//------------------------------//
// Redemption 
// Story: Seekers of the Epitaph: World of Azeroth 
// by Xarmar13 
//------------------------------//

Following the instructions given to them by Malfurion Stormrage in the Temple of Atal’Hakkar, the group used a portal conjured by Stella to take them to Darnassus. Through the portal they entered the Temple of the Moon where Tyrande Whisperwind, leader of the night elves, led her people from.

While logically they could have told her directly about Malfurion’s plan, they didn’t want to take the chance that Fandral Staghelm’s agents were listening in. Matters would become troublesome if the compromised archdruid interfered.

Instead, the group quietly left the temple as if their business was somewhere else in the city and to throw off any would-be eavesdroppers.

Before they left, Malfurion mentioned that his wisp agent was floating around north of the road just outside the city. Following instructions, the group left the city and prying eyes before leaving the road northward along the hills.

Eventually their small hike through the woods led them to a lone wisp, a glowing disembodied spirit of nature that resembled a night elf’s head. It minded its own business up until the group walked up to it.

“Y’all think this little fella is that agent that guy was talkin’ about?” Jaqueline asked. “Looks kinda inconspicuous.”

The wisp suddenly became nervous. It was beginning to wonder if the plans made between it and Malfurion were compromised. However, looking at the pink-haired druid among them made it second guess that idea since it recognized her as one of his students.

Flutashe knelt down to the wisp so she was eye level with it. “Excuse me, I was told by my master to meet someone here about setting the plan into motion?”

The wisp quickly realized that the time had come to execute Malfurion’s plan. It bounced around excitedly for a few moments before it remembered that it had something important to tell the messenger. It transmitted its thoughts to the young druid, “Tyrande will be notified, Shan’do Stormrage has prepared me for this contingency. Now you must venture to Moonglade and speak with Remulos. He will have further instruction for the summoning of Eranikus. Good luck.”

The wisp then began floating its way south toward the entrance to Darnassus, leaving the group to decide on their next course of action. Flutashe told everyone what the wisp told her and made it clear that they needed to travel to Moonglade next. Flutashe explained how they were to get there, “All druids are taught a spell to get to Moonglade using an arcane anchor that is tied exclusively to druids. I can create a portal to get us there, though I hope that Master Remulos will forgive me for using such a spell to bring non-druids to Nighthaven.

Remembering the incantation, Flutashe began invoking a portal spell that would open the way to Moonglade. A few moments later, the portal opened and everyone stepped through.

Upon emerging from the portal, the group was greeted by guards with spears pointed at them. Once Flutashe emerged from the portal, one of the guards walked up to the druid demanding an explanation. “You know that using that spell to bring non-druids here is forbidden, Miss Lunarwind. Unless the circumstances are truly dire, you know the consequences of this act.”

“They are,” Flutashe responded. “We need to see Master Remulos immediately.”

“May I ask what this is about?”

“We are on a task from Shan’do Stormrage to summon the Tyrant of the Dream. The time has come for his redemption.”

“If this is true, then time is of the essence.” The guard barked orders to his subordinates to stand down and begin preparations for an imminent attack on Moonglade. He then looked back at the group. “I will take you to Master Remulos.”

Several minutes passed as the guard escorted the group to the western side of the grove where they spotted a Son of Cenarius speaking with his attendants. Remulos was a centaur-like creature with the lower body of a stag deer and arms made of branches and vines. Vines decorated his long hair and stag antlers grew from his forehead. A belt with a loincloth was his only piece of clothing, even if it only covered his barrel.

Remulos smiled as he spotted Malfurion’s protege approaching him along with the friends she made over the past year. He had hoped that her journey would benefit her well being.

He quickly pushed aside his feelings and wondered what would bring her and her friends to Moonglade. Usually few would ever visit the grove unless it was urgent business.

Once the group arrived, he addressed the group as needed, “Hail young Lunarwind and company. What brings you to Moonglade?”

Flutashe briefed Remulos about Malfurion’s plan to summon Eranikus to Azeroth to redeem him and that High Priestess Tyrande was informed of the situation. Remulos frowned as he heard everything. He had the means to summon the Tyrant of the Dream, but he needed a few more ingredients to perform the ritual. 

He also knew that this was a dangerous plan that Malfurion had thought up, but it was also necessary to obtain the fragment of the Scepter of the Shifting Sands. Remulos really didn’t want to see the horrors of Ahn’Qiraj unleashed on the world again, but it seemed that fate had once more called for the Qiraji to return.

“It would be impossible to pull Eranikus from the Dream should he refuse. His intentions, however, require him to enter our world,” Remulos explained. “He seeks to destroy Malfurion’s physical body. His success would mean the end to one of the most powerful allies of the Dream. The Nightmare would wholly consume all that would remain should Malfurion fall.”

“We understand,” Flutashe said. “The risks are great and we would need to take them to ensure the fall of the madness that spawned the Nightmare in the first place. We shall not fail.”

Remulos stared at Flutashe for a few moments before he gave a nod, “Very well, you must travel to the four dream portals of Azeroth. From each you must draw a fragment of the Nightmare’s corruption. The dragonkin who inhabit these areas will hold such fragments.

“Just where are these dream portals you speak of?” Stella asked.

Flutashe gave a questioning look at the Son of Cenarius who nodded to her, silently giving her permission. She then turned to her friends. “There are four dream portals scattered between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. There are two on each continent in places with strong connections to the Emerald Dream.

“One is located in Ashenvale Forest, in the northeastern corner of the forest near the border to Azshara. Bough Shadow is hidden north of the road, north of where the Horde have been conducting their logging operations.

“The next portal is located in the verdant wildlands of Feralas in south central Kalimdor. The closest way there is to enter from Desolace. The portal is on a small island in northeastern Feralas called Dream Bough.

“The third portal is in the night elven ruins of Seradane located near the east coast of the Hinterlands, near the territory of the Revantusk and Witherbark troll tribes.”

“Ah remember that region!” Jaqueline exclaimed. “The Wildhammer Clan have their capital city of Aerie Peak in the same region. Took down a fair good number of trolls during mah trainin’.”

Flutashe nodded, “The final portal is in a region called Brightwood, in a long dormant volcano in the center of the region. The Twilight Grove is what the area is called.”

This left the others scratching their heads since they haven’t heard of a region called Brightwood until Stella recalled her geographical research during her time as a student in Dalaran and remembered something.

“Flutashe, your information is slightly out of date. That region went through a name change ever since dark forces took over the place. Ever since a night elf artifact called the Scythe of Elune was abandoned there, the region has been plagued by all manner of dark creatures from feral worgen to the undead to a band of malevolent artifact collectors called the Dark Riders. These days the region is called Duskwood.”

“Oh…” the others said simultaneously.

“Perhaps we should split up?” Bella offered.

“Are you sure?” Flutashe asked with concern in her voice. “The corrupted guardians around those portals are no pushovers.”

“Ah’ll handle the Hinterlands portal mahself,” Jaqueline offered. “Ah’m pretty familiar with the region and ah can handle a few rowdy dragonspawn.”

“If you guys are splitting up, I highly suggest tackling the Duskwood portal yourself,” Thanatas told Sophia through the psychic link. “Trust me, there’s something there that you will want to handle personally.”

“If we’re splitting up, then I’ll take the Duskwood portal,” Sophia offered.

“In that case, that leaves me, Stella, Bella and Mena to handle the Ashenvale and Feralas portals.” Flutashe said.

“Me and Flutters have been to Feralas before, we know how to get there,” Mena offered.

“Flutters?” Flutashe questioned. She was ignored.

“So that leaves me and Bella to handle the Ashenvale portal,” Stella concluded. “It’s a good thing I have an anchor point in Azshara.”

“How close can you get each of us, Stella?” Bella asked.

“Aside from Aszhara, I can get Jaqueline near Dalaran but she will have to travel south to Hillsbrad and avoid the Forsaken town of Tarren Mill to get to the Hinterlands. I can send Sophia to Stormwind where she can travel on foot to Duskwood. Unfortunately, I don’t have any anchor points near Feralas so Flutashe and Mena will be on their own.”

“That’s okay, I can fly to Feralas on my own power, though doing so while carrying Mena will make things a little more difficult,” Flutashe said.

“If I maintain my Levitate spell I can make myself light as a feather,” Mena offered.

With the plan decided, Stella opened three portals to Stormwind, Dalaran and Aszhara. The assigned groups went through their respective portals to begin their journeys. Flutashe shifted into her bird form while Mena activated her Levitate spell before the druid grabbed her in her talons and flew south.







Stella and Bella emerged from a portal near a bridge that connected Azshara and Ashenvale. Once they got their bearings, they proceeded across the bridge and into the dark forest.

As they walked through the forest, Bella voiced a concern to her draconic companion. “Do we even have a means of capturing Nightmare essence? Do we know what it looks like?”

“Don’t worry, I will be able to tell Nightmare essence. I am part green dragon, after all,” Stella assured. “As for how we obtain it, we are looking for Nightmare essence that has crystallized on the scales of the corrupted.”

“What about the others? I know that Mena has Flutashe with her but Jaqueline is handling her task alone and so is Sophia.”

“Sophia can hold her own against just about anything the world can throw at her, but I do agree that Jaqueline might be our bigger concern since she is facing corrupted dragons on her own. There’s nothing we can do for her though so let’s focus on our task.”

The duo traveled west down the road, taking care to avoid any Horde patrols since the area was held by the opposing faction.

Eventually, the duo moved off the road and took an unpaved path to the north, walking around a tall hill until a huge tree came into view. Some ruins were built into the tree including a set of stairs that led up to a portal. Wandering around the portal were patrols of green dragonspawn.

With no significant threat in the area, the duo engaged the corrupt dragons. Bella’s hammer smashed the skulls of several unsuspecting dragonspawn while Stella set the area ablaze with her fire magic. Thankfully for nature, the fire magic didn’t burn the grass since it was imbued with red dragon magic. This meant that Stella’s flames could harm or heal what she wanted harmed or healed with the incinerated dragonspawn collapsing in charred heaps on the ground.

Eventually, one of Bella’s hammer swings knocked loose a few crystallized fragments from the scales of one dragonspawn. As the paladin picked it up, Stella quickly identified it as what they came for.

Once the dragonspawn in the area were dealt with, Stella used her green dragon magic to conjure a portal through the safe parts of the Emerald Dream which would bring herself and Bella back to Moonglade.







Jaqueline arrived on the outskirts of a town in the shadow of a massive arcane dome. She had heard that the people of the magical kingdom were still rebuilding after what happened years ago. 

Ignoring the dome, the warrior began her journey south through the Alterac Mountains, cutting down any ravenous predators that she encountered.

She traveled south along the foothills and went through the township of Hillsbrad, a small farming community that was often under attack by the Forsaken. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time to assist the beleaguered farmers but she stayed in town long enough to eliminate a few forsaken who were slaughtering farmers.

Jaqueline exited the township and walked along the road which was still somewhat safe since it was a contested point between the undead of Tarren Mill and the human town of Southshore. 

She soon crossed a bridge over a river that separated western and eastern Hillsbrad Foothills and came across the ruins of an old keep that had some dark history behind it. Nowadays the keep was being used as a hideout for assassins and thugs.

Jaqueline walked around the keep and proceeded north until she found a narrow pass in the mountains that was guarded by two gryphons whom she was familiar with: Kurdros and Granistad. The two were assigned to guard the pass to prevent any forsaken from planning an attack on Aerie Peak since the Wildhammer city was just beyond the pass.

The gryphons acknowledged the warrior and recognized her scent, recalling her as one who lived among them for several years. Kurdros flew over to Jaqueline and nuzzled her, earning a few delighted chuckles from the warrior.

“Glad ta see you two remember me,” Jaqueline said. “Think y’all can let me through? Ah need ta speak with Falstad.”

The two gryphons looked at each other before Granistad let out a low trill as he lowered his head and moved his right wing aside, offering permission for the warrior to ride him. She moved to the creature’s flank before she mounted him. 

As the gryphon began to spread his wings, Jaqueline held on tightly to his feathered mane. The first flap of his wings was strong and led to Jaqueline getting buffeted by a gust of wind, but the warrior held strong as the gryphon flew through the pass to Aerie Peak.

The flight lasted only a few minutes before Granistad landed just outside the gryphon roost. 

With a sense of urgency, Jaqueline quickly dismounted the gryphon and entered the roost where she spotted a red-bearded dwarf sporting tattoos that were visible on his shoulders and his bald head that would be completely bald if it weren’t for the ponytail on the back of his head. At his waist was a silvery hammer with a depiction of a gryphon on it.

Falstad heard someone approach and turned around only to smile as he saw his former protege. “Welcome back ta Aerie Peak, lass. What brings ye back here?”

“Good ta be back Falstad, ah wish it were a social visit but ah need ta get to the night elf ruins of Seradane over near troll territory,” Jaqueline explained.

Falstad frowned as he heard that, “Ye know that place is crawlin’ with hostile green dragonspawn, why would ye need to go there?”

“Ah’m on a quest to help mah friends get some stuff to summon some huge green dragon so them night elves can try ta save him. Ah need somethin’ called Nightmare Essence from the dragonspawn there.”

“Ah, say no more lass, as it happens, yer little hatchling friend has finally grown strong enough to bear a rider. She’s completed the trainin’ and is ready to see ye again.”

Jaqueline’s mood raised significantly as she heard that. It had been years since she last saw the gryphon hatchling that she raised when she was younger. When she wasn’t training to avenge her farm, she was playing with her hatchling.

“Ya mean ah can finally go flyin’ with Winona?”

Falstad nodded, “Aye, she’s a fast one though so ye better hold tight to the reins.” He then handed Jaqueline a wooden whistle carved to look like a gryphon’s head. “We give these out to new riders. These are enchanted to call yer gryphon whenever ye need a lift. By now, Winona should be waitin’ fer ye outside.”

Jaqueline bowed to the high thane, “Thank ya kindly for everything you’ve done fer me, Falstad!” She then walked out of the gryphon roost.

Falstad chuckled as she left, “Think nothin’ of it lass, yer practically one of the clan now.”

As she hoped, Jaqueline spotted her old friend standing near the entrance of the roost. Winona had a darker brown coat of fur than most gryphons with snow white feathers around her mane. Her beak was also dark brown along with the feathers around her eyes. She wasn’t fully grown just yet, but she had grown strong enough to carry a rider over great distances.

Jaqueline stroked Winona’s feathery mane while the gryphon gave the warrior an affectionate nuzzle. “Hey there Winona, ya ready for our first flight together?” Winona cooed happily in response, bouncing around in excitement.

Once she remembered her training, she calmed down and moved a wing aside, fully displaying a simple saddle over a soft-looking blanket with apples along the border.

The same blanket Jaqueline slept with every night when she was a baby.

Jaqueline was glad that the old blanket was being put to good use since her little sister was now too old to be sleeping with baby blankets.

Dismissing the thought, Jaqueline mounted her old companion. Winona stretched out her wings and they were soon off, flying eastward through the Hinterlands.

During their flight, Jaqueline took in the landscape below her. Trees were dense in the western part of the region but became more sparse the further east she was. Troll ruins, most of which were occupied by the Witherbark Tribe, covered much of the south. Most of the region was occupied by wildlife in the form of wildkin, wolves, wild gryphons and spiders. One particular hill was overtaken by a species of slime monsters that weren’t causing any harm to the land around them so they were largely ignored.

After a twenty minute flight, Jaqueline directed Winona toward the elven ruins north of the slime-infested Skulk Rock. Winona came down near the edge of the ruins across a long rope bridge and landed behind some trees where they were sure that the green dragonspawn wouldn’t notice.

As she dismounted, she stroked her companion’s mane once again, “Once ah get what ah came for, ah’ll whistle for ya.” Winona nodded to her companion and few off, leaving Jaqueline to draw her swords.

Jaqueline ambushed a hooded dragonspawn from behind and stabbed them in the back with one sword before decapitating them with the other. As the other dragons noticed they were under attack, the warrior grinned wildly before she charged in.

She fought fiercely against the numerous green dragonspawn, using some of them as shields whenever they tried to thrust a spear at her or fling acid at her. Jaqueline’s fighting skills proved too much for the dragonkin as she cut down one after another in her search for a Nightmare Fragment.

Eventually, she found a dragonspawn that had sickly green crystals growing on their scales. As she ended that one, she sliced off the crystals growing on it and grabbed one. She wasn’t sure if it was what she came for but she didn’t have a lot of time to guess on what she was looking for. The Dream portal in the middle of the ruins began sending in more dragonspawn to fortify the area and the last thing she wanted was to get overwhelmed and suffer battle fatigue.

Jaqueline retreated from the area to escape the coming horde of dragons while blowing her new whistle to summon Winona. The gryphon quickly swooped in and scooped the warrior onto her back before flying back toward Aerie Peak. With the dragonspawn unable to fly they had to quickly give up the pursuit.

With the fragment in hand, she hoped, Jaqueline continued her course to the Wildhammer home to find a dwarven mage who would conjure her a portal to Darnassus where she could ask a druid to take her to Moonglade.







Flutashe flew a great distance through numerous regions from demon-corrupted forests to familiar forests, through the high mountains and through the desolate wastelands.

The druid took breaks as she went as long-distance flying was not her strong point neither was it such for most other druids as well. Mena had to reapply her Levitate spell each time Flutashe landed to rest.

As they flew over Desolace, Flutashe noticed that the land was starting to show signs of recovery. The Cenarion Circle never discovered the cause of the region’s fall to decay but she could only guess that whatever the cause was, it had been removed.

After twelve hours of flight, the duo finally arrived in Feralas and began their descent toward Dream Bough. The island in the middle of the lake was crawling with Nightmare-corrupted dragonspawn.

Mena decided to try something, requesting that Flutashe drop her from above, the druid decided to trust that the gnome wasn’t acting suicidal and let her go.

With her Levitate still active, Mena let Surprise take over before she unleashed waves of shadow magic that sliced holes into the ground and cut several dragonspawn in two. The dragonspawn charged at the priest as she landed only for several attackers to get pounced on by Flutashe in her cat form. Her claws slashed through their scales while her fangs pierced their vital organs for quick, merciful kills.

Surprise disrupted the dragons’ organization by placing compulsions on them that forced several of them to flee from their enemies and confused others. Flutashe capitalized on this by leaping from dragon to dragon, tearing through their throats with her fangs.

Eventually they found a dragonspawn who had Nightmare Essence growing on their scales which the druid clawed off and handed to Mena for safekeeping. She then shifted into her bird form and carried the gnome to safety.

Once they were away from the corrupted guardians, the duo took some time to rest before Surprise made a comment, “You know that we could have easily killed them all, right?”

“What would be the point in that?” Flutashe responded. “We’re not trying to wipe out the entire flight, we just needed to find an enemy who had a significant amount of corruption on them.”

Surprise huffed, “Yeah, yeah…at least I got to kill things.”

Flutashe shook her head in disappointment but silently accepted that this was who Surprise was.

Once they were rested enough, Flutashe opened a portal to Moonglade for herself and her friend.







Sophia quietly left the mage tower in Stormwind before she floated her way above the city walls and out of the city, headed south toward Duskwood.

Using her psionic powers, she made sure the city guards who were patrolling the skies on gryphons didn’t notice her. She didn’t need the guards being distracted by her.

It wasn’t long before she floated over the river that separated Elwynn Forest and Duskwood, and then she floated over the hills and into the volcanic crater in the center of the region.

The Twilight Grove was as verdant as Ashenvale with its trees, grass and shrubbery in shades of green, purple and blue. There were also night elven archways to decorate the entrance to the grove along with natural light poles that resembled small trees that carried a bulb that constantly gave off light. Several night elf structures stood in the area including a moonwell, a basin that contained the moon’s blessed light in liquid form.

As she landed in the grove, a sinister voice called out to her, “I can sense your presence and your power. Come, let us find out which is greater, your power or the Nightmare.”

“Gladly!” Sophia cheerfully replied as she looked around the grove for her target. She quickly spotted a fairly large specimen of satyr channeling some twisted green energies into the moonwell. 

As she drew near to him, he stopped channeling and turned to face his foe. “The Nightmare cannot be stopped,” the satyr called out before he charged forward with his claws at the ready.

Sophia sensed his power and was not impressed. Instead, she gave the satyr a gentle smile as her arms were wrapped behind her back. The satyr took such a posture as an insult and attempted to swipe at the templar only for her to jump up and dodge the swipe and counter with a bicycle kick to his chin, sending him flying backward.

The satyr quickly recovered and channeled dark magic. He managed to strike the templar while she felt like her very soul was attacked. However, the pain was minor and she maintained her posture. Using her speed, Sophia countered by delivering a series of devastating kicks to the satyr’s arms, torso, legs and head in the span of a split second. The satyr coughed up blood another split second later.

Sophia was not underestimating her opponent, she knew that the satyr was a tough adversary, at least it would be if it were any of her friends facing him, but since it was herself alone with the demon, she decided that she wanted to play with him. She estimated the satyr to be about as tough as one of Ragnaros’ flamewakers.

Now frustrated, the satyr called on twisted illusions made of Nightmare energies who casted Shadow Bolts at her. Sophia dodged those with ease for a few seconds until she saw an opening and stomped the ground. Solid, chitinous spikes burst from the ground beneath the illusions and impaled them, causing them to shatter. She then appeared in front of the satyr and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of his head, sending him flying into the tree that housed the Dream Portal.

The bunny templar gave a look of disappointment at her foe. She added a head shake to add to that feeling. “Is that all you got? If so then I’m going to go ahead and end this sad excuse of a fight.”

The satyr’s eyes widened in horror. He had vastly underestimated his enemy. In fact, he picked a fight he had no business picking and now he was going to pay the price for his hubris. He attempted to flee into the portal but Sophia cut off his path while reshaping her right leg into that of a blade before she ax kicked him, slicing him in half.

As the two halves fell to the floor, Sophia quickly searched his person until she found a fragment of the Nightmare on his person. She pocketed the fragment as she watched the horrified expression on the demon’s face as he fell.

“You are one scary person,” Sweetie Drops commented over the link.

“You or Lyra could have handed someone like that just as easily,” Sophia countered. “Threats at this point are hardly considered a challenge, but the tougher ones won’t rear their ugly heads until years from now.”

“Just don’t get complacent, we can’t afford mistakes,” Midnight warned.

With the fragment collected, Sophia opened a rift that would take her to Moonglade, being careful to choose a spot where nobody was looking.







Stella and Bella were the first to return to Nighthaven, given that their travel time was the shortest among the other groups. The guards were curious as to how the mage was able to teleport to Moonglade since the teleportation anchors were exclusively designed for those tied to nature. Stella revealed her dracthyr form and explained that her body contained essence from all dragonflights, including the Green Dragonflight. This meant that she could use the Dream to travel to Moonglade. This led to a number of questions being asked of her which made her uncomfortable and prompted the paladin to chide the guards for asking questions that they were not authorized to ask.

As the guards walked away, Stella sat with Bella at an outdoor table to enjoy some herbal tea that the local innkeeper served them. “Thanks, they were making me uncomfortable,” Stella said.

“Think nothing of it, darling. Sometimes guards need to be reminded that their duties do not involve asking questions they shouldn’t be asking.”

After a few minutes of enjoying their tea in silence, Sophia walked up to the table and sat in an empty chair. “Hey you two, I take it your venture was fruitful?”

Stella pulled out the Nightmare fragment while Sophia pulled out her’s. Both put their fragments away while Stella asked, “I take it that you had to fight some dragonspawns for your shard?”

“Nah, truth be told I ended up fighting a powerful satyr who seemed to be about as strong as some of Ragnaros’ lieutenants. I enjoyed a good one on one with him.”

Neither the paladin nor the mage were surprised at this point, given what they had seen of Sophia’s abilities so far.

Hours passed and the trio became curious as to how the others were doing which prompted Stella to cast a scrying spell to check on them. At this time they were still traveling to their destinations which made sense since they had the longest distance to travel out of all of them.

Since the others’ journeys were going to take much longer, Stella, Bella and Sophia decided to rent a room at the inn for the night.

The next day the trio left the inn to find that Flutashe and Mena had just returned from their journey which left Jaqueline as the one missing.

That changed a few minutes later as the warrior emerged from a portal. Once she crossed, the portal quickly closed behind her. “Hoo wee, that was some adventure ah had. Ah had to show a druid the thing ah nabbed to get them to take me to Moonglade.” Jaqueline then noticed all of her friends were together before her. She chuckled awkwardly, “Guess ah’m the last one to get here?”

“Don’t worry about it darling, Flutashe and Mena got here not long before you did,” Bella assured. “So, do we have the shards?” Four shards of Nightmare energy were displayed to the others. “Excellent, then let us proceed to Keeper Remulos and prepare to fight that dreadful Eranikus.”

The group proceeded to the grove where they last saw Remulos. The Son of Cenarius had not moved from his original spot since they last met him. As they approached him, they noticed that he appeared to be meditating. He awoke from his meditation as they drew closer. He sensed the Nightmare corruption in their possession and knew that the time had come.

“Are you prepared? Is the world prepared for what we are about to invoke? I do not know…yet I am bound by duty to Malfurion.” Remulos sighed. “We must use restraint against Eranikus, we are to redeem him, not destroy him. Tyrande is already en route to assist us in this task. We must weather the dragon’s blows and save Nighthaven from certain destruction. Be on your guard, everyone!”

As the four corrupted fragments of the Nightmare were given to Remulos, he sighed once more as he stared at them for a few moments. “We will locate the origin of the Nightmare through the fragments you collected. From there, we will pull Eranikus through a rift in the Dream. Steel yourselves, we are inviting the embodiment of the Nightmare into our world.”

Remulos proceeded down the road to Nighthaven. On the way he had to run through the inn to get to his destination, lowering his head to avoid hitting his antlers on a wooden beam.

His walk ended on a platform overlooking the lake. He took a moment to stare at the lake, hoping that the sight remained unchanged a few hours from now. He turned to face the group who followed him. In the distance, he saw the guards preparing for battle. “The rift will be opened above Lake Elun’ara. Eranikus’ entry into our world will be wrought with chaos and strife. He will stop at nothing to get to Malfurion’s body. That must not happen, we must keep the beast occupied long enough for Tyrande to arrive.”

With that, Remulos began opening a rift over the lake into the Dream. Within moments a huge green dragon emerged from the rift. Once completely through, Eranikus gave a sinister chuckle, “Pitiful, predictable mortals, you know not what you have done! The master’s will shall be fulfilled. Moonglade shall be destroyed and Malfurion along with it!”

“Fiend! Face the might of Cenarius!” Remulos taunted.

Eranikus simply laughed as he heard that, “You are not your father, insect. My claws alone would crush you. I will give you and your allies one chance to survive this encounter, turn over Malfurion Stormrage to me.”

“How about we skip the banter and move on to the fighting,” Sophia taunted. “You speak of crushing Remulos whereas if I wanted, I’d rip your head off with my bare hands and add it to my growing trophy collection alongside the heads of Deathwing’s children.”

“We are not here to kill him, you know,” Remulos softly told the templar.

“Oh I know, but either way he’s no match for me.”

“Impudent mortal!” Eranikus roared. “You think yourself my superior? I shall crush you with the full might of the Nightmare!”

“Now you did it, I hope you can back your words because he will be targeting you now,” Remulos said. The Keeper of the Grove retreated into town and took shelter in a building overlooking the lake. The others followed Remulos into the building as they prepared for Eranikus’ onslaught.

The corrupted dragon flew over the town and summoned a horde of Nightmare shades who began to attack the guards. The guards were able to hold their own against the Nightmare creatures while the majority of the shades tried to attack Remulos. Bella’s Light burned away some of the shades while the others moved to attack them. Stella bombarded several shades with arcane bolts and Mena burned away a few with her own light magic. Flutashe kept her eyes on Remulos in case he became overwhelmed.

Eventually, Eranikus became tired of fighting behind minions and landed. He roared before delivering his challenge, “Face me rabbit-like creature, or is your bravado hollow!”

Sophia cracked her knuckles and put on a wicked grin as she ran up to the front of the dragon. “For the record dragon, I don’t bluff. I am going to make this really painful.”

Eranikus swiped his left claw at Sophia only for her to block his swipe with her right hand, much to his surprise. She then jumped onto his talon and up to his head where she delivered a powerful kick to his head, causing him to fall on his side.

Remulos was stunned by what he saw. He never expected a mere mortal to deliver such a heavy blow to an ancient dragon. He then witnessed the templar charging up her fist with electricity before slamming it into his chest, causing Eranikus to convulse as the energy coursed through his body. It was at this point that he hoped Tyrande would arrive soon if only to save Eranikus from Sophia.

The dragon got up and roared at his enemy. He then reared up and took a deep breath; acid filled his maw. Seeing this, Sophia delivered a bicycle kick to the dragon’s jaw and forced it shut, forcing the dragon to swallow his own acid. His body could take such a thing but not too much.

Eranikus attempted to devour the templar whole but she saw the attack coming and slammed a fist into his upper jaw, breaking several teeth. The dragon roared in agony while the templar ran around him to his left flank where she delivered a powerful kick to his left foreleg which dislocated it from his shoulder socket.

Remulos heard the pop and cringed. At this point he began to feel sorry for Eranikus. Thankfully the torment would soon end as he heard the approach of several nightsabers. He turned to see Tyrande and several of her priestesses dismounting from their feline mounts.

Tyrande walked up to Remulos with a questioning look on her face, “What is going on? Why is everyone staring at Eranikus?”

“Please priestess, work fast!” Remulos begged “The one who Eranikus is fighting is proving too much for him! With each second that passes his injuries become more grievous.”

“He’s right,” Flutashe added. “Sophia is doing her best to not kill Eranikus but the fight is becoming painful to watch with each blow she deals him.”

Tyrande looked at Eranikus in time to witness the templar bending his tail the wrong way. Even with her ten thousand years of hardening her heart to become the leader of her people, this was hard to watch. “We will work as fast as we can.” She moved toward the dragon and began making prayers to Elune. “Seek absolution, Eranikus. All will be forgiven…”

The dragon continued to struggle against his leoprine foe, only receiving more painful injuries in return. He heard Tyrande call out to him. He began to feel the light of the moon burn away his dark thoughts but he continued to fight.

“You will be forgiven, Eranikus! Elune will always love you! Break free of the bonds that command you!” Tyrande cried. She and her priestesses prayed harder and the moon’s light burned the darkness within him more fiercely.

At this point, Eranikus couldn’t tell what hurt worse, the light of Elune or the numerous blows that Sophia had dealt him. Pain coursed through his entire being and it didn’t matter if it was physical or spiritual, he felt the pain all the same.

Whether because of Elune’s light winning out or because Eranikus decided that being tortured by a rabbit person was too humiliating, he finally allowed the light to consume his entire being, purifying him. Tyrande fell to one knee while Sophia halted her ruthless assault. Eranikus collapsed onto the ground before he transformed into his night elf visage form. 

Even in visage form, the dragon looked like he got into a bad fight and ended up horribly injured. His face was bloodied and bruised and his left arm was broken. He wasn’t certain but he felt like he had several broken ribs and a few cracked ones. He was looking at weeks, possibly months, of medical treatment.

Remulos walked over to Sophia and sighed, “I thank you for not killing him, though I hope that he doesn’t die from his injuries later.”

“I avoided causing any permanent damage,” Sophia replied. “I was aiming to disable him so he couldn’t cause any damage to the town in case Tyrande was too slow. Say what you will about me, but I can be careful about where I injure someone.”

With the fighting ended, Flutashe moved to cast a few healing spells on Eranikus to aid in his recovery. Before she could, the illusory elf grabbed her right wrist to stop her. “Save your energy, young druid. The healers of Nighthaven will aid in my recovery. You have a more important task ahead.” He then placed a green shard into her hand.

The final shard of the Scepter of the Shifting Sands.

“With this, you will be the one to bear the scepter that will unleash the horrors of that place. That time draws near.”

With that, Eranikus passed out from his injuries. The druids placed him on a stretcher and carried him away.

Remulos congratulated the group for their assistance. He then looked at Malfurion’s student. “Take the shard to Anachronos, complete the scepter. When the time comes to strike the Scarab Gong, the world will be ready.”

With the final shard secure, Stella opened a portal to Tanaris.