Civilization Within Auchindoun

Nathanos always had an excellent sense of direction; he could orient himself by the wind, vegetation, and the traces of certain creatures. However, what annoyed him was that whenever he led the way, he always felt like a pair of eyes were watching him from behind. It was now night, and the sky over Nagrand was adorned with brilliant stars. A massive planet sat among the stars, its rolling arcane energy forming a purple ribbon that danced across the sky like the Milky Way, making the scenery even more magnificent.

Traveling amidst such beautiful scenery should have been a pleasant experience, but being stared at was even more unpleasant. Finally, Nathanos couldn't help but stop and lash out at Meryl. He didn't even need to look to know that only a mage would dare to spy on him like this.

What exactly are you looking at?

As soon as he listened, Meryl followed suit, as did the other Deathstalker.

"I was just a little curious."

The Witherer narrowed his eyes. He never blamed the mage for his curiosity, even when he was young he was curious about anything he didn't know. But there was one thing Nathanos couldn't stand: others being curious about him, like Meryl was now.

"What are you curious about?"

"Xirezege," Meryl read the name.

Nathanos was puzzled. "What happened to that Dragonmaw Orc?"

"You sent a Deathstalker to follow him. Is there some other purpose behind it? Or is it that Xirezege is already dead?"

Nathanos understood the mage's words—or rather, his question. He snorted and turned away, continuing to lead the way. Two hundred meters to the right of the army, three Kodo Beasts were sleeping, emitting loud snores.

"In your eyes, am I really that cruel?" Nathanos began to answer Meryl's question after taking only a few steps.

"No, it's just that you're always meticulous in your work. Letting Xirezege leave so hastily is not in line with your style. When you suggested sending a Deathstalker to track him, I thought you were planning to get rid of him."

"There's only one thing that would make me go on a killing spree!" Nathanos turned around and rebuked, not only to Meryl but also to warn the Deathstalker, "That is, someone has exposed the existence of the Forsaken."

"Afraid of being exposed?" Meryl smiled. "Afraid of Forsaken, or afraid of being exposed yourself?"

"I'm tired of these questions of yours," Nathanos sighed, speaking his mind, then added, "Think what you want."

The two then fell silent, which suited Nathanos perfectly. He wanted to focus on finding Auchindoun, and he now believed that answering Meryl's questions would not help the future of the Forsaken.

"A vast wilderness." Nathanos stopped for the second time, recalling Xirezege's words: beyond a mountain would be a wilderness, Auchindoun lay in the middle of it. "But there's nothing there." The Witherer frowned. He saw trees, he saw mountains, but no buildings or ruins.

"No," Meryl said suddenly, stepping past Nathanos to stand a few steps ahead of the Witherer. "I sense something is wrong. Over there!" The mage pointed to the mountain in the wilderness. At first, Nathanos noticed nothing amiss, but when a ray of moonlight shone down, the Witherer's eyes widened. In the moonlight, the mountain's surface appeared silvery-white—not a visual effect, nor a magical illusion, but real, the very color of that thing.

"Looks like we've arrived!" Meryl concluded.

"You said you sensed something was wrong," Nathanos looked at him. "Did you discover anything?"

The monk closed his eyes as he answered, seemingly still listening to the voice he was talking about. "I heard painful wails and mournful howls, like music. If this were a piece of music, it would surely be a piece that makes one feel depressed."

"Is that a call? It looks like some creature inside Auchindoun is crying for help."

"That's true." Meryl nodded. "Shall we take action?"

"Of course." The Witherer addressed all the Deathstalker. "Auchindoun is over there. The Forsaken reinforcements on Azeroth are ready and waiting for us. We need to contact them as soon as possible. Otherwise, we'll have a hard time establishing ourselves in Outland. Now, let's move out of here and clear out all those who stand in our Auchindoun."

The battle began without warning. Nathanos leaped forward, his battle cry echoing through the air. He took three large strides, grabbed a bandaged man by the throat, and began to strangle him with all his might.

The Witherer blinked. He realized he was holding nothing but air. This world was truly wondrous; those bandaged figures seemed nonexistent, difficult to harm with simple physical attacks, and Meryl's magic was even more effective against them. They glowed after death, leaving nothing behind.

Besides these bandaged figures, there are also void monsters that can only be summoned by Warlock, which are similar to the Water Elemental of mages.

"The entrance is over there!"

As Nathanos brought a Voidwalker to the ground, he heard a Deathstalker's cry. He turned to look and saw a tiny, barely noticeable cave beneath Auchindoun's imposing body, making one wonder if it led directly into Auchindoun's interior. But he couldn't care less about that now.

"Meryl, come with me! Everyone else, assemble and guard the entrance!" The Witherer commanded. Upon hearing this, the mage summoned a Water Elemental to deal with the enemies entrenched around Auchindoun.

"We're not dealing with ordinary beasts, but something strange," Meryl reminded Nathanos, approaching him. Seeing the man's puzzled look, he continued, "I suspect there's something in Auchindoun that's attracting them, but they're only outside; they haven't entered Auchindoun ..."

"You suspect there are still enemies inside this cave?"

The mage nodded. Nathanos angrily looked ahead, hoping Meryl was wrong, but the opposite was true. As the Witherer reached the fork in the road, he came face to face with a terrifying figure. The other was clearly just as shocked to see him, but Nathanos didn't hesitate. Without warning, he leaped forward, knocking the figure to the ground, grabbing the man's throat, and began to strangle him with all his might. Only then did he realize that he had grabbed a demon, a Doomguard. Seeing demons in Outland wasn't unusual; he had seen many in Hellfire Citadel. But Nagrand was different. This place had fertile land, unlike anything that had been corrupted by Fel.

"It's a demon," Meryl exclaimed in surprise, but Nathanos would have preferred him to do something more substantial than his belated reaction. Just as the Witherer plunged Sulfuras into the heart of the man beneath him, another Doomguard emerged from around the corner ahead, seemingly disturbed by the commotion.

"Kill it quickly!"

Without needing a reminder, Meryl hurled a blazing fireball at the demon, sending it flying and crashing into the wall behind it.

"Look here!" Meryl exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't noticed at first; both he and Nathanos were completely absorbed by the demons. "These..."

After ensuring the demon under his control had breathed its last, the Witherer immediately went over, and what Meryl discovered shocked him just as much. It was a product of an intelligent civilization!

The walls were meticulously polished, with purple borders, and the fine lines on them were neither like waves nor regular, belonging to any race in Azeroth. The disparate styles concealed an orderly design.

"What is this?" Nathanos hadn't figured it out yet when suddenly Meryl turned around and walked toward the corner where the demon had just emerged.

"Come with me, the Witherer. I sense something."