//------------------------------//
// Suramar: Rift of Aln 
// Story: World of Warcraft: Burning Skies 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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With Ursoc taken down, in a battle that pleased Rainbow since he had put up a better fight than anything they had faced so far in the Nightmare, Spitfire and the heroes walked back to where the portal that had brought them to the twisted version of Grizzly Hills happened to be resting, even though it was easy for Spitfire to know her friend was happy to have fought a being like the Wild God that Xavius had corrupted, before she focused on what was in front of them as they headed back to what she was personally thinking of calling the 'Core of the Nightmare', where the Iris rested, and found Malfurion was still working on breaking through the magics that were resting on the bulb.

"Malfurion, we've beaten all four of the guardians that Xavius has left in charge of the corrupted sections of the Dream, and that includes Ursoc," Spitfire stated, speaking to the powerful Archdruid that was aiding them in their venture, to bring down the Nightmare Lord and secure the Life Essence that would allow them to save the Arcan'dor, not to mention the soldiers and citizens who had come to Shal'Aran to fight Elisande or escape what was happening in the city, before she focused on what was happening in front of the powerful Night Elf, "Please tell me that crushing all four of them was enough to break the magics protecting the Iris and that there isn't another foe was need to bring down before we move forward."

"Not to worry, all of you have done well... behold, the Iris opens!" Malfurion stated, where his tone revealed that he was also pleased with them and their actions, especially since it seemed like the souls of those who had been corrupted by the Nightmare had been allowed to move on to the next stage of their lives, which was either moving on to the Shadowlands or sticking around in the Dream, before he finished whatever spell he had been channeling and the magic that had been defending the bulb came undone in seconds, where the petals pulled back and revealed a portal that would take them to the next section of their foe's domain, "Thanks to your efforts, the way to Cenarius is clear, and, as I have said before, his power seems to be coming from Moonglade, which just happens to be the most sacred place in all the Dream, but thanks to Xavius's foul power he's likely been taken over as well... to think that my Shan'do could play any part in its corruption...
This time I will be coming with you, as I must see what sort of horrors have befallen my beloved teacher with my own eyes and, more importantly, if we can save him from the Nightmare Lord's power, so I would suggest that you take a moment to steel yourselves for whatever we might discover on the other side of the Iris."

"The only one who might need a rest is Rainbow, since she tackled and beat Ursoc on her own," Vytheril remarked, which caused Malfurion to pause for a moment, as while he knew that the heroes were strong enough to bring down a number of Azeroth's greatest enemies, be they masters of the Legion or the terrifying Old Gods, he wasn't expecting to hear that a demon hunter, even one personally trained by his fallen brother in the art of hunting and killing demons, was capable of bringing down someone like Ursoc on their own, even after Xavius had corrupted and empowered him to be a barrier for those who made it this far.

Spitfire found that Malfurion glanced at her for a moment, no doubt considering the implications of the fact that Rainbow had taken down a Wild God on her own, meaning her current full power was enough to topple one, even one corrupted by the Nightmare, and that he had to be wondering if she was the same way, that her power was far beyond what he might have seen since they were freed from the Vault they had been trapped in for so long, before she turned her attention back to the Iris for a moment. Based on what she could see Moonglade was once a peaceful place, untouched and unsoiled by everything that was happening right now, but the Nightmare's corruption had caused some measure of destruction to the area in question, as it looked like the area was slanted, pointing to a dark maelstrom of Nightmare energy, which she felt had to lead to where Xavius was resting as he corrupted more of the Dream and, at times, even portions of Azeroth if he was lucky to get that far, but since they were here she knew he had to be waiting for them to arrive. Nightmare tentacles, massive ones which looked like the ones that were back in the depths of Grizzly Hills, graced the Dream's version of the province known as Moonglade, where she suspected that Malfurion had peered into whatever the Iris had shown him and knew that the area had been corrupted in part, given his words to all of them, meaning they had to be prepared for what was waiting for them on the other side of the Iris, as Cenarius was a demigod and Xavius' foul power was coursing through his body, meaning he had to be stronger than Ursoc had been, but that only meant the Nightmare Lord's power was on a while other level. Rainbow seemed to understand that as well as she took a seat and accepted some of the food that had been prepared before they ventured out into the Nightmare, showing that she was going to rest and gather her strength for the battle that stood between them and Xavius, a smart move given everything they had seen so far, which was why a couple of the other heroes passed around a few vials and revealed that they were going to give them a power boost, or at least it would work for them, since they had no idea if they would work for her or Rainbow, something they would have to test at a later date, just so they didn't waste any useful items.

Once Rainbow was ready to go, and the heroes were as prepared as they could possibly be, everyone stood up and just walked over to where the Iris rested, where it took them no time to raise one of their hands and access the power that the portal possessed, allowing all of them and Malfurion to teleport to the Nightmare's version of Moonglade, and standing on a rocky platform in front of them, one that looked like it could be the bed of a lake, was a centaur that looked similar to all of the keepers they fought on their way to the area the Nightmare Dragons had been in, where it was easy to tell that his strength was far stronger than his sons, especially with the red bits of the Nightmare that were attached to his body, to show that he had been corrupted.

"Cenarius... oh, it breaks my heart to see my Shan'do twisted and torn this way." Malfurion commented, where it was easy for everyone to tell that he seemed totally heartbroken over what had happened to the being that had been his master, as it this being had taught him most of what he knew, if not everything about the Life magics druids wielded, but no one said anything as they stared at the area that was around them as he steeled himself for the battle that would happen once he and the heroes reached the blackened lakebed, "If we can subdue him, I will do everything in my power to purge the vile touch of Xavius from his spirit... even if the chances of such a thing happening are slim to none, due to our foe's power, I will still try to save him from this madness."

"Malfurion!? No, it cannot be!" Cenarius called out, nearly shouted based on what Spitfire and the others heard, but at the same time this meant that he knew they were here and that meant he might attack them before anyone reached the area he happened to be standing on, hence the reason they started to walk down to where the lakebed rested, before a look of sadness crossed over the Wild God's face, "I prayed that my Thero'shan would never fall to the Nightmare... yet here you stand, casting a shadow upon the purity of the Dream!

"Can it be? My old master is blind to the lies of Xavius and thinks WE are the source of the infestation!" Malfurion said, as if he was asking Spitfire and the others their opinion on the matter while everyone walked down the path that was in front of them, even if they would have to cross over a small bit of water to reach Cenarius' location, though everyone shrugged for a moment, since Malfurion was the expert on the Nightmare and the heroes had either encountered it a few times in the past or not at all, at least not until today, to which he focused on the Wild God and raised his voice, "You have been deceived, my teacher, as Xavius has twisted your perceptions and is making you see former allies as enemies, while also making you see former enemies as allies! I beg of you, let me cleanse you of his evil, while my friends deal with his foul darkness and save the Dream from his madness!"

"Liars! Traitors! Servants of Xavius!" Cenarius stated, showing Spitfire and the others that he was like Ursoc, corrupted by the power of the Nightmare Lord's powers and twisted to believe that his allies were actually enemies, that they were the ones spreading Xavius' will across the Dream and across Azeroth, meaning that there was no chance for them to talk this out and see if they could convince the Wild God of the truth of this situation, though even as that happened Spitfire and all of her friends arrived at the lakebed, each drawing their weapons for the battle that would be starting soon, "It will give me no pleasure to destroy you, but my duty is to the Dream. Andu-falah-dor!"

Spitfire really had no idea what the phrase meant, given that she wasn't familiar with the various languages of Azeroth that everyone spoke, hence why she was happy that the common language was mostly accepted by everyone, but for now she focused on what was going to happen next as both she and Rainbow transformed into their demonic forms as they rushed over to where Cenarius was standing, finding that he used his arms, not to mention the blackened mass that had formed on his hands and took the shape of claws to dispatch his foes, to parry their incoming attacks, which allowed the heroes to take up their positions and start assisting them, with Malfurion joining them once more. Cenarius also used his hooves as weapons in an attempt to try and bring them down, lashing out at whoever happened to come near him, where his claws reached for both Spitfire and Rainbow, who parried his attacks like he had done to them and put some distance between them, even if it was just for a few moments, before they rushed forward and clashed with the Wild God again, causing the air to shudder for a second as their powers came into contact with each other, all while giving the other heroes a number of openings to tackle their foe. This time around Malfurion stuck to a healing role as they fought his master, which caused Spitfire to wonder if he had sworn to never fight him or if the thought of fighting him in his bear or cat forms just crushed his fighting spirit, but the main thing was that he was saving his power for his main task, trying to purify Cenarius of Xavius' foul corruption and return him to his original state, which she was fine with since she was sure that he might speak up if something important happened over the course of this battle. Of course even fighting Cenarius like this didn't do much to stop him from channeling his corrupted powers into the area they were in, as odd Nightmare branches appeared in small pockets around the lakebed, a druid spell that rooted enemies to the ground and damaged them when someone stepped on them, though instead of wasting time dodging them the Archmage who wielded fire magic swung her arm and loosed a number of fireballs into the air, which slammed into her targets and quickly set fire to Cenarius' spell, granting her allies more room to spread out as they engaged Cenarius, making sure no one but Spitfire or Rainbow stayed near him for more than a few moments at a time, just in case he tried to crush them.

Something they had to deal with was Cenarius channeling his power into the surrounding area and created four spaces for them to wory about, one that seemed to spawn a number of corrupted wasps that seemed more aggressive than what the heroes had seen so far, another spawned a massive trent that was also twisted by the Nightmare, a third brought a couple of corrupted green drakes to do battle with them, and the last had one of Cenarius' daughters charge into battle, to which the rest of the heroes divided their ranks and made sure none of those enemies could reach the Wild God, since there was no telling what in the world might happen if one reached Cenarius. This seemed to stir Malfurion as he created patches of Life energy around each zone, calling for the heroes to purify those who entered them and allow them to flee from Xavius' power, least they be captured and twisted again, and the first one that received such a thing was Cenarius' daughter, who was in the middle of using her corrupted powers to hurl blackened javelins at her enemies and even healed the wounds that Spitfire and Rainbow had dealt to him so far, before Malfurion's power purged her body of the corruption and was the moment she returned to her original form, to which the dryad blinked for a moment, as if coming to terms with what was going on around her. That was when something interesting happened as the dryad lent Malfurion her powers, giving him a boost so he could purify more of the Dream's inhabitants and free them from Xavius' hold, allowing those who couldn't do much to flee while those who wanted to help moved to the edges of Cenarius' domain, aiding the Archdruid in his venture to save Cenarius, who was in the middle of clashing with Spitfire and Rainbow as they kept him away from the maelstrom of dark energy that had to lead to where Xavius was waiting. Part of the reason behind that decision was because Spitfire had to wonder if Xavius was feeding Cenarius power or if there was a connection between the two, even though she also suspected that there might be nothing between them save for the corruption, but as they fought Cenarius, who seemed to be holding back for the most part to gauge their skills before getting serious and using his full power, he actually growled when Malfurion purified his daughters and cursed him for 'corrupting' his children, going so far as to lash out at one with a blast of Nightmare energy, where Spitfire flashed into the middle of the space between the two and redirected the attack before it could reach Cenarius' target, which angered her.

One thing she had confirmed, repeatedly over their venture through the Emerald Nightmare, was that Xavius was going to pay for all of the pain and suffering he was causing to the druids and everyone else who might have been affected by the Nightmare's sheer existence, especially after seeing Cenarius fight his own daughters like they were about to bring about the end of the world, which in his Nightmare-tainted eyes was the truth thanks to Xavius' dark magic, though that was the moment that Cenarius charged and fired about sphere of Nightmare energy, one that rushed towards Spitfire's position so he could hit her while she was distracted, but before it could get halfway to her a dryad, one slightly larger than the rest, as she was closer to her father's size, dropped out of the air and stabbed the sphere with a spear, breaking it before it could hit her father's target.

"Lunara? Is that you?" Cenarius asked, naming the long green haired dryad who had appeared out of nowhere, as it looked like her hair reached the part of her back where the Night Elf part stopped and the fawn part started, or at the very least it was that long in Spitfire's eyes, where Spitfire found that the dryad had a pair of curved horns growing out of her forehead and happened to rest above where her eyes were located, even though said eyes were either red or a brilliant orange, as it was hard to tell from this angle, before she noticed that Lunara was wearing a few bits of armor fashioned from bark that were on her hands and stopped at her elbows, a sash wrapped around her waist that was green colored, and carried an interesting spear that looked like it had been fashioned from something ancient.

"Yes, father, I came to help Malfurion heal you, and I brought backup as well," Lunara replied, which was when the heroes noticed that there were more people on the outskirts of the arena that Cenarius was fighting them in, as it looked like his sons, his daughters, and even a number of druids from the Dreamgrove were present in this place, where they seemed to be channeling their energies into Malfurion, granting him their powers so he could purify Cenarius and release him from Xavius' hold, allowing the heroes to go after Xavius once this battle was done.

"No! Damn you, Xavius... how many of my children have you corrupted, forcing me to fight them to ensure the Dream is safe from your madness?!" Cenarius shouted, his tone revealing that he wasn't pleased by what he was seeing right now, once more confirming that all he was seeing was corruption and not the reality Spitfire and the others were seeing, but as he said that it looked like things were about to change for the worse for her and the others, as a terrifying red and black aura, more of the Nightmare's energies, showing that he was getting serious after seeing one of his main daughters, who could very well be the first of the dryad and possibly even the first of his children, 'fall to the Nightmare', which meant they would be facing him at his full power.

"It pains me to see you like this, father, though I hope you'll forgive me once we're done," Lunara said, where it was easy for Spitfire and Rainbow to tell that she was saddened by what was going on, that her father couldn't see the truth of the situation, as in he was being used by Xavius so the Nightmare Lord could buy himself some time before he was found and the heroes engaged him, before she sighed for a moment as she spun her spear and pointed it at her corrupted father, as if she really didn't want to do this and had to be forcing herself to actually fight him, though Spitfire could tell her spirit was fierce and that she would do anything to protect Azeroth, be it the wilds or everything else, even if that meant fighting her own flesh and blood father.

One thing Cenarius did, after creating the aura so he could fight all of them with his true power, was move his left hand for a second and a twisted Nightmare version of Lunara's spear appeared in his hand, where he lashed out at those who were in front of him as Spitfire and Rainbow parried his attacks, doing everything in their power to withstand the pressure that came from a Wild God who was going all out and wasn't holding back at all, something that surprised Rainbow when she thought about how strong Ursoc had been and how strong Cenarius truly was, even when thinking about the Nightmare power that had been forced onto him. While they did that Lunara jumped into the air and seemed to move from one part of the area her father was in to another in a matter of seconds, as in her jumping power was far greater than what the pair had been expecting to find and a single bound allowed her to sail over where her father happened to be standing, where she channeled her own energies for a moment and lashed out with her spear, sending a number of phantom spears down at his back, intending to hit him while he was distracted and open a hole in his defenses so one of her allies could deal a good blow to her father and knock him out, even if he swung his own spear at them to cancel them out. Of course taking down Cenarius was easier said than done as the Wild God attacked them, thanks to the power he was using against the pair right now, though that didn't stop the Wild God from channeling Xavius' power throughout Moonglade and mode spots of Nightmare energy gathered, creating more pools that summoned more wisps, ancients, corrupted green dragons, and even his twisted children, to do battle with Vytheril and the rest of the heroes who were preventing any of their corrupted allies from reaching Cenarius, something that allowed Malfurion and all of their allies to purify those who were under Xavius' control. That stole more power away from Xavius and granted it to them, so more of their friends could be saved from what was happening to them, which caused the corrupted Wild God to cry out in rage when he saw it, once more assuming that they were servants of Xavius and that each of them were corrupting the Dream, not to mention those he had called upon to aid him, including his own children for that matter, hence why he just focused on channeling his power, and Xavius' as well, as he lashed out at Spitfire, Rainbow, and Lunara, where it was clear he intended on taking all of them down so he could move onto Malfurion and the rest of their group.

In his rage over everything that was going on right now, all lies thanks to Xavius' powers, Cenarius lashed out at them with a relentless barrage of attacks, each infused with the power of the Nightmare, causing the pair to swing their warglaives at the incoming attacks and did their best to make sure he did no damage to either of them, or to Lunara for that matter, but he was able to cut into the tops of Spitfire's arms and the sides of Rainbow's legs, which surprised the heroes since both of them had done well to avoid taking any true damage since they came here, but it only pushed them to do their best in this fight, since saving Cenarius was important to everyone else. In that moment Spitfire came up with an idea that just might work for them, given what she had seen earlier and what was going on right now, to which she flashed over to Rainbow for a second and told her of her plan, who smirked as she picked up her speed, pushing it to the max, and flashed around the arena they had been fighting in since they arrived in Moonglade, keeping Cenarius' attention on her for a time, which allowed Spitfire a chance to reveal her plan to both Lunara and Malfurion, who seemed eager to give it a try since both of them were afraid that they might lose Cenarius if this battle went on for much longer. With that done Spitfire returned to Rainbow's side as Lunana, Malfurion, and all of the Dream's inhabitants started to channel their energies into a point that was above the lakebed, to make a concentration of Life energy that would surely free Cenarius from Xavius' control, but at the moment such a thing required Spitfire and Rainbow to stall the Wild God before he did something drastic or noticed what they were doing, just in the off chance that he tried to ruin it and twist it into a sphere that would corrupt the rest of Moonglade, not to mention everyone in the area as well. To that end Spitfire and Rainbow focused on channeling their full power into this fight, as in the fullest extent of what they were capable of in regards to their elemental powers, hence the reason Rainbow backed off for a moment and started to channel her lightning skills, this time banishing both Warblades as she formed two spheres of energy, ones that wouldn't be as devastating as the lance she used earlier, while flames quickly danced around Spitfire's arms, legs, and weapons as she lashed out at Cenarius, parrying his attacks and tried to slash at his chest with her powers, which didn't seem to work thanks to his spear and his twisted powers.

Fortunately, that was part of Spitfire's plan since she knew getting through the Wild God's defenses would be difficult, so her part in this was to keep him contained in a single area, and the moment Rainbow was close to ready she made sure to have Cenarius distracted before flashing through the air so both lightning attacks slammed into the Wild God's chest and kicked up a bit of smoke, with both the smoke and the shock being designed to stall him as Spitfire flashed into the space above the massive Life sphere she had everyone else prepare, where she rested her hands on the side of the sphere and sent it down to where Cenarius was standing... where the corrupted Wild God used his aura to protect himself from the large attack, even though it detonated on top of him and knocked him to the ground, but when the smoke cleared, and all of the Life energy had settled down, they discovered Cenarius resting in a crater, with no Nightmare energy lingering on his person at all.

"It is done, we have saved Cenarius from Xavius' corruption," Malfurion said, where it was easy to see that he was happy to see that his mentor was no longer under the sway of the Nightmare Lord's power and had been returned to who he had been before hand, while at the same time Lunara and everyone else, those from the Dreamgrove and the Dream, where also overjoyed to have stolen Cenarius back from their foe, saving him from death, before he focused on what was at the edge of the lakebed, while Spitfire and Rainbow revented to their base forms once more, "though the true threat remains, as the Nightmare Lord lies ahead in the Rift of Aln, the true heart of the Emerald Nightmare and the one place that none of us, as in those with a bond to the Dream, can step foor in, as we'll be instantly ensnared by Xavius' power and corrupted into more of his minions. We will stay here and heal Cenarius, to restore him to his former glory and make sure there are no lingering effects from being under Xavius' control since the start of the Legion's invasion..."

"Either way, I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart." Lunara stated, something that caused the heroes to pause for a moment as she bounced around Moonglade, once more showing off her agility and her powers for a few moments, even though she landed nearby and embraced all of them for a few seconds, as in she actually hugged most of them, which also included the death knights despite the power that had brought all of them back from the grave, given that Life and Death were polar opposites on the cosmic scale, before she reached the remainder of the heroes and planted a kiss on each of their foreheads, those being the four Archdruids and Rainbow, and then kissed Spitfire on the lips for a few seconds, since it was her plan that had purified her father, but once she was done she pulled back and pointed at the rift, "Now, go kick Xavius' butt and terminate his foul Nightmare!"

Based on the chuckles that erpted after Lunara's kiss, Spitfire assumed that the dryad didn't have a lot of interactions with the races of Azeroth, outside all of the druids that worked with her father and Malfurion anyway, and that she might not know several of the customs that each race had, or maybe she did and just didn't care, since her job was to protect nature and the Dream, and this was just her way of thanking someone for freeing her father from Xavius' control, but in the end she just nodded her head and decided not to worry about the gesture, choosing to focus on taking the fight to Xavius and purging the Emerald Dream of the Nightmare. While Malfurion worked on Cenarius, with a number of druids and residents of the Dream that had come to assist him in his task, the heroes took a moment to rest and gather their strength, as what they were about to do was face Xavius, the Nightmare Lord, and if he was capable of corrupting someone like Cenarius, a being who pushed both Spitfire and Rainbow to their limits thanks to his Nightmare power, they were going to need all of their power to bring him down, since he was the strongest Nightmare user in existence and it meant this fight was going to be one of their toughest yet. Even with their normal preparations Spitfire and Rainbow knew understood that facing Xavius in the Rift of Aln was basically fighting him on his home turf, especially since he would be using his full power against all of them when they breached the rift and found their foe, something that eventually made Spitfire think about the being she had see in Xe'ra's vision, a person capable of channeling all six cosmic powers, a wonderful power that would have been useful since it would have overpowered Xavius, before she sighed and focused on the here and now, because they were going to the heart of the Nightmare, meaning none of Lunara's reinforcements, Malfurion, the Dream residents, or even Lunara herself would be able to follow them, which also included the fact that they won't have a connection to any of the Life energies they had used to free Cenarius from his corruption. Eventually everyone started to move as Malfurion got up from where Cenarius was resting, as the residents of the Dream had moved him to the opposite side of the lakebed to put some distance between the Wild God and the rift that would take them to Xavius' domain, where the Archdruid channeled his powers for a moment, as if he was undoing something, before he stopped and nodded his head, to which everyone got up and charged at the large rift, so they could jump into it and head to their foe's location.

After passing through the rift Spitfire, Rainbow, and the other heroes appeared in what appeared to be an area where the ground was white with a mix of red and black mist surrounding their feet, mist that also formed a massive dome around all of them, one that was twice as wide as the central area of Shal'Aran and twice as tall, meaning they couldn't see past the mist and were stuck here, before Spitfire glanced up at the top of the dome and found what looked like the shadows of a number of Nightmare tentacles far above them, where she readied her weapons as the others did the same thing, as it did look like there might be enemies that stood between them and the Nightmare Lord. This was the Rift of Aln, a dark and foul place that radiated the same dark energy that each and every corrupted individual they had fought so far had used in an attempt to kill them, all for the sake of the one they were forced to call their master, and Spitfire knew that Xavius had to have some sort of trap waiting for everyone, given that this was his domain and it had to be a source of Void energy, or at least that was what she and the others had been told since they started this venture, before they discovered that there were a number of Nightmare plant creatures, small ones that barely came up half the length of one's legs, resting around the central area they would be fighting Xavius in. Once everyone was down in this area, and they were sure none of their allies had been left behind in Moonglade, the four death knights used their powers and gripped one target each, pulling some of the creatures over to them so they could crush them with a single swing of their weapons, leaving the rest of the group to focus their fire on the rest of their enemies, bunching all of the plant creatures into four groups so everyone had a chance to take one or two of them down, even though the first battle was over before it really started, leaving them with their guards up since there had to be more to fight before reaching Xavius. Of course they realized that the plant creatures had been too easy for them, especially so late into their venture into the Nightmare, and sure enough it didn't take long for a few more enemies to emerge from the mist, three Faceless Ones, servants of the Old Gods, who had either been tainted by the Nightmare or had been created like this in the first place, approaching them from three directions, hence why the group made sure that one of the death knights attacked one, the guardian bear druid fought another, and Rainbow struck the third without delay, leaving everyone else to divide and conquer their enemies.

Despite the strength of these enemies, and they were nearly as strong as Ursoc was in Rainbow's eyes, the heroes struck all three of Xavius' Faceless Ones down in a matter of moments and cleared the area once more, granting everyone a few seconds to collected themselves and watch as this group of enemies collapsed into mist particles and vanished, which was when three more emerged and rushed at them, which appeared to be elementals that had been twisted by the Nightmare and had all of the corruption on their forms that they had seen since they came to this foul place. The corrupt elementals weren't much of a threat to them, as Spitfire found that all three of them were near the level of one of their previous foes, the Nightmare Dragons based on what she recalled, meaning the foul amalgamations were far easier than the Faceless Ones and it didn't take long for them to bring them down either, something that caused them to form up once more as all three of their enemies faded back into the mist, just like what happened with the last group. A few moments later a third group marched out of the mist, this time being two Faceless Ones and another amalgamation, who charged at them and the heroes responded immediately, Spitfire and Rainbow lashing out with their warglaives as they saved their powers for when Xavius emerged from the mist that was around them, something that had to be soon since it was clear that none of these enemies had the power to stop anyone from moving forward, and it didn't take the heroes long to bring down this group either, casting all three of them back into the mists that they had sprung out of, allowing them to focus on the mist that was around them as they waited for something else to happen. In the following moments everyone watched as a new being stepped out of the mists, a satyr who was just as tall as they were, though it was clear that he was corrupted by the Nightmare, far more than what they had seen so far, and the druids froze for a second as they recognized the horns that were growing out of his head, in a manner that was different than a demon hunter's horns, plus all of the thorn-like items they had seen on him when he appeared in Val'sharah, as his shoulder gear looked like feathers with Nightmare a large thorn growing out of them, he had claws that were tainted by the Nightmare, his tail had thorns growing out of it, making it a weapon for him to use on them, and his eyes burned with a familiar twisted red color.

Based on the power that Spitfire and Rainbow were feeling right now, which had to be coming from all over the Rift of Aln, they knew that this was Xavius, the Nightmare Lord, but even then they kept their guard up, because there was a chance that this was just a temporary form and that he would transform once he was ready to engage them, which had to be very soon since they were trespassing in his domain, something that caused everyone to raise their weapons as they waited to see what sort of trick their foe had for them.

"Heroes of Azeroth, know that you have sealed your fates by stepping into my domain, as you will waste away slowly, and as painfully as I wish, before I claim your souls for the Nightmare!" Xavius declared, his tone revealing that he believed that he was unbeatable and that nothing they did would result in them bringing him down, thus ending the Nightmare, but at the same time he held his hands out like he was offering someone a chance to attack him while his guard was lowered for a few seconds, which had to be a trap so their foe could do whatever he had planned for whoever attacked him, before he stepped back into the mist and seemed to vanish.

Not even a few moments later Spitfire noticed something else emerge from the mist, which at first looked like Xavius, but as it stepped out of the mist they noticed that he was a hulking beast, easily five times their size, whose clawed hands had been twisted even further, five fingers becoming two fingers and the thumb claw, the thorns on his shoulders changed and seemed to resemble wings for some reason, and his face looked more bestial than what they had seen a few seconds ago, revealing that he had shown them his normal satyr form to taunt them, before switching to his monstrous form for the upcoming battle. A few seconds later, once she was sure the heroes and Rainbow were ready to go, Spitfire flashed through the air as she shifted into her demonic form and smashed into Xavius, or rather her attack sunk into his right arm, which had been raised to block the attack, before he swung his arm and knocked her backwards, though given that the light gash disappeared in seconds, no doubt due to healing magic, meant that something incredibly light wasn't going to be enough to deal damage to the Nightmare Lord. Once she did that Rainbow rushed into the area and lashed out at their foe as well, swinging her Warblades and channeling her lightning for a few seconds, before she moved out of the way and let the heroes of Azeroth lash out at their foe, just like they did against all of the other foes they had fought so far, but at the moment Xavius was focused on her and Spitfire, showing that he knew that both of them were the more dangerous enemies and that he wanted to bring them down before he focused on everyone else. After that both of them rushed over to where their foe was standing and lashed out at him, intending to distract them as they came up with a plan of attack to bring Xavius down and purify the Nightmare, and this time he parried their attacks with his own, as in he swung his claws at them in return, but as she and Rainbow backed away after the lash Spitfire noticed two interesting things that would no doubt impact this battle, the first being that each of Xavius' attacks had the air of corruption around them, which meant he wanted to take them down by corrupting their bodies, and the second was that there was another presence in the Rift, one that was unlike the Nightmare infused enemies, meaning Xavius had one more enemy to worry about.

Whoever the other presence was definitely wasn't revealing themselves to the heroes or Xavius, as if they were worried about being discovered and attacked before the point in time they were waiting for, so Spitfire decided to keep it a secret as she focused on facing Xavius and his attacks that inflicted whoever he touched, even if he was purely defending himself from attacks, with a bit of the Nightmare's foul corruption, meaning they were in a race against time and were racing the foul taint of his power, and based on what she could see the others understood the situation, hence why they focused on bringing the Nightmare Lord down as they looked for a small opening or weakness to use. As they did that Xavius showed that he was ready for them by calling upon the power of the Nightmare to summon allies from the mist once more, to deal with those that were hurling spells and arrows at him while slashing at his legs, as he called upon creatures that were half as tall as a human and seemed to be bestial in nature, infused with the twisted power of the Nightmare, though they were called haunts and were sort of dangerous in their own right, so Xavius having some meant that they were stronger than all of the ones the heroes had fought in the past. Of course that wasn't the only trick Xavius had up his sleeve, as he had the power to summon a wall of Nightmare blades that rushed in whatever direction he swung them in, which cut into those who were in the way and inflicted a bit of his corruption upon them, something that caused him to chuckle as the attack hit a few of the heroes, even though they did their best to avoid it in the first place, not to mention the fact that he had a power that allowed him to basically inflict someone with a bit of corruption, meaning he had an unfair ability which gave him a chance to hurt his foes. Such a thing annoyed Spitfire and Rainbow as they moved around the Rift, as while it fit the information that they had gathered so far, about Xavius being a sneaky individual who didn't play fair when Malfurion and others came to take him down, they had thought that he might actually fight fair and not go the route of corrupting them with a spell that basically allowed him to bypass their defenses and any magical barriers that might be between him and his target, to inflict someone directly and without any sort of resistance.

For the most part it looked like Xavius was planning on corrupting them in turn, as in pour a little into someone and then move onto the next in line, meaning he wanted to make sure they all fell at the same time right now, but as that happened something else occurred in the Rift, the heroes faded into some other realm as Spitfire noticed that the presence she had felt earlier was assisting them in their battle, which summoned a number of Dream images to do battle with Xavius, even though they looked like all of Spitfire and Rainbow's allies did, only with a faint light green aura to their transparent forms, and it appeared that whoever was aiding them was shielding them from the Nightmare's taint, purifying everyone while they faced the Nightmare Lord. From what Spitfire could tell it appeared that whoever was aiding them was an enemy of Xavius, as he roared in anger when he noticed what was going on and lashed out accordingly, though to be sure that this chance didn't slip by them Spitfire and Rainbow flashed through the air and struck their foe with their powers, where both of fire and lightning danced through the air and slammed into Xavius' chest, causing him to stagger backwards for a couple of seconds, allowing their allies to assault the Nightmare Lord as he attempted to recover from the attack, or this was one of his tricks and wanted them to get closer so he could smite them. Sadly, as it turned out, the latter was the correct idea as he slammed his clawed hands into the ground and crushed some of their allies without much resistance, which caused those who fell to return to their original forms so they could resume fighting, meaning the Dream state was something that allowed the heroes of Azeroth to become immune to the corruption, at least until Xavius crushed their projections like he had done to a decent number of them. At the same time Spitfire had the feeling that this was pretty taxing to whoever was assisting them right now, meaning they would likely only be able to do it one or two more times before using up most of their power and had to retreat, but she was planning on making sure to use those moments to topple the Nightmare Lord, or at least push him back so they had a fighting chance to figure out a true weakness.

Despite that fact Xavius continued to lash out at them with the same sort of attacks he had used at the start of the fight, as if he was testing them or something, which was just fine everyone since it meant they could focus on avoiding his attacks and determining a pattern to his madness, before he seemed to pick up the pace on everyone and started to use some of his stronger attacks, blasting the souls of his targets with an empowered version of his corruption attack, call upon parts of the mist to unleash more Faceless Ones on them, create corrupted patches of ground to contain whoever stepped on one of them, and even called on the Nightmare itself to empower his claws to cut gashes into the ground and left corruption in its wake. Spitfire suspected that there was another attack Xavius wasn't showing them yet, one he was saving for later, just in case they survived longer than he had been planning, though that didn't stop her from lashing out with waves of flames and Rainbow called upon the lightning to blast him several times in a row, where they found that it was hard to tell if their foe was actually taking damage or if they weren't doing anything to him and he was just tricking them to make them lower their guard at the wrong moment, even though he also managed to use the Nightmare to create small blades that slipped by both of their warglaives and cut into their arms and legs. Truthfully, both of them were annoyed with Xavius, for more than reasons than what was going on right now, though he swung a fist and Rainbow tanked the blow without lowering her guard, something that sent her flying towards the mist and caused some of the creatures in the mist to attack her as soon as she reached it, not that it mattered since she loosed a surge of lightning bolts that struck down the creatures and allowed her to race back into battle, but the Faceless Ones stopped her and she lashed out at them, intending on taking all of them down so she could get back to the battle. Spitfire, on the other hand, continued to lash out with her Fel flames as she avoided hitting her allies, even though Xavius swung his empowered fists and smashed his way through her attacks, almost as if they were made out of paper or something, but that didn't stop her from flying around Xavius and lashing out with her weapons, intending on doing some sort of damage to the Nightmare Lord so they could purify the Nightmare and free the Dream from the grasp of the Old Gods.

In the following moments something interesting, and bad at the same time, happened to the heroes as Xavius sent out a wave of Nightmare energy, striking everyone that was around him, even Spitfire and Rainbow since they were in the air as the attack happened, which scattered them around the Rift and chained them to the ground, in thorn like chains that had more of Xavius' foul power attached to each and every vine, before they watched as the Nightmare Lord disappeared and reappeared not a few seconds later, this time appearing in the air above them... along with a massive sphere of energy, a meteor by the looks of it, that seemed to be strong enough to wipe out everyone in the Rift if it hit the ground, showing that he was done with them.

"It is time that we brought an end to this, heroes, by having you feel the devastating power of the Nightmare," Xavius said, his tone revealing that he was done with them and that he was going to crush them, so he could scatter their souls and taint all of them in the process, though instead of talking after that he swung his clawed hand and sent his meteor down at the ground, which started to descend as soon as he did that and his laughter filled the Rift of Aln, as if he believed that it would take all of them down.

Instead of worrying about that Spitfire focused on calling all of her power to the surface to shatter the bindings that were on her body right now, though as that happened she could have sworn that she heard the laughter of Lunara as she did that, which made her think that this was a possible 'life before her eyes' scenario, but even if that was the case, and Xavius was destined to win this fight, she wasn't going to go out without a fight and it looked like everyone else agreed with her, as they channeled their powers into the air in an attempt to stop the massive attack from hitting them. In the next couple of seconds she felt a surge of energy that felt like what she felt whenever one of the druids healed her wounds, which was when Spitfire determined that Lunara, Cenarius, Malfurion, and the other Dream protectors must have discovered a way to send or force a powerful mass of Life energy through the rift in Moonglade, sending it to them so they could deal with the Nightmare Lord, or that was her guess on the matter. The interesting thing was that it seemed to focus on seeking her out, something that had to be blamed on the kiss that Lunara had given her earlier, not to mention the rest of the group to act like a beacon of sorts, to which she called out with her power and latched onto the mass of Life energy, which seemed like it might be a fragment of the Dream itself, possibly given from Cenarius as thanks for saving him from the Nightmare and from Xavius, a potent piece of Life energy based on what she had heard in the past, something that slammed into her not a few seconds later. Due to that her power was pushed to new heights before she had a chance to do anything, where she found that the tattoos on her left arm took on a light green coloration, to reflect the Life energy that was now a part of her, but instead of worrying about that right now she called upon her enhanced power as she banished her warglaives, an action that surprised Rainbow and the others, before she formed two spheres above her hands, the left being a Life green with the right being a Fel green, which was the moment that she pulled her hands to the right side of her body and made sure to combine the spheres into a single mass, as she intended on firing a beam of potent energy that would be a mix of two of the six Cosmic Forces.

Once she was ready, and everyone was watching her as they waited to see if this would work out, she swung her hands at the meteor and fired her attack right at her target, where a beam of energy, which was a mix of Fel and Life energies, burst from where she was standing and rushed right at the meteor, something that it barrelled into and lit up the sky as both of them battled for superiority, as she was sure that Xavius was trying to push it down with all his might, but, as she and the others watched the two attacks clash against each other, the meteor came to a stop and then it started to head backwards a little... before Spitfire applied all of her power, every single drop of what she had, and shattered the meteor into pieces, or scraps of energy, even though it seemed that she had more than enough power to keep going and the attack slammed into Xavius, consuming him in a blinding flash which caused everyone to divert their eyes for a time.

What happened next was when the light faded the heroes discovered that Xavius had disappeared, making them wonder if he was trying to trick them again and made nearly everyone raise their guard as they waited to see what happened next, only for the Rift of Aln to shudder around them and collapse, almost as if revealing that Spitfire's attack had killed Xavius and was causing the downfall of the Nightmare itself, to which they remained still as everything seemed to vanish around them, leaving them in an empty void. A few seconds later reality snapped back into sight as they discovered a sight that made everyone come to a stop for a time, as the Rift had been replaced by a wonderful forest, one that was totally unlike any of the forests Spitfire and Rainbow had seen during their time in Azeroth, as it was so full of trees, plants, flowers, and all sorts of things that druids and the protectors of the Dream watched over and protected, and behind them happened to be an area that the spirits of the slain green dragons resided in, though they were looking at the path everyone was now standing on, looking pleased with their actions. What was resting right in front of them, however, was the corpse of Xavius, or at least the elf he had been before being twisted into a satyr and corrupted by N'Zoth's dark power, which Spitfire was sure Malfurion would dispose of at some point in time, to which they stepped forward and followed the path as it brought them to a large circular area that had a lake, an alter, and a number of paths that had to represent all of the places that had been corrupted by the Nightmare, though it was clear that the Nightmare was gone, smashed to pieces with the death of the one who controlled it. Standing on the alter was none other than Cenarius, with the spirits of the slain standing off to his right while those who were still living stood to his left, though the smile on his face indicated that he was pleased with all of them for not only saving him and the others from being Xavius' slaves, but also utterly destroying Xavius and his foul Nightmare, to which he beckoned for them to approach him and that was what Spitfire, Rainbow, and the heroes of Azeroth did, all while putting their weapons away since none of them needed to fight anymore, at least not until after they were able to return to Dalaran and take a day off.

"Heroes and champions of Azeroth, you have accomplished a great deed today, one that none of us will ever forget for as long as we live," Cenarius stated, his tone confirming Spitfire's thoughts on the matter, he was pleased with them saving all those who had been forced to serve the Nightmare, be it those who fell in battle and those who had been purified before the battle with Xavius, while also being overjoyed that they had done what many likely deemed to be impossible, they were able to bring down and slay the Nightmare Lord, destroying the Nightmare in its entirety, "The Nightmare has long been a cancer and a blight to those who protect the wilds, one that is all too eager to consume the Emerald Dream... had Xavius succeeded in his mission, his corruption would have overwhelmed Azeroth, giving rise to a living Nightmare, a Void-tainted Titan in service to the Old Gods. Your triumph this day not only restores the Dream and safeguards your world, but it also cuts off Xavius' allies from this place and will prevent them from returning... though to honor your courage, and the deed that you have accomplished today, I offer each and every one of you passage into the pure heart of the Dream. As you feel the essence of Life blooming beneath your feet, know that it endures thanks to what you achieved this day... and I have been told of your other mission, to balance this 'Arcan'dor', so I shall gift you the essence you need for that as well, as I'm sure it will give way to a bright future for your friends."

Spitfire smiled as an orb of Life energy appeared in front of them, the Life Essence they had come here for, because it told her that they had completed both of their missions, to eliminate a threat to Azeroth and to claim the essence that would allow Thalyssra and the Nightfallen to balance the Arcan'dor before it detonated, to which she held her hands out and the orb floated over to where she was standing, something that caused Lunara to cheer and jump around as Cenarius and all of the Dream's protectors cheered as well, with the dryad stopping for a moment to kiss her again, but this time she just rolled with it and watched as Cenarius formed a portal for them to use, to get back to Suramar and complete their main task, though she hoped that they weren't too late to save the Arcan'dor.