Mother

The humans retreated? Nathanos's smoldering, crimson eyes stared intently at the scene below. A powerful mage in the human camp had teleported away all the surviving soldiers.

"They could hold out a little longer," he told Medivh. But the Guardian seemed to be thinking about something else, his eyes also fixed on the ground, though Nathanos knew his thoughts were elsewhere.

'Is there anything else besides this war that could possibly capture his attention?'

"Hmm? You seemed to be calling me just now."

It took Medivh a long time to recover.

"It's nothing, the humans have already evacuated."

Nathanos stated the facts once more, but the Guardians understood a different meaning.

"I saw it. They stalled for enough time, in fact, even longer than expected. Jaina has accomplished her mission."

Jaina, Daughter of the Sea, the apple of Kul Tiras' eye. Although this girl's identity was still fresh in Nathanos's mind, no matter what title she had, it did not affect Nathanos's question about her—why didn't she take his mother with her?

Mother! The word was once so dear, but now for Nathanos it is a dark cloud that will never dissipate and a nightmare that will never go away.

But I won't dream anymore. He thought to himself, trying to numb himself.

"We should go too. Archimonde's defeat is a foregone conclusion," Medivh suddenly said.

"Leave?" Nathanos looked at him in surprise. This mage had told him countless times how important this battle was, but now, the war had only just begun, and he actually wanted to leave.

"Archimonde hasn't failed yet, at least not yet, we haven't witnessed his failure. Besides... where are we going?"

"The Burning Legion is no longer a problem." Medivh smiled confidently, and most importantly, Nathanos had never seen him so relaxed. The responsibilities of the Guardians were unknown, but the weight of those three words was not something ordinary people could bear. Since Medivh could make such a statement now, then...

Nathanos took a deep breath, glancing down at Jaina's camp one last time. The demons and Undead hordes had surged in, their fury and bloodlust vented only on the abandoned buildings. Jaina and her human forces would likely never return. He longed to find the mage, but his current state was too shameful to be seen.

All of this will take time...

"You still haven't told me where we're going?"

"I want to show you around this continent." Medivh's ambiguous reply only made Nathanos more confused, thinking that he might be deliberately using this excuse to go somewhere else.

Nathanos was about to refuse, but Medivh added, "There are many places on the Kalimdor that you haven't been to yet, and they are worth seeing. I believe this will be of great help to you in the future."

"This sounds like a trap." Nathanos stroked his chin, wondering why Medivh wanted to take him somewhere without telling him directly, and what his purpose was in beating around the bush.

The Guardian's face appeared calm; Nathanos could hardly see any extra expression and could not guess his thoughts.

What a cunning mage...

He said he would take him to see other parts of the continent? There shouldn't be any place on Kalimdor that he disliked or feared. After thinking it over, Nathanos nodded in agreement.

"Very good, let's go."

Medivh's smile seemed malicious, Nathanos swore to himself that this trip would definitely not be simple!

In fact, he guessed correctly, but also not accurately.

This is not a trap, Undead! This is merely a trial before you set out to test yourself.

Medivh took him to a place far, far away from the battlefield. Since arriving in Kalimdor, Nathanos had only encountered two types of environments—dry wastelands and humid rainforests. Now, he was witnessing a third—swamps!

"This place must be thousands of miles away from Mount Hyjal, I'm sure of it! Why did you bring me here?" Nathanos said, the sickly trees around him swaying in menacing poses. Most importantly, the bark of these trees wasn't a healthy brown, but a grayish-white, like his skin. The leaves weren't his preferred green either, but a dark brown. This place reminded Nathanos of Karazhan, a place he'd heard had been plunged into darkness by some kind of magic cast by Medivh.

Interestingly, the guardian was now right beside him. Nathanos couldn't help but suspect that the appearance of this forest was also the mage's "masterpiece."

"This place is called Dusty Swamp, Nathanos." Medivh looked around, as if trying to determine his location.

"I care more about why you brought me here than the name of this place."

"You're really in a hurry. It seems you're still thinking about the Battle of Mount Hyjal."

"Don't you care?" Nathanos retorted.

Medivh hesitated for a moment. "What's meant to happen will happen. The Burning Legion can't change history." He sighed and continued answering the question Nathanos had just pressed him with. "You asked me why I brought you here, right? Because an old friend of mine lives here in seclusion."

"You have an old friend here?" Nathanos asked, quite surprised. "Are you kidding me? Life here isn't easy. There are claw marks on the bank of that pond; those are crocodile tracks. The spiderwebs on these trees look incredibly resilient, with feathers on them, meaning even a bird couldn't escape them. This reminds me of the giant spiders in the forests of the Stormwind Kingdom. And this..." He touched a scratch on a tree. "This wasn't made with a dagger or any force. I can find some fur in these marks; that's from some kind of animal, though I don't know what it is. Tell me, Medivh." Nathanos turned to the Guardian. "Even Ranger would have a hard time surviving in a place like this, so how could your old friend be living in seclusion here?"

"Brilliant analysis." The mage under the black feather cloak continued to applaud. "You have almost summarized all the threats in this place. But in addition to crocodiles, spiders, and Wind Serpent you don't recognize, an Ogre clan from Old Horde also lives here, as well as a black dragon that strikes fear into the hearts of all."

"Ogre and dragons?" Nathanos had considered that this place might be extremely dangerous, but he never imagined it would be this dangerous. It seemed that Medivh had also indirectly told him that his old friend was no ordinary person.

"In that case, go find your so-called old friends. I don't want to stay here any longer."

"Relax, Nathanos. She's not far from us."

The two ventured deeper into the woods and soon reached a river. On the opposite bank, a small wooden house stood out conspicuously, and besides the house, there were also fields! It was simply unbelievable.

The Guardian, not wanting his shoes to get wet, used Blink to teleport directly outside. Nathanos, puzzled, leaped across the river and appeared behind Medivh before he could even knock on the door.

What kind of people can live here so casually?

Medivh knocked three times, and the door creaked open. They were greeted by an old woman with a wrinkled face and white hair. The room was dark, and in the darkness, her eyes had a ghostly blue hue. Nathanos immediately thought of Arthas! Her skin tone, due to visual illusion, appeared the same as his and that fallen Prince's.

She is an Undead!

The Undead behind Medivh asserted, but the next second he felt it didn't seem so!

Her hair was mixed with barely perceptible gray and black, naturally whitened, without the baptism of death that would have stained it with the color of ashes.

Nathanos was thankful he had managed to control his shock; he had mistaken Medivh's old friend for a monster like himself. He almost cried out. That would have been incredibly rude.

"Mother."

What?! Nathanos's cold face could no longer conceal his emotions. He froze, watching the two embrace, thinking he had misheard! What had Medivh just called this old woman?

"My son, you've returned?" The old woman's tone was more questioning than joyful, as if she thought Medivh shouldn't have returned at this time, since he should be focused on fighting the Burning Legion.

"Yes, Mother. I sense your presence on this continent. Rest assured, the Burning Legion is about to be defeated. The entire world will be reborn from the flames."

"That's good!" The old woman nodded, only then noticing that Medivh had brought a stranger, and an Undead at that. However, she didn't show fear or hostility, but instead said gently, "I can sense this is a tormented soul, child. Who is he?"

Medivh then turned to the still-astonished Nathanos and introduced him, "His name is Nathanos, Mother. I brought him here. This is my mother, the former Guardian Aegwynn."

Nathanos didn't care who she was; in fact, he had thought of that too. But what he cared more about was why Medivh had brought him here to witness his reunion with his mother, and why Medivh hadn't mentioned his surname— Marius —when introducing himself earlier.

Does he think I'm not worthy of this surname?

Nathanos felt a moment of disorientation. Mother, Mother! He clenched his fists.

"It's...a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Aegwynn." His voice trembled, just like his heart.

Aegwynn approached him, completely unconcerned about Nathanos potentially attacking. She glanced at him, their eyes meeting at close range, and exclaimed, "You... exactly the same?"