Seekers of the Epitaph: World of Azeroth

by Xarmar13

The Cipher of Damnation

Once Raida and Flutashe returned to the Altar of Sha’tar with the tablets, they were given a place to rest for a while. In the meantime, the Aldor were busy studying the tablets.

A few hours later, Raida moved to sneak out of the outpost in order to head south. Once she was away from sight of the guards she opened her wings and prepared to lift off.

“Where do you think you’re going without me?” said a voice from behind. Raida froze before she awkwardly turned around and saw an unamused Flutashe staring at her.

Raida couldn’t help but feel impressed that her sister had really stepped up after years of being apart. Still, she had to wonder how she knew that she was up to something. “How did you know I was sneaking out?”

“When you have a connection to the Zandalari spider loa, you tend to sense that those near you are keeping secrets.”

“The what now?” Raida asked confusedly.

Flutashe giggled, “I’m still a little confused about it myself. Apparently some wild gods who are normally worshiped by trolls decided to give me their blessing for some reason. It’s the reason my cat form is shaped like it is.”

“You mean it’s not some secret form of druid training?”

“For some reason, the wild gods seem to think I’m some really important person but never told me why.” Flutashe shook her head before staring at her sister again. “Now, are you going to tell me why you’re sneaking off?”

Raida sighed in resignation, “Akama needs to talk to me for some reason. I was heading over to his hideout to speak with him.”

“Isn’t he planning on betraying your master? Wouldn’t that mean you would be in danger?”

“Akama is smarter than that Flutters, any attack against me would immediately alert Lord Illidan to his treachery and whatever he has planned will be ruined. Lord Illidan is also keeping Akama’s soul hostage to make sure he’s compliant so I don’t imagine I’m in danger.”

Flutshe shook her head, “Nevertheless, I’m going with you.”

“Flutters…” A glare from the druid shut Raida up quickly. With a sigh, she pumped her wings and took to the air. Flutashe shifted into bird form and chased after her.

---

The journey to find the mysterious hermit took longer than the trio hoped. It turned out that carrying Bella, a paladin in heavy plate armor, anywhere was too much strain on Stella’s muscles so they were forced to walk around the mountain. Along the way they had to set up camp for a few hours to rest and replenish their strength.

Their trek took them past the haunted ruins of an arakkoa settlement and through an encampment of naga.

The trio was ambushed several times by groups of naga and a few angry water elementals. Stella froze and shattered the elementals and their bracers while Surprise showed how well void magic could cut through weapons and flesh.

Strangely, a few of them dropped keys. However, they didn’t have time to figure out what the keys went to but decided to take them anyway in case they became relevant later. Mena stored the keys in her hair.

Once they reached the mountain on the other side of the naga encampment, the trio looked around for a way up the mountain since climbing would be risky with naga still patrolling. Fortunately, they found a pass up the mountain on the right side. Unfortunately, the pass was infested by rock flayers, bipedal beasts with scythe-like appendages designed to cut through rock. There were also eggs along the path which told them that they were walking into a flayer nest.

The trek up the mountain was slow since they had to take on many flayers along the path. Surprise decided to be spiteful and blast every egg with her shadow magic, much to Bella’s disapproval. Of course, the paladin didn’t have time to berate the gnome since she was busy burning away every beast with her holy magic. Stella felt that they didn’t have time to waste on these creatures so she impaled many of them with icicles and blasted a large, yellow one in the chest with her Disintegration Beam.

The march continued as they found more flayers but they were busy attacking the local felboars. These boars didn’t show any signs of hostility toward the trio and only acted in self defense against the flayers. Feeling fed up with the flayers, the trio proceeded to destroy the last of them. Even after the flayers were all dead the felboars showed no hostility and simply wandered around.

Feeling relieved that the battle seemed over, they continued through the path until they came across a small tent with a few wolves and felboars around it. More importantly was the elderly orc standing beside the tent. He was in simple clothes and carried a feathered staff.

The wolves growled at them as they approached but a shout from the orc made them settle down. He then walked over to the trio. “Who are you and what do you want?” the orc asked.

“Pardon me sir, but would you happen to be Oronok Torn-heart?” Bella asked.

“I am,” he responded.

“Would you happen to know anything about an artifact called the Cipher of Damnation?”

“Never heard of it,” Oronok said hastily. Stella suspected that there might be more to this. “Take my advice: Let the dead rest. But since you three came all the way up here to see me, might I ask for your assistance with the harvest?”

“Of course we will help you,” Bella said. As a paladin, she never passed up an opportunity to be helpful as long as it didn’t seem suspicious. Stella felt like he was testing them somehow.

Oronok handed them a whistle for the task. “I was a lot of things, strangers, but what I once was isn’t important right now. Now, I am a farmer. I’ve trained the felboars in the area to dig up tubers from the hardened earth. With those flayers around, gathering tubers has become difficult. Use this whistle near a tuber and a felboar will come dig it up.”

“Flayers? You mean the nest of flayers we destroyed on our way up here?” Mena asked.

Oronok blinked, “Uh, yes, that nest. You mean to tell me they were wiped out?” Mena nodded. “Alright, gather me some tubers and I will tell you my story.”

After twenty minutes of harvesting tubers, the trio returned to the farmer with a bushel of tubers which they placed in a basket next to the orc.

“Now, are you finished trying to test us?” Stella asked.

Oronok flinched in surprise, then chuckled as he stood to his full height. “My apologies for the masquerade, I had to be sure you were capable of the task of recovering the Cipher. I will now tell you everything I know about it.”

And so, Oronok told them the story of the Cipher of Damnation. He talked about how Gul’dan used it to shatter the land and sever the ties the orcs had to the elements, how Illidan discovered the Cipher when he took over the land, how Oronok was once one of Gul’dan’s lieutenants and was there when the evil warlock committed the act, how Oronok’s hands were stained in the blood of innocents, how he felt the severed bond to the elements. The last things he mentioned were how he took his three sons and deserted Gul’dan to go into hiding for twenty years and that Illidan had divided the Cipher into three parts and left their care to his minions.

“My sons are tracking the pieces of the Cipher as we speak. My oldest, Grom’tor, searches Coilskar Point just below us for the first fragment. He’s the warrior of the family, ill-tempered and bloodthirsty. He got that from his mother. When you find him, tell him, ‘We spill blood for a just cause’ and he won’t try to decapitate you immediately.

“My youngest, Ar’tor, searches Illidari Point just west of Wildhammer Stronghold. He’s a hunter of remarkable skill and an excellent tracker, but I fear that he may be in over his head this time.

“Borak, my middle son, was a scholar before he left for the wilds of Draenor. He came back a changed orc with a heightened sense of awareness and mental acuity; a skilled assassin. He is a confident and powerful orc, which is why he volunteered to pursue the most guarded fragment of the Cipher. Before he left, he told me that he was pursuing a lead on the fragment at Eclipse Point, a blood elf base down the road from Wildhammer Stronghold.”

The trio thought about their next move, but no matter how they thought about it, they knew that the quickest way to find the Cipher would be to split up and pursue the three sons on their own.

“I’ll handle Coilskar Point!” Mena said.

Bella sighed, “Whether I choose Illidari Point or Eclipse Point, it’s going to be a long walk for me and a fair flight for Stella.”

“I’ll let you borrow my wyvern for this task, human,” Oronok offered.

“Thank you for your offer, kind orc,” Bella reciprocated. “In that case, I shall pursue Ar’tor, which leaves Stella to assist Borak.”

With their next plan of action made, Mena headed down the mountain path on her own while Bella mounted Oronok’s wyvern before he took to the skies and flew to the southwest. Stella transformed into her dracthyr form which surprised Oronok before she spread her wings and took off toward the south.

---

Raida and Flutashe flew south over the Ruins of Baa’ri. Corpses of broken and satyrs littered the ruins; a gruesome message to the druid’s enemies.

Raida whistled as she saw the bodies, impressed with her kill count. “Not bad, sis.”

“I’d rather not take pride in what I did. They left me no other choice,” Flutase said.

As they flew over, Raida noticed that her sister was keeping up with her flying better than the other demon hunters. Even though she could move much faster than that, Raida could tell that Flutashe could outfly most of the other demon hunters.

The two flew in silence until they reached a structure of orc construction. It resembled a crude “C” shape with two watchtowers at the ends. The structure was patrolled by satyrs, imps and dreadlords. One of the dreadlords was guarding a set of stairs leading underground.

“Just follow my lead,” Raida said before she flew down for a landing next to the stairs. Flutashe quickly followed.

As they landed, the dreadlord looked upon the form of one of his masters before he spotted a crow landing next to her. The crow transformed into her night elf form, informing the demon that she was a druid.

“Lady Raida, is she with you?” the dreadlord asked.

“Yeah, tell no one or you get to go wingless,” Raida threatened.

“Y-yes, my lady.”

Raida looked at her sister and tilted her head toward the stairs. “Let’s go.”

Their descent was short as they moved down a curved stairway to the lower level. A broken was there to greet them as they reached the bottom.

“Akama is expecting you,” the broken said.

“Hey Sanoru,” Raida greeted while she and Flutashe passed him. She then pointed her thumb back toward her sister. “She’s with me, if Akama wants to talk to me about something, he’ll have to tell her too.”

Sanoru remained silent while the two walked into a dead end corridor before Raida turned right into a flooded alcove with a pool of water at the end. Flutashe looked at her sister for a moment before she watched her dive into the pool, the druid followed. She didn’t bother shapeshifting since the swim was short as they swam under some roots before turning a corner and surfacing into a similar passage to the first one.

Around the corner was the broken who wanted to talk to Raida. This one wore a thick black robe fortified with a dull brass metal. A circular disc was on his chest and he wore a black hood. He also had a pair of hand scythes at his sides.

Standing in a prison cell behind Akama was a night elf woman completely clad in her cape and armor. Her features were only recognized as a night elf because she was wearing the attire of the Wardens, the secret police force of Darnassus who once stood guard over Illidan’s prison cell for ten thousand years.

“Maiev? Is that you?” Flutashe asked.

“Flutashe? Don’t tell me you’ve cast your lot in with this scum as well,” Maiev snarled. “I should have known that you would follow in your sister’s foot-!” A shard of black crystal slipped through the bars of the warden’s prison and struck Maiev in the chest, shattering with explosive force and sending her flying back to the back of the prison.

“Don’t you dare make such assumptions about my sister!” Raida roared. “She has nothing to do with the Illidari and she wants to see my master fall just as much as you and Akama.” She then cast a silencing spell on the warden to make sure she wasn’t about to spout more nonsense before she turned to the broken. “Now, what did you want to tell me?”

Akama stared at the warden in silence before he shook his head. “I called you here to request your aid against those who serve The Betrayer.”

“You know that I would never betray Lord Illidan,” Raida warned.

“Yet you have no love for Kael’thas and the fel orcs under Kargath. You also do not trust the naga,” Akama countered. “I have seen visions that you will be instrumental in dismantling the majority of Illidan’s forces. They tell me that you will not take part in the assault on Illidan. Frankly, these visions make little sense to me, yet only ruin would come to my people if I don’t fulfill them.”

“So what would you have us do?” Flutashe asked.

“Who is this?” Akama asked.

“My name is Flutashe, I’m Raida’s sister.”

“I see.” Akama took out a medallion which appeared to be missing a core component. “Have you heard of the Medallions of Karabor? They are mentioned on the Baa’ri tablets. I had the Ashtongue Corruptors in the area hold fragments of a replica to eventually lead someone who came to collect the medallion to me.”

“Hence the mention of them in the letter,” Raida said.

“This medallion is still missing one last component. My friend, Udalo, came to me in a dream to tell me that he had found it. Unfortunately, he is being held in the Arcatraz by Kael’thas. I ask that you find him and see what he knows.” Raida moaned when she heard the location.

“Something wrong?” Flutashe asked.

“Only that in order to get into the Arcatraz, you either need to have Kael’thas let you in or you need to steal the two key shards to reform the key into the place. The annoying part is that he gave one shard to some arcane-crazed ancient contained in the botanical satellite of Tempest Keep, the Botanica. The other shard is in the hands of Pathaleon and his office is in the engineering satellite of Tempest Keep, the Mechanar.”

“You don’t need to go there right away,” Akama offered. “I have heard that A’dal has set you and your friends on a task to recover the Cipher of Damnation from Illidan’s minions. I will not keep you anymore, go and assist your friends with acquiring the artifact.”

“Easier said than done, those three could be anywhere in this region,” Raida said.

“My scouts say that two of your friends are at Illidari Point and Eclipse Point, aiding the sons of Oronok Torn-heart. The other one is at Coilskar Point.”

“The hermit?” Raida shook her head, the orc wasn’t important. “Flutashe, head to Illidari Point, just west of Wildhammer Stronghold, I’ll go ahead and retrieve the Cipher fragment that the blood elves have been transporting around and meet up with whoever went to Eclipse Point.”

With their business concluded, the two returned to where they entered from and flew away from the hideout.

---

Mena floated her way back down to Coilskar Point and quickly noticed a number of dead naga all over the area. She was certain that these bodies were not the result of her friends’ earlier incursion.

“Hmm, guess Grom’tor must be nearby,” she thought out loud.

Sure enough, Mena spotted the orc next to a structure while viciously beating up a naga in crimson armor. After one punch to the face with his gauntlet, the naga spilled where they kept the Cipher fragment. Needless to say, Grom’tor was disappointed that his prey was so weak to interrogation tactics.

Grom’tor soon noticed the gnome and prepared his weapon, when she uttered the phrase Oronok told her, he lowered his weapon and spat on the naga, still feeling disappointed. “This maggot just spilled his guts. It sounds like the naga keep the fragment in one of the chests that are littered around the area. You need some special keys held by the nearby naga to open them.”

“Really?” Mena asked before she walked over to one of the nearby chests and pulled out one of the keys that she found earlier. Grom’tor walked over to her as she inserted the key into the lock and opened it. The orc looked inside and saw the page that they were looking for.

Grom’tor grunted in disappointment. He had hoped that they would have to kill more naga to find the right chest, but fortune was not with him today, that or the gnome was just that damn lucky.

The orc pulled out a lockbox and placed the page inside before sealing it up. “Take these to father. Tell him that I will be home soon…as soon as I’ve finished having my fun.

Once Mena received the lockbox, Grom’tor left her to go on a rampage. Figuring that the orc was having the time of his life, Mena left the naga base to its fate…though not before rewarding the poor naga commander with a cupcake for being a good prisoner.

---

Illidari Point was once a town of draenei construction, now the ruins serve as a haven for demons who deserted the Burning Legion to serve the Illidari. A variety of demons patrolled the ruins, mostly composed of sayaad, felguards, satyrs, and dreadlords.

Bella eliminated several demons in the ruins in search of Ar’tor until she found a ritual circle surrounded by four green prisms. The nearby sayaad appeared to be performing a ritual with the circle and walked away when they finished.

Looking closer at the circle, Bella’s eyes widened when she saw the limp form of an orc suspended over the circle, giving the paladin the idea that he may be dead or worse.

After clearing the ritual area of any guards and lingering sayaad ritualists, her holy magic incinerating the demons, she took a closer look to find that the orc was wearing chainmail fit for hunters. The odds were too low for this to be a coincidence, this was Ar’tor. She was too late.

She didn’t have time to mourn the fallen orc though. She needed to release the body from the ritual and bring him to his father for burial. Examining the crystals around the ritual, she noticed an empty slot at their base, likely a place for a key.

Before she began her search for anyone important, a crow landed next to her before she transformed into her druid friend. “Any luck?” Flutashe asked.

Bella shook her head, “Afraid not darling, The one tracking the Cipher fragment is dead above us and we have no leads on its location. The least we can do is free his body and deliver it to his father. Would you mind flying around the ruins and finding any demons who stand out from the others?” Flutashe nodded and shifted back into her crow form and took to the skies again.

After a few minutes of searching, Flutashe spotted a bright red-skinned sayaad who seemed a little taller than the other sayaad in the area. She was channeling magic into a familiar green crystal.

She had no guards around her so the druid decided to ambush her by hovering above her before shifting into her bear form and falling on her. The bulk she had from her form nearly crushed the sayaad and knocked her out when she landed hard on the ground.

Flutashe swiped the crystal and flew back to Bella who received the crystal and placed it into the slot, releasing the crystals’ hold on the corpse. The paladin quickly caught the body and placed it on the floor for a moment.

Suddenly, the ghostly form of the orc appeared before them and cheered. “This is a sign; even in death, I cannot be stopped! Recovering the Cipher fragment must be my destiny and with you two helping me, I will fulfill it,” the ghostly orc said.

“Wait, your spirit is still here?” Bella asked. “How long have you been dead?”

“Who knows, could be hours, days…I don’t know nor do I care, what matters is getting the Cipher fragment.”

“No, what matters is that you answer my questions,” Bella insisted. “How is your soul still here when it should have passed on a long time ago?”

Ar’tor rolled his eyes, “I don’t know demon crap, guess that circle they bound me to also bound my soul, probably to prolong my torture.”

“If your soul is still tethered to your body then this might work.” Bella then began channeling light magic onto the corpse which appeared to have been preserved by the demons’ spell. Ar’tor suddenly felt himself fading away into oblivion. The next moment, he found himself opening his eyes and groaning as he felt a headache coming and his body felt like he had just wrestled a clefthoof.

“Wha…what did you do to me?” Ar’tor asked.

“I just returned your soul to your body, welcome back to the land of the living,” Bella answered.

“You could have revived me at any time?”

“Of course not darling, there are limitations to the spell. For one, the body cannot be dead for more than six minutes because that’s usually the time when the soul becomes fully severed from their body. Also, the person would have to have died from unnatural causes, such as weapons or demonic soul torture. Then you have to consider the state of the body. If decomposition sets in, or the body is missing any parts, then the only way you will get to walk again is by the graces of a necromancer. Though it’s because of this barbaric torture spell that you met all the conditions for the spell to work.”

Ar’tor blinked, there were parts of what the paladin just said that he didn’t understand. Well, that didn’t matter, what did matter was that he was alive and free to continue his legend.

Although, he did feel a bit light. Patting his body and his back, he realized that his bow was missing. One of the demons must have taken it. “Before we get back to tracking down the Cipher, we need to get my longbow back. It’s a family heirloom that’s been passed down through my family for generations.”

The three began their hunt for Ar’tor’s bow which didn’t take long since they found it being carried around by a satyr. Once the hunter had been reunited with his favored weapon, he wasted no time putting his tracking skills to work. “The name of our prey is Veneratus the Many. He hides in the aether but I know how we can flush him out. When I locate him, I will place a flare where he is at and you, miss paladin, will unleash your magic to flush him out.”

Bella and Flutashe followed Ar’tor to the south side of the ruins which weren’t as populated as the north side but this allowed the hunter to continue his tracking unimpeded while the druid savaged any felguards who came close.

It wasn’t long before Ar’tor stopped his search and pulled out a special pistol and loaded it up with a flare shot. He pulled the trigger and a ball of light landed on the ground. Realizing that was the flare, Bella consecrated the ground and air around the flare. In moments, an observer demon appeared before them. Flutashe quickly assaulted Veneratus with her claws while Bella’s Light seared at the demon’s flesh. Ar’tor fired several arrows into his eyes to blind him.

It wasn’t long before Veneratus collapsed and a scrap of paper fell out of his mouth. For some reason, the page was not damaged by the demon’s saliva.

Ar’tor collected the page and pulled out a lockbox which he placed the page into before passing it to Bella. “Take this to my father, I will return to him soon, after I find sufficient prey for dinner tonight.” With that, he whistled loudly and a wyvern flew down. He mounted the beast and quickly flew away.

Bella called for the wyvern that she borrowed from Oronok while Flutashe shifted into her crow form. Both flew off back toward the hermit’s farm.

---

Stella flew around the area near Eclipse Point for a while before she spotted an orc crouched at the end of a bridge. Figuring that he didn’t want her blowing his cover, she cast an invisibility spell on herself before she landed and appeared crouched near the orc. She then undid her spell, though it did take all of the orc’s self control to not attack her on instinct.

After reining in his emotions, he whispered, “I take it that you’re here to assist me with my mission. I’ve been watching these blood elves for weeks and came up with nothing on the whereabouts of the Cipher of Damnation fragment. The only thing I do know is that Illidan sends an envoy here once a day. The envoy is untouchable since his bodyguard never leaves his side and the bodyguard is too strong and skilled for me to take on. I was about to give up on that angle when I realized that he’s a thistlehead.”

“What’s a thistlehead?” Stella asked.

“Have you ever heard of an herb called Bloodthistle? Apparently, the stuff is a sort of narcotic meant for blood elves. It gives them a small, temporary boost to their magical capabilities but they eventually suffer withdrawal symptoms. The herb is very addictive for them and those who consistently use it are called ‘thistleheads’. Thistleheads are frowned upon by blood elf society so users have to be extra careful not to get caught or its social suicide for them.”

“So where are we going to find bloodthistle around here? According to the Dalaran archives, the herb only grows near the blood elf capital city of Silvermoon.”

“I know of a shady vendor in Shattrath who sells bloodthistle for rotten arakkoa eggs, if you can find one in the nearby arakkoa ruins you can trade it for a bundle.”

Stella winced at what he just suggested. He was asking her to carry out a disgusting task and she had a bad feeling that she was going to empty her stomach and then some before this task was over.

However, that never happened as Raida in her cloak approached the two. She handed the orc a page which he recognized as part of the Cipher of Damnation. “What? How did you get this?” Borak asked.

“Does it matter? We have what we came for.” Raida dismissed. Borak raised an eyebrow at her but decided to let the matter lie since the business was indeed concluded and he felt that he would have no future dealings with her anyway, at least he hoped. Stella stayed skeptical though, a look in her eyes told Raida that she demanded an answer. The cloaked demon hunter walked up to the disguised drakthyr and whispered into her ear, “I’ll explain later and Flutashe already knows.”

Hesitantly, Stella decided to put the matter on the back burner while Borak put the page in a lockbox. “Take this to my father, tell him that I will be home soon,” Borak said as he handed the box to Stella. He then threw down a smokescreen and vanished.

A moment passed while the two made sure they were alone. Stella then shifted into her dracthyr form before looking at Raida. “I doubt I can carry you to the hermitage, so you will have to find your own way there,” Stella informed.

“No problem, I have my own pair of wings,” Raida assured. She then pulled off her cloak, making Stella raise an eyebrow as she saw the attire, tattoos, horns, hooves and wings. “My cloak is good for concealing my more suspicious features.”

Stella had seen warlocks in Stormwind and none of them sported the attire that she wore. The features made her look demonic. This was more than simply practicing the use of fel magic, only someone infused with the stuff could have those features.

Again, she let the matter lie for now but she was going to get her answers later, one way or another. As the two took to the skies, Stella looked forward to the explanation more than ever.

---

Despite having no flight capabilities, Mena was the first to return to the hermitage with the first of the three chests. Stella and Raida arrived a few minutes later, box in Stella’s hands. Mena could have sworn that she saw wings on Raida’s back before her cloak made them vanish. It was fifteen minutes after Stella and Raida when Flutashe and Bella returned with their box.

Bella, Stella and Mena presented their boxes to Oronok along with their own stories about their experiences. Oronok was curious about how Raida was able to obtain the Cipher page from the blood elves but left the matter alone. It wasn’t his right to judge after all. He also deeply thanked Bella for saving the life of his youngest son.

Using what materials he had on hand, Oronok collected the pages from the lockboxes and bound the pages together to restore the completed Cipher. He then handed the Cipher to Stella. “This is what you were looking for, you may take this to A’dal if you wish. What I would ask of you next is not something you have any obligation to agree to. The Cipher of Damnation can be used to avenge the atrocity that we committed against the elements. If the words are uttered again at the Altar of Damnation, you will see the memories left imprinted on the land. Cyrukh will come and he must be defeated this time. This land cannot withstand another shattering.”

Bella needed no convincing to undertake the task, her being a paladin and a generous soul playing major parts in that decision. “Of course we will help defeat Cyrukh, we shall save the elements from their torment.”

Raida leaned over to Stella and whispered, “Did she just sign us up for fighting an Elemental Lord?”

Stella sighed, “I’m afraid so. Let’s just hope this one isn’t as tough as Ragnaros.”

Raida was surprised that the dracthyr mentioned the Azerothian Elemental Lord of Fire as if they faced him once. She suddenly felt the desire to ask about their adventures but decided to do so later.

“I thank you strangers, I need to prepare before myself and my sons meet you at the altar.”

Stella began channeling her portal spell. “Alright everyone, let’s get going. I have an anchor point set at the altar so I can get us there instantly.” Once her spell was finished, the five of them traveled through and emerged at the Altar of Damnation.

Wanting to give Oronok some time to prepare, the five took a break and rested. Torlok was wondering why they had returned so Bella gave him the story of their travels through Shadowmoon Valley. He was glad that they had managed to recover the Cipher of Damnation as now they have a chance to redeem the elements.

After half an hour of waiting, Raida got restless and flew off somewhere, much to the surprise of Bella and Mena. She returned another half hour later while promising that she would explain later where she went on top of explaining her strange wings.

A couple of hours passed since they arrived at the altar before the group spotted four wyverns in the distance. A few more minutes passed before they landed near their location. Oronok, now wearing his shamanistic chainmail armor, along with Grom’tor, Borak and Ar’tor dismounted their flying companions and approached the group. “Glad you waited for us before we got this started,” Oronok said. “Now, let’s begin.”

Stella proceeded up to the ritual circle where the phantasmal memory of Gul’dan was reliving that terrible day. She pulled out the Cipher and began to read the forbidden text out loud. With each word spoken, the ground shook, forcing everyone to brace themselves while the evoker uttered the foul words.

Once the final word was uttered, a fiery vortex appeared in the lava fields before them before a giant figure emerged from it. This one resembled one of Ragnaros’ molten giants but this one was green from the fel corruption.

“I have returned to finish what was begun!” Cyrukh declared. “This dead world shall shatter at last!”

The group and Oronok’s group moved over to the hills where they would be away from the altar and avoid collateral damage. Once they were ready, Oronok taunted the Firelord, “We will set the elements free of your grasp by force!”

“Little creature of flesh, I shall grant you your wish for death!” Cyrukh shot back.

The giant ran forward to engage the morals, attempting to flatten one with a stomp as he entered attacking range. Any under his foot managed to dodge but he still sent a wave of felfire which burned some of them.

Bella focused on healing spells while the others charged in or began casting. Ar’tor shot Cyrukh’s chest with several iron arrows that didn’t burn so easily while Grom’tor hacked away at his left foot with his ax. Flutashe raked her claws on his right foot while Stella bombarded him from a distance with icicles. Mena fired bolts of holy magic at him.

Cyrukh tried to throw a molten ball of fire at Stella but the ball was sliced in half by Truth. Lady Heartswell and Leech were summoned to assist with the attack. Seeker summoned several eyes which fired beams of fel energy at the giant.

Enraged, Cyrukh stomped his foot and caused a shockwave of earth and lava to race toward everyone. Oronok was able to protect his side by placing a water totem that unleashed a powerful icy nova that canceled out the shockwave. Bella protected everyone else with a powerful light barrier.

Having enough, Raida removed her cloak and unleashed black beams from her eyes. The beams struck the giant and raced across his chest, leaving black flames in their wake. The flames soon faded, leaving black crystals behind. Raida wasn’t finished. Enveloping her form in black flames, she charged forward with her twin warglaives in both hands. She crashed into Cyrukh’s right leg and backed away as the flames consumed it. The black crystals that formed soon became a huge burden on Cyrukh as he was unable to move his leg.

Cyrukh roared at Raida but that only left him wide open to an explosive bolt of fel energy which she sent down his throat. The Elemental Lord groaned as the blast detonated in his stomach, causing him to groan from the internal pain. Another blast struck the crystals on his leg which caused them to detonate and obliterate his right leg, causing him to fall. A third blast detonated the crystals along his chest as he fell, inflicting immense pain on the Elemental Lord.

Cyrukh’s fall placed his face into Flutashe’s attack range. Her claws crushed the rocks that made up his face and left him bleeding lava. Oronok relentlessly struck his face with bolts of lightning while Borak opened up more wounds with his daggers, taking care not to allow them to overheat.

Cyrukh’s endurance soon gave out and the green glow radiating from his body dimmed.

Once they were sure he was dead, everyone cheered in celebration as they vanquished a powerful foe. Oronok and his sons breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the ordeal was over.

The old hermit walked over to Torlok who was still in shock from the battle. “What say the elements? I hear only silence.”

“I hear what you hear brother, look,” Torlok said as he pointed in the direction of four elementals, each one healthy-looking with no sign of fel corruption.

“They are redeemed! Then we have won?” Oronok asked.

“It is now as it should be, shaman. You have done well,” Earth said.

“Yes, well enough for the elements here,” Fire added. “But the Cipher is known to another. The spirits of fire are in turmoil.” He then left a blazing icon for them to see.

“Farewell mortals, the earthmender knows what Fire feels,” Earth said.

As the elements flew away, everyone gazed at the symbol left behind. All they really saw was a symbol of a hawk with its wings fully extended. None of them had any idea what this meant.

None except for Raida.

She groaned, “Of course it’s him… That icon is the symbol of the house of Sunstrider, the royal family of Quel’thalas. This means that Kael’thas knows the Words of Damnation.”

“So this means that we need to defeat him as soon as possible,” Stella noted.

“It won’t be that easy,” Raida said. “The entrance to Tempest Keep is locked behind an energy door like the Arcatraz is. Only Kael’thas knows the bypass while A’dal is the most likely being who has the key into the place. We can’t touch Kael’thas until we get that key.”

“Couldn’t he utter the words at any time?” Mena asked.

Raida shook her head, “If we had to utter the words here to summon Cyrukh, then Kael’thas will likely need to be here to utter them as well and that would leave him exposed to attack. I doubt that he will use the words anytime soon.”

“Then we need to return to Shattrath as soon as possible and plan our next move.” Stella paused then slowly turned her head toward Raida, giving her a stare that told her that she was not getting out of their delayed discussion this time. “For now, I think it’s time to address the elekk in the room.”

Raida chuckled awkwardly and hoped that when the conversation was over that she wouldn’t end up fleeing back to Lord Illidan.

Author's Note:

To summarize this chapter, progress has been made in their attunement quest to Tempest Keep and Black Temple. A tiny deviation occurred here. Insignificant, but it does show that resurrection spells do exist in this story, I just don't plan on using them often.

Next time: Setting up for a dungeon marathon.