World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: News

Lyra sat on the bed she had been resting on for an unknown amount of time, going over everything that Xe'ra had told her and everything that had been revealed to her by the Prime Naaru, though she continued to come to the same conclusion no matter how much she thought about it. The Army of the Light, the very force that was supposed to be fighting the Legion on Argus at that very moment, was apparently losing ground and was approaching the point where the demons would utterly destroy them. The Titan Pantheon, considered to be the gods of this universe, had been slain by one of their own thousands upon thousands of years ago, meaning that they were hopelessly outclassed if they actually had to fight Sargeras in battle. And the only person that could stop the age of the demons, her master Illidan Stormrage, had been killed seven years ago by Trixie's guild, who she couldn't fault considering that they didn't know his destiny, and his body was in the hands of Gul'dan... no doubt intending on bringing Sargeras' spirit into Illidan's body to purge this world personally.

They were screwed beyond comprehension, so much so that her victory over Varedis and Caria seemed like nothing in the grand scheme of things that she had just discovered... and now she was worried that they were actually fighting a losing battle, because it seemed like everything was stacked in Sargeras' favor this time around.

She actually had to wonder what Trixie would make of what she had discovered, especially since she and her guild had been responsible for the death of Archimonde, the defeat of three Old Gods, a dragon that could have destroyed the entire world, and an undead king that wanted to kill every last living person that Azeroth had. Trixie had more experience defying the odds and saving this world, though even she would have to admit that these odds were terrible, but she had no way of knowing how Trixie would react when she told her the news. She also knew that she needed to keep this quiet for now, because if people thought that she had seen a vision of this world ending it might stop them from fighting and might speed along the downfall of Azeroth... and Equus as well for that matter.

A noise to her left interrupted her thoughts, to which Lyra turned her head to the left and spotted Trixie standing in the doorway she had seen earlier, though her fellow Equestrian was smiling as she moved into the building and threw her arms over Lyra.

"Lyra! I'm glad to see that you are alright." Trixie said, though Lyra could tell that her friend had been worried about her for some reason, something that she was going to get to the bottom of at some point in time, "You collapsed on the floor of the Fel Hammer after touching the Tears of Elune to Light's Heart, to which one of your champions, Kayn I believe his name was, delivered you to the infirmary and told us what happened. You have been unconscious for three whole days and I was beginning to worry that nothing was going to rouse you from your death like slumber."

Lyra couldn't believe what she was hearing, that she had been unconscious for three whole days after making contact between the Tears of Elune and Light's Heart, which meant that Xe'ra had done something to her mind before telling her the information she wanted to give her... to which she said what came to mind without stopping herself.

"God dammit Xe'ra." Lyra commented, though at the same time she brought a hand to her face, as she couldn't believe everything that had happened to her so far since she decided to take the Tears from Khadgar.

"What was that?" Trixie asked, to which she pulled back from Lyra and looked her in the eyes, as if she was looking for something specific, though Lyra knew that she was just concerned for her health.

"Xe'ra... she spoke to me," Lyra replied, knowing that Trixie would want to hear what she had discovered, though at the same time she knew of someone else they needed to talk to, "Trixie, take me to Khadgar and I'll tell the two of you everything that I discovered during my conversation with Xe'ra."

Trixie looked at her for a moment, wondering if she could get her to say anything important before they left the building, before she nodded her head and gently helped Lyra onto her feet, as it appeared that she was a little sore from what she had been through. Lyra had next to no experience in dealing with the Naaru, especially a Prime Naaru like Xe'ra, but right now she disliked the golden creature and hoped that she hadn't been misinformed, though she kept that to herself as she let Trixie take her outside the infirmary. From there they started their walk towards the citadel, to which the two of them nodded to the guards and the various heroes that were up and about in the early morning, before coming to their destination... where they found that Khadgar was already up and about, though he stopped what he was doing when he noticed Trixie and Lyra approaching him.

He beckoned for them to follow him over to a nearby table, where they would be out of the way of the few heroes that were still up and about, before placing some food items on the table for Lyra to chow down on, considering that she hadn't eaten anything for three whole days... though at the same time they knew that they needed to get down to business and discuss what happened to her.

"I'm assuming that my last ditch effort to acquire Xe'ra's information was successful," Khadgar said, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie nodded, as they both agreed that his plan had worked to some degree, before he leaned forward, "So what did Xe'ra tell you?"

"Nothing good I'm afraid," Lyra replied, to which she rubbed her head for a few seconds, as there was a lot of information she had been given and she was still depressed about it, before she turned her attention to Khadgar, "I hope you and the other leaders of the various orders aren't expecting the Titans to come in one day and stop the Legion from destroying Azeroth."

"And why would you say something like that?" Trixie asked, because while she would have loved to see the Titan Pantheon in action, and them wage total war with the Legion, she knew it was up to her and the others to save this world from the Legion.

"Because they're all dead," Lyra said, to which she let out a sigh as she noticed a pair of shocked expressions staring back at her, indicating that neither Trixie or Khadgar could believe what she was telling them, "Xe'ra told me that they went to war with Sargeras, in order to stop him from razing all of creation, but they were brought low by the Dark Titan and killed, allowing him to begin his terrible crusade."

"What about the Army of the Light?" Khadgar asked, recalling what his friend had told them when he activated Light's Heart, which had been followed by him sending Lyra and Trixie to the Exodar to learn the information that had been sent to them by the Prime Naaru.

"Apparently they are losing ground as well," Lyra replied, shaking her head for a moment, knowing that this was going to be a lot of terrible news, especially since she had seen a vision of Azeroth's end, "If they lose their battle, and are erased by the Legion, Sargeras will begin a new crusade and possibly destroy the entire universe. They sent Light's Heart to us so Xe'ra could locate the only person that's destined to stop the Legion, though Illidan has been dead for seven years and it makes little difference at this point."

Trixie had a look on her face that said that she wanted to say something about what Lyra had said, no doubt to apologize for what her guild had done to her master seven years ago, though she clearly decided not to actually say anything and move onto something that Lyra had mentioned.

"Why does it make little difference at this point?" Trixie inquired, as she was sure that they could turn this around, especially since she had it on good authority that the Illidari were searching for Gul'dan and Illidan's soul.

"Because of the vision Xe'ra showed me earlier," Lyra answered, not even bothering to hide what she knew, though there was no easy way to say this without depressing both of her companions, "I... I saw Sargeras cleave Azeroth in half, indicating that if we fail or if the Army of Light fails we'll pay the ultimate price and this world will be destroyed by our enemy. And I also saw the Dark Titan cleave Equus in half as well... meaning that we are completely screwed at this point."

Trixie had never seen Lyra like this, as before her mentor had suggested using the Tears of Elune Lyra had been excited about the possibility of saving Azeroth from the Legion, but now that she knew that one wrong move could literally mean the end of this world, and their home world, her mood had gone down in the process. At the same time, however, she knew something that Lyra didn't, something that might improve her overall mood and make her a tad bit excited about the future... instead of dreading it like she was.

"Well, that is some terrible news, but I have some good news," Trixie spoke up, causing Lyra to turn towards her and raise an eyebrow, indicating that she didn't believe Trixie, though she couldn't blame her after everything that she had witnessed and learned, "We managed to recover the Hammer of Khaz'goroth and the Aegis of Aggramar while you were unconscious for the last three days, while at the same time dealing with the threats that Dargrul the Underking, God-King Skovald, and Xavius' Shade presented. As of yesterday Azsuna, Val'sharah, Highmountain, and Stormheim are safe from those that were trying to betray us to either the Legion or the Old Gods, in the case of Queen Azshara anyway."

"Okay, I'll admit that this is some good news," Lyra replied, because when she had gone through with Khadgar's plan they only had two of them, but now the combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde had four of the five legendary artifacts under lock and key.

"And there is some other news you both should be made aware of," Khadgar said, to which he waved a hand and a sphere of magical energy appeared in the air near their table, though Lyra could tell that it was important, "For the last ten thousand years the elven city of Suramar has been sealed in an arcane barrier, much like Dalaran once was. That barrier has come down. Since then, waves of magical energy have been emanating from the city like ripples in a pond. It was in these waves that I sensed a pattern... a spell, encrypted among the chaos. I have recreated the spell here. It's not dangerous, but beyond that... I have no idea what it does!"

Lyra glanced at Trixie for a moment, indicating that it was her turn to humor her mentor, to which Trixie held back her chuckle as she held a hand out and touched the sphere, though that caused the spell to expand until the image of a female elf, like the ones they had fought against in Azsuna, stood before them in a spectral form.

"Ith'el kanesh!" the female elf said, though her first words told Lyra that they were part of a spell, or at least she assumed they were, before the lady focused on the spell she was weaving, "I am Thalyssra of the shal'dorei... the Nightborne. First Arcanist of in the court of Suramar. My people have made a dire pact, one that spells doom for this world. Time is short. If you have found this message, then you care capable of finding me as well. Make haste for Suramar... you may be our last hope. Ith'nala kanesh!"

With those last words said the image reverted back into the form of the sphere that Khadgar had conjured, to which Lyra and Trixie turned towards him for a few seconds, as they were equally surprised to hear that someone in Suramar was calling for assistance.

"A magical message in a bottle, slipped right beneath the Legion's nose... clever." Khadgar commented, to which he turned back towards Lyra and Trixie, before he offered them both a smile, "It appears that we now have the exact location of Gul'dan... as a dire pact generally means that someone has made a bargain with him. Trixie, Lyra, I'll let the two of you get some well deserved rest for a few hours... because in the morning the two of you, and only the two of you, will be teleported to where this message came from, and hopefully find out what Thalyssra needs for an invasion on her city."

Lyra and Trixie looked at each other, because if they found and killed Gul'dan it would put a dent in the Legion's plans and likely set them back for a week or two, giving them time to form a plan to close the Tomb... and maybe figure out what to do with Illidan's body, once it had been recovered.