Beyond the Portal

by Firestar463

Chapter 47

The door was flung open with enough force to slam against the hard wall, sending a loud thud echoing through the room. Kyle quickly jumped into the opening, his staff at the ready. Just behind him, the others likewise prepared themselves for a fight.

Only one problem - the room was deserted.

Kyle slowly lowered his staff and crept forward, taking in the sights around him. The royal chambers were rather large, but barren. The most prominent feature was the large four-poster bed on top of a raised platform against the far wall, easily big enough to fit four Ponies inside with room to spare. On the left-hand wall was a pedestal, though it didn’t appear to be holding anything at the moment. On the right-hand wall was an assortment of furniture, including a table and two chairs and a large oaken wardrobe.

But there was certainly no sign of the Sha.

“It seems Chrysalis did a bit of redecorating,” Yxia sighed. “I’ll have to clear a lot of this stuff out. Especially that wardrobe,” she added, flicking her tail at the oaken piece. “Clashes horribly with the amber. Don’t even know why she bothered putting it there. If we want clothes, we can just change our form to include them. Kind of useless to have a place to store them when we can just -”

“We’ll worry about your interior design later,” Kyle said. “Right now we’ve got some Sha to hunt down.”

“But… I know they came in here,” Scootaloo protested. “I saw them!”

“They must have left,” Kyle replied. He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, searching for the Sha. But here, in the heart of Hive Regali, their taint had permeated nearly every inch of the place. It was impossible to determine where they were, and he quickly opened his eyes once more.

“No luck?” Twilight asked. Kyle shook his head in response. “Alright, well with Chrysalis dead, the other Changelings should let us by without much trouble. We’d better get out there and start looking for the Sha before…” She trailed off as a warm breeze blew past Kyle.

Wait… warm breeze?

“Did anyone else feel that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “There shouldn’t be any wind down here.”

Kyle glanced around the room, attempting to locate the source of the wind. What he saw instead was Scootaloo walking over to the right side of the room. “Hey Scoots?” he called out. “Where are you going?”

“Well, I remember this old Pony’s tale I heard,” Scootaloo replied, moving slowly towards the wardrobe. “In it, the bad guy used a secret passage hidden in the back of a cabinet to move between his hideouts. So I’m thinking -”

“Squirt, that’s just an old Pony’s tale,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “You don’t honestly believe there’s a secret passage behind that thing do you?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Scootaloo flung the wardrobe door open, revealing a barren wooden back. It appeared that Chrysalis hadn’t had the time to fill it. Scootaloo stepped inside, examining the back wall closely. She nodded as another warm breeze blew through her fur. There was no question this time - the breeze had come from behind the cabinet.

Finally, she spotted what she was looking for - a small, nearly invisible wooden button on the floor of the wardrobe. She placed her hoof on it and pushed down. A soft grinding noise filled the air, and the back of the wardrobe fell away into the ground. Sure enough, behind it was a narrow cavern, very similar to the one they had used to enter the throne room.

“Huh.” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Guess I was wrong…”

“I bet that’s how the Sha got out,” Kyle said moving towards the opening. He didn’t even need to reach out with his senses to tell that the Sha had used this passage many times, and very recently too. “Let’s go. If we hurry we might be able to catch up to them before they finish corrupting the heart.”

The group quickly entered the passage and sealed the wardrobe behind them, plunging them into darkness once more. Twilight and Yxia lit their horns once more, and the group set off down the narrow tunnel.

For a long while, they traveled in silence, following the twisting passageway as it curved in around itself. Though it twisted and turned often, it was almost uniformly sloped downwards, descending far below the throne room.

Just as Kyle began to wonder whether or not this tunnel would ever end, a speck of light appeared from around the corner. It wasn’t much - certainly not enough to see by - but it held the promise of an end to this tunnel.

Everyone grew tense as they stepped around the corner. The tunnel suddenly became straight as an arrow, and its descent leveled out into a long, narrow hallway. At the far end of the tunnel, the exit glowed with a strong light from the room beyond. Though glad to be near the end of the cramped space, everyone was also full of apprehension. They all knew what lay beyond the hallways, what horrors awaited them in the next room.

Kyle was the first to creep up to the entrance, poking his head out of the narrow hallway. The rectangular room which lay beyond was large - larger than even the throne room Garrosh had carved underneath Orgrimmar. It appeared to have been cut from solid stone, if the markings on the walls were anything to judge by. The room was barren save for two features. First was a large, wooden double door inset into the wall on the far side of the room. The second was a marble pedestal in the center of the room. In the scale of the room, it looked absolutely tiny, but being the only feature besides the door, it was obviously of some importance.

Even more so because of what rested on top of it.

“The Crystal Heart!” Twilight exclaimed, rushing out of the tunnel behind Kyle. He had to quickly throw his arm out to catch her before she could run past him.

“Hold it,” he murmured. “The Sha have been messing with that thing ever since they got hold of it. Light only knows what it does now…”

The rest of the group crept out of the hallway as well, much more slowly than Twilight. Though the air down here was warm, Kyle could see several of them shiver. He couldn’t blame them - the presence of the Sha was even stronger down here. They could not be far away.

“Couldn’t we just, y’know, take the Heart and run?” Amber suggested. “In and out, get rid of that thing and make sure the Sha are missing a piece to their puzzle.”

Kyle shook his head. “That would still leave the Sha down here. It would only be a matter of time before they attempted to reclaim the Heart. No, we have to end them, here and now, before they can cause any more damage to this world.”

The double doors at the end of the hall were suddenly flung open, slamming loudly against the stone walls behind them. A blast of cold wind surged past Kyle, chilling him to the bone. From beyond the doors, two streams of black mist flew into the room, swirling in around themselves in the far corners. The mist quickly took shape, forming sharp, angled spikes and wickedly sharp claws.

The Sha had arrived.

“Ah, the mighty heroes,” The one on the right said mockingly. “You have finally seen fit to arrive.”

“You got that right!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Chrysalis couldn’t stop us, and neither will you!”

“You say that as if Chrysalis was supposed to be a threat,” the other Sha hissed. “She was a puppet, at best. She has given us the time we needed to create… this.”

The Sha stepped forward, towering over the marbled pedestal. With one swoop of its mighty claws, the Crystal Heart was snatched from the pedestal. “With the Crystal Heart’s restorative powers now twisted by our own, we can make use of it at last.”

“You honestly think we’re going to let you get away with that?” Twilight demanded. She snorted and tried to step forward…

Only to find that tendrils of energy had lashed around her hooves, binding her in place.

Kyle looked down to find himself similarly rooted. Twilight tried to flap her wings, but found them similarly restrained. She lit up her horn, but to no avail - she remained bound to the spot. Treachery, meanwhile, let out a great cackle. “You don’t seem to have much of a choice, princess,” it sneered. “But since you’ve come this far, I suppose you’ve earned the right to know what will happen after your deaths.”

“We already know what you’re trying to do,” Shade hissed. “You’re trying to re-form this Old God Alp’tauum.”

“Correct, to an extent.” Hatred stepped forward now, standing beside. “But since you, Monk, have interfered with our plans far too often… well, let’s just say we have a few friends on Azeroth who would love to see us again.”

Kyle felt his blood run cold. The thought of Yogg-Saron restored and released… C’thun, returned to its full power… Y’shaaraj brought back to life…

“And your training of that stupid filly turned out to be quite the nuisance,” Hatred continued, glaring at Scootaloo. “She even managed to hold off our influence this time. We’d hoped you would have spent a bit more time searching for her in Ponyville while we broke her, but no matter. Now, you can die together.”

“Watch now.’ Treachery laid the four Sha Crystals in a semicircle around the Crystal Heart, while the two living Sha stood on the opposite side. “Your doom approaches, mortals.”

A blast of purple energy flew from Twilight’s horn towards the Sha, but was intercepted almost immediately. “Your pathetic magic will not save you now.” Hatred hissed.

Gotta get out of this… Kyle looked around frantically, trying to find some way out of the binds that rooted him to the spot. This is not how it ends… it can’t be…

The Crystal Heart began to glow. But not like it had in the Crystal Empire. There, the glow had been white, and had radiated warmth, purity, and serenity. Now, the glow was far darker. Kyle felt a feeling of fear and misery wash over him - feelings he quickly repressed. A deep hum echoed through the hall, filling the air with the deep bass of magical energy.

The energy being channeled by the heart was given form as a violent wind was kicked up. Now, Kyle was almost thankful for the binds that rooted him in place - they were the only things that kept him from being blown away by the gale. The wind swept around the room, circling the Sha and the crystals and swirling into the Heart. The Sha energy in the room was absolutely overwhelming, and Kyle had no doubt that the vortex of Sha energy had begun to form far above them in the sky.

For several minutes, the Sha simply stood there amidst the squall. The Crystal Heart, meanwhile began to pulse - slowly at first, an then more and more rapidly. Kyle struggled again against the binds, but was still unable to break free. Around him, his friends were likewise fighting desperately to break free, but to no avail.

The hum had grown painfully loud now, and the pulsing light from the Crystal Heart had reached a fevered pitch. It flashed again, nearly blinding Kyle with its brightness, and…

Nothing.

Kyle stared in confusion as the wind died down, the hum grew silent, and the pulsing light faded. And he was not the only one who seemed perplexed. “What?” Treachery demanded. “It did not work? But we have everything in place that we need!”

“Not quite.” Hatred’s voice was quiet, yet filled with menace that sent shivers down Kyle’s spine. “We are missing one ingredient yet.”

“What?” Treachery’s head snapped towards its counterpart. “What is it?”

“You.”

A horrible screeching sound echoed through the room as a large, jagged, black-and-white blade sprouted from Treachery’s chest. Hatred gripped Treachery’s torso and pushed it backwards into the blade, impaling the Sha further still. Black smoke rose from Treachery’s chest, yet the Sha did not dissolve.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t sense this coming, Treachery,” Hatred sneered. “Five crystals must be present. Only four are ready. One of us had to go. ”

Kyle suddenly found himself free as Treachery’s bindings were released. Around him, his allies were likewise released. As one, Twilight and Rainbow Dash surged forward, running towards the Sha.

“Dash! Let Twilight touch hers first!” Kyle called out.

But Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to hear him as she ran forward. With her greater athletic ability, she easily outran Twilight, who was still trying to shake loose the bindings around her wings. She leaped towards Treachery and slammed into the impaled Sha.

BOOM!

Whereas the other Sha that had died before had simply dissolved, the Sha of Treachery exploded violently. Black smoke flew everywhere as Kyle was lifted from his feet. He and the others were launched to the back wall, where he impacted against the hard stone with a loud thud. Another pair of thuds followed as Rainbow Dash and Twilight hit the stone as well.

Only the Sha of Hatred appeared unfazed from the explosion. The expression on its skeletal face was almost hungry as it extended its claw just in time to catch Treachery’s crystal. “You call yourself Treachery, and yet you could not sense my own betrayal,” it hissed quietly. “You are unworthy to become the mastermind in our rebuilt form. Only I can hold that title.” With that, the Sha of Hatred transformed into a black mist itself. The mist swirled around the remaining Sha Crystals and the Crystal Heart, sucking them into it.

Twilight seemed to recover from the impact faster than anyone else. She spread her wings, now fully freed, and launched herself towards the swirling smoke. She moved faster than Kyle had ever seen her go, almost as fast as Rainbow Dash.

Too fast.

With a final hiss, the Sha of Hatred swooped down and underneath Twilight, who could not stop herself in time to catch it. The cloud of black smoke flew away, taking with it the crystals and the Crystal Heart. It surged back out of the tunnel that the group had used to enter, flying back up towards the throne room.

The Sha of Treachery was dead.

But Hatred had escaped.

And it had everything it needed now.

Twilight cried out in frustration as the Sha disappeared back up the passage. The others, meanwhile, were still scrambling back to their feet and hooves, shaking off the impact. “We’ve got to go after it! Now!” she exclaimed.

“No arguments here,” Yxia nodded. “Let’s move out!”

“Hold on.” Kyle held up his hand. “There’s no way we can catch up with that thing on foot. By the time we get there, Alp’tauum will have been reborn.”

Twilight closed her eyes and growled. “You’re right,” she finally said. “Maybe if I fly on ahead of you all…”

“Hang on, Twilight,” Scootaloo said suddenly. “Can’t you… y’know, teleport us?”

Twilight blinked. “Oh… Well, I could try, but… I’ve never tried to teleport such a large group before. What if I hurt you all?”

“If we don’t get to the Sha in time, you hurting us will be the least of our problems,” Kyle said darkly.

“Point taken. Gather ‘round everypony.”

Kyle drew up close as everyone huddled around Twilight. Her horn glowed brightly, and he felt a surge of mana flowing around the group. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes…

And in a flash of purple light, they were gone.

Comments

[Charedfirescale]

Another cliffhanger.......

[Firestar463]

5228289 well I have the keep you folks interested somehow :P

[Firestar463]

5231134 Yeah, I've been on a bit of a writing frenzy...

I'm taking my time with this next one though. It will probably be released right around the time that Warlords of Draenor goes live (Maybe a day before or so).

Also, for those of you going to Blizzcon, have fun and stay safe. I won't be there 'cause I'm dealing with university... maybe next year...

Edit, 12:00 noon EST 11-6 - I know I said I'd take my time, but... Man I couldn't help it. Making the last finishing touches on the chapter right now. There are two more to go after this one.