What Spitfire and Rainbow found on the other side of the portal they had flown through was a realm that seemed to be full of darkness, shadow, and fog, made from rocks, ships that were both ruined and whole, had a dock down in the area that was right in front of them, there was the sound of water, which suggested an island of some kind, the sky was dark, like a storm could happen at any moment, and there was a feeling of dread and despair as they moved out of the portal that had allowed them to enter this realm. Another thing they discovered was that there were two types of individuals in this realm, the first being the spirits of those that had been banished to Helheim, who were transparent versions of their normal selves, while the second were vrykul who weren't transparent, though these vrykul were covered in green scales, barnacles, and seaweed, plus the fact that they seemed much angrier than the other types of vrykul they had encountered so far, making them wonder what sort of name this clan possessed, if they were a clan anyway. While the pair took in what was in front of them, and wondered what else they might find in this cursed realm, they heard a trio of howls as a large beast of some kind, who happened to have three separate heads from what they could see, walked over to a passage that connected this area to the next part of Helheim, an area that looked like it might be a throne area of some kind, meaning it had to be a guard dog and that it had moved out of the way to either escort someone to it's master's throne or had moved due to some soldiers bothering it while it was sleeping, beings it couldn't slay since they served the same dark master, or at least that was what they thought for a moment. In that instant they both glanced down at themselves and found that neither of them had the transparent appearance to their bodies, meaning that those who were transparent were definitely banished and those that were normal were visitors, no doubt either allies to this realm's master or allies of Skovald, and if they were the latter than all of them, or the vast majority, would end up perishing in due time, given that this would cut down on the number of soldiers their foes had to throw at them and their allies.
Once that was done they turned to the right for a moment and found that Scarlet, Vytheril, and Ashildir standing near the stone face that contained the portal they had walked through to get to Helheim, though from the looks of it they either had tried to breach the magical gateway and were forced backwards or Ashildir had convinced her companions to not try so they could form a plan of attack from the inside, though all three of them were a little surprised to see them again, as both Scarlet and Vytheril expected them to chase after Skovald or something.
"You two continue to surprise me, as this place is Helheim, the realm of the unworthy dead, and not many would actually willingly venture to this realm." Ashildir commented, confirming that this place was indeed Helheim and that she felt that Spitfire and Rainbow were a little insane for coming here after she and the others had been banished, though that was the moment she noticed that both Scarlet and Vytheril were happy to see the pair again, meaning that while they were very confident in their own powers, which was good for heroes of the Alliance and Horde from what she had learned, they felt better knowing that the pair of demon hunters were with them, where she decided to have some faith in the pair and trust them like the two banished heroes did, hence why she focused on what she needed to tell them, "Here, the spirits of the dishonorable spend eternity in an endless futile battle, always seeking glory but never able to attain it. Obviously none of us should not be here, which means that we must find a way out and soon, before Helya notices us... trust me, our time in this realm will be better if she doesn't know we're here. I will scout ahead and see what I can find, though the four of you should try and release some of the captive spirits that are in front of us, as one of them might have some answers for us, and a possible way to get around Helya, though be careful, as the Kvaldir are not to be underestimated, especially with the power you two possess."
"We'll be sure to scout out the area and see if we can find anyone that can help us out," Scarlet said, to which Ashildir took a moment to nod her head before she walked out of the area that they were standing in, where they were sure that, based on what they had seen so far, she would do everything in her power to make sure these Kvaldir didn't notice her while she was investigating the area, but once the Queen of the Valkyra was a decent distance away from them she and Vytheril took a few seconds to turn towards Spitfire and Rainbow, "Why are you two here as well? Shouldn't you be back in Stormheim, hunting Skovald down and making sure that he can't get to the Halls of valor before we do, since that's where the Aegis of Aggramar is resting?"
"We weren't about to leave our friends in here, after killing Faljar and breaking part of his magic," Rainbow stated, though she suspected that this was just part of her and Spitfire's nature as Equestrians, as they made friends with those who did the right thing and right now that applied to both Scarlet and Vytheril, as the pair wanted to bring the Legion down and it didn't feel right to just leave them stranded in a realm like Helheim, especially after everything the pair had done to help them get this far in the first place, though she also knew that if Sylvanas had been banished here, well, Spitfire would no doubt leave her here to fend for herself, to which she pushed the thought to the side and beckoned for the others to look out at the area they were in, "Come on, let's go find a spirit that might help you two and Ashildir leave this realm."
Scarlet and Vytheril nodded their heads, as they were happy to have the pair of demon hunters with them again, even if they had been separated for only a few moments based on how quickly Spitfire and Rainbow had reacted to them being banished to this realm, to which the four of them walked down the path that was in front of them and decided not to alert the Kvaldir of their presence just yet, where they hid behind a rock for a moment and allowed the nearby warrior to walk away with a dog that looked like it was cursed like the warrior was, before they walked over one of the cages that were scattered throughout this realm and found that it was easy to unlock from their side. What they discovered was that some of the spirits that were freed from their cages wandered into the lower area that the Kvaldir happened to be working in, or at least the group assumed that was the case, and were surprised that the vile vrykul didn't even consider the possibility of someone undoing their hard work as some of them lashed out at the now freed spirits, though that gave them the perfect cover to walk over to several of the other cages and see if the spirits inside them were who they were looking for, only to find that many of them didn't seem to care and that they just wanted to cause havoc on their captors, especially when they found some shieldmaidens among their number. That was until they found someone, a vrykul warrior that reminded them of Havi's friends, meaning it might be an ally that was wrongfully imprisoned by Skovald and his desire to stop those that sought to complete the trials he was breaking to his will, and once they freed him from his cage he nodded his head, as he could see that there were a number of Kvaldir standing nearby, before silently beckoning for them to follow him back to where the entrance of this area rested, something that they did without delay and noticed that Ashildir was definitely in the middle of seeking some information on the vile realm that Faljar had banished three of them to. The vrykul also took a moment to stare at the Queen of the Valkyra, as if he was interested in why she was here and not back in whatever realm her spirit was supposed to be resting in, until someone called her back for the Trial of Valor, before he focused on the path that lead back to the entrance of Helheim and only came to a stop when he reached the safety of the area in question, as it was higher than most of the parts of this half of Helheim and allowed them to see what the Kvaldir were doing.
"Ye have my thanks for freein' me, outsiders!" the vrykul stated, showing that he was pleased with the fact that someone had come along and saved him from the cage that he had been trapped inside, even though they had no idea how long his stay inside the container had been, though instead of worrying about that, and the past he had been condemned to until this point in time, he turned towards them for a moment with a smile on his transparent face, "These Kvaldir caught me while I was tryin' to put together a plan to sneak past that foul guard dog, a beast called Guarm, and have kept me locked up ever since... I thought surely my fate was sealed."
"Well, now you're free to do whatever you wish," Vytheril said, as that was the truth, because they knew that the spirit was tired of being trapped inside the cage he had been trapped inside for who knew how long, but even as he said that he, and he was sure Spitfire was of the same mind, realized that there was something odd about the figure that was standing in front of them, as he suspected that someone mighty, like the ruler of the Halls of Valor, might have sent one or two of his or her followers into Helheim to keep an eye on what Helya was doing and if they needed to move against her, before he focused on what he needed to ask, "however, this plan you were thinking of... maybe you could complete it if you had a few helping hands gather the items you needed or kill a few guards that might be blocking your way?"
"I'm not sure what yer doin' here, but ye have my thanks. If ye want to get any further, though, ye'll need to get past the foul guard dog," the vrykul replied, his tone revealing that part of him might not care why they were here, where if he was a watcher of the ruler of the Halls of Valor they might actually be ruining his mission or putting it in more danger than it had been earlier, before he seemed to think about something as he glanced in the direction of Guarm, no doubt thinking about his plan and what needed to be done so it was successful, "I've tried meself a few times, and I think I have a plan. If we can get some of the seaweed these Kvaldir wear, we might be able to trick the mutt... Guarm's mean, ye see, but not too smart. Also, these vrykul also be carrying bones with them... worn all over like jewelry. If ye can get yer hands on some of the bones they got lyin around, it'll add to the disguise. So, what ye waitin for?"
It was a simple task, kill the Kvaldir that were roaming this part of Helheim and take whatever seaweed or bones they just so happened to be wearing on their bodies, hence the reason the group nodded their heads, to show the vrykul that his tasks would be done so he would have the material necessary to make what they assumed were disguises so they could get by Guarm, though as they walked down the path that was in front of the entrance to Helheim and found that one of the Kvaldir warriors happened to have returned to where he had been standing earlier, who raised his weapon the instant he noticed them and charged forward to do battle. Spitfire was the first one to move, parrying the incoming attack before it could hit any of the others, though instead of calling on her more impressive powers and charring this area, which would no doubt awaken the guard dog and alert Helya to their presence, she stayed in her base for and pushed her foe back for a moment, allowing Rainbow and the others to advance down into the rest of the area they had explored earlier, where each of them basically declared warn on their own targets and, at the same time, Vytheril made sure to free some of the other imprisoned spirits, who eagerly tore into the Kvaldir as well, all without asking any questions as to why two of them had different forms and why they were being freed. Sure enough the Kvaldir weren't expecting something like this to even happen and rushed out to greet the spirits that had been imprisoned or shackled earlier, of which they were certain of that fact, while Spitfire dodged an incoming attack and cut down her foe when his defenses were opened, though she did find that this foe had nothing for her to take from him, to which she headed down into the raging battlefield and joined in as best as she could, as Rainbow was in the middle of hacking down several Kvaldir, Scarlet used her icy powers to freeze some of her foes in place and cut them down when their guards were lowered, and Vytheril blasted a few of their foes in the chest, though their actions caused one of the taller Kvaldir, a Captain by the looks of things, to walk down the wooden platform that connected to the dock his ship happened to be connected to, to which Spitfire jumped over a few of their enemies and landed in front of the Captain, pushing him backwards so he didn't get close to the others, even though she was still surprised that Guarm was asleep and that Helya hadn't noticed what was going on, though she focused on the task she had given herself as she parried an incoming attack and engaged her foe.
Spitfire found that her foe was quite strong, which was great since he wasn't empowered by the fel energies that so many of her previous foes had been channeling during their battles, but even then she was able to use her base power to push back the greatsword that was coming her way, as it quickly became clear to her that her foe was just about overwhelming strength, even though his power was nowhere near the level of the more powerful demons she had faced since becoming a demon hunter and it wasn't enough to even bring her down, allowing her to cut down the Captain before noticing that Rainbow and the others were heading back up to the vrykul, leaving the freed spirits to continue fighting, to which she did the same thing, since she was interested in what might come next.
"Ye did well... freein' all those spirits and killin' all those Kvaldir. Yer braver than I thought!" the vrykul said, where it was easy for them to see that he was rather impressed by what they had done, especially since all of the other spirits were in the middle of engaging their captors, which provided the perfect cover for them to walk over to Guarm's resting place and see if they could slip by the slumbering beast, though it was in that moment that Vytheril and Scarlet handed over all of the materials that he had asked for them to recover, which also brought a smile to his face as he stared at the seaweed and the bones, "I'm sure that Helya will see that neither ye nor I belong here once we get past that dog of hers... though give me a moment while I work on all of our disguises."
The group stood there for a moment, giving the vrykul all the time that he needed to work on the disguises, and while they did that Ashildir walked over to where they were standing, where it was hard to tell if she had gained some information or if her scouting mission had ended in failure, the latter would make sense and would be their fault given the battle that was currently raging nearby, though she remained silent as Vytheril informed her as to what was going on, where she looked a little disgusted by what they were doing and sighed as she determined that this was likely the best course of action, even if she didn't like the idea of using such a crude disguise to get by Guarm.
"There! The disguise be complete!" the vrykul said, where it looked like all he was giving them was a small cape that had a hood that allowed them to cover their heads, even though Spitfire and Rainbow would be hard time hide given their forms and whatnot, before he handed them what he had made and pulled one of them over his upper body, which prompted the group to do the same thing and he noticed that one of them, Ashildir, didn't like the smell that was coming from what he had made, even though he gave a light chuckle as that happened, "Don't mind the smell, as it's better that we smell like the Kvaldir, given that Guarm is so used to them... though I have a feeling I'll be needin a priest to get this stench out of my armor once we're gone."
With their disguises equipped, and everyone made sure that they were on correctly, the group headed down the path that was in front of them and used a side walkway to reach the area that was directly in front of Guarm's resting place, though as soon as they reached their destination they slowed down and carefully walked forward, where they walked over the lone bridge that connected to his area and approached the massive beast, who seemed to be peacefully sleeping despite the noise of the nearby battle, meaning they were able to bypass the creature rather easily, though once they got passed Guarm, and passed through a small amount of mist, they came to a stop and removed their disguises, even though both Spitfire and Vytheril noticed the vrykul was missing.
"That was a truly revolting, outsiders... even in death I've never witnessed such a disgusting smell." Ashildir stated, where it was easy to tell that she didn't approve of what they had done, despite the fact that it was the only way for them to even reach this area in the first place, and nearly gagged when she noticed that her armor, even with the small amount of time it had been exposed to the seaweed, still smelled like the Kvaldir, before she noticed that they were missing someone as well, even though it was also clear that she didn't care much for the vrykul that had helped them out, "It looks like your friend didn't make it... a pity, but we must move on. You'll want to plead our case to Helya herself, as this is her throne and she receives guests in this area... I would accompany you, but, well, I'm afraid that I wouldn't help you at all, so I'm going to head over to that area over there, to see if I can find the whereabouts of my shieldmaidens."
The area that Ashildir pointed to seemed to be an eternal battleground of some kind, or at least that was what the group assumed it had to be, and once they knew where she was referring to, which happened to be near another dock area by the looks of things, she separated herself from them and allowed the group to walk up the stone steps that lead the way to an altar of some kind, though it didn't take Spitfire all that long to notice that Sylvanas was standing right in front of the area they were heading towards and that she was holding a glowing lantern of some kind in one hand, an eerie one to be exact, and the person she was talking to was a massive female giant whose upper half was in front of them, where Heyla looked dark, evil, and had a broken right wing, and she wasn't happy about something.
"Remember our bargain, banshee." Helya stated, where she lowered her hands, signaling that whatever she had been in the middle of doing was done and there was no reversing her magic, not without smashing the lantern to pieces anyway, something that Sylvanas stored inside her pack for a moment as she focused on the powerful figure that was standing in front of her at the moment, though the look on her face told Spitfire that, if an opportunity presented itself, she would no doubt double-cross Helya, "Don't you dare cross me..."
Sylvanas said nothing to that, purely nodding her head so Helya could pull back and wait for something else to happen in her realm, before she turned around and started to walk away from the altar she had been standing in front of for who knew how long, though as she did that she came to a stop as she noticed that Spitfire and her companions were standing on the path that would take her back to the entrance of this realm, something that brought a frown to her face as she stared at Spitfire and noticed that she and Rainbow weren't like Scarlet and Vytheril.
"Ah, the thorn in my side has arrived once more." Sylvanas said, her tone revealing that she was talking to Spitfire and that she didn't care about the others that were standing nearby, even though she didn't like her all that much and it was even reflected in her tone, but neither of them raised their weapons as she said that, because while Spitfire would like nothing more than to knock the Banshee Queen to the ground, and punish her for even trying to incite a war with the Alliance, as the Legion was invading Azeroth, she figured it could wait until after the Aegis of Aggramar had been claimed and Skovald had been beaten at long last.
"Lady Sylvanas, I see you're bargaining with a being that watches over death, instead of focusing on stopping the Legion, like I told you to do earlier." Spitfire remarked, because so far it seemed like Sylvanas was more interested in making sure her kind were able to flourish once the Legion had been taken care of, even though she should be focusing on killing the demons that were invading this world and not even be concerned about what she felt was more important, before she sighed for a moment as she stared at the Banshee Queen, "Seriously, I would recommend that you stop focusing on your personal goals and turn your attention towards the Legion, otherwise I might have to tell the other leaders of the Horde that your priorities are messed up and that you need to be removed as soon as possible."
"My loyal hero, I cannot understand why you would travel with someone who doesn't respect your Warchief and is always threatening her whenever the opportunity presents itself," Sylvanas said, where she was clearly speaking to Vytheril and no one else, showing that she didn't care much for Spitfire and found her to be more of a nuisance, one that she clearly would have killed by this point had it not been for the power that she wielded, which was being directed back at the foul demons and their masters, before she focused on Vytheril for a few seconds, "You must not languish here, as the Aegis cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands! The future of the Horde depends on the likes of you and I, so find your way back to Stormheim... I will be waiting."
The group said nothing as Sylvanas walked down the path and headed towards the portal that would allow her to return to Stormheim, even though Spitfire had to admit that part of her wanted to lash out at her now, to eliminate a potential enemy before she could ruin their war against the Legion, though instead of worrying about the Banshee Queen, as she would deal with her later on, she focused on the altar as she and the others approached it, though before anyone could say anything a powerful force washed over all four of them, where Spitfire and Rainbow were sure that it was coming from Helya, though it didn't stop her from forcing Scarlet and Vytheril to their knees.
"You are all unworthy!" Helya shouted, her voice echoing across the entirety of Helheim, though even as she said that both Spitfire and Rainbow resisted the power that was being applied to them and stood their ground, where she growled for a moment as she stared at them, almost as if she was trying to intimidate both of them and force them to surrender to her power, like she had done to a number of spirits and individuals that had come to this realm since it was created, so all of this was likely annoying her, "You will kneel before addressing the great Helya!"
"Sorry, but it seems that your magic doesn't work on us, either due to the fact that we're not natives of this world or that we came here in our full power, instead of being spirits," Rainbow replied, showing the others that she was paying close attention to what was going on at the moment and that she understood what was happening, while forming some of her own opinions as well, and she could see that Spitfire agreed with what she had said, before they focused on Helya while Scarlet and Vytheril raised their heads to see what was going on at the moment, "Both of our friends, Scarlet and Vytheril, not to mention the spirit of Ashildir, Queen of the Valkyra, shouldn't be here, in Helheim, as each of them were banished here against their wills and should be returned to the lands and realms that they originally came from!"
"You say that your friends do not belong here among the unworthy, outsider, but their spirits are fragmenting so easily, as they are doing so right now... how am I to know you speak the truth?" Helya asked, her tone more of a mocking nature this time around, meaning that Faljar likely shafted both of their friends in the process by adding another spell to what he had done to Ashildir earlier and she might know about that addition, though if she was annoyed by the mention of the Queen of the Valkyra she didn't show it, hence why she focused on them for a moment as she thought about what was going on and what Rainbow had just told her, "I cannot trust your words, so you and your friends must show me that your words are correct and that you don't belong here, in Helheim. Bring yourselves to the Eternal Battlefield and face my champion, Geir... if you manage to defeat him, and the chances of that are slim, then I may grant your friends a pardon."
Spitfire placed a hand on Rainbow's shoulder, just to stop her from saying anything that might upset the powerful being that was in front of them, even though there was a chance that such a thing might happen, to which they bowed towards Helya for a moment and excused themselves as Scarlet and Vytheril followed after them, where they headed down the set of steps that were behind them and headed off towards the Eternal Battleground, though from what each of them could see there was a massive undead giant off in the distance, who all of the spirits that were in this area were locked in a futile with by the looks of things, and there was an area with some faint golden lights, where they found Ashildir and her group of shieldmaidens resting in a camp of some kind, which was devoid of tents.
"Oh, good, your back." Ashildir said, where she turned away from what she was looking at, where it appeared that her eyes might have been on Geir and the fact that he seemed to be unbeatable, at least with the normal spirits that were trying to bring it down, before she focused on the four of them for a moment as she noticed something, that Scarlet and Vytheril seemed to be far weaker than they had been earlier, which seemed to be a consequence of whatever Faljar did before he had been slain, "Based on your expressions I take it Helya did not prove lenient?"
"No, she said that we have to face that giant, Geir she called it, and beat him to earn our pardon," Scarlet said, though at the same time Vytheril seemed to be studying the spell that had been cast on them, to see if he could find a way to work around it or even break it, where she could see that Ashildir was interested in what they were doing at the moment, so she figured that she could tell the Queen of the Valkyra what was going on, "also, due to what Faljar did to us earlier, before we were sent to Helheim, both Vytheril's spirit and my spirit are in the middle of fracturing... in fact, unless I'm mistaken, both of us might be missing three portions of ourselves, which we'll have to obtain before we leave this realm."
"It seems that Helya is under the impression that her challenge is unwinnable... we will show her different, especially with the power each of you wield," Ashildir stated, showing that, despite the fact that Helya had issued a challenge to all of them and that the undead giant was standing its ground against the enemies it happened to be fighting at the moment, before she glanced at Scarlet and Vytheril for a few seconds, showing that she was interested in what happened to them, due to the fact that neither of them had showed signs of weakening earlier, "These effects are familiar to me, as they have been used on my shieldmaidens in the past, including those that are currently trapped by Helya's minions, and I might know of a way that we can bypass what has happened, as Kvaldir ships carry special lanterns that are bound to this dreadful place, allowing them to navigate through the fog. It is said that the light of these lanterns can release bonds of the spirit, and, as you might have seen, there is a Kvaldir ship resting nearby, so I could recommend checking it out, to see if you can locate one of their special lanterns."
The group took a moment to nod their heads, to show that they understood what Ashildir was telling them to do, before turning back towards the path that had brought them to this area and quickly returned to the area that would lead them over to where Helya's throne was located, where it was easy to see that she was busy with something or someone else at the moment, before they headed up the raised path that rested nearby and let it take them towards the dock that just so happened to be their destination. One thing the group spotted between where they were standing and where the ship was resting, not counting the Kvaldir warriors that happened to be guarding the path and the ship, was that there were a good number of crates and chests lining the way forward, meaning that it was possible that whoever commanded this ship took the possessions of those that were killed at sea and simply deposited their souls nearby for the Kvaldir that lived nearby, or at least that was what they assumed based on what they were seeing at the moment, making them wonder if it was a good idea to search the containers for armor and weapons for whoever they might recruit for their cause. Spitfire, in the end, decided to focus solely on the lantern that Ashildir wanted them to recover, but even as she came to that decision she did inform the others that killing the Kvaldir was a good thing as well, because while they might not recover the gear that was inside all of the containers, and carry them around while they were looking for the special lantern, she did know that the spirits that were resting near the base of this path might come up behind them and loot the gear that they would be leaving, all to help them take down Geir and stop their futile battle at long last. None of the Kvaldir warriors were happy to see them, and that was the only type of enemy on the path and on the docks that the ship was resting near, so the group engaged all of the barnacled covered warriors as Vytheril stayed behind Spitfire, Rainbow, and Scarlet so he could blast his targets with a few arcane blasts, choosing to save his power for the Captain of the ship that they were heading towards, as there was a larger vrykul standing on the deck of the ship and seemed to be covered in the attire of a captain who sailed the seas and pillaged whatever he wanted. Spitfire used her warglaives to parry incoming attacks and cut down whoever she was in the middle of fighting, Rainbow danced around all of her foes and cut them down with her warblades, and Scarlet made sure to use the Blades of the Fallen Prince against those that dared to challenge her, using one of her weapons to block what was coming at her while using the other to cut her targets down, though it wasn't long before the four of them moved up to the edge of the ship and jumped onto the deck, something that caused the Captain to growl at them as he noticed what was going on.
The Captain declared that their souls belonged to Helya and drew his massive mace to deal with all four of them, but this was just like what happened when Spitfire fought the Captain of the previous ship, the one that carried the greatsword she had beaten, and while their foe was fast with his swings, while avoiding inflicting damage to his ship, it was hard for him to fight four enemies at the same time and he constantly lowered his guard whenever he attacked, which meant that he must be used to fighting with his crew backing him and they were the ones that stopped those from exposing this weakness, but his weakness allowed them to quickly cut him down, which was rather disappointing to all four of them, before they were able to recover the yellow glassed lantern and headed back to Ashildir's camp.
"You've returned a lot sooner than I expected, especially with Spitfire and Rainbow involved in our quest... and, from what I can see, you recovered what we need so we can prepare for Helya's challenge." Ashildir commented, where she spoke the moment the group returned to where they were standing and presented the lantern to her, to confirm that the tales were true and that they had recovered on so she could tell them the next stage of their plan, even though Spitfire had an idea as to what sort of obstacles they had to overcome next, "Now then, while I know that with the power of Spitfire and Rainbow we can fight and defeat Geir, based on what I have seen so far, but right now, thanks to what Faljar did, two of you are too weak for the confrontation, so first we must reclaim the missing pieces of your spirits and return you to your full power, so when we return to Stormheim you'll be at your full power again. Based on what I've seen so far, Helya must have scattered the fragments throughout her realm to keep them from you, but, if you can find them and shine the lantern on them, that should set the stolen pieces of your spirits free and restore you to your full power... but do be careful, as I'm sure that our host has placed guards near whatever the two of you are missing right now."
"That will likely draw the attention of Helya, but, based on what I've seen, she might find it amusing," Vytheril said, to which the rest of the group nodded their heads for a moment, as while some would worry about the possibility of the dark ruler of this realm interfering with what they were planning right now, and chaining them to prevent them from escaping, all of them were used to events such as this, where he and Scarlet dealt with the threats that attacked Azeroth while Spitfire and Rainbow dealt with the demons of the Legion, so they were ready for whatever Helya had in store for them, though before they left the area he decided to ask what was on his mind, "Should we do anything else before the battle with Geir, and our escape from Helheim?"
"While I know that with our allies' power we can fight the behemoth, and fell it in no time, we should gather some forces to aid us, and, in an odd twist of fate, Faljar was kind enough to aid us." Ashildir stated, though as she said that she gestured to part of the Eternal Battlegrounds and let the group follow her hand towards the area she wanted them to see, where it was easy for them to see that there were a number of shieldmaidens that were surrounded by spheres made out of water, as if the Kvaldir were trying to drown them into submission, since even if a spirit died they would likely be reborn in this dark place and be forced to endure more punishment, "Earlier, during my investigation of this area, I discovered several of our allies, my own shieldmaidens, being tortured by the elemental forces of Helheim, with the Kvaldir being the ones that were directing their actions... you may think the dead can't drown, but with Helya's power, this is not the case. I could not release them from their prisons, when I tried earlier since one of them was left alone for a moment, but now that you have one of the waylights, the lantern I had you collect, you may be able to free them at long last, giving us a few allies for the battle with Geir."
The group wasted no time in leaving the camp through one of the other entrances and quickly headed over to where some of the corrupted water elementals happened to be located, where the first pair they spotted were in the middle of trying to break the shieldmaidens that were contained inside the prisons that were right in front of them, so they weren't even expecting someone to attack them while they were working, so Spitfire and Scarlet's blades cut through both of their foes without having to worry about any resistance, and once the elementals were defeated Vytheril raised the lantern and its light shattered the prisons that the shieldmaidens were trapped inside. As soon as the pair was freed, and had a chance to catch their breath, the group informed them of what was going on and headed deeper into Helheim once the warriors understood the situation, where they headed towards what appeared to be a massive dead tree that was resting at what could have been an edge for this realm, or at least a safe place to stand from what they had seen so far, before they found a large thin swamp-like creature guarding the area that two purple spirit fragments had been chained to, as both of the fragments were hanging from the tree branches. This time around Scarlet and Vytheril engaged the mire creature, where the latter tossed the waylight into the air so Rainbow could catch it and flew over to the tree not a few moments later, and once she landed in front of the tree she raised the lantern and shined its light on both of the trapped fragments, as that caused the chains to shatter and released the fragments, which burst into the air and rushed towards their friends, who smiled as part of their power returned to them and empowered them once more, allowing them to fight the creature with more of their skills as Scarlet cut its legs and Vytheril blasted it in the chest. From there they headed to the north of where the tree was resting and found a path that would lead them into a cave of some kind, though as that happened they were assaulted by a group of water elementals that just so happened to be guarding some water prisons, where Rainbow took a moment to use the lantern once more and shattered the prisons in question, something that was soon followed by the now freed shieldmaidens impaling their former captors as they urged the group to move on and do what they had come to do, as they wanted to work out some of their anger before returning to Ashildir.
From there the group moved towards the tunnel and discovered that they had to go around a bend to reach the cave that the second spirit fragments, this time colored red, were resting in and what happened during the last battle happened this time as well, where Spitfire stoof to the side as she let Scarlet and Vytheril engage the guardian as Rainbow freed what was missing from their friends, allowing both of them to empower themselves and take down the odd creature, and once that was done they headed outside and made their way over to what appeared to be an odd graveyard or resting place for part of a ship, where the group simply repeated what they had done so far as Rainbow freed the blue fragments this time, but as soon as that was done they headed back to Ashildir's camp... even though it was three of them since Rainbow flew all over the Eternal Battleground and freed the imprisoned shieldmaidens before rejoining her friends.
"Yes, I can feel that both of your powers have been returned to you, and that your exposure to this realm might have also given you a power boost... Helya will soon regret what she has done." Ashildir commented, though at the same time she made sure to nod her head towards the shieldmaidens that were freed from their prisons and returned after killing those that had kept them imprisoned for who knew how long, where the look on her face showed the group that she was happy with what they had done for her and her followers, before she smiled as they glanced at Geir, who happened to be in the middle of wandering around his section of the Eternal Battleground, "There is no more cause for hesitation, heroes, as it is time for us to strike. With your spirits restored to normal, breaking Faljar's spell in the process, the power of both Spitfire and Rainbow Dash, and our now freed allies, we will defeat this foul behemoth and meet Helya's challenge, allowing us to depart from Helheim and return to Stormheim."
The enlarged group, now made up of them and the shieldmaidens, cheered as they charged out of the camp they had set up earlier and rushed towards the area that the undead giant called Geir was standing in, who roared in response to what was going on and swung its fist down at the ground, even though that attack was stopped by Spitfire shifting into her true form and landed beneath the large fist so she could use her warglaives to push the attack backwards, something that was followed by the shieldmaidens lashing out at Geir as they flew through the air and swung their weapons at it. The spirits that had been fighting this thing for a long time, and had been losing based on what the group had seen, were surprised by what they were seeing at the moment and stood where they had been positioned when their unexpected allies arrived, even though it was clear that some of them were debating whether or not they could even trust their eyes, before several of them cheered and rushed into battle once more, slicing into Geir's legs as Spitfire basically taunted the creature into swinging at her while Rainbow joined the shieldmaidens in attacking the upper body of their foe as Scarlet combined both of her blades into Frostmourne again and hacked into the giant's legs, all while Vytheril blasted their foe from afar, since he wasn't built for melee combat and this allowed him to protect himself from danger. Geir, as it turned out, didn't care much for them and continued to swing his fists at Spitfire, who danced around the air with the usual grace that she and Rainbow had learned how to use while they learned how to be demon hunters, mostly to fight the flying demons that only stayed in the air and never landed, even though she did channel her own Fel fireballs into the area between her and their foe, where Geir punched some of them and they blasted it backwards, causing the spirits to move out of the way so none of them got stepped on in the process, though whether or not it pissed off Geir was hard to tell, given that it was undead and that it seemed to be focused solely on fighting everyone that was trying to tear it down, and its size really worked in their favor since Spitfire could dodge any attacks that came her way with ease, even if some of the attacks she parried just to keep Geir in one place so the others could focus on the legs and not on moving all the time. Rainbow, of course, ditched attacking the back a few moments later and lashed out at the arms as she flew over their foe's head, where her lightning shocked Geir and opened the way for the others to lash out at it, though once they were sure that the giant was weakened enough the pair made sure the spirits and their friends were out of the way before combining their fel powers into a single mass that struck the giant in the chest.
The resulting attack knocked Geir backwards and caused the giant to collapse on the ground behind it, where the spirits and their friends lashed out at the arms and neck of their foe after that happened, though it wasn't long before the giant stopped moving and the spirits let out a cheer, celebrating their victory over the creature that Helya used to challenge all who wanted something from her, or at least that was what Spitfire thought about the situation, before she and Rainbow joined Scarlet and Vytheril near Ashildir and her shieldmaidens, who seemed surprised by what they had seen, even if the Queen of the Valkyra was no longer phased by what she witnessed from the pair.
"You have done it, the day is won! Now, we must collect our reward." Ashildir said, to which she gestured for the group to follow her as she headed towards the area that Helya's throne rested in, because now that they had met and completed her challenge, something she knew to be easy since Spitfire and Rainbow were on their side, it was time to speak with her and get out of Helheim, though at the same time the shieldmaidens joined them as they walked towards their destination, mostly to see if they would be freed from this realm as well, "Let us hope that Helya keeps her side of the bargain and that she wasn't lying to us."
Spitfire and Rainbow nodded their heads as they and their friends followed Ashildir over to where the throne rested, even if they both felt that it was more of an arena than anything else, as there was a large area that looked like a stone circle had been built in this area and then half of it had been cut away after it had been made, resulting in what was resting near them, but once they started climbing up the stairs the pair focused on what they were about to do as Helya turned and glared at all of them, as the expression on her face revealed that she wasn't too happy with them, even though it was her fault for illusing the challenge in the first place, especailly against heroes that did the impossible.
"Helya, we have defeated your champion." Spitfire declared, while at the same time the rest of the group nodded for a few seconds, mostly to show that they agreed with what was going on right now, but even as they did that all of them gripped their weapons and shields, just in the off chance that Helya refused to keep her word and sent her minions to cut them all down and return their souls to the torment they had been enduring since they arrived in this realm, "Now, its time that you kept your word and release our friends from Helheim!"
"Such insolence! None will leave Helheim while I rule!" Helya shouted, her voice booming all over the entirety of Helheim, something that allowed her Kvaldir to understand that someone was trying to bargain for their freedom with her and that it was time to come cut them down, if what several of the spirits were thinking was correct and wasn't their nightmares coming to life, though before she could do anything a number of flashes appeared in the sky that was above them and a number of pillars of light surrounded Spitfire, Rainbow, Scarlet, Vytheril, Ashildir, and everyone else that happened to have been part of the group that took down Geir, "What? NO! THIS CANNOT BE!"
"Your terms were met, Helya." Ashildir stated, where she was the calmest one of the bunch, as she was more familiar with what was going on and knew that what the heroes had done had secured them their freedom, hence why she and the rest of the shieldmaidens stood at the ready as the pillars of light started to raise them and the other spirits into the air, where a number of the spirits were pleased by what was going on and even one seemed to be on the verge of tears, meaning he had likely been trapped in Helheim for who knew how long, before Ashildir focused on the being in front of them, who was beyond upset with what was happening right now, "It seems that even you must honor your word."
As Helya shouted out the word 'no', loud enough for everyone to hear her, Ashildir informed the heroes that the instant they returned to the world of the living, as in returned to part of Stormheim and were no longer in Helheim, she was going to grant them her blessing and complete the Trial of Valor, as they had proven themselves to her, especially Spitfire and Rainbow, meaning that they would be able to head out and make their way to the Halls of Valor, to which the group said nothing to that as a light flashed around them and they vanished from Helheim, as they would be able to talk once they figured out where in the world they were ending up and what was happening to the rest of Stormheim.