World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind

by Blackdrag-rose

Argus: Mac'Aree

Lyra, Trixie, and the rest of the heroes, even some of the commanders and Lightforged Draenei, stood where they were for a few minutes, staring at the one place, in all of Argus, that had remained untouched and unsoiled by the Legion, even if such a thing was impossible to think about. No one was sure how Sargeras and his demons hadn't come up here at some point, especially since Archimonde and Kil'jaeden could have come here at any moment, but the fact remained that the Legion hadn't infused the fel taint into the land. Of course those that used the darker arts, such as the priests that tapped into the void for instance, could feel the shadowy energy coming from somewhere in Mac'Aree, while Lyra was the only one that could feel the presence of the other half of her personal circlet, waiting to be forged anew. Of course it was possible that by them coming up here the demons would take an interest in the area and come here as well, but they already planned on working fast.

Since only one person among them, to the best of their knowledge, knew what they might face down there, even if the old defenses might still be active, they still turned to Velen and found that he appeared to be lost in thought for a moment as he stared down at Mac'Aree... and he only snapped back to reality when Lyra gently touched his shoulder, to which he nodded to her before speaking to those that were around him.

"The shattered ruin below us is all that remains of Mac'Aree... we called it the Jewel of Argus. It was here that my fellows in the Triumvirate guided our people to prosperity. That was a long time ago." Velen stated, recalling part of the past again as he slipped into silence for a few seconds, though he eventually sighed and turned towards Lyra and Trixie, indicating that he wanted them to come with him, "Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, I would like for you to join me on the surface. We will begin our search for the Crown of the Triumvirate."

"We would be honored to join you down on Mac'Aree," Lyra said, to which she tapped her new sword for a moment while Trixie tapped the base of her staff against the floor, meaning that they were both ready whenever Velen was, and they hoped he would tell them about this mysterious Crown he had just mentioned.

"What can you tell us about Mac'Aree?" Trixie asked, as she was sure that there was a large portion of their group that was interested in what they were seeing before them, even if some of them, like Romuul, were shocked to be back in this one part of Argus.

"It used to be the pinnacle of Eredar civilization." Velen commented, answering the question like he was still focused on the land in front of them, though they both guessed that it was hard for him to see this area again, especially since he likely had to leave quickly before he was caught by those he had called his friends, "A beacon of progress... that drew the malevolence of the universe to our very gates. The last time I saw this place, all I could think of was escape. Talgath, who had been my trusted advisor at the time, had betrayed me... as I had told him about my plans to leave Argus and asked him to bring my family with him. Instead, he went to Kil'jaeden... and the rest you know."

Lyra and Trixie knew part of the tale, as Kil'jaeden had twisted Velen's son into a tool that would eventually come to hate and utterly despise Velen, maybe for reasons he never understood, and eventually sent Rakeesh to attack the Exodar, where he met his end and the Prophet recalled why he received that one prophecy all those years ago. Coming here was extremely painful for Velen, that much they could tell from looking at him, but he was still strong enough to steel himself and cast his feelings aside for the moment. Eventually Velen sighed and turned towards Romuul, who nodded his head and accessed the navigation console, to which he teleported Lyra, Trixie, and Velen down to Mac'Aree's surface, so they could begin their quest for the powerful artifact Velen wanted to recover. As they arrived on the surface, however, Velen seemed to freeze as something from the past returned, to which Lyra and Trixie waited for a few seconds, taking in the sights as they marveled at how the place could have remained untouched for so long.

That was shortly followed by Velen returning to reality and turned his gaze towards the path in front of them, which would likely bring them to the first area that a beacon would be dropped in, but his eyes narrowed as he felt something stir in the air around them.

"Wait... something stirs." Velen said, though as he took a single step forward spirits of the Draenei, those that had been fighting the Eredar and those that had been running for their lives, appeared in front of them and continued to act out the last scenes of their lives, only now being brought back since someone had visited this place at long last, "Spirits... of those who died that day."

Velen immediately started walking forward, though at the same time Lyra stood to his left while Trixie did the same on his right, because if something was going to attack them they wanted to be prepared ahead of time, so they could determine the direction before their next foe surprised them... while at the same time Lyra heard the faint sound of something in the air, something she couldn't place since it was her first time hearing it.

"I can still hear the Naaru's song of war." Velen stated, revealing what was in the air around them, which must have been stuck in his mind since this fateful day, unable to forget about it whenever he recalled what happened when he and his kind tried to leave Argus, "There was one who held the way open for us. She fell behind, and I can still feel her presence even now... but her song is bitter, distorted."

That was when they reached the end of the path, where the fighting was happening between the spirits of the Eredar and the spirits of the Draenei, and Velen summoned a barrier of Light around them for a moment, though that only gave him the chance to stare at the echo of the Naaru he had briefly mentioned.

"L'ura..." Velen said, naming the Naaru that must have been left behind when Velen and the others fled, though even if that was the case, and they had left L'ura behind, Velen had likely never forgotten the Naaru, and that was proven to the duo when they heard the sorrow in his voice, "It is as if the battle never ceased. How long have they suffered like this?"

"Prophet, tell us what to do." Trixie said, though at the same time Lyra nodded her head, because neither of them liked seeing spirits like this, especially ones that had been trapped in this manner for thousands of years without any form of rest or respite, "There has to be a way to stop this madness."

"This is the battle that raged while I awaited the Genedar." Velen replied, recalling what happened that fateful day with a sorrow that matched what he was feeling back when they were on the Vindicaar, "So many ran to join me, but Kil'jaeden inspired still more to stand in their way. My people were slaughtered without mercy. To cover our retreat I ordered for this arena's defenses to be activated. It is clear that they were unable. To turn the tide in this battle, to give these spirits rest, we must do what they could not. Find the cores and reactivate the pylons."

"Okay, meaning we kill the evil echos and protect the innocent ones," Lyra stated, understanding what she and Trixie needed to do, especially since someone must have sabotaged the pylons when Velen and his people were trying to make their escape all those years ago, "Anything else we should be told about before we head out?"

"Yes, the Argunite Matrix that powered this part of Mac'Aree was shattered by a hulking beast." Velen told them, to which Lyra's ears perked for a moment, as this meant that there was another creature they had never seen before and would prove to be quite the challenge for them, "We had never seen another like him. He was called Khazaduum and he was a most faithful servant of the Legion. He volunteered to undergo an experimental transformation to become the first of his kind. His arrival was the end of this battle. As a prize he took the Argunite Keystone from the shattered matrix. Find the echo of Khazaduum, destroy him, and take back the keystone... and maybe we can finally end this bloodshed."

Lyra and Trixie descended into the area in front of them and immediately started to search for the proper opponents that they needed to take out, though the first thing Lyra did was zero in on the evil echoes that were attacking the echo of L'ura and those she was trying to defend. Trixie watched as her friend rushed the Eredar spirits and started swinging her Felbreaker sword around the area around her, where the demonic spirits she hit roared in pain as they started to converge on her. Once that happened, and the spirits of those that weren't struck by the blade surged towards her as well, Lyra moved out into the open area and started hacking into her opponents, allowing Trixie to either assist her or search for the missing cores without too much interference from the evil echoes. Trixie decided on targeting the most obvious choice, as she found the remains of the three pylons easily and noticed that there was an echo of an Eredar standing in front of each one, which made things even easier for her.

Trixie smiled as she called her arcane energy to her hands and started blasting the first evil echo that she was targeting, though as it charged at her, and tried to hit her with it's staff, Trixie responded by using Aluneth to block the incoming attack and slammed an arcane empowered palm against her opponent's chest. As she suspected the echo was blown backwards with a hole in it's chest, which wasn't likely to happen against actual flesh and blood enemies, to which she stepped forward and had her mood improve when she pulled out the core she was looking for. From there she approached the downed pylon and slipped it back into the slot that it was supposed to go to, where the crystal device rose back into the air and started to perform it's ancient task, but she could tell that they needed the matrix back online before this area was truly safe. She then headed towards the second pylon, in the middle of the three arches that entered this area, and repeated the process with the Eredar echo that wanted to keep the pylon offline... where she eventually blasted the echo apart and empowered the second of the three pylons.

Once the second one was up and running again, at least to the best of their ability at the moment, she repeated the process once more with the third pylon and smiled as the echo died while the device became active... to which she turned back towards the echo of L'ura and found Lyra cutting down the last evil echo that had come towards her, and she didn't seem all that tired at the moment.

"So, where would we find the echo of Khazaduum?" Trixie asked, as that was the one thing she didn't know about, especially since they had no idea what form the Eredar had taken on after he subjected himself to such a transformation all those years ago.

"Right there." Lyra replied, to which she pointed her blade towards the middle arch, where Trixie spotted a large demon, which looked like an Eredar that was merged with a brutish warrior and had four large spikes growing from his back, standing tall like a general that was about to win a war, "I may not be able to sense the fel energy inside demons anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't sense their presence and find them with ease."

Trixie chuckled as she and Lyra headed through the arch that would allow them to engage Khazaduum, who seemed really eager for battle when they arrived, because he immediately called them weaklings and declared that they were all going to die, meaning he was talking to the Draenei and not them, before he attacked. Lyra and Trixie immediately found that his punches and kicks really backed a punch, revealing the power that he had claimed all those years ago, while also demonstrating that their attacks did some damage to him, but not nearly what they were used to doing against demons and other spirits. When Lyra slipped into using Light based attacks she noticed that her damage seemed to increase, as the echo of Khazaduum staggered a few times during the fight, but she kept the momentum going and continued attacking her target, even as Trixie's spells made him lose focus several times during their fight.

Eventually Lyra jumped into the air and drove the blade of Felbreaker into the echoes chest, where she swung her arm and the Light energy sliced through the echo with ease, though as the two halves fell to the floor, and started to fade away before their eyes, Trixie rushed forward and picked up the Argunite Keystone, before she backed away from the fallen echo... where she and Lyra returned to where Velen was waiting for their arrival.

"Prophet, we have good news." Trixie said, to which she beckoned to the newly awoken pylons, which may not be in complete working order since the matrix was offline, but it was a start, "The pylons in the area have been restored, as their cores have been returned to them."

"Good." Velen replied, to which a smile appeared on his face, before he remembered the second task he had asked them to accomplish and looked at them, "And what of Khazaduum's echo? Did you destroy him?"

"That we did." Lyra answered, where she swung her sword around for a few seconds and returned it to it's sheath, before she looked up at Velen with a grin on her face, "He shouldn't be able to come back for some time, unless his healing was enhanced as well."

"Then we have everything we need." Velen stated, to which he lowered the barrier that he had been channeling the entire time and looked at the duo, knowing that they were likely the key to this war, "In the alcove below you will find the shattered remains of the Argunite Matrix. Replacing the Keystone will restore it to full capacity. The pylons you activated will then be able to repel those who still hunt my people. At long last this battle will be over. I hope it brings them peace."

Sure enough Trixie quickly found the alcove that Velen was talking about and called Lyra over, to which the two of them walked down into the small chamber and found the shattered Argunite Matrix that they had been told about, where Trixie held the keystone out and backed away after it floated out of her hands. The duo watched as the pieces floated back into the air before they realigned themselves, though as they both felt a surge of energy they walked back outside and found that the pylons were now floating high in the air. The echoes, of the Eredar, of the Draenei, and of L'ura herself, were long gone at this point, though they found Velen standing where L'ura had been floating and appeared to be lost in thought, to which they silently approached the Prophet and waited to see if he had anything to tell them.

"My people will never know how I mourned for them... the depths of my regret." Velen commented, though whether or not he was aware of their presence they didn't know, but neither Lyra or Trixie spoke up yet, as they wanted the Prophet to clear his mind before they said anything, "As Argus grew smaller and smaller in the distance, I begged the Naaru to go back. 'That is not your path,' they told me. Is this what they intended?"

"Prophet, I may not be as attuned to the Light as you are," Lyra said, to which she stepped forward and rested a hand on Velen's arm, as she got the feeling that his already sad story was going to get even sadder as they pressed even further into Mac'Aree, but she wanted him to know that they were there for him, "but I'm sure that their spirits know that you mourned their passing and deeply regretted what happened that day."

Velen stared at her for a few seconds, and then did the same thing to Trixie when she stepped forward and did the same thing that Lyra was doing, before he eventually sighed and turned his gaze towards the parts of Mac'Aree that rested outside the area they were in.

"We must continue on, but I feel Mac'Aree is far from finished with us." Velen finally said, to which he reached into his own pack and withdrew a crystal, the same one they used to call down beacons, and placed it where the echo of L'ura had been resting, "We should take advantage of this relative safety while we still can. Lyra, would you help me call down a beacon, just in case we need to fall back to the Vindicaar?"

Lyra nodded and held her hand out towards the crystal at the same time that Velen did, to which their combined powers caused the crystal to return to the Vindicaar before the beacon slammed down into where it had been moments ago, before opening up and creating the teleportation point for them to use. With the beacon operational several of the Lightforged Draenei, the commanders of the Army of the Light that they had met so far, teleported down to the area that they were in and saluted the Prophet, who nodded towards them in turn. Lyra and Trixie recognized Baraat the Longshot, Archmage Y'mera, Grand Vindicator Sorvos, Grand Lector Enaara and Captain Fareeya immediately, since they had met all of them in the past, though the only one they didn't recognize the Lightforged Draenei warrior, who said that he was known as Blademaster Telaamon... to which they greeted the commanders and wondered what was going to happen next.

"Archenon poros, Prophet." Fareeya said, to which she bowed her head towards Velen, indicating that the Lightforged held him in high regards, no doubt because of something Turalyon had said and his own powers over the Light, "The Army of the Light stands with you."

"Your help is most welcome, Fareeya." Velen replied, to which he turned towards Lyra and Trixie for a moment, indicating that what was coming next was the first real step in locating the Crown of the Triumvirate, "Now we may begin our search for the Crown of the Triumvirate. We will start with the fragment Archimonde carried: the Sigil of Awakening. To the east and north you will find all that remains of the greatest school of magic on Argus. It was there that Archimonde gained his mastery of the arcane. I can think of no other place he would stow his treasures. It will be guarded, no doubt. We will leverage the expertise of Fareeya's forces here to follow this trail."

"What exactly is this Crown of the Triumvirate that you keep mentioning?" Trixie asked, as today was the first time she had ever heard of such an artifact, even if it was one known only to the Draenei as a well guarded secret, and she wanted to know something about it.

"An ancient and powerful relic that Archimonde, Kil'jaeden, and I crafted ages ago, to bring prosperity to our people." Velen replied, to which he moved his staff in front of him for a few seconds and tapped the large light pink gemstone that was the center piece of his weapon, "This is the Eye of Prophecy, the piece of the Crown that I took with me to deprive the Legion of the Crown's full power, least they twisted it into a mockery for their own sinister goals. Kil'jaeden held another piece of the ancient artifact, the Crest of Knowledge, while Archimonde carried the Sigil of Awakening... which is located somewhere inside the Conservatory."

"Y'mera can help you out in that regard." Fareeya said, to which the Lightforged Archmage nodded her head for a moment, indicating that she could assist them in some manner.

Lyra and Trixie smiled for a few moments, because it appeared that they were finally getting somewhere in regards to restoring the Crown of the Triumvirate to it's original glory... and, to claim the second fragment, they would likely have to deal with whatever trails Archimonde put in place all those years ago, before he forgot it even existed.

Comments

[Midnight Moon]

So... are we sure Blackdrag-rose isn't related to Tatsurou in some manner? Also, nice new set of chapters.

[TheArcticWolf]

8894121
I know right.

[Xarmar13]

8894121
I can definitely see some similarities to this series and Tatsurou's "Adopted Displaced" series. Even using some of the same game universes that he used. At this point though, I am hoping one of them makes a displaced Starcraft story.