“Where are they…? WHERE ARE THEY!?”
The Defiler’s lifeless amethyst eyes became that of a glowing blood red as he used his staff’s magic to rip apart the mansion room by room, every furnishing and wall was completely obliterated until nothing remained of the building but splinters, torn fabric, shattered glass, and porcelain fragments.
“Uurrgh…” Nah’Lek grumbled, his violent tantrum eventually subsiding.
He had wasted almost a week in Ukraine only to discover a complete ghost town; the irradiated zombies which had once dwelled in Chernobyl had been wholly expunged by Hawnu Rey’eng, leaving absolutely nothing for both Nah’Lek and humans alike to uncover, as far as the outside world could ever know, people had simply died of radiation poisoning and rotted away. Elephant’s Tusk had reverted back into Elephant’s Foot, shrinking back to its original state and solidifying into corium, the multiple bodies of the scientists had simply burned away into nothing but dust and ash.
After tracing magical residue away from the site, leading him to a rotting bear corpse just across the border of Belarus, Nah’Lek realised he had been fooled by the guardian; the residue was already a month old and led to a remote location in Portugal. With no alternative, he pursued, and found himself stood amidst the blackened ruins of a stone compound, scorched away by a blaze of an unnaturally powerful fire.
The trail eventually ended at an abandoned mansion, with not a pony in sight. They had certainly been there however, for their tracks littered the entire building. There were hoofprints everywhere, and numerous brightly coloured hairs dwelled upon the pillows and sheets of each bedroom. He would have most certainly caught them if he hadn’t been duped by Hawnu Rey’eng. Although with that said, while the ponies were naïve, the human would have known better to stick around too long.
That damn human.
“Callum… Horn… castle…” He muttered, his mandibles clicking with irritation.
A mere boy, immune to the Fel’s corruption and capable of withstanding demonism after exposure to concentrated Fel; it was impossible, even Stardust Moonshimmer was vulnerable to the substance. What made this young creature so special? Surely his mental illness couldn’t have been the only thing sourcing such an immunity, his soul was vast and powerful, but what made it so? If Nah’Lek had anticipated him to be a genuinely challenging opponent, he would have delved deeper into the boy’s brain while infiltrated as a shade. Instead, he had grown too bold and chose to toy with Moonshimmer.
While vexation was common to the Defiler, (for his very own Fel-infused blood fed on rage and bloodlust), frustration at himself was exquisitely rare; Nah’Lek didn’t make mistakes. It became abundantly clear that this was no longer a simple hunt for pitiful sheep, for a wolf lurked amongst them, ceaselessly watching over them.
“Courage, loyalty, honour, and love. Weak-minded traits all, in which this guiding wolf gains his strength.”
Turning to the green skinned warrior that stood to his right, Nah’Lek placed a single claw onto the orc’s shoulder, its sharp tip faintly screeching against his metal pauldron.
"How would you hunt a wolf, Grommash?"
Without missing a beat, the orc raised his upper lip into a snarl and replied.
“I would drive it to its cave, where it feels safe. Only to realise it has no escape.”
"Good." Nah'Lek replied, satisfied with the answer.
"How?" Grom inquired, shrugging off his master's claw.
"We need not follow the human's trail any longer, but rather, lie in wait for one of his beloved sheep."
The second orc, the larger of the two, shouldered Grommash out of the way and bared his teeth at the Defiler.
“I will not sit in idle just to kill one halfling horse, demon! When you usurped Gul’dan and took his place, we willingly followed you and your promises for war and bloodshed, and yet we still have neither! You pledged to us that we would become conquerors!”
Surprisingly, Nah’Lek didn’t lose his temper, his head merely tilted no more than an inch to one side, such a subtle movement sent a faint chill down the spines of both warriors. Rather than replying to the larger orc, he continued conversing with the smaller one.
“Remind me, Grommash, who is warchief of the Horde?”
Raising his chin and sniffing, Grom answered with pride.
“My son, Garrosh.”
“And what is the young Hellscream currently doing?”
“Preparing the Horde, for war on Equus.”
“What were the Horde’s numbers before we left Draenor?”
“Nearly three million strong, half that in direwolves, two thousands of ogres, and forty ettins.”
Facing the larger orc once again, Nah’Lek leaned towards him menacingly, until their faces were merely a few centimetres apart.
“War is coming. Bloodshed is coming. And the Horde will have it all. You will, be conquerors. But this can only happen if the company of ponies on this world fail in retrieving the pieces of the Titans' Orb. Your presence alongside me is to ensure my promise is kept. Your boldness impresses me, Blackhand, but do not test my patience again.”
Blackhand, while fearless and audacious, knew he was inferior to the demigod. He reluctantly stepped back and dipped his head, spitting on the ground with distaste as he did so.
Walking away from the orcs and out of the mansion, Nah’Lek withdrew his staff and aimed it at the trees, which began to groan as the very life-force was drawn out of them. The bark turned black and the evergreen leaves grew brown and grey. It wasn’t much sustenance at all, t’was barely enough to conjure a demonic spell, but Nah’Lek had grown hungry. Whilst he was unimaginably more powerful than his old self when he was a mere mortal on Azeroth, the Fel always had a price, a price paid in lives taken. After all the trees in the area had withered and died, Nah’Lek was approached by Grommash.
“So what is your plan, Nah’Lek?”
“You said it yourself...” he replied, "Drive the wolf to his cave, and wait until he feels safe."
“But how? We don’t know where they are!”
“We do not, which is why we shall make our way to someone who does.”
Looking beyond the orcs, Nah’Lek chose not to speak in riddles, and elaborated.
“Twilight Sparkle told me much, the blubbering whelp gave me bountiful knowledge in order to prevent further agony. But there were things inside her head that even she was unaware of. Memories, long forgotten and shrouded in fog, suppressed by her beloved Princess Celestia. I was able to examine these memories, where I learned something most intriguing.”
The Defiler approached his green-skinned companions, and his mandibles quivered and clicked with excitement.
“What if I told you one of the Equus-born had been on this planet before? Sent here by mistake, and raised in secret, as a human's child?”
Perplexed, the orcs gave unsure grunts, gesturing for their master to finish, to which he gladly obliged.
“It’s time we pay a visit to a human by the name of Alex Griffon.
Known only to Celestia, as Rainbow Dash’s human father…”