
Gul’dan’s personal power. How many orcs had fallen, fighting for something so empty?
He searched for the words to express his decision to his mate. “I spoke, and we were exiled. All who
followed me were. It is a great dishonor.”
“Only Gul’dan’s dishonor,” said Draka fiercely. The infant had gotten over his temporary fright and was
again nursing. “Your people are alive, and free, Durotan. It is a harsh place, but we have found the frost
wolves to be our companions. We have plenty of fresh meat, even in the depths of winter. We have kept
the old ways alive, as much as we can, and the stories around the fire are part of our children’s heritage.”
“They deserve more,” said Durotan. He gestured with a sharp-nailed finger at his suckling son. “He
deserves more. Our still-deluded brothers deserve more. And I will give it to them.”
He rose and straightened to his full imposing height. His huge shadow fell over the forms of his wife and
child. Her crestfallen expression told him that Draka knew what he was going to say before he spoke,
but the words needed utterance. It was what made them solid, real . . . made them an oath not to be
broken.
“There were some who heeded me, though they still doubted. I will return and find those few chieftains. I
will convince them of the truth of my story, and they will rally their people. We shall no longer be slaves
of Gul’dan, easily lost and not thought of when we die in battles that serve only him. This I swear, I,
Durotan, chieftain of the Frostwolf clan!”
He threw back his head, opened his toothy mouth almost impossibly wide, rolled his eyes back, and
uttered a loud, deep, furious cry. The baby began to squall and even Draka flinched. It was the Oath
Cry, and he knew that despite the deep snow that often deadened sound, everyone in his clan would
hear it this night. In moments, they would cluster around his cave, demanding to know the content of the
Oath Cry, and making cries of their own.
“You shall not go alone, my mate,” said Draka, her soft voice a sharp contrast to the ear-splitting sound
of Durotan’s Oath Cry. “We shall come with you.”
“I forbid it.”
And with a suddenness that startled even Durotan, who ought to have known better, Draka sprang to
her feet. The crying baby tumbled from her lap as she clenched her fists and raised them, shaking them
violently. A heartbeat later Durotan blinked as pain shot through him and blood dripped down his face.
She had bounded the length of the cave and slashed his cheek with her nails.
“I am Draka, daughter of Kelkar, son of Rhakish. No one forbids me to follow my mate, not even
Durotan himself! I come with you, I stand by you, I shall die if need be. Pagh!” She spat at him.
As he wiped the mixture of spittle and blood from his face, his heart swelled with love for this female. He
had been right to choose her as his mate, to be the mother of his sons. Was there ever a more fortunate
male in all of orc history? He did not think so.
Despite the fact that, if word reached Gul’dan, Orgrim Doomhammer and his clan would be exiled, the
great Warchief made Durotan and his family welcome in his field camp. The wolf, however, he eyed with
suspicion. The wolf eyed him back in the same manner. The rough tent that served Doomhammer for
shelter was emptied of lesser orcs, and Durotan, Draka, and their yet-unnamed child were ushered in.
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