Crimson Hammersmith

This article is fan fiction.
The contents herein are entirely player made and in no way represent official Warcraft lore or history. The characters and events listed are of an independent nature and are applied for roleplaying purposes only.

This is the account of how Cedrinn Dustwhistle acquired the orcish battleaxe, 'Dragoncleave'.

Doing freelance work for the Alliance means one can wind-up anywhere. This time, Cedrinn was sent to the Southern Barrens where the Alliance is gaining territory and Cedrinn is tasked with culling the quilboar which are nuisances to the Horde and Alliance, alike.

However, upon encountering an old orc warrior, battle erupts between them and Cedrinn's skills are pushed to their limits.

Story

Diary of Cedrinn Dustwhistle

Lok'tar Ogar!

Monday 22nd August, Year 33

---

I was in the Southern Barrens sorting out the Alliance’s quilboar problem. They appear to have a foothold in the mountains to the east while small settlements are scattered about the plains.

I must've slain a dozen quilboar when I stopped. And there he was, staring at me; A wretched orc. I thought I might leave him alone, unless he attacked, of course.
"Who's going first?"
We both charged simultaneously. It surprised me and I nearly stopped but battle was at hand!

The Barrens was filled with the chilling sound of our battle-cries. A sound only answered by the clash of steel-on-steel as his battleaxe met my sword. I manage to have a good look at him. He’s older than I first though: grey hair, red eyes, wrinkled face with a toothy grin. My opponent was strong, despite his apparent age; a war veteran of the Horde. "This should be interesting." I thought.

We fought for hours. The sun was high and hot and fatigue was starting to set in and stopped for a moment as our weapons locked.
The orc smiled at me and said, "I didn't expect you to be so strong, human."
I laughed. "Never thought I'd be complimented by an orc."
"Enjoy it while it la-..." He suddenly stopped.

Suddenly, high-pitched squeals filled the air. Quilboar. A lot of them. They were pouring from their mountain stronghold.
The orc disengaged and stood at the ready, boldly facing the oncoming quilboar.
I did the same, while keeping an eye on him. He seemed to have a deep sense of honour and pride but I didn't trust him.

The quilboar surrounded us. We stood back-to-back. Orc and human. I gazed at the small army around me. They were disgusting: little hairy, ugly and foul smelling pigmen. I estimated there were about 200.
I smiled slyly to the orc and said, "This will be fun."
I then glimpsed a returning smirk, "Agreed."
And with that he roared and cut a quilboar down. It's comrades looked stunned as it's corpse hit the parched ground.

The beasts screamed as they charged toward us in anger. Our blades sliced into their little bodies. Cries of death overpowered their cries of battle.
We slew many.
We truly were a sight to behold!
We were glorious!

However, the vile wretches soon caught on that my ally was old and not what he once was. They began to overwhelm him but he never stopped. Many more died at his hands before he finally fell.

When he does fall, I stand there. Stunned.
My blood begins to boil, hate wells up within me and I go blank. When I come-to, I take a good look around. The ground is heavily stained with blood and the stench of hot, dead things reeks in the air. I see quilboar corpses piled-up where they have fallen. Any quilboar that where present when I blacked-out are now gone. All that remains are mutilated corpses, me and an old, battle-hardened warrior drawing his final breaths.

He gestures for me to come close and I kneel beside him.
"You fought well, my friend. I am proud to call you my ally."
"The battle's not over yet."
The orc starts to cough and shakes his head, "No. My time has come."
He reaches out a shaking hand to his battleaxe. He grabs it and thrusts the handle to my chest. "I entrust this to you. 'Dragoncleave' is it's name. May it serve you well, human."
The orc lets out another hacking cough, this time coughing-up blood.
"I have one request, human."
"What is it?”

And this is what he said:

“Remember me. Remember a day of where human and orc stood side-by-side as equals. Remember a day when there was no hate between the Horde and the Alliance. A day of victory! Lok'tar ogar!”