World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind

by Blackdrag-rose

Temple: Awakening

Kayn looked down at the night elf that had fainted in his arms, wondering how she could have fainted when they approached the temple and not when he and the others had first rescued her. He suspected that it could have been because of the fact that there were more demons standing in front of the temple's entrance, but until she woke back up he wouldn't know for sure. His companions, Kor'vas Bloodthorn and Altruis, were staring at the sleeping night elf in his arms, though it was clear that they hadn't been expecting that reaction either. They weren't exactly sure what to make of someone that fainted at the sight of demons, though they were that way because they had been fighting demons for who knew how long.

"How long do you think it will be until she wakes up?" Altruis asked as they walked through the temple's gates, passing by orcs, dragons, and demons alike as they made their way to the summit of the Black Temple.

"I don't know." Kayn immediately answered, though he could judge that the lady he was carrying would be out for an hour or two before she was up once more, "I just hope she doesn't faint in front of Lord Illidan."

Altruis huffed at that statement, mainly because he was of the opinion that their master was rapidly becoming the thing that they were meant to be hunting in the first place, but the one time he had tried to go against Lord Illidan he found that he had no allies. He had, rather quickly Kayn thought, regained himself and rejoined the Illidari, as if he had done nothing wrong in the act of breaking away from their master. There was a special reason that Kayn continued to bring him out on missions whenever he had the chance, because he was trying to get rid of a seed that could very well rip the Illidari apart from the inside if he allowed it to grow too much. Kor'vas didn't seem to mind Altruis that much, though she always stepped in to prevent the two of them from killing each other whenever they got into a fight.

The three of them were truly a odd trio of Illidari, but all three of them were part of an elite group that was Lord Illidan's most trusted generals, again despite what Altruis had done in the past, though the fourth one was Varedis, who oversaw the training grounds. There were rumors among the Illidari that there could be a fifth general, one that Lord Illidan himself was waiting to find be he told them of his plans on how he was going to stop the Burning Legion. Kayn didn't believe that there was ever going to be another general in their army, though he let everyone think what they wanted, as long as they focused on their true objective.

Eventually they reached the summit of the temple, after navigating the various halls that they had to travel through and avoiding contact with most of the Illidari that called the place home, where they found their master in the same place that Kayn had left him.

"Lord Illidan, we have returned from our mission," Kayn said, though while both Kor'vas and Altruis bowed to their master he could not, especially when he was still carrying the sleeping night elf they had found.

"Good. I am eager to hear your... report?" Illidan replied, turning to face Kayn and his companions, though when he faced them he immediately noticed that Kayn was carrying someone, "I take it that the young night elf that you are carrying is what you found at the altar?"

"Yes Lord Illidan," Kayn answered, bowing his head slightly, as it was the best he could do while holding the young lady, "There were no signs of any warlocks, or their magic, at the altar... only her and the infernal that was chasing her. After killing the infernal we quickly inspected the area surrounding the altar, but when we found nothing out of the ordinary I chose to bring her back here to meet you... where she fainted upon seeing how many demons are outside the temple."

Illidan remembered what had happened when the races of Azeroth did when they saw demons for the first time; some of them froze in terror, some of them fainted where they were standing, and some of them raced to get their loved ones out of the way. Anyone not well versed in dealing with demons, and the various forms that they could take, was sure to either freeze up in fear or faint on the spot, though it sounded like this young night elf had done all three things he had thought about. He knew, from looking at the magic that surrounded the young elf, that she was indeed the product of whatever had happened at the altar of damnation, though he was beginning to wonder which of the other worlds that surrounded the Oulands she belonged to.

It was possible that she was a refugee from one of the other worlds that the Burning Legion had destroyed, causing her and her people to escape by some sort of magical means, though that didn't explain why only she was here... unless she was the last of her kind. He knew about the Broken, Draenei that were twisted into their current state by the demonic energies that lingered in the Outland, and that they were also refugees from another world that the Legion had conquered, one called Argus. Illidan had no idea what could have happened to the world that the night elf had come from, but he could only assume that it was either destroyed or consumed by the demons that he was fighting against.

There was also the possibility that her world was still intact, free from the Legion's notice at the moment, though he felt that it would be next to impossible to send her home, not when he had no idea which spell had snatched her from wherever she was from. At the moment all he could do was wait for her to wake up and see if she was good at anything, be it with magic or with a weapon, otherwise he'd have to find a place for her somewhere else.

"Take her to one of the unclaimed bedrooms," Illidan finally said, turning back to the mountain he had been staring at, "and have someone watch over her until she wakes up. There are some... questions... that I would like to ask her once she has regained conscious."

He didn't bother to look back as the three Illidari departed from the summit, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more, though this time he was focused on the newcomer. He knew not what world she was from, or if it was even intact at the moment, but despite all that he had the strangest feeling that she would be important in his war against the Burning Legion. He couldn't explain it, the feeling that he had felt the moment he saw the magic wrapped around her, which meant he was likely losing his edge at deciding what to do with those that allied themselves with his forces.

One thing was for certain, only time would tell if the newcomer would be of use to him, or if he as overthinking everything and was seeing potential allies everywhere he looked.

---

Lyra moaned as she felt her body awaken from her slumber, though the moment she opened her eyes and noticed the strange ceiling that was above her head, which immediately told her that everything she had seen before hadn't been a dream. She had assumed that everything she had seen, the different sky and ground that had been around her, had been a fragment of her imagination brought on by whatever magic had affected her body. More specifically she had been hoping that the demon she had seen had been something she had conjured, but considering her new surroundings she knew better than to believe that she had been dreaming. Now, however, she knew that she was indeed in a different world, where her body had been twisted against its will, and she had absolutely no idea what was going on in her life anymore.

It was times like this that she wished that she could fall back asleep and see if she was actually in a state of multiple dreams, where she was waking from one dream and finding that she was in another one, which would continue the cycle until she managed to find herself back in Equus.

This time, however, she knew that she wasn't trapped in a dream, so she gently lifted her front legs, or whatever they were called, and gently attempted to pull herself from whatever she was laying on. It took her some time, and a lot of effort she mentally added, before she managed to pull herself into some sort of sitting position, allowing her to see where she was. She quickly found that she was in some sort of bedroom, complete with a set of furniture that was simple in design, though she assumed that they were used in the same fashion as what she had back in Ponyville. Even thinking about what she had at home made her feel homesick, but she knew that she needed to find someone that could help her go back home.

"Oh good, you're awake." a voice said, causing her to turn to the entrance of the room she was laying in and found a strange figure, one of the ones that had saved her from whatever was attacking her, standing there, "Lord Illidan will be pleased to hear that your up."

"W...where am I?" Lyra asked, though there were several other questions, or more like a thousand, racing through her mind at the moment, "Who are you? What am I? And who is this Lord Illidan that you speak of?"

"Well, that first one is easy," the creature replied, crossing his uppers legs for a moment, "Your in one of the unused bedrooms of the Black Temple, the fortress-citadel of my master, Lord Illidan. Who I am is easy as well; I am Kayn Sunfury, and I'm one of the generals in my master's army. As for what you are, that is another easy question for me to answer; you are a night elf, or Kaldorei as some people take to calling your race, though the name also means 'Children of the Stars'. From how you were acting the moment we found you, and what you've done so far, I can tell that this isn't your natural body and that you have no idea how most of it works... which means that we'll need to find you a teacher if you stay here.

The last question, however, isn't as simple as the other three. Lord Illidan is the Master of the Outlands and Leader of the Illidari, the army that I am a general in. Anything else you'll have to ask him about, because even I don't know everything there is to know about my master... and sometimes its better that way. Though now I have to ask who you are."

"Oh... well that's easy. My name is Lyra Heartstrings," Lyra answered, not surprised that she would have to answer some questions as well, though she was slightly annoyed that she hadn't figured out who the creature's master was, "I come from Equestria, a continent on the planet of Equus, where I was born a unicorn. I am not familiar with this body at all, so having someone show me how to work it would be most appreciated."

"So you're a mage then?" Kayn commented, causing Lyra to raise an eyebrow at him, "I am under the assumption that a unicorn is some sort of horse with a horn on its forehead, which you apparently still have at the moment, and that must mean that you have some sort of magical power... otherwise whatever had pulled you here would not have affected you at all. Then again, I am unfamiliar with the other variations of magic that the various races of the Outlands use all the time, so I really shouldn't be forcing my opinion on you."

"Well, I'm not much of a mage." Lyra commented, because she knew that she had next to no magical skill, she only had enough for the simple tasks of levitating objects and moving them around, "I'm more of a musician in my home world... one of the dying breeds anyway. I play an old fashioned instrument, the lyre to be exact, though the rest of the industry is quickly to turning to newer styles of music..."

"Not to be rude, but that's not really what I was asking about." Kayn said, sighing for a moment before holding one of his legs up, "I'll be back in a few minutes... I need to tell the master that you are awake."

Lyra let the creature leave the room that she was in, as she had no way of knowing how to properly use her new body and would likely hurt herself if she attempted something that was beyond her ability at the moment. This strange world, the Outlands, was definitely different from her home world, which was based on everything she had seen before she had fainted some time ago. When she thought about it she realized that she had absolutely no idea how long she had been out, which made her wonder if she had been out for an hour or if she was missing whole days.

"You were only out for an hour or two," a new voice said, causing her to look back at the room's entrance and found another creature, the female one that had killed the demon and saved her life, standing there, "and no, I can't read your mind or anything... I'm just very good at reading emotions. The name's Kor'vas Bloodthorn."

"Lyra Heartstrings," Lyra replied almost immediately, wondering how many more of these creatures she would be meeting, before she noticed that the creature's body looked almost identical to her new one, "That's an... interesting last name you have."

"It's because I spill the blood of my enemies and am a constant thorn in our enemy's sides," Kor'vas replied, though Lyra was unable to tell if she was joking or not, "Judging from your own last name I can assume that your music touches the heart and pulls at the emotions... though now I know why Kayn looked upset when he left this room. And no, Kayn has yet to tell our master everything that he's learned about you... I was standing just outside the door, eavesdropping on your conversation while he was in here."

Lyra decided that Kor'vas was definitely different from Kayn, though from what little she had already seen of the two she had to wonder if there was something between them... or if she was overthinking everything because of her current situation. Before she could say anything, however, she felt something draw closer to where she and Kor'vas were, something that reminded her of the time she had been to Princess Cadence's wedding. At the time the source of the power had been from Princess Celestia herself, when she had done battle with the Changeling Queen, though she had to wonder what was coming their way. Kayn appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, though that was before both he and Kor'vas moved to the right side of where Lyra was sitting, to which they knelt before whoever was coming into the bedroom.

Lyra's eyes widened as the Lord of the Outlands, for that was who she assumed the night elf was, walked into the bedroom and stared at her through what she assumed was a blindfold of sorts. The only pieces of clothing he was wearing happened to be a sash of some kind and some sort of pants, leaving his muscular chest bare for everyone to see. His body had several strange tattoos etched into his very skin, as they seemed to radiate with whatever magical arts he used, though that wasn't the only odd thing Lyra noticed. The Lord of the Outlands had claws on his upper legs, or arms as she recalled that minotaurs had them as well, while the lower part of his body ended in hooves that looked like they would hurt if he kicked someone with them. To top it off he had a pair of demonic wings attached to his back, though they had been folded in so that he could walk through the walls, and a pair of horns that curved back towards him.

The Lord of the Outlands was an imposing creature, with an aura that matched Princess Celestia's own, though it took all of Lyra's willpower to stop herself from shaking after just looking at him.

"Are you scared?" the Lord of the Outlands asked, standing before Lyra in his full height, without having his wings out at all, while both Kayn and Kor'vas watched what was happening.

"Y... yes..." was all Lyra could say, because the night elf before her was clearly half demon at this point, and considering what had happened with her first encounter with a demon she felt that she was entitled to be scared.

"Don't be," the Lord of the Outlands told her, beckoning to the two elves that were standing behind him, "The Black Temple is one of the most secure buildings in the entirety of the Outlands, so as long as my forces control it nothing will harm you here... other than whoever you happened to be practicing with. Kayn and Kor'vas will help you get on your feet and see what you are skilled in, be it the art of magic or the art of the warrior, while I see if there is a way to send you back to whatever world you came from."

All Lyra could do was nod her head at this point, because despite the fact that she had been told not to be scared, by the creature that appeared to control the new world she found herself in, she still felt scared. She heard the Lord of the Outlands say something about a morning meal to the two elves behind him before he walked out of the bedroom, with Kayn following behind him. She had no idea what was happening anymore... and silently prayed to both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna that whatever was happening came to a swift end.

Unfortunately she had no idea what was coming her way, or what type of training that the Lord of the Outlands had planned for her in the immediate future.

Comments

[Crescent Glaive]

I hope everything goes okay

[Sonata Blaze]

7649134 Something tells me that Lyra is going to have to learn the hard truth of the world she has found herself in.

[Sonata Blaze]

Though, upon thinking about what I read, I have to wonder who the second displaced pony is... though we won't know that until Lyra finds out.

[Aria Blitz]

Oh Lyra, what have you gotten yourself into now?
Helps hope that the Lord of the Outlands can send her home, though I doubt that it will happen.

[LucidDreamer]

Is it bad that I read Illidan’s lines in his voice from WoW?

[the other sans]

Oh good, your awake
So your a mage then
Its because I spill the blood of

1. You're.
2. You're.
3. It's.