Seekers of the Epitaph: World of Azeroth

by Xarmar13

The Infinite Dragonflight

Stella and the others emerged from the portal in the central chamber of Shattrath. They stood before A’dal again and reported what had transpired within the prison ship. While A’dal was pleased that Millhouse Manastorm managed to escape, he didn’t like that Violetta not only became active for some parts of their journey through the ship, but also that she blew up a chunk of the Arcatraz.

Nevertheless, the adventurers before him had fulfilled the conditions for the Trials of Strength, Mercy and Tenacity. Now it was time to reveal the final trial, one that would require more than just the five of them to complete.

“The final trial you must complete will require the assistance of those who were tasked with hunting the Sons of Gruul,” A’dal informed. “Before I can give you the key to Tempest Keep, you must bring an end to the feast of corruption that fuels the fel horde. Your task is to venture into the depths of Hellfire Citadel and destroy the pit lord, Magtheridon. There is no hurry to finish this task at this time, as I am sure that you will have other objectives that will take priority over that.”

Stella realized what the naaru meant. She walked up to Khadgar and presented him with the three pieces of his key into Karazhan. “Can you fix this?” she asked.

“I shall give it my all,” he declared before channeling arcane energies into the broken key. Through the temporal energies found in the arcane school of magic, Khadgar was able to undo the damage to the key. He inspected the key, examining every last detail before he gave a sad sigh.

He shook his head as he handed the key back to Stella. “It’s no use, when I broke the key I also destroyed the enchantment that was woven into it. The enchantment is tied to my old master, Medivh and it cannot be repaired without his consent.”

“But, Medivh is dead,” Stella said. “The only way we can get his permission is if we ask the Bronze Dragonflight to take us back in time to when he was alive.”

“Which is why I am here,” said a voice from behind the group.”

They turned around and spotted who appeared as a high elf in a silvery gown. Of course, Stella and Bella quickly took note of the elf’s blue, slitted eyes, a common tell for a dragon using a visage form. “Greetings, I am Zephyr, representative of the Bronze Dragonflight.”

“Were you sent here by Nozdormu?” Stella asked.

The transformed dragon giggled, “Of course I was, this is the point in time where we ask you for assistance with some problems of ours.”

“So you will take us to a time period where we may speak with Medivh?” Bella asked.

“I can send you directly to the entrance to the Caverns of Time where you will find transport ready to take you to the central chamber. Andormu will have more information for you.”

Seeing as they had little choice since the means of entering the mysterious tower lay in speaking with a man who was currently dead, they graciously accepted the dragon’s offer.

Khadgar stopped them to tell them one last thing, “Once you obtain a key into Karazhan, make whatever preparations you need to explore that tower. You have more important things that need to be done than to come to me to tell me that you have obtained it. I have full faith that you will succeed.”

Zephyr opened a portal to the Cavens of Time and everyone stepped through. Khadgar stared at the spot where they were at for a few moments before he returned his attention to A’dal.

---

After Lokosh and the others returned to the arena where Rexxar and Sabellian awaited them, they were informed of the final part of the plan to deal with the Sons of Gruul.

Since the last two gronn were in the northern canyon that led straight to Gruul’s Lair, it was decided that they would face them together.

Mog’dorg informed them that Skulloc could be summoned from a special altar located in a place where the land darkened. They needed the grimoire to summon an object called the Soulgrinder and defend the object until Skulloc was drawn into this world. When asked why he didn’t assist them, the ogre said that he didn’t want to take part in the fighting because he was a pacifist.

With their plan made, the group of seven proceeded north through the canyon. Along the way, they ran through a camp of Bloodmaul Ogres. The ogres accosted the group but Talia burned any who got too close.

They soon came across a darkened area of land with an altar in front of four broken pillars. This seemed to be the area that Mog’dorg mentioned.

As they approached the altar, Talia pulled out the grimoire and began to read from it out loud. A circular disc with a ring around it appeared over the altar.

The group took battle stances around the object and waited for the attackers to come. A few seconds passed before a ghostly ogre appeared and ran toward the Soulgrinder with his fist raised to attack it. Misha the bear bit the ogre in the ankle and dragged him to the ground before Rexxar brought an ax down on his head and made him vanish.

More ogre ghosts began to manifest and the party continued to defend the Soulgrinder by making the ogres disappear. As the fight progressed, the Soulgrinder formed a black magic tether and linked it with one of the broken pillars. When this happened, a massive silhouette appeared between the pillars.

The defensive battle continued and Sabellian’s fire magic burned away numerous ogre ghosts while the Horde party blasted even more. As this was going on, more tethers were linking the Soulgrinder to the pillars. With each pillar connected, the silhouette of a gronn became increasingly pronounced.

Shortly after all four pillars were connected, the Soulgrinder disappeared and the ogre ghosts vanished. Skulloc emerged from his hiding place and moved to attack.

Sabellian, who wanted to conserve his strength for the final gronn, focused on attacking Skulloc with fire magic while Rexxar and Misha attacked his legs.

The others would have attacked as well except Skulloc summoned more ogre ghosts to attack them while the gronn tried to pound Rexxar into the ground. Groun summoned several plants to fight the ogres while Feloma used a little magic to enchant them to attack ghosts before she focused on using her arrows to blind Skulloc. Farra’jin assisted with an earth elemental and zapping multiple ghosts with his Chain Lightning spell.

Skulloc counterattacked by casting a Banish spell on Feloma to temporarily send her to a different plane of existence where she couldn’t attack him while he struck the others with a shadow magic affliction to burn them from the inside out. Talia’s felhound quickly devoured the magic.

It was as Skulloc was summoning more ghosts and forcing Sabellian to consider using his dragon form to deal with the gronn that the ghosts were suddenly pulled away against their will. Skulloc turned his head toward the newcomer and saw a female human in dark armor raising her sword. The ogres were pulled into the blade which left Skulloc alone.

Thanatas then swiped the air horizontally with her sword which caused several copies of her sword to manifest and fly toward him. He managed to block the blades with a hand but they embedded themselves deep into his skin. A feeling of numbness in his hand made the gronn discover that his hand was beginning to discolor and the tissue began to necrotize.

As he was staring at his hand, an arrow flew right into Skulloc’s eye and blinded him. He roared in pain which was further worsened when the arrow in his eye exploded and burned the inside of his skull. Blood flowed freely from his eye socket.

Thanatas magically drew the blood toward her and collected it as a large crimson orb floating above her left hand. She then infused a disease within it before she returned it to the eye socket. The sphere transformed into a new eye, albeit a crimson one with a glowing green iris.

“Why did you do that?” Feloma asked. “I had him blinded!”

A wicked smile was plastered on Thanatas’ face. “Wait for it…”

Glad that he could see again, Skulloc was ready to attack again. Despite his arm’s numbness climbing up the limb, he could still use it for something. That was when he saw thousands of ogres climbing up his body and pounding at him. He couldn’t actually feel anything, but his senses were telling him that he was being attacked so he began trying to slap at his own body to get the ogres off but the more he brushed off the more ogres appeared on his body. In a panic, he pounded harder at his body trying to get them off.

The others were confused by what they were seeing. The sight was of Skulloc beating himself senseless for some reason. They couldn’t see what Skulloc was seeing.

“Why he be attackin’ himself?” Farra’jin asked.

“That’s because the disease I put into his new eye was psychological in nature,” Thanatas lectured. “The disease is similar to a severe case of schizophrenia where the patient interprets a warped reality that doesn’t actually exist except in the patient’s mind. In this case, he’s interpreting that the countless ogres he killed in his quest of subjugation are coming back for revenge. The disease also interacts with the patient’s bloodstream to reach and trigger the adrenal glands to produce excessive adrenaline to increase their heart rate. The paranoia is a distraction while the increased heart rate is accelerating the spread of the other disease I injected into his body through my phantasmal blades. Once that disease reaches the heart and lungs…”

A moment later, the necrotic disease ran its course and did as Thanatas predicted. Skulloc’s vital organs soon shut down which left the gronn struggling for air to put into his non-functional lungs. His death was slow.

Sabellian glared at Thanatas. While he wished all gronn a slow and painful death, the death knight’s methods dredged up memories that he would rather forget. His father was insane and the experiments he performed sometimes kept the dragon awake at night. He still desperately clinged to the hope that Deathwing was not always the mad scientist that he was.

“Why did you help us with this fight?” Lokosh asked.

“Because I was bored and came to kill this one since you let Sophia kill that one near Shattrath,” Thanatas answered. She then looked at the ones who seemed like they wanted to get on her case. “And before you go into matters of honor and morality, don’t. I’ve heard it all before so any complaints you have about my methods can be submitted in writing and placed in a suggestion box that I have hanging over a furnace somewhere.

“Oh, and one last thing, once you kill Goc, I suggest staying in Thunderlord Stronghold for a few days if you want to avoid wasting the trip to and from Shattrath. Ta-ta!”

Thanatas then manifested skeletal dragon wings on her back and gave a strong flap before flying away.

Now that she was alone, Thanatas connected to Sphere through the psychic connection. “Hey Twilight, you there?”

“I’m here, did you identify their latest member? She goes by Feloma Brightbow.”

“Yes, her soul signature registers as someone named Misty Wing. According to Sophia’s Observer Drones, Misty has a strange ability to make most people and animals infatuated with her.”

Twilight and Midnight spent some time going through the archives of ponies, living and deceased. There were a fair number of ponies of that name that spanned back centuries but none of them exhibited the ability that Thanatas mentioned. One entry mentioned a supermodel of the same name but that seemed to be a dead end because that model would have died long before the advent of the medical technology that would have made replacement bodies possible.

They soon realized that they were going to have some difficulty locating any information on Misty Wing. She would have to make a call to Princess Celestia to see if she knew anything.

“There isn’t much in the archives that we can use to pinpoint this mare,” Midnight said. “Did you find anything else?”

“Only that her soul has been in the mortal plane for far longer than the other verified members of the ELF. None of the others have lived past a millennium yet, with Crystal Silicon being the oldest among them until now. Misty’s soul has been around for nearly thirteen hundred years.”

“Alright, I’m going to call Celestia to see if she knows anything,” Twilight said. “We were nowhere near having life-extension technology back then, so she would have to either be an alicorn or she would need to have some means of extending her lifespan.”

“I will continue keeping an eye on them then,” Thanatas terminated the link and continued her flight.

---

The Alliance party appeared in front of the Caverns of Time in a place where Anachronos once stood. They quickly noticed that the caverns were now open and five bronze drakes stood in front of the entrance.

“Greetings mortals, we are here to carry you into the central chamber to meet Andormu,” One drake said.

The party said nothing as they mounted the drakes who spread their wings and flew into the cavern.

The inside was just as strange as the outside. What appeared to be parts of buildings along with part of a ship were lodged into the walls of the cavern. The tunnels wound and spiraled downward as they viewed objects and places now lost to time and ended up here. Part of the cavern walls seemed to open up at the sides to reveal the cosmos. It was all so surreal.

Soon, the dragons landed next to who appeared to be a pair of blood elf children. They were standing in a violet magic circle with several rings of symbols hovering around them.

“Greetings adventurers, I am Andormu and this is my sister Nozari,” the male child introduced.

“What? But…you’re-” Bella stammered.

“You are wondering why a pair of whelps like us are here to greet you. We are the past selves of the caretakers of the Caverns of Time. Our future selves are busy handling other matters so they can’t come to greet you.”

“We were told by Zephyr that you can take us to a time when Medivh was alive?” Stella asked.

“We can, but we need your help with another matter. You see, the timeways are under siege by a group calling themselves the Infinite Dragonflight. Their scales are black and part of their bodies leak a blue light. Cracks appear on their bodies that also leak this light.”

“What are they after?”

“We don’t know. All we do know is that they’re attacking the timeline at three specific points.” Nozari pointed toward a nearby opening. An Alliance watchtower stood near it along with several soldiers and peasants frozen in time. “Our most immediate concern is that they are attacking the point where Thrall was supposed to escape from his captivity in Durnholde Keep through the assistance of a human girl named Taretha Foxton. However, an agent of the Infinite Dragonflight has captured her to prevent Thrall’s escape. We will need you to stage a jailbreak and make sure he escapes. Erozion will provide you with what you will need to accomplish this.”

Andormu pointed toward a large platform where Anachronos was resting beside a massive complex-looking hourglass. However, he was meaning to point toward another opening to the left of the first opening. Looking around the platform, the party saw what looked like a swampy area with what looked like part of the Dark Portal and some animals frozen in time. “That point in time is the fateful opening of the Dark Portal by the magus Medivh. The Infinite Dragonflight is planning an assault on the portal and him, but we don’t need to worry about that just yet. We still have time before then.”

Nozari pointed toward an opening that had a section of forest along with night elf weaponry. “While it is risky to send you to that timeline since a couple of you participated in that event, there is a slight deviation in the events of the Battle of Mount Hyjal that require our assistance. However, the problem is that the opening has not fully manifested so we need something from that timeline to fully open the way.”

Raida’s and Flutashe’s eyes widened when they heard what the whelp said. They still remembered the Battle of Mount Hyjal with some clarity. They remembered that Archimonde had slipped past their defenses somehow and tried to drain the World Tree before Malfurion was ready to spring his trap. If it wasn’t for the assistance of twelve people, whose names and faces were a blur to them, they would have lost the tree and possibly the world as well.

Flutashe began putting the pieces together. Seeing as the Bronze Dragonflight fully intended on them visiting that event, it began to make sense. She soon realized that the people they saw fighting Archimonde were actually themselves, the Horde party, as well as Sophia and Thanatas.

Andormu looked at the druid as he noticed the look in her eyes. “I see that you just realized something important. Our future selves had to place a block on the memories of your younger selves in order to avoid any potential temporal paradoxes. Now that you’re here, there’s no need for that block anymore.”

“So you’re telling me that we need to visit these timelines to not only stop the Infinite Dragonflight, but also to close a few causal loops?” Stella asked.

Nozari eagerly nodded, “Yep, but in order to open the way for the Hyjal event, we need something from that timeline. We’d rather not use people since that tends to get messy. Instead, we need a certain pair of vials that once contained the waters from the Well of Eternity that was sundered ten thousand years ago.

“Illidan Stormrage collected several vials of the water before the Well imploded and used most of them to create a new Well in the place where Nordrassil now stands. He later gave the remnants of those vials to two of his lieutenants: Lady Vashj and Kael’thas Sunstrider.”

The five let out an exasperated sigh as they had found another reason why they had to kill those two.

With more tasks placed upon their shoulders, the party headed toward the cavern with the Alliance tower by it and entered a winding tunnel. Stella could sense space and time warping around her as they traveled through the tunnel.

The exit came into view as they exited into what appeared to be a grassy region with a few trees around. Prowling the area were deer, bears and mountain lions. The party figured that either Tanaris had an area that was completely unlike the region or they ended up in another place, possibly another time.

Their curiosity was soon answered when they spotted a high elf standing next to a bronze drake. They guessed that one of them was Erozion. “Greetings, welcome to Hillsbrad Foothills, set during a time after the Second War when the defeated orcs were forced into internment camps and developed lethargic behavior as a result of the withdrawal symptoms of consuming the blood of demons.

“By this point, Taretha Foxton was supposed to set fire to the internment lodges in Durnholde Keep but she was captured by the Infinite Dragonflight and is currently being held in the town of Tarren Mill just to the east.”

“So do we need to free her?” Bella asked.

“That would do no good, the Infinite Dragonflight warned Aedelas Blackmoore of a threat to the keep so his guards are on high alert. The only option we have now is to liberate Thrall ourselves.”

“So we are to go in and fight the entire keep to free him? Won’t we get overwhelmed?” Stella asked.

“Not if we cause the original distraction ourselves,” Erozion said. His companion, Brazen, placed a sack on the ground. From the sack, Erozion pulled out what appeared to be explosive devices. Mena placed them in her hair, much to the dragons’ curiosity. They decided to let the matter lie because of more important matters. “These incendiary charges should do the trick. Try to place them in inconspicuous places inside each lodge in the keep, such as inside a barrel.” He handed Stella a remote with a button on it. “This detonator will set off all the charges at once and force the guards to focus on restoring order and pay less attention to you. You can slip into the keep and reach Thrall in the keep’s basement.”

“What if the Infinites interfere?” Raida asked.

“I’m certain they will. Once they realize that their plans have gone awry, I’m expecting them to try to kill him directly. Do note that some of the guards around here may be infinite dragonkin in disguise. Once you neutralize the threat, Thrall will be free to pursue his destiny. Return here to return to the Caverns of Time.”

Erozion’s eyes widened as he realized that he nearly forgot something. “Oh yes, to preserve the timeline, I need to place an illusion on some of you.” He cast the spell which turned Flutashe and Raida into humans. “Since the existence of night elves was not revealed yet, you need to take on the appearance of a race known to the Alliance of this time which included humans, dwarves, gnomes and high elves. Stella’s visage form will work here but I must ask for you to refrain from revealing your dracthyr form as much as possible. There are too many individuals in this area who are still alive in the present.

“Once you are ready, myself and Brazen will fly you to a hill just outside Durnholde Keep.”

Once they confirmed they were ready, Raida and Bella got on Brazen’s back while Erozion turned into his drake form and allowed Mena and Stella to ride him. Flutashe shifted into her bird form since most people would mistake her for an ordinary bird. The drakes took off quickly and flew east.

Along the way, they spotted a number of things such as a man riding a horse and wearing a strange black suit and a sombrero on his head. They also spotted some wizards wandering the road and some figures that Bella recognized from the old Scarlet Crusade, back when they weren’t a bunch of fanatical zealots.

After a few minutes, the drakes and Flutashe descended and landed on a small hill near the keep. The group got off and Flutashe shifted back into her illusory human form.

“Good luck,” Erozion bid as he and Brazen flew away.

Looking at the entrance to the stone keep, they spotted a guard at the entrance and there appeared to be no way in short of flying over the walls or going through him. They also spotted a few watchtowers inside the walls poking over them. If they were manned then the group figured that they would be shot down. This left them with the frontal assault option.

Compared to fighting the elementals, demons, dragons and overgrown insects that they were used to fighting, fighting soldiers didn’t seem as intense. Of course, being soldiers, they were also more coordinated. Bella protected the group from the soldiers fighting with their swords while Stella created a few earthen pillars to give the riflemen obstacles between them and their targets. Raida quickly hunted down any soldiers who used holy magic to heal their allies and Flutashe snuck behind the firing lines and mauled the riflemen. The soldiers who were accompanied by trained dogs quickly found that they weren’t so well trained when they turned on their handlers thanks to the druid’s alpha influence. The sword fighters were dealt with last when Surprise attacked their minds.

They continued fighting more guards as they crossed a bridge over the pit area and took a right toward a set of rickety stairs that led into the pit area where the internment lodges were.

The orcs looked at the guards fighting the intruders with interest since it was probably the most entertainment they were going to get for a while. Because of their lethargy though, they continued to act like spectators.

The group proceeded to eliminate the guards protecting the internment lodges while Mena pulled out the incendiary charges and planted them in a barrel in the building. They repeated this for the other four buildings until all five charges were set.

Stella called for the orcs to get clear of the buildings before she activated the detonator half a minute later when the orcs were out of the building. A series of explosions occurred immediately after and the wooden buildings were quite dry and quite flammable. They party watched as the lodges went up in smoke.

All they needed to do was wait for the guards in the keep proper to send in soldiers.

A few minutes later, their wait was answered as a squad of soldiers descended the stairs led by a man in full plate armor colored white and blue and wielding a longsword that had a holy glow.

“Soldiers, fetch water quickly! Get these flames out before they spread to the rest of the keep! Hurry, damn you!” the armored soldier barked.

As the soldiers ran off, the armored soldier remained. Ever since he got that mysterious tip about a potential attack on the keep serving as a cover to help that miserable orc escape. He knew the intruders were nearby and while he would have preferred to have some guards assisting him, the fires were the more immediate concern. He would have to deal with the intruders himself.

“Come on out, you cowards! I know you are here! Face me!” he taunted. “I know what you’re up to, and I mean to put an end to it, permanently!”

With the armored officer guarding the only way out of the pit, the group had no choice but to take him out.

Bella got the officer’s attention by hurling her shield at him which caught him by surprise and sent him back a few feet. The shield, blessed with holy energy, was drawn toward the paladin who grabbed it and re-equipped herself with it.

The officer, who went by Drake, didn’t like getting ambushed like that and charged at Bella who blocked strikes with her shield and parried other strikes with her hammer. Drake then saw the others coming so he tried to push Bella away so he could shoot at the others with his rifle, but the paladin proved stronger than he expected.

Being the simple warrior that he was, he didn’t have any particular magic he could call upon to protect him. He was used to dealing with bandits, rogues and the run of the mill rogue mages. He was not prepared for a gnome who could use dark magic to control his mind.

When Surprise took control of Drake, she began having him behave like he suddenly went mad in the eyes of his soldiers by having him mercilessly slaughter them. This confused the soldiers but made them worry that they might get killed themselves if they didn’t restrain their mad lieutenant.

When he began spinning around with his sword outstretched and moving toward a group of riflemen, the soldiers panicked and began shooting at him. A few shots pierced Drake’s armor while most were deflected by his blade. It was then that the soldiers started to get into formation and work together to defeat their boss before he killed them.

Despite the wounds they were giving him, Drake was not showing signs of stopping his rampage so they had to fight harder. The healing soldiers did their best to keep their comrades in the fight while the hounds bit at Drake’s ankles.

As Drake was about to bring his sword down on one scared soldier, the soldier desperately thrust his sword into Drake’s chest which stopped the lieutenant’s attack and made him drop his sword. Drake collapsed in a heap, but that was because Surprise ended the fight by crushing her puppet’s mind.

The orcs cheered and whistled, glad to see the end of that sadistic madman.

When the priest was finished playing with her toy, she realized that the others had moved on without her so she rushed to catch up.

The others moved ahead to clear the way for when Thrall made his escape. Of course, they found that most of the keep soldiers had gone down to the pit to deal with the fires so the keep was mostly clear, save for a couple of patrols with guard hounds who quickly turned on their handlers.

Mena quickly caught up with the others as they entered the keep. Bella was thankful that the human design for barracks and keeps was universal so there wasn’t any uniqueness to the design which, sadly, never changed after so many years.

Bella quickly led the group into the basement where they found a large prison cell occupied by a bed of hay and a certain black-haired orc in rags. He wasn’t sure what to make of the group. “Who are you?” Thrall asked.

They knew that they needed to convince Thrall to come with them, though they couldn’t say too much since the bronze dragons would get mad at them. Bella figured that a healthy mix of truth and lies might help. “There has been a change in plans Thrall, it would appear that Blackmoore caught on to Taretha’s plan so she hired us to break you out.”

Thankfully, Thrall bought the explanation since he knew that his friend was trying to free him and it would explain how they knew his name. Something must have happened to force her to hire mercenaries. Regardless, these people seemed to be his best hope for freedom.

Raida slashed the lock on the cell door, letting the orc out. “Let’s go,” Thrall said.

The group, now with Thrall included, retraced their steps through the keep hallways before they stopped at what appeared to be an armory being occupied by an unarmed armorer.

“If we’re going with a new plan, I should probably arm myself,” Thrall said. The orc entered the armory and surprised the armorer. Before he could call for more guards, Thrall delivered a heavy punch to his face and knocked him out. “That’ll be enough out of him.” He then went through the equipment available to him and found a full set of leather armor in his size along with an ax and a shield. “I am ready now.”

Unfortunately, Thrall took too long getting equipped as there was a patrol of guards at the keep entrance. The guards probably got the situation in the pit under control.

Regardless, dealing with the new patrols was the same as dealing with the old ones except these had mages which Stella easily kept under control by countering their spells. They had to deal with several patrols, two of which were guarding both ends of the bridge out of the keep.

Once they had torn through their ranks, they reached the keep entrance. Freedom was within reach for Thrall.

That was when they noticed a trio of horse riders approaching them. One was riding a blessed warhorse, which was normally ridden by paladins. He was accompanied by two Durnholde guards.

Thrall recognized the man as Captain Skarloc, Blackmoore’s second. He readied himself for a fight against the paladin as he and the guards dismounted and approached them.

“Thrall, you didn’t really think that you would escape, did you? You and your allies shall answer to Blackmoore, after I’ve had my–”

Skarloc was interrupted when a certain paladin charged at him with her wings of light stretched out and slammed into him, scaring the horses. Flutashe convinced them to only retreat a reasonable distance though.

“Deal with the other two,” Bella commanded. “I shall deal with this charlatan of a paladin.”

“Bring it on, little girl,” Skarloc taunted.

Skarloc began the fight by consecrating the ground around him which began to burn Bella’s feet a little. Her attunement to the Light made her greatly resistant to such attacks though. Both created hammers of light to throw at the other but both were blocked by each other’s shields. Skarloc was forced to back away to avoid getting skewered by swords of light coming from the ground.

Blackmoore’s second was an experienced paladin who could wield the Light in the name of justice and Blackmoore, even if he knew that his leader’s methods seemed cruel. However, Bella was a paladin from the future and made her armor from the best materials she could get her hands on.

Though she did make a mental note to study the minerals of Outland as well as the quality of the leather skins that could be obtained there. She also made a note to study the properties of netherweave cloth as she might be able to create some new armor for her friends in the future.

As the battle progressed, Bella began making dents in Skarloc’s armor. He then attempted to protect himself with a Divine Shield to prevent Bella from attacking him while he attacked in safety. He had forgotten that Bella was a paladin too and though she waited a few seconds while she dodged his sword before she deployed her own Divine Shield to prevent Skarloc from attacking her while his spell soon faded. He expected an attack from Bella’s hammer, he got a sword of light which shredded part of his armor.

Bella followed up with a powerful hammer throw that impacted on Skarloc’s shield and shattered it.

Skarloc knew that he was in trouble so he called on the guards to help him, only to find that they were already down for the count. The last thing he saw was a shield flying at his head which not only knocked out a number of his teeth but also caved his skull in.

While Bella took some time to refresh herself after that fight, Thrall thanked the others for their assistance in his freedom. “Thank you friends, I owe my freedom to you. But where is Taretha? I had hoped to see her one last time before I fled into the mountains.”

Stella had a feeling that Thrall and Taretha were close friends, while his safety took priority, she had a feeling that he wasn’t going to abandon the girl when she was in danger. With a resigned sigh, she answered, “She is being held captive in Tarren Mill. She managed to convince us to free you before she was captured.”

“Then we have no time to waste.” Thrall mounted Skarloc’s horse. “Once we cross the river to the west, I will move north along the river to avoid being detected. Meet me at the outskirts of the town.” He then snapped the reins and the horse took off, guiding it on the road to the west.

“I will go with him to make sure any road patrols don’t harass him,” Bella said before she channeled her holy magic which called forth a glowing warhorse gilded in gold barding.

“Were you always able to do that?” Stella asked.

“Yes, though I usually do not summon him unless necessary. You move on ahead and avoid being discovered by guards.” Bella then snapped the reins and chased after Thrall, confident that her warhorse could outperform Skarloc’s warhorse any day.

The rest of them made sure the coast was clear before Flutashe shifted into her bird form and Stella her dracthyr form. Raida deployed her wings while Mena made herself lightweight to be carried by Stella. They flew directly west while avoiding patrols and soon flew across the river.

Meanwhile, Bella managed to catch up to Thrall just in time as he was being accosted by a pair of regional patrols. As the guards took up aggressive stances, Bella managed to convince them to stand down. The reputation of paladins at this point in time made her more influential so she was able to convince them that he was assigned to be her servant and bodyguard. Thrall went with it so he could avoid unneeded bloodshed.

The guards continued their patrol while Bella and Thrall moved onward. They crossed the bridge and sharply turned right and up the river. They soon reached the outskirts of Tarren Mill where the others were, much to Thrall’s surprise. He decided not to question it as he would need all the help he could get when they would have to face the town’s militia.

Mena’s eyes widened in surprise when she felt something familiar, “Guys, I’m sensing void energy coming from the town. It’s in small and scattered amounts but there are a good number of them.” The others noted this and made sure to be careful.

Thrall dismounted and shouted at the horse to scare it off while Bella dismounted her horse before he vanished in a flash of light. From there they proceeded on foot where their first destination was a barn. Thrall went inside and the others followed.

As Thrall inspected the barn, the group could overhear a nearby militia patrol outside the barn. They appeared to be suspicious that something went into the barn just now. The orc accidentally riled a horse which caused them to neigh loudly. “Something riled that horse, let’s move in.” one of the militia ordered.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I do apologize for my orc servant’s behavior, I shall–” Bella attempted.

“That’s not gonna work this time, Bella,” Mena interrupted. “I can sense the void energy coming from these guys. I’m not even sure these guys are human.”

The militia jumped in surprise at the gnome’s accusation but continued preparing their weapons to attack Thrall and his supporters. Stella narrowed her eyes before she opened her mouth and unleashed a wave of sand that washed over the guards and their forms, revealing the draconic forms.

Four dragonspawn now faced them where the militia were. As Andormu had described, their scales were a darker pitch of black than black dragons and their feet, claws and eyes had a blue glow, as if their bodies had cracked from instability.

“How did you…?” one dragonkin questioned before he shook his head. His voice was greatly distorted as if he were constantly speaking into a cavern and creating echoes. “It matters not…DIE THRALL!”

Raida swiftly cut one dragonspawn down while Stella obliterated another with her Disintegration Beam. Another tried to channel an arcane spell but the dracthyr countered it before he was grabbed by the tail by Flutashe in her cat form, slammed into the ground and had his head crushed under her paws. Bella and Mena burned the last one to ash with light magic.

“Your abilities intrigue me, friends,” Thrall said. “As much as I would like to inquire about them, Taretha must be rescued. Let us move into town and check the other places.”

The group then followed Thrall into town, the civilians fleeing in fright from the orc. He then entered a chapel which was followed by another infinite dragon ambush which was quickly eliminated. He then inspected the two story house next to the chapel where another ambush was waiting on the second floor. Once that group was dispatched, Thrall entered the bedroom on that floor where he found Taretha bound by dark magic.

“Taretha, what happened to you?”

“I don’t know, one moment I met a strange wizard who kept muttering about time this, and time that and the next thing I know I was bound by this magic.”

“Don’t worry, we will find the one who did this and free you,” Thrall assured.

That was when an echoed voice bellowed from outside, “Thrall, come outside and face your fate!”

“Who was that?” Thrall wondered. “Another of those strange black dragons?”

The voice continued, “Taretha’s life hangs in the balance. Surely you care for her. Surely you wish to save her.”

Taretha began to choke as the dark magic began to restrict her ability to breathe until she fell unconscious. “No!” Thrall exclaimed before he ran out of the room and out of the building. The others followed.

Outside they located a large infinite drake hovering over the town. The drake waited for his prey to come out of the building before chuckling as he spotted them. “Ah, there you are. I had hoped to accomplish this with a little subtlety, but I suppose a direct confrontation was inevitable. Your future Thrall, must not come to pass. And so, you and your troublesome friends must die!”

That was when the remainder of the town militia approached them before removing their disguises and revealing themselves as infinite dragonspawn.

Bella faced one group with Thrall’s assistance. Raida and Stella faced another group which left Flutashe and Mena with one last group to deal with.

None of the infinites were particularly difficult to take on. Bella’s armor and shield protected her well and her holy magic seared into their void-stained scales. Flutashe in her bear form was bulky enough to absorb most of their blows while Mena’s holy magic seared their scales. Raida was a very tough and evasive adversary for her group to face and her fel flames roasted them from inside their scales. Stella remained mobile and countered spells when she could.

The drake was greatly infuriated that his minions were being taken out like they were nothing. It was time for him to take matters into his own claws. “Enough! I will erase your very existence!” He flew toward Thrall with his claws poised but was repelled when a shield slammed into his chin as well as a flying warglaive slicing into his left hind leg.

The drake breathed sand toward Mena who protected herself with a barrier that baely saved her before the shield failed. Surprise burned his body with shadow magic while leeching away at his life force.

Raida grounded the drake using her black eye beam which crystallized one of his wings and forced him to land.

With the drake on the ground, Thrall was able to attack his head with his ax which left several deep cuts on his neck. He tried to breathe sand on the orc but Flutashe grabbed his mouth and forced it shut. She struggled to hold on as the drake wildly shook his head to shake her off but her grip was too strong.

Stella moved in and cast a green mist into the drake’s face which caused it to slow down as drowsiness took over.

“No! The master will not…be…pleased…” the dragon sleepily said.

Raida and Thrall ended the drake’s life by bringing his ax and her warglaives down on his neck and decapitating his head.

The group took a moment to catch their breath. With the assassin dead, Stella and the others hoped that this meant the end of the Infinite Dragonflight’s assault on Thrall.

A few moments later, Taretha emerged from the building and thanked everyone for freeing her.

Thrall approached his childhood friend and thanked her for her efforts in freeing him. “Thanks to the mercenaries you hired, I am finally free from that place.”

“Mercenaries? Thrall I didn’t hire any mercenaries,” Taretha countered.

“What? Then who are they?”

“Excuse me,” a familiar voice called out. “If I could have a moment of your time.” Before the two could say anything, Erozion cast a spell on them. Their eyes rolled into the back of their heads and stood, staring blankly and unconscious.

“What did you do?” Stella asked.

“I need to make sure that the timeline proceeds as it was supposed to. In order to do that, I need to rewrite their memories so that they remember what was supposed to happen without your interference.”

“What will happen to them?” Mena asked.

“Thrall will go on to rally the Horde and lead them as their warchief.” He sighed sadly, “Taretha’s fate is, regrettably, inevitable. She will not abandon her family and Blackmoore will target them if she leaves with Thrall. Blackmoore will eventually execute her in a fit of drunken rage and show her head to Thrall who will slay him in a duel.”

The group could only look at the two in sadness. The two were in for some rough times, far more so for Taretha, and there was little they could do about it without interfering with the timeline.

“Come, let us return to the Caverns of Time,” Erozion said. “It’s almost time for the infinites to make their move.”

Author's Note:

I probably could have done something to save Taretha from her tragic fate but that would be just another character on my growing list of characters to keep track of and I had no plans for her so, sadly, I let her go.

One last dungeon to go before we get into the nine raid dungeons of this expansion.