But something had gone wrong. They had found an artifact, to be sure, only to discover that it contained a strange entity — a being they had freed, though whether deliberately or through careless arrogance no one could now be sure. Because the creature's exultant escape had shattered Auchindoun itself, the great stone dome crumbling, the massive temple within it torn to pieces, and the coundess underground tunnels that housed the draenei dead exploding outward into coundess fragments. The impact had destroyed the forest for over a league in every direction, and littered the now-barren ground with bones from the draenei who had once lain at rest within Auchindoun's catacombs. Only a few of the Shadow Council members had survived and escaped, fleeing back to Gul'dan to report the grave-city gone but any draenei within assuredly killed as well. No one had ever returned there, and to this day orcs avoided the Bone Wastes, as the area around Auchindoun had been named.
Until now.
"We have no choice," Ner’zhul reiterated, fixing first Kilrogg and then Gorefiend with his gaze. "We must go there. Some of the tunnels must survive, at least for a short length, and within them we may be able to defend ourselves. Without such protection the Alliance forces will kill us all, and our race will die with us."
Kilrogg sputtered something unintelligible. Gorefiend stared at him contemptuously, red eyes narrowing. "Ner’zhul is right. We've no other choice. But we must proceed with caution. I've no wish to waken something we can't defeat."
"It is settled, then," Ner’zhul said. "Is it not, Kilrogg? I should hate to leave you behind."
The old chieftain swallowed hard and lowered his head. "Ner’zhul, you know I am afraid of nothing that lives. Nothing that I can fight and tear to pieces. But that place …" He sighed deeply. "The Bleeding Hollow clan will go where Ner’zhul leads."
"Good. Between us we will be more than a match for anything that waits within those walls. Now gather our warriors, and your death knights," he told his two lieutenants. "We must reach the Bone Wastes as soon as possible."
Kilrogg nodded and walked away Gorefiend glared after him, then saluted Ner’zhul and followed, his fellow death knights clustering around him before he had gone far. Ner’zhul turned away as well, his hands clutching the bag at his side and feeling the rough shapes of the artifacts it contained. Despite his strong words, he wondered what they would find in Auchindoun. Did the draenei dead still linger there? Would they hold him responsible for the actions of his former pupil, or would they see that Gul'dan had betrayed Ner’zhul as well? Would the strange ruins prove a much-needed shelter from the Alliance army, or would taking his orcs there only expose them to even greater danger? He did not know. But he could not think what else to do, and so they would find out. Ner’zhul just hoped he was not making a grave error.
The Horde warriors came to a stop, staring. The trees ended just behind them, and before them stretched the gray soil and littered fragments of the Bone Wastes. Auchindoun rose in its midst, squat and ugly, the remains of its shattered dome jutting upward like broken teeth, the ruined temple nestled within it like a battered head half-buried in the dull ground.
Ner’zhul stared as well. He couldn't help it. The last he had seen of this place, the draenei's holy resting place, it had been ominous and intact. Now, with great gaping rents in the temple walls, with entire sections open to the sky, with the forest that had cradled it blasted away and bones covering the ground, he could barely reconcile it with the dreadful majesty of the monument that had so terrified him in his youth.
The ground seemed to shake all around him, and at first Ner’zhul thought it was merely the rush of blood pounding through his veins, his heart racing from the sight of the ancient grave-city. Then he realized the vibrations were coming from somewhere outside himself, and glanced around. His orcs stood still or quietly shuffling, some looking around as if searching for the same thing he was. Then he looked behind them, through the trees, and saw shapes flickering there.
"The Alliance is right behind us!" he shouted, his voice carrying easily here where the trees did not impede it. "We must take shelter! Into Auchindoun! Hurry!"
"Move it, you worthless cretins!" Kilrogg added, slamming his axe against a nearby tree so hard the entire trunk shuddered. The sound and the motion seemed to wake the warriors from their shocked trance, and they broke into a run, all heading for the draenei building's ruined doorway.
Passing through that massive, lopsided portal, Ner’zhul felt a shiver of fear race through him. Were there still spirits guarding this mass tomb, as he had felt there were when he had first approached it so long ago? Or had they fled with the buildings ruination?
There was no time to ponder such things. He hastened deep into the demolished temple and down through a gaping hole into what remained of the labyrinth below, Kilrogg and Gorefiend beside him and several of Kilrogg's most trusted warriors before and behind them. Underground, Auchindoun was more elaborate than without, its carvings more intricate.
Some things, it seemed, had survived, at least to some degree. An elegant arch, now shattered, rose above the base of the stairs they had used, and above that Ner’zhul saw strangely graceful shapes that seemed less faithful than representative. Thick pillars had once supported a high roof directly beneath the temple floor, and portions of them remained, their rough unadorned surfaces a strong contrast to the decorated walls around them. Niches had been carved into those walls, row upon row of them, and hints of white and yellow within told him what he would find there. Bones. No doubt all the walls had contained such draenei remains, and it was their contents that were now strewn across the Bone Wastes, the draenei ancestors exposed to the elements where once they had rested in peaceful shade beneath heavy stone. The floor here was stone as well, small tiles intricately worked into a cunning pattern, and broad stairways connected different levels.
Glancing down Ner’zhul saw at least six floors below them, their centers ripped away by that fateful explosion, the remnants now exposed to open air. Then the others pulled him into a wide tunnel that ran off to one side from this central space.
"The walls here are still sound," Kilrogg was saying, glancing about and nodding in approval. Ner’zhul was pleased. Kilrogg had worried him earlier, with his almost crippling fear. But now that he had made up his mind, Kilrogg was committed and calm.
"A few collapses, but most of the ceiling remains and the floor is still passable. We can group our warriors a bit farther back, where there seems to be less damage." He gestured toward the tunnel's back end, which stretched on into shadow. Ner’zhul saw that he was right — there was less rubble there and the ceiling seemed unbroken. "We can set up a strong defensive post here. The Alliance will have a hard time digging us out once we're set in."
"Some of the lower tunnels may still be intact," Gorefiend pointed out. "We should check those carefully before venturing forth. If nothing… else is there, they might provide an even better stronghold."
Kilrogg nodded and detailed some of his warriors to search the rest of this tunnel and several to search the tunnels nearby, though he warned them not to stray too far. The others he ordered to carry rubble to the tunnel mouth and to build a low wall across it as best they could. Then he, Gorefiend, and Ner’zhul settled in to wait and to discuss battle strategies.
A few hours later one of Kilrogg s scouts returned. The warrior's eyes were wide, but a faint smile played across his lips. "There is something you need to see!"
"What is it?" Ner’zhul asked, rising to his feet and dusting his hands against his thighs. He and Gorefiend had been working on a contingency plan that might ultimately save them all, but it was not yet finished.