When Dick had read this part of the story in his previous life, he had been puzzled. Given Kel'Thuzad's strength at the time of his death, how could having his body burned to ashes have left him unable to preserve even his soul?
Now the mystery had been solved. Arthas had destroyed Kel'Thuzad's body, but his soul was still active in another body. Barring any accidents, it looked as though he could live for a long time yet.
But understanding this did little to help Dick's current predicament.
After crying that day, Jaina had matured considerably overnight. She no longer hurled insults at Dick, but had adopted an even worse approach: ignoring him.
Fortunately, Dick had no time to concern himself with the Young Lady's thoughts either. It was already the afternoon of the third day since they had set out under the stars, and they had now reached Agamand Mills.
Before Kel'Thuzad, Dick, and Jaina, whose hands and feet were bound with Anti-Magic Shackles, arrived, the Cursed Cultists sent ahead had slaughtered everyone in this thriving mill. Sitting in a room reeking of blood, Jaina remained expressionless, while Dick stared at the blood-spattered wooden door, his thoughts unknown.
Kel'Thuzad sat at the head of the room, listening to the reports of three cultists kneeling on one knee before him, their bodies entirely wrapped in black robes.
"As you commanded, my lord, we hired ten of the best local hunters to investigate that isolated valley. Only three returned, but they all saw the building that had collapsed at the bottom of the lake. From their descriptions, it should be the target you are looking for."
The cultists' report was detailed, but Kel'Thuzad remained silent in thought. A few minutes later, he spoke.
"Is it dangerous there? Why did only three return?"
The three cultists exchanged glances. Finally, the highest-ranking one answered.
"Dangerous... not exactly. There are no wild beasts or treacherous places there, but it is very strange. According to the three survivors, anyone who approaches the lake becomes confused and goes mad. Seven hunters died fighting one another. Only the three who stayed away from the lakeshore survived."
At this, Kel'Thuzad's brow furrowed even deeper. He waved a hand, and all the cultists present respectfully withdrew from the room, leaving only him, Dick, and Jaina.
"Little rat, you said you had seen the artifact with your own eyes. Then tell me, why didn't you go mad?"
Dick turned his head and tilted it.
"Simple. I covered my ears, closed my eyes, and stayed inside for less than three hours."
Faced with this nonsensical answer, Kel'Thuzad snorted and reached his left hand toward the bewildered Jaina. She had no idea what Kel'Thuzad and Dick were talking about, with all this mention of an artifact.
But the next moment, Jaina felt a powerful force of arcane power clamp around her neck and slowly lift her by it. In just two seconds, she was hanging in midair. She struggled, then heard Dick sigh.
"Put her down! Can't we talk this out?"
This man's insane! How dare he speak to Kel'Thuzad like that?
Three enormous question marks flashed through Jaina's mind as she neared suffocation. Yet the next moment, the pull of Kel'Thuzad's arcane power actually eased, and he finally set her on the ground.
Jaina sat in her chair, gulping down air. She gave Dick an incredulous look. He was lounging in his chair, dealing with Kel'Thuzad with an air of indifference. For a moment, even her extraordinarily clever mind could not figure out how this damned turn of events had come about.
"Very good. I prefer calm conversation too."
Kel'Thuzad's voice was filled with a chill. He had defied the Lich King's orders.
Coming to Tirisfal without permission was already an almost unforgivable sin, so he had little patience left for playing these childish games with Dick. Fortunately, he knew how to make Dick comply.
"That was a battlefield between the Guardians and the Old Gods' forces. The Faceless Ones inherited the evil power of the Old Gods. They died there, but the corruption they left behind remains. There, everything your eyes see is an illusion, and everything your ears hear is a demonic sound. Fall asleep there, and your soul will be eroded by the most primal evil in this world. Do you understand now, Mr. Archmage?"
Although Dick's final form of address was steeped in mockery, Kel'Thuzad rationally refrained from arguing this time.
The Old Gods, ancient gods, were monsters formed from Azeroth's most primordial evil. Kel'Thuzad, who had explored many ruins on his travels, did know this much.
But clever as he was, he would not fully believe Dick's words. After thinking for a few minutes, he pointed at Jaina.
"Tonight, we head into the mountains. She comes with us!"
Dick nodded impassively. He stood, stretched, and yawned.
He walked toward the door, but as he stepped outside, his foot slipped, sending him sprawling awkwardly to the ground. Had he not caught hold of the door lock, the fall would probably have been enough to leave his head split and bleeding.
Grayson was a seasoned human warrior.
This profession was not particularly rare even in the Cult of the Damned, whose members were mostly cursed mages.
But Grayson was an exception, because Kel'Thuzad was very pleased with him. Though he himself did not know why, that did not stop him from accepting the envious looks of others.
He was a man of few words. Unless necessary, he never dealt with others or wasted a word. Everyone guessed this was why Kel'Thuzad trusted him.
Grayson had another role: guarding the important prisoner, Jaina. As such, he stayed beside that simple little tent almost all day long.
Evil though the cursed mages were, they still needed food and rest. Especially after Kel'Thuzad announced that they would depart that night, most of them, apart from the necessary guards, chose to get a good sleep before nightfall to replenish their strength.
Grayson intended to do the same. But just as he carried his plate toward a nearby haystack, planning to rest after eating, someone in a black hood approached him head-on, his face covered and his head lowered. Such attire was perfectly normal in the Cult of the Damned, so Grayson paid him no attention.
But with his head down and no regard for where he was going, the man walked straight into Grayson. Not only did he spill the vegetable soup, he also knocked open the bundle set to one side, scattering its contents over the ground. He himself tripped over the bundle and fell awkwardly to the ground.
Storage bags were still relatively rare among Azeroth's mages at the time. They only became widespread after the fall of the Quel'Thalas Empire, when High Elf magical tailors who fled to various countries introduced them to the human world. Thus, all of Grayson's possessions were packed into a bundle.
Grayson had no intention of losing his temper, because the clumsy fellow had an excellent attitude. He kept apologizing and even helped gather the scattered belongings, before finally bowing and hurrying away.
Grayson gave the strange fellow a puzzled look, but thought little more of it. Those who accompanied Kel'Thuzad had little contact with the cultists stationed in Tirisfal, so he could not recognize everyone at this base.
Puzzled though he was, Grayson was a meticulous man. Before eating, he deliberately checked his bundle: dagger, grappling hook, leather pouch, changes of clothes, a key engraved with fel runes, and bottles of poison and healing medicine.
Hmm, good. Nothing missing!
Grayson nodded in satisfaction, carefully folded up the bundle, slung it back onto his back, and began wolfing down his now-cold meal.
However, the loyal Grayson did not notice that the "fel runes" engraved on that similarly shaped key seemed a little more "complicated."
But that was hardly surprising. He was only a warrior, after all.
Grayson slept wonderfully. When night fell, he rolled up from his rough bedding, quickly straightened his appearance, then entered the tent beside him and escorted the cold-faced Jaina outside.
Escorted was perhaps too strong a word; he merely stood guard beside her. Although Kel'Thuzad loathed Jaina and Antonidas, his worldview did not allow him to tolerate the humiliation of a noble mage, even an enemy mage. As for the cultists who followed him, in Kel'Thuzad's eyes, they were still far from being true mages.
Thanks to this peculiar attitude, the Young Lady's life as a prisoner was not actually too terrible.
Agamand Mills was already quite close to the Nameless Valley. Under the local cultists' guidance, after just three hours of walking, they saw the valley entrance hidden within a gorge. In truth, without Dick's description, even the finest local hunter could never have found this entrance.
It was too well hidden. The entrances on either side of the gorge allowed only one person through at a time, and the passage was dozens of meters long. Without passing through it, there was no way to see the entrance.
In fact, the game had described this as well. Had Deathwing not shattered the World Pillar, damaging the ground in certain places, this mysterious valley would have remained hidden among the ancient mountains. Even so, players still needed the guidance of the first king of the human world's soul to discover this mysterious hidden place.
"I'm curious. How did you find this place back then? Are all soldiers of the Lordaeron Empire such insatiably curious monsters?"
After safely passing through the gorge, Kel'Thuzad seemed to be in a rather good mood, even taking the initiative to joke with Dick. Dick looked back at the dark cultists emerging one after another from the narrow, slit-like passage, talking and laughing. His face was impassive, and he seemed to be in a terrible mood. At Kel'Thuzad's question, he said nothing, merely shaking his head.
"Something's wrong!"
Kel'Thuzad suddenly turned to look at the forest-green valley before him with a strange expression. He closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings.
"There really is something strange about this place. Even I didn't notice. It's actually influencing my emotions!"
A chill ran down Dick's back. Fortunately, something else had drawn Kel'Thuzad's attention. Dick immediately realized that this was also an opportunity!
He suddenly seized the cold-faced Jaina's arm, roughly pulled her into his embrace, and brutally kissed her lips, even prying her teeth apart with his tongue. Born a princess, the Young Lady had spent the first twenty-two years of her life in Dalaran. When had she ever experienced anything like this? Instinctively, she tried to resist.
Then she felt something cold touch her tongue.
The Young Lady's eyes widened at that moment.