Chapter 29: Katrana's Opportunity

Azeroth: Becoming a God by Rolling Dice

Allen was startled, his mouth opening to unleash a Mind Blast. But when he turned his head, he found it was Wen Lei.

That rain-soaked face was pressed extremely close, staring at him with utter suspicion.

"You scared me to death. What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. What are you doing here?"

Allen calmed himself down and explained, "I saw those six kids again—the same six I saw the first night I came to Goldshire. This time I followed them out here, and they vanished right at this spot."

Wen Lei explained his own situation. He'd been woken up by Allen's knocking, opened the door, but found no one there. To avoid a repeat of last time, he'd checked Allen's room, found it empty, looked out the window, and spotted Allen in the distance through the pouring rain. He'd followed.

Allen nodded, crouched down, and held up the bone he'd just dug up.

"I found this."

Wen Lei took the bone, examining it closely under the flash of lightning.

They exchanged a look, then silently crouched down together and continued digging.

With Wen Lei helping, things moved much faster. Allen's fingers flew through the mud, his hands caked with filth. As he dug, he eventually gave up and grabbed Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire, using the dagger as a shovel to furiously scoop up dirt.

"My darling—"

That mournful voice echoed in his mind.

"You're using me for THIS? Digging mud? Scooping dirt? I'm not a shovel!"

Allen kept working, ignoring her.

"How dare you treat your master like this!"

Fortunately, even though Xal'atath seemed displeased, she didn't make any further moves or inflict any punishment. It seemed she really was quite weakened right now.

Finally, all the bones were unearthed.

They lay in a chaotic heap on the muddy ground, scoured by the torrential rain. The stark white bones gleamed with an eerie light under the lightning flashes.

Among them was the skeleton of an adult male, several large animal skeletons, and the rest—six small skeletons.

Allen and Wen Lei stared at each other.

"I'm guessing this was a ritual," Wen Lei said, wiping the rain from his face, his voice low. "An evil ritual. These were all sacrificial offerings."

Allen nodded, his gaze falling on the six tiny skeletons.

Six children. Six ghosts. Six skeletons.

"What kind of person would hold a ritual like this on a lakeshore?" Wen Lei frowned, almost talking to himself. "And what was the purpose?"

Allen crouched beside the bones, his mind churning with thoughts.

"The ghosts of those six children keep reenacting the ritual in the room I'm staying in," he said slowly. "It's possible they were in that room—maybe even performed the ritual there. The obsession of their souls keeps pulling them back to that place."

Wen Lei nodded thoughtfully. "So the killer might have stayed at the Lion's Pride Inn. In your room."

"Right." Allen stood up. "Let's go back and ask Farley if there were any suspicious guests."

But they had no more leads. Allen even tried casting Communicate with the Dead.

But these weren't corpses anymore—just a pile of bones. The spell didn't work. Even if he could awaken them, they didn't even have vocal cords to speak.

Wen Lei broke the silence. "Let's head back first. When it clears up tomorrow, we can check the Stormwind library to see if there are any clues about this kind of ritual."

Allen nodded.

The two crouched down again and began burying the bones back. It would look too suspicious to carry these skeletons back on a stormy night.

This time, they buried them more carefully than when they'd dug them up.

Allen went the extra mile, separating the skeletons as best he could. The adult male went in one spot, and for the six small skeletons, he tried to keep them close together.

When they finished, the two stood up.

The storm still raged, lightning tearing through the night sky every now and then. Allen was soaked through, his thin pajamas clinging tightly to his body.

Wen Lei wasn't much better off.

Suddenly, Allen's gaze froze. He stared at the soaked pajamas clinging to Wen Lei's chest, lost in thought.

Strange... did he just see something faintly...

Was the Orb of Deception wearing off? Or was the rain affecting its effect?

Sensing Allen's stare, Wen Lei looked down at himself.

The next second, his face darkened instantly.

He didn't say a word, didn't explain, didn't even look at Allen. He just turned around and strode back without looking back, quickly vanishing into the curtain of rain.

---

The next day, the skies cleared.

Morgan stretched as he came downstairs, muttering to himself, "Strange... did someone knock on my door in the middle of the night? Was I dreaming?"

Allen was already sitting at the downstairs dining table. Two prominent dark circles ringed his eyes, a cup of hot tea in his hands, his gaze somewhat vacant—clearly, he hadn't slept well at all.

Only after Wen Lei also came downstairs did Allen start asking the innkeeper.

"Boss Farley, have you ever had a guest stay here who came with six children?" He tried to keep his tone casual. "You know... one adult with six kids, all checking in together."

Farley stood behind the counter, chin resting on his hand, frowning as he thought hard.

"Six children..." he muttered to himself. After thinking for a long time, he finally shook his head. "No. Young Master Allen, I've worked at the Lion's Pride for years, but I've never seen anyone bring six kids to rent a room."

Allen nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Wen Lei sat off to the side, quietly eating his breakfast. From start to finish, he didn't look at Allen once.

---

Stormwind.

The Noble District, inside a lavishly decorated suite.

Lady Katrana Prestor reclined lazily on a velvet sofa.

She wore a silk robe with a dangerously low neckline, the hem reaching only to mid-thigh. Her two long, pale legs were crossed, glistening with an alluring sheen in the morning light.

Her fingers gently traced the rim of a wine glass, her red lips pressed slightly together, a chill in her violet eyes.

Duke Marasmom stood nearby, sweat beading on his forehead, his entire body trembling slightly.

Katrana was clearly in a bad mood.

To be precise—a very bad mood.

She, Onyxia, the Black Dragon Princess, daughter of Deathwing, had been left cooling her heels in Stormwind for so long without even a glimpse of that bratty young king.

Onyxia's father was currently in Lordaeron, playing the role of Lord Daval Prestor, toying with those foolish human nobles at his leisure.

So Father had a plan for her to do the same thing here in the future—posing as the Prestor family to manipulate all of Stormwind.

That's why she was here, preparing in advance to become the shadow queen of Stormwind.

Show her face, build relationships with some nobles, and most importantly, get close to King Varian first. And while she was at it, establish her own power base so she could take over the city whenever she wanted.

Yet here she was, and she still hadn't managed to see Varian Wrynn even once.

It was all because of that damned Allen Prestor, who had to drag the young, hot-blooded King Varian off to some remote little town to play hero.

And now that Varian had finally returned, the little king had changed completely—burying himself in endless government affairs, working diligently, refusing to see anyone.

He'd even turned down her request for an audience three times now.

The thought that her father was already pressing her to return sent a flicker of barely perceptible fear through Katrana's eyes.

That father of hers would not tolerate failure.

"Marasmom." She finally spoke, her voice languid yet dripping with authority.

The duke flinched violently and stepped forward. "Yes, Lady Katrana?"

"That Allen Prestor... where is he now?"

Marasmom wiped the sweat from his brow. "According to the latest reports, he's reached Goldshire. He should be in Stormwind within the next two days."

The corner of Katrana's mouth curled up slightly.

At least she had something else to offer.

To perfectly play the role of the Prestor family, her father had already slaughtered the entire true Prestor family in Alterac—not a single soul left alive.

But clearly, Father had missed one that slipped through the cracks.

There was one unfavored son of the Prestor family, far away in Stormwind, who had never returned to the family's domain and was never mentioned by anyone.

It was Father's mistake.

And she, Onyxia, would personally make up for it.

"Allen Prestor..."

She murmured the name, her violet eyes narrowing slightly, a hunter's excited gleam flickering within them.

"I can't wait anymore... to devour you."

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