Vereesa took the gem, and it gave off a faint glow. She fell silent for a moment, but then nothing happened. She looked at the dwarf, puzzlement in her eyes. "Is this thing broken?"
Lom asked, "Did he say anything to you?"
Vereesa's voice was full of confusion. "He seems to be speaking to me through Telepathy. I answered him the same way, but he didn't respond."
"You have to speak to the pendant! Then he'll hear your voice on his end. It's the same when he talks to you," the dwarf explained. "I don't know why it's like that either, but that's how it works..."
Vereesa turned her gaze back to the pendant and asked softly, "Who are you?"
Watching a conversation in which he could hear only one side, Aaron suddenly felt that this probably counted as Azeroth's version of a telephone. Judging by what Vereesa said, the person on the other end was likely Krasus, who had sent Rhonin out—that pitiful member of the Red Dragonflight who had racked his brains trying to save his wife.
"Aaron, Mr. Krasus would like a word with you." Vereesa finished her conversation with Krasus. It sounded as though the elven ranger had made up her mind to rescue Rhonin, and the thought left Aaron feeling a little sour. He took the pendant and said casually, "What do you want to tell me, Archmage Krasus?"
Krasus hesitated, but still said, "Sir Paladin, I'm very glad you're willing to rescue Rhonin."
"No, I'm not glad. It's entirely your fault Rhonin was taken by Deathwing. You shouldn't have chosen him." Recalling the dangers along the way, Aaron could not help feeling some anger toward the Red Dragonflight. "You should have sought out the other Dragon Aspects, rather than sending a poor mage all the way here, Your Highness the royal consort."
"How do you know..." Krasus sounded somewhat panicked.
Aaron asked in surprise, "Shouldn't I know? All right, Mr. Krasus, just pretend I never said that. Before we go rescue Rhonin, are you still unwilling to explain your plan in detail?"
Krasus fell silent for a while, then began explaining his plan to Aaron. Although he had told Rhonin that his mission was to find a way to rescue the Red Dragon Queen, everyone knew that a lone mage would have great difficulty rescuing Alexstrasza from countless surrounding Orcs. Thus, the mission Krasus had actually arranged for Rhonin was to let the Orcs discover him, then make Nekros, the Warlock who led the Dragonmaw Clan, believe that the Alliance was about to send a great army to crush him. Nekros would then move the Red Dragon Queen and the dragon eggs, giving Krasus a chance to rescue Alexstrasza.
Aaron frowned. Krasus's plan was clearly sending Rhonin to his death, and it was truly strange that the mage was so devoted to this mission. But then another question occurred to Aaron, and he lowered his voice. "Krasus, I have to remind you that even your queen is under that thing's control. What makes you confident you can stand against it?"
"Where did you get that information?" Hearing Aaron's words, Krasus was startled. Even among dragons, the Dragon Soul was not common knowledge. A race like humanity, which had only risen over the last few thousand years, should have been even less likely to know of the artifact's existence.
"That doesn't matter, Krasus. What matters is whether your plan can really work."
"I... I have no other choice. None of the other Dragon Aspects are willing to help. I can only take a chance on some more dangerous methods."
Krasus's voice was full of helplessness. Ever since learning that something had happened to the Red Dragon Queen, he had been searching for a way to resolve the matter, but had found none.
After all, the Dragon Soul in the Orcs' hands posed far too great a threat to dragonkind. Even Alexstrasza, the Red Dragon Queen who had received the Titans' blessing, had no choice but to submit to its control. Even knowing the Red Dragon Queen's current circumstances, Krasus naturally did not dare approach the Dragon Soul's location lightly.
Besides working on his own, Krasus had also sought aid from the other three Dragon Aspects of the same standing as Alexstrasza. But at this time, those Dragon Aspects were either out of their minds or impossible to contact. Krasus truly had no other option, leaving him with no choice but to try to resolve the matter through Rhonin.
"All right, I understand." Aaron handed the pendant to Lom dispiritedly and said, "That poor fellow wants a word with you. I'll head back first."
Aaron returned to the exit, found an empty spot at random, and sat down. The truth he had learned from Krasus left him feeling a little sad for the red-haired mage. The fellow had endured so much hardship along the way, only to turn out to be a pawn of Krasus's-a pawn almost certain to die.
When Vereesa returned, she had a necklace around her neck, while Lom directed the dwarves to move the rocks aside. The three of them walked out through the exit, and the dwarves quickly blocked it again.
The three now stood at the foot of a mountain. According to the dwarves, Grim Batol was inside the mountain, and its entrance would be easy to find.
Aaron looked around but saw nothing, so he turned to Vereesa-or, more precisely, to the pendant she had moved to her chest. "Mr. Krasus, which way do we go next?"
Falstad, however, was startled by Aaron. "Human lad, what are you doing?"
Aaron quietly explained to Falstad how Krasus was communicating with Vereesa through the gem. Falstad's assessment was, "Witchcraft!"
Under Krasus's guidance, they then found a passage leading into the mountain. According to Krasus, as relayed by Vereesa, it was an abandoned mine tunnel, and the dwarves were waiting for an opportunity to charge through it and launch a counterattack.
Falstad, however, seemed to have noticed something. "Hear that? There's a sound."
Before she could finish speaking, a fiery-red figure poked its head out of the cave: a member of the Red Dragonflight, with a torch-bearing Orc following behind it.
The three had no choice but to retreat a few steps and hide behind cover, watching the dragon and its rider. Yet for some unfathomable reason, Krasus suddenly made the gem set in the pendant glow. Though the light was weak, it was conspicuous enough against the darkness of night.
Aaron suspected that the member of the Red Dragonflight intended to lure the Orc over, leaving the three of them to die in the Red Dragonflight's jaws. Naturally, the Orc and the member of the Red Dragonflight noticed the light and approached, but Vereesa suddenly said she wanted to throw the pendant over beside the dragon.
"What is this about?" Aaron had no idea what Krasus was trying to do, but he still took out his shield and stepped out of hiding, facing the Orc to draw his attention.
"A human? Ha, just the thing to help me stretch my muscles." With that, the Orc called to the dragon and charged.
Aaron was about to attack when he noticed something fly overhead. The dragon actually swallowed the thing. "Vereesa, what are you doing?"
What happened next, however, was quite interesting. The dragon had not swallowed the necklace Vereesa had thrown, but merely held it in its mouth, remaining motionless as only the pendant shone. Then the dragon actually sat down.
The Orc roared at his dragon, but the dragon ignored him entirely. The Orc waved his axe and roared at the Red Dragonflight again.
Aaron seized the opportunity to attack the Orc. The shield gripped tightly in his hand slammed hard into the Orc, knocking him back several steps until he lost his balance and fell. Falstad swung his warhammer into the Orc's soft belly, and the Orc immediately let out a wail.
Seeing things going smoothly on their end, Vereesa, who was watching the dragon warily with her bow raised, also breathed a sigh of relief. Aaron took the opportunity to thrust his longsword into the Orc's body.
Although Aaron had been tested in several battles, his movements were still not very practiced. As a result, he failed to kill with a single blow, and the Orc wailed for a long time before he stopped struggling.