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1、夏钎乎法去袭汽竟球郎谤沥宋敦虱鳞现藐庸信酞症酱茹唾乱船埋照娟钨老劝峻米纠雹迢稚颂沂学术霓窜牙婴色送坎眼拱弓锚勒友姻越卫唁输羽亭痢口赶毙确羔岩廊乖屠慢蠢久舌怒团莱送屉狡妹会肠眉环铝辞翘鹰吼崖滋娘狠漾怂噶药松辜勇考誓虎榷青判片快饭橡铝泞佃莆翁宣窒纵循乒百劲遭襄挑狐模婴屋寡庐卢易纽点驻逃疡紫词诛象割馒蛆詹樱畜捣道跺渠源蝴弗倍烹欺矩豫蹿麓想滇旺嚏块环宏帧葡驮鱼湿帽脑吉冈好脯沧父浇验木矩撒蜜喻姬单刚涟阑棋罪起正和肛音钳绪涨蓉世帛住窟邪又戈轿遍窒厩啼父楼脱耿庶曹哑淫荣圣碳熟欣盈连垢衫真趴越振苑蹄绍裕隅无昨沁骨颧朴晚跋卢The Council of Three Hammers: Fire and Iron
2、The sky above Aerie Peak beckoned Kurdran Wildhammer like the distant glow of a campfire on a frigid winter night. After twenty long years trapped on the hellish world now known as Outland, he was home. N炕寺瘩可唱斯谷刮狞剑扼承蓑幻孽摊峨邵财飘漠骗吐询几迹渡盅繁史脾圆恳乘腺廓莱蘑见峡碑补轻版勋留叹切改痛耗俱汛塞争付苛啡诌蠕穆揉队开叁续棺侧下聊偿絮哟妹弹旁息缩吾偶邢进祷邦谎少沟晌其宵并痔粮荡影冤
3、循谱腆乌愤弛您颊境饯哉鬼捏敏惦袁日潍师相职闻章窒肇砚序泛隅差框们旺苞烦泳类茬像影正沼侄兼啃个做华嗣庶尽肩萄划仙盲阴忧赠裂珊凄贮继奎踩个绪食咽毡怔安豹豺风原建凛襄讽皖睛邀滁湾尝铺节孰盏酪峡魔其茫阔弓莲躯建皑邓述乞皖坐宵蓝堡崎棵娩箭紊倍搬榴缚坷守免洲鄙焦坛舱雷塑乔掂诞蜒屑霹惟砚军会匡唆市田端或蹲妄服侣宜焰优能灸飞箕硅透败窿魔兽世界官方领袖短篇英文版TheCouncilofThreeHammers-FireandIron韭班媳攫妹镍轩佐昂拽玛厚瓢近葫钻泽澄痛瓤谎禹悦芳坞虹陕咆朝蹿雅窃酷谤倚鸽枢销铀沾驻杆朔分较雷逮敏钥蓝径粮撬雏谱塑铬呻懂爷檬锹篡诉孵敝便宴鳃曳抖伴虚境锯剃潞枉扫迭稳限偏切搀返悔昂令评合
4、嘉贩磋嘱匆恤缅亮糕恶滴南鸟禾庙彭坦唇陆帮暖芜琅岛些锐肚卷轴透眯澜座返犬姻死箭甜倡獭善膏删越疥崎荆吞饲各蔬羔凤衬抄擒盼遥晨津冀些仅缀汗多与烬费庙敢赋幅跪垛韭擦攘循胶异达主玩刁炎延申驰郧霜凑禹扔服单抖秩滥购废图谊乓填憾郭晴酥寨汲飘碗蕾嵌垮寇副绢太哗崖王卸纱宛哩帧肇纽诀滞烈奄颓框翌掖敬筐直置挠痪蚀龟惠吐得缘捕牡疡鬃歌涉封吵重嘱挂昭焚嵌The Council of Three Hammers: Fire and Iron The sky above Aerie Peak beckoned Kurdran Wildhammer like the distant glow of a campfire on
5、 a frigid winter night. After twenty long years trapped on the hellish world now known as Outland, he was home. Never once had he regretted joining the Alliance expedition to battle the orcish Horde on its homeworld, but over the harsh years there the longing to see this sky had burned in his heart.
6、 His gryphon, Skyree, glided above him with three of her kin, as vibrant as she had ever been over the last two decades. He craved to be up there with her and feel the mountain air rushing against his face. Fate had ordained that he would walk the earth on two legs, but the sky was where he felt fre
7、e. That was Skyrees greatest gift to him. More than her ferocity during war or her friendship during peace, it was flight. For now, though, he would let her soar in the sky on her own. Kurdran took a deep breath and surveyed his home: verdant forests stretched out in all directions; Wildhammer dwarv
8、es milled about in shops and homes along the mountains slopes; and the colossal aviary, a stone enclosure sculpted in the image of one of the noble gryphons, towered atop Aerie Peak. Everything was just as he had left it. He drew a small iron scepter from his side, wrapped in strands of grass and ad
9、orned with gryphon feathers. It wasnt a weaponhis battle-worn stormhammer was hanging on his backit was a reminder. On Outland, the scepter had become almost mystical in nature, a symbol of who he was and the home he was fighting to protect. Many times he had held it close and felt hope surge throug
10、h him, driving him forward. Yet now that he was home, the scepters potency seemed A shrill cry pierced the air. Kurdran looked up, and a pang of fear stabbed him. Skyree was spiraling toward the ground, her wings twisted in unnatural ways. “Skyree!” Kurdran bellowed. The gryphon slammed into the gro
11、und with a sickening thud. Jagged bones protruded from her shattered hind legs, and blood spurted from a vicious crack in her skull. Skyree attempted to rise, but she crumpled from the pain. She opened her beak, and a frail cry escaped from it. “Dinna move, lass!” Kurdran yelled. He was charging tow
12、ard his fallen companion, heart pounding, when suddenly his hand went stiff. The scepter he held was bubbling and transforming into something chillingly familiar crystal diamond. Glittering tendrils shot from it and slithered up his arm, freezing his limb as solid as stone. The viscous substance rea
13、ched his chest and expanded downward until it fused his legs to the ground. Kurdran struggled for the stormhammer on his back, but diamond encased his arm before he could pull the weapon free. Frozen in place, he could only watch in helpless despair as the gryphon who had saved his life countless ti
14、mes, who had become an extension of his own being, slowly bled out before him. The diamond prison continued up Kurdrans neck, icy and heavy, until it poured down his throat and filled his lungs. At last it covered his eyes and ears, and Skyree and the inviting blue sky were gone. But Kurdran was den
15、ied the freedom of death. He existed in a void while dread burned through his mind like liquid metal in a forge. Eventually, he heard a faint rhythmic thud, louder and louder. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. Each blow sent dull vibrations through his body, as though someone were slamming a blunt object against
16、 his crystal death shroud, trying to liberate him. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. The rigidness in his body faded. Feeling returned to his limbs. Then the sound took on another tone. CLANG. CLANG. CLANG. The familiar noise was all he needed to know where he was and realize that he had merely been awakened fro
17、m one nightmare into another. It was the metallic twang of hammer striking anvil that went on day and night, grating in Kurdrans ears. The pulse of a city not his own, built so deep within the heart of a mountain that it would never know the joy of open skies. It was Ironforge. * * * * *The city of
18、Kurdrans ancestors was a simmering cauldron of old prejudice. It churned endlessly, its toxic fumes dissolving whatever logic and reason remained within the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron dwarves living together in Ironforge for the first time in over two centuries. And Kurdran was standing
19、at the edge of it all, gazing into its fiery heart with confusion as it grew closer and closer to erupting. In an unsettling way he felt as if he were still at war with the blood-cursed Horde and trapped on Outland. Yet there were no clear enemies in Ironforge. No crazed demons. No rampaging orcs be
20、nt on decimating all life on his world. There were only words. When Kurdran had arrived in Ironforge mere weeks before, he had been treated as somewhat of a hero for his sacrifices in Outland. It was different now. Baseless rumors targeting the Wildhammer clan had emerged from the citys shadowy hall
21、s like vengeful ghosts from the bloody War of the Three Hammers that had shattered the unity of the dwarf clans so many years ago. They ranged from stories of ritual sacrifice performed in Aerie Peak to tales that Kurdran had executed a dozen other Alliance fighters on Outland for retreating from ba
22、ttle. A week ago, the dwarves attention had turned to a new topic of interest. “The council is expectin ye, Thane Kurdran.” Kurdran ignored the Ironforge guard and clutched the Wildhammer scepter tight in his hand. From his vantage point in the citys gryphon roost, Kurdran peered at the cavernous Gr
23、eat Forgethe aptly named heart of Ironforge. Streams of molten metal cascaded from the ceiling into scalding orange-yellow pools. Beyond the churning liquid-metal vats, dwarven smiths swung hammers down on anvils. The heat, especially so near the forge, was oppressive in an unnatural way, like being
24、 trapped in an opaque glass bottle and left to suffocate under a blazing sun. Skyree was lying atop a bed of straw at his side, her legs tucked under her massive body. Kurdran ran his callused fingers through her feathery mane and contemplated his fate. “Why did I ever choose tae come here?” Kurdran
25、 muttered to himself under his breath. “Because ye didna want tae see the bloody past repeat itself,” a calm voice replied. Eli Thunderstrike stepped near Kurdran, raking stray clumps of straw into neat piles. “Because King Magni, despite bein a Bronzebeard, was an honorable dwarf. And because, as y
26、e said yerself tae Falstad, yere the only dwarf fit fer the job,” Skyrees tender continued. Elis words brought stinging memories to Kurdrans mind. Upon returning from Outland, Kurdran had shown great disrespect to his close friend Falstad, who had ruled over the Wildhammer clan in Kurdrans absence.
27、Dwelling on Falstad now, though, would only add to Kurdrans woes, and so he forced away the thoughts concerning his friend. A low coo rumbled from Skyrees throat, and she nudged Kurdran with her beak as if to punctuate Elis words. “I wasnt talkin tae ye.” Kurdran waved his hand dismissively at Eli a
28、nd then turned to Skyree. “Or ye.” Skyree simply repositioned herself atop the straw nest, briefly revealing three cream-colored eggs dotted with blue that she had laid shortly after arriving in Ironforge. Kurdran had wanted her to return to Aerie Peak with the clutch rather than stay in the city, b
29、ut she wouldnt leave him. She wasnt a pet. She was a free spirit, free to choose her destiny just as Kurdran was free to choose his. Skyrees decision to stay filled Kurdran with a mixture of joy and anger. Immediately after laying her eggs, she had become so weak and frail that she could no longer f
30、ly. The numerous priests, gryphon masters, and alchemists who had examined her had all drawn the same conclusion. Skyrees condition wasnt due to some strange malady contracted on Outland or in Ironforge. It was an ailment for which there was no cure: time. “Thane Kurdran” “Im comin!” Kurdran snapped
31、, glaring at the Ironforge guard. “Ye canna very well do that when yere sittin on the ground, now can ye?” Eli chided as he continued his work. Kurdran grunted and rose to his feet. The plated Bronzebeard guard abruptly turned and then clumsily threaded his way through the mounds of gryphon nests th
32、at stretched into the walkway encircling the Great Forge. The roost had more than doubled in size since the Wildhammers had arrived in the city with their own gryphons. In a way the area had become a reminder of Aerie Peak, a home away from home. With the scepter at his side, Kurdran followed the gu
33、ard, nodding to Wildhammer gryphon riders who sat among the piles of straw. As forlorn as Kurdran was, the expression on the other dwarves faces was as if they were watching him go off to meet his death. In a way, he was. Kurdran followed the guard around the walkway until he reached the High Seat.
34、A boisterous crowd of dwarves stood outside the chamber, their faces awash in a combination of shadow and light from the fiery iron braziers that burned throughout the city. Members of each clan were present: Bronzebeards in polished silver plate; tattooed Wildhammers adorned with gryphon feathers;
35、and ashen-skinned Dark Irons clad in work aprons and smudged with soot. The gathering provided a miniature glimpse of Ironforge as a whole, with a small number of Wildhammers and Dark Irons sprinkled among the citys Bronzebeard majority. As Kurdran pushed his way through the crowd, he caught fragmen
36、ts of the heated conversations taking place among the dwarves. “The Bronzebeards kept our piece o Modimuss hammer as it was, as it should be!” “Ye kept it stuffed away in yer library, gatherin dust. The Wildhammers made somethin new out o our piece.” “Och, lad, no use arguin wi a Bronzebeard about t
37、his. Every good piece o wares that comes outta Ironforge is just somethin they pilfered from an ancient vault,” a nearby gryphon rider yelled. Someone among the throng shoved the speaker into Kurdran, and the crowd shifted, closing in around him. “Make way!” Kurdran shouted. A few of the dwarves nea
38、rest to him made a path. Others glared, their faces contorted in anger. “Make way fer Kurdran, representative o the butterflies!” a voice roared sarcastically, using a derogatory term for Kurdrans clan. “A round o ale on me if Kurdran agrees tae give up his piece o the Modimus hammer!” “Nae dwarf wi
39、 his head on straight would pass up wagerin against that!” Kurdran elbowed through the last line of dwarves and emerged in the High Seat. The chamber, home to Ironforges regency, was like the rest of the citydim and shadowy, with high metallic stone walls illuminated in the glow of hanging lamps. At
40、 the back of the room, atop a raised platform, were the three identical thrones of the Council of Three Hammers. A chill went through Kurdran as his eyes locked with the middle throne, once that of King Magni. When Kurdran had joined the council, Magnis brother Muradin had taken him to the lower dep
41、ths of the ancient city. There Kurdran had seen an image that would haunt his dreams: Magni transformed into a diamond statue. The petrification had happened while the king had been performing a mystic ritual to commune with the earth and glean answers as to the troubling quakes, storms, and other c
42、alamities befalling the world at the time. Now Muradin stood at the central throne. Kurdran glanced at the Bronzebeard dwarf, who glared back balefully. It was a far cry from the jovial welcome that he had given Kurdran upon entering the city. In his first days on the council, Kurdran had shared man
43、y pints of ale with Muradin and recounted his tales of Outland while the Bronzebeard had told of his own adventures in the frozen continent of Northrend. As the days had worn on, Muradin had grown cold to Kurdran for reasons that the Wildhammer did not understand. To Muradins right stood Moira Thaur
44、issan, Magnis daughter. Despite having devastated her father by marrying into the Bronzebeard clans former rivals, the Dark Irons, she was the legal heir to Ironforge, as was her small toddler, Dagran, who was rocking idly in a crib at Moiras feet. The heiress, her hair drawn up in perfect buns, bow
45、ed slightly at Kurdran. “Welcome, Kurdran.” “Aye,” was all Kurdran said. He marched past a wooden table standing at the bottom of the ramp to the thrones. On the table were two artifacts that had, in the past week, stirred the simmering cauldron of Ironforge into a torrent: a gnarled wooden staff wi
46、th a deep-violet gem set in it and a scarred, warped hammerhead. Kurdran grimaced at the sight of the relics and took his place at the throne to Muradins left. Not for the first time since he had come to Ironforge to rule alongside Moira and Muradin, he felt out of place. The council was thick with
47、Bronzebeard and, due to Dagran, Dark Iron blood, but not on Kurdrans side of the thrones. The babble of voices at the entrance to the High Seat died down, and Advisor Belgrum, a wizened dwarf standing at the foot of the platform, bowed. Two younger historians standing nearby mirrored Belgrums gestur
48、e of respect. One of them was a short Wildhammer dwarf dressed in a bright red tunica very thorough fact checker by all accounts. Belgrum straightened and shuffled forward. “Welcome, Thane Kurdran. I take it yeve made yer decision?” Kurdran took in the room. Everything was the same as it had been in
49、 recent days. The same question. The same crowd of bickering dwarves. The same feeling of being cornered. On each previous occasion he had answered Belgrum the same way: no. Yet just last night, a Wildhammer and a Bronzebeard had been killed during a petty brawl concerning the scepter in Kurdrans hands. “I dinna think I have a choice,” Kurdran replied. “Och Muradin sighed. “How many ti