World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind

by Blackdrag-rose

Mardum: The Wardens

Lyra expected that when she and the others returned to the Black Temple, with news of their victory and the Sargerite Keystone in hand, they would arrive in time to help Lord Illidan fight off the invading forces, if the invaders managed to make it to the summit. She expected them to have a second exciting fight with the people that had slipped into the temple and likely watch as the Illidari succeeded in turning the tide against their opponents, who wouldn't be expecting their return. Even as she traveled through the portal between Mardum and the Black Temple she felt sorry for those that had died on Mardum, though their sacrifices were well worth it, as they had what they had been sent to acquire and were returning as their master instructed.

What Lyra couldn't expect, and even refused to think about even happening, was what rested in front of her eyes as she, Kor'vas, and Kayn were the first ones to come out of the portal and step back onto the summit of the Black Temple; as her eyes immediately landed on the glowing green crystal that was resting where Lord Illidan once stood. She refused to believe what she was seeing, but unfortunately she had to admit that the invading forces had actually done what she had originally deemed to be impossible. Lord Illidan, one of the strongest beings in the entirety of the Outlands, had been defeated by the greatest champions that Shattrath City and Azeroth could muster... though at the same time she glared at the group of armored soldiers standing around the crystal.

From what Lyra could tell the Wardens, the mysterious organization she had heard Lord Illidan mention in passing, had come to collect the corpse of their master... which meant that the other pony that had come to Azeroth had already departed from the Black Temple. At the same time, however, she could feel her rage building, because the only person that knew enough to send her back home, when she and the others managed to save Azeroth, was dead and there was nothing she could do to save him. It also meant that she and the other pony were trapped on this side of the universe, because the Keystone could only access Legion worlds... unless they could find someone who was skilled with portal magic, but she deemed that to be an impossible dream at this point.

As she finally returned to the reality that was her life, where Lord Illidan was dead, she heard several of the Illidari gasp as they realized that their master had been defeated in battle... to which she gripped her warglaives tighter than she had ever done in the past.

"No..." Kayn said, despair creeping into his voice as the rest of Illidari arrived behind them, allowing them to see the fate that had befallen their master while they were gone, "Lord Illidan... Lord Illidan has fallen?!"

Lyra could hear the disbelief in Kayn's voice, because they knew that their master had been a strong fighter by just his aura alone, which made her wonder if the one Warden, the one with the single spikes on each of her shoulder pieces, was the one that had helped the invaders out, because she could feel a powerful aura coming from the mystery Warden.

"Illidari!" Kor'vas called out, announcing their presence to the entirety of the Wardens that were standing in front of them, ruining their only chance at escape and forcing them to fight if they wanted to survive, "Avenge the master!"

"No." Lyra said, causing both Kayn and Kor'vas to turn to her, where they looked at her as if she had grown a second head or something, "We should retreat to Mardum, come up with an actual plan that doesn't involve all of us dying at the hands of the Warden... or the hands of the one that killed Lord Illidan. We've already lost Sevis, Mannethrel, and a large number of the Illidari in our assault on Mardum, be they our own brothers and sisters, the Broken, the Shivarra, or even the naga. We cannot afford any additional losses at the moment, not when we have the Keystone in our possession."

"So, the servants of the Betrayer have shown themselves at last," one of the Wardens said, though Lyra immediately detected that it was the one with the weird shoulder pads, as the other members of the secretive order nodded to her when she spoke, "Demon Hunters, surrender now and place yourselves into the custody of the Wardens. You cannot win in a fight against all of us, no matter what powers you might have learned from your demonic master... or from his own masters in the Burning Legion."

"Okay, that's where you would be wrong!" Lyra shouted back in return, to which she glared daggers at the head Warden, silently wishing that one of the lower Wardens would step towards her and the Illidari, because she was getting more pissed off than she had ever been in her home world, "Lord Illidan trained us so we could oppose and eventually destroy the Burning Legion, including their masters Archimonde, Kil'Jaeden, and Sargeras. So what if we take a little bit of the fel energy into our bodies? It allows us to hunt down our demonic enemies better than anyone else and put them down before they can do anything to someone else."

"You admit to being corrupted by the fel energy," the head Warden said, once again drawing agreement from the Wardens that were standing around her, "Surrender now and none of you will be killed, but continue to ignore my demands and I can promise you that some of you will be wounded before the day is done... possibly even dead."

Lyra growled as she looked at the two Wardens that were standing around the leader, as the two of them appeared to be ready for a fight, but as she looked at them she knew that if they took a step towards her, her brothers and her sisters she could always rush towards one of them and knock them to the ground before doing the same to the second. Then, as if some unknown deity was smiling upon her, the two Wardens she had been staring at stepped forward and drew their circular weapons, indicating that they were willing to fight as their leader suggested. It appeared that the decision was being made for them, so Lyra let out a sigh and stared at them, as she knew that it was time to stop talking and take some action... and get away from the summit before the Wardens captured her, her brothers, and her sisters.

A few seconds later, once the two Wardens were within range, Lyra dashed at the one on the left and slammed into her target, knocking the unfortunate Warden to the floor, before turning and doing the same thing to the second one... though once they were both down, and were knocked out, she faced their leader and glared at her.

"I'll say this once," Lyra said, to which she pointed one of her warglaives at the lead Warden for a moment, while she silently hoped that the person was going to be smart and leave them alone, "My brothers, my sisters, and myself are not servants of the Burning Legion. We exist as weapons to bring about their demise, so that none of the other worlds, across the vastness of the universe, have to suffer like the Outlands have. Leave Lord Illidan's body where it is and get out of our home... before someone forces you out."

"You bare the mark of HIS corruption," the head Warden said, to which she extended a hand and used some sort of blue magic on Lyra, to which she found herself held in place as the Warden's weapon glowed, though that was followed by the Warden swinging her arm to her side and Lyra's warglaives went flying across the summit, "And so the demon's blood within you will be your PRISON!"

The moment the last word left the Warden's mouth Lyra could feel the area around her becoming solid, to which she watched as her hands were encased in a green fel crystal structure, indicating that this had to be how the Warden's had sealed Lord Illidan in the crystal that was floating near her. She then watched as the crystal started forming around her hooves and her legs, to which she watched as the crystalline prison crept up her body and eventually locked her arms in place as well. Lyra struggled against the magic that was holding her, but as she tried to free herself she noticed that the crystal was creeping up to her head... until she was trapped inside the prison that the Warden had designed for her, Lord Illidan, and the rest of the Illidari.

"It... it cannot be." Kayn commented, his eyes wide as he realized what was happening, because Lord Illidan had been the strongest out of all of them and, according to their master, Lyra had the potential to overcome all of them, yet both of them had been beaten by the Wardens.

"This is your fate," the head Warden said, to which she beckoned to the other Wardens that were standing around her, who started moving towards the rest of the Illidari, "Soon all of you shall share the same fate as your master... so its in your best interest to stand still and accept your fate."

Kayn was thinking of allowing the Wardens to win this time, because Lyra was the one who had been carrying the Keystone and she was the only one that could use it at the moment, so if she was imprisoned in the special prison the Wardens had created for them then it would be impossible to leave without suffering casualties. Before he could shout out the command to surrender, and earn the wrath of the other Illidari, he noticed that several cracks were already appearing in the crystal that Lyra had been trapped in. He wondered if something was going to happen soon, something that would make them all believe in the fact that Lord Illidan had been right about Lyra... though that was quickly followed by the crystalline prison shattering into a large amount of fragments.

What emerged from the prison was Lyra, though instead of being in her normal demon hunter form, as she had been when she was sealed inside the crystal, she had transformed into her Havoc form, which meant that she had used the power of her transformation to shatter the crystal around her.

"I see the spell wasn't enough to contain you, but I shall not make that mistake a second time," the head Warden said, though at the same time she moved away from Illidan's crystal, as she didn't want it to be damaged during the fight that was coming her way.

Before her target could get very far Lyra rushed over to where the Warden was standing and swung her sharpened claws at her, though that was followed by the Warden rolling to the side as she avoided the attack. Lyra growled and followed after the Warden, as she leapt into the air and slammed her hooves on the floor, nearly hitting the Warden that was moving away from her. It was then that Lyra used the Eye Beam technique she had learned in Mardum, though once again the Warden dodged her attack and continued moving around the summit, as if she was waiting for Lyra to change back into her normal form... so she could imprison her in the crystal again.

Even in her rage, which would normally blind anyone else to what else was around them, she could hear the rest of the Illidari cheering her on while the Wardens said words of encouragement to a 'Lady Maiev', which she assumed was the name of the Warden she was trying to hit.

After another minute of dodging attacks Maiev decided that she had seen enough of Lyra's movements, as she went on the offensive and cut into Lyra's arms and legs. Every time Lyra tried to hit Maiev, and turn the tide of the battle, her target would dodge the attack and damage her in return, which lowered her speed with every wound that was inflicted on her. That was until Maiev appeared in front of her and tapped her chest, to which the blood on her chest hardened into the fel crystal that had been covering her earlier... which meant that she wasn't giving up on trying to imprison her and the rest of the illidari.

"The blood of your empowered form will serve as a much stronger prison," Maiev commented, though at the same time Lyra watched as the crystal rapidly spread around her body and was trapping her inside her new prison, without giving her much time to react or defend herself, "Go ahead and sleep, demon hunter, because that is what you will be doing for the rest of eternity."

Lyra could feel her rage suddenly burning out on her, to which she succumbed to the prison that was apparently leeching at her energy at the moment... and left the rest of the Illidari to their fate.

---

Maiev let out a sigh as the rest of her forces sealed the Illidari inside their prisons, though as they did so she stared at the crystal that she had placed beside the Betrayer's own prison. She had asked one of the demon hunters, the one named Kayn Sunfury, about the powerful demon hunter that had broken out of her first prison and charged at her, to which she discovered that Lyra Heartstrings was supposed to be from a world that was vastly different from Azeroth and the Outlands. From what she could determine the Betrayer had been training Lyra to be his replacement in the event that something happened to him, as her power seemed to be on a different level than the other Illidari, but her power was unrefined at the moment... and, truth be told, Maiev was glad that Lyra hadn't had more training that what she had been given so far.

The only reason that she even believed the story about another world, one more peaceful than the two worlds she knew about, was because Maiev knew someone that had told her the same story... as this person claimed to be a unicorn from the same world that Kayn had told her about, though at the same time this person had a unicorn horn that she preferred to hide under her hat.

"Lady Maiev," one of the other Wardens commented, breaking Maiev out of her thoughts and causing her to turn towards her, "Archmage Khadgar and his apprentice, one Trixie Lulamoon, have arrived and are waiting on the staircase behind us. Shall I bring them up, or is there something more that needs to be done before we meet with them?"

"Bring them to the summit," Maiev stated, to which she turned away from the Betrayer's crystal, because now wasn't the time for her to be focusing on the fact that she had finally ended the longest hunt she had ever been on.

The Warden nodded and moved towards the stairs that she and the other Wardens had used once the Betrayer had been dealt with, leaving Maiev alone near the two crystals. A few seconds later she watched as the Warden returned to where she was standing, though walking behind her were two humans; one older male and one younger female. The man was dressed in a unique robe that he had designed for himself, though in one of his hands he carried a powerful staff that radiated arcane energy that other mages could detect a hint of. From what Maiev could tell Archmage Khadgar had been cursed by his master, as it appeared that he was a young man in an older man's body, but she couldn't complain about the knowledge that the Archmage gave her and the other Wardens.

Trixie Lulamoon, on the other hand, was wearing a purple colored robe, which had bits of blue and brown mixed into the design, one that might have been reclaimed from the Tempest Keep, where Kael'thas was cut down. She was wearing a pair of gloves that mimicked the color of her robes, but where one would expect a pair of feet with some boots covering them, however, Trixie had a pair of hooves. Her hair, on both her hair and her pony tail, was mainly a pale blue color, though there were some cerulean stripes running through both of them. At the same time she wore a mage's hat on the top of her head, though beneath it rested her unicorn's horn, which she had been hiding, as she feared that people might not have trusted her... as people in the Outlands were paranoid of demons and might have targeted her if they had known the truth about her.

Maiev studied Trixie for a few more seconds, allowing her and her teacher to approach the crystals, because it appeared that Lyra and Trixie appeared to be from the same area, as they looked almost the exact same... save for the fel energy that was surging through Lyra's body.

"Archmage Khadgar, thank you for coming so quickly," Maiev said, as she wanted to get the crystals to the Vault as quickly as possible, as she would rather keep the Illidari contained before one of them broke out again, because if one could than she was sure that another could replicate it, "I see that you brought your apprentice with you."

"Yes. Trixie Lulamoon is an exceptional mage that learns with experience," Archmage Khadgar replied, to which Trixie blushed and rubbed the back of her head, as if she wasn't used to such praise, "Trixie has also told me that another member of her race appeared somewhere on Azeroth, or the Outlands for that matter, and that she wanted to be sure that she was safe. When we entered the Black Temple she felt the power of the other pony lingering in the air, so she has been keeping an eye out for her while we made our way here."

"Lady Maiev," Trixie spoke up, causing the Warden to turn towards her for a few seconds, "Have you seen anyone like me hanging around the Black Temple? Anyone with hooves, a unicorn's horn, any wings growing out of their backs, or tails like my own?"

Maiev stared at Trixie for a few seconds, as she was silently thankful that her helmet prevented anyone from seeing her face and her emotions, before shaking her head. She quickly came to the conclusion that if Trixie believed that the other member of her race, which had to be Lyra Heartstrings, was somewhere in Azeroth, then she might put her full effort into saving the world. She knew that it was wrong to lie to the young girl, as she had done nothing to deserve the lie in the first place, but it was a necessary evil at the moment, as if she revealed the truth to Trixie than she was sure that the girl would demand the release of Lyra... and, truth be told, Maiev still didn't trust Lyra, especially after being attacked by the demon hunter while she was in her empowered form.

"No. I'm sure that whatever you are feeling is the lingering traces of her energy," Maiev commented, taking a note of Trixie's disappointment, before she faced both of the mages, "The Betrayer must have sent her somewhere else, to prevent her from falling during the assault of the Black Temple, but there are no clues as to where she might have gone."

"We will take a look around the Black Temple, once we are done with our task," Khadgar stated, to which he approached the crystals that were floating all around the summit, knowing that the Illidari were trapped inside them, "Trixie, I will begin the spell to open a portal to the Vault, but I will need you to lend me your aid to keep it open long enough for Maiev and her Wardens to transport the crystals to their destination."

Trixie nodded and let out a sigh as she approached the central crystal, the one that had to belong to Illidan Stormrage, the man known as the Betrayer, though at the same time she noticed that there was a second one resting near it. She had to wonder what was so special about the second one, as all of the other crystals were resting around the center of the summit, but she knew that it wasn't her place to question it. All she could assume was that whoever was inside the crystal had deserved their fate, so she merely took her place and prepared herself for when her mentor started channeling the spell that they were working.

As she and her mentor opened the portal to the Vault of the Wardens, however, Trixie focused on where her fellow Equestrian could have gone, because it appeared that she might not be prepared for anything... though she hoped that she would have some time for that in the future. One thing was certain, she was going to have wait and see what the future held for her... and the Equestrian that was missing in action.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

MAIEV IS A DICK! THAT IS ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER! TRIXIE IS GOING TO BE PISSED AT HER AFTER FINDING OUT WHAT SHE DID TO LYRA! AND THAT MAIEV LIED TO HER! Azeroth deserves whatever the Burning Legion does to it, and I hope there is a rematch between Maiev and Lyra.

Guess the second pony's character tag will be added soonish.

[Blackdrag-rose]

8306048 Yeah, I dropped the ball on adding it as soon as the chapter was posted, which was my original plan. Now the character tag has been added to the list.

[Xarmar13]

The last time Maiev lied for the sake of her objective, she nearly got Tyrande killed and ended up with Malfurion pissed at her. You would think she would have learned her lesson by then, but NOPE.