World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Saving the Day

Lyra had to admit it when she was looking down at the entire of Stormwind that was below her, and she immediately mentally chuckled to herself in the process, but riding on the back of a dragon was actually one of the more interesting things she had done since she had come to the Outlands and Azeroth. It was clear, from how well she handled herself, that Trixie had spent a decent amount of time in this form, as she seemed to know how to maneuver herself in this form as if it was second nature for her. It was almost as if Trixie enjoyed being a dragon, which she guessed that a fair amount of ponies might have thought about when they were younger, but she was glad to see that her fellow Equestrian was happy to fly around the city and show her the various sections of the city.

The Dwarven District, as Lyra soon discovered, was the home of a good number of dwarves and gnomes, who were working hard to make a living for themselves, though it appeared that they were making a decent living if the smoke in the air and the sparks on the ground were any indication. From what Trixie told her, as she stopped above the district to tell Lyra about it, there was a trove of shops that sold literally every type of weapon in the world, for all of the classes they had, and that every shop was generally busy helping the adventurers like her and her guild or helping the people that called the city home. That second option seemed to be on the minds of the shopkeepers these days, as Trixie informed Lyra that lots of weapons and armor went to arming the local warriors against threats that continued to spring up... as for some reason many of the first foes she fought when she arrived in Azeroth continued to come back for another beating, which was perfect for all the recruits the various classes received.

She also discovered that there was a tram in this district, the Deeprun Tram as Trixie called it, that connected Stormwind with the dwarven capital of Ironforge, which Lyra was determined to visit at some point in time, just so she could see what it was like.

Once they were done with that district Trixie turned to the harbor and allowed Lyra to see the various ships that the Alliance had, where some of them could travel to Rut'theran, which was close to the night elf capital of Darnassus and the island that the Exodar, the ship the draenei had been traveling in, had crashed into. There was also a ship that occasionally made a trip between Stormwind and Northrend, the northern most continent in the entirety of Azeroth, where Trixie briefly explained that she had gone there to stop someone called the 'Lich King' and his army of the dead. Lyra also noticed an area where a large ship was resting on the ground, a ship that appeared to be some sort of flying ship, to which Trixie mentioned that she had been on one when she visited Pandaria, another land she promised to tell Lyra about... after they attended the funeral.

From there they made their way towards the Mage District, where Lyra immediately spotted a large tower that almost rested in the middle of the district, while at the same time noticing that there was a faint shimmer of magic around the tower. Trixie explained that a fair number of mages trained in the tower, either setting it on fire by accident, encasing the entire thing in ice from time to time, or even making half of it disappear with the power of the arcane, though at the same time she mentioned that there was a number of small portals inside the tower. Apparently there was a portal inside the tower that could take her to the Outlands, where she could explore the rest of the Outlands and return to the Black Temple... but Lyra didn't want to head there at the moment.

She also discovered, thanks to Trixie's knowledge of the area, that the district was filled with a few tailoring shops, a couple of warehouses that stored magical artifacts and reagents, and a few bustling coffeehouses and bars that were occasionally filled to the brim with both mages and warlocks.

They then moved into the Trade District, which was the first district that visitors came through when they entered the city from the front gate, though there seemed to be a fair number of guards patrolling the area as well. Lyra guessed that the number of guards made sense, especially since Trixie informed her that half of the city's banks, auction houses and inns rested in this district of the city. Since there wasn't too much to see in this district Trixie flew over to the place she called Cathedral Square, where Lyra discovered a large chapel that was the place where new paladins, of the Alliance anyway, generally made their vows to the Light. Lyra knew enough about the various types of magic on this side of the universe to know that the Light was another type, one that was potent enough to have its own order dedicated to it.

Lyra would have said that she would like to meet one of the paladins and see what they were like, seeing how she knew nothing about them or their order, but Trixie told her that one of her friends, one of the people she had traveled with and founded her guild with, was one of the strongest paladins in all of Azeroth.

Once they were done with Cathedral Square, and had taken in the sights, Trixie flew over to Old Town, where Lyra learned that the more shady individuals of the Alliance, such as rogues and assassins, like to hang out and do business with each other. She also discovered that there was a legal organization, one that was supposed to safeguard the kingdom as a whole, that had its headquarters inside this district, though she also learned that the group was called SI:7. Lyra didn't like the idea of a shady organization roaming this area of the district, even if they were employed by the King and his men, but she didn't voice her concerns to Trixie.

The moment they were done with the various districts of Stormwind City, and Lyra indicated that she was done with seeing the actual city, Trixie took them back to the keep, where she landed on the bridge that they had been on earlier and let Lyra climb off her back... which was followed by her reverting back to her human form.

"As much as I enjoy flying around in my dragon form, I understand the importance of having some balance between the it and my human form," Trixie commented, to which she stretched for a few seconds, thought that was followed by her tapping her staff on the ground and beckoned to Lyra, "Come on Lyra, its about time we figured out how Jace was doing with the leaders of the Alliance... and whether or not the demon hunters have been accepted."

"That all depends one what the new King of Stormwind decides." a voice said, to which Lyra turned her head to the right and noticed two people standing by the other side of the bridge, though the one who hap spoken happened to be a male human that was clad in some sort of plate armor.

"I'm sure that the King will allow them to join the Alliance," the second person said, though Lyra noticed that it happened to belong to a female panda, one who was dressed in some armor that seemed to make the area around her more peaceful, though her fur pattern happened to be a light brown color with some white stripes, "I am Xinyi Windfall, member of the guild that is known as the Celestial Dragons, and this is the leader of our guild, Landan Nash. You must be the leader of the Illidari that Jace told us about; Lyra Heartstrings."

"That I am," Lyra replied, though at the same time she shook both hands that Landan and Xinyi offered her, to which she noticed that the two of them were wearing rings that seemed to radiate some sort of power, which reminded her of the ring that was on Trixie's pointer finger, "Its a pleasure to meet the two of you."

"Agreed." Landan said, to which he beckoned towards the keep, indicating that it was time that they enter the funeral and present themselves to the leaders of the Alliance.

The four of them turned towards the keep that was sitting in front of them and started walking forward, where Lyra noticed that the guards that were posted along the hallway were staring at her, which she knew was because she was a demon hunter. Lyra also noticed that there were still a fair number of civilians that were paying their respects to the fallen king, which was the reason why Trixie and her two friends were visiting the keep to begin with, though that was before she noticed Jace standing in the area between the hallway and the main chamber... along with the other demon hunters that were patrolling the area.

"King Varian Wrynn might have been killed on the Broken Shore, but that's what the Legion wants," Jace commented, only speaking when Lyra stopped next to him and allowed the trio to approach the coffin in the middle of the room, though he gestured around them for a second, "they want to spread disorder among their enemies and weaken the armies that remain. As you can see, all of the leaders of the Alliance have gathered in this one area to mourn the loss of their former King and to help the new King take up the throne that he has been handed... but this all plays into the Legion's hands. Lyra, check some of the guards with your Spectral Sight and see what you can find, because I have the feeling that there are enemies around us and the leaders of the Alliance must be warned if they are in danger."

Lyra had to wonder if Jace's own Spectral Sight was weaker than her own, because when she was training in the Black Temple he had been stronger for some time before something had weakened his sight, but she didn't comment on it. She was used to the other demon hunters asking her to aid them in piercing the veils that the demons wrapped around them or kill a demon that they might not be able to beat on their own. She did, however, grip one of her warglaives and woke up her empowered sight, to which the disguises that the guards around the room were wearing fell apart and revealed that there were enemies waiting all around them... which meant that the battle would be beginning soon enough.

She tapped Jace on the shoulder, indicating that he had been right to suspect that demons were in the area, to which he nodded as Lyra walked up to the throne, though at the same time she noticed all of the leaders were staring at her... and there was one man, who seemed to be a mix of night elf and a bunch of different animals, glaring at her. She was sure that the man had some history with Lord Illidan, considering that the man mentioned that he was uneasy with her and the other Illidari watching over them, especially since they had been locked away since his brother's defeat. Lyra decided not to pay too much attention to the night elf at the moment, to which she stopped before the throne and stared at the fair haired young man that was sitting on the throne... with a look of sadness on his face.

However, before Lyra could actually say anything to the new King, let alone introduce herself to him and his fellow leaders, he started speaking the moment she stopped in front of him.

"I don't have time for pleasantries, demon hunter." the young King said, though he did take a brief moment to look at Lyra while he was talking, which was more than she was expecting at this point in time, "As I told the other Illidari, I have much to contemplate at the moment. I must raise our army so we can take on the Legion, despite the fact that some of my allies cry out to attack the Horde and avenge those that died on the Broken Shore."

"Good King of the Alliance, I am afraid that what I have to tell you cannot wait," Lyra replied, knowing that the young man might not even listen to her, but at the same time she knew that she had to try before the demons attacked them, "I'm afraid that there are demons among your ranks... and I can prove it to you."

The young King actually lifted his head for a moment, as if he was curious as to how Lyra could tell that they had demons standing around them, before he silently nodded his head for a moment, giving her the silent command to show her what she was talking about. Lyra smiled and approached the guard that was standing to the left of the throne, who seemed to be minding his business, but thanks to the lingering effects of her Spectral Sight she knew that he was one of the demons that had come to kill the enemies of the Legion.

"You cannot hide what you truly are from us, demon!" Lyra said, though at the same time she inched her hands close to her warglaives, because she knew that, once the group of demons had their existence revealed, they would launch their attack on the leaders of the Alliance.

"You are too late, Illidari!" the guard said, to which he dropped the disguise he was wearing and revealed the wrath warrior that had been hiding near the leaders of the Alliance, "FELBLADE, ATTACK!"

The moment the command left the demon's mouth the rest of the disguises dropped and the demons started their assault, revealing that they had actually created portals throughout the entire keep without anyone noticing anything odd, which told Lyra that they meant business this time around. Before she could snap out a command, and order the other Illidari to attack the demons, the warrior in front of her brought down his weapon of where she was standing, though she used her warglaives to stop them before they could touch her. She then followed that up by cutting the demon's hands off, and forcing him to lose his weapon, and then removed its head from its shoulders... though instead of relaxing she turned to the others and held a warglaive up.

"Illidari, attack the demons that are assaulting the keep," Lyra shouted, to which she ducked under another warrior's weapon and sliced into it's chest, "Shatter their portals and drive the Legion back!"

As her forces engaged the demons that were invading the keep, and she mainly occupied herself with killing those that came close to her, she noticed a few things happening in the area around her. Landan lifted what appeared to be a large two handed hammer from the holder on his back and wings made of light seemed to shimmer into existence behind him, to which she slammed the head of his weapon into the first demon that came at him and sent it flying back into the trio that were behind it. Xinyi slammed her bare fists into one of the warriors that were coming at her and broke its armor under the weight of her rapid attacks, though she did have some weapons, as she pulled out what appeared to be a fist style weapon, as she gripped onto the handles in the middle of the two weapons and planted three blades into the chest of her opponent... effectively killing the demon and allowing her to move onto the next foe.

The person that Lyra watched the most was Trixie, as the other Equestrian used her staff to block certain attacks from the warriors that wanted to fight her, though at the same time she made sure to stay out of their reach as her magic swirled around her body. Three images of Trixie seemed to phase into existence around her, leaving the demons confused as to which one was the real opponent they were trying to kill and giving Trixie the opening she had been searching for. She then used bursts of magical energy to harm her opponents, as she blasted her targets in the chest and knocked them backwards, though occasionally she would release a stream of small magical missiles to further punish whoever she was fighting.

Lyra chuckled as Trixie brought down a group of five demons on her own, which made since considering that the two other members of her guild were doing the same thing... to which she joined them in battle until there were no more demons left in the keep, and Jace confirmed that all of the portals they had created had been destroyed as well.

"I must admit," the young king said, approaching Lyra as she and her Illidari sheathed their weapons on their backs and turned towards him, "by discovering that our enemies were hiding in our ranks, you and your forces just saved us from a second tragedy this day... one that would have been far worse than the loss of my father. What did you say your name was?"

"Lyra Heartstrings." Lyra replied, though while she knew that she had never gotten the chance to tell the king her name she wasn't about to correct him, not when they had managed to earn a small fraction of his trust.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the young king said, to which he raised a hand for a moment, though Lyra gladly grasped his hand and accepted the handshake that he was offering her, "I am Anduin Llane Wrynn, the newly crowned King of Stormwind and the new High King of the Alliance. Seeing how you and your forces just helped the Celestial Dragons in saving all of our lives, by warning us of the Legion's presence and fighting against them, I have decided to grant Jace's request... you are allowed to establish your camp in the Mage Quarter. I have the feeling that the Alliance will have need of you and the Illidari in the near future, so try to relax before the Legion comes knocking once more."

Lyra knew that there wouldn't be a lot of time to rest and relax, not when the Legion had opened the Tomb of Sargeras and was summoning more of their forces to burn Azeroth to the ground, though she also suspected that they would be launching some assaults to cut down their forces. It was one of the tactics that Lord Illidan warned them about and have trained them for, so she already knew that she and the others would be keeping their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. As she considered what the Legion was going to do next she noticed that Anduin was talking with the other leaders, no doubt to prepare themselves for the next attack, to which she silently turned around and made her way out of the keep... where Jace and the other Illidari followed after her, though they also had someone else following them.

"So what's the plan?" Trixie asked, to which Lyra noticed that she was followed by the other two members of her guild, which meant that they were likely keeping an eye on her in case she did anything to Trixie, "Surely you and your friends have an idea on how we can turn the tide against the Legion?"

"We managed to find some demons while we were wandering the city earlier," Jace commented, though at the same time he glanced back at Trixie and her friends, "and I mean demons that belong to the Legion, so don't assume we shackled the demons that serve the Alliance's warlocks. Now, these demons we found are some of the lesser level ones, as they are supposed to carry items around and occasionally steal from the people they are sent to spy on... though the one we captured had two surprises for us. The first was a list of the areas the Legion planned on attacking, which we will share the moment we verify where the locations are, and the second was that the small demon planned on defecting the moment he heard that we had been released from our prisons."

"And how will you determine whether this demon speaks the truth?" Landan asked, though as they walked Lyra could determine that he was worried that they had brought a demon to the city in order to spy on someone, despite the fact that they had saved the lives of the leaders of the Alliance.

"We've inscribed a rune of truth into the cage the demon was placed inside," Jace replied, telling Lyra that someone must have a sense for demonic runes, which she guessed that she was going to have to learn at some point if she really wanted to know everything the Illidari used in their war against the Legion, as she only knew how to fight and how to lead at the moment, "We took the knowledge on how to use the more powerful demonic runes from an Inquisitor demon, one that was resting on a Legion world we took out before Lyra arrived in the Outlands. We didn't tell you when you started your training because we had no idea whether you were going to join us and take on the responsibilities of a demon hunter or run for the hills once you had your training... though now we know the answer."

Lyra nodded and glanced up at her horns for a few seconds, reminding herself that she had given up a part of herself to take out the Legion, before she focused on the path they were following... where she spotted an area that already had some of their flags resting around it. She hadn't noticed that one of the demon hunters that had come to Stormwind hadn't been present during the attack on the keep, but she guessed it made sense considering they found a small lesser demon running around the place. The small red skinned demon was looking around from inside the cage that it had been placed inside, which reminded her of the Imprison technique she had picked up inside the Vault, but it seemed at peace... almost as if it had been expecting something like this to happen and had accepted its fate.

Lyra also noticed one of the smaller Legion devices that she had spotted a few of back on Mardum, though instead of showing whoever was on the other side, as it was generally used for communication, it displayed the two continents of Azeroth, the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor... and that there were several blinking Legion icons on the map.

"It seems that the Legion has already started their attack on Azeroth," the demon hunter, Elerion Bladedancer, told them, to which he gestured to the icons on the map, "It appears that they plan on attacking Westfall, Dun Morogh, the Hillsbrad Foothills, Azshara, the Northern Barrens, and Tanaris... though I have already sent word to our comrades in Orgrimmar, so they already know what's coming their way."

"I'll gather some soldiers and head to Westfall," Landan said, to which he turned towards the rest of his group, "Xinyi, you should do the same and head to the Hillsbrad Foothills, though I have the feeling that you'll find the Horde there, defending their people from the Legion. And, how that I think about it, I'm sure that the mages will be teleporting people across both continents to stop our invaders before they do any lasting damage."

"Lyra and I will head to Dun Morogh and stop the Legion forces that we find," Trixie commented, though at the same time she smiled at the thought of spending more time with Lyra.

"Agreed." Landan said, to which both he and Xinyi started to leave the area they were in, though that was before he turned back to look at Lyra, where he raised his hand, "Hey Lyra."

"Yeah?" Lyra asked, though as she turned to face the paladin he tossed something to her, to which she caught the object and looked down at it, where she discovered a small silver that was resting in the middle of a shield, "Forgive me for asking something stupid; but what is this exactly?"

"The emblem of the Celestial Dragons," Landan replied, though at the same time he, Xinyi, and Trixie turned their smiles towards Lyra, informing her that she had missed something, "Trixie had that made when she discovered that there was another one of her kind wander the lands of Azeroth, back when we first journeyed to the Outlands. She said that she intended to welcome whoever the other member of her race was into our guild when she found them, though she entrusted the emblem to me after we stopped Archimonde from burning the alternate version of Draenor. So that is for you... and welcome to the guild."

Lyra smiled as she fingered the emblem for a few seconds, where the two other members of the Celestial Dragons summoned their mounts, a gryphon with armor for Landan and a strange blue serpent dragon for Xinyi, before they departed from the Mage District. Trixie, on the other hand, moved into the open area and shifted back into her Sandstone Dragon form, allowing Lyra to climb onto her back before she started flapping her wings and took to the skies. Lyra was sure that some of the other demon hunters would ask the mages to teleport them over to Dun Morogh and the other zones the Legion were going to attack, but at least she and Trixie could recon the area and form a plan of attack.

Once they had repelled these attacks she knew that they would begin planning their counterattack, which Lyra was looking forward to... as this was what she had been trained to do and was willing to ensure the Legion failed in destroying Azeroth, and that meant killing the rest of their foul masters.

Comments

[Ze1a7in]

Ooh, was that Malfurion you mentioned? In this line:

...and there was one man, who seemed to be a mix of night elf and a bunch of different animals, glaring at her. She was sure that the man had some history with Lord Illidan, considering that the man mentioned that he was uneasy with her and the other Illidari watching over them, especially since they had been locked away since his brother's defeat.

Also, nice chapter. I have to wonder, how will everypony react to Trixie being able to shapeshift into a dragon back in Equestria? I know that Spike will think its cool. My money is on the Flower Trio will most likely freak out upon sight of Lyra, and again when Trixie shapeshifts.

[Blackdrag-rose]

8346674 Yes, the night elf mentioned in that set is indeed Malfurion Stormrage.

Also, I haven't even thought about the return part of this story... as we're far away from that happening. I would hazard to say that some would be in awe, some would freak out, and a small number would be indifferent.

[the other sans]

rogues and assassins, life to hang out and do business
Three images on Trixie seemed to phase into existence around her

1. Like.
2. Of.

[TaliaKirana]

travel to Auberdine, which was close to the night elf capital of Darnassus and the island that the Exodar, the ship the draenei had been traveling in, had crashed into

Why are you mentioning Auberdine? That's in Darkshore and has been wrecked and abandoned since the Cataclysm. If you actually meant the Draenei island, that's Azuremyst. The ship in Stormwind that goes to Kalimdor now arrives at Rut'heran Village at the foot of Teldrassil.

[Blackdrag-rose]

8498699 Umm... that's one error that I have no words for. I play wow and I should have known this information... I feel terrible for not catching that when I wrote the chapter.
I will correct this error immediately.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

She tapped Jace on the shoulder, indicating that he had been right to suspect that demons were in the area, to which he nodded as Lyra walked up to the throne, though at the same time she noticed all of the leaders were staring at her... and there was one man, who seemed to be a mix of night elf and a bunch of different animals, glaring at her.

Discord???

[Blackdrag-rose]

8670819 Nope, that's Malfurion Stormrage... better known as the first night elf druid, the brother of Illidan Stormrage, and husband of Tyrande Whisperwind.