//------------------------------//
// Order Hall: Preparations for Invasion 
// Story: World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Lyra smiled as she looked down at the Sargerite Keystone, the one item she and the other Illidari had been searching for since they had been released from the Vault of the Wardens, though at the same time Trixie and the rest of her companions gathered the rest of their treasure. At the moment Lyra honestly didn't care about what they had found or what else they were gathering, because she had the one thing she had come here for and honestly didn't care about the other gear that Allvar had taken from the other boss level creatures they had fought. After some time Trixie called for everyone to gather near her as she snapped open a portal to Dalaran, to which they all moved through the portal and appeared on Krasus' Landing once more.

Despite the fact that Lyra needed to get this artifact to the Illidari, however, she followed Trixie to the inn that Allvar chose to stay in and reserved the same table they had sat at earlier, when they conquered the Eye of Azshara, though that was followed by them dividing the gold between them. Lyra wasn't really paying attention to what sort of gear they managed to take from the Vault of the Wardens, though whenever something was offered to her she simply shook her head and tried to get the others to take it. She remembered when she got the chest piece from the first dungeon and she still hated how it looked, to which she resolved to find a robe or something less revealing, so she could change clothing and be more like she had been when the Illidari were released from their cells.

Of course when Trixie told her that she should at least take the gloves that they had found on Tirathon's body, however, Lyra finally decided to accept her fate and took the hand armor, though at the same time she didn't understand the importance of upgrading armor and replacing perfectly usable clothing.

When they finally finished diving the gear and gold among the five of them, and Lyra could tell that her companions were pleased with what they had picked up, Lyra pulled herself back onto her hooves and bit the others farewell, though as she walked outside the inn she could hear the sound of two people following after her. She knew that Trixie would be curious as to what was 'wrong' with her, and why she was uninterested in the gear that they had collected, but those had some simple answers. Lyra stopped walking near the broken piece of Dalaran's wall, on Krasus' Landing, where she could glide over to the portal once she was done talking with Trixie and Azuregos.

"Why do you hate armor so much?" Trixie asked, gesturing to the gloves that she had to convince Lyra to take, as she had noticed that her companion seemed to prefer her standard Illidari gear and wasn't keen on replacing anything that she was currently wearing.

"I don't hate armor, I just prefer wearing the armor Lord Illidan gave me when I first joined the Illidari," Lyra replied, though at the same time she shrugged, as she really didn't see the purpose of replacing the gear that she had been gifted seven years ago, "besides, I guess I'll have to replace all of it at some point... my original gear is falling apart thanks to all the fights I've been in, though I haven't found anything decent to replace them with."

Trixie seemed unconvinced by Lyra's statement, especially considering what she had done back in the inn, to which she simply sighed and opened a portal for her and Azuregos to take back to the Hall of the Guardian. Lyra knew that her fellow Equestrian was going to be busy dealing with whatever else the Mage Order had to throw at her, to which she watched as her friends disappeared and the portal closed behind her. Once Trixie and Azuregos were gone Lyra summoned her fel wings and glided down towards the portal that would take her to the Fel Hammer, where she quickly landed on the island and passed through to the other side... where she found her forces preparing for the inevitable battle with the Legion's forces.

Lyra could see that her champions and Belath had turned towards the portal when she arrived on the Fel Hammer, though at the same time she smiled as she pulled out the Sargerite Keystone, telling them so much without her even having to say a single word.

"Finally. Its good to hear that Cordana Felsong has paid for all of the demon hunters whom she tempted into becoming Felsworn." Belath said, though at the same time Lyra could tell that he was glad to hear the news of her success, even if she hadn't actually told him anything, which meant that Malace had passed on some information after their meeting, "Cyana, Tirathon, Glayvianna, Cailyn, Illysanna, and more... Cordana's death has been coming for a long time. Though now the Sargerite Keystone is once more in our possession, Akama has joined our forces and has given us the plan Lord Illidan crafted so many years ago, and Cordana Felsong has been eliminated. For once everything is falling into place. The honor is all yours, Lyra Heartstrings."

Lyra let the smile remain on her face as she held the Sargerite Keystone above her head as she stood near the Star Map, where the Keystone floated into the air above the map and remained there, though she could feel the artifact's power being added to the ship once more. Now they had the ability to use the Fel Hammer and jump to the other Legion worlds, where they could begin their assault and weaken the vast army of demons that Sargeras commanded, but there was a certain pair of individuals that she knew they needed to go after first.

"With the Sargerite Keystone in our hands, all that we have to do now is prepare our forces and formulate an invasion plan." Kayn commended, to which Lyra glanced over to him for a few seconds, though even if she didn't say anything she already agreed with him, because someone in the Legion's forces likely knew that the Keystone was in their possession once more, "As our forces grow, and our reach extends ever outward, you have need of more trusted companions to handle the most important of missions. The time has come for you to elevate two more worthies into the ranks of your  champions. It's my opinion that you should consider recruiting Belath and Malevolence. They have both proven that they are indispensable to the cause."

Lyra nodded, as she knew that without Belath and Malevolence it would have taken her a lot longer to get to this point in time, even if she and the others managed to figure this out on their own, to which she walked over to where Malevolence was standing and approached the Matron Mother.

"Malevolence, how would you like to be one of my champions?" Lyra asked, as while she knew that most of her champions would consist of the demon hunters she had trained with for some time she also knew that they needed to provide a united front against the Legion.

"What a rare honor. To be one of the Illidari, instead of a servant." Malevolence commented, reminding Lyra that Lord Illidan had seen the Broken and Shivarra as servants, while she saw them as allies that could contribute to their overall goal, "I must admit, I was worried you wouldn't choose me as one of your champions... but now you have, and I could just kiss you! It never made any sense to me that all worlds should be purged in flame when there are so many delicious playthings to have fun with. Sargeras can be such a bore. Together, we will bring the Burning Legion to its knees and make them grovel in the dirt."

Lyra had to admit that she was surprised that Malevolence could call Sargeras a bore, along with the fact that her choosing the Matron Mother almost made the demon feel like kissing her, though she bid Malevolence farewell for the moment and walked over to where Belath was standing.

"And how about you, Belath?" Lyra asked, causing the demon hunter to turn towards her for a moment, where she noticed that he was a little surprised to have her talk to him again, "Would you like to join my roster of champions?"

"You are choosing me as one of your champions?" Belath inquired, though as Lyra nodded her head she noticed that the demon hunter looked both surprised and pleased at the same time, which made her happy as well, "This is a great distinction. I pledge myself to you again, Lyra Heartstrings. I will see to it that the enemies of the Illidari are dealt with in your name." 

"You now have six champions, seven counting Lyndraxa," Kayn commented, causing Lyra to turn towards him once more, though at the same time she spotted the other hero of the Illidari standing nearby with a smile on her face, "all of the Illidari and its forces, as well as a growing army of troops, all willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to bring down the Burning Legion. Speak to Allari... its time to prepare for the endgame."

"We have the Sargerite Keystone." Allari said, not even bothering to wait for Lyra to talk or approach her, though at the same time Lyra simply looked at her and the Star Map, "We have most of the forces we will need. We even have a plan. Now we need to locate the Felsouls and prepare for an invasion of whatever demon world they're hiding out on. Please leave it to me. If you will grant me the use of your champions, I and the Scythe of Souls will extract the information by any means necessary from the demons that we question."

From what Lyra could tell there were five objectives that her champions needed to complete so they could learn where the Felsouls were hiding, all of which revolved around going into Felsoul Hold, investigating the area, and reporting back to Allari. She was eager to finish them off so she and her forces could concentrate on more pressing matters, to which she turned to Allari and gave her the go ahead to put her plan into action. Allari, apparently happy about the command, also made sure to use all seven of the champions that she had access to, meaning that some of the demons they would be hunting would be captured much easier... though while they did that Lyra went down to the Forge so she could empower her weapon and meditate until the others returned.

Some time passed before Lyra was awoken from her meditation, though when she opened her eyes and looked up she found Allari standing near her, but there was a smile on her face that told her that she and the other champions had gotten some good information.

"I just finished torturing the demons we captured," Allari said, though at the same time she smiled as she swung her scythe around, indicating that she likely didn't show any mercy to the demons, "and now we know that Caria and Varedis are hiding away on the demon world known as Niskara."

"Good," Lyra replied, to which she got onto her feet and stretched for a moment, before she turned towards Allari as they both walked up to the first floor of the ship, "its time to finish this."

"All Legion constructs, including the Fel Hammer, are powered by souls." Allari commented, reminding Lyra of something that she preferred not to think about, because she could only imagine the number of souls that were fed into the vast machines that the Legion used to wage war on all the worlds they came across, "If we are going to take the command center to Niskara, we are going to need some very powerful souls... which is why I had Lyndraxa head out to collect the souls for us. Jace was also asking for some special items as well; a Fel Engine Injector, a Soul Configuration Matrix, a Fel Engine Ignition, and a Vile Soul Converter... and I had the other champions head back out to acquire them."

"So, I get a chance to rest before the big event... that's new." Lyra said, though at the same time she felt like she had earned the right to take a little time off from killing demons, an hour or two if she was lucky, but before she could say anything more she felt the Fel Hammer shake... and noticed Jace running towards them.

"I have no idea what that was, but you had better investigate it," Jace said, though Lyra knew that he was looking at her, to which she sighed as she made for the upper level, "It sounded like something big!"

Lyra raced through the Fel Hammer until she reached the top floor, where she turned towards the balcony that rested opposite to the one that lead to Dalaran, though when she arrived she noticed a massive swirling vortex of fel energy resting in front of the ship. Not even a few seconds later a projection of some sort started to emerge from the vortex, though all she could see were a pair of wings at the moment, a pair that belonged to a rather large creature. When the projection reached its full height it unfurled its wings and revealed the demon it had been hiding, where Lyra noticed that she could only see the top half of the demon's body. The demon wore no chest piece, though he was wearing a pair of shoulder pads, a chain around his neck that attached to something above his belt, and wore a pair of large gauntlets on both of his arms.

Even though this was just a projection, and he wasn't actually standing in front of her, Lyra could feel the power that Kil'jaeden was radiating, making her wonder what Trixie had felt when she came face to face with Archimonde.

"Lyra Heartstrings." Kil'jaeden said, staring down at Lyra and forcing her to look up at him, "Your insolence has come to an end. You and your Illidari WILL join the Burning Legion and become Felsworn, just like Varedis and Caria did when I offered them power beyond what your pathetic master could offer you. You may grovel now."

"NO!" Lyra shouted, though at the same time she pulled the Twinblades out and hurled them at the projection, knowing that she couldn't harm Kil'jaeden in this manner, but at the same time she knew that this would serve to show the Deceiver that as long as she commanded the Illidari he would never corrupt another demon hunter, before she caught her warglaives and pointed at her foe, "The Illidari will NEVER join the Legion... and Kil'jaeden, you had better watch your back from this day forward, because once Gul'dan is taken care of I'm coming for you."

"Very well. You have sealed your fate!" Kil'jaeden replied, to which his wings started to move back into position as his projection lowered itself back into the vortex, "Varedis and Caria will deal with you, personally."

Lyra glared at the Deceiver until his projection had entered the vortex and disappeared, which was followed by the vortex closing, before she sighed and sheathed her warglaives. Kil'jaeden had just declared that they would be dealt with by the same demon hunters they were chasing, which meant that this was a race to see who could be prepared for an invasion first... to which she prayed for Lyndraxa and her champions to finish gathering the items they needed, because she was eager to show Kil'jaeden and his solders just how strong her conviction was.