A Savage Nature (Warcraft)

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“Why? Why did we retreat?! The battle was not yet lost! We dealt them a great blow in killing the Nerubian King. We still could have won!”
 
As Kael’thas Sunstrider’s agitated voice fills the tent, Rognak grimaces from where he’s forced to remain seated, resting his exhausted body. He’s never been this tired before, never felt this worn out to the depths of his very soul.
 
The retreat had gone about as well as could be expected. Sapphiron had chased after them for a few more passes, but ultimately the massive Bone Wyrm had turned back to the ridge, showcasing that a fear still lingered in the Lich King’s cold undead heart. A fear that even their retreat was a trap. A fear that they might catch him off guard and take him by surprise if he let Sapphiron hound them all the way to the beach.
 
However, while Sapphiron, Kel’thuzad, Balnazzar, and all of the other enemy spellcasters had not kept up the chase, a good portion of the Nerubians, both on the ground and in the air, had continued to harry and harass the Kalimdor Expedition and their Blood Elf allies until they were almost a day away from the ridge where their fateful defeat had occurred.
 
Only in the past few hours had anyone been able to stop and breathe as the attacks finally petered off. And now here they were, the leaders of the expedition, meeting for an impromptu war council to discuss their next steps. But before that could happen, the Sunstrider Prince seemed intent on airing his grievances and making it clear what he thought of their decision to retreat.
 
Rognak’s nostrils flare instinctively as his orcish pride demands that he get up and match Kael’thas’ provocation with some chest-thumping of his own. But he’s too damn tired at the moment, so instead he just sits there and stews in his feelings, letting the others in the room give their own responses to the Blood Elf Prince. Cenarius is first to speak, the Lord of the Forest sighing as he shakes his head.
 
“But at what cost, young one? Even if we had prevailed, how many would have been lost? Would we have had enough strength left to finish off the Lich King once and for all, or would the sacrifice have turned out to be meaningless?”
 
Cenarius’ words are wise, Rognak feels. And Kael’thas even pauses, clearly forced to admit the same thing… at least to himself. Outwardly, the Sunstrider Prince scowls after a moment, latching onto the one thing in Cenarius’ statement that he could take issue with.
 
“I am not your ‘young one’, Forest Spirit! I am not some child to be coddled and condescended to! I am hundreds of years old, and the Prince of my people!”
 
Cenarius’ eyes narrow at that, the Lord of the Forest’s nostrils flaring at the disrespect. Even still, he’s far too noble not to be the bigger man in this instance. Figuratively on top of literally.
 
“Apologies, young Prince. I was ancient when your ancestor Dath’Remar Sunstrider was born. You must excuse me… when you get to be my age, everyone becomes young in eyes as wizened as mine.”
 
Hah, a massive burn wrapped up in an apology. Yeah, that was about Cenarius’ speed. Rognak wished he had the strength to chuckle over it, but perhaps it was for the best he didn’t… it would only have antagonized Kael’thas further.
 
Bristling, the Prince can’t find fault with Cenarius’ apology… so of course he pivots back around to his original issue.
 
“Even still… we could have won. I and my fellow dragonhawk riders were ready to do battle with the Bone Wyrm. We might have taken losses, yes… but I fully believe we could have prevailed! The call for a retreat was too damn early!”
 
Answering that particular boast is a scoff from the Watchers’ corner, as Maiev steps forward, arms crossed over her chest. The Warden shakes her head and snorts derisively at Kael’thas’ words.
 
“Oh? Because from what I saw, that blasted monstrosity killed half a dozen of your riders the very first time it focused on them after that initial breath attack. Your people would have died to the last, Prince. That Bone Wyrm wasn’t something any of us could have anticipated. Frankly, it looked like it was made from the largest dragon I’ve ever seen. How they even managed to kill it in order to raise it again in the first place is something I’m still wrapping my head around.”
 
Maiev tilts her head towards Tyrande, who has been just as quiet as Rognak so far.
 
“… The High Priestess made the right call. If we’d stood our ground, the entire expedition would have been lost. By retreating, we live to fight another day. They can’t risk leaving the Lich King unprotected, so we can use this time to regroup and find another avenue of attack… one that doesn’t get us all killed because of some sense of misplaced pride.”
 
Kael’thas snarls at that last part and looks ready to argue the point some more… a LOT more. As the back and forth between the assembled elves and the Forest Demigod continues, Rognak lets his eyes drift shut and turns his attention inward.
 
He’s still reeling from how the battle had ultimately ended. Kael’thas was right… they had been doing fairly well. But then the trap had been sprung, and the tables had been turned on them quite spectacularly. Tyrande was also right to call the retreat, because if she hadn’t… they would likely all be dead.
 
Still, it was the other things Maiev had said that had Rognak questioning himself. The Bone Wyrm wasn’t something any of THEM could have anticipated… but he could have. Sapphiron… Rognak KNEW that Arthas would have gone on to killed and raise the ancient blue dragon with Frostmourne if he hadn’t died early in this timeline.
 
But he truly hadn’t thought that Sapphiron’s fate would be the same here with Arthas gone. From what Rognak remembered, Sapphiron was a direct subordinate of Malygos himself. Shit, with Sapphiron’s death, this meant Kel’thuzad had a key to the Focusing Iris just like he had in Rognak’s other memories, didn’t he? Not the end of the world necessarily, but still frustrating all the same. The more things changed, the more it felt like they stayed the same… but with unique differences.
 
Whatever they’d done to bring Sapphiron back… it had made him even worse than he would have been originally. A combination of fel and necromantic magics had gone into resurrecting the massive dragon, turning him into a Fel-Infused Bone Wyrm of titanic proportions and terrifying power.

That was something else Rognak had ‘forgotten’… or rather, had simply not taken into account. He had all of this information swirling around in his head and sometimes it was hard to recognize what was pertinent and what wasn’t.
 
… Well, the fact that Balnazzar was commonly understood to be the strongest of his brothers felt pretty damn pertinent now, didn’t it? The dreadlord was supposed to be the most powerful Nathrezim left on Azeroth in fact… and he’d clearly used that power, as well as whatever assistance the Deceiver had been able to give him, in order to perform the ritual that had resurrect Sapphiron.
 
He’d underestimated their enemies, and with great consequences. With Balnazzar’s assistance and Kil’Jaeden backing them from afar, it was obvious now that Kel’thuzad had managed to fill in Arthas’ gap in at least some small way. Rognak still didn’t think that the Lich could wholly replace Arthas, however. Not unless Ner’zhul got REALLY desperate. And even if he did have Kel’thuzad put on the Helm of Domination, Frostmourne remained lost… so it shouldn’t be possible for the Lich to reinforce Ner’zhul and keep him alive. Or at least Rognak didn’t think so.
 
Obviously, he really didn’t want to find out one way or another. They needed to put an end to all of this. The Scourge wouldn’t stay on the defensive forever. Once they realized that the expeditionary forces didn’t have some big gambit to try and snipe Ner’zhul out from under them, they would send more and more of their remaining heavy hitters after Cenarius in order to extract the location of the Shards of Frostmourne.
 
And if they chose to have Sapphiron in particular hunt them down… well, as things currently stood, Rognak didn’t like their odds. Especially given his current state. Grimacing, he reaches out to his connection to the Drakkari Loa and finds it frayed and in tatters, almost like it’s been skinned raw. It radiates pain, though it’s not completely severed.
 
… Perhaps it should be. Rognak fears that by holding onto the damaged connection, he might be hurting the Loa on the other end even more than he already has. With a grimace, he reaches out, fully intending to break it then and there.
 
Don’t… you… dare.
 
Before he can do so however, the voice of Har’koa echoes through his mind, causing him to jolt in surprise. The Snow Leopard Loa doesn’t take him out of time like she did last time, however. He’s still seated in the tent, watching Kael’thas gesticulate wildly and Maiev look like she’s one moment away from murdering the Sunstrider Prince where he stands, political consequences be damned. Then again, she always looks like she’s ready to murder someone, truth be told.
 
Still… Rognak tentatively reaches back. Har’koa?
 
Mm… indeed. Do not fret… young druid. The connection… will be restored.
 
Truth be told, that was one of the least of Rognak’s worries at this point. What about Mam’toth? Was he fine? And why did Har’koa sound so beleaguered? Had he done more than just damage the Mammoth Loa when he let Sapphiron’s breath weapon strike him?
 
We each… have our own connection to you. However… the damage sustained by the Bone Wyrm’s breath was… significant. It raced through you… to all of us. We shared the load… at great expense.
 
Damn. From the sound of things, he should have been dead a hundred times over. If the entire Drakkari Pantheon had had to absorb parts of Sapphiron’s attack, then if Rognak had been on his own, he would likely have been burnt to a crisp before Tyrande or Cenarius could even think of saving him.
 
Letting out a shuddering breath, he nevertheless focuses on what Har’koa is not saying. Mam’toth. What was his current state?
 
Heh. You worry… too much. Mam’toth… still lives. He took the greatest… damage. But worry not. We are not… divided as we once were. Your benefactor… saw to that. We will not allow our… petty differences to lead us down the same… dark path we were destined to before.
 
Rognak lets out another sigh, this time one of relief. Mam’toth’s final words to him had made it clear the Mammoth Loa was making the choice to take the attack alongside him completely of his own volition… but even still, that hadn’t stopped Rognak from feeling somewhat guilty. He’d been worried about the Loa, so to hear that the entire Pantheon was coming together in support of one another was… good. It was good.
 
Hmph. You spend too much time… worrying about us. Worry… about yourself. The Lich King… still lives. And now you have an insurmountable enemy between you and him. How… will you deal with the one your thoughts call ‘Sapphiron’?”
 
How indeed? Har’koa has hit the nail on the head there. Sapphiron was a big enough threat from Rognak’s original memories. In the video game, it had been a ‘raid boss’, the second to last in a place called Naxxramas, what would one day be the lair of Kel’thuzad if they didn’t manage to somehow deal with the Lich permanently here and now.
 
But that was Sapphiron as raised by purely necromantic magic. This Sapphiron was all of that… as well as infused by Fel Magic. Could he even be beaten? Could he be defeated? Rognak didn’t know for sure.
 
Quitter talk. But I suppose… one can’t expect everything from you. Fortunately… it would seem that another among your number has an idea of their own.
 
Rognak blinks, Har’koa’s words managing to pull him out of his thoughts and back into the real world just in time for Tyrande Whisperwind, High Priestess of Elune, to finally enter the debate. Before Kael’thas and Maiev can actually come to blows, the Priestess claps her hands together.
 
“Enough.”
 
Silence falls across the tent, though Kael’thas looks like he wants to say something, perhaps about how he doesn’t take orders from cowards or something equally antagonizing and characteristic of him. However, before he can speak, Tyrande meets his eyes and quiets him with but a look.
 
“… I stand by my decision to retreat. Lord Cenarius is right. Even if we had won the battle, our strength would have been so depleted that killing the Lich King might have become impossible. And that… THAT is all that matters. Destroying the Scourge’s Master, ending the threat he poses once and for all… THAT is what matters.”
 
Kael’thas… bites his tongue. The Sunstrider Prince’s lips thin out, but after a moment he offers Tyrande a curt nod, an understanding passing between the two of them that Rognak doesn’t quite understand. Tyrande takes in a deep breath, and then sweeps her gaze back and forth across the room.
 
“Warden Shadowsong was also correct. That Bone Wyrm… the dragon they slew to raise such a creature had to be positively ancient. Likely a direct agent of one of the Aspects themselves. To fight something like that, we need more than dragonhawks and wind serpents.”
 
Rognak winces as Kael’thas stiffens, but Tyrande isn’t done. In fact, she’s just getting started.
 
“This continent… is not entirely unknown to my people. And long before the Lich King and his Scourge took up residence here, it was home to much greater, more ancient creatures. In order to fight something like the enemy’s Bone Wyrm, we will need the help of one such creature.”
 
Wait… was Tyrande talking about what he thought she was talking about? The High Priestess look to Cenarius at this point and gives him a nod.
 
“Lord Cenarius… to have any chance of overcoming this foe, I believe that we have need of your mother. Do you think that would be possible?”
 
Cenarius jolts in surprise, even as Kael’thas’ face contorts in confusion. Rognak meanwhile, is gobsmacked. He was well aware that Cenarius’ birth mother was Elune herself. The Moon Goddess and Malorne had created the Lord of the Forest together. However, Elune had not been the one to raise Cenarius. No, that had been…
 
“Hmm… I see your thinking, High Priestess. And you might just be right. Still, it will not be easy. Rousing the Dreamer rarely is.”
 
Tyrande bows her head in acknowledgment, before lifting it again, her eyes blazing with purpose.
 
“I suspect not. But… we have to try.”
 
Cenarius nods and that’s that. Still, Rognak can’t help but be a little amazed. Talk about fighting fire with fire. If this works… then yeah, maybe they have a chance. After all, to beat the undead, fel-infused agent of an Aspect… another Aspect just might do the trick.

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