While Sophia was having her adventure in the Defias hideout, or the Deadmines as the locals called it, Thanatas was also working her way into the Horde’s good graces.
Right now she was standing to the side of Thrall’s throne room minding her own business. She noticed that the warchief had a conflicted look on his face and figured that he was wrestling with himself on whether to say something or not. He took a moment to calm himself and work up the nerve to finally speak up. He then looked in Thanatas’ direction.
“Thanatas, I would like for you to confirm something for me: What do you know of our most immediate threat?”
The death knight moved closer to Thrall and stopped ten feet before him. Vol’jin silently observed her.
“Are you referring to the Shadow Council? Or more specifically the Burning Blade?” Thanatas asked.
From what Thanatas remembered, the Shadow Council were the representatives of the demonic Burning Legion to the orcish race, composed of orcs who willingly joined the demons for power. They were the ones responsible for turning the old orc clans into a Horde to be used by the Legion to weaken Azeroth for a demonic invasion. The original leader of the Shadow Council was a power obsessed orc warlock named Gul’dan who was killed by wild demons in his quest for power during the Second War.
Thrall nodded to Thanatas’ request for clarification, “What do you know of them?”
“Speaking of the ones who currently reside in Orgrimmar, there is a sister cult to the Burning Blade in the caverns beneath the city. They call themselves the Searing Blade. I know that you want to trick a warlock of the Shadow Council, Neeru Fireblade, into giving away important information while lulling him into a false sense of security by feigning ignorance of his intentions.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know who the real leaders of this Searing Blade are, would you?”
Thanatas nodded, “While Neeru had been sending adventurers to their deaths to deal with a felguard demon named Taragaman the Hungerer, the real leaders are further in the back of the cavern. One is an orc warlock named Jergosh the Invoker while the other is a satyr named Bazzalan.”
Thrall couldn’t help but be surprised that the one before him simply knew information that he went to great lengths to obtain. “How have you come across such information?” he asked.
“I have my sources,” the death knight dismissed. “You can choose to listen to my advice or ignore it. Just be aware of possible consequences that come with either decision.”
Thrall frowned, “You are not making yourself easier to trust with your vague answers.”
Thanatas sighed and rolled her eyes, “Look, I can’t give away my sources but I have no intention of causing harm to the Horde. But I know that the Horde values actions more than words so you can give me a chance to prove my usefulness to the Horde or we can talk in circles all day and waste both of our time.”
Vol’jin narrowed his eyes at the death knight, “And how do we know ya ain’t tryin’ ta get us to trust ya just so you can simply stab us in the back later?”
The death knight shrugged, “Up to you whether you want to trust me or not, my information can save a lot of orcs from needless deaths.”
Thrall closed his eyes in thought for a few moments as he contemplated the undead’s words. As much as he hated to admit it, she did have a point. As an outsider, she had to prove her worth to the Horde but her silver tongue made him cautious. He couldn’t let such weakness show on his face though so he had to take a chance on her being sincere about her intentions.
“Very well, you can start by dealing with the issue of the cultists in Ragefire Chasm. Make sure all of the leaders of the Searing Blade are dead and bring me proof of their demise.”
“Finally,” Thanatas thought to herself. Now that she finally got her foot in the door she could work on solidifying her place in the Horde. She didn’t let her emotions show as she knelt down to Thrall. “As you wish, warchief.”
As she walked out of the throne room and out of earshot, Vol’jin approached his old friend with concern in his eyes. “Are ya sure it’s alright ta be trustin’ her with dis task. I sense a lotta dark mojo comin’ from her.”
“I’m aware that I’m taking a huge risk just by keeping her around, but she does have a point. We aren’t going to get anywhere by keeping her confined to this room. Aside from the fact that we already had this argument with the Earthen Ring in regards to the Forsaken, we need to know if she can keep her word about becoming a benefit to us.”
“I know old friend, doesn’t make me less nervous dat we invite a lotta dark mojo to da Horde as of late. Between da Forsaken, da warlocks an’ now her, I cannot help but worry about what lies ahead for us.”
Thanatas walked out of the throne room and out of the building before backtracking her previous route and entered the cave she passed earlier.
Lokosh and Farra’jin, the orc warrior and troll shaman who had their bodies stolen by Equestrian Liberation Front agents, Steel Edge and Desert Wind, had a long day of adventuring through the badlands of Durotar. After they left the Valley of Trials, the orc warrior had the troll shaman scoured the lands for veins of copper. That took several hours. When he had enough they went to the town of Razor Hill in the center of Durotar. He used the blacksmithing shop there to craft himself a set of copper armor as well as a copper ax and shield. He crafted a copper mace and shield for Farra’jin as well.
After that, the duo proceeded to assist the inhabitants of the region. They helped the trolls of Sen’jin Village to deal with some threats on the Echo Isles though they couldn’t find the elusive and traitorous witch doctor Zalazane. They then returned to Razor Hill and helped the Horde there in dealing with threats such as a band of renegade humans from Kul Tiras, quillboars, and cultists from the Burning Blade.
At one point Farra’jin was sent to the Barrens, a vast savannah region west of Durotar, where a shaman trainer made him light a torch which was a timely chore in itself as he had to gather tar from some local quillboars and a reagent pouch from a Burning Blade cultist in Durotar. He then had to face a fire elemental who also saw through his disguise before he could light the torch and take it back to the trainer so he could earn his fire totem.
Meanwhile, while Farra’jin was running all over the place, Lokosh honed his skills by killing harpies, scantily clad humanoid bird people who were all female and had wing arms and talons for feet, in a canyon. He also assisted a lone shaman camped in the middle of nowhere with obtaining collars used by the Burning Blade for their dark rituals. However, the shaman was unable to determine the origin of the collars and directed the warrior to a warlock named Neeru Fireblade.
As Lokosh was on his way to Orgrimmar, he received a psychic transmission from his shaman associate. “Finally, this shaman had me running all over Durotar for a totem that channels the power of fire elementals. That fire elemental I fought seemed quite displeased with my current arrangements.”
“There’s not much we can do about that,” Lokosh said. “The elementals usually keep to themselves anyway so I doubt that they will go blabbering to any shamans as long as we don’t appear suspicious to the shamans themselves. And even if they do find out it’s not like they have any connections to Sphere. Anyway, meet me at the gates of Orgrimmar. It’s about time we explored other places looking for something to do while we figure out where the Fragments are.”
“On my way,” Farra’jin acknowledged.
Lokosh waited near a pig farm that sat just outside the gates of the orc city waiting for his troll companion for half an hour before he received another psychic transmission from another associate.
“Hey Steel, you and Desert still in Durotar?” asked Greenpeace.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Lokosh acknowledged.
“I finished a bunch of rites that the tauren had me do in order to be allowed to leave Mulgore. It was not fun doing that stuff while sober.”
“You didn’t have any episodes with rampaging vines did you?” Lokosh asked.
“So far I’ve managed it, but this is not easy when I don’t have something to calm my nerves.”
“You should have found some place to practice while sober, just don’t blow our cover,” Lokosh warned.
“Right, anyway I paid a mage for a portal to Orgrimmar so I’ll meet you and Desert soon,” Greenpeace informed.
Lokosh waited a few more minutes for his companions. He soon spots a tauren exiting the gates of the city who looked around and walked over to him, assuming that Lokosh was who he was looking for since he was the only orc in the immediate area who wasn’t a guard.
“Lokosh, I presume?” the tauren asked.
Lokosh nodded to the tauren and greeted him in a fashion to not arouse suspicion from the nearby guard, “Throm-ka Groun, Farra’jin should be along any minute now.”
As if on cue, the troll in question ran toward the gate where the other two were waiting. “‘Ey dere Lokosh and Groun. We finally be together again. So what’s da plan?”
Lokosh took out what looked like several collars with dark gems embedded in them. “Once we take these to someone named Neeru Fireblade, we move on.”
Nodding in agreement, the trio entered the city and proceeded down the crudely paved road into an area that seemed more shaded than the rest of the city. This was because it was a narrow canyon that used a series of overhead leather sheets tied to large bones. The thick sheets blocked out most of the sunlight in the section that the orcs came to call The Drag.
Near another gate that led to the back of the city was a cave marked by an arch made of several large bones. Lokosh was informed that Neeru was within the cave so they proceeded inside.
The inside of the cave was where one would find the darkest elements of Orgrimmar. The area known as the Cleft of Shadow was where the more shady residents of Orgrimmar practiced their craft, from the stealthy rogues to the demonic practices of warlocks. While warlocks were still shunned by society as a whole, Thrall and Vol’jin couldn’t deny their effectiveness on the battlefield so they allowed the dark casters into the city if only so they could gain some insight into the plans of the Shadow Council.
The trio looked around the dark section of the city and saw numerous huts of leather and bone where warlocks taught their kin how to summon lesser demons like crafty imps, bulky masses of void called voidwalkers, promiscuous demons with pink skin, black demonic wings and slender legs that ended in hooves known as sayaad or more commonly known as succubi, and magic devouring felhounds. At the far end of the cavern from where the trio was were orc and troll assassins who served the warchief. Some of the rogues were sharpening their daggers or brewing poisons to coat their weapons with.
The trio stood at the top of a ramp leading down into the main area. Following the ramp down they took a left and walked past a hut with a troll who was selling mushrooms. They soon stood before a passage that would lead into a fiery cavern that the locals called Ragefire Chasm which contained threats that were contained but not dealt with. The hut that stood in front of the cavern was Lokosh’s destination.
Neeru was an orc who wore black, red and gold robes with a navy blue and gold hood and bracers of the previously mentioned colors combined. His staff had an onyx gem at the head. He also had a long beard that was braided and nearly touched the ground.
“Wait here,” Lokosh ordered before he walked into Neeru’s hut. He then presented the collars to the warlock. “Throm-ka Neeru, I was sent by Margoz to give you these for study.”
“Very well, let me take a closer look…” Neeru responded. He looked carefully at the collars, paying extra attention to the dark gems embedded within them. “Interesting, very interesting. You found these in Durotar, correct?”
Lokosh nodded, “There were a number of cultists wearing these around their necks at Skull Rock just east of the city.”
Neeru looked at the collars once more then at Lokosh. It was then that the gears began turning in his head. “This one may give us trouble later. Best let the Searing Blade handle him, it’s about time those fools had a proper test of their capabilities.” He paused for a moment before he spoke. “Since the last great war when the Burning Legion was defeated, I have searched for sources of demonic corruption in orc society. The collars you brought me confirm my fears. It belongs to the Burning Blade, a cult that rallies around an item of demonic power.
“However, there is a more pressing matter to take care of. My sources have informed me of another cult called the Searing Blade in Ragefire Chasm behind you. The cult has been secretly subverting innocent citizens of Orgrimmar for some time. They are led by a felguard demon named Taragaman the Hungerer. In order to ensure that Orgrimmar is safe from threats from within the city we need to have this cult eliminated. I ask you to go into Ragefire Chasm and eliminate their leader and bring me his heart. Without their leader, the Searing Blade will be easy prey for the grunts.”
Lokosh stared at the warlock for a moment. He had to wonder why Thrall hadn’t sent troops into Ragefire to deal with this threat yet, especially a threat from within the city. If Neeru’s words were the reason why that had not happened yet, then he suspected that something was amiss with the warlock. Some part of him suspected a trap. Of course, this could also help him get his new body into proper shape for the days ahead if he survived the ordeal. Plus now he had Farra’jin and Groun to help so his odds weren’t too bad.
“Very well, me and my allies will take care of this matter,” Lokosh said.
Without waiting for a response, Lokosh exited the hut. He called Farra’jin and Groun to his side and faced the entrance to the chasm, looking like a fiery maw that would lead into certain danger.
Farra’jin looked at his companion incredulously, “We seriously goin’ in dere? Ya know dat tings won’t end well for us if we die here, right?”
Lokosh knew that the troll was subtly referring to the mission, and he knew that what he was doing might be a fool’s errand, but he also knew that he needed to take some risks to improve their mission's chance of success in the long run. He stepped closer to the maw of the chasm and pulled out his ax and shield. “Groun, keep me alive with that plant magic of yours, Farra’jin, show me what the power of the elements can do to whatever is in this cave.”
Farra’jin gulped and followed the warrior inside while Groun held a neutral expression as he followed suit.
The inside of Ragefire Chasm was a furnace with magma flowing through the caverns. The floor itself felt like it would scorch one’s feet without proper protection.
The volcanic cavern was home to a species of large worms that thrived in the high temperatures. The worms were also territorial like most Azerothian species so they hissed threateningly at the trio which promised aggression if they moved any closer. The worms rose up to Farra’jin’s thighs.
Wandering among the worms was a large earth elemental made of the same volcanic rock that composed the cave. Like other earth elementals, this one was a pile of rocks being held together by a mysterious force that allowed it to take a somewhat humanoid form.
Lokosh hit his ax against his shield in challenge which caused several worms to slither toward the warrior. Farra’jin deployed his fire totem which sent bolts of elemental fire at the worms and his earth totem which offered some protection for the warrior. The fire wasn’t doing much against the worms though since they had adapted to withstand heat. Farra’jin’s lightning bolts were a lot more effective against the worms.
The worms occasionally spat a green goo at Lokosh which he dodged as prior experience with Zerg drove the lesson home that green goo was often acidic and seeing as some of the rock on the floor where the goo landed was burning away, he was glad that he wouldn’t be needing to replace his armor so soon.
Dealing with the earth elemental was a different matter than the worms as their bodies were solid rock. Groun got an idea however and grabbed one of the dead worms off the ground and pointed its head at the elemental before he wrung out the creature’s body, causing it to spray the last of its acidic goo. Lokosh saw what the tauren was planning and moved out of the way for the acid to corrode the elemental. The corrosion ate away at enough of the rock that Farra’jin saw what seemed to be a glowing core of light inside the large boulder that was its main body. The shaman struck the core with a lightning bolt and the core’s light surged through the elemental until it disappeared. The rock body fell apart afterward.
“Clever thinking, Groun,” Lokosh complimented.
“Thanks, I had to learn how to do that with snakes when I was surviving in the southern jungle to keep a supply of antidote whenever snakes bit me in my sleep,” Groun said.
The trio continued down the path deeper into the cavern, fighting off more worms. As they got further, they encountered what looked like a tribe of short primitive looking creatures with red hair and black skin. Lokosh decided to consult someone who might know through the link, “Hey Windwhisper, what am I looking at?”
The mare in question took a moment before answering back, “The mountain winds tell me they are an abhorrent mutation of the dwarf race called troggs. They are savage but also spiritualistic. Beware of those who can use the elements.”
“Thanks,” Lokosh said before he started using his ax and shield to taunt the troggs toward him. With the troggs grouped together as they were, Lokosh ended up drawing several at a time toward him. Farra’jin’s totems offered some protection for the warrior but the troggs were either flailing at him with their fists relentlessly or throwing lightning bolts at him which left him badly electrocuted since his armor was made of copper, a highly conductive metal. Groun had to call upon the power of nature to heal Lokosh often because of this.
It took some effort but the trio managed to clear the section of the cave of troggs. Farra’jin and Groun were exhausted and Lokosh’s shield was dented. They hadn’t even gotten to the cultists yet and they already needed a break.
Farra’jin pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack and drank his fill of the life-saving fluid. Groun did the same with his own supply of water. Lokosh had, admittedly, forgotten to stock up on that necessity but the others were generous enough to share.
Their break didn’t last long as a roar echoed through the cavern. The group took up a defensive stance to prepare for what was coming but they were not prepared to see a slightly larger trogg enter the area flanked by two more troggs. The larger trogg pointed a finger at the group and roared, signaling his allies to attack.
Lokosh managed to hold off the strikes of one of the smaller and the larger trogg but he was getting zapped from afar by a trogg shaman. Farra’jin attacked the shaman and gained his attention. Groun had to focus to keep both of his allies alive. Farra’jin managed to kill his target before focusing on the larger one which they figured might be the leader of the troggs in the cavern. The flailing attacks of the two troggs began to overwhelm Lokosh’s defense and in a desperate move he charged forward, knocking the leader off his feet before quickly cutting down the other trogg.
However, the knockback only made the leader angry. His fists started hitting his shield harder than before. It was only a matter of time before his shield broke.
The sound of something hard slamming on stone was heard nearby and before the trio could try to learn what happened, a giant bone spike erupted from the ground and impaled the large trogg from bottom to top. It was a gruesome display as the trogg’s blood flowed down the spike but the trio was thankful that the creature was dead.
They then heard the sound of metal walking on stone coming from the path behind them. Their eyes widened in horror as they realized who they had the displeasure of running into. The report given to them by Crystal Silicon informed them of how terrifying the person they were looking at truly was. Just like in the reports, her skin was pale as death and her hair white as snow. Her eyes glowed an eerie blue and the armor she wore completed her terrifying visage.
Thanatas stared at the three adventurers and immediately noticed something off about them. Her ability to see the souls of others led her to find that the three were not only possessed by Equestrian souls but the original souls had been evicted, if not destroyed.
“Hey Twilight, can you look up three names: Lokosh, Farra’jin and Groun Lifehorn?” Thanatas asked through her cousin’s psychic network..
It took a few moments for Twilight to get back to her with the results of her query. “The three in question are young adventurers who should have reached the age of majority a few days ago. They are classified as non-player characters or NPCs.”
“I see, now can you run through Equestria’s other databases and try to find out what you can on three individuals. I need to confirm something. Their names are Steel Edge, Desert Wind and Greenpeace.”
A few more moments passed and the death knight and the trio were still eyeing each other in silence. That was until Thanatas broke the silence with a cheerful smile, “Greetings adventurers, I see that you are having a fun time here. Mind if I tag along for this adventure? I have some things I need to do here and I wouldn’t mind some assistance.”
The trio looked at each other for a few awkward moments as they psychically communicated between themselves. “Do you believe she suspects who we are?” Farra’jin asked.
“I’m not sure, but seeing as she is quite knowledgeable about souls and necromancy, I wouldn’t put it past her that she already suspects something,” Lokosh said.
“This is not good bros, if she knows then she could easily blow our covers,” Groun said, failing to hide his worry. “You think we can take her? It is three on one.”
“Not a chance,” Lokosh denied. “You remember the report Crystal filed on her. She is a monster on the battlefield. It wouldn’t take much effort for her to cut our heads off and these bodies are still too untrained to be any challenge to her.”
“So what do we do?” Farra’jin asked. “Are we really at her mercy?”
Lokosh signed in defeat, “I’m afraid so.” He then faced the death knight again. “Thanks, we could really use the help getting to the back of this cavern.”
“Think nothing of it,” Thanatas said smilingly.
The group, now including a death knight, proceeded deeper into Ragefire Chasm. They quickly found themselves climbing a ramp that was infested with worms and more volcanic earth elementals.
Thanatas preferred to let the trio continue doing most of the fighting so they could improve their skills. In the meantime, she listened to the results of her query.
“This is certainly interesting, the three named ponies were reported missing decades ago. Steel Edge was a skilled weaponsmith who crafted impressive weapons using old blacksmithing techniques and modern phasesmithing. He racked up a massive debt in order to build a smithing shop in Canterlot and ended up taking up mercenary work on the side. Lack of patronage led to his smithing business failing since demand for weapons in times of peace was at a typical low. He was bailed out of his debt by none other than Crystal Silicon. Shortly after that he disappeared without a trace.
“Desert Wind was a skilled business entrepreneur who owned a chain of small businesses with his corporate headquarters in Manehattan. He was also seen as eccentric to his workers and officers because he often wore raggedy hand-me-downs. However, he also ran another business on the side, an illegal one. He was also the Equestrian representative of an infamous Zebrican drug cartel. He eventually got caught and was arrested, leaving one of his officers as the new CEO. However, he was bailed out of prison by a certain noble and was never heard from again.
“Greenpeace was one of the most magically gifted earth ponies in the history of Equus. They say that plants around him behaved like they were his pets. The most innocuous of plants could become a ferocious monster at his command. However, the problem with his powers was that his state of mind determined the behavior of the plants and could easily kill people if he lost control of his emotions. Because of this, he relied on Zebrican drugs to keep himself in a mellow state of mind so the plants around him would remain calm. Of course, the drugs were illegal and expensive so this left him in a desperate situation to where he fled into the jungle south of Equestria to live there away from civilization. He was never heard from again afterward.”
“Thanks for the information,” Thanatas said. “Now I’m fairly certain that these three are members of the Equestrian Liberation Front. Steel and Desert had a common acquaintance in Crystal Silicon and it’s not much of a stretch to say she met Greenpeace too.”
“Then our previous suspicions were correct. But what are they after? If they wanted to target my old friends then it would make more sense for them to steal the bodies of races that belong to the Alliance.”
“Maybe they aren’t targeting your friends. Maybe they’re after something else in this world.”
“In that case, it would seem that while we know that they’re here we have no idea what their objective is,” Midnight noted. “Dealing with them now would only cause them to go into hiding again and we would have to deal with a recurring villain for years to come, not to mention that we still have no clue who the leader is.”
“So what’s the call?” Thanatas asked.
“If they’re coming into this incognito, then their plans must be in a delicate phase that requires subtlety,” Twilight deduced. “We will allow them to progress with their plans while taking note of their behavior. We will take action against them once their plan progresses enough that their leader is comfortable enough to come out of hiding. Until then, observe them like Sophia is observing my friends but make sure you keep their hopes of completing their mission alive. We can’t afford to scare them off.”
“Understood.” Thanatas ended the transmission.
The group arrived at the top of the ramp to find an area inhabited by a number of earth elementals with a few worms. By this point Thanatas felt that the normal denizens of the cavern had delayed her mission long enough so she pulled out her sword and unleashed a wave of frost that briefly encased the elementals and worms in the area in ice. She followed up by plunging her sword into the volcanic rock floor to create a tremor that shattered the elementals and worms.
“Alright, now we can finally get to the cultists,” Thanatas said smilingly.
Just ahead of that room the group entered another chamber. This one contained a lake of magma with a series of platforms bridged together with a network of stone bridges. It was an odd sight if the bridges were formed naturally so the group had to assume that shamans built the bridges from the molten rock.
The chamber was inhabited by a large number of orc cultists and the trio noticed a large figure in the center. The figure had dark gray skin with spikes on his back and had armor over his legs and arms and wore a helm. He had no chest armor though. He carried what looked like a giant broadsword with ease.
“A felguard huh? Must be Taragaman. This should be an interesting challenge for these three,” Thanatas thought to herself.
Lokosh charged in and grabbed the attention of a group of cultists. Some carried shields and axes while others carried daggers. The warrior had an easier time blocking the attacks of the cultists than he did with the troggs and gave Farra’jin and Groun more comfort that the attacks weren’t going to leave them greatly exhausted like earlier. The shaman’s fire totem was inflicting scorch marks on the orcs which distracted them and left Lokosh with an opening to decapitate any distracted cultist with his ax.
Cultists from nearby platforms heard the commotion and came to investigate, bringing with them some warlocks who commanded voidwalkers. Seeing as the trio was about to be greatly outnumbered, Thanatas dispatched one of the incoming groups of cultists with her sword and overwhelming strength, leaving the trio to deal with the second group.
The trio took a moment to recover their strength before they faced down the demon in the center of the chamber. Once prepared, Lokosh charged at the demon waiting for them. The warrior’s ax barely scratched the felguard’s armor for his first strike while the counterattack from the demon’s blade nearly sent Lokosh flying into the lava. Groun was able to call on roots to keep the warrior from flying away. Because of the demon’s strength, Lokosh was forced to dodge Taragaman’s attacks instead of blocking them. Each swing the warrior either rolled away from or redirected it with his shield. Meanwhile, Farra’jin was unleashing fire and lightning trying to chip away at the demon’s defenses.
Taragaman countered their efforts by stomping the floor and unleashing a wave of fire that badly scorched the trio. Groun did his best to heal the burns on his companions but his efforts took time and some of the tauren’s stamina.
As the fight continued, Lokosh’s ax left scratches on the demon’s flesh and Farra’jin’s lightning was beginning to give the demon convulsions but the demon continued to fight. The three were slowly becoming exhausted from their fight which was beginning to turn into a battle of attrition. That was until Lokosh led Taragaman to the edge of the platform. The demon saw this as an opportunity to punch the orc into the magma below but as he swung his fist to do so, the orc rolled out of the way, causing him to overextend and become unbalanced. Groun capitalized on this and charged toward the demon before headbutting him over the edge.
The felguard fell into the lava and started flailing as his flesh burned. Thanatas’ eyes widened as she knew that she needed proof of his demise. Using an ability she hadn’t used in a long time, she ran her hand along her sword which transformed the blue runes etched into it into red runes. This caused her body to burst into flames before she jumped into the magma where the demon fell, grabbed him by a spike on his back with one hand then shoved her other hand into the demon’s chest. A few moments later she ripped out the demon’s heart. She let the now dead demon sink into the magma before climbing back onto the platform and cutting off the transformation.
“Why did you do that?” Lokosh asked.
“Because I needed proof of his demise,” Thanatas answered. “Anyway, you three did what Neeru asked of you so you are free to leave and inform him of his death. If Neeru asks for proof, tell him that his heart is being delivered to Thrall’s chamber and he can see it there.”
As curious as he was to see what was further in the chasm, Lokosh knew that his allies were on their last legs and needed to rest. He also didn’t want to be near the monster who savagely thwarted Crystal’s plans a moment longer than necessary. So he bowed to the undead in gratitude before leading Farra’jin and Groun back to the entrance.
Once she no longer saw the trio, Thanatas proceeded deeper into the cavern by herself. Since she was now free to do things her way, she used her necromancy to raise the corpses of the fallen cultists and unleashed them against other groups of cultists. Within a minute the entire chamber was filled with the sounds of battle between the living demon worshippers and the dead demon worshippers. The clanging of steel against steel sang a song that echoed through the caverns while bolts of shadow flew all over the place. Every cultist that fell rose up again in Thanatas’ service.
In the chaos, Thanatas moved to the back of the cavern where she spotted one of her remaining targets, the orc warlock who led the Searing Blade cult, Jergosh the Invoker. The warlock wasn’t much tougher than his fellow cultists and while he was holding off the dead, the same couldn’t be said for his allies as they fell one by one until only he remained.
When Jergosh spotted Thanatas, he launched bolt after bolt of shadow magic at her which she deflected with her sword. He tried to set her on fire and curse her but his magic was negated by the runes on her sword. He soon began to panic as it appeared that he ran out of tricks which was the death knight’s cue to run in and put the orc out of his misery.
The orc’s death cries caused the satyr Thanatas was looking for to look down from the ledge he was on to see what was going on which proved to be his final mistake as the death knight unleashed a line of necromantic magic which wrapped around Bazzalan and yanked him off the ledge where he fell toward her and landed with his gut impaled by her sword. The satyr coughed up blood which sprayed on Thanatas’ face before she finished the former elf by removing her sword from his body and decapitating him.
With the leaders dead, Thanatas proceeded to claim her trophies. She cut Jergosh’s head off and claimed Bazzalan’s head as well. With Taragaman’s heart from earlier, she had completed her task. Not wanting to leave evidence of her abilities behind, she undid the reanimation of the corpse army, leaving them to collapse or fall into the magma as if their strings had been cut.
With the caverns clear, she decided to use her favorite transportation method, which involved enclosing herself in a cage of bone which sank into the ground and into a realm of shadows, to leave the cavern.