To be honest, the dragonkin were far taller than ordinary humans, their entire bodies covered in dragon scales, and their weapons whistled through the air with an impressive show of force.
But in truth, these dragonkin were not particularly strong. Although they had an advantage in strength and size, for some reason, the three of them were not very intelligent. They made plenty of noise and looked imposing, but when it came to fighting, they lacked even the most basic coordination.
With Aaron's side enjoying an advantage in numbers, both melee and ranged fighters, and powerhouses like Uther and Kael'thas backing them up, the Silver Hand knights and Aaron easily suppressed the three dragonkin's counterattacks and cut them down on the spot.
As the three monsters lost the ability to resist one after another under the knights' combined attacks, Uther ordered his Silver Hand knights to capture them. He also instructed the knights under his command to take the monsters to Lordaeron's cells and try interrogating them to see whether they could get anything out of them.
"I hope Lord Prestor wasn't attacked by these monsters." After watching the Silver Hand knights escort the dragonkin away, Uther looked at the ruined courtyard and spoke, his voice full of worry.
Aaron wanted to tell Uther that these three monsters were probably Deathwing's servants, but he had no evidence at the moment. Even if he said it, Uther probably would not believe him.
The group then continued inspecting the rooms. Having learned their lesson earlier, everyone was especially careful now. The Silver Hand knights scouting ahead were ready to fight at any moment, their shields held firmly in front of them to guard against another surprise attack.
Fortunately, those three dragonkin were probably the last of Deathwing's servants left here. The other rooms were all empty, with no sign of any ambush.
One room's door, however, was still sealed by surging magical energy, leaving the Silver Hand knights unable to enter. Even Kael'thas took quite some time to unravel the magic.
Apparently, this was where Lord Prestor hid important information. After opening the room, they entered and found, besides an indescribable stench, only a few scattered decorations in the corners. Otherwise, it was completely empty, without even a bed or chair.
The most eye-catching thing was a pile of magical implements on an open stretch of floor. Perhaps the old Black Dragonflight still enjoyed developing spells.
A layer of something resembling ash also covered the floor. Judging by the positions of the traces, the furniture and other things that should originally have been in the room had probably been burned to ash by the intense heat from the old Black Dragonflight's body. The walls were covered in scorch marks as well. It seemed the old dragon's injuries were still quite severe and would flare up uncontrollably.
Taking in the scene, Aaron silently marveled. This old Black Dragonflight had clearly been gravely injured for ten thousand years, yet he still insisted on stirring up trouble and refused to give up. What kind of spirit was that?
"What in the world happened here?" Uther slammed a fist into the scorched wall and spoke angrily. Something like this happening right under his nose left the grand master of the Silver Hand, long known for his seriousness and diligence, especially furious. This could certainly be called a dereliction of duty on his part. After all, he and the Silver Hand knights under her command were also responsible for maintaining order in Lordaeron City.
Now a noble had unexpectedly disappeared, and three monsters and traces of evil magic had been discovered in his home. At the very least, Uther would have to answer questions from Lordaeron's nobles. Even if His Majesty trusted him as much as ever, Uther, who had always held himself to strict standards, had already fallen into self-reproach over what he saw as his failure.
After performing several magical examinations in the room, Kael'thas turned to Uther with a grave expression. "Sir Uther, I think Lord Prestor may very well be connected to an Archmage. Judging by those monsters, I'm afraid that lord is far from ordinary. I believe I need to report this to the Kirin Tor. As I see it, this is not something I can resolve alone."
Uther nodded solemnly, agreeing with Kael'thas.
Kael'thas then turned to Aaron and the others. "Everyone, I'm afraid we must part ways for a while. I need to return to Dalaran first and report this to the council. Rhonin, come back with me."
"Yes, Archmage." Rhonin nodded, putting on a very respectful manner. The hierarchy among Dalaran's mages was quite distinct. When facing an Archmage like Kael'thas, a mage like Rhonin, who had only recently finished his apprenticeship, had to show respect, at least on the surface.
With that, Kael'thas left with Rhonin. From their hurried departure, it seemed the Kirin Tor really took this matter seriously.
"Everyone, I'm afraid I need to report today's events to the king. Aaron, Lady Vereesa, please return to your lodgings and wait for now. I believe the king will want to ask you about this as well. I must also interrogate those monsters. Hopefully, they can understand human speech." After speaking, Uther left two Silver Hand knights to stand guard and hurried away with his remaining men.
"What happened here?" It seemed Uther had not had time to attend to Arthas and the others. Once he left, the three children came in, along with Muradin, who was about the same height as those children. Arthas spoke as soon as he entered the room.
Muradin's booming voice followed Arthas's. "By my beard, what exactly does that Prestor do? I just saw three monsters being taken out of here!"
Arthas approached Aaron and looked at him. "Mr. Aaron, do you know what those things were?"
Aaron's gaze roamed around the room as he answered distractedly, "They're dragonkin. People with some of the characteristics of dragons."
According to Aaron's vague recollection, the dragonkin in World of Warcraft were different from the dragon-humanoid hybrids over in Dungeons & Dragons. They seemed to be created when dragons bestowed blessings upon certain humanoids. However, Aaron had never asked anyone to verify this, so he could not explain it clearly on the spot and could only give Arthas a vague explanation.
"Oh, so those are dragonkin? But with how nervous Uther looked, I doubt he'll let me go see them." Arthas lowered his head and muttered, somewhat disappointed. Then he looked up at Aaron, who was wandering around the room, and asked, "Mr. Aaron, are you looking for something?"
Aaron reached into the pile of magical items, the only things in the room that had survived intact, and rummaged through them before muttering, "I want to see if there's anything here."
"What are you looking for?" Arthas crouched down with an interested expression and joined Aaron in sorting through the pile of junk. "Aren't you a Paladin, Mr. Aaron? Can you make sense of these things?"
Aaron shook his head. "Of course I can't. That's why I'm looking for something I can make sense of... wait, found it."
Aaron pulled a battered notebook out of the jumble and held it up for Arthas to see. "Look, we found it."
Seeing that Aaron had actually dug up something useful, everyone gathered around. Under their watching eyes, Aaron opened the notebook, only to freeze. These notes were written in the human language.
Aaron had originally expected to find something related to Deathwing, but instead, he had found this notebook. No matter how he thought about it, Deathwing would not be so bored that he would take notes in the human language, unless he wanted to set someone up.
Aaron kept reading anyway, only to find a mass of words that were almost like delirious ramblings and gave anyone reading them a headache. The children dispersed after just a few pages. Aaron, however, brightened after reading a few pages and began flipping through it faster and faster, completely ignoring everyone else's protests.