In his haste, Aaron only had time to cast a Blessing of Sacrifice on Falstad before shielding Vereesa himself. As for Rhonin... he had said he had defensive spells, hadn't he?
But Aaron had no time to think any further. The blast soon knocked him unconscious.
Fortunately, apart from knocking Aaron out, the golem's final explosion did little harm to the others, save for leaving Falstad bruised and battered-the damage from the fragments exceeded the Blessing of Sacrifice's limit. Rhonin raised a barrier shimmering with arcane light in time, while Aaron shielded Vereesa behind him.
Aaron staggered, fell to his knees, and lost consciousness. Vereesa dug him out of the rubble, and only after quite some time did he slowly open his eyes.
Seeing Aaron wake, Vereesa breathed a sigh of relief. "You're finally awake. It isn't safe here anymore. We need to get ready to leave."
"I'm all right." Aaron forced himself up, but the movement left his entire body aching. He struggled to stand, only to sway, on the verge of falling again. Fortunately, Vereesa caught him before he could take another tumble.
Although Aaron's armor had provided superb protection, leaving him unscathed even by the flames on the fire golem, the fragments hurtling through the air had made him feel as though dozens of dwarves had spent ages pounding him with hammers as tall as themselves. Not a single part of him was free of pain.
Only after struggling to cast several healing spells on himself did Aaron have a moment to give Vereesa, who was supporting him, a strained smile. "I'm fine."
Just then, Krasus's voice suddenly came from the pendant on Aaron's chest. "Aaron? Vereesa? Falstad?"
"You bastard, only remembering us now?" Aaron complained before asking, "Mr. Krasus, your plan worked, but how are we supposed to get out of here?"
Aaron was certain the explosion had been enough to attract the orcs. Even if they were busy moving, there was no chance they would ignore the commotion here. Taking into account the time he had spent unconscious, the orcs sent to investigate might already be outside the cave.
"Can Rhonin still cast spells? If he can, have him teleport you out. If not, please hold on a little longer. Once I've rescued Her Majesty the Queen, I'll come to rescue you."
There was a faint trace of impatience in Krasus's voice. It seemed he had begun to act as well, though just what his plan entailed was unknown.
"So after all that, your queen still comes first," Aaron replied sullenly. There was no further response from Krasus, so Aaron could only turn to Rhonin. "My dear employer, your mentor asked me to check whether you can teleport us out of here."
Rhonin nodded. "I can still cast some spells, but my mentor is... are you talking about Master Krasus?"
"As long as you can still cast. Hurry up and start channeling. I'll..." Aaron glanced at Vereesa, who was supporting him, then looked around the cave. Seeing Falstad struggling to stand with a hand against the wall, he cast several healing spells on him and called, "Falstad, pick that thing up." He pointed at the pendant Kreel had left behind after his death. Aaron was certain it had something to do with Deathwing.
The dwarf picked up the pendant and examined it carefully for a long while before scratching his head. "What is this thing?"
"That's what Deathwing used to contact me..." Rhonin finally finished preparing his spell and told the three of them, "We're leaving now!"
At his words, a strange radiance enveloped them. When it faded, they were outside. With Vereesa's support, Aaron walked over to Falstad and took the pendant from his hand.
Rhonin came over too, giving Aaron a complicated look before saying, "Deathwing captured me earlier and forced me to come here. After that, Nekros caught me, that goblin took the pendant, and I was locked up."
"Wait, who's Nekros?" Vereesa suddenly asked.
Aaron motioned for her to let go of him and sat down on the ground. Enjoying the cold wind on the mountaintop, he said, "That's a very long story."
"Back in ancient times, the night elves, led by Queen Azshara, waged wars far and wide and built a vast empire. What sustained them was the Well of Eternity. But their abuse of the Well of Eternity drew the attention of demons, whose leader was named Sargeras. Sargeras tricked Queen Azshara into using the Well of Eternity to open a portal. To fight these demons, the five Dragon Aspects were persuaded by the Earth-Warder, Neltharion, to create an artifact called the Dragon Soul. But Neltharion secretly harbored ill intentions. The Dragon Soul absorbed only the other four Aspects' power, while Neltharion contributed nothing himself. Later, when they fought the demons under Sargeras, Neltharion first used the Dragon Soul to kill a great many demons, then turned his weapon on the Dragonflights on his own side..."
"Aren't you getting a little carried away? I only asked who Nekros was."
Aaron glanced at Vereesa, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Getting bored? Fine, I'll keep it short. Nekros is a warlock who got hold of the Dragon Soul. It's only through the Dragon Soul that he can control the Red Dragonflight."
"Didn't you leave a lot out?" Vereesa gave Aaron a suspicious look. This time, his account was certainly concise, but some parts were clearly missing.
"See? Now you think I haven't said enough." Aaron spread his hands. "Then let's begin with the origins of the warlock class. Back when the boundless universe had just formed, a titan named Aggramar was on Draenor..."
"Never mind." Vereesa immediately raised her hands in surrender. Rhonin and Falstad wore expressions that likewise pleaded for mercy, so Aaron could only abandon his desire to tell them stories.
They waited on the mountaintop for a while before a roar suddenly rang out overhead. An enormous dark shape burst out of the clouds. In the light at that hour, they could make out none of the huge creature's details, only that it was a dragon, and clearly far larger than the Red Dragonflight dragons ridden by the orcs. If those Red Dragonflight dragons were whelps, this dragon was definitely an adult.
"Is that Deathwing?" Falstad stared upward for a long while, voicing his guess quietly.
Aaron shook his head. "Don't we already know there are two groups with their eyes on this place?"
Rhonin argued, "That's a dragon. Who else could it be but Deathwing?"
Aaron took Krasus's pendant from around his neck and placed it beside Deathwing's. "One of these belongs to Deathwing, and the other belongs to your mentor. Does that suggest anything to you?"
Apart from their colors, the two pendants in Aaron's hand were quite similar in both shape and texture.
Looking at the two pendants, so alike apart from their colors, Rhonin suddenly caught on. He turned to Aaron with an incredulous expression. "You mean... surely not?"
It seemed the red-haired mage had realized what the two similar pendants represented: Krasus and Deathwing must have something in common. Taking the pendants' colors into account, Krasus's identity was practically obvious: a Red Dragonflight dragon.
Aaron spread his hands. "I didn't say anything. You can ask your mentor yourself when you have time."
Just then, the dragon that had dived downward suddenly flew backward. From the mountaintop, they watched helplessly as it slammed into a stretch of mountainous terrain.
"Tsk, he's gone mad with urgency." Aaron shook his head as he looked at the red pendant in his hand.
"No, I have to go take a look," Rhonin said urgently. His mind was in utter turmoil, and he desperately needed a definite answer.