Ore

As night fell, although Nathanos could see much better in the darkness, they decided to stop. The Undead were quite certain they were near the Black Dragon's lair, so even stopping made them uneasy, and Brox felt a little uneasy as well.

"The Black Dragon couldn't possibly be alone in his lair; there are probably spies around. We must find out what's going on first."

Broxigar was somewhat reluctant, but he agreed nonetheless. The place was very deserted, with a cold wind howling through it and stones occasionally falling from the mountain; apart from that, there was almost no other sound.

Just then, a voice caught their attention; it wasn't the sound of the wind. Nathanos listened intently, and upon realizing the source of the voice, his expression turned serious. It was the voice of a living being, a voice that was somewhat comical and grating. The Undead immediately sat up, struggling to pinpoint the speaker's location.

Finally, he spotted a path a few hundred meters to the north. The sound must be coming from deep within that path. Like a cunning hunter, he silently left his original position to scout ahead, signaling the Orcs to stay put. In this unpredictable place, the sound he heard could very well have been just the wind blowing through the ancient mountains.

Just as he approached the path, the sound suddenly vanished. The Undead stopped abruptly, holding their breath in anticipation. After a short while, the chattering resumed. Nathanos finally recognized the sound, which made him proceed with even greater caution.

The Undead listened intently, trying to determine how many people were speaking. He discovered there were at most three or four. Whether this was a good thing or not, he couldn't say.

He heard other sounds. They were the sounds of digging, made by shovels.

Nathanos crept closer to where these unidentified figures were hiding. Clearly, whoever they were, they would never have expected anyone else to be there, for they were in the open, while he remained hidden.

A small patch of light illuminated the area ahead. Nathanos, hiding around a corner, stealthily peered to the other side—it was Goblins!

Compared to Elf, Goblins were short and emaciated, but possessed large heads. Aside from their sharp teeth and pointed nails, they seemed to pose no threat to him. But Nathanos knew that Goblins were a greedy race, especially when they appeared in groups.

"Not enough, far from enough!" a Goblins muttered. "Not nearly enough to forge armor!"

"The ore is all gone!" another Goblins shouted angrily. He looked almost exactly like the first Goblins, except his skin was a lighter color. He then said to another Goblins, "We must find another mine!"

The sound of mining ore came from a small tunnel on the mountain closest to the Undead. Goblins all mined from the mountains. Just then, Nathanos saw another Goblins arrive. He carried an oil lamp covered with a lampshade in one hand and dragged a sack almost as big as his body behind him. Although Goblins weren't physically imposing, they possessed considerable strength.

Unlike the other Goblins, he seemed to be in a good mood. "Found another small mine! Found even more iron ore!"

The other Goblins' eyes lit up. "Fantastic!" the first Goblins shouted. "Let's get to work, this is no easy task!"

"And there's no pay!" one of the Goblins complained, standing on tiptoe.

"Don't talk about payment with a dragon!"

Broxigar moved closer without realizing it. He really wanted to rush in, but he knew Nathanos would never allow him to act so recklessly. The Orcs stared at the Goblins. They looked like they were going to be busy for a while.

Should we avoid them?

No! Don't let a single one escape.

Nathanos made a gesture, and he saw the Orcs grin and charge out!

"Intruder! Help! Intruder!"

The shrill scream immediately turned all the Goblins' heads, followed by a scream of agony as Broxigar grabbed a Goblins's foot and twisted it downwards. Hearing the sound of bones breaking, the Orcs felt a surge of triumph.

A Goblins screamed and pounced on him, almost knocking him to the ground. The Goblins held him tightly and suddenly plunged his knife into his eye.

Broxigar struggled to deflect the blade, but then another Goblins leaped onto his shoulder. His blade grazed Broxigar's ear, and the Orcs groaned in pain. Broxigar reached down to his shoulder, ripped the Goblins off, and threw him away. The thrown Goblins screamed, and as the sound faded, the Orcs turned to the Goblins on his chest, trying to break free. The restraints quickly vanished on their own, and the Goblins crashed to the ground, an arrow lodged in his back.

Arrows flew out from behind the bushes several more times, and the Goblins let out shrill screams. One Goblins crashed into another Goblins in the distance, and they fell to the ground embracing each other; the other Goblins collapsed onto the rocks.

Nathanos emerged from the bushes, his eyes fixed on the fallen Goblins, to prevent them from feigning death and launching a sneak attack.

"They're all dead." Broxigar looked at the dead Goblins on the ground. "We wiped out all the Goblins."

"Their work was completed ahead of schedule, and they found us a shortcut to our goal."

Broxigar looked at the Undead with a puzzled expression. Nathanos told him the reason.

"They know best how to get to the black dragon's lair," Nathanos explained, reaching out to pick up the Goblins's bag, which was filled with various kinds of metal ores.

"Look at this hard ore. In Stormwind City, this kind of ore is used to build the subway tunnels."

"You mean the Goblins are also building similar facilities?"

Nathanos shook his head. "No, they just said they're forging armor." The Undead recalled his first encounter with Deathwing, the dragon whose entire body was made of steel.

"The scales on Deathwing aren't Dragons scales, but steel. I believe these ores were used to forge his armor. As that Goblins just said, don't talk about payment with a dragon. If there's one dragon in the Dragons willing to cooperate with Goblins, it's definitely Neltharion."

"So we're close to finding him."

The Undead nodded, then slowly retrieved the arrow he had just fired. The brief exchange of fire had already familiarized him with the weapon Cenarius had given him. "Let's go! Let's finish this annoying task as soon as possible and prepare to enter the black dragon's lair. I feel... I can already hear his breathing."

Broxigar prayed silently to his ancestors, then calmly followed behind Nathanos.