Wrath of the Light

Chapter Two: Departures

Three days later, near the Lordaeron coast, Thrall was having second thoughts. A waterfall was flowing pristine as crystal before his eyes, leading to a bright pool of clear water.

'It's been three days and this... prophet has yet to show himself.' He said to himself. 'I hope I'm not making a huge mistake by trusting him.'

At this time a warrior approached him, a messenger. 'Warchief, the Clans are assembling as you ordered.' he said. 'But it will take them some time to reach us.'

'Then we must prepare this camp immediately.' decided Thrall. 'I want my warriors to have food and proper lodgings when they arrive.' He made his way towards the Peons, meaning to instruct them before he paused. He turned back to the warrior. 'Warrior has there been any word from Grom Hellscream? He and the Warsong clan were supposed to have been here by now.'

'No Warchief,' admitted the warrior, 'we haven't heard from Hellscream in some time.'

'Damn it, Grom, where are you?' asked Thrall of his absent friend.

The work began slowly, for the village was a small one. The sound of sawing wood and the erecting of great beams filled the day. Fortunately, a large group of Peons arrived ahead of the rest of the horde, and Thrall put them to work.

'I need a war mill established by the tree line. We'll put our lumber there until we need it.' He commanded.

The efforts took over a week, as little by little construction continued. Before long there were a great many burrows erected to house warriors who soon began to arrive. A barracks stood near them, where mead was drunk and tales told of mighty victories. Not to mention being a place where warriors trained for battle. Another such barracks was erected due south of it over the next few days.

Finally, satisfied with their efforts, Thrall rode his wolf to a different part of the camp. There he saw peons who were busy hewing at more trees. Looking at the war mill, he saw that they had plenty of lumber, more than they would need.

'Halt the felling of trees immediately!' called Thrall to his Peons, and they stopped at looked at him.

'Are we doing it wrong?' asked one.

'No,' said Thrall, 'I'd just rather we not destroy any more of nature than we must.' He hated cutting down trees. They were things of beauty and worthy of respect.

They halted their efforts and returned to tending their gardens. Thrall reflected that such efforts would be for naught, as they would be moving across the sea. Did the prophet realize what he was asking? He wanted the Horde to leave everything they had worked to build behind and start anew in a land they did not know or own. It was... drastic to say the least. Yet the spirits did not lie.

More and more warriors were arriving, and Thrall went to meet them. 'Well met, warriors.' he said. 'Did Hellscream send you?'

'No Warchief,' they answered. 'he is farther afield. We saw him halting to raid an Alliance base camp.'

Thrall frowned in irritation. Grom might well bring the wrath of the Alliance down on them with his recklessness. The two of them disagreed on how their policy towards humans should be conducted. By all accounts, his own people had been the aggressors.

Worse still, the humans could have easily had them all butchered without mercy. Much as the orcs had intended to do to them. Yet they had chosen not to. Thus, Thrall was reluctant to wage war on them. Meanwhile, Grom delighted in battle and sought out humans to fight.

Even so, the humans would have to cross the river to reach them. To this end, Thrall had erected many towers along the coast. Several at the most likely place the humans would enter. It might be wise to reinforce that position, just in case.