//------------------------------//
// Argus: New Powers 
// Story: World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Lyra moaned as she felt pain course through her body, indicating that something terrible had happened to her after her attempt to save Lord Illidan's powers from what Xe'ra was doing, but even then this was different from when she had been asleep for a few days or for a few weeks. This time around she managed to recover from whatever had happened within minutes of the event happening, but at the same time it was still a painful process as she took stock of what her body was feeling. The familiar feeling that came from the fel energy that had been inside her body was missing at the moment, something that worried her already, but she was sure that it came from the Light that had coursed through her veins earlier and that she would figure out what actually happened when she was able to see again. While she was focused on herself she heard the sound of hooves walking near her and felt something embrace her, not physically like she would have expected, and the pain lessened.

"Easy there," a voice said, though Lyra recognized it as Maara's voice, indicating that it was the Light that had helped her in that moment, but that only confused and worried Lyra even more, especially considering her connection to the fel that would have lashed out in some manner, though the priest carefully pulled her into a sitting position, "Lyra, can you open your eyes for me?"

"I... I don't know." Lyra admitted, though even as she said that she focused her attention and slowly forced her eyes open, where the moment she opened them she found that she was resting in the infirmary of the Vindicaar, where she was occupying the only bed at the moment.

"You gave Trixie quite the scare earlier," Maara said, to which Lyra noticed that the Draenei was channeling the power of the Light into Lyra's body, mending the pain that her body was in rather slowly, but Lyra found some comfort in what she was feeling at the moment, "I've never seen anyone stand up to a Naaru like that, though we should have expected it the moment Xe'ra threatened to do something to your mentor... whose currently brooding as he stares down at the ruins of what had once been the Prime Naaru."

"Xe'ra's... dead?" Lyra asked, as that was news to her, because she would have thought that a being known as the Light Mother, among other things, would have been extremely hard to kill, but it appeared that she was wrong in her thinking if Lord Illidan had killed her.

"Yes." a new voice said, to which both Lyra and Maara turned towards the door that was near them, where Lyra felt a smile appear on her face as she found her mentor standing in the doorway, though that was before Illidan walked into the infirmary and came to a stop near her, "Xe'ra tried to force her prophecy upon me and turn me into her pawn, where I struck her down with all the power I could bare in that moment. That was enough to shatter her bonds and attack her heart directly, thus destroying the Prime Naaru... but not before she inflicted some damage to you."

"I've noticed." Lyra stated, as she had known that Xe'ra was responsible for what she was feeling at the moment, though at the same time she was happy to hear that the Prime Naaru had gotten what she deserved, while at the same time noticing the look on her mentor's face, "Lord Illidan, is something wrong?"

"Lyra, when I finished my business with Xe'ra, both Trixie and I rushed over to where you landed," Illidan replied, as he knew that she likely had no idea what had happened after being blasted back into the ramp behind her, but he intended to see if his suspicions were correct, "Your demonic horns and wings turned to dust before our eyes, and your skin returned to the coloration it was when we first found you in Shadowmoon Valley all those years ago. The only thing that remains if your demonic tattoos, but they have lost their inner fire and have turned grey... and neither of us could sense any fel energy coming for you."

Lyra stared at her mentor for a moment, taking in the fact that her other two horns were definitely gone and she couldn't feel her wings in the state they were in whenever she wasn't using them, before she closed her eyes and focused her mind. The only way she would be able to tell if what her mentor had said was true was to test it, and at the moment her Spectral Sight was the best ability she had access to, as it allowed her to see other demon hunters and demons when she had her eyes closed. She waited for a few moments, searching for the ability that she knew she had access to, before coming to the terrible conclusion that Lord Illidan was right, because not only could she not see him, the Illidari that had come with them, and the demons the warlocks had summoned, but she couldn't feel the fel energy that she had gotten used to feeling since she first took it into her body.

Without the fel energy, which had allowed her to fight the demons on even ground and even overpower them, she felt hollow inside, as if something important was missing, yet at the same time there was something else inside her body that had survived whatever Xe'ra had done to her.

"The fel energy... it's gone!" Lyra exclaimed, though at the same time she opened her eyes and looked at Illidan, who seemed saddened to see her so devastated, as the only time she had been this way was when he told her that it was impossible to send her back home, "Xe'ra... she took my powers and left me as a shell of my former self. All the powers and abilities I've gained over the years, they're all gone... I'm back to being the useless girl that Kayn and Kor'vas saved all those years ago."

"Lyra, you are far from useless," Illidan insisted, as he knew that, despite what Xe'ra had done, Lyra still had some power inside her body, power that had resisted the torture that the Prime Naaru had inflicted on her, "we just need to figure out what powers are waiting to be awoken."

Lyra wondered if Lord Illidan could sense the other power that was resting inside her, one that felt like the Dark Magic she had unlocked due to her hatred of some of the people that were supposed to be their allies, before she nodded and carefully got back onto her hooves. As she did that a few extra hands came and helped her, where she found Trixie standing to her right, but while her friend might have remained silent the entire time, no doubt trying to help her in some manner, Lyra was glad that she had been watching over her. Illidan stood on her left and the duo carefully helped Lyra through the doorway, where they headed back to the main area of the Vindicaar, where Xe'ra had been before she met her ultimate fate. When they arrived at their destination Lyra found that there were shining crystal fragments resting around the area where Xe'ra had been placed when they teleported her to the ship, though at the same time Lyra could feel a familiar power coming from them... one that she had only felt when it had been infused into her body for a few seconds back in the Tomb of Sargeras, and again when Xe'ra tormented her body.

While she knew that Xe'ra hadn't touched the Dark Magic that she had unlocked, as she was sure that only Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would be able to purge her of that if they so desired, she knew the Prime Naaru had succeeded in a different sense... she had imparted the power of the Light into her body, purging her of the fel energy, but she wasn't sure if that was a fair trade or not.

"Lyra, it is good to see that you are well," a voice said, to which Lyra turned and watched as Velen approached the trio, though his attention was solely on her at the moment and she could see that his expression was a sad one, "Please, accept my condolences. I know you went through a lot, and sacrificed a good deal, to get the incredible powers that made you a force to be reckoned with. I'm sorry you had to go through all that effort, only to lose it all."

"Thanks..." Lyra replied, though she was happy to see that Velen, as well as the other heroes of Azeroth that were still in attendance and were staring down at the area as they waited for the next stage of their invasion, were feeling sorry for her loss, "Is there anything that Trixie and I can do?"

"Actually, there is something that you two can do for us." Velen stated, though while he seemed reluctant to put Lyra, who was technically recovering at the moment, to work again he decided that if she wanted to continue her war against the Legion he had no right to stop her, "As you both know, our campaign must not lose momentum. Though she has fallen, I still sense Xe'ra's presence all around us. The Light that shone within her heart can yet be a source of strength for our cause. Turalyon has been deeply wounded by the loss of Xe'ra, though I will do what I can to ease his troubled spirit while you gather the vestiges of the Naaru that remain."

Lyra glanced at the various crystalline fragments that rested around the floor, though as Velen moved towards the High Exarch, who wouldn't even look in Lyra's direction, she and Trixie carefully collected the crystals that were around them. Illidan watched over them, as he was still concerned for Lyra's well-being after what she had been through, though as she picked up some of the crystals Lyra noticed the Light that they gave off seemed to wrap around her arm for a moment, as if confirming what she had been thinking earlier. She could feel the power inside each fragment that she picked up, and maybe even the spirit of the Naaru that they had been a part of before Illidan destroyed her, though as she thought about the Prime Naaru the fragment she was holding seemed to change shape before her eyes, transforming from a simple crystal and became what resembled a golden circlet... one that was built for her head, but was only the left half of an actual circlet since it went over her left ear and stopped at the back of her head, while the front did the same where her horn was located.

She stared at the object for a few seconds, wondering why the Light or what remained of Xe'ra would have created such a thing, but she decided not to bother questioning it as she slipped it into place... to which she wondered why it was only half a circlet, but figured she would have to do something to find the other 'half' of it.

"Normally I would question how you do these things," Trixie commented, though at the same time she smiled as she looked at the strange Light-infused fragment that Lyra was now wearing, because it appeared that whatever Lyra had done had stabilized her friend's energy, for the moment anyway, "but I won't this time around. It seems that the Light felt sorry for what Xe'ra did and gave you something to stabilize your connection to your new powers... at least that's my opinion on what just happened."

"As long as I don't become a paladin, I'll be fine," Lyra replied, though while she had respect for the plate wielding warriors of the Light, who served both the Alliance and the Horde before the Legion invaded their world, she didn't want to be like them, "Come on, let's go show Velen what we've collected."

Despite the fact that one of the fragments had transformed into a section Light-infused crown, the duo was able to collect the remainder of the other pieces that were laying around the area, though the moment they were done with their task they walked up to Velen and informed him of their progress... and wondered what he wanted them to do with with what had once been Xe'ra.

"I sense it. The nobility in Xe'ra's heart. Her relentless defiance of the Legion. Let this be her legacy." Velen said, to which both Lyra and Trixie were surprised that he could feel all of that from simply staring at the fragments that they had collected, "In building the Vindicaar, we fashioned the Netherlight Crucible to harness the tremendous powers at play on Argus. I believe Xe'ra's essence is one key to that potential. Yet the Light alone is not enough. Without balance, there can be no harmony, no cohesion. Infuse this essence into the crucible, heroes. It is the first step in unlocking the strength needed to end the Burning Crusade."

Since neither of them knew where this Netherlight Crucible was located Velen leaded them down to the lower level of the ship, though as they walked down the ramp the duo noticed a strange forge that rested in the back, under the area where they teleported to when they boarded the Vindicaar. The Crucible had two slots that powerful pieces could be installed in, though as they stopped in front of the new forge the duo held up the pieces that they had collected and watched as the fragments were consumed by the Crucible. That was swiftly followed by the last of the pieces disappearing from their hands, before a whole fragment of the Light, looking like it came from Xe'ra herself, appeared on the right of where they were standing.

"An important first step, heroes." Velen said, though he smiled as he looked at the Netherlight Crucible, indicating that what remained of Xe'ra was now safe from harm or being stolen by their enemies, before he turned and faced the duo once more, "If we can bring balance to the Netherlight Crucible, I believe it will make the weapons that you, and the rest of the heroes possess, even more powerful."

"Speaking of weapons, whatever happened to my warglaives?" Lyra asked, as this time around she hadn't seen her weapons since she had woken up, but she was sure that someone was holding onto them.

"Illidan moved them to a weapon stand, as they went flying from your body when you hit the ramp earlier," Trixie replied, as that had been something everyone missed when Xe'ra started trying to enforce her will on Illidan, but the weapons seemed to have rejected Lyra the moment the torment was complete, "Lyra... the Twinblades rejected you as their owner when Xe'ra purged your body of the fel energy, so they're worthless to you at the moment."

"And that means I need a new weapon for the foreseeable future." Lyra moaned, because now she was regretting even helping Turalyon bring the Prime Naaru aboard the Vindicaar, because Xe'ra had cost her nearly everything she had worked for since she started training under Lord Illidan.

"That can be arranged," Velen stated, to which he nodded to one of the Light-infused Draenei, who approached the trio and presented a bundle to them, one that was shaped like a weapon, where the Prophet removed the cover and revealed the weapon that had been brought over to them, "Lyra Heartstrings, this weapon should serve you well in the days to come. It has no name, not like Trixie's staff, Aluneth, and the other weapons that the other heroes have collected for this war, but should you feel the need to name it, then by all means do so. It is the least we can offer you, especially after what has transpired since our arrival on Argus."

The weapon in question was a sword, sort of like the one Lyra had seen Allvar use when they were fighting foes together, but even as she thought about that she realized that it was also slightly different, as the guard was wider and there was an area the contained a circular crystal of Light near the handle. Lyra carefully grasped the handle and felt the innate power of the weapon connect with her own energy for a few seconds, though when it was over she felt better, as if the blade had sensed that she wasn't happy about losing her old weapons and had tried to sooth that pain. She was curious as to whether or not the other weapons, the ones like Trixie's that could talk, were like this, but instead of questioning her friend she simply focused on the blade as she pulled it away from the Draenei that was holding the bundle it had been wrapped up in... until she was holding the weapon in her right hand, causing the others to back away from her, as if they were giving her some room.

Lyra sighed as she carefully swung the sword and used her memories of how the warriors used their weapons, finding that her experience in swinging the warglaives, and later the Twinblades, had greatly boosted her abilities in dealing with a weapon, though while she would miss her old weapons she was just fine with a new one... even if it did require forming a new battle style to perfectly use it in a fight.

"Turalyon and I, as well as the other leaders, must go over the next stage of our invasion." Velen said, causing Lyra and Trixie to look at him for a moment, while at the same time he started walking up the nearby ramp and headed back up to the control terminal for the ship, "If you wish to get some real experience with that blade, than you might want to teleport down to the grounds around the Xenedar, as there are more demons gathering around the downed ship. Regardless of what you choose to do, we will inform you of when it is time to make our next move."

Lyra stared at the blade she had been given, which come with it's own sheath that she could attach to her belt, before she sighed and headed up to the command terminal as Trixie followed after her, before the two of them teleported down to the war camp that had been set up near the Xenedar. Sure enough some warriors from the Army of the Light were still fighting the demons that decided to try their hand at taking what wasn't their's, but at least their numbers weren't too terrible. Lyra also noticed that there was a commander type demon, like the Fel Lords she had fought, standing at the back of the pack, which meant she had found her target and walked forward, with her new sword gleaming as she approached the Eredar that were attempting to establish more portals to overrun the defenders. The first one she approached tried to defend herself with a shield of fel energy, but surprisingly Lyra cut through it with her new sword and quickly dispatched her foe before she could retreat... allowing her to spin around and cut through the fel fireball that the other Eredar had thrown at her, where the energy danced around her weapon before she swung the weapon back at her.

Both Lyra and Trixie were slightly shocked by what happened next, as the energy must have been reacting to part of Lyra's thoughts and a golden wave of energy, about the width of a pinkie finger and as tall as they were, erupted from the blade and slammed into the Eredar... effectively cutting the demon in half in a matter of seconds, causing them to look at the sword in shock for a few seconds.

"Lyra, what did you do?" Trixie asked, following the path the wave of energy had carved into the ground and noticed that it went all the way to where Light's Judgment had crashed, as well as killing several demons in the process.

"I have no idea!" Lyra said, though she was happy to have some sort of power now, even one like that, but even as she thought about that she felt something else awaken inside her, something that was familiar to her old fel powers and yet different at the same time, "Now I'm more interesting in seeing what sort of power the Light has given me, to replace the powers that Xe'ra destroyed."

Trixie had to admit that she was interested in these abilities as well, as Lyra had been effective as a demon hunter and was absolutely deadly when she combined elements together, so it only made her wonder what Lyra would be like if she channeled the power of the Light, especially in a manner that was different from paladins and priests. At the same time it made her wonder what had happened to Lyra's shadowy powers, the ones she had gotten from harnessing Dark Magic the few times she had been forced to use it, but she was sure that time would tell what happened to those powers. Still, despite the fact that she didn't know everything about what was going on, Trixie noticed that Lyra released a few blasts of golden energy that mimicked one of her fel attacks that knocked the demons back and damaged them... allowing Lyra to move in for the kill as she continued to test out the abilities that she had access to now.





Khadgar and Illidan remained silent as they, along with Velen, Turalyon, and Alleria stood around the command terminal for the Vindicaar, though as all five of them stood there Romuul stood at the helm of the terminal, so that he could input whatever command was asked of him. Velen hadn't lied when he told Lyra and Trixie that he needed to discuss the next stage of their plans with the other leaders, but they had come to a decision rather quickly, thanks to the experience that he had from when he lived on the planet and the experience that the commanders of the Army of the Light had due to their war against the Legion. They all agreed that they would stop at Antoran Wastes before heading to Mac'Aree, where Velen knew a certain pair of relics had to be resting at that very moment, which they could definitely use in their ongoing war at the moment. The real reason they wanted Lyra and Trixie off the ship wasn't because it would take them hours to determine the next point they wanted to attack, but rather they were all interested in what sort of powers had awoken inside Lyra, as they had all felt something happen inside her and knew that many of the heroes did as well.

"Romuul, show us Lyra and Trixie." Velen said, because if they were going to be discussing the two Equestrians, and he knew they weren't from Azeroth based on his own experience and what Khadgar had told him earlier, they needed to be able to see them.

"Right away Prophet." Romuul replied, to which he tapped several of the commands on the terminal, causing the group to watch as an image of the two girls in question appeared above the center of the terminal, where it appeared that Lyra was currently fighting at that very moment.

"They are an interesting pair." Turalyon commented, though at the same time the group watched as Lyra sent a wave of golden energy at an Eredar and killer her opponent in seconds, before she got excited and continued testing out the new abilities that she had, "What in the name of the Light are they?"

"Equestrians... and not to be mistaken for the horses you ride." Illidan stated, though as he spoke he smiled for a few seconds, because he and Khadgar knew more about Lyra and Trixie than anyone else, since the two of them had trained one of them to this point in time, but he did pause when he saw a fel type attack being used with the energy of the Light, which amused him a tiny bit, "They hail from a world called Equus, where the inhabitants are supposedly peaceful and not drawn to war like the Alliance and the Horde are drawn to war with each other, and a good majority of the creatures that live there have some connection to magic and the elements. Lyra used to tell me that she was one of the weakest unicorns in her entire world and wasn't much of a fighter, but after hearing what the Legion was capable of doing, and seeing the state that the Outlands was in, she became devoted to stopping them... and became a powerful demon hunter that existed to destroy Sargeras' precious Legion."

"Trixie was sort of the same when she first arrived in on Azeroth," Khadgar added, as he remembered what Trixie had told him when he first decided to take her under his wing and became her mentor, though as that happened he saw Lyra trap several demons with Light-infused chains, before releasing a flash of Light that tore through the demons' defenses and burned several of them in the process, "When Trixie first arrived she was only skilled in using her magic for illusions, but then, when another mage started to show her how to harness her innate magical energies, she quickly became one of the strongest arcane mages in the entire world. The moment she and her friends arrived in Shattrath City, intending to stop the Legion's 'allies', as that was what we believed Illidan was at the time, I saw her potential and took her on as an apprentice, where I spent the next seven years teaching her all about magic, which she absorbed like a sponge. And now, in the wake of the Legion's third invasion of Azeroth, she has awakened a new level of power, that of the Blue Dragons themselves, and has increased her own power to match Lyra's... and, if I'm correct in my assumption, soon she'll find something or do something that will advance her powers even more than they already are."

"You make it sound like we've got some gods fighting alongside our army." Alleria said, though even as she said that Lyra thrust her hand forward and several golden arrow shaped energy blasts erupted from her palm, blowing several demons away and leaving small craters where they had been standing.

"No, they're not gods." Illidan replied, though he could not fault Alleria for thinking that, because she was fairly new to the power that these two girls possessed, which was already turning the tide in this war, even if neither of them were actually aware of that, "Lyra told me that the 'gods' of her homeworld are a pair of seemingly immortal creatures called alicorns, which are ponies with a pair of wings and a horn, though their powers are unlike anything you could have dreamed of. For instance the first pair of alicorns, sisters mind you, are capable of moving both the sun and the moon that are supposed to orbit Equus, while a third one has the power of love... and she, along with her husband, were able to repel some invaders with their love alone."

"Impossible!" Turalyon stated, but before he could say more they noticed that Lyra had started to face off against the commander of the demons and was avoiding his attacks, though that was before she pointed her left pointer finger at the demon, where the group watched as a beam of golden energy slammed into the demon's chest and knocked him backwards, leaving a hole where his heart had been.

"Go ahead and call it impossible, because it's more real that you know," Illidan continued, though at the same time he chuckled, because it seemed like all of Lyra's demon hunter powers hadn't been burned away, rather the Light had purified them and turned them into Light based attacks, as well as unlocking a few new abilities in the process, "From what I have been able to determine something happened to Lyra and Trixie, to bring them all the way to Azeroth and the Outlands, but at the same time that event did something to their already existing powers. Trixie went from being a mere illusionist and became one of the greatest Archmages in the history of Azeroth, rivaling the likes of Khadgar, his mentor Medivh, and possibly even Aegwynn. Lyra went from being a girl scared of demons and transformed into a demon hunter that could give Maiev and myself a run for our money, and now it seems like instead of losing power she's actually gained even more power than what we originally suspected."

"I've long believed that Trixie's powers increased tenfold, at the very least, when she arrived on Azeroth," Khadgar said, as that was more than enough to turn an ordinary spellcaster, regardless if they were a mage or a warlock, into a more powerful member of their class, "and perhaps the power boost is even greater than what we believe it to be. With just two Equestrians we toppled the Nightmare Lord, destroyed Gul'dan and rescued Illidan at the same time, and took out Kil'jaeden before he could bring us crashing into Argus' surface. Trixie, with the help of her friends and allies, was able to take on Elemental Lords, insane Dragon Aspects, the Lich King, three different Old Gods, and Archimonde himself... truth be told, we're lucky that we were the ones that found Lyra and Trixie and not the Legion, otherwise this war would have been over before it even began."

Turalyon realized, while they were watching Lyra practicing what were apparently some old skills with her new powers, that they were fortunate that neither of them had been claimed by the Legion, because if Khadgar was right either of them could have become harbingers of death and destruction if Sargeras got his hands on them. That wasn't taking into consideration the rest of their planet, the intact world called Equus, where the inhabitants were either as strong as the two girls were, before they arrived in this world, would have claimed the same level of power that Lyra and Trixie commanded, if not something even greater than them. If the Legion had gotten it's hands on Equus, and the potentially powerful creatures that called it home... well, he was sure that the entire universe would have been obliterated at some point and they wouldn't have been able to last this long.

"I've seen enough," Turalyon said, turning to his fellow leaders for a few seconds, though they all nodded their heads, as if they knew what he was gong to say before he even said it, "Recall Lyra, Trixie, and the rest of our forces... it's time to take our invasion of Argus to it's next stage and invade the Antoran Wastes, and then, once we're finished there, we'll invade Mac'Aree and finish our preparations for the assault on the Burning Throne."

Despite the fact that losing Xe'ra had caused him to lash out and almost kill Illidan, who he still didn't fully trust, he knew that having Lyra and Trixie on their team was a boon that they couldn't afford to ignore... and he had the strangest feeling that they were going to need their power in the days to come.