waiting for some friends, some old friends!" Deathwing laughed, looking confident of victory.
Grot did not leave, but instead produced a bottle of fine ale from somewhere and carefully handed it to the suddenly appearing "human," seemingly trying to please Deathwing.
"Take that thing away!" The black dragon frowned terrifyingly, glaring at the Orcs.
Grot was startled and stepped back. Deathwing calmed himself and turned to Nathanos.
"Remember what I said."
After a long while, Grot wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to Nathanos. "Do you see now? The Dragonmaw Clan is in this guy's hands. He can completely ignore Zuluhed and Ner'zhul, swaggering around talking to you, a human, like this. And our chieftain, and that pathetic Warlock, are nothing but his dogs."
"When did he appear?" Nathanos asked.
Grot shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is that Zuluhed and Ner'zhul obey him completely. Our fate is no longer in our own hands!"
"Why are you so sure I can help your people regain their freedom?"
"Why?" Grot looked at him strangely and replied, "Because you're here, and you also want to escape. We...we can cooperate!"
"Trade your freedom for my freedom?" Nathanos stroked his chin with amusement.
"No! It's the freedom of the entire Dragonmaw Clan that will be exchanged for your freedom!"
"Interesting, okay, I agree. But we need to prepare."