//------------------------------//
// Val'sharah: Maiev 
// Story: World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

With Araxxas dead, and no additional spirits coming to harass them, Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos walked towards the staircase that the jailer demon had been guarding and glanced over the edge, spotting Jarod at the bottom. It appeared that he was tending to a prisoner that had tried to escape the prison, which meant that the wardens here might be stronger than the other types of wardens that they had fought in the past. With that in mind the trio walked down the stairs and kept their hands on their various weapons, just in case there was an enemy or two that they had to fight along the way. They were pleased to find that there actually weren't any foes waiting on the staircase, meaning that they could reach the bottom of the stairs and stop in front of the prison without having to do anything else.

As they reached the bottom, however, Lyra noticed that the prisoner that Jarod had been tending to was one of the Illidari, one Arduen Soulblade she realized as she looked at the elf's face, which annoyed her because she could tell that her comrade was dying.

"Do you have the keys?" Jarod asked, not even a few seconds after noticing that the trio was standing in front of them, to which Lyra snapped out of her mind and held up the keys that she had taken from Araxxas' body, "Good, these keys should open any of the cells within the prison. Maiev will be somewhere in the prison, so we should split up to search the cells more quickly. I will stay here, to ease this prisoner’s passing, before I start searching for my sister's cell."

"Arduen... what happened?" Lyra inquired, though at the same time she knelt beside her comrade, because while she may not have known him as well as her instructors he was still one of the Illidari and it pained her to see that another one of them was being taken out in such a manner.

"Lyra... within this prison are three of our… comrades." Arduen replied, to which he coughed for a few seconds, indicating that the damage that had been dealt to him was more than he could take, "We were taken by surprise while scouting in Azsuna. I am not long for this world, but please, save the others."

"I will Arduen," Lyra said, taking a moment to grasp her comrade's hand, allowing him to know that she was going to do everything in her power to save the other Illidari, before the same fate befell them.

A few seconds later Trixie placed a hand on Lyra's shoulder, indicating that they had best get a move on, before Lyra sighed and picked herself up off the ground, to which they turned towards the opening that was behind Jarod and entered the actual prison. As the trio walked into the prison, however, they were assaulted by several of the spiritual wardens, which were pretty much the same enemies they had been fighting before they reached Araxxas, so they had the advantage of knowing their movements. Lyra drew the attention of the spirits to her and blocked their attacks, allowing Trixie and Azuregos to throw several magical attacks at their enemies from a safe distance... though before long they had defeated the first group of enemies and were moving forward.

As they passed by the first cell, which happened to be on their left, Lyra noticed that one of her Illidari was standing in the cell, though he was facing the wall and was ignoring anyone that walked by the cell... to which Lyra opened the cell and walked inside, so she could tell her comrade that he was free to leave now.

"My blood… it burns!" the Illidari growled, causing Lyra to realize that it was Sirius Ebonwing that was standing in front of her, though the tone of his voice indicated that he was both in pain and was failing to control the power that was inside his body, "The fel energy… I can’t… control it…"

Not a moment later Sirius transformed into his demon form and swung around, his claws hitting the edge of Lyra's warglaives, as she had raised them the instant she realized what was happening in front of her. It pained her to see another of her comrades give into the fel energy that was inside all of them, especially since they had willingly taken it on so they could defeat the Legion, but she also knew what she had to do. Trixie and Azuregos watched as she dueled Sirius, blocking his attacks and cutting several gashes into his body, while at the same time making sure to avoid being damaged in return... before she drove one of the Twinblades into Sirius' heart, which caused him to snap back to his original form.

As Lyra pulled the Twinblade from Sirius' chest, however, she couldn't help but cry a little, because this was the fourth Illidari she had played a part in killing and it pained her to have to do this to the people that she had trained with and become friends with.

"L... Lyra..." Sirius weakly said, as if he realized who was standing in front of him and realized what he had tried to do, though at the same time Lyra listened to the last words of another comrade, "the demons... they control... Black Rook Hold. You must… stop them…"

Lyra stood there for a few seconds, giving Sirius come comfort in knowing that someone was there for him when he passed, before she gently laid his body on the ground and followed Trixie towards the next group of cells, which were guarded by only one warden... and two of the three cells were occupied. The one on their immediate left held another Illidari, one who smiled as she realized that friends had come to save her and the others, though ahead of them rested a night elf that was wearing rags and appeared to be beaten up a little bit. Lyra suspected that she, as well as Trixie, knew who the female night elf was, but instead of going towards her Lyra turned towards the cell that her comrade was standing in and opened the door... while at the same time offering her comrade a smile as she walked out of the cell.

"Commander Lyra, I was not expecting to see you in a place like this," Asha Ravensong commented, indicating that she actually never expected to meet Lyra in a prison, not after what happened back in the Vault of the Wardens anyway, "We were on the trail of a dreadlord named Balnazaar. We had strong reason to believe this demon knew the whereabouts of Lord Illidan’s body. Unfortunately, he lured us right into a  trap."

"It figures that the Legion would use our master's body as the perfect bait..." Lyra said, annoyed that the Legion would go to such lengths to capture some of the Illidari, but at the same time she had expected some sort of trap once she heard that four of her comrades had been captured, before she sighed, "I originally came here looking for Maiev... then my friends and I ran into Arduen, who asked us to free you and the others... and, unfortunately, he and Sirius didn't make it."

"I’m sorry to hear that both Arduen and Sirius didn’t make it." Asha replied, though there was a hint of anger in her voice, which was what Lyra was feeling at that moment as well, "I will make sure the demons pay for their deaths... just as soon as we're out of this prison."

Lyra stood there for a moment, noticing that the demons that had captured Asha and the others had stolen her warglaives, to which she sighed as she sheathed the Twinblades and reached into her pack... though she followed that up by removing her old warglaives and held them out towards Asha, who took them almost immediately.

"I have been waiting to return those, so they could be given to another demon hunter who was in need of some weapons," Lyra said, though at the same time she closed her pack and faced the door, but she could tell that Asha was pleased to have some weapons again, "but, seeing how we're in enemy territory now, I think you should carry them into battle from now on."

Asha nodded and followed Lyra out of the cell that they were standing in, to which she guarded the opening of the other cell with Trixie and Azuregos... allowing Lyra to walked into the other cell and face the Warden that had imprisoned her and the other Illidari for seven long years.

"For weeks they tried to break me." Maiev commented, almost as if she was discussing the weather, instead of speaking to someone that was about to free her from her cell, "Amateurs! I kept my silence. I counted the minutes, measured their steps, and listened to the voices beyond my cell. I have been waiting for my chance to escape, and to strike back at my captors."

"I am offering you that chance," Lyra stated, causing Maiev's ears to twitch for a moment, before the night elf looked up and noticed who was standing before her, though at the same time Lyra pulled out a bag and set it on the floor infront of the Warden, "You'll find everything you need inside that bag."

With that done Lyra turned around and gave Maiev some privacy, something that she really didn't deserve but still gave it to her anyway, though before long she heard the sound of armor being put on and a weapon moving through the air. She remembered the last time she and Maiev had fought, where the Warden had used the blood of her Havoc Form to lock her in an empowered prison, but hopefully this time around Maiev knew that they wouldn't be doing something like that until the Legion was taken care of. A few moments later she heard a light cough and turned around, to which she found the familiar Warden standing before her, who looked ready for battle.

"Of all the people that I considered being my liberator, I did not expect it to be you." Maiev commented, indicating that she believed that Lyra would have left her here to rot if she had put her mind to it, though Lyra knew that the forces of Azeroth needed Maiev's aid, even if she personally didn't like her, "You brought me my armor and glaive… Thank you, Lyra Heartstrings. Maybe... maybe I was wrong about you."

"There's a war going on and we need every available fighter at the ready," Lyra replied, though at the same time she walked forward and passed by the rest of their group, "The Legion is attempting to locate the Pillars of Creation, of which we currently have two of at the moment, but they have a foothold in Suramar and Lord Illidan's body. There is also a lingering stench of fel energy, Gul'dan's to be exact, in the air around the Hold, though something tells me that he's behind everything that's happened to this place."

"All of your instincts are correct." Maiev stated, following Lyra outside her cell, almost as if the two of them had forgiven each other and were over their hatred for each other, but at the same time they both knew that this was only a temporary truce between them, "Gul’dan raised Lord Ravencrest, and his ghostly army from beyond the grave. Now, they serve the Legion, protecting secrets within the tower. Although Ravencrest commands from above, Lieutenant Desdel  Stareye operates the prisons. He tormented me these past few moons, but I did not yield... his life must be ended."

Lyra nodded her agreement, though she had been hoping to just leave the moment she and the others had freed Maiev from her cell, but with one more illidari missing she knew that she and the others would be here for some time until they found whoever else had been captured... and it was at that point that Jarod walked up to the group.

"Little brother." Maiev said, almost sounding surprised to see her brother again, which told Lyra that something serious must have happened between them in the distant past, "You came for me. Even after I tried to k..."

"Never mind that." Jarod insisted, indicating that it was best if Lyra and the others didn't know what had happened between the two siblings, "I heard what happened in the Vault of the Wardens. Luckily my hair can’t get any grayer. Why did you have to chase after demons alone? Thank Elune you’re still alive."

"Well said, brother: we have bigger concerns." Maiev stated, turning towards the passage on their left, which would no doubt take them to where their final target was waiting for them, "Let’s go. Stareye has much to answer for."

Lyra and Maiev, two people that really hated each other, stood at the front of the group as they walked through the passage in front of them, striking the spirit wardens with their weapons while the others hit them with ranged attacks. Considering that their group had doubled in size they were able to make their way towards a cell that was being guarded by two more wardens, though as Maiev fought them off Lyra entered the cell and found a body laying on the floor. She couldn't tell who it was, because the body was nearly unrecognizable due to the torture that had been inflicted upon him, though she guessed that he had died from the wounds that littered his body.

Lyra sighed as she rested a hand on the demon hunter's head, knowing that she and the others would get their revenge on the demons and whoever served them, before she stood up and headed towards the door... where she stopped for a few seconds and glanced back at the corpse for a few more seconds.

"Be at peace, comrade." Lyra said, taking a moment to wipe away the few tears that had returned to her face, before steeling herself and walked out of the cell.

Not a few moments later they found Lieutenant Stareye standing in the middle of a room, though on the other side of the room Lyra spotted a door that had to connect with some piece of land that was outside the Hold, or at the very least outside the prison. Maiev and Jarod attacked Stareye almost immediately, while at the same time all three of them made comments about what was going on, though Lyra merely sighed as she and the others joined in on the fun. Fortunately six enemies seemed to be more than enough to take out Stareye, as he could only focus on one opponent at a time and that allowed the other five to gang up on him when they realized that he wasn't after them. It wasn't a fair fight, not in Lyra's opinion anyway, but she always waved those thoughts away when she fought someone that was allied with the Legion... as there was nothing fair about what the Legion did to the civilizations and the worlds they encountered.

A few minutes later they stood around the corpse of Stareye, or the corpse of his spirit anyway, and all mentally cheered over their small victory, as this was just the beginning of a long war for all of them.

"What a tragic waste." Jarod finally said, breaking the silence that was resting around everyone at the moment, as he couldn't take it anymore and wanted to get out of here, "Even in death, he only wanted to protect our people."

"Over here!" Maiev stated, pointing at the same door that Lyra had spotted when they entered the room, "This sewer will take us back outside. We should go before our enemies regroup."

Lyra and the others nodded their heads and headed through the opening that was in front of them, deciding that they had better not take their chances. Sure, there were six of them now, but there was no telling how many enemies would come looking for them and it was not worth the risk, especially with how tired some of them had to be getting. Fortunately they didn't have to travel for long, because they found an opening of sorts that allowed them to climb out near the graveyard Jarod, Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos had passed by when they first entered Black Rook Hold.

"Lord Stareye came from a noble house, but in war, he never came close to Ravencrest or my brother." Maiev commented, apparently remembering something about the spirit they had defeated, though at the same time Lyra honestly didn't care about Stareye's past, "Now that he is defeated, we can turn our attention to his commander.... however, that will be no easy task. We must gather our strength before facing Lord Ravencrest himself."

"I refuse to believe it." Jarod said, shaking his head for a few seconds, before glancing up at one of the towers that rested above them, "Lord Ravencrest cannot be working with Gul’dan."

"I do not believe it either, brother." Maiev replied, to which she and the rest of the group looked up at the tower as well, meaning that they all knew what the next part of their plan was, though at the same time she still felt the need to voice the plan, "To seek the truth, we’ll have to invade the tower. But it will be no easy task. Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, the two of you should come with me for now. There is something the three of us need to... discuss... before we can start to gather our strength for the fight with Lord Ravencrest."

Lyra and Trixie shared a quick glance with each other, because it appeared that they could finally get back at Maiev for everything she had done to the two of them... though at the same time Lyra suspected that there was more to what they would be doing, based on the way Maiev had said the word 'discuss'. She decided that something was up and should be ready for anything, to which Trixie silently agreed with her statement as they followed Maiev... as they were both eager, and slightly worried, about what the Warden wanted with them.