"You are obscuring the investigation. There is a traitor in the city, we cannot continue to let him act unimpeded!"

  "Stand down, the Silver Hand has been disbanded. You have no authority to command the city guard, nor demand passage to deliver justice as you say!" An officer who seemed to hail Strathome as his home city defiantly stood in front of a large, older man with gray beard. The weight of his thin stature might be comparable to the weight of the hammer held in the hand of the man he was opposing. The less confident officers and guards of the city militia stood further behind him, acting as if the dispute was not their business at all, gazing into the nearby river.

  "You! I remember you staying with the prince during the purge. Where is your loyalty now? Shouldn't we find what happened to prince Arthas in the Northrend and who was behind his death?" On the bridge, the older man standing tall in his shining armor pointed his finger at one of the guards who tried to act as if not present.

  "Along with the long ears? Your position is more and more dubious, Uther the Troublebringer." With the last word of the officer, the pommel of the huge hammer stuck the bridge, making it vibrate gently.

  "I beg you pardon?" Lord Uther the Lightbringer asked with his brows furrowed, he was obviously fed up with the man that was for some reason doing whatever he could to prevent him from entering Stratholme.

  "The high elves are here to observe the Plague, a disease that for some mysterious reason always leads the investigators into Stratholme." A man Kael Gull knew as ranger lord Nathanos Marris spoke while the elves at his side only watched the interaction.

  "Do you dare to doubt the integrity of Baron Rivendare?!" The outspoken officer rose his voice while his pupils kept wandering in the direction of the city gate, which finally opened and more of Strathome's soldiers poured out. Calming himself down, the representative of the city guards faced the small armed force in front of him with his courage renewed. "As I have said, you are banned from entering the city, unless you act under explicit orders from the King! Now leave!"

  "Your obstruction of justice will cause the deaths of many. Come." Uther turned around and walked away from the city along with a few of his paladins and the high elven forces. After a short walk, they met Kael and Lor'themar who were waiting for them. Not eager to be implicated in the fruitless debate, they watched the whole drama from afar.

  "Ranger-General, we have arrived!" The leading paladin wanted to speak, but Lor'themar Theron was faster with his report.

  "I see, Lor'themar. It is right in time, your companion might tell us why he has murdered prince Arthas." Sylvanas and everyone else shifted their attention to Kael, their gazes filled with a mix of scrutiny, hostility and surprise. The Inquisitor was not bothered by their sudden attention and already had a reasonable explanation.

  "He was a corrupted heretic and needed to be dealt with." Kael spoke and the atmosphere turned heavy.

  After a while, it was Lord Uther who broke the silence.

  "I saw the bodies. How could it happen? Was it the grain?" Uther asked with a mixture of anger and sadness. Kael was surprised to finally meet someone who understood the seriousness of the situation, the status of a person was obviously irrelevant if he had been allied with the Archenemy.

  "I do not know of his circumstances, but he was carrying an artifact corrupted by the powers of chaos. I have no knowledge of where he had acquired it. I have detonated the sword further down the road." Kael pointed his finger in the direction they had come from.

  "Was that the huge explosion?" Nathanos Marris asked and Kael simply nodded in response.

  "Was it destroyed?" Uther demanded while his right hand trembled slightly, the news of the prince's death seemed to be a heavy burden on the aged man.

  "Yes, there was no sign of it after the explosion." Kael verified and Uther turned away from him, facing the water surface that reflected the last light of dusk.

  The few paladins that were with Lord Uther looked like they wanted to voice their doubts about Kael's action, but the respect for their leader seemed to hold them back, they saw that he did not put much blame with Kael due to the prince's corruption. Arthas had been seen acting along with the rampaging force of undead and those of them who had seen his corpse knew beyond all doubt that the Light had abandoned him long before his death.

  "I knew something was amiss, the expedition took too long. Despite being hot headed at times, he was a fine paladin. What evil lies in the north to be able to turn him and our whole expedition force against us? This cannot remain unanswered." Uther the Lightbringer turned abruptly back to face them and there was new vigor in his eyes. "I will gather a team to purge our land of traitors before heading to Northrend to investigate the dangers it poses to the Alliance!"

  "Good luck, paladin. Keep us informed about the Plague." Sylvanas cut off further discussion before it even started and commanded her forces to leave back to Quel'Thalas.

  "Are we leaving already?" Nathanos whispered into her ear while they were leaving the human paladins behind.

  "We met our objective, they know no more about this new plague and the undead wandering their lands. Staying longer would only lead to trouble that does not concern the high elves." Sylvanas stated and Lor'themar next to her obviously agreed with her decision wholeheartedly.

  "Do you need our support to defend your farm?" Lor'themar asked with a stone face.

  "No, most of them have been blown up by the explosion and the rest cannot stand against Lord Uther, now when he will finally mobilize the Order of the Silver Hand. The order might have been disbanded by Arthas before, but it is not like their paladins vanished into the thin air. I will keep monitoring the situation." Nathanos Marris answered and parted ways with the elves who were turning left towards Quel'Thalas, while he himself continued towards his home in the direction of the capital city.

  Soon, they were again in the forest with golden leaves and Kael Gull could not shake off an uneasy feeling. The whole excursion into the human territory was too peaceful for his standards and they had found little. Despite the limited success of their journey, he had three important tasks in front of him.

  He should investigate the source of the chaos artifact in the north called Northrend. He wanted to further investigate the strange psyker-like powers that the high elf, Lor'themar Theron, showed during their duel. Finally, he needed to get off the planet. Unfortunately for the still waiting xenos of the Donorian Sector, chaos infestations and warp phenomena took precedence in his books before minor xenos' incursions.

  He decided to investigate Lor'themar Theron's abilities first while the humans gathered further knowledge about the north. If the chaos infestation was worthy of his attention, the Archenemy would return stronger than before.

  "Are we flying back?" The Inquisitor asked, when they reached the same place where he had encountered Sylvanas.

  "You? For one, you should have enough after the incident with the hawkstrider and . . ." Sylvanas lost her smirk and looked him in the eyes. ". . . we have yet to decide what to do with you."

  "You mean there are no other means of flight except beasts?!" The inquisitor was horrified by the prospect, even forgetting about the second part of the statement. Was it a secret revenge of adeptus mechanicus for his habit to criticize their incompetence?

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  "I think your priorities are misplaced, human. You should be more interested in your fate than in the abilities of our flying beasts. I saw that you are no civilian, we cannot have you wandering around alone while knowing nothing about you." Lor'themar reminded him with one hand gripping his weapon tightly. He became wary of the inquisitor after their brief exchange.

  "My name is Kael, long ears, and I will gladly have you as my company." Kael Gull proposed, watching Lor'themar's displeasure with him growing, but before they could start an argument, Sylvanas interrupted them.

  "A fine idea, the mission is yours, Lor'themar." Sylvanas clapped the high elf on his shoulder and both him and Kael looked at her, question marks in their faces. "You will accompany our visitor, consider it a vacation."

  The inquisitor started doubting the elven women had recognized his sarcasm.

  Either not, or she was a mischievous little wench herself.

  Lor'themar and Kael were left standing in front of the flying birds that began carrying the rest of the high elves towards the big city in the distance.

  "I guess we need to go on foot." Kael looked at the departing birds that looked too lean and malnourished to even attempt to carry him. Like everything in this strange land of Quel'Thalas. Even their buildings!

  "On foot." Lor'themar confirmed and they began descending the hill the village called Tranquillien was situated on. It would be a long walk to the city.

  "Silvermoon it's called, right? Why is there more gold and red than silver? At least there is a moon above us." Kael Gull cackled, enjoying the walk as he had already shifted his mindset into a long-term mission mode. He had originally thought that he would be able to solve everything quickly with a few vox calls, but it did not seem feasible anymore. He would be stuck in the place for some time.

  "Ancestors stay my hand from killing him." Lor'themar mumbled as he continued to walk towards the Silvermoon City next to the bulky frame of the inquisitor

  * * * *

  "This is intriguing." The inquisitor stood in front of a robust figure made of metal, an artificial construct guarding the gate to Silvermoon. Many elves poured in and out, both on foot and riding their bird-like beasts called Hawkstriders. Kael had to admit the birds were cute, he could imagine eating one of their roasted legs for dinner. What interested him in the moment was the inner workings of the construct standing in front of him.

  The high elves did not seem to have anyone to take care of the technical aspect of the golem, nor placate its machine spirits. Their success seemed to rely simply on intuition and experiments. Still, it was strange there were no malfunctions due to their negligence of the often capricious machine spirits.

  "Can we visit the place where they make these?" He asked Lor'themar, his designated babysitter.

  "They are magical constructs and we are not here to inspect Silvermoon's military production facilities. " He immediately refused his request, something Kael considered reasonable. Specific details of military technology were usually secret, not a public knowledge.

  "Are you afraid I might steal the know-how of how to make these primitive machines?" He jabbed the high elf with his word lightly, an act he was starting to enjoy and watched his silence. The high elf was clearly holding back from strangling him with his bare hands. Kael Gull loved dealing with principled people, as long as one saw through their principles, they were like defenseless puppies.

  "Fine, but I am no prisoner. That means I can do this." Suddenly, the inquisitor sidestepped and blocked the way of one of the hawkstriders, its rider almost forced to brace against its long neck to prevent herself from hugging Kael as the Newtonian physics of motion applied.

  "Excuse me?!" She shrieked out, shifting back to a proper riding position.

  "I am terribly sorry, young lady, but do you happen to know where a civilian version of these is manufactured in the city?" Keal pointed at the golem next to them and the confused young high elf blinked several times at the strange triangle of a high elf, golem and an inquisitor.

  "I . . . I am sorry, but I am late for an appointment." She said while looking left and right, but there was too much traffic to dodge Kael's large frame.

  "Of course, I won't bother you any longer." He stepped aside and the stressed out elf hurried away from them as fast as she could.

  The local population did not seem to like or trust other races very much.

  "Just stop! A troll is more polite than you!" Lor'themar said while blocking his way with his body, preventing him from continuing with his questioning.

  "Is it a crime to be curious?" He acted innocent, but did not want to tease Lor'themar too much as he seemed to be at his limit.

  "I will show you something related. Follow me!" He claimed and headed into the city, not intending to be embarrassed more than he had already been.

  The roads in the city were paved with white stone, with the wide walkways at the side being red. From time to time there was a tree with golden leaves planted, something to be expected from the nature loving freaks that the high elves were. Walking through the city in the night, he had to admit that the white walls of the city really did reflect the moonlight, justifying its name.

  "Are the shops even open? it's late." He asked, but his guide only chuckled in response.

  They entered one of the shops near the main road. When Keal looked around, he could not understand the purpose of most goods that were sold here. Based on Lor'themar's limited explanation, it was an enchanter's shop, but staring at multitude of colorful materials in the form of sand, dust or stones, Keal had no idea what the man was actually selling or doing.

  "What do you sell here? Rocks?" The inquisitor asked a figure behind a counter, the whole shop being stylized in the colors of the city outside.

  "Those are just materials, you can see the real merchandise behind me." The high elf who had to be much older than Lor'themar clarified while gesturing at various weapons and tools. "Staves, wands, scrying orbs, all sorts of enchanted weapons and many more. Take your time to look around, foreigner." Kael was using his universal translator which was inbuilt into his armor to communicate, communication that was not even in the native language of the high elves. It was no surprise that everyone categorized him as a foreigner right away.

  "This. . .wand, is it supposed to be a weapon?" He asked the shopkeeper, who seemed to be more patient than most, a lot more than his ranger companion.

  "A wand is a focus for mana, it helps casters to shape their mana into what their heart desires. Contrary to other magical weapons, wands are usually already inscribed with simple spells. It prevents mental fatigue and all casters can use them." The man's eyes stayed on the inquisitor's chainsword before he continued." You seem to be a swordsman, wand is like having a dagger. It is not a main weapon of a mage, but it can be useful at times."

  "What is this mana you speak of?" Kael continued his interrogation and the shopkeeper gave him a strange look. He fidgeted a little, obviously inclined to kick Kael out of his shop, but one look at Lor'themar made him smile again.

  Kael thought it was ridiculous that he had somehow managed to turn Lor'themar into his thug due to his reserved behavior.

  "Mana measures potential to cast spells, when spells are cast, mana is consumed." The shopkeeper extended his hand and a thin stalagmite made of ice rose from the palm of his hand.

  The inquisitor's eyebrows rose along with the crystalline structure. He could not understand what was happening. He could ignore the small signs he had seen during his walk through the city, but the phenomenon was right in front of his eyes at this point. The worst was, that the high elf was obviously not a psyker, all of those were disrupting Materium, their miracles typically causing a heavy presence of warp.

  Yet he felt none of it from the shopkeeper.

  He thanked the high elf for his explanation without listening anymore and walked out of the shop in a daze. Up to this point he had been able to rationalize everything around him to a degree, but at this moment, it was clear that this was not a standard planet of The Imperium of Man.

  Yet, the code of the Inquisition did not know what it was to be outside of the Imperium. There was no such thing, because wherever an inquisitor was, there was also the light of the Emperor's Golden Throne.

  * * * *

  Tichondrius quickly rolled the sword in front of him into thick leather to hide it from all eyes that might be following his retreat. Nathrezim had secrecy in their nature, scheming and plotting until their enemies lay defeated without even knowing who struck them down.

  The dreadlord looked around with great displeasure. It was in the nature of his race to love secrets and mysteries, but only those he himself conjured into existence, not those which confused him and disrupted his elaborate plans. Looking around, it was obvious he was faced with technology and culture that was not common in Azeroth, nor has he seen it anywhere else.

  "This! Where has all this come from?" He sought to use any kind of detail of the place to figure out its origin, but it was of no use. It was obviously not a structure that had been here before, transported here by magic or flight. When he wanted to use the precious time he had for his investigation, while everyone left chasing the unfamiliar, heavily armored human, he felt a tremendous energy gathering next to the place where Frostmourne had been left.

  He felt a sense of crisis and immediately used his magic to teleport away, closely avoiding a powerful explosion. A moment later and the pivotal piece of their plan might have been destroyed along with the many undead that rushed to reclaim it.

  Appearing some distance away, he looked at the devastation caused by the explosion and gripped the leather in his hand tighter, feeling the energies of the sword beneath.

  "This surprise attack of Lordaeron is a failure and the vessel is lost." He stated the obvious and moved to consult his kin. Their cards had been shuffled and they needed a new plan.