//------------------------------//
// Suramar: Gift of the Ancient Magi 
// Story: World of Warcraft: Burning Skies 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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"Its... beautiful." Thalyssra commented, speaking after taking a few seconds to stare at the fully grown Arcan'dor, the fruits of their labors since it had been planted not that long ago, while the rest of the Nightfallen who called Shal'Aran home came up to see the tree and stared at it once they laid eyes on the center of this ruin, while their new allies from the Duskwatch just stared at it in shock, since they weren't expecting to see something so powerful in this place, but this told Spitfire that all of their hard work had paid off and that, in due time, they would have the key to restoring Thalyssra and the others to their former glory, strengthening the rebellion's power for the next stage of their rebellion.

"That it is... even I have never seen a fully grown Arcan'dor." Farodin stated, showing that he agreed with Thalyssra and the rest of his new allies, though at the same time his statement made sense considering the fact that there were, according to what he had said in the past, only two Arcan'dor seeds that had been created and the first one had been a massive failure, which had exploded and created the Fal'dorei, but this time neither Spitfire or Rainbow did anything to him as they stared at the Arcan'dor, "You can call the rest of your people back to Shal'Aran, as there is no need for anyone to fear the Arcan'dor anymore."

Thalyssra nodded and gave the order for Oculeth and Valtrois to call the others back to Shal'Aran, where they headed over to the portal that was connected to Tel'anor and disappeared for a few seconds, allowing everyone else to focus on the tree once more, where Spitfire noticed that a few pieces of fruit, which were the size of a plum and had an Arcane purple color to them, were already growing from some of the vines, making her wonder what was so special about them and felt that they might be the key to saving the Shal'dorei. Not a few moments later she and the others watched as Oculeth and Valtrois returned to their temporary home, this time joined by Tyrande, Lady Liadrin, Khadgar, Jaina, the rest of the elves who had joined the rebellion, and all of their allies from the Alliance and the Horde, once more showing a unified front to Spitfire and Rainbow, before everyone stared at the fully grown Arcan'dor as they gathered all over the chamber, as this was the result of their hard work and many were overjoyed that it hadn't exploded on them. Those from Dalaran were a bit taken aback by what they were seeing right now, as they had heard Spitfire's reports on what Farodin had said about the Arcan'dor, even if parts might have been wrong since he withheld information from them, though they could tell that it was incredibly powerful and that it would be able to do anything and everything that Farodin had promised, something even Spitfire could tell just by looking at it, and even the members of the Duskwatch just continued to stare at it, as while it might not be the Nightwell, the strongest magical font in all of Suramar, even they could tell that great things could now be done with this massive tree. In fact they weren't the only ones that returned to Shal'Aran for a time, as Vanthir, Ly'leth, and a few of their allies from the city actually came to their base of operations and stared at the tree that everyone had spent so much time working on, marveling at the beauty of the tree and the power that rested inside it, a power that would be able to aid Thalyssra in her rebellion against Elisande and her demonic allies, though once everyone was inside Shal'Aran, and Rainbow was sure of that as she stood beside Ly'leth, Farodin stepped forward and rested his hand against the bark of the Arcan'dor with a smile on his face.

"Thousands of years ago, as the Quel'dorei, or High Elves as they called themselves, were just beginning to unravel all of the mysteries of the Arcane, a small enclave of druids met with the first of the elven magi." Farodin said, where it was clear he wanted to give them a bit of a history lesson on something before doing anything to the fully grown Arcan'dor, while at the same time Spitfire noticed that Khadgar and Jaina, at the very least, were interested in what he was sharing with them, no doubt due to the fact that it had to be knowledge that no one outside Suramar knew, knowledge that could be shared with the rest of Azeroth at some point in time, "In the pale moonlight, they formed an order that would seek to bring the Arcane into balance, using nature and its Life energies as a vessel... thus the Arcan'dor were created. Sadly, my masters who belonged to this order have long since faded away, never being able to witness the fruits of their labor, yet, thanks to my actions and what you all have done, their legacy remains... their gift will mend the spirit of the Shal'dorei. If you eat the fruit of the Arcan'dor, it will make each and every one of you whole once more, and it will take away the need to feed on the Nightwell's energies."

In that moment Farodin reached up and carefully plucked one of the fruit from the vines that were all over the chamber, even if it had come off rather easily while not being damaged at all, before he referred to the fruit as an 'Arcfruit' and told them that it was the gift of the ancient magi that had created the Arcan'dor seeds, before holding it out towards his allies for a moment, showing that it was for one of them, but based on what Spitfire could see most of the Nightfallen weren't sure what it would do to them and didn't want to be the test subject, while noting that there were only four fruit in total, meaning more had to be growing for the rest of the Nightborne.

"Please, allow me to be the first one to taste the Arcfruit... any ill effects will affect me and me alone." Oculeth stated, as he knew that many needed to be shown that everything was fine and that there was nothing to fear from eating the fruit that was growing from the Arcan'dor, while at the same time stepping forward so he could stand in front of Farodin, giving the rest of the Nightborne, exiles and citizens of Suramar City, a chance to see what might happen when he actually bit into the Arcfruit, something that was followed by Farodin handing the first of the four fruits to him and he started to eat it as everyone watched him, "hm, it is a little tart, with a hint of... of my, I think I'm feeling something..."

As Oculeth said that, however, several rings of Arcane energy appeared around his feet and the energy started to emerge from the items in question, where it looked like they were moving through the air and wrapping around his body, like he was absorbing the Arcane energy into his body, before something astonishing happened, the weak and frail body that all of the Nightfallen were cursed with seemed to fill out, returning to what he had looked like in his Nightborne state, and the moment all of the energy died down he glanced down at himself, marveling at the fact that he no longer felt the hunger he had been forced to contend with since the rebellion started and that he now had access to his full power, revealing that Farodin had been telling the truth.

"You know, I think I'll have what Oculeth had." Valtrois said, her tone revealing that she approved of what she had seen in the last couple of seconds and that she was more than willing to eat a single piece of fruit to leave the hunger behind, but as she said that Spitfire noticed everyone else in the chamber, as in the Nightborne and Nightfallen, were overjoyed to see that the tree did exactly what they had been told, that the hunger was cancelled out in its entirety and they could return to a normal life, the latter would come completely true once Suramar City was freed from Elisande, Gul'dan, and the demons who were inside it.

Farodin nodded and offered the second fruit to Valtrois for a moment, who accepted it and ate the fruit without delay, all while mentioning that this was a new path for the Nightborne, before the Arcane rings formed around her feet not a few seconds later and the energy started to seep into her body, showing that it would happen to whoever ate the Arcfruit and that it was unavoidable, before Spitfire and everyone else watched as her body filled out and the color returned, including her natural beauty, even though it wasn't long before the energy disappeared and Valtrois moved her arms to make sure everything was just fine, including the restoration of her full power.

"Astonishing... to think that the Arcfruit have the power to restore us to our normal forms and give us access to our full power, all in a matter of seconds," Thalyssra commented, as she shared the opinions of the others, that this was amazing and would be a step forward for everyone, once they got around to making sure everyone had a taste of the Arcfruit, even if she took a few moments to watch Oculeth and Valtrois for any side effects, of which there seemed to be done based on what everyone was seeing right now, before she glanced over to Farodin, who happened to be removing the third fruit so it could be given to someone, even if it was offered to her not a few seconds later.

With the Arcfruit in hand, and everyone watching to make sure it worked like the other two, Thalyssra ate the fruit without wasting a single moment being wasted, where she found that the rings of Arcane energy formed around her and wrapped around her body, like what had happened to her companions, even though Spitfire watched as her body was restored to its former glory and lost the sicky form she had been cursed with, not to mention her own beauty, which surprised the elf for a moment, like how it had surprised the others, before she opened her left hand and her power danced around part of her hand and her arm.

"We are on the brink of a new path for the Nightborne, one we never would have been able to achieve without our brand new allies," Thalyssra stated, her voice reaching the rest of the rebellion, who cheered while others nodded their heads for a few moments, everyone showing that they happened to approve of what they were seeing right now, before she took a second to glance at the Arcan'dor for a moment and the remaining fruit that was hanging from the last vine, as she knew that having a small number growing at a time would make freeing her people much harder than it currently was, before she focused on her people again, "Today is a turning point in our rebellion against Elisande, those who serve her, and her demonic allies, as we have gained the means to free ourselves from the Nightwell and not be chained down to its power, but for now we must prepare ourselves and make sure we're ready for our incursion into the city... so rest and relax, as all of us will need to be rested for whatever the future has in store."

The members of the rebellion, both Nightborne and Nightfallen, separated once she said that and started to return to the spots of Shal'Aran that they were calling home for the foreseeable future, until things were settled with Elisande and her allies, before their allies in the Duskwatch heading through the portal and returned to the city, so they could resume their duties and make sure no one knew what had happened earlier, inside the Arcway, while Ly'leth informed Rainbow of the next event she would have to make an appearance in before she headed back to the city, leaving Vanthir as the only one from the city remaining inside Shal'Aran.

"Thalyssra, what are you going to do about the last fruit?" Spitfire asked, as three of the four fruit had been eaten and she knew that it was a matter of time until the Arcan'dor produced more for the Nightborne to eat, something that would no doubt happen soon since it looked like it was already in the process of creating more on the various vines, though she did notice that the last one had been left alone and that meant she had plans for it, since there were so many individuals who could benefit from eating it.

"I'll give it to one of our allies, I'm just not sure who yet," Thalyssra replied, because she now knew what the Arcfruit meant to the Nightborne and it was hard to determine who deserved it more, especially with all of their allies and every skill that could be turned against Elisande, including the fact that they were drawing closer to the main part of the rebellion, but as she thought about that she noticed that Vanthir was standing nearby and happened to be carrying a scroll in one of his hands, which interested her and the others for a moment as they turned to face him, "Vanthir, what's wrong? You look like there's something I need to be aware of."

"Its... Arluin left this with me before he came to Shal'Aran," Vanthir stated, where he held a hand out for a moment and let Thalyssra take it with her spare hand, even though she slipped her staff onto her back for a few seconds, before looking at the contents of the parchment, something that interested Spitfire and Rainbow since there was no telling what might be on it or what it might mean for the rest of the rebellion, if it affected everyone else, "He... well, he made plans in the event that he fell... he wanted whatever rewards were to be gained from this venture, and all work I had for him, to be delivered to a specific part of the city, to a woman named Arluelle... he wanted whatever came from this mission to be given to her, and we might make more allies by showing that we gave the last of the Arcan'dor fruit to someone who truly needed it, as I'm positive that she might be nearing the Nightfallen stage."

"It would appear that we were wrong about him," Rainbow commented, as while she had originally disliked the elf, given the fact that he had them pay with mana crystals and didn't seem to care about anything or anyone, even if this scroll had disproved their original thoughts, she had to admit that doing everything in his power to save someone dear to him, like a sister or something, had redeemed a little and it made her wonder what sort of person Arluelle was, before she focused on Thalyssra for a few seconds, "do you know where we might find this Arluelle?"

"According to the map, she's in the Terrance of Order, near those cages you freed several of our friends from," Thalyssra replied, revealing where someone had to go to find the lady that Arluin wanted them to give his rewards to, in the event of his death during the mission, a death they could have avoided if he just stayed still and let Spitfire use her stone to forge a path for them, something they were going to talk about at some point in time, before she thought about what was going on right now and what Rainbow might be thinking about doing, "if she's as weak as we're thinking, she'll need a method of transport to get out of the city, since it will be dangerous for her to stick around once the rest of the city realizes Arluin is dead, so you might want to stop at the gondolas and see if you can't grab one for her to use."

Rainbow nodded as she carefully retrieved the last of the Arcan'dor fruit and pocketed it inside her pack, though that was the moment that Elylia joined her while Spitfire stayed behind, to rest after the battle with the guardians of the Nightmare and their corrupt Lord, to which they headed over to the Waning Crescent portal and used it to get back to Vanthir's part of the city, where Rainbow made sure to assume Anarys' form once more with the mask before she and Elylia headed out to acquire a gondola to use. Once they were back in the Waning Crescent, however, Rainbow noticed how there weren't any guards running around the place, especially given what she, Spitfire, and the others had done during their venture into the Arcway, something that should have parts of Suramar City stirring in her mind, but instead of worrying about it for too long she focused on the task at hand and walked over to the Bazaar section of this area, since that happened to be where they could find one of the gondolas, even though she was hoping that Deline was up and about, since she figured she might be able to assist them. Sadly when they reached the Bazaar it became clear that Deline was either asleep or she stayed somewhere else to watch over the rest of the city, but that didn't stop Elylia from locating one of the gondolas and hopped into it, allowing Rainbow to take a seat in it before they headed out into the rest of the city, even if that meant they had to find their way to one of the canals and then make their way back up to where those Arcane cages had been resting earlier, an area that still angered Rainbow since the corrupt members of the Duskwatch had been willing to exile a number of children and the rest of the undesirables. Fortunately it appeared that no one had been rounded up since the last time they had been in this particular section of the Waning Crescent, meaning none of the citizens had been stuffed into the Arcane cages and left to rot before they were exiled from Suramar City, though what concerned her, and she did know it could have concerned Spitfire if she was here, was that there were no guards walking around, meaning this would have been the perfect chance for someone like Arluin to go out and gather whatever he wanted, to make sure Arulelle had all the comforts and mana she needed to survive.

"Seriously, what happened to all the guards?" Rainbow commented, keeping her voice low as they traveled down the canal and headed towards the location that Arluin had instructed them to deliver his payment to, even if everyone in Shal'Aran had different plans for Arulelle, because while her normal eyes couldn't see anyone, which might be different if she took a moment to switch to her Spectral Sight, she didn't want any guards to come down on their heads while they searched for the location they had been given, even if it looked like there weren't any guards to worry about.

"I agree, this is strange... usually the Duskwatch are patrolling the streets and canals, doing their jobs," Elylia replied, as it was easy to agree with Rainbow, something about this situation was odd, with the fact that there were no guards down any of the streets and canals, even the demons who had joined the Duskwatch seemed to be missing, even though none of their allies had lashed out at Elisande's foul allies yet, which worried her since it might mean the Grand Magistrix had a plan of some kind in motion, one they were in the dark about since Ly'leth hadn't reported anything strange yet, before she focused on the area around them once more, "We had best be quick about this, since there's no telling when some of the Duskwatch might emerge from their homes and start their patrols, or whatever the Grand Magistrix is planning might be set into motion, or maybe Gul'dan will betray us and force our leader to cancel her deal with the Legion... there's no telling what might happen, so we should find Arulelle and get out of here, so we can plan our next move and see what sort of plan Thalyssra has in mind."

Rainbow nodded and kept her eyes on the canal that was in front of them, knowing that it was only a matter of time until Thalyssra determined what the next stage of her rebellion might be, now that the Arcan'dor, the driving force behind most of their previous actions, was fully grown and was no longer in any danger of exploding in a way that would have torn all of Suramar apart, before they located a small opening that seemed to lead to a storage area of sorts, just beyond where all of the cages rested, which happened to be where a number of crates rested, partly covering the entrance, and, just as they suspected, there were three or four Nightfallen who seemed to be getting close to Withering entirely, with a fifth one resting on a few mats, a female who stirred as Rainbow entered the small chamber.

"Who is there?" the lady asked, though at the same time she forced herself up onto her feet for a moment, even though it was followed by her coughing for a few seconds, showing them that everything Arluin had been trying to prevent had been happening to the one he was trying to protect with all his power, as it looked like she was getting dangerously close to the change from being a Nightfallen and becoming a Withered, and the way she looked around the area seemed to suggest what was happening to her, "Arluin, is that you? It is so dark..."

"You're Arluelle, right?" Rainbow asked, because she figured she might as well ask the question, even though the lady had named the individual who sent them to this location, just in the off chance that this was a trap to catch Arluin and make him pay for everything that he had stolen to provide for this lady, which was when the Nightfallen elf nodded her head for a new seconds, "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Arluin isn't coming... he died ensuring that this piece of fruit reached you... it has the power to restore you to your Nightborne state and then some. We also brought a gondola since we figured you might be weak from being in this state for too long, though your friends are welcome to join us and leave this place for a time, at least until we retake the city from the Legion's foul grasp."

Arluelle, as they expected, was saddened by the passing of Arluin, mentioning something about how he couldn't stay out of trouble and that she understood that everything he had done recently had been for her, before she accepted the fruit and followed Rainbow outside, so she could make her way over to the gondola that would take them back to the portal that had allowed them to reach this point, though a few seconds later her friends got up and climbed into the gondola as well, which meant each of them might have heard the rumors about Anarys and wanted to be on her side, or they wanted what Arluelle had, before she and Elylia joined them and headed down the canal again. Once everyone was ready to go Rainbow walked on the streets and allowed the rest of the weakened Nightfallen to ride with Elylia, where she knew that the lady they had come for was waiting until she reached a safe place to eat the Arcfruit she had been given, though once more she found that there were no guards coming out in an attempt to stop them from heading to the portal that allowed them to return to the Waning Crescent, but she remained at the ready in case her thoughts were wrong and an ambush happened in the near future. Interestingly enough they were able to reach the area the portal was in without anything slowing them down or stopping them outright, once more making Rainbow worry about what might happen next since she had seen none of the guards during her walk as she followed the gondola down the canal, but once they reached their destination Elylia made sure to help the couple of Nightfallen as each of them made their way to the portal, heading over to Shal'Aran and the safety it provided, with Arluelle being the last one to do so, but once she was through the portal that was when they made sure to return the gondola to where they had taken it from and then headed back to Shal'Aran, only to stop by Thalyssra's location to inform her of the fact that no guards had been wandering the streets and canals while they sought out Arluelle, who was sitting in the rest area of Shal'Aran and eating the Arcfruit she had been given, to get her strength back before worrying about whatever the future held for her and her brand new friends.

"You're sure that there were no guards wandering the streets? No Duskwatch and no demons?" Thalyssra inquired, as that fact surprised her and she found it hard to believe that after everything they had done to the corrupt guards of the city, to make sure the Arcan'dor was able to grow into what was near them, that Elisande would allow something like this to even happen in the first place and made her wonder if this might be a trap of some kind, to lure them into the city so she could crush the rebellion in one swift motion, hence why she was debating what they should do next, even though speaking to Tyrande, Lady Liadrin, and Spitfire provided her with some good insight as to what they should do next.

"There were no members of the Duskwatch wandering around and no demons walking about," Rainbow replied, though everyone that was around her shared her opinions on the matter, that they were worrying that this might be a trap for the rebellion and Elisande was trying to call them into her domain for a time, to smite them and uphold part of her bargain with Gul'dan and his demonic allies, but one other thing they all agreed on was that their forces needed some time before they were ready to assault the city and take it back.

"Well, we aren't planning on heading into the city anytime soon, so if this is a trap it won't be sprung for a few days, maybe more depending on how long it takes to ready the rebellion," Thalyssra said, revealing that she was more interested in all of them getting a good nights sleep, since most of them had spent a great deal of time being busy and this was a good chance for them to rest and regain their strength for whatever the future held for them, where she could see that Spitfire agreed with what she was thinking about right now, to which she turned towards the others for a moment, "I would say that we should take this time to rest and get ready for whatever the morning brings, as I have a few ideas on what we can do, after speaking with Tyrande and Lady Liadrin earlier, before we're ready for our attack on the city."

Once they were done talking everyone went their separate ways, most of them taking up their positions to rest for the rest of the night, while Tyrande, Lady Liadrin, and some of their guards made sure no one approached Shal'Aran from outside, though one thing Spitfire thought about was the search for Lord Illidan's soul, as none of the Illidari had said anything yet and it made her wonder if the Legion was just messing with them, to make them waste their time on a useless search for him, before she sighed and fell asleep so she could get a few hours of sleep... only to be awoken a few hours later, by the sound of something exploding, which caused her, Rainbow, Tyrande, and Lady Liadrin to get up and rush over to the area it came from, which was the portal room, where the Waning Crescent portal was missing.

"Oculeth, what's wrong?" Thalyssra asked, as the Chief Telemancer happened to be standing near the portals and was also staring at them for a few seconds, meaning he had seen the missing one and was thinking about what in the world it might mean for everyone in Shal'Aran, not to mention the rest of their rebellion, while at the same time her allies were curious as to what might be going on right now, even though one thing was for certain to everyone, something had happened and it meant that they were being forced into action once more.

"I... I don't know! I was just checking the portal network, to be sure everything was going smoothly, when suddenly I saw a flare from the Waning Crescent and an explosion knocked the portal out," Oculeth replied, gesturing to the platform that normally held the portal in question for a few seconds, allowing everyone to focus on it for a few seconds before switching back to him again, even though he was scratching the back of his head as he tried to figure out why this had happened, as it cut them off from Vanthir and his allies, not to mention stopped those who wanted to flee from the city from doing so for a time, "and now it has gone totally dark, as if the beacon was destroyed or something..."

"Strange... and I cannot contact Vanthir," Thalyssra added, meaning she must have had a magical way to contact their ally, like a crystal or something that she focused on so she could speak with him in his mind, or whatever method she used to speak with Vanthir, before she frowned for a few seconds as she considered the situation that was now unfolding before them, something that caused her to turn towards Rainbow for a moment, as while she didn't want to do this, after she and Spitfire had gotten back from dealing with the Emerald Nightmare, there was no avoiding what was coming next, "It would seem that something dire has happened inside the city, something that warrants investigation, so Rainbow, I would like you and Elylia to head into the city and see what you can find... and don't worry about getting there, as I'm sure Oculeth is eager to understand what's going on and will send you into the city without much delay... we need to figure out why the beacon was knocked out and what is happening to the Waning Crescent."

Rainbow nodded her head and made sure her mask was at the ready, as there was no telling what was going in inside the Waning Crescent and if there were any enemies for her and Elylia to worry about, while Spitfire stayed here and took a bit of time to talk with Tyrande and Lady Liadrin, though she had the feeling that this was the start of either Elisande's move against the rebellion or Gul'dan's plan to weaken his allies and make them more submissive, something they would find out in due time as she braced herself for what the new day had in store for her and the rest of her allies.