//------------------------------//
// Suramar: An Ancient Gift 
// Story: World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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"I have protected that seed for ten thousand years, yet you let it fall into the hands of the fal'dorei." the male night elf said, though he made no attempt to hide his anger, but Lyra understood that he had to be angry thanks to the amount of time he had spent in this one area thanks to what her mentor had told her, "I should kill the two of you, right here and now, but I suspect that it would be a long battle and we might all die in the process, so instead I have a proposition. Repay your debt by helping me get the seed back."

"Personally, I'd like to see you try to kill even one of us," Lyra replied, though at the same time she turned towards the door and walked outside, to which she stopped when she was in front of the temple and glanced back at the elf, "Since you have been guarding that relic, the seed you mentioned, I'm pretty sure that you know where these fal'dorei are hiding and where they might have taken it. So show us the way and we'll recover the seed before anything happens to it."

"Very well then," the elf said, to which he walked out to where Lyra was standing, where Trixie joined them, before waving his hand towards the two of them, "The fal'dorei make their home in the ruins below... and I know where the entrance is. Oh, and you can call me Valewalker Farodin."

Trixie and Lyra followed Farodin to the right of the entrance they had just walked out of, where they followed the faded pathway towards what appeared to be a large channel in the ground that separated the temple from another part of Ambervale. When they neared the channel they discovered that there was a small stream running though it, to which Farodin beckoned for them to follow and the three of them followed the stream towards the area that rested between the rest of the ruined city and the temple they had just departed from. As the three of them walked, however, they noticed some of the fal'dorei moving towards the entrance that Farodin was taking them to, but at the same time that made Lyra worry that they could potentially be walking into a trap.

Instead of heading to the right when they reached the fork in the path, where the fal'dorei had gone, Farodin turned to the left and walked forward, where Trixie and Lyra gazed down at the massive hole in the ground that apparently led to an underground ruin of some sort... one that looked like the rest of Ambervale, the temple, and all of the other Nightborne buildings they had seen so far.

"We go down here," Farodin commented, though he stopped for a few seconds when he reached the end of the earth they had been walking on, before he pointed down at the small pool of water that was resting in the ruins below, "Just follow the river."

Trixie and Lyra watched as Farodin jumped forward and descended into the ruins below them, where they waited for a few seconds before they heard the sound of him connecting with the water, to which they poked their heads out from their hiding spot and noticed that he had suffered no inquiries in the process of his jump. A few seconds later Lyra unfurled her wings and grabbed onto Trixie, where she then jumped into the air and gracefully glided down towards the pool that Farodin had jumped into, though at the same time she could see a hint of annoyance on the elf's face. From what she could determine Farodin now wished that he had known about her glide ability, as it would have allowed him to remain dry in enemy territory, but that was before he shook his head as they landed near her.

As Lyra pulled her wings back into her body, or more accurately the tattoos that had been etched onto her back thanks to the Illidari ritual, she noticed that none of the fal'dorei had noticed them, which meant that they were either blind or they were terrible at detecting where enemies were.

"We must move swiftly." Farodin said, though at the same time he was clearly looking at all of the enemies that were ignoring them at the moment, while Lyra and Trixie realized that the fal'dorei were all spider creatures they had encountered before, only this time they had a crystalline look to them, "Orathiss has underestimated the seed. It is sapping her power, thus substantially slowing her down. We must catch her and get the seed to safety!"

Lyra and Trixie nodded as they walked forward, where Farodin followed after them, before they noticed that several of their enemies discovered that they were walking through their territory and were already coming towards them, but this was something that Lyra was used to. Lyra pulled her Twinblades out and threw one through the air, where it spun around a few times before it struck her target by slicing off one of its legs, before she collected it and stood at the bottom of the stairs that they had discovered. Trixie already knew what her friend was doing, as she was willing to fight off all of the fal'dorei spiders that were coming towards them while she and Farodin searched for this Orathiss, who happened to be standing at the top of the stairs... and that it was a cross between a four legged spider and an elf, who had been twisted by some sort of energy.

Trixie honestly had no idea how such a thing had happened to the former elf, and she was sure that Farodin could explain if she asked him, but right now she had to focus on getting the seed back... while Lyra cut down all of the fal'dorei that were coming towards her.

"Foolish surface-dwellers." Orathiss snapped, though at the same time she, and Trixie was sure it was a female based on the voice that the creature used, held the seed like it was a treasured family relic of some kind, "You will suffer for trespassing in my kingdom. Come my children! Feast on their bones!"

Instead of allowing Orathiss to leave the area that they were in, and take the seed somewhere else, Trixie called upon her magic and tried to freeze the ground around the creature's feet, though that was quickly followed by the creature rapidly escaping her grasp and continued up the other path that was in front of her. Lyra, upon hearing that their target was moving, rushed to Trixie's side as she moved forward, though she stayed at the back of the pack and kept the other fal'dorei from slowing them down. At the same time Trixie used her powers to blast the fal'dorei that were in front of her, where Farodin helped her by either using magic or swinging his sickle looking staff around, before they reached the end of the passage they were following.

That was moments before Trixie noticed Orathiss standing to the right of them, in another passage that appeared to head under the earth, though at the same time she rushed towards her target so she could prevent the seed from being opened... and doing whatever Farodin was worried about.

"Persistent vermin..." Orathiss growled, though at the same time she turned towards the opposite side of the tunnel she had entered and charged forward, forcing Trixie to pick up the pace as Farodin and Lyra followed after her.

Orathiss brought them to an area that Trixie and Lyra recognized as the same area that Shal'Aran looked like, as if multiple places had been made in the same image, though this place had some sort of crystalline tree, with branches heading in every direction in the air, in the middle of the chamber where their target was standing. Since Orathiss wasn't calling for allies this time around, like she had done earlier, Trixie and Lyra stood side by side this time around, while at the same time their opponent growled once more.

"The Arcan'dor will live again!" Orathiss declared, though at the same time she prepared herself for battle, meaning that she was prepared to die before she handed over the seed that she had stolen from its resting place, "With its power, we shall return to the surface... and you cannot stop us now!"

Trixie and Lyra charged forward and engaged their enemy in battle, though while they were expecting Orathiss to have some sort of great power, or something unique to herself, they were disappointed to find that she had the same abilities as some of the Nightborne they had fought when they were helping Oculeth out earlier. That only confirmed that the fal'dorei had to be shal'dorei that had been corrupted in some manner, but that really didn't mean anything since they all appeared to be insane to some degree. Since they already knew the tactics that Orathiss was using, and she didn't seem to have anything else to take them by surprise, it was rather easy for them to cut the creature down... where she moaned that her pride grew heavy before she collapsed on the floor and died.

Neither of them knew why she had mentioned such a thing, but they paid it no mind as they approached the glowing seed, where they wondered what they were going to do with it once they claimed it... provided that Farodin didn't want to take it back to the area it had been sealed in. At the same time Trixie could feel the energy pulsing around the ancient seed, which meant that something was happening and she, along with Lyra, turned towards Farodin for some sort of explanation as to what was going on.

"The seed is awakening." Farodin stated, to which Trixie and Lyra prepared themselves, as they knew that there was something important they needed to know about the seed, "Without power it will quickly wither and die. We must carry the seed out of here and plant it somewhere safe, though I am not strong enough to bear this burden. But you... the two of you are brimming with power. I sensed your powers the moment I first met you. Please take the seed."

Trixie nodded and gently picked up the seed from where Orathiss had set it down, though once she was carrying it Farodin beckoned for them to follow him as they moved around the tree that was in front of them and headed towards a passage that should take them out of the area that they had found themselves in. They quickly found themselves inside a temple of some time, one that actually reminded Trixie of the Nar'thalas Academy in terms of design, but before they went too far she turned her head to the left and noticed a teleport pad with a beacon resting on top of it. She then pointed it out to Lyra and Farodin, where one understood what she was talking about and the other seemed shocked to find one in this location, before the three of them approached the device she had spotted.

It was then that Trixie and Lyra discovered that Farodin already knew about Thalyssra, Oculeth, their rebellion, and the teleportation network they were piecing back together, but he promised that he was on their side and even called the people they were helping friends.

Ah, the Temple of Fa'adora. Oculeth spoke in their minds, reminding Trixie and Lyra that they needed to learn how to properly talk along these mental pathways that Oculeth and Thalyssra were using when they were out in the field, Those halls once glowed with prayers to Elune, though now I imagine that it is less hospitable now. Hold still, I will get all of you out of there.

A few seconds passed before Trixie, Lyra, and Farodin felt Oculeth's energy wrap around them for a few moments, though that was before they were teleported out of the temple they had been walking through and reappeared in the teleportation station that Oculeth was in the process of restoring... before they found that they were being beckoned to the area where the one spirit had been standing guard when they first discovered Shal'Aran.

"Place it here," Thalyssra said, pointing at the strange pedestal that had been guarded by the spirit, which Thalyssra and the others must have examined while they were absent, "let the seed drink from the leyline energies that flow throughout Shal'Aran."

Trixie and Lyra approached the stand that Thalyssra was beckoning to as she, along with everyone else, gathered around the area to see what was about to happen, where Trixie set the seed down on the stand, where she discovered that it sat perfectly atop the stand and sunk into it with a satisfying click. A few seconds passed before the seed started to open before their eyes, to which the exterior of the seed broke into four equal sized pieces and lowered themselves until they were parallel with the floor, while also revealing the inner part of the seed. That was followed by several small vines, and one larger one, erupting from the seed and moved towards the ceiling of Shal'Aran, though it only went a few inches above where the top of the seed was... telling Trixie that the seed was still awakening and that it would likely take more power for it to bloom into whatever tree it was supposed to create.

"The seed is safe and we have a new ally joining our ranks," Thalyssra commented, to which Trixie and Lyra nodded, as they were sure that Farodin would now protect Shal'Aran until the tree was fully grown and would also check up on it to be sure that it was growing just fine, "Though I'm afraid that there is little time for celebration, as there is business we need to take care of inside the city. Our friend Ly'leth contacted me some time ago, after the two of you went off to find the seed that Theryn had seen. She requested that the two of you meet her atop the Grand Promenade, as it overlooks the city. Have your disguises ready just in case... and please be careful."

Trixie and Lyra thanked her for the information, but instead of heading out immediately they both knew that they needed at least an hour of rest before they even went back into the city... and they were positive that Ly'leth would understand why they had made this decision when they saw her later on. For now they needed to get their energy back, have a light snack or something to eat, and maybe a quick nap before they went back into the field... because they were sure that they were going to need all of their energy once they heard what Ly'leth needed them to do.