World of Warcraft: Burning Skies

by Blackdrag-rose

Order Hall: Falling Star

With the Illidari having heard Varedis and Caria's declaration to them and their allies, the demons that betrayed the rest of the Legion, both Spitfire and Rainbow resumed listening to what Akama needed them to do so they could prepare for the upcoming stages of their Lord's plan to bring down the Legion, even though everyone on the Fel Hammer knew that they needed to find and recover the Sargerite Keystone, which had been the heart of Lord Illidan's plans from the moment he discovered its existence, though right now the only ones that knew where the Keystone might be were, unfortunately, the Wardens, the very warriors that had imprisoned the Illidari all those years ago. Truthfully, many of her forces weren't too happy about what Akama told them that they needed to do, that someone had to establish communications with whoever their leader was, as last Spitfire heard it was someone called Sira Moonwarden, even though Maiev was the true leader and would no doubt assume her proper place if she came back, since she was supposedly following Gul'dan's tracks after everything that happened in the Vault of the Wardens, but Belath surprised most of them and said that he would take on the task, as he was sure that he could convince the force of warriors to assist the Illidari in locating the Keystone. Such a thing allowed the rest of the Illidari to focus on everything else that Akama needed them to do, as they were going to be making preparations for an invasion of their own, to go after the Felsouls that were serving the Legion and not only take both of them down, but also show the Legion that they were no longer as safe as they believed they were, despite the fact that everyone knew Varedis and Caria would be taken down by Spitfire and Rainbow, given what had happened when they went to go get the artifacts they were carrying right now, and the pair would be happy to do away with the Felsouls, just to take down another set of enemies. Of course Allari was focusing her efforts on locating Lord Illidan's soul and his body, as if they were to combine the two back together they could restore their Lord to his former glory, and since his body was in the hands of Gul'dan right now, who was probably pumping his body full of Fel energy to ready his body for a sinister and foul purpose, his power would be far greater than it had been the last time they saw him, which would deal a crippling blow to the Legion if they managed to recover his body and soul.

While they were working on what they needed to do, and everything that needed to be done before the Fel Hammer was ready for their invasion of the world the Felsouls called home right now, a sphere of Arcane energy appeared nearby and it was easy for Spitfire and Rainbow to see that the energy belonged to Khadgar, which had to be a new type of spell that allowed him to alert the heroes when he discovered something important, or at least that was their assumptions on what they were seeing right now, to which the pair had the rest of the Illidari continue with their preparations as they returned to Dalaran and headed towards the area that the Council resided in, something that allowed them to see that Khadgar was talking to Vytheril about something, only to turn his head when he noticed them.

"Ah, Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, thank you for coming so quickly, as I have a matter of some urgency that might require your unique talents for a time." Khadgar said, where the pair found one of the paladins of the Order of the Silver Hand standing nearby, one who happened to be a blood elf like Vytheril and was wearing gleaming plate armor that seemed to reflect the Light, even though the paladin was female and she seemed focused on something else at the moment, where it was easy for them to see that she had white hair that was cut short and her eyes were golden, instead of the green the rest of the rest of the blood elves had, but Spitfire had to assume that since she and Vytheril were here meant that they were going to be joining some heroes in whatever Khadgar had discovered, but they remained quiet as they waited for him to tell them what was going on and what they needed to do before returning to the Fel Hammer, "The Order of the Silver Hand have reported that an extraordinarily luminescent, nearly blinding, object has emerged from the Felstorm and is currently in the process of falling towards the coast of Suramar, though what I find most curious about this occurrence is that the object was reported as having 'cut a swath' through the Felstorm itself, as we have never seen something like that before and we we're planning on sending Vytheril and Syerea Dawnspark down to Suramar to investigate this event... and I was hoping you would join them, just to increase their chances of finding and recovering this object, because if we noticed it shooting out of the Felstorm, so too did the Legion, which means they could be looking for it as well."

"If we see any demons, we'll be sure to kill them before they get their hands on whatever it is we're looking for," Spitfire replied, though this wasn't what she was expecting to hear when she noticed the Arcane sphere earlier, especially when she considered the fact that the mysterious object cut a path through the intense Felstorm itself, a feat that might mean it was a weapon of some kind and that they had allies who might be coming to assist them, with this being the first of many tools to turn the tide against the Legion, though she was sure there were other options on what it might be and the only way to figure it out would be claiming the mysterious object and bringing it back to Dalaran.

Khadgar nodded and the new group of four departed from the building that they had been standing in since Syerea, both of the other Highlords, and the rest of their paladins discovered the mysterious object flying through the sky, to which they headed for the Landing that apparently had a pair of gryphons readied for the pair that couldn't fly on their own and when all four of them arrived the Flight Master nodded his head as he beckoned to the pair of beasts that would allow Vytheril and Syerea to reach Suramar, though even as he did so he made sure that they were aware of how dangerous Suramar was and wished them well in whatever Khadgar was having them do. Everyone nodded their heads as the wingless pair climbed onto the gryphons that were resting nearby and took off a few moments later, where Spitfire and Rainbow did the same thing as they unfurled their wings and followed after their companions, though as they did so they kept their eyes, ears, and senses open in case the Legion tried to attack them while they headed through part of Suramar and carefully tracked down the mysterious and power object that Khadgar wanted them to find and recover. As they flew towards the area that happened to be their destination the group glanced out at whatever they passed by, such as the massive tower structure off to their left that was a lighter version of the Fel-tainted Tomb of Sargeras on their right, which meant the one on the left was the Nighthold, apparently a legendary place according to Vytheril, and it was a place that many mages had an interest in studying, even though that meant they would have to convince the inhabitants of the city to allow them to enter the structure in question. From there the group headed to what appeared to be an area that was near some rather ancient ruins, possibly elven based on what Spitfire and Rainbow could see, though what was interesting was that there was a vrykul village across the water from where the ruins rested, meaning that the only way the vrykul could get to the ruins would be by boat, even though they didn't appear to be interested in the ruins at all, as every one of them seemed to be resting in their village and following their own customs, though that didn't stop Vytheril from making a note of it as they flew down into the area that was their destination, which happened to be a patch of land, between two large rocks on the back side of the ruined area, and when they landed the gryphons let the pair climb off them before flying off, meaning that returning would either be Spitfire and Rainbow's job or Vytheril's.

"Okay, it should be around here somewhere," Syerea commented, where she and the others stood near a ruined ship that was near where they landed, though even as she said that Spitfire and Rainbow sensed something odd and glanced up at the air that was directly in front of the area that they were now standing in, where they watched as an odd human sized item pierced the air and smashed right into the water that was in front of them, though it looked like it had a barrier made of Light energy that was protecting it from the Fel energies of the Felstorm, "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that to even happen, especially since it should have stuck the water before this point, but I'm not about to complain about what we're seeing at the moment, so it seems all we need to do is take a quick dip in the water, pull the object out of the area that it landed in, and then use the hearthstone that Archmage Khadgar gave us so we can return to Dalaran with whatever it is that we are looking for."

The group nodded their heads for a moment and was followed by both Vytheril and Syerea heading out into the water, or, to be more exact, Vytheril used his power to make small ice platforms for him and their new friend to step on while both Spitfire and Rainbow remained in the air and tracked down the object that they were looking for, though one thing they could see from above the water was that there were a few goblins underwater, though they were more fish-like than their above ground cousins and Spitfire suspected that they were the gilgoblins, and a few of them seemed to be swimming all over the place, even though there was able a sea giant walking below the water and was heading towards a nearby cave, no doubt to sleep or something. Other than that it took them a few moments to track down the exact area that the object had landed in, as there was a small crater under the water, about the size of the Felsabers that the Illidari trained to be their land mounts, and it had a silvery glow around it, meaning that their target must have struck this area, but there was nothing inside the crater and that meant someone or something had found the item before they did and walked off with it, to which the pair glanced at each other for a moment before sharing their information with their friends, as the giant had to be the one that had the mysterious object, or at least it would be a good starting point. Vytheril and Syerea, after being given that piece of information, wasted no time in jumping off of the ice platforms and dived into the water, where they started to head down to where the crater was located and looked around the area for the sea giant that Spitfire had seen, even though they were joined by Spitfire and Rainbow as the pair dived below the water as well, and it didn't take them all that long to spot what appeared to be the cave that their target had walked into, possibly with the object they were here to collect and return to Dalaran, to which they swam through the water and headed for the cave. Sure enough the sea giant was sleeping in a small cave, one that had an area that was somewhat above the water and happened to be where it put all of its gold, treasure, and other valuables, though while the giant was sleeping Spitfire noticed that it was holding the object close to its chest and that if they wanted to recover whatever had burst through the Felstorm they were going to have to kill the sea giant, to which she and Rainbow glanced at the pair that was emerging from the water behind them as they pulled out their warglaives, who nodded as they readied their weapons, Vytheril readying his staff while Syerea had her greatsword, Ashbringer, at the ready.

From there the group lashed out at the sea giant, Spitfire lashing out with her Fel fireballs while Rainbow did the same with her Fel lightning, leaving Vytheril to channel his Arcane energy and blast his foe in the chest while Syerea called upon her Light to smash a hammer that was fueled with the same type of energy on top of their foe's head, something that stunned the giant for a few moments so the others could lash out at their foe, though after that was done she stepped forward and cut into the sea giant's legs, intending to do enough damage before it regained itself and lashed out at them for bothering it while it was trying to sleep. When the giant regained his senses he picked up a massive sword that was resting near his resting place, one that looked like it could have been the mast of a ship at one point in time, and he tried to swing it at all of them, where the group found that he was unable to actually hit them and it worked to their advantage, as Spitfire and Rainbow danced around the upper part of the cave and forced their foe to strike the ceiling with his weapon, which caused it to get stuck in the stone and he was unable to dislodge it, something that opened his defenses and allowed Syerea to cut into his arms while he was distracted. It was hard to tell if the sea giant had any magical spells or if he was used to brute strength being the answer to everything in the area he lived in, but getting his weapon stuck just meant that the group was able to do some decent damage to their foe and not have to worry about being hurt in return, all without having to use all of their stronger skills and spells in the grand scheme of things, of course that was when the sea giant growled as he let go of the sword's handle and started to channel a spell to use against them, one that seemed to involve calling for the water to do something to his enemies, though for the most part everyone was able to dodge the spell when it was cast, Spitfire and Rainbow just remaining near the ceiling while Vytheril and Syerea covered themselves with magical barriers, where the former had an Arcane one and the latter had a Holy one. Once that spell was done, and the sea giant realized that he hadn't hit any of them, the group lashed out at their foe once more and continued to rain blows onto his body, arms, and his legs, eventually causing him to stumble as Rainbow lashed out at the back of his head and knocked him forward, which caused the sea giant to fall awkwardly on his side and his hands loosened, allowing the mysterious object to hit the floor of the cave so she and the others could claim the object and return to Dalaran, though as that happened they found that it was definitely as tall as a human, made out of some odd silvery metal, and had a hole near the top that could possibly be a heart, or pass as one anyway.

Spitfire picked up the mysterious object after banishing her warglaives to her horns, though once that was done she took a moment to nod her head as Vytheril had everyone gather around him for a few seconds, or rather they stood around the area that she happened to be standing in, and raised the magical hearthstone that Khadgar had prepared for them before he called for both of the demon hunters to join them, where he used the magic contained in the stone to teleport all four of them out of the cave and they reappeared in the upper part of the chamber that the Pillars of Creation would be placed in until they were ready to assault the Broken Shore, where Khadgar was standing near some bookshelves and closed the book he was reading as the group appeared right behind him.

"Ah, heroes, you have returned," Khadgar said, where they knew that he must have been researching something before all four of them had teleported back to the city with the object the paladins had discovered, though as soon as he said that he noticed what Spitfire was carrying and she stepped forward without even being prompted to do so, to which she placed it right in front of Khadgar and stood near it for a few seconds as the Archmage studied the object in question, even though it was pretty clear that this was something none of them had seen before, "As we suspected, this isn't something that the Legion would have made, even if they intended on infecting a planet with their Fel energies and tried a trojan horse, but we won't be able to uncover anything without delving deeper into this mystery..."

As he said that, and started to channel his magic for a few seconds, the object glowed with a golden Holy light coming from the heart hole the group had noticed earlier, something that actually caused the silvery object to rise into the air and float in the air before all of them for a moment, before a golden image of someone, sort of like how the Illidari contacted Lord Illidan's soul earlier, who happened to be a human appeared in front of the mysterious Holy object, though it was rather hard for them to determine who was in front of them, even if Spitfire and Rainbow didn't know as many humans as their friends might know, to which they remained silent for a time as they waited for something to happen.

Azeroth... I pray that this, the final plea of the Army of the Light, has reached you intact. the image said, where most of them had no idea who the voice belonged to, since they hadn't heard it before this point in time, but Khadgar seemed a tad bit surprised by what everyone was hearing at the moment and that caused him to focus his full attention to what they were hearing right now, meaning it had to be important and that the group had to pay attention as well, hence why all of them focused on the image once more, The thousand years' war has reached its peak, but the nightmare is far from over, as this vessel represents our ultimate sacrifice, and it must reach the Prophet. He... is the key. None of us asked for this burden, but it is what fate has deemed. Succeed, and the Light may yet endure... fail, and all worlds will burn.

Once that statement was delivered, and the group barely had time to think about what they had just learned, the image faded as quickly as it had formed in the area that was in front of the mysterious Holy object and the object itself rested on the ground once more, where the glow faded from the object and returned to its previous appearance, meaning the group had to take a moment to consider who they were supposed to deliver this item to and what the figure had meant, as it did seem like there was something important this object had to tell them and only one person had to know what they needed to do to figure out whatever it was that they needed to hear.

"We will not fail, Turalyon." Khadgar stated, where Vytheril and Syerea seemed to understand who he was talking about, or at least that was what Rainbow assumed by the shocked expressions on their faces, before the Archmage started to call his magic into the area that was near them and seemed to be focusing on opening a portal to a brand new area, no doubt the location that would bring the group to whoever it was that they needed to talk to and maybe show the object to, which was when he glanced towards them for a few seconds, "We don't have much time, even though I am overjoyed to discover that one of my friends is alive and that he didn't perish on some Legion world, as we must uncover the purpose of what he sent us... and to do that I will open a portal to the Exodar, the crashed ship that the Draenei used to escape from the rest of the Legion and eventually reached Azeroth with, as the Prophet that Turalyon spoke of has to be Velen, the leader of the Draenei, so you should take the object to him and see what you can learn about it, and I will give you a new beacon that will allow you to come back here once that information has been obtained."

Vytheril nodded and accepted the magical stone that was exactly like the last one that he had been given, meaning that it was more of a beacon and less of a hearthstone, before Khadgar focused his magic for a moment and the portal opened before their eyes, to which the group nodded their heads and wasted no time in rushing through the magical structure he had opened, allowing them to quickly leave Dalaran behind and travel to the area that the Exodar was resting, which, as Spitfire found, was an island off the coast of Kalimdor and that the ship was massive, not to mention full of crystals, but as they focused on the area in front of them they found something that ruined the mood, as there were Fel fires burning the outside of the ship and there were two Felguards guarding the entrance.

"Of course the Legion would attack one of our allies," Spitfire stated, to which she focused her powers for a moment and drew in the energy of the Fel fires, which extinguished the flames and added a small, nearly insignificant, sliver of power to her total amount, something that would change as she and the others stared at the demons that were in front of them, as both she and Rainbow pulled out their weapons and readied themselves, though this was an odd coincidence when she thought about the object that she used her magical bag to contain, before she glanced at her companions for a moment and found that all of them were ready to strike down the demons as well, "Come, let's go kill some demons and make sure the Draenei are safe, even if it means purging the entire ship of demons and breaking any portals they've opened, before we even worry about this object and what it might contain."

Once she was done saying that Spitfire rushed forward and smashed into one of the Felguards, using the force of her own attack to knock her target off to the left while Rainbow did the same thing to the other one, and while that happened both of their friends rushed to their aid, Vytheril channeling the power of the Arcane to blast Spitfire's target in the chest or in its arms and legs, while at the same time Syerea channeled her stunning hammer skill once more and stunned the demon she had targeted within seconds, something that allowed Rainbow to spin around and remove the demon's head from its shoulders, and as its body collapsed on the ground Spitfire found her Felguard foe wasn't prepared for her movements and that allowed her to take it down as well, to which she and Rainbow let their weapons absorb the souls of the demons they had slain and added some more power to their overall power. As soon as that was done they stepped through what appeared to be the entrance, which was either a crack in the outside of the ship, created by the crash, or it was a tunnel that had been built long before the Exodar reached Azeroth, to allow the passengers to walk between the inside and the outside of the ship, though as they descended down the path in front of them they kept their weapons at the ready and made sure to keep their eyes open in case more demons rushed up to kill them, given that their enemies were attacking the ship and that they had to run into them at some point in the very near future.

"Heroes, I sense that you have come for some purpose, but we are in trouble and we are currently making our last stand at the Vault of Lights!" a voice said, one that Spitfire recognized as Velen's voice, even though she didn't know him all that much, which was understandable given that he was one of the leaders of the Alliance, though even as she thought about that it seemed as if he might be straining under something and that meant he might have created a barrier or something to create a safe area for him and the rest of his race, "If you can make your way here you will find sanctuary, although I cannot say for how long..."

"Did your visions foretell of this day, Prophet? Did you see our coming?" another voice asked, though it was much more sinister than that Velen's voice was and it reminded both Spitfire and Rainbow of the various Eredar that they fought over the years after they joined the Illidari, meaning this had to be an Eredar commander or something, a demon who served either Kil'jaeden, who was Sargeras' second in command, or Archimonde, who stood as Sargeras' right hand, and that his strength would be greater than many of the demons that they had faced before this point in time, so cutting him down at this point in time would weaken the Legion a little, "I bring you a message from Kil'jaeden, to be served in the blood of your people! JUSTICE WILL BE MET! A coward's death to these traitorous 'draenei'! Mar their corpses so the living may see the fate that awaits them!"

"This demon's name is Rakeesh, and it means 'butcher' in Eredun." Velen said, even though his tone revealed that he was tired of the Legion chasing after them, even if they fought back every time they came into contact with each other, and, at the same time, that he was hopeful that this invasion was the last time they faced the Legion, meaning he was hoping that this ended with them either bringing down the Legion or making the demons understand that Azeroth wasn't worth doing all of this, as in forcing them to admit defeat, as unlikely as the second option seemed, before he focused on what had to be happening near him and those he was protecting, "It is no coincidence that Kil'jaeden sent an Eredar to slaughter my people... the Deceiver revels in his 'creative' punishments for those that dare defy him."

Spitfire had no idea if Rakeesh was listening to what Velen had to say or not, since he didn't say anything to the second statement that had been made, but instead of wasting time she, Rainbow, Vytheril, and Syerea quickly headed down the ramp that was in front of them and discovered that there were a few smouldering bodies along the way, all of them being draenei based on what they were seeing, though at the same time it appeared that none of them seemed to have their souls anymore, meaning the Legion had killed them and took their souls for their Fel machines, or maybe some of them had been taken to be twisted into demons at some point, like Varedis and Caria were twisted. It didn't take them all that long to find their way to the center of the Exodar, which happened to be a massive chamber that had three wings for the group to explore, not to mention that there happened to be a curved ramp heading down into the depths of the ship, one that happened to be covered in Fel taint based on what they could see at the moment, though after a few moments they found that there Felbats, Felguards, Eredar, and who knew what else attacking Velen and the rest of the draenei, as it was hard to tell what else the Legion had sent to this place. Three of them engaged several Felguards that were blocking the way down the nearby ramp, as they were on the upper level of the Exodar and the ramp would take them down to where the wings were located, while Vytheril stood behind them to blast his targets with bursts of Arcane energy, where Spitfire sliced her foes in half, Rainbow slashed her targets into pieces, and Syerea used her Light based powers to stun whoever she was righting and then cleaved them in half as well, where she let Spitfire and Rainbow take the demon souls to make sure their enemies didn't respawn in the future. One thing they found was that a number of demons were rushing over to a section of the Exodar that seemed to contain a bit of Light, which meant it had to be the Vault of Lights that Velen had mentioned when he felt them enter his ship, though that caused the group to follow after them and hacked into the foul demons that were marching on the area that the Prophet and his people were in, as there was a barrier of Light energy in the back part of the wing they were entering and it appeared to be disintegrating the demons that were foolish enough to hurl themselves right into the barrier, which seemed to be weakening the barrier with each passing moment, and since there were no demon hunters in the area those demons would return to the Twisting Nether and be reborn in due time, so Velen might be facing an endless swarm of enemies.

Another thing they noticed was that there were a few Fel portals in the Vault of Lights, which supported the fact that there was an endless flow of demons for Velen and the rest of the draenei to face, though it also explained why he hadn't taken a moment to call for aid or teleport to Dalaran to get Khadgar and the others to send some heroes to aid him, as it looked like the Legion intended on separating him from the rest of Azeroth, so they could cut him and his forces down without having to worry about reinforcements coming to interrupt what they were doing, though as they reached the barrier both Spitfire and Rainbow turned around and dealt with the demons that happened to be rushing at the barrier, just to relieve some of the pressure on Velen's energy, leaving Vytheril and Syerea to talk with him and tend to any of the draenei that were resting inside the barrier.

"Syerea, it seems that fate has delivered you and some allies to us in this most dire time!" Velen said, where he was happy to see the group as Spitfire and Rainbow cut down several demons that were rushing at them, taking their souls as they dropped their enemies to the ground, before he sighed for a moment as he considered what was going on at the moment, especially given their timely arrival in the Exodar, since he hadn't sent out a request for aid and had been stuck like this for some time, "I sense that you came here on a mission of great importance, an urgent one that might help us bring down the Legion, but for now I must ask you to focus on pushing back these demonic invaders, for if we don't break the tide we will all perish beneath their might, or at least my people and I will suffer such a fate, given the Legion's desire to find and break both Spitfire and Rainbow Dash. Sadly, this barrier, which is protecting my people from our enemies, requires all of my energy and focus, so I am afraid that the four of you must venture into the demon infested halls as we hold the line in this location, where I must ask you to search for any survivors and direct them to this area, as well as eliminate the portals the Legion opened to launch this invasion, as I'm sure that you find some scattered across the Exodar... you must hurry, as I do not know how much longer I can keep this barrier active!"

Instead of saying anything, as that might waste time that they didn't have, Syerea nodded her head and turned in time to see Spitfire and Rainbow separate from each other for a few seconds, where both of them cut down a few Felguards that happened to be emerging from some of the nearby Fel portals and then channeled their powers to take down the portals, draining them of energy like they had done to the various traps that had been used against the Thorignir, though they also made sure that the souls of the demons were absorbed into their weapons and their Fel energy was added to their own, but as soon as both of them were ready to leave they nodded and both Syerea and Vytheril caught up with them, to which they moved out to take down the demons and rescue the rest of the draenei that were in the ship. As the group started to leave the area that they had found Velen in, however, Rakeesh called out for his soldiers to continue throwing themselves at the barrier, as he was of the opinion that it would fall in due time and that soon Velen would be wide open, even though he had several armed draenei warriors standing between him and the barrier, a last line of defense for the innocents that were behind them, giving the group another reason to lash out at their enemies and break the invasion, since losing Velen meant losing what the mysterious object was and what its purpose had to be. Interestingly enough Rakeesh also punished them for breaking two of his portals by sending three Infernals down for each portal, so six in total, and had them attack the group before they did anything else, meaning that Spitfire and Rainbow would have to wait and cut down a few more enemies the next time they shattered some of Rakeesh's portals, but that didn't stop them from hacking apart the couple of Infernals and cutting down a few Felbats that happened to be up in the air, opening the way for Vytheril and Syerea to quickly search the Vault of Lights and found out that there were a few small draenei children hiding behind some crates, all to keep themselves hidden from the demons who were attacking the ship, who they escorted back to the barrier and made sure that they crossed it safely, to join the innocents that were on the other side. There were also a few adults that were trapped in the Vault of Lights, merchants who likely weren't used to fighting for their lives and settled for cowering once the Legion showed up, and they were escorted back to the barrier as well, to get them out of the battlefield as both Spitfire and Rainbow tore into the demons that kept coming at where Velen was standing, but once this wing was cleared of innocents and Fel portals, and both of them were sure of that, they headed to the north and entered the Crystal Hall, where they found more demons emerging from the Fel portals and, at the same time, discovered that there was a group of draenei, lead by a farseer named Nobundo, who were also under attack.

As such Spitfire and Rainbow lead the assault on the demons that were pouring out of the Fel portals, cutting them down as Vytheril blasted some with his Arcane energy and Syerea stunned some with her Light powers so she could hack them to pieces, where none of the demons were particularly happy to see the pair of demon hunters and lashed out at both of them with their full might, which just brought about their ends that much faster as the pair cut into the Felguards and the Eredar that were guarding the portals, including the Infernals and Wrathguards who were summoned to punish them for breaking down the portals, and they made sure to smash the structures as well. While they did that their friends found all of the civilians that were scattered around the Crystal Hall and made sure they were able to escape the area they had been trapped in, which was easy for them to do since Spitfire and Rainbow were clearing out the demons and that meant none of the innocent draenei had to worry about running into any of the Legion's forces, which would make Velen happy once they breached the barrier and joined the rest of the civilians that were with him and the rest of the guards, but once that was done Spitfire located where Nobundo and his small force was holding their ground, in a ruined tunnel that would have gone to another wing of the Exodar, a crushed one by the looks of things. As it turned out Nobundo and his forces weren't draenei, as they expected, rather they were Broken and seemed to be ready for anything, but before anyone could say a single thing more demons started to run up the path that lead to where he and his forces were standing, though at first it was just a group of the small Wyrmtongue that tried to assault their location, with a few Imps that were throwing fireballs at whoever they were targeting, where the group just sighed and slashed their way through their foes, but it wasn't long before more demons marched on their location, consisting of a Doomguard and a pair of Felguards. These ones put up more of a fight, given that they were far stronger than the first two types of demons that tried to attack Nobundo's area of the ship, but even though Spitfire was able to cut off one of the outstretched arms of the Doomguard as Rainbow took off one of the Felguards' heads, leaving the other one to fall to Vytheril and Syerea, eventually bringing an end to that wave of enemies and both of the demon hunters made sure to absorb the demonic souls before they escaped, which was around the time that more enemies came rushing up to kill them.

The final wave of enemies consisted of a few Eredar that were using flying discs to move through the air, an odd thing in Spitfire and Rainbow's eyes, a pair of Wrathguards, and, more importantly, a Pit Lord that was getting ready to break them down as it glared at the pair that were standing in its way right now, where the Eredar were rather easy to take down with a quick swing at their necks, dropping their heads to the ground, before both of them descended down on the frozen in place Wrathguards that Vytheril was currently fighting with Syerea stunning her target, where they struck them down in no time, but once those enemies were taken care of the Pit Lord was their full focus and they parried its attacks, even dealing their own attacks to its chest and neck, to which Nobundo and his Broken were surprised by what they were seeing as the demon was felled in no time and Spitfire and Rainbow channeled their powers to cancel out the Fel explosion that came with a Pit Lord was slain, granting them a bit more power in the process.

Once that was done, and Nobundo thanked them for the assistance, the group watched as he and his Broken headed for the Vault of Lights, so they could escort the innocent civilians to where Velen's protective barrier was resting and left the area that they had been stuck in since the invasion happened, to which Spitfire, Rainbow, and their friends headed out of the collapsed tunnel and headed for the third and final wing that they had access to, which was called Trader's Tier based on one of the directional markers, though that was where they found a large Fel Lord who called himself Huk'roth the Huntmaster patrolling the area with his Felstalkers. The first thing the group did was take care of the Fel portals, killing all of the Infernals, Wrathguards, and Eredar that were summoned to punish them for breaking the portals, whose souls were absorbed by the warglaives that Spitfire and Rainbow carried, which put a small dent in the forces of the Legion, while also making sure to find any trapped civilians and carefully escorted them over to the hallway that linked up with the Vault of Lights, though to do that Spitfire and Rainbow gathered the attention of their foe, with Rainbow using her lighting to shock the Felstalkers into submission and drew their souls into her warblades while Spitfire danced through the air and cut into Huk'roth's chest. In the end the two of them were able to bring down the demon and his pets, allowing both of them to add even more souls to their weapons and more power to themselves, before they regrouped with Vytheril and Syerea for a moment as they looked around the rest of the Exodar, just to be sure that they hadn't missed anything even though they were sure that Rakeesh was located in the depths of the ship, something Spitfire and Rainbow would check out once the rest of the demons had been cleared out and the civilians were saved. After a minute or two Syerea decided to head back to where Velen was standing and the rest of the group decided to do the same thing, where they found that Velen was still powering the barrier while the priests of the ship were healing the wounded and the warriors remained at the ready, just in case more enemies burst through an unknown portal or something and charged at the area that they were standing in, but after everything that Spitfire and rainbow had done with their friends they knew that more portals weren't a thing, not unless their foe summoned more Eredar and had them create more portals while they were distracted, but for now they were going to tell Velen the good news.

"Spitfire, Rainbow, it seems that you, Vytheril, and Syerea have crushed Rakeesh's incursion," Velen said, where he took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief as he powered the barrier and noticed that there were no demons in this wing of the ship, meaning that the civilians would be safe for some time, plenty of time for them to deal with the rest of their foe's foul forces and restore order to the Exodar, to which he glanced at one of the armored warriors for a moment, who readied herself the moment his eyes were upon her, "Divinius, it is now time for you to take the Chosen and finish off the leftover demonic taint within our halls, to secure the Exodar for our people once more!"

The draenei in question nodded her head and declared that she would do as Velen commanded, to which she and the rest of the Chosen, as Velen called it, marched out of the Vault of Lights and headed for the sections of the Exodar that Spitfire, Rainbow, Vytheril, and Syerea had carefully cleared out before returning to this spot, though once that was done Velen shifted his gaze and focused on the group once more, as he was interested in why they had come here, even though his visions seemed to give him some idea of what to expect, before he tapped the base of his staff against the floor, to show them that he was ready for them to talk at long last.

"I fear that we don't have much time, heroes, as Rakeesh is still here... somewhere... and he must be stopped if my people are to find peace again." Velen stated, which made sense to Spitfire and the others, since they couldn't be at peace as long as someone like Rakeesh was lurking somewhere inside the ship that he and the rest of the draenei called home, because he could hide himself until the group left and then just summon more portals to torment Velen and his people, before the Prophet focused on why Spitfire and her group had come to the Exodar in the first place, "Thanks to my visions I know that you have ventured far to find me and have brought with you a dire message... and in your possession is an object of great importance. May I see it?"

"Of course." Spitfire replied, where she took a moment to reach into her magical pack and withdrew the mysterious object that they had found before being directed to the Exodar, something that Syerea, Vytheril, and everyone else glanced at as she did that, but once it was out of her pack she made sure to rest it in front of the Prophet, because if Turalyon was right Velen was the only one that held the key to unlocking the object, though in that instant she could see that a look of sheer surprise appeared on the Prophet's face, meaning that he must have realized what they had brought him and that part of what was going on made sense to him.

"Mother of Light! I... I am sorry, I did not know you were carrying this." Velen said, his tone revealing that this had to be an object of great importance and that he realized what it was, though even as he said that he beckoned for someone to pick it up and Syerea did that without delay, telling Spitfire that they were going to be doing something and that was confirmed when Velen started to make his way out of the Vault of Lights, though it was hard to tell where he was going and what he might be looking for, to which she and the others followed after him, so they could learn more about the object and why they were told to come to the Exodar, to talk with Velen about it, "What you have brought me, in this dire time, is known as Light's Heart, and it is the sentience core of the Naaru Prime: Xe'ra. Locked away within this irreplaceable core is wisdom, knowledge crucial to our battle against the Burning Legion, yet only a Naaru born of Xe'ra is capable of unlocking the core, which is why you were sent here, to deliver Light's Heart to me... and, at the same time, it reveals the true purpose of the Burning Legion's invasion of the Exodar. The last of Xe'ra's line, O'ros, sits unguarded in the heart of the Exodar, because we never assumed that our enemies would do this, and if Rakeesh manages to destroy O'ros, well, the information within Light's Heart will be lost to us forever, drastically weakening our chances of bringing down the Legion."

"For a prophet you are doing a very poor job of making predictions..." Rakeesh mockingly said, as if knowing that Velen was close to where the ramp leading down to the chamber that O'ros was resting in, though at the same time they heard what seemed like a bitter melody emitting from the area they happened to be heading towards, something that told the group that Rakeesh had to be in the middle of beating the Naaru that was resting in the heart of the Exodar, which just ticked Velen off if the angry look on his face was anything to go by, "It makes music when you beat it! What a delightful creature! I will enjoy ending its existence."

In that instant Velen channeled the power of the Light once more and rushed down the path that was in front of him, as his new barrier dealt with the Fel mess and opened the way for Vytheril and Syerea to follow him as Spitfire and Rainbow did the same in the air, before they reached what appeared to be the heart of the ship and discovered that there were a number of Fel beams surrounding O'ros, dealing damage to the Naaru in the process, before Velen readed another spell and smashed all of the Fel energy to pieces, while at the same time healing O'ros in the process, before Rakeesh turned around and focused on them, where they found that the red skinned Eredar had no chest piece on and had a single piece of armor on his right shoulder, even though his weapon appeared to be a mace.

"You have lost, Rakeesh!" Velen stated, though as he raised his staff, and the group did the same thing with their weapons as they faced the Eredar, he was ready to show their foe that he was done running and that he was ready to bring down any and all members of the Legion that dared assault his race, while at the same time they found that Rakeesh seemed all too calm given that his plan had been ruined and the Naaru he had been sent to kill was fully healed, "Your incursion has been rushed, O'ros has been renewed, and now you must answer for the atrocities you have commited!"

"Ah, the fated heroes have arrived at last. I admit, you have bested my incursion, Velen, but before I surrender, and face the judgment of the Light, there is one last thing I must do." Rakeesh replied, where he had taken a moment to raise both of his hands, like he might have been surrendering to them and their judgement for his crimes, though that was when a large Fel portal opened in the air that was above O'ros, where Spitfire and Rainbow barely had time to witness one of the Fel Annihilators, a moddified version of the Fel Reavers they had seen in Outlands, dropped through the portal and landed behind the Naaru, where the demon entered the machine and, in one swift motion, smashed O'ros into a thousand pieces in just a matter of seconds, who let out a woeful dirge as that happened, "Can you know victory without first knowing defeat? Come, face the might of the Legion and die!"

Spitfire and Rainbow rushed through the air and lashed out at the Fel Annihilator that their foe was planning on using to bring them down, in addition to Velen and their friends, while at the same time making sure to use their weapons to block the incoming punches and tank the attacks, which allowed them to understand that the Fel Annihilator definitely had more power than the Fel Reavers they were familiar with, but even if that was the case neither of them were planning on holding back at this point, as Fel flames danced around Spitfire as she smashed into the chest of Rakeesh's machine while Rainbow did the same with the lightning, where Vytheril, Syerea, and Velen realized that they were using their demonic forms to do more damage to their foe. Rakeesh, on the other hand, mentioned something about his master's domain and the fact that the smouldering husks of the other worlds existed in Sargares' realm, and that part of his mission was to help prepare this world to join what the Legion covered, even if that meant reducing the Exodar to ashes with the power he had access to at the moment, which meant he might have a way to connect to Argus and was saving his trump card until the point where he might need it, a bad decision based on what Spitfire and Rainbow knew, even though they weren't going to argue with the demon's foolish decision. It wasn't long before the pair loosed their elemental attacks and smashed into the metallic arms of the Fel Annihilator, breaking both of them under the pressure of their powers, causing Rakeesh to pull back up to where O'ros had been waiting and started to channel the power of his trump card, where he opened a small portal above him and summoned Fel meteors down on his foes, while at the same time empowering his machine so that it would self destruct and take everyone in the Exodar out, meaning he intended on erasing this entire area from the face of Azeroth so he could remove some of his master's enemies from the field, so their souls would be sent to the Twisting Nether and have them be tortured until they became Felsworn traitors. Velen, interestingly enough, seemed to realize that something he had been shown in the past was now happening before his eyes, something that caused him to pause as he tried to understand what was going on, before finally understanding exactly what he had been shown in the distant past, where he actually pleaded for them to stop attacking Rakeesh and spare him, though given the nature of what the Eredar was doing there was no sparing him as Spitfire and Rainbow combined their elemental attacks into a single burst and loosed it into the machine's chest, causing a chain reaction that caused the Fel Annihilator to detonate its payload.

Thanks to Spitfire and Rainbow's powers the Fel power that was called to this place, to blow all of them up, vanished as the pair cut it in half and absorbed it into their bodies, giving them a decent power boost for later on, while leaving Rakeesh in a pile of ash as they discovered that the lower half of his body had been reduced to ash as well, though that was when the group learned something that had to be heartbreaking for Velen, as he revealed that he once had a son and on the day he was born he was granted a vision of a being that was Rakeesh, meaning the Light showed him that his own child had been corrupted and it could have been a warning, before he closed the Eredar's eyes as he expired and informed the group that it was time for them to leave... though as they prepared to leave the Exodar, and deliver the bad news to Khadgar, Velen also informed some of his Chosen to prepare a vessel, as a fire had been lit in the Prophet and now he was even more determined to bring an end to the Legion, causing the group to smile as they engaged the beacon's power and vanished from where they had been standing.

A few moments later, when they returned to Dalaran, or the Chamber of the Guardian that they had found Khadgar inside earlier, it was easy for the group to see the Archmage hadn't moved from the area he had been standing in earlier and he was still reading several books, on whatever subject he was interested in at this point in time, though the act of them using his beacon to teleport back to the city caused his to close his tomes and turn towards them once more, where Syerea was still holding onto Light's Heart while the portal magic vanished over the course of a few seconds and the group focused on the mage that was in front of them.

"Ah, good, you have returned." Khadgar commented, where he was happy to see that the four of them had returned and that they still had the object that they had found in Suramar earlier, though as he said his statement he noticed that all of them seemed a little down, even though each of them were still wearing the smiles from when they noticed the fire within Velen ignite once more, causing him to worry about everything that might have happened in the Exodar and why they had taken their sweet time in getting back to him with the information they were after, "What's wrong?"

In response to that Spitfire, Rainbow, Vytheril, and Syerea told him what they had seen when they appeared outside the ship that the draenei called home, where they faced an invasion force from the Legion and that Velen was under attack by an Eredar called Rakeesh, before revealing that this object was known as Light's Heart, it happened to be the core of the Naaru Prime known as Xe'ra, and that the key to retrieving the information contained within the crystalline structure had been another Naaru, or rather another that was part of Xe'ra's line, called O'ros, who Rakeesh had killed, only to be killed by the group and his soul imprisoned inside their warglaives, before they revealed the shocking truth that the Eredar had been Velen's son and had been twisted into a weapon to kill his own father.

"Unbelievable... Kil'jaeden took the child from Velen, let him believe that the boy had been killed, then raised the child as an agent of the Legion with the express purpose of murdering his own father?" Khadgar recapped, though it was clear, or it was that way to Spitfire, that he was focusing on one of his friends and not on the fact that they had lost the information that rested within Light's Heart, something that the group agreed with since they might have needed whatever Xe'ra and the rest of the Army of the Light had to share with them about the Legion, before he sighed for a moment as he thought about everything that he had just been told, "That bastard waited thirteen thousand years to exact vengeance upon Velen for defying Sargeras and the Legion... for Velen to have to experience such a tragedy, especially after everything that he and his people have been through since they fled from Argus, is just heartbreaking, and such a thing would test anyone's faith in the Light."

"Not to mention that we lost O'ros in the process, and the information inside Light's Heart." Rainbow remarked, because while she agreed with what Khadgar was saying right now, about Velen and the draenei, she was more focused on the fact that they had just lost a potential key to defeating the Legion or uncovering one of their darkest secrets, the latter possibly leading to them beating Sargeras' forces and saving Azeroth, something that impressed Spitfire, as the former athlete had matured since they arrived in Outlands and her focus was sharper than it had been back on their home world, which was another reason both of them were fighting the Legion since it kept Equus safe as well.

"Well, about that... before you returned from helping Velen, and learning what you did about this object, I was going over a few cosmology tomes and stumbled upon an entry that indicated that the Prime Naaru had been created by Elune during the great ordering of Light and Shadow," Khadgar said, though at the same time he moved out of the area they had found him in when they returned to and walked down to where the Aegis of Aggramar rested, as it was where he planned on storing the Pillars when they recovered them, to keep them safe and sound, before he walked up the ramp and walked back up to where the group was standing, where he was holding an odd crystalline tear-shaped stone that radiated power like the Aegis did, meaning this had to be another Pillar of Creation, the Tears of Elune to be exact, "I figured that, if Elune did create Xe'ra like the passage said, then her artifact might awaken whatever secrets Light's Heart might have... oh, and before you ask, the four Archdruids of the Cenarion Circle recovered this and returned it to this chamber after the honor duel you took part in earlier. Now, this will likely only work for one person, though I'm hoping that my thoughts are right and that this will work as intended... and if not, well, then I'll head back to the drawing board."

Spitfire nodded for a moment, as she and the others knew that Khadgar was referring to her and no one else, before she accepted the Tears of Elune as Syerea shifted her stance and made sure that Light's Heart was vertical this time around, resting against one of the bookshelves that Khadgar emptied, and moved the books elsewhere so none of them would be damaged in case something else happened, and he did the same to the shelves around those ones, before the area was cleared out and he nodded, to which Spitfire did the same as her group stood behind Khadgar's protective barrier, which was when she accessed the power within the Tears and suddenly her entire world went black as its power connected to Light's Heart... though off in the distance rested a planet consumed by Fel energy that looked like it was breaking, a world she assumed was Argus, before she spotted a golden light right in front of her position, even though it appeared that she was a white astral body at the moment.

Do not be alarmed, mortal, as your consciousness has been projected to my astral presence in the Great Dark Beyond. a voice said, where Spitfire watched as the golden light transformed into a crystalline being that looked like their body was made up of shards of fractured Light, meaning this had to be one of the Naaru, though what she found out was that it had more pieces that looked like they might be a crown or some wings, with a central piece missing based on what she was seeing at the moment, which made her interested in what she was going to hear, I am Xe'ra, one of the first Naaru to be forged here during the great ordering of the cosmos. You have come to the crucible of all creation in search of answers... listen then, and find enlightenment. In a time now long past, a great battle was fought that would determine the fate of all worlds, and it was in that final battle that the all-powerful Titans fell to one of their own: Sargeras.

Spitfire watched as an image appeared nearby and noticed that there were two shadowy figures for a moment, which the Naaru said nothing about, before one of them was cut down and then it moved to a battle between the remaining figure and a group of shadowy figures, five to be exact, which ended in the same figure emerging victorious, meaning that either Sargeras was stronger than what Spitfire and the others assumed, which was possible given that he was a Titan and none of them knew the strength of a Titan, or something had happened during that battle and it caused him to emerge as the victor against his former allies, but before she could say anything the image faded and she focused on Xe'ra again, since that meant she had more to say.

After their fall, none were left to oppose the will of Sargeras, which allowed the Dark Titan and his Burning Legion to go on and annihilate countless worlds in their Burning Crusade. Xe'ra continued, something that Spitfire knew about due to what she and Rainbow had learned, as Illidan had learned about what the Legion did when they took over a world, or at least they knew some of the things that happened when the demons emerged victorious against their foes, but she kept silent and listened to what the Naaru Prime had to say, From the ashes of those ravaged worlds, survivors arose to stand against the demons, who eventually became know as the Army of the Light... but now, the Golden Army teeters upon the precipice of oblivion as their campaign on Argus nears its terminus, and should they fall in their mission, the Legion will initiate a new Burning Crusade, and with it the cosmos will tremble. As such I came here now on a mission of desperation, for I seek the child of Light and Shadow, a boy destined to end the age of demons: Illidan Stormrage... or at least, that's the reason I came here in the first place, as recently something has changed...

What Spitfire saw while Xe'ra was talking was a massive flaming figure who plunged its sword into Azeroth, which had to be a vision of Sargeras winning and claiming his prize according to the Prime Naaru, if the Army of the Light failed, before it shifted to a smaller shadowy figure, about her and Rainbow's height, which was the common height of everyone that called Azeroth home, who had six different colored wings behind their body, one being the golden Light, another being the shadowy Void, one a nature green that felt full of Life, while another seemed to be a dark gray and full of Death, with the fifth one looking similar to the purple Arcane that her friends used, even though the final one was a Fel green... and that was all she saw as she was rushed out of where Xe'ra's astral presence had been located and headed towards her own body once more, though she had the feeling Khadgar and the others would be troubled by her news.

Comments

[PrismStrike]

if lyra's story is anything to go by that was some real heavy forshadowing at the end of this chapter not that I mind as the description sounded freaking awesome.

[zachary12]

nice work.

[badninja]

So it is possible that Rainbow and Spitfire will fail here, but I wonder who will be the balance bringer?