//------------------------------// // The End of the Beginning, Part 1: Training Grounds // Story: Seekers of the Epitaph: World of Azeroth // by Xarmar13 //------------------------------// Once everyone was prepared, Stella opened a portal to Warden’s Cage which was the closest she could get to the Black Temple. The party, now without Raida, entered into the burnt out wasteland of Shadowmoon Valley and proceeded east, dealing with a few wandering demons in the area. They soon reached the outer wall of the temple where Illidan’s demons had fortified their position along the road leading to the entrance. Walls to their left and right had routes that led to the terraces held by the Shadowmoon orcs and the blood elves still loyal to Illidan. Xi’ri floated in front of the entry path with a battalion of Aldor Vindicators and Scryer Magisters. He noticed the party’s approach and acknowledged them. “You have arrived. Our forces are ready to push back against Illidan’s forces and create a distraction for Akama. When you are ready I will provide you with the Medallion of Karabor so that you may bypass the temple’s wards and enter the temple. Akama already carries one of his own so he will be able to assist Maiev with her entry.” Flutashe looked at the road ahead and the many felguard and sayaad before them. She could also see a number of satyrs and a few nathrezim. The sheer number of them told the druid that this was going to be a tough battle. “Conserve your strength for when you are inside,” Xi’ri instructed. “Rest assured, my forces will open the way for you, Akama and Maiev.” “How do we get in when the entrance is sealed?” Lokosh asked. “There’s a breach in the side wall to the right that leads to the sewers where the naga infiltrated the temple back when they first invaded the place,” Mena said. Bella raised an eyebrow at the gnome but decided to leave it be since it was Mena who said it. “Are you ready?” Xi’ri asked. With a sigh and a thought to her demon hunter friend, Bella nodded. “Then let us begin.” Xi’ri began channeling the light in his body, glowing brighter until he unleashed it in a huge burst of light that bathed over the pathway. The light could be seen from a long distance which was likely the signal that the broken and warden were waiting for. In response, numerous dark portals formed in the area as hordes of demons, mostly felguards, emerged from it. They soon engaged the Aldor and Scryer forces around the naaru who began searing the demons in light. The battle progressed for a few minutes before a voice was heard further down the path, “Pitiful wretches! You dare invade Illidan’s temple? Very well, I shall make it your death bed!” The voice came from a nathrezim who appeared to be the leader of this defense force. The party watched as scores of demons were burned to ashes under Xi’ri’s brilliance. They had never seen a naaru fight before so this was an interesting experience for them. Even so, many more demons emerged from the dark portals but the naaru reassured the group that he could handle them. The Aldor and Scryers joined in and started tearing through the demonic ranks. A few more minutes later the guests of honor had arrived. Akama had his twin sickles ready for a fight while Maiev was in her full-body armor and cloak. Her circular glaive emerged from her cloak. “Now is the time, Maiev! Unleash your wrath!” Akama proclaimed. “I’ve waited for this moment for years. Illidan and his lapdogs will be destroyed!” Maiev shouted. As she rushed into battle, she stared at the party. Whatever expression the warden had on her face was left in mystery due to her helmet. The broken and night elf warden began to cut a swathe through the demons which allowed the Sha’tari forces to push forward. Olum and a number of Ashtongue Broken followed after Akama and the party followed after them. Maiev rushed ahead of Akama and spent as little time fighting demons as she could. With her prey so close she wasn’t about to let anything or anyone get in her way. Akama engaged the nathrezim leader alongside his brethren and quickly cut him down, the nathrezim declaring that Akama’s fate was sealed. Suddenly, the front gate of the temple was forcefully opened by a fel reaver that marched out onto the path. The gate shut behind it and the protective wards magically re-established themselves. “[Do not proceed. You will be eliminated.]” the machine said. Akama and the party stared at the colossal construct and prepared their weapons. However, Thanatas poked Sophia which prompted her to look at her cousin. “I’d rather not waste time on this thing,” Thanatas said. “Wreck it!” Sophia figured that if her cousin was giving her the go ahead to cut loose then this machine was likely not on the itinerary that she had for the party. She shrugged and leaped up onto the fel reaver where she began ripping it apart, piece by piece with her ultralisk-like strength. To the astonishment of the party and Akama, the templar ripped the arms out of the machine with her bare hands before she used one to smash the fel furnace until the entire construct collapsed. With the construct demolished, Sophia rejoined the group while having a pleased smile on her face. “Now then, shall we move on?” There were a lot of dropped jaws at that moment. Akama managed to recover from the shock and forced himself to remember the mission. “Let’s go, we’ll go in through the sewer.” He then led his Ashtongue through the opening in the wall with the party following close behind. They entered a small tunnel with a few dead vines growing above them. It wasn’t long before they found themselves in the ruins of the Karabor sewers. The stonework appeared to be of draenei design with parts of it having collapsed at some point due to lack of maintenance. Water continued to flow down a series of ramps and into shallow pools in the chamber. A few naga banners were seen in the area with the sewers being patrolled by water elementals, naga, hydras and dragon turtles. The party soon realized that the Ashtongue had hidden themselves in the shadows and moved on without them, leaving them to deal with the major threats themselves. Of course, this was just business as usual for them. Using their usual tactics, the party cut through the naga forces and destroyed the bindings of the elementals. Flutashe turned the dragon turtles against their masters and convinced the hydras to eat the naga who were poking and prodding them with electricity. They moved up a ramp where they fought a large water elemental before moving to another chamber where they moved up another ramp while taking out more naga and elementals. They soon reached the top of the second ramp where Flutashe convinced another hydra to eat his oppressors while they cleared the chamber of more naga. Two more large water elementals moved to attack but they were soon eliminated. Behind the two large elementals, the party spotted a strange-looking naga. This one had red scales and wore a belt with a blue cloth covering part of his chest. He also had barnacles clinging to parts of his body and a massive seashell on his left shoulder. There was also a seashell covering the top of his head and his eyes, or rather, it appeared as if the shell had fused with his head and left him without visible eyes. His right arm was a colossal hermit crab with a spiral seashell where the legs of the crab acted as his hand. “What is this abomination?” Talia asked. “Since Raida isn’t here to give the info, I guess I will have to fill that role again,” Thanatas said. “Naga lords like this one are much tougher than your regular naga. This one is High Warlord Naj’entus, Lady Vashj’s champion.” “Didn’t Raida briefly mention a large naga guarding the Black Temple sewers?” Bella asked. “Now that you mention it…” Stella muttered. “Are you all finished discussing among yourselves?” Naj’entus asked, failing to hide his impatience. “I would like to get to the part where I murder you all and avenge Lady Vashj.” Seeing that their enemy was getting ready to attack them regardless, the party cut their conversation short and readied themselves to fight the giant naga mutant. Naj’entus slithered toward them with his shell arm raised and crab legs curled up to form a fist. Everyone dodged out of the way of the attack before Bella struck his head with a light hammer. Flutashe began slashing away at his serpentine lower body with her claws while the others began their own attacks. With each attack that Naj’entus attempted, he also launched sharp spines that hit one of the party members. The force of the attack caused water to splash around them which struck anyone near them. This prompted the party to spread out so they could minimize the number of people hit at once. The spines moved fast so avoiding them proved difficult. Groun and Mena provided healing. Every now and then, Naj’entus would throw a large spiral seashell at someone which impaled them and pinned them to the floor. Whoever was nearby would pull the shell out of their bodies before one of the healers would close the wound. As the fight progressed, Naj’entus was feeling pain from the accumulating damage the party was inflicting upon him. In response, he channeled his magic into the waters around him and wrapped it around his body to create a bubble shield. The spell gave him the advantage of continuing his attacks and launching his spines from the safety of his bubble. The waters also had the ability to slowly mend his injuries. Try as they might, the party’s attacks couldn’t get through the bubble and their efforts were slowly coming undone. Stella’s fire and arcane spells bounced off the bubble which behaved as if the shield were made of rubber. “We need something sharp to pop that bubble,” Mena cried out. Thinking quickly, Lokosh found a large spiral shell that was used to impale someone earlier and picked it up before he hurled it at the bubble like a javelin. The result was met with mixed results. The shield was destroyed, but it turned out that the inside of the bubble was highly pressurized and the action of popping the bubble also released the water with devastating force that struck the entire party with a force akin to getting blasted by a fire hose. Everyone managed to survive the blast, but barely. Stella, Bella, Mena and Groun worked hard to heal everyone after that while Lokosh kept the naga’s attention. Unfortunately, Naj’entus decided to be unfair as he conjured another bubble shield not long after the first one popped and the party had too little time to inflict more wounds on him. With a new bubble healing him, the fight became more frustrating. Thanatas could see that this fight was going nowhere fast and would turn into a battle of attrition which the party would surely lose. She was ready to move in to assist but was stopped by Sophia who pointed at Stella. When the death knight looked, she saw the drakthyr had a frustrated look on her face which turned into a devious smirk. Thanatas then looked at the mage with curiosity. “Let’s not pop this bubble…not yet anyway,” Stella said. She then hurled a number of frost spells at Naj'entus but instead of targeting the naga, she attacked the shield directly. This caused the spells to impact on the shield which did nothing to it at first. However, as time went on, the naga’s attacks began to slow and the spines were having more difficulty leaving the shield. The spiral shells were becoming easier to dodge and the bubble turned a deeper shade of blue. “What are you doing?” Naj’entus asked. “Nothing much, just reenacting our battle with a certain giant sludge monster we fought a while back,” Stella replied. Realizing what she was doing, Farra’jin began calling on water spirits, contributing to the icy attacks on the shield. Naj’entus panicked as ice crystals began to form along the outer edge of the shield. The temperature within the bubble began to drop drastically as his shield slowly became his frozen tomb. His spines were no longer able to leave the shield and his struggles to attack through the shield were only delaying his icy imprisonment but even those were becoming less frequent as his cold-blooded nature was being used against him since the lower temperatures were making him sleepy. Soon the watery bubble of healing was now an icy tomb of death for the naga warlord but even then they weren’t sure what to do with a colossal sphere of ice since breaking into it to get to Naj’entus would take them too much time but leaving him there might lead to problems later. Thanatas decided to move in and land on top of the sphere before she pulled out her sword and plunged it into the sphere, channeling her deathly magic through it and causing cracks to form all over the sphere. Channeling a large amount of force into the ice, it eventually shattered into many pieces, some of them containing chunks of the now certainly dead naga warlord. Sophia placed a shield between the party and the sphere to prevent any shards from hitting them. “Using his own water sphere against him by freezing it huh? Very clever,” Thanatas complimented. Stella was out of breath after that fight and her mana reserves were very low after that bombardment of frost magic. Thankfully, she had plenty of conjured water to replenish it. Once they were ready to move on, the party proceeded through a damaged doorway and into a ruined chamber filled with small water elementals who were easily destroyed. They then proceeded into a large broken pipe that led them to a portcullis which Sophia lifted up. They entered what they figured was the temple courtyard on the other side of the main gate into the complex. However, what they saw was completely unexpected, even for Thanatas. The courtyard had been devastated and the bodies of many orcs and demons as well as nether drakes littered the area. The barricades and siege weapons were shattered and contributed to the clutter. About the only thing that was still standing was a colossal abyssal that emitted blue flames who was guarding the main entrance to the temple. “I did not see this coming,” Thanatas muttered. “What in Light’s name happened here?” Bella asked. “Maybe that abyssal had something to do with it?” Feloma guessed. “No, that thing was appointed by Illidan to guard the temple entrance,” Thanatas dismissed. “The only thing I can imagine that could have done this was that fel reaver from earlier.” “Come to think of it, that machine did look a little battered,” Sophia offered. “Perhaps the abyssal drove it away?” “Doomwalker, as that construct was known, was a Legion construct. If anything, the reason that the fel reaver even left the temple could be to convince the attackers that Illidan had access to such technology and motivate the Sha’tar to fight harder to take down Illidan.” “So this might be more of Kil’jaeden’s doing,” Flutashe concluded. “Regardless, we need to take down that overgrown golem if we are to get into the temple,” Talia directed. The next few minutes were spent navigating around the rubble and corpses as they made their way to the temple entrance where the abyssal, whom Thanatas referred to as Supremus, stood guard. The blue-flamed abyssal was even more imposing up close since none of them came up to the demon’s toes in height. They estimated that Supremus was about as tall as Gruul became during their fight with the gronn lord. “How are we supposed to be fightin’ dat, mon?!” Farra’jin exclaimed. “If you’re clever enough, you might be able to find a weakness you can exploit,” Thanatas offered. Once the party moved to challenge the colossal abyssal, Supremus attempted to stomp whoever got close to him. The size of his foot made dodging difficult for the less agile people but Flutashe was able to avoid the stomps. The abyssal’s body gave off an intense heat which prompted Stella, Farra’jin and Bella to use their fire protection measures to avoid being incinerated by the blue flames. In addition to stomping his enemies, he also punched the ground which created trails of blue flame to form on the ground. The flames were much easier to avoid compared to the flames Archimonde created. Suddenly, Supremus stomped hard enough to cause the ground to crack. He then proceeded to pursue someone else, namely Stella. Thankfully, the abyssal was as slow as his massive body would suggest so staying ahead of him was simple. While she was busy avoiding the demon’s pursuit, Farra’jin unleashed his ice magic on the abyssal’s right shin, cooling it while the intense flames heated up the area again. As Supremus moved around, mounds of rock began to emerge from the cracks in the ground, creating a miniature volcano that launched balls of blue fire from its mouth. It wasn’t long before Supremus got bored of chasing Stella and turned toward Talia instead who was forced to flee while she ordered her demons to assault the shin that Farra’jin was attacking. Supremus continued choosing random people to chase while more volcanoes formed around the battlefield. The flames began to reach the debris and corpses in the area, setting the area on fire and limiting the space the party could move to avoid the abyssal. Having enough of the game of cat and mouse, Supremus punched the ground in frustration and simply ran toward Flutashe again at a speed that made the others wonder why he was acting slow before. They decided not to question it and resumed the fight. Soon Stella and Farra’jin’s ice spells began to weaken the integrity of Supremus’ right shin until one heavy strike from Lokosh’s ax was able to crack the rock while a blade of light from Bella wedged into it and shattered the rock. Having lost his left shin, Supremus struggled to stay standing and soon toppled to the ground in a heap of rocks. However, Supremus was not finished. He began to rearrange his body in an effort to restore his mobility. However, his head was also exposed during that time and Stella blasted it with her Disintegration Beam which damaged it enough for Groun to grow some fire-resistant roots to wrap around and crush his head. Once the head shattered, the flames around the abyssal’s body dissipated, leaving a pile of rocks behind. Sophia and Thanatas approached the party who were now resting to recover from the battle. “Just to let you know, you probably could have caused Gruul to fall to one knee if you attacked one of his shins long enough which would have put his head in the range of Stella’s beam and his eye in Feloma’s attack range,” Sophia informed. She figured that a little bit of hindsight might help them learn how to deal with giant opponents in the future. Of course, Thanatas knew that they would be tested on this when they encountered the gronn lord again. Once they were ready to go again, the party climbed up the steps leading up to the main temple door. The massive temple doors remained shut until they were opened from the inside by a certain broken. They were surprised to see Akama waiting for them just inside the entrance. He chuckled, “I hope that Supremus didn’t give you too much trouble.” “How the hell did you get inside with the doors shut and guarded?” Talia demanded. “This temple once belonged to my people, I know every hidden passage in and out of this place,” Akama replied. His expression darkened as he looked down the two entry paths that would take them deeper into the temple. “The main sanctuary is just ahead. My people made a solemn vow to be loyal to Illidan until my soul is reclaimed. They will fight you to the death until then, plan or no plan. There are also a large number of demons ahead. Be prepared for a fight. When you are finished with them, meet me in the room on the right. That is where my soul is being kept.” He then vanished into the shadows. “I think this calls for a bit of reconnaissance,” Lokosh said. “Talia, would you mind scouting ahead?” The warlock sighed, “Fine.” She then channeled some of her power and conjured a floating green eyeball. Talia continued channeling to maintain the spell before she mentally piloted it to fly into the next room high above the floor. She spotted a large number of satyrs and a few felguards along with a couple of nathrezim patrolling the area. She also spotted groups of broken who appeared to keep to themselves though they would probably assist the demons if they spotted them. Talia stopped her spell and relayed the information to everyone. Once they were ready, Lokosh picked up a small rock and threw it to attract the attention of a group of demons guarding the entrance into the sanctuary. The group was composed of satyrs and a couple of felguards. The satyrs fought with either daggers, bows or magic, the latter of whom tried to burn some of the party members with felfire but Talia’s felhound devoured the magic. Bella and Lokosh blocked the arrows of the archers with their shields while Flutashe disarmed the rogues by twisting their arms before throwing their weapons at the other satyrs. Stella froze and shattered the felguards. Once the demons were defeated, the party moved into the sanctuary where they took down a patrol of two satyrs and one nathrezim. However, a group of broken also engaged the party. The broken were not much tougher than the satyrs though this group also had a shaman or two among them so they had to break totems while also destroying a spirit wolf. The party proceeded toward the door on the right side of the room where Akama directed them to which was guarded by more satyrs and felguards. Once they were defeated, the party entered the room where a large number of broken were either patrolling the room or observing a group of broken spellcasters casting binding spells on what looked like a shadowy version of Akama, except this one was transparent. They were suddenly whispered to by someone hidden nearby. They were startled at first but they recognized the voice of Akama. “Stay hidden, I need to tell you what needs to be done.” Complying with the broken leader’s request, Flutashe whispered back, “What would you have us do?” “As you can see, those spellbinders are keeping my soul captive. Illidan has placed a curse on my soul so that it would try to kill me if it saw me. It is also stronger than me so I will need your help in subduing it once it starts attacking me. As much as I would wish otherwise, everyone in the next room must be eliminated. They will try to kill us or fortify the bindings on my soul. Kill anyone who tries.” “Does it really have to be this way?” Flutashe asked. “Unless you have a way to restrain a small army of my brothers so that we can subdue my soul, then there is no other way.” Thanatas gave a look to Sophia who had a cheerful smile on her face. “You’re planning on using that little incapacitation technique on them, aren’t you?” “Why not? The whole situation is already bitter-tasting as it is since we are here to eliminate Raida’s master. Saving a few of Akama’s brethren can at least soften the blow.” Thanatas rolled her eyes, “Fine, do what you want.” “How about I lend a hand to minimize casualties while everyone else can focus on the soul,” Sophia offered. Akama raised an eyebrow, “Forgive my doubt in spite of the display I saw earlier, but how would you be able to defeat an army of my brethren without killing them?” “Just watch,” Sophia singsonged, followed by a wink. “Oh, and you may have to deal with the spirit wolves in the room yourselves, my attack won’t work on spirits.” Akama blinked, then shook his head to focus on the task. The time had come to reclaim what was lost. “Get ready.” Once Akama moved to the center of the room, he emerged from the shadows and began channeling his magic toward the soul to draw it to him. The broken in the room saw the intruder and prepared to attack their leader. However, in a blur of motion and the form of many afterimages, Sophia channeled a small bit of electricity through her fingers and lightly jabbed each broken on the top of their heads. Much to everyone’s surprise, every broken currently in the room fell unconscious. None of the broken were wearing helmets which made the task much easier. With all broken knocked out, Akama had no trouble drawing the bound soul to him. While more broken entered the room to reinforce the guards, they too fell unconscious to Sophia’s technique. Once the soul was standing next to the broken leader, the soul broke free of his bindings and attacked his former master with the same weapons that Akama wielded. The two were even in skill but the soul was empowered so that he would eventually overwhelm and kill his host. However, Akama was not alone. The party moved in to assault the soul with reckless abandon, knowing that the soul would be completely focused on killing Akama. The soul behaved as if nothing else existed but the broken leader and that would prove to be his downfall. Akama’s shadow soon collapsed on the floor once he succumbed to his wounds. With the soul subdued, Akama moved to the platform where the shadow originally stood before he pointed the phylactery at the fallen soul. Necromantic energies latched onto the shadow and pulled him inside the vessel before he drained the contents of the vessel into himself, restoring his soul to its rightful place. Feeling reinvigorated for the first time in years, Akama shouted so that everyone in the nearby room could hear him. “Broken of the Ashtongue tribe, your leader speaks! The Betrayer no longer holds sway over us. His dark magic over the Ashtongue soul has been destroyed! Come out from the shadows! I’ve returned to lead you to victory! Shed your chains and raise your weapons against your Illidari masters!” More broken entered the room and proceeded to bow to Akama. “Hail our leader! Hail Akama!” one shouted. The rest followed suit. A few moments later, the sanctuary outside of the room fell into chaos as the Ashtongue broken engaged the demons in combat. Mardum, a desolate world with an atmosphere akin to Shadowmoon Valley. The land and sky were black with a green tint and demons aligned with the Burning Legion resided here. It was also the place where Sargeras once locked up the demons when he was still a loyal member of the Pantheon, and the place where the Burning Legion originated when he set them free. It was here that Sargeras safeguarded his keystone, a sort of skeleton key that would allow anyone access to any of the fel-tainted worlds, including the world that the Legion uses as a headquarters for their dark crusade, Argus. Raida looked across the landscape alongside her fellow demon hunters. With her being the mission leader, the others looked to her for orders. “Lady Raida, give the word and we shall begin the assault,” Kayn said. Raida turned her head to the blood elf and gave him a nod. Taking this to be her signal, Kayn led the other demon hunters into battle. However, Raida held out a warglaive to stop Altruis who gave her a neutral look. Raida responded by crossing her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “I know that you helped some adventurers eliminate the instructors and Varedis.” “And yet for some reason, Illidan requested that I accompany you on this mission despite my blatant act of treason,” Altruis spat. “How can you not see that Illidan has gone mad from the fel coursing through him?” “If that’s what you think then you obviously don’t know him very well. Even before he was infused with the fel, he has always been rash with his actions. There are plenty of decisions that he’s made that I don’t agree with, but I also know that his plan to destroy the Legion is the best we have. If you have a better one than I would like to hear it.” Altruis remained silent for a few moments as he tried to think of something that would be more effective than Illidan’s plan. Sadly, nothing came to mind. Attacking Legion camps was only delaying the inevitable conquest and any defensive strategies were completely ineffective since the leadership could restore themselves in the Nether. Though the demons could be permanently slain if killed in the Nether, they would only be chipping away leaders but allowing more to rise up to take their place. They were also too few to effectively protect a world and the Legion’s arsenal would overpower any defenses. In the end, it seemed that the only way they could end the nightmare would be through an assault on Argus, but even that seemed to be suicide with what they had. “Even considering that we launch an assault on Argus, the chances of success are still too low. An assault on their headquarters would be suicide,” Altruis said. “How does he hope to succeed against such low odds?” “I wondered that too,” Raida said. “He may have been preparing the demon hunters for the assault since we have been trained to face powerful demons, but I don’t know how he thinks. One thing I do know for certain is that we need to defeat them and be prepared to sacrifice everything because the Legion will take everything from us.” Admittedly, Altruis had to respect that line of thinking. The Legion was too strong to do any less. He could also see that Raida didn’t blindly follow the Illidari master which he was glad to know. “One thing has been bothering me, why did Illidan request that I join you on this mission?” “He didn’t, I was the one who convinced him to allow you to join us.” Raida spread her wings and flew into the fray. Altruis stood there for a couple of minutes with a stunned expression on his face. He recovered his wits and rushed into the battle in progress. The area was controlled by a number of wrathguards, felhounds and an uncommon type known as imp mothers, a massive and rotund variant of the imp whose gut serves as a portal to summon more imps. The demon hunters were able to cut them down quickly. Once the demons in the area were cleared, the demon hunters proceeded to an inactive Legion portal at the back of the ridge. The gateway was powered by demon souls and Raida figured that after killing so many demons in the area, they should have enough power to activate the gateway. Once Raida activated the gateway stone, the portal lit up and a rift opened to the Black Temple, allowing a force of Ashtongue Broken to emerge from it before the gateway deactivated again. “Ashtongue Captain Gaardun reporting for duty, Lady Raida,” the broken saluted. “You have your orders, captain,” Raida said. “Yes ma’am, my forces shall establish a foothold for our advance.” He turned to his forces, “Ashtongue, forward!” Raida moved ahead with the broken until she spotted Allari nearby. She appeared to be at work interrogating an inquisitor demon using her specialty. “I see the Ashtongue are here,” Allari said. “I’m surprised that they didn’t cast their lot with Akama, though I suppose they have their uses. Cyana and Jace move on ahead but Cyana got captured while helping her fellow demon hunters. There is something not quite right with her…” “I’ll have a talk with her after I rescue her. Where is she?” Raida asked. “She and a number of our demon hunters are in prison cells up ahead guarded by a new type of demon called a jailer.” “Anything else?” “Yes, this demon has not been very useful to me. He doesn’t seem to know where the Keystone is. He just keeps spouting his loyalties to some queen. However, there is an inquisitor ahead with some impressive power. Perhaps you should consider adding his power to your own, Lady Raida. “Also, the next gateway is ahead, we need more souls to power it and summon our Coilskar naga allies. I don’t know why we are bringing them here of all places though.” “Alright, finish reaping this guy and meet up ahead,” Raida ordered. Raida rushed forward into the next area where she saw a colossal infernal in the distance. That one looked about as big as Supremus, perhaps even bigger. She quickly came upon Cyana’s prison which seemed to be guarded by several red demons who were floating around. They appeared to lack legs and wore robes over their lower torsos. They carried a metal cage on their backs that glowed green. Raida called her own demons to help deal with the demons in the area while she moved to save Cyana. The demon hunter in question struggled as a jailer demon tried to rip her soul from her body which came to an abrupt end when she heard the pained screams of her torturer. A bolt of shadow magic shattered her prison. Recovering from her confinement, she looked up to see her savior as none other than Lady Raida. “I apologize for allowing you to see me in such a pathetic state Lady Raida, I will do better.” As Cyana ran off to fight more demons, she felt her wrist grabbed by her lady. She looked back to see the stern look in her eyes. “I want you to fall back for now and recover your strength,” Raida said. “With all due respect, Lady Raida, I can still fight,” Cyana pleaded. “Perhaps you can explain why you are so determined to prove yourself?” Raida said, using a tone akin to a superior officer about to discipline her subordinate. “I…I was not strong enough to help my fellow demon hunters. I must become stronger so that I will not fail again.” “No!” Raida sternly said. “W-what?” “Do not go into that mindset, Cyana. There is no need for you, or any Illidari, to burden yourselves with such responsibility. To do so would lead us down a dark path. Remember what happened to Kael’thas, he took on the burden of his people and that made him a target of Kil’jaeden’s manipulations. “You are not a hero, you are a soldier. Despite what Lord Illidan may tell you, it’s alright to rely on your comrades to save you when you are in danger. We may not always make it in time to save you, but we will not abandon you. The true strength of the Illidari is our ability to work together to face even the most daunting challenges. We have our roles and as long as we play them, we can defeat even the likes of Archimonde and Kil’jaeden. I should know; I faced Archimonde once. While me and my friends worked to delay him from Nordrassil until Malfurion sprang his trap, I couldn’t have gotten that far without my friends at my side.” “But how can I face my fellow Illidari when I showed you such weakness?” Cyana asked. “Being imprisoned doesn’t make you weak. Being subjected to torture doesn’t make you weak. We have fel magic coursing through us but we are still mortals. If there is one thing that I do consider a weakness it’s arrogance. Being too proud to ask for help, too proud to understand your limitations, will only lead you to standing alone and dying alone. I used to be that way once, Northrend taught me a hard lesson. It also taught me that Lord Illidan is not all powerful. “I follow the path of the demon hunter not just to protect Azeroth from the Legion, but to one day become someone that its defenders can rely on to have their back against all odds, and I hope that they would return the favor one day.” Cyana stared at Raida for a few moments in silence. She had never considered things from that point of view. Perhaps she didn’t need to become stronger, though it would still be a nice benefit, she just needed to be closer to her fellow demon hunters. She gave a nod to her commander, “Understood, I shall withdraw for the time being. Give them hell, Lady Raida!” Raida smiled at her subordinate. “Take as long as you need, I need you at your best on the front lines.” Once Cyana ran off, more demon hunters along with broken troops appeared to engage the demons. She let them handle the task of rescuing the prisoners. Raida decided to seek out the inquisitor Allari told her about before she moved to summon the naga. The inquisitor stood before the colossal infernal which told Raida that this demon commanded the infernal. Of course, he wasn’t much of a challenge on his own, at least compared to the demons she’s faced in the recent weeks. The demon placed a powerful shield on himself which protected him from her attacks. However, he couldn’t attack either. Raida figured that the shield would only last seconds at best. She decided to focus on the infernal instead. The demonic golem hurled balls of molten fel lava at her which she easily dodged before she flew up to his head where she used her Black Eye Beam to crystallize its head before she blew it up with a Chaos Bolt. Once the head was destroyed, the infernal crumbled. She landed next to the inquisitor who had a horrified look on his face as he stared at Raida’s smirking face. “Was that all you got?” she taunted. “I’ve faced imps more threatening than that waste of rocks.” “Wh…what are you?” he asked incredulously. Raida ignored the question and crossed her blades and slashed through the air, unleashing an arcing shockwave of fel flame ahead of her and incinerating the inquisitor. The demon hunter nodded in approval at the new ability, courtesy of Magtheridon. Since her body had fully consumed the soul of the pit lord, she was now free to claim souls again. She took the inquisitor’s soul into her body and found that she gained the ability to use that shield of his. She debated on whether it would be useful in the future, but only time would tell. Once she reached the second gateway, she noticed one of her demon hunters, Sevis Brightflame, standing next to a gravely wounded broken. If she were to guess, he only has minutes before his wounds claim his life. The broken smiled as she approached. He sensed his death drawing close. “Do…what must…be done.” Raida placed her head beside the broken’s head. She spoke to him gently, “Before I do, tell me your name so that I may honor your sacrifice.” He smiled as he whispered his name in her ear. What followed for the broken was a sharp pain of a warglaive through his chest and the release of death before his soul left his body and flew into the gateway mechanism. The gateway lit up like the first one before a battalion of naga led by Lady S’theno who was designated as Vashj’s replacement after her demise. “Lady Raida, I present the Coilskar. Lord Illidan sends his best wishes for our success. I assume the foothold has been established?” “Yeah.” Raida pointed down the road leading north. “It’s down that way.” S’theno nodded and proceeded down the road with her battalion while complaining about the volcanic atmosphere of the world. With her work done in the area, Raida followed the naga to the next rally point.