World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm Page 0,70

Another slight from one who seemed to take great pleasure in insulting him just enough but not too much. He looked upon Aggra as one more test he must endure for the good of his people.

He liked his talbuk, Shuk’sar, well enough, and had no complaint to offer. The ride was bumpier than the smooth stride of the wolf, but he was growing used to it.

“Nagrand was lucky. It has not suffered as other parts of what was once Draenor have,” Aggra said as they paused for water by a small, clear pool. “Other places are broken and harmed. We do what we can to learn here, and help others to help the elements elsewhere. It will never be the same as before, but it will heal as much as it can.”

“I wonder if my world will be able to say the same,” Thrall said. “You mentioned a place called the Throne of the Elements?”

Aggra nodded. “When we ask for aid from the elements to enact our will, we touch the spirits of those elements. Spirits of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.”

It was Thrall’s turn to nod, and he did so, a little impatiently. “I know this. It was one of the first things Drek’Thar taught me.”

“Oh? Good. Just making certain. I do not know how rudimentary your knowledge is, after all.” She smiled with false sweetness and he gritted his teeth.

“Geyah said something about the elements having names here,” he continued. “On Azeroth, having a name often denotes that these are particularly strong elementals. What is the role of these beings?”

“That’s actually a good question,” she said, though she offered the praise grudgingly. “These named beings are called Furies. They are extremely powerful elementals, but they are no more all that it is to be earth, or water, than a handful of soil or a drop of water is all that it is to be earth or water. It is a complex idea to hold in one’s head.”

Thrall sighed. “Whatever you think of me, Aggra, you cannot possibly think that I lack intelligence. Your continual insults are eventually going to harm your ability to instruct and mine to learn, and neither of us wants that.”

Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, and he knew he’d hit the mark. Her strong jaw clenched.

“No. You are not stupid, Go’el. I question your choices, your decisions, but I know there is a brain in your skull.”

“Then, please, teach me as if I actually have the capacity to learn. It will go much faster and I will be able to return home that much sooner. And surely that is something we both want.”

“True,” she said bluntly. “If you grasp what I am telling you—”

“Which I do,” Thrall said, barely able to be civil.

“—then let us spend the day traveling away from Nagrand. I will show you some of the other parts of Outland. I will show you polluted water elementals and poisoned earth elementals. You can try to talk to them—or engage in battle with them, for they will not come to your call—and see how they feel to you.”

“I have worked with corrupted and twisted elementals before,” Thrall replied, nodding.

“Good. Perhaps you will find something familiar in their illness that can help you heal Azeroth.”

He blinked. When it wasn’t dripping sarcasm or contempt, her voice was husky and melodic. And her face, when not scowling, had a calm beauty that reminded him of Geyah. It was too bad she was so determined to dislike him. He would have liked to have her return with him to Azeroth, use her skill to help the Horde and Azeroth both. But even as these thoughts occurred to him, she seemed to remember how much she disliked Thrall, and frowned.

Clucking her tongue, she turned her talbuk’s head with unnecessary vigor and headed south.

“Come, Go’el,” she said. “We ride to the end of the world.”

“Things are changing,” said Archdruid Hamuul Runetotem. He sat quietly with Cairne outside of Thunder Bluff, in the area known as Red Rocks. This place of jutting, rust-colored stones was considered a sacred site to the ancestors of the tauren. Cairne came here when he needed to think calmly.

He had therefore been coming here often since Thrall left.

“I agree,” Cairne said. “When Garrosh proposed rebuilding Orgrimmar as soon as Thrall left rather than launching some kind of invasion somewhere, I was pleased. I commended him. Told him that showed he was a leader who cared about the well-being of his people, not an