World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind

by Blackdrag-rose

Azsuna: Faronaar

"Lyra, normally I would tell one of our fellow Illidari to not take the words of an inquisitor demon to heart," Allari commented, though as she spoke she knew that Lyra was concerned for any of the demon hunters they had sent into the demon's camp, "but I know that won't stop you from worrying about them. If you suspect that there might be a traitor to the cause, because of something a demon said, than I am sure that you might be right... despite how much I pray that you are wrong. I suggest you talk with Kayn for a bit, as I'm sure he has information that you might be able to act on."

Lyra nodded and headed over to where Kayn was standing, leaving Allari to clean up the mess they had made of the crystals that had once contained the souls of the demons she, Trixie, and Azuregos had captured. The inquisitor demon had sounded sure that there was a traitor to their order, indicating that someone must have joined the Legion, though as she walked over to Kayn she silently hoped that the demon was referring to Varedis and not someone that had been recently freed from the Vault. When she and her companions approached Kayn, however, her fears that the traitor was someone she knew only grew as she noticed the look on Kayn's face.

"Kor'vas and Cyana took a small force of demon hunters over to Faronaar," Kayn told them, to which he noticed that Lyra was definitely concerned about them already, which meant he was only adding fuel to her fire, "I told them that their mission was to disrupt the Legion's forces and, more importantly, not get caught by our enemies... though I have no heard from them in some time. Lyra, my forces and I will make sure that we hold the demons at bay, so why don't you and your friends go see if you can't find our missing soldiers... and then lead them to success, if they still require your aid."

Lyra nodded and turned towards her friends, to which she noticed that Trixie and Azuregos were a little confused, which made sense considering that the dragon had never met the other demon hunters and Trixie was likely having trouble linking a face to the names. As she lead them away from the main camp, and they walked along the beach so they didn't attract any additional demons, she took a few minutes to explain who Kor'vas and Cyana were. Trixie recalled that Kor'vas was one of the commanders of the Illidari, before all of them had voted for Lyra to take over and direct them, though she openly admitted that she didn't know too much about the other demon hunter. Lyra said that Cyana felt like a sister, as the two of them had spent a good deal of time together while they were training, so it was understandable when she said that she hoped nothing bad had happened to the group of demon hunters that went into Faronaar.

Once she finished explaining who Kor'vas and Cyana were, and her new companions knew part of the reason why she wanted to be sure nothing happened to them, they searched an area that was near a fountain and found Kor'vas laying around some demon corpses.

"Ah, Lyra, I had a feeling you would be coming," Kor'vas said, noticing the trio approaching her, to which she dusted herself off and stood up, "and I see that you brought friends. I suspect that Kayn knew that Cyana and I, along with a few other demon hunters, couldn't handle the mission he gave us if he's asked you to come check on us... and I think it would have been better to wait until you arrived and then gave the mission to you. My force wiped out the demon's forward base here, but an imp mother and her brood managed to capture Cyana and the others, though I have the feeling that they were taken alive so the Legion can corrupt them. Before I was captured I caught a glimpse of a blue drake swoop in and started attacking the demons, though as they brought her to the ground she managed to kill quite a number of them."

"There's a blue dragon being held captive here?" Azuregos asked, just to verify Kor'vas' story, though when the demon hunter nodded the disguised dragon turned towards his companions, "Having a local blue dragon on our side would be a stroke of luck, considering that she might know where the Tidestone is located and can be a valuable ally in the future."

"Agreed." Lyra said, though as she spoke up she knew that there had to be other reasons behind the disguised dragon wanting to save another blue dragon, but she didn't say anything about it as she faced Kor'vas, "Well then, let's get inside that demon camp and kills us some demons... while also rescuing any demon hunters they have captured and free the blue dragon that attacked them."

Trixie smiled as the group, now having four members, walked over to the entrance of the demon camp and started their assault, which was where Lyra and Kor'vas threw one of their warglaives at their target and gained their attention, allowing her and Azuregos to fire their spells at them. She spotted several inquisitor demons roaming the area, as well as some large brutish looking demons that Lyra called the Mo'arg, a few doomguards, several felstalkers, and a fair number of imps. She was sure that there were other demons that she didn't know about, but at the moment she focused her attention on gathering her magic and throwing it at whoever Lyra and Kor'vas were fighting at that moment... though out of the corner of her eye she spotted several groups of eredar trying to summon more allies into the area.

The group slowly cut a path to the first prisoner, who had been left out in the open so the demons could taunt the Illidari with the fact that they caught one of their friends, but Lyra smashed the crystal hanging above his head once the coast was clear... though she was happy when the demon hunter reported that he, and potentially some of the others, didn't give in and turn on their order. The second captured demon hunter reported that the demons had started doing terrible things to them, basically torturing them with the purpose of turning them against the other Illidari, but it appeared that all of them had held out and withstood the desire to join the Legion. The third demon hunter reported that the demons offered all of them unimaginable power, though the cost would have been corrupting their soul and becoming a monster that would have taken joy in killing their enemies... just like what Varedis had become.

They approached a cave and found an inquisitor demon trying to torture another demon hunter, though once they cut their foe down the grateful demon hunter revealed that the one behind them being captured and tortured was a Warden that had joined the Legion. Trixie froze when she heard that statement, to which she revealed to the others that she knew the old Cordana, the one that had been helping her mentor back when they were in Draenor, and that she had no idea what the new one was like. When they reached the back of the cave they found another demon hunter trapped, though when they freed her, however, she mentioned that the demons might have corrupted Cyana into joining the Legion... but she also told them that it seemed like Cyana hadn't fully converted to the other side, indicating that some part of her was still fighting the corruption the demons were forcing on her.

Lyra seriously hoped that Cyana hadn't given in to the fel energy that was inside her and joined the Legion, because she seriously didn't want to kill her... though before they found where Cyana had been taken, where Cordana might be waiting for them, Trixie pointed out the blue dragon Kor'vas had told them about... who was currently trapped in a prison made of fel energy.

When they approached the area that the blue dragon was trapped in, and slew the demons that were standing guard around it, Kor'vas pointed at the demonic locks and said that she believed that the key to the locks was on the jailer demon that was floating to the left of where they were standing. Unfortunately they noticed that the jailer demon was protected by other demons, so the four of them had to cut their way through the enemies that were gathering in front of them before they could even attack their true target. As they started the fight with the jailer demon, and dodged the attacks that were coming their way, the demon inquired if they were here to 'free the pitiful blue drake', which in turn annoyed Azuregos more than he was willing to admit.

The group had to avoid being trapped in the fel cage that the demon carried on it's back, which he threw at one of them occasionally, while making sure that they avoided the demon's attempts to shackle them to the ground... though that was before they dealt the finishing blow and dropped the jailer demon to the ground, where Lyra snatched the key.

With the key to the locks in their possession the group turned back towards where the dragon was being held and approached it once more, to which they started to deal with the demons that had gathered in front of the prison so they didn't free their captive. Trixie and Azuregos gathered their magic and started throwing spells at the enemies that were attacking Lyra and Kor'vas, who were holding the line as they progressed towards the unfortunate dragon. Once all of the demons were taken care of, for the moment anyway, Lyra walked over to the first lock as the others stood guard, because they wanted to be sure that the demons didn't try to stop them before the blue dragon was freed. A few seconds later the first of the three locks shattered before her eyes, to which Lyra smiled as she moved onto the second one... while at the same time the dragon seemed to notice that friendlies were in the area.

"Thank you, demon hunter." the dragon commented, though at the same time Lyra moved onto the next lock, because she knew that it was only a matter of time until more enemies came charging into the area they were in, "I am Stellagosa."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Azuregos said, causing the dragon to turn towards him for a moment, while at the same time Lyra shattered the second lock that was keeping her bound, "I am Azuregos, Keeper of the Nexus Vault, and this is Trixie Lulamoon, champion of the Tirisgarde, and Kor'vas Bloodthorn, one of the commanders of the demon hunters. Lyra Heartstrings is the one that is currently freeing you at the moment."

"My thanks to all of you for this timely rescue." Stellagosa replied, though the moment Lyra shattered the final lock, and let the prison unravel before their eyes, the dragon flapped her wings and took off, "Now I am going to finish off the Warden that did this to me!"

Kor'vas reached out, as if she was trying to stop the dragon from leaving and resuming the hunt that was likely ruined at this point, but one look from Lyra told her that they had more pressing matters to deal with. Lyra had felt a surge of fel energy near their location, one that made her wonder if the Legion was trying to convert someone to their side, so she decided that, with Stellagosa pursuing her own path, that they might as well stop whatever was going on before they left. She called for them to mount up and used her whistle to summon her felsaber, though at the same time she noticed Kor'vas riding a cat that had grey fur, while also noticing that Trixie's normal mount was also a saber of some kind, and that she was letting Azuregos ride on the back of her mount.

Once they were all ready Lyra moved out of the area they were currently in and headed to the left, where she rode up the walkway and then took a path that took them up to a small clearing that had a Legion contraption in the middle of the area... though inside the contraption was Cyana, who seemed like she was still being tortured.

"I know you can feel the fel energy coursing through your body," a voice said, to which Lyra noticed a projection of a corrupted Warden standing in front of the contraption, using one of the communicators that Jace liked to use, though as the group dismounted the projection turned around, "Ah, Trixie Lulamoon and Lyra Heartstrings, I have been expecting your arrival since these demon hunters made their base camp across from Faronaar. I was hoping that I would have broken through Cyana's resolve and turned her to our side, but I guess this means I can actually use my back up plan. She may not be Felsworn, not yet anyway, but she'll kill you with the powers that her former master and her new masters gave her... and then we'll take great pleasure in turning you as well, Lyra Heartstrings."

Lyra growled as Cyana screamed in pain, though she knew that it had to be from the jailer demon that was hiding up on the cliff above them, to which she pointed it out to Kor'vas, as they both knew that the demon's cage held Cyana's soul and that was how they were controlling her. As Kor'vas walked away, and Lyra had the others back away for a moment, Cyana's body was forced out of the contraption she had been locked in and started making her way towards Lyra, though she could tell that the demon hunter was trying to stop herself. Lyra could tell that the fel energy that had been forced upon her hadn't had an effect on Cyana's body, not like what she had seen when she confronted Varedis, but the Legion had made sure that they could control her... in the off chance that she resisted them.

As the projection of Cordana faded away, claiming that the corrupted Warden had other business to attend to, Lyra went on the defensive and started dodging or blocking the attacks that came her way.

"L... Lyra..." Cyana weakly said, one more proving how much control the Legion had over her, thanks to the jailer demon that Kor'vas was going over, "I... I need you... to kill... me!"

"Cyana, please don't talk like that," Lyra replied, though at the same time she felt some tears already forming, because even thinking about killing someone that had been like a family member to her was hard enough, "Kor'vas is dealing with the jailer demon that has control over your soul... and then, once you are free from his hold, we'll figure out how to break whatever the Legion has done to you."

"Maybe this... was why... Lord Illidan liked you," Cyana commented, though as she spoke her body swung her weapons at Lyra, who used her own to block the incoming attacks while making sure that neither of them were hit in the process, "Even when you are presented with something that is irreversible, like what Cordana did to me, you always try to see the positive of the same situation. The Legion's tendrils are too far rooted into my body, so even if I was allowed to live I would eventually fall into the same madness that has consumed Varedis... and I don't want to become the type of monster that he has become. If anyone else killed me I would be condemned and my soul would belong to the Legion... but only the Twinblades can spare me of my fate, with their ability to consume the souls of the enemies they have slain, so it must be you who sets me free."

Lyra was torn, because on one hand she wanted to use the Imprison ability she had picked up, back in the Vault of the Wardens, so she could lock Cyana up and have her teleported back to the Fel Hammer, where they could work out what was wrong and if she really couldn't be saved. On the other hand she remembered that Lord Illidan had told her and the other demon hunters that there was always some sacrifice that had to be made, where she wondered if this was Cyana's last one. Before she could make a decision, however, she noticed Kor'vas cutting down the jailer demon and let the soul trapped within go free, to which it raced down to where Cyana was standing... though once it was returned the demon hunter let go of her weapons with a pleading look on her face.

Lyra, making a split second decision, gripped the right warglaive and thrust it right into Cyana's heart, though at the same time she wanted to be sure that the last thing Cyana saw, with her empowered sight, was her.

"Th... thank... you..." Cyana said, to which a small smile appeared on her face before her body went limb, where Lyra pulled her weapon back and gently placed the deceased demon hunter on the ground.

Lyra sighed as Stellagosa swooped in to aid them in leaving Faronaar, for the moment anyway, but at the same time all she could think about for the moment was how she had lost another friend, as she knew the names of two demon hunters that had perished on Mardum... along with a large number of their forces. It was hard seeing another comrade go, especially one that had been with her since the beginning, but it gave Lyra all the more reason to hunt down and destroy the rest of the Legion. She and Trixie were going to make sure that they stopped the demons from destroying this world and then kill their remaining commanders... though before they could do that they needed to find the Tidestone first.

Fortunately for them Stellagosa knew someone who might know where the Pillar of Creation was located, so the group knew that the moment they landed they would inform Khadgar of what their next step was and then they would journey to the home of Azsuna's blue dragons... much to the joy of Azuregos, based on the small smile he wore.

Comments

[Blackdrag-rose]

8389072 I play a lot of Legion, but even I have to go back and double or triple check something to be sure I'm following what happened in the world of the game... and trust me, there are things in wow I haven't even done yet, so that info I may or may not have either.