The ur'gluns quickly equipped their weapons and rushed outside, and an army of their kin awaited. Nal'zuk's clan was much smaller, consisting of around fifty members, but they were much better equipped; they wore black iron armor made of large black scales, and chainmail foraged from the fallen guards. Their weapons were sharp, and their iron shields were sturdy. The bows were strong and the arrows were forged to pierce steel.

  Meanwhile, the other clan was much more numerous; the rivers of beasts poured from the forest and down the mountain; their bodies were mostly unarmored and covered with black body paint; their weapons were much cruder, yet they looked more ferocious, carrying human skulls around their belts as the battle trophies, among the many scars. And those that had any armor were armored with bones of their enemies, their skulls worn as masks and their ribs as chestplates.

  "Nal'zuk! The outcast, aspiring to become a warchief! A ruler of all ur'glun chiefs and their tribes!“ Yelled their well-armored leader from the top of his war wolf.

  Chieftain Morkaag was known as the most ferocious of the ur'glun chieftains under Nal'Gorah; his army was capable of defeating entire human armies assembled by the towns, even on the open field, and their ferocity in battle was unmatched.

  Next to chief Morkaag stood an ur'glun priest, covered in animal skins and bones, that held a scepter made of valkrulnal. It was well known among the shamans and elders that the priest in question was a high priest of Goru'noth, the dark slumbering god beneath the mountain.

  Morkaag's clan was believed to be the chosen clan of the dark deity; they were not afraid to die, for they believed that after their death they would be reincarnated as goruglm, the lord's servants.

  It should be stated that the ur'gluns are descendants of the immortal gorugolm, degraded into a lesser form through centuries of absence of their god.

  The entire race was punished for the betrayal of their dark deity after his fall in battle against Xorael, but Morkaag's clan accepted to return to his service and reclaim their immortality in the afterlife.

  Nal'zuk mounted his wolf and equipped his weapons, with his crossbow wound up on his back, and rode towards Morkaag as two clans formed a wide circle around them, and the elders of both clans met each other between the two chieftains and discussed.

  The silence prevailed in the dark woodland as the clans stood together and awaited for the elder's decision.

  After a couple of minutes of negotiation, the high priest spoke with a deep and distorted voice that echoed and changed as the words came out of his mouth:

  ?Nal'zuk, if you lose the duel, your clan will fall under the service of our clan and will be offered freedom if they accept the faith in Goru'noth!“

  ?Agreed!“ Nal'zuk yelled.

  "Morkaag, if you lose the duel, Nal'zuk will take control of your clan and justify his title of warchief!“

  "Agreed!“ Morkaag answered, and the elders slowly walked away as the high priest yelled in a deep monstrous voice:

  "Let the battle begin!“

  As soon as the words were spoken, the ur'gluns began cheering, and both of the wolves charged at each other with their riders on their backs.

  When two great beasts clashed, Morkaag jumped out of his saddle and toppled Nal'zuk to the floor, took off his helmet, and started striking his face with his black iron gauntlets. Morkaag was a skilled fighter, and he was far larger than an average ur'glun, about as tall as an adult human.

  His blows made the Nal'zuk's scorched face bleed the thick black blood.

  But after taking a couple of blows, nimble Nal'zuk managed to draw his sword and to stab it between the two armor plates of his opponent's chest from underneath and to push him aside.

  Both of the fighters stood up, and Morkaag, bleeding from his abdomen, pulled a huge two-handed sword from his back and swung at Nal'zuk, who narrowly dodged the swing.

  A powerful kick to his chest from the larger chieftain pushed him backwards and positioned him perfectly for another powerful swing. The blade of the sword teared through his armor and made a wide cut in his chest, but Nal'zuk still stood on his feet because the cut was too shallow to take his life.

  His opponent readied his sword for a thrust to his chest, but the nimble ur'glun dodged the tip and stabbed his sword right in the Morkaag's armor before kicking the sword handle and lodging the sword even deeper. The large combatant took a step backwards, which was enough for Nal'zuk to draw his crossbow and shoot him point blank through the leg. The bolt pierced the armor as the sparks flew around and the blood splashed on the forest floor.

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  It went out the other side and lodged itself into the ground and left the crowd surprised.

  Morkaag, while lying on his back, tried to stand up but with no success.

  After a couple of moments, as Morkaag struggled to stand up and bled on the floor, the high priest of Goru'noth walked to the middle of the circle and proclaimed:

  "I declare Warchief Nal'zuk a winner of this fight!“

  The crowd cheered, mostly the Nal'zuk's clan, and the elders treated the wounded fighters.

  After winning the fight, Nal'zuk saw a great opportunity and proclaimed:

  "By my decree as your warchief, our clans will merge, and together we shall serve the will of Goru'noth!“

  And he added,

  "But those willing to keep their faith in other deities are free to do so!“

  Nal'zuk knew that after taking control of the larger clan, most of his followers were already the followers of the said religion; besides, most of the ur'gluns of the south by that time already worshiped the dark deity, among some other spirits of the forests and the underground with similar alignment.

  The high priest of Goru'noth walked to the wounded Morkaag and took his necklace and placed it around Nal'zuk's neck, making him the rightful leader of the clan as the newly-united tribe cheered.

  The night slowly passed as the clans celebrated and got to know each other, and as the morning slowly dawned, Nogryl finally reached Lindenrow and walked straight into his room, where he found Henry looking over Nuula and Lynda preparing a tea.

  "I've found the White Witch,“ he proclaimed as everyone turned towards him, focusing on the scroll he had in his hand.

  "She told me that this scroll will solve our problems!“

  Before he could react, Lynda quickly grabbed the scroll.

  "Let me see." She said as her eyes focused on the paper and she read the strange script.

  "Weird, it's a magic-infused scroll of knowledge." She said, "This one seems to explain how to use the Greater Illusion spell".

  Hearing that, Nogryl grabbed the scroll.

  "Perhaps we can integrate Nuula into society then!“ He knew that they could not have a gorugolm living among the humans. He also knew that it's not the best idea to just let her go because she might prove harmful for humanity, but now that they have the scroll, they could teach her how to fit in perfectly; all they needed was to trust, and to trust they did.

  Nogryl handed her a scroll, and she quickly began reading

  "What is this gibberish?“ She asked with one of her eyebrows raised.

  "Magic runes,“ Lynda replied.

  After a short while, Nuula learned to read the script, and she was ready to learn the spell.

  She made a small cut in her finger and smeared her blood over the scroll, and after citing it's words out loud, a gust of wind blew through the room and the letters started glowing; their glow became stronger with each moment, and after a flash of light, they disappeared from the paper.

  "Did you memorize the spell?“ Lynda asked and looked at the gorugolm, but she was suddenly overtaken with a surprise.

  She saw a beautiful young lady with white hair and full red lips, lively gray eyes, and a youthful face.

  Her monstrous teeth and dark empty eyes that were barely visible in the darkness of her eye sockets were turned into human features, and she was simply stunning. Her skin tone turned from corpse white into a slightly blush pale skin, and her veins were no longer black. Her body structure and her whole appearance were completely indistinguishable from the appearance of a human. Her long claws became long black nails; her veins, ribs, and muscles were like those of a human, but she still kept her height.

  "What? Why is everyone staring? Did I do it wrong? How do I look like?“ She asked and grabbed a small mirror that Henry handed her.

  "Uh well, I think I can get used to this,“ she said before closely inspecting her beautiful new face.

  "So what are we waiting for? There is nothing more to worry about! Let's drink and celebrate!“ Alwin yelled, and Nogryl added,

  "I wanted some rest, but count me in!“ while Henry helped Nuula stand up.