Azeroth Trail of Light

The Kingdom of Shadows is a place where time flows very slowly and changes are very slow.

This is not an exaggeration. The special rules of this demiplane greatly hinder the flow of time, so a day here is only one-tenth of the outside world, or even slower.

In other words, even a dying person can live ten times longer as long as he can enter the kingdom of shadows, but it is not the same as it seems on the surface. This is not a blessing, at least for living in shadows. For the creatures in the kingdom, this just means that they will suffer more.

Extend the torture ten times!

For any creature, this is not a good place. Unique shadows and fog will seep into the body of every creature that enters here. Without them realizing it, they can quietly transform their bodies. Gorm is just one. example.

After staying with Hela for tens of thousands of years in this demiplane, it was almost completely transformed into a shadow creature, and even its own power system was extremely biased towards shadow and darkness. In fact, If it hadn't been for Gorm to face Dick in the world of Order, it would definitely not have been defeated so badly, or even lost its life.

Gorm is biased towards the reformed side, and it has become like that here willingly, and there are some guys who would rather die than follow, and what they receive here is the real torture.

For example, those Valarjar’s captured heroic spirits are tied to this place by Hela. They don’t even need to be shackled or imprisoned. As long as they stay in the Kingdom of Shadows and use their will to continue to fight this place, they will feel the The obliteration and pain of the soul.

It’s almost eternal. As long as they don’t surrender for a day, they will not get salvation and liberation. As time goes by, their will may still be so firm, like steel, but other things, such as memory, such as thinking. , Will be thoroughly worn away by this ubiquitous rule.

They wandered blankly in the sewage of the Kingdom of Shadows, attacking everything that can be attacked. These prowlers are the most dangerous creatures in this country. Even the mist warriors of Kvaldir are unwilling to provoke them, but The heroic spirits are even more miserable, the mortals who fall into the kingdom of shadows.

Anduin became sober in this situation.

When he woke up, he found himself trapped in a cage made of steel. The cage was shaped like a birdcage on a railing. The moment he leaned on the railing, he opened his eyes. The smell of musty and rotten rushed into his nostrils, and Anduin's eyes suddenly widened.

His vision slowly became clear, and the world in front of him no longer moved. He let out a groan and felt that the bones of his whole body became sore. He looked at the railing in front of him, which was full of bronze rust. The smooth burrs hurt when they looked at it, and he immediately understood where the pain of the body came from.

Anduin stood up from the cage with difficulty, his shoulders and back leaning on the railing were covered with blood stars, not painful, but numb, it seemed that he had been in a coma for a long time.

The last memory of the little prince was that he was pulled back into the shadows by a smelly tentacles, as if there was still Anvina’s screaming, he stood up from the cage and looked at this piece of absolutely nothing good. The sky of the earth, thinking about everything about here.

But... it's blank.

Except for the pain behind it, there was nothing.

The mist rolled outside the birdcage, but it would never invade it. Anduin looked around, and soon discovered that on his left, there were more birdcages, either of which were bound to Gavincent. The same tall Vrykul is either simply a pile of bones, and the ground under the bird cage is full of bone stubble and mixed filth. This ghost place is simply a real hell!

The sight was shocking at first glance. Anduin simply turned his head and stopped looking. He stretched out his hand and looked for the opening of the birdcage fence, but at the moment when his hand was about to touch the birdcage. The voice stopped him.

"Don't touch it"

Anduin retracted his fingers subconsciously, then turned his head, and saw an elderly Vrykul leaning in the birdcage. He didn't look like a warrior. It came from the silver-white robe he wore and the magic lines on his face. Look, this should be a mage. He closed his eyes and seemed to be resting, but he didn't care about the barb on the birdcage, allowing it to penetrate his body.

He seems to be very tired too...it's hard to say whether this is because of physical fatigue or spirituality. Less than 5 minutes after he was awake at least, Anduin already felt the depression of this world.

"who are you?"

The little prince asked, and the answer was silence. It wasn't until a few minutes later that the Vykul Mage answered.

"Is there any water?"

This question made the little prince stunned for a while, and then he tried to open his storage ring, but found that it became difficult to penetrate his spirit into the ring. It was like putting his will into a crack in the rock. It took him longer than usual. It took five times longer before he took out his water bottle.

It was an exquisite glass bottle. Thanks to Dick’s teaching, Anduin’s storage ring was almost full of these "meaningless" things in the eyes of other nobles, food and water, and necessary Potion and ointment, according to Dick, fate does not know when it will surprise you. All we can do is to be ready at any time.

Now, Dick's words and deeds are working.

But the little prince soon discovered that at the moment he took out the bottle, the water in the bottle became turbid at a speed visible to the naked eye. The little prince placed it in front of his eyes and observed it carefully. The result attracted the old man. The Vrykul cursed mercilessly.

"Idiot, give it to me! Quick!"

Anduin did it right away, not because of fear or other reasons, but because the Vykul was really anxious. He passed the glass bottle through the railing of the birdcage, and the old Vykul took it in his hand. Turning it away, without saying anything, drank the water that was already grey with flakes in one go.

As a result, his chapped lips became moist, and running water stained his beard, which seemed hearty. After drinking, the Vykul threw the bottle casually and said to Anduin,

"This is the first lesson. In the Kingdom of Shadows, you get a bottle of clean water. The only thing you have to do is to drink it into your stomach before it is completely corrupted by the rules and cannot be drunk...ah, It’s so refreshing. I probably already have...well, I haven’t tasted the taste of water in 30 years. Thank you, rookie."

"Three... thirty years?"

Anduin was stunned, and the Vrykul waved his hand. The large bottle of water just now seemed to restore some energy to him. Even the godless eyes became gleaming. Looking at Anduin's surprised expression, Wei The Kuman chuckled.

"You probably don't know where this is, right? Is there any more water? One bottle...no, half a bottle of water is a problem! Fair enough, right?"

"Water, is it okay to eat?"

The little prince was a little entangled. It wasn't that there was not enough water, but he remembered what Dick had said. In this environment, water is always more precious than food, so he decided to exchange information with food, and the Vrykul didn’t care. Shrug,

"Anything! But I'll give you a suggestion. Don't ask stupid questions. Before your food bottoms out, you'd better understand your situation, otherwise it's hard to survive, especially in this horrible place."

Anduin didn't reply. He took out a large piece of beef wrapped in oil paper from the storage ring, tore it in half, and quickly handed it to the old Vrykul. He also sat on the ground, ignoring that it was slowly deteriorating. The smell of, quickly began to bite, seeing this scene, the old Vykul nodded slightly invisible.

Only a wise person can live longer in the Kingdom of Shadows. Obviously, this kid in front of him is a truly wise person.

He sniffed the aroma of beef, bitten off most of it in one bite, chewed and talked.

"The first question, ask."

"Where is this? Can I get out?"

The old Vrykul glared at Anduin, who had swallowed the last bite of beef with difficulty, and raised his brows, "These are two questions, but forget it, look at the glass of water just now, here is the kingdom of shadows, the sea of ​​death. As you can see, there are only two kinds of creatures here, Kvaldir who surrendered to Hela, and an idiot who didn’t want to obey her. As for going out, it’s a pity that I’ve been here for many years... but I’ve never seen it. A person who can go out, even the heroic spirits, can't go out."

Anduin lowered his head and thought for a while, took out another glass of water, took a big sip, and then handed it to the old Vykul.

"Tell me about Hela."

The old Vrykul drank the water again, held the glass in his hand and played with him, watching the little prince playfully. After eating and drinking, his mental head was completely restored. He moved his shoulders and stretched out. Root finger,

"Give me another piece of meat, this is a long story."

The little prince barked his teeth, but in the end he reluctantly threw a big oil paper bag to the old Vykul, who took it in his hand, put it to his mouth, sniffed, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Well, the cooked pastrami is just right. It seems that your elder is a knowledgeable guy. He knows what is most important to you... Okay, where do I start? Hela, she She was originally the adopted daughter of Odin. By the way, Odin should you know?"

Anduin nodded. Before coming to the Broken Isles, Gavincent told him the legend of Odin and the Vrykul, so he knew what Odin meant to the Vrykul, like a holy light. It means to humans, and Anduin has a good mentor.

Dick told him more than once that Odin was also the Guardian of the Titans and one of the two leaders of the Guardian.

Seeing him nodding, the old Vykul continued,

"In the beginning, the Great God Odin first built the Heroic Legion. He selected the brave Vrykul from all things in the world. But there is a problem. After the Vrykul dies, the soul will return to the Kingdom of Shadows and wait for the next life to come. Although the great **** Odin is powerful, it is not omnipotent, so he found Hela, his adopted daughter who is proficient in magic, and Hela went deep into the kingdom of shadows, and experienced thousands of sunrises and sunsets, Odin The Great God finally understood the rules of the Kingdom of Shadows, so he asked Hela to help him transport the most brave Vrykul from the Kingdom of Shadows. Hela fulfilled her promise, for which the Great God Odin bestowed her a glorious Valkyrie form. , She was also the first Queen Val'kyr to be blessed."

"You probably don't know that for all Vrykul women, that is the supreme glory, just as Vrykul men become heroic spirits."

The old Vrykul put the last touch of minced meat that had no taste in his mouth, aftertaste, rubbed his stomach, and continued to tell the story of Hela.

"This process lasted for tens of thousands of years. It was the most perfect tens of thousands of years. All Vrykul who died bravely will become heroic spirits and live in the most glorious Valarjar, but it's like all the stories told. In that way, there is always greed in the human heart, and the same goes for the gods. The long-term contact with the twisted rules of the Kingdom of Shadows stimulated the greed in Hela. She began to not be satisfied with sending the great soul to Valarjar, but intercepted Part of it, acting as her private army, she stole a part of the secrets of the heroic spirits, and this is those guys!"

The old Vykul pointed to the looming mist warrior outside the mist, and his tone was full of contempt, "Kvaldir, the dead returning from the mist, the "hero spirit" of Hela, the body is filled with evil and darkness, but they are more The heroic spirits are too weak. Even a Vrykul warrior can defeat them. As more and more souls are trapped, Hela begins to start a war in the originally quiet and serene Shadow Kingdom. This is the result of the war, Kwa Dill’s army occupied the entire Shadow Nation, Hela became the queen of the dead, and then started a war against Odin."

"The eternal war of the gods... continues to this day."

There was a trace of grief on the old man Vrykul, "The Great God Odin was also hurt by Hela and his adopted daughter's betrayal. He no longer believes in mortals easily. Only those souls who have passed his permission can enter Vala again. Gal, but more war dead were taken here by Hela, and I am one of them...but it’s nothing."

He glanced at Anduin, then finished his narration and closed his eyes.

"Take a good rest, boy, this ghost place is not without benefits. Don’t waste your precious water and food anymore. Here, a full meal can last for at least one week. Take advantage of this period of time to get used to this place. Rules, yes, remember what I said... Never get out of this birdcage unless you want to lose everything about yourself."

"But...but this is a cage!"

Anduin yelled, "We can't live like prisoners!"

"It’s better than you die, and here, even if you die, your soul won’t be free... You can choose for yourself, whether to succumb to Hela, or to fight half-dead alive like this. The Kurians will succumb, but my people are too reckless. I am waiting for an opportunity...but maybe it will never come."