The Demon Soul by Richard A. Knaak Read Free Book Online Page B

hall, Malfurion thought to himself how mercurial his people could be. A moment before, they had been lamenting the news of the portal’s resurrection. Now they acted as if they had never even heard the terrible report.
    But if they had forgotten it, Rhonin and Brox had not. They shook their heads and the red-haired wizard muttered, “This bodes ill. Your people don’t realize what they’re marching into.”
    “What other choice do they have?”
    “You must reconsider sending messengers as I suggested,” Krasus suddenly insisted.
    The wizard still stood before Lord Ravencrest, who now was accompanied only by a pair of dour guards and Desdel Stareye. Krasus had one foot on the dais and his expression was as animated as Malfurion had ever seen it.
    “Send out messengers?” scoffed Stareye. “You jest!”
    “I accept your anxiety,” their host replied, “but we’ve hardly sunk so low. Fear not, Master Krasus, we will take Zin-Azshari and cut off the portal! I promise you that!” He adjusted his helmet. “Now, I think we both have plans to make before the march, eh?”
    With Lord Stareye and the guards in tow, the noble marched out of the room as if already the victor. Illidan joined his patron just before the party vanished. Krasus watched Ravencrest depart, his countenance anything but pleasant to behold.
    “What was that you tried to convince him of?” asked Rhonin. “Messengers to whom?”
    “I have been trying—in vain, it appears—to persuade him to ask for assistance from the dwarves and other races—”
    “Ask the other races?” blurted Malfurion. Had Krasus asked him beforehand the odds of success, the young night elf would have immediately tried to dissuade him from even suggesting such to the master of Black Rook Hold. Even with Kalimdor under siege and hundreds or more already dead, no lord would ever demean himself by even thinking of contacting outsiders. To most night elves, dwarves and such were barely one step above vermin.
    “Yes…and I see from your expression that attempting to speak later with him about it will be just as futile.”
    “You know how hard it was to convince the dwarves, orcs, elves, and humans to work together in our—where we came from,” Rhonin remarked. “Not to mention the complexity of getting each of the factions and kingdoms within those groups to trust one another.”
    Krasus nodded wearily. “Even my own kind have their prejudices…”
    It was as close as he had ever come to identifying what he truly was, but Malfurion did not press. His curiosity concerning his ally’s identity was a slight thing compared to the potential holocaust they all faced.
    “You didn’t tell them about the dragon leaving,” he said to Krasus.
    “Lord Ravencrest knows of it. I sent word of it to him as soon as Korialstrasz declared his decision.”
    Rhonin frowned. “You shouldn’t have let Korialstrasz go.”
    “He shares a concern with me about the dragons. As should you.” Some wordless communication passed between the two wizards, and Rhonin finally nodded.
    “What do we do?” asked Brox. “We fight with the night elves?”
    “We have no choice,” Rhonin answered before Krasus could. “We’re trapped here. Things’ve become too tangled not to take an active part.” He stared deep into the elder mage’s eyes. “We can’t just stand by.”
    “No, we cannot. It has gone beyond that. Besides, I find I will not abide waiting for assassins to come targeting me. I will defend myself.”
    Rhonin nodded. “So it’s settled.”
    Malfurion did not understand all that they said, but he recognized the end of what had been a long, stressful argument. Evidently, despite all he had done for the night elves, Krasus still had reservations about aiding them. An irony, so the druid saw it, after how much effort Krasus had spent pushing for Lord Ravencrest to approach the dwarves and tauren.
    It occurred to him then that they had all decided to join the host marching on