//------------------------------//
// Argus: Dark Awakenings 
// Story: World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Trixie and Lyra, after getting the call from Turalyon to return to the Vindicaar with the rest of the forces that had been fighting on the field before the Xenedar, walked down the ramp and stared at the leaders that were standing near the navigation console that Romuul had command over. Many heroes had seen Lyra's new powers, and the old ones that had been modified by the Light she now wielded, and they all congratulated her on being able to harness a new source of power to replace what Xe'ra had taken from her. Lyra, on the other hand, was sure that the Light had a large role to play in what had happened, especially since her new weapon had reacted so strongly to it, but she nodded her hand and accepted their thanks, before she and Trixie stood before the leaders. They both knew what was coming, as Velen had told them that once their planning was over they would be heading to a new location to wage war with the Legion, though both of them had to wonder what sort of demonic foes they would be fighting this time around.

Just thinking of Velen made Lyra place her hand on her sword, which was now in it's sheath, and recalled what had crossed her mind while she was reawakening her own powers, as a name had come to her while she was fighting the demons and knew that some of the people would be interested in what she had discovered.

"It will take a few moments before all of our soldiers are back aboard the Vindicaar," Velen stated, to which Trixie, Lyra, and the heroes near them nodded their heads in understanding, as they all knew that it would take a minute or two for the Army of the Light to teleport back to this ship, "Lyra, I see that the Light in your eyes is stronger than what it was when you departed earlier. I take it you made a discovery while you were fighting the Legion?"

"Yes, something other than a new connection to the Light." Lyra replied, to which she carefully drew the blade that she had been given and looked down at it, though some of the other heroes sensed that something had changed between her and her weapon, "Felbreaker... that's what I've decided to call this weapon."

"An appropriate name, given the circumstances and our ongoing war," Velen said, where a smile appeared on his face for a moment, while at the same time it was mimicked by a large number of the heroes that were standing around them, before he looked at the two Equestrians, "Now then, I'm sure that the two of you are interested in what we've decided to do, in regards to where we're going first."

"That we are." Trixie answered, as she was sure that Velen and Turalyon had a good knowledge of the planet, both before and after Sargeras claimed it as the homeworld of the Legion, and already knew where they should direct their next stage of the invasion.	

"The loss of Xe'ra is a blow, especially to Turalyon." Velen stated, turning his body to the side for a moment, where he beckoned to the High Exarch for a few seconds, before turning back to the duo and the heroes behind them, "But even the Light Mother could not be allowed to force destiny upon us. I wish Illidan had found another way to refuse her... but I too have had choices imposed upon me by the Naaru. This must not distract us from our mission. Now that we have the Army of the Light survivors with us, it is time to press our attack. We need a foothold on the Antoran Wastes from which we can assault the Burning Throne. It is time to deprive Sargeras of his prize!"

Lyra and Trixie shared a glance with each other, because this Burning Throne sounded like the one place that they would definitely want to destroy, especially since it was likely were Sargeras had based a good portion of his forces in preparation for his wars across the universe. As they nodded their understanding everyone braced themselves as Velen gave Romuul the order, to which the Vindicaar left Krokuun, the area the Xenedar had crashed into, and moved across the abyss as they headed to the Antoran Wastes. It didn't take them long to reach their destination, but as the Antoran Wastes came into view the heroes noticed that the area was infested with felfire, fel lava, and appeared to be a massive military base with a station for ships to dock at, a soul engine that was torturing the souls of the captured spirits, and a large imposing fortress that had defenses that would likely blow them to pieces if they even got close to it.

The Burning Throne was, suffice to say, untouchable at the moment, because if they even tried to get near it the defenses would destroy the Vindicaar and kill them all before they could even get inside, which would damn Azeroth and the rest of the universe in the process.

"I never imagined such destruction... such horror." Velen commented, looking upon the area that was below them and remembered what had been here when Argus had been pure and untouched by demons, though this only fueled his rage towards the Legion and their foul master.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Lyra asked, as while she was no longer the coward she used to be, back when she first arrived in the Outlands and crushed thanks to her training under Lord Illidan, she knew when they were beat before they even did anything, which meant they needed a new plan of attack.

"Alleria and I have scouted this area before, alongside some of our best soldiers." Turalyon said, causing the assembled group to turn towards him, while at the same time he stared at the area that they were resting above and recalled what they had done earlier, "We stationed encampments on either side of our current position, but I fear they will have come under heavy attack. They need reinforcements. Our first order of business is to set up a teleportation beacon directly below the Vindicaar. From there, we will have access to both fronts."

"One of your encampments looks like a good place to station the illidari," Illidan commented, beckoning a hand towards the right side of the Vindicaar, as Romuul had created two images to reveal the exact locations of the areas that Alleria and Turalyon had created the last time they were here, before he turned towards the forces that had come with him and the others, "Illidari. Prepare yourselves for deployment... and do what you do best!"

"Yes Lord Illidan!" the assembled demon hunters replied, to which they gathered their gear and made their way to where Romuul wanted them to stand, before they were teleported down to the area labeled 'Veiled Den', which happened to be the name of the encampment that Illidan had pointed out.

"I will take some of the Lightforged and head down to Light's Purchase," Alleria added, referring to the other encampment that was to the far south of where the Veiled Den was located, which also happened to reveal the exact location that Turalyon wanted them to place a beacon, "I'll need some volunteers to help me and my forces establish the central encampment, so we can begin figuring out how to destroy the Legion's defenses."

Several heroes, oddly enough containing all three warriors and some of the others, immediately gathered their gear and joined the Light-infused Draenei, which Lyra and Trixie learned were actually called Lightforged, before they warped down to the surface below them. As all of that was happening, however, Lyra noticed that Illidan was walking down to the lower level of the ship while the other leaders were talking with Turalyon, to which she and Trixie followed him down to the level that he was heading towards. As they walked down the ramp the duo noticed that the soldiers of the Army of the Light were dispatching some of their warframes, which were flying out to the areas that Alleria wanted them in, though they focused their attention on Illidan, who stared at the Netherlight Crucible for a few seconds as they came to a stop right behind him.

"Lord Illidan, is something wrong?" Lyra asked, as she had to assume that it was about the Burning Throne, because they couldn't do anything about that fortress at the moment, especially with the defenses that Sargeras and his forces had created to protect something important.

"No doubt the High Exarch will fret at the news that we lack the resources to assault Antorus." Illidan said, revealing that the Burning Throne had an actual name, though at the same time he stared at the Light fragment that was resting in front of them, "He is not used to believing his vaunted Army of the Light to be inadequate. However, his pride is no concern of mine. While he plots a new strategy, I will ensure that the Illidari gather the necessary information so that we can plan a proper assault on Antorus, when we find a way around their defenses anyway. I will head down to the Veiled Den soon enough, to be sure that the Illidari have our base set up, but while I do that you two should stay here and help Turalyon and the others."

Lyra didn't really want to stay on the Vindicaar, especially since she had come here to destroy the Legion, and she could tell that Trixie was feeling the same thing, but then she sighed and nodded her head, indicating that she understood what her mentor was telling her. From there she and Trixie returned to the floor of the Vindicaar that she and the others had been standing on when they moved from Krokuun and came to the Antoran Wastes, though as they did so they nodded to the soldiers and heroes that were still being deployed. The two of them knew that the heroes would make sure that the soldiers completed their tasks and prepared the final camp for future troops when the beacon was placed, though at the same time they approached the area that Turalyon was standing in, along with Khadgar and Velen, the only leaders that hadn't departed from the ship yet.

When they approached him, however, both Lyra and Trixie noticed that Turalyon seemed to be happy about something, to which they immediately wondered what sort of good news he could have gotten, in the last minute or two, that could outweigh the situation that they were in at the moment.

"Magni sent for the two of you to meet him in the Krokul Hovel." Turalyon said, referring to the King of Diamonds, someone that Lyra hadn't had the pleasure of meeting in all the madness they had been through, before getting to the reason behind why he wanted to see the two of them immediately, "He has found something that he believes could help us overcome the Legion's infinite armies. We need every advantage we can muster if we are to see this war through. You should seek him out."

Lyra and Trixie shared another glance with each other for a moment before they turned towards Romuul, who nodded his head and teleported the two of them back over to the Krokul Hovel, where they found Hatuun and his people working to keep themselves safe, as usual. The strange thing that Lyra found was a dwarf, carrying no weapons at all, standing near the campfire that Hatuun was standing in front of, though what was odd about him was that Lyra found that his entire body was literally made out of diamonds, meaning that his title reflected his nature and not the fact that he might have found a diamond mine in the past. Still, despite the fact that this was the first time she had ever met the dwarf, she could sense some power coming from him, one that reminded her of what she had felt in Xe'ra's vision when she showed her Sargeras cleaving planets in half... making her wonder if Magni had been blessed by a Titan in some manner, even if the other six had been destroyed by the Dark Titan.

As the duo approached Hatuun and Magni, however, they noticed that they appeared to be talking about something, which had to related to the reason that they had been called back to this area, especially so soon after they had left Krokuun behind.

"The stone's whispers steady my people's hearts." Hatuun said, though his tone suggested that there had been more to the conversation that the duo had missed, but it wasn't their place to ask what they had been talking about before they had teleported to the village, "It is curious that you hear them as well, outsider."

"It's fainter than the breath o' the wind, but it feels so familiar ta me." Magni stated, his voice sounding like a mountainslide or something similar to how an earth type elemental would speak, only in a more human tone, "It's like Azeroth's call, only... it ain't her."

Now that was a piece of information that Lyra found interesting, because it appeared that Magni might be suggesting that Azeroth, the planet they were fighting for, was actually a Titan, and if that happened to be the case it made a lot more sense why Sargeras was trying to destroy the world. Before she could give it some more thought, however, Magni turned towards them and beckoned them forward, to which Lyra and Trixie walked up to the fire and came to a stop when they were near the dwarf.

"Thank ye fer joinin' me. There's somethin' ye have to see." Magni said, to which he turned and looked at one of the smaller caves that was nearby, one that he started walking to the instant he turned towards it, causing both Lyra and Trixie to follow after him, "I've been hearin' whispers ever since we got to Argus. They're just like Azeroth's, only... they ain't hers. I'm convinced that Argus has a Titan of its own that's reachin' out to us! The broken have a relic stowed away that's darn near holy to 'em. Hatuun says they hear whispers from it... I think it might have some sort o' link to Argus itself! It's just in this chamber. Let's see what we can learn."

"So you're telling me that Azeroth is a Titan?" Lyra asked, because this would definitely change the course of their invasion of Argus, especially if the planet they were actually attacking was one was well, "When did we come to the conclusion that such a thing was reality?"

"When Khadgar and I went to Ulduar, it was Magni that told us Azeroth was actually a Titan," Trixie replied, to which she rubbed the back of her head as they moved towards the small cave that Magni was walking towards, especially since  there was more she needed to tell Lyra apparently, "it was also Azeroth that told us, through Magni, that we needed the Pillars of Creation to stop the Legion from using the Tomb of Sargeras to invade this world. I'm guessing that, in the heat of all the developments that were happening, someone neglected to tell you that Azeroth was actually a Titan and that she was still not fully developed, so she's not like Sargeras and the others."

Lyra remained silent for a moment, as the confirmation that Azeroth was a Titan had shocked her for a few seconds, but it revealed some insight as to why Sargeras was after the planet in the first place, he was likely trying to destroy Azeroth before she could awaken, as if he was afraid of her. As she thought about that the three of them arrived at the crystal that Magni was bringing them to, though once they arrived at their destination Magni stepped out of the way and let the duo approach the crystal. Lyra and Trixie glanced at each other before turning towards the glowing crystal, where they touched the surface of the stone and closed their eyes as they focused on whatever the stone, and by extension Argus apparently, wanted to show them. A few seconds passed before their minds were taken to a new area, which reminded Lyra of what happened when she woke Xe'ra's heart up, before they noticed that the area they were seeing had to be underground... potentially under the Burning Throne, based on what they were seeing.

Their attention changed when they saw something walking towards the glowing fel green fire that was at the end of the walkway, though both of them noticed that the figure was similar to the Fallen Avatar they crushed back in the Tomb of Sargeras... only this one had red lines etched into it's shoulders and chest, carried a sword that appeared to be broken in half with the top portion looking like it was made out of energy, and appeared to be a warrior of some kind.

"What is your bidding, master?" the warrior asked, though the instant it reached the circular area at the end of the walkway it knelt in the middle of the platform, while at the same time both Lyra and Trixie could tell that it was supposed to be male by the voice.

The circle nears completion. a voice replied, one that could only belong to Sargeras himself, though at the same time it sounded like he was far away at that moment, which would be good for the Army of the Light if the Dark Titan wasn't on Argus while the invasion happened, The mortals must not disrupt the rebirth.

"Those who will not serve shall be destroyed." the warrior promised, though at the same time he stood up and faced the fel flame that was in front of him, before turning around and starting the long walk back to the building that was behind where he was standing, "It is the only way."

Become the instrument of my wrath once more, Aggramar. Sargeras said, his voice echoing through the area that the warrior was in, allowing the warrior to hear him despite the fact that he was walking away from the area he had been kneeling in seconds ago, End this incursion of the Light.

A few seconds later the connection was terminated and both Lyra and Trixie found themselves back in the small cave that the crystal was located in, though as they came back to reality, and realized what they had seen, Lyra realized the danger that they, and Azeroth, were in. One Titan, with a seemingly endless army of demons that followed his commands, was able to topple many planets throughout the universe and destroyed them before moving onto the next one, but now they knew that Sargeras had, somehow, twisted Aggramar into a willing servant. That told Lyra that the situation was more dire than they already believed, because that meant that the Titans were still alive, in a sense, and that Sargeras had captured the souls of those he had slain all those years ago, meaning that he was likely torturing Khaz'goroth, Golganneth, Norgannon, Eonar, and Amun'Thul at that very moment. When she thought about that Lyra realized that, counting the original seven Titans that most people knew about, Argus and Azeroth made nine total Titans... and it explained why Sargeras was so interested in Azeroth, since the planet contained a dormant Titan.

Sargeras was creating a Dark Pantheon, one that would help him destroy the entirety of the universe, and there would be no force in all of existence that would be able to stand up to the Dark Titans, regardless of whether it was the original seven or the expanded nine when he finally broke Argus and Azeroth... and there was only one thing that Lyra could even think to say to something like that, something that was echoed by Trixie at the same time.

"We're doomed!"