Lyra finds herself in the Outlands, where she encounters the Illidari and their plans to stop the Burning Legion from razing all of creation.
Lyra passes out on her way home one night, but when she wakes up she finds herself in a strange realm of fire, ash, and creatures that she could only refer to as demons. Before she meets what she assumes is her end, she is saved by a group of bipedal creatures that take her to their master, someone named Illidan Stormrage. There she learns what the bipedal creatures are preparing for and is offered a choice; either join them or return to her home.
The problem, she discovers, is that there is another displaced pony wandering the land of Azeroth; so she has to choose between a rock and a hard place. She only hopes that she doesn't regret her choice after making it.
(World of Warcraft; Legion crossover with MLP) (Part of the Universe 13 story series, though reading the other stories is not required)
Lyra yawned as she walked away from the Ponyville train station and made her way back to her one story house, which happened to rest in the dead center of the small town. She had been invited to a party at Vinyl Scratch's club, or DJ Pon-3 as most of the patrons called her, by some of her friends and had spent most of the day in Canterlot. She rarely had an occasion to visit the city where both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled, save for the wedding a year or two ago and the day that Twilight Sparkle had been crowned princess. She supposed that spending the entire day in the majestic city had been a bad idea, but she had a day off of work and had decided to have some fun with a few of her friends.
She might have also had a few too many drinks while at the club, because there were several instances where she wobbled as she walked down the road, but she was sure that she hadn't had enough to make her do anything stupid during the night.
Speaking of the night she craned her head to look at the stars, something that she enjoyed to do whenever she had the opportunity to do so, because she had always enjoyed the feeling of looking up at Luna's night and wondering what was out there. She knew that there were a large number of stars in the night sky, so she had always wondered if there might be other life out there that they didn't know about. That obsession had been the reason that some ponies thought she was insane, for thinking of other creatures besides them, so she had let it become her little secret. She also knew about the magical mirror that Princess Twilight had brought into her castle, something that allowed her to connect two versions of Equus together, so it stood to reason that the Princess knew about other life as well.
She stopped walking for a moment as she watched one star disappear completely, though for a moment she had to wonder if Luna had been the cause of the star vanishing, but then she decided that the Princess knew what she was doing and that the star would show up again in a few minutes... otherwise she was sure that Princess Twilight would have some words with Princess Luna later that night.
Once she had decided that Princess Luna would take care of the missing star, with or without Princess Twilight telling her about it, Lyra resumed walking towards her house, so she could sleep off the drinks she had ingested by the time morning arrived. Even thinking about the drinks she had that night made her wobble more than usual, which made her think that she was actually drunk, though she was lucky that she wasn't on the side of the street puking yet. As she got closer and closer to where her house was located she swore, to Princess Celestia no less, that she was becoming more drunk with every step that she took, almost as if one of the drinks she had that evening had been drugged without her knowing about it.
It gave her all the more reason to get to her home and sleep the night away, though even as she walked she could feel her vision blurring as she drew closer to her destination.
Come on, my house is right there. Lyra thought to herself as she walked towards the front door, Just a few more steps and I'll be able to put this night behind me.
She managed to push herself to the front of her house, where she removed her key from her saddlebags with her magic and opened the front door, before she nearby fell to the ground the moment she was inside her house. She took a moment to close her front door before making her way towards her bedroom, though she barely made it halfway to her bed before the drunken feeling that was invading her body really got to be too much for her to handle. Her world started to swirl around her as she tried to reach her bed, while she silently cursed herself for even taking the drinks that her friends had ordered for her at the club.
Eventually she succumbed to the drunken feeling that was coursing through her body at the moment and fell to the floor, though she was out like a light before her body touched the wood.
The Black Temple, the largest structure in all of Shadowmoon Valley, was constantly busy with activity as elves, demons, and other creatures continued to prepare themselves for whatever missions they were sent on. Most of them would be sent to the opening of the valley, where they could watch for intruders, while others would venture into the nearby lands and make sure that their forces were operating the way they were supposed to. Only their master and his elite warriors would remain at the temple, where they would be safe due to all of the security measures that had been put into place over the last few years.
Even now Illidan Stormrage, Lord of the Outlands and Master of the Black Temple, would be watching his forces as they prepared to execute his orders, making sure that all went according to plan from the summit of his temple. Though even then the Lord of the Outlands was not entirely alone at that moment, as one of his elite soldiers was waiting behind him, patiently waiting for his own orders.
"Tell me Kayn, what do you see?" the Lord of the Outlands asked his companion, not even turning around from his perch to look in the direction of the person he had directed the question to.
The blood elf in question seemed to be silent for a moment, as if he was wondering what his master was hoping to gain from asking such a question, before he shook his head and walked up to where his master was standing.
"I see an army that's preparing to carry out your orders." Kayn replied, looking down at the various warriors and mages that had been assembled in the Black Temple, "They are prepared to fight anything and everything that you would order them to fight, without hesitation."
"As it should be," Illidan commented, turning his head towards the black sky for a moment, feeling the end of a magical surge of some kind, "and yet it is sometimes hard to tell if my allies are truly working to bring an end to the Burning Legion. Kayn, do you remember the orders that I gave you this morning?"
"Yes Lord Illidan. I was to gather a few of my fellow Illidari and scout out the Hand of Gul'dan," Kayn immediately answered, referring to the mountain that was in the direct center of Shadowmoon Valley, where some remnants of the Shadow Council were rumored to be performing their dark rituals, "Is something wrong?"
"I am unsure." Illidan admitted, though he knew that Kayn would keep this to himself, "The magical surge that I was feeling has ended, which means that whatever ritual the remainder of the Shadow Council were performing has been completed. I do not know what they were attempting to summon, or if it was a summoning ritual at all, but I do know that something has passed through the Nether... though I do not know what that something is. So while you and your chosen comrades are scouting out the Hand of Gul'dan I want you to be on the lookout for whatever the warlocks had summoned, or evidence that they were even there to begin with."
"It will be as you command, Lord Illidan," Kayn replied, respectfully bowing to his master for a few seconds before departing from the summit of the Black Temple, so he could gather a few allies to help him in this endeavor.
Illidan turned his attention back to the mountain that Kayn would soon be visiting, wondering if the warlocks had succeeded in their summoning or if they had been blown apart by whatever had appeared before them. All he had to do was wait for Kayn to return with news... and hopefully the head of whatever demon had been summoned into the valley.
"Oh my aching head," Lyra moaned as the morning sunlight hit her face, causing her to lift one of her hooves up to her head and start rubbing where she thought the pain was located, "That's the last time I let Trixie talk me into drinking at a club... or going to a club for that matter. I know ponies go there to have fun, but passing out because your drunk is not my idea of a fun... time?"
She had opened her eyes and expected to find the same blue sky with Princess Celestia's sun hanging in the sky, but what she got was a black and eerie green colored sky, with the sun unable to totally penetrate the clouds. The land itself was blackened, charred and had green flames jumping out of the cracks every now and then, though in certain places Lyra could have sworn she saw what she assumed was vile green lava. In front of her, or more accurately between her and the pool of lava she had noticed, was what appeared to be an altar of sorts, like the type that she had heard that rituals were performed at.
The only difference between the pictures she had seen before this point and the actual ritual altar she was sitting in front of was the fact that the one in front of her had been used... and recently judging from the scorch marks that she assumed had been the ponies responsible for whatever ritual had been performed here.
"Oh why did I have to wake up in the Badlands of all places?" Lyra moaned, because judging from everything she had seen this was either the Badlands, where barely any life existed, or Tartarus itself, which she suspected that she would be seeing demons if that was the case, "And how did I even get here? Its not like I have that much magical energy as it is. Either I was really wasted last night, or I managed to overload my horn and teleported further than I should have been able to. Oh well, I had best get up and see if I can't find my way out of here... there's no telling how long I've been missing from Ponyville or if anyone even realizes that I'm gone."
She lifted herself up onto her legs and wobbled for a few seconds, before falling on her side and making her wonder if she was still drunk from whatever had been put in her drinks last night. She looked down for a moment and was shocked by what she saw, because her normal legs had been replaced with the limbs of a different creature, as they were thinner and ended in something other than a hoof. Her eyes raced all over her body, finding that she had been transformed from a pony into some sort of bipedal creature that looked like a hairless ape. The only things that remained of her former self was her grayish cyan mane, which she assumed was hair now, and her horn, which was in the middle of her forehead.
"Okay... I'm definitely not in the Badlands," Lyra said, trying to keep calm before she went crazy from the fact that she was not only on an alien world, but also that her body had been transformed against its will, "Still, I should try and find a way home... if one even exists at this point..."
Before she could finish her sentence she felt the ground shake for a moment, causing her to fall onto her rear once more as she waited for whatever was happening to stop. That was seconds before something rose out of the green lava that she had seen, though what she saw was a grayish stone limb grab onto the ground between her and the lava and pull whatever it was attached to out of the lava. A creature made of fire and stone pulled itself out of the lava, drawing itself to its full height, roughly three times Lyra's size, before it spotted her with whatever eyes it possessed and roared at her, allowing her to feel the heat of the lava it had come from.
It then dawned on Lyra that this might not actually be a completely new world she had been stranded on, because with a demon standing before her, with the intent on killing her no less, she knew exactly where she was.
"Great... I've gone and teleported myself into Tartarus..." Lyra moaned, which was seconds before the demonic creature took its first step towards her, "Oh... I guess I had better RUN!"
The last word came out almost as a scream as she bolted up onto her legs and attempted to run up the hill that was beside her, to put some distance between her and the creature that she assumed would walk slowly considering that it was made of stone. She was wrong in that decision, because the demon easily caught up with her and smacked her in the back with what she assumed as one of its limbs, throwing her into the side of the hill she had been heading towards. Fortunately she was only lightly bruised, because she didn't feel too much pain on her back, though the unfortunate thing was that she was still an open target for the demon that was standing behind her.
She turned to look at the demon as it approached her, cursing the fact that she had no experience with this new body of hers before her final hour had come knocking on her door. That was before something sharp flew through the air and impaled the stony demon in its chest, causing it to wobble for a moment as a bipedal creature appeared out of nowhere and started using what Lyra assumed was a pair of swords to cut into its legs. A second bipedal creature appeared to Lyra's left and charged at the demonic creature, jumping onto the creature's chest and removing the sword that had been thrown into its core, though Lyra also noticed that it was also carrying a pair of blades. Lyra assumed that it was just the two creatures that were doing battle with the demon, but then a third one appeared above the stony demon and put its blades in the creature's back, which apparently struck its core as the demon fell to pieces seconds later.
It was at that point that Lyra noticed that two of the bipedal creatures appeared to be males, though when she looked at the one that killed the demon she figured that it had to be female.
"It feels good to be back on the hunt," the female creature said, pulling her blades free from the demon's corpse as she approached her companions, turning to the one that Lyra assumed was the leader of their group, "Any sign of the warlocks that summoned that infernal?"
"No... and it doesn't appear that there has been a warlock here for quite some time," the male on Lyra's right replied, as he had taken the moment to investigate the altar she had seen when she woke up, "Whatever magic was worked here was not a warlock ritual... it was something else entirely, of that I am sure."
Lyra had no idea what warlocks were, save from what she read in the occasional comic, but by the way the creatures were speaking it was clear that they didn't whatever the warlocks were. She assumed that they had to be people that focused on dark magic and making foul pacts with demons, which made her reconsider her decision that this had been Tartarus and was, instead, a new world. She had absolutely no idea what world this was, but right now she was thinking of how she was going to get home and not get killed by demons in the process.
"And what about her?" the female asked, pointing at Lyra for a moment, who turned her head to the creature for a second, "She's definitely the product of whatever happened here... so shouldn't we take her back to the temple and present her to the master?"
"Lord Illidan would be interested in meeting her, that much I can agree on," the male replied, though it was then that Lyra noticed that the third member of their group had moved away to watch for more creatures like the one they had taken out, "and its only a matter of time until our enemies come to investigate. Seeing how she can't walk at the moment, and how stressed we are for time, I'll carry her to the temple... unless you would rather do it Kor'vas."
"I would rather fight demons than carry her," the female said, holding her weapons out as if she was ready for a fight, "which we might get to do if we stay here any longer."
"And I would rather not risk revealing ourselves just yet," the male replied, beckoning the other creature over before sheathing his blades and scooping Lyra up, "Let's get back to the temple before we're spotted."
Lyra decided not to protest about the creature picking her up, because she had no idea how she was supposed to move her new body at the moment and would likely hinder their progress in heading to wherever this temple of theirs was located. The other two creatures fell in beside the one that was carrying her as they began their journey, giving her the opportunity to see that the entire area that they were in was exactly the same, though any trees she spotted seemed to be almost completely destroyed. In the distance she spotted what she assumed were more demons, small creatures that appeared to dance every now and then, before she caught sight of the temple itself.
The temple was a massive structure that seemed to dominate the entirety of the land that it rested on, though there appeared to be a main road that she assumed caravans used to transport goods and soldiers between the temple and other locations. The wings of the temple were larger than what she was expecting, which told her that there had to be quite the number of soldiers inside the temple's interior. All of the braziers that she noticed had the same green flames she had spotted earlier when she had first found herself in this strange land, though she had to wonder how much light those braziers gave to whoever called the temple home.
Once they passed through the main gate, however, Lyra's eyes widened as she noticed a large number of demons walking around what she assumed was the temple's courtyard, leading to her fainting in the creature's arms.
Kayn looked down at the night elf that had fainted in his arms, wondering how she could have fainted when they approached the temple and not when he and the others had first rescued her. He suspected that it could have been because of the fact that there were more demons standing in front of the temple's entrance, but until she woke back up he wouldn't know for sure. His companions, Kor'vas Bloodthorn and Altruis, were staring at the sleeping night elf in his arms, though it was clear that they hadn't been expecting that reaction either. They weren't exactly sure what to make of someone that fainted at the sight of demons, though they were that way because they had been fighting demons for who knew how long.
"How long do you think it will be until she wakes up?" Altruis asked as they walked through the temple's gates, passing by orcs, dragons, and demons alike as they made their way to the summit of the Black Temple.
"I don't know." Kayn immediately answered, though he could judge that the lady he was carrying would be out for an hour or two before she was up once more, "I just hope she doesn't faint in front of Lord Illidan."
Altruis huffed at that statement, mainly because he was of the opinion that their master was rapidly becoming the thing that they were meant to be hunting in the first place, but the one time he had tried to go against Lord Illidan he found that he had no allies. He had, rather quickly Kayn thought, regained himself and rejoined the Illidari, as if he had done nothing wrong in the act of breaking away from their master. There was a special reason that Kayn continued to bring him out on missions whenever he had the chance, because he was trying to get rid of a seed that could very well rip the Illidari apart from the inside if he allowed it to grow too much. Kor'vas didn't seem to mind Altruis that much, though she always stepped in to prevent the two of them from killing each other whenever they got into a fight.
The three of them were truly a odd trio of Illidari, but all three of them were part of an elite group that was Lord Illidan's most trusted generals, again despite what Altruis had done in the past, though the fourth one was Varedis, who oversaw the training grounds. There were rumors among the Illidari that there could be a fifth general, one that Lord Illidan himself was waiting to find be he told them of his plans on how he was going to stop the Burning Legion. Kayn didn't believe that there was ever going to be another general in their army, though he let everyone think what they wanted, as long as they focused on their true objective.
Eventually they reached the summit of the temple, after navigating the various halls that they had to travel through and avoiding contact with most of the Illidari that called the place home, where they found their master in the same place that Kayn had left him.
"Lord Illidan, we have returned from our mission," Kayn said, though while both Kor'vas and Altruis bowed to their master he could not, especially when he was still carrying the sleeping night elf they had found.
"Good. I am eager to hear your... report?" Illidan replied, turning to face Kayn and his companions, though when he faced them he immediately noticed that Kayn was carrying someone, "I take it that the young night elf that you are carrying is what you found at the altar?"
"Yes Lord Illidan," Kayn answered, bowing his head slightly, as it was the best he could do while holding the young lady, "There were no signs of any warlocks, or their magic, at the altar... only her and the infernal that was chasing her. After killing the infernal we quickly inspected the area surrounding the altar, but when we found nothing out of the ordinary I chose to bring her back here to meet you... where she fainted upon seeing how many demons are outside the temple."
Illidan remembered what had happened when the races of Azeroth did when they saw demons for the first time; some of them froze in terror, some of them fainted where they were standing, and some of them raced to get their loved ones out of the way. Anyone not well versed in dealing with demons, and the various forms that they could take, was sure to either freeze up in fear or faint on the spot, though it sounded like this young night elf had done all three things he had thought about. He knew, from looking at the magic that surrounded the young elf, that she was indeed the product of whatever had happened at the altar of damnation, though he was beginning to wonder which of the other worlds that surrounded the Oulands she belonged to.
It was possible that she was a refugee from one of the other worlds that the Burning Legion had destroyed, causing her and her people to escape by some sort of magical means, though that didn't explain why only she was here... unless she was the last of her kind. He knew about the Broken, Draenei that were twisted into their current state by the demonic energies that lingered in the Outland, and that they were also refugees from another world that the Legion had conquered, one called Argus. Illidan had no idea what could have happened to the world that the night elf had come from, but he could only assume that it was either destroyed or consumed by the demons that he was fighting against.
There was also the possibility that her world was still intact, free from the Legion's notice at the moment, though he felt that it would be next to impossible to send her home, not when he had no idea which spell had snatched her from wherever she was from. At the moment all he could do was wait for her to wake up and see if she was good at anything, be it with magic or with a weapon, otherwise he'd have to find a place for her somewhere else.
"Take her to one of the unclaimed bedrooms," Illidan finally said, turning back to the mountain he had been staring at, "and have someone watch over her until she wakes up. There are some... questions... that I would like to ask her once she has regained conscious."
He didn't bother to look back as the three Illidari departed from the summit, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more, though this time he was focused on the newcomer. He knew not what world she was from, or if it was even intact at the moment, but despite all that he had the strangest feeling that she would be important in his war against the Burning Legion. He couldn't explain it, the feeling that he had felt the moment he saw the magic wrapped around her, which meant he was likely losing his edge at deciding what to do with those that allied themselves with his forces.
One thing was for certain, only time would tell if the newcomer would be of use to him, or if he as overthinking everything and was seeing potential allies everywhere he looked.
Lyra moaned as she felt her body awaken from her slumber, though the moment she opened her eyes and noticed the strange ceiling that was above her head, which immediately told her that everything she had seen before hadn't been a dream. She had assumed that everything she had seen, the different sky and ground that had been around her, had been a fragment of her imagination brought on by whatever magic had affected her body. More specifically she had been hoping that the demon she had seen had been something she had conjured, but considering her new surroundings she knew better than to believe that she had been dreaming. Now, however, she knew that she was indeed in a different world, where her body had been twisted against its will, and she had absolutely no idea what was going on in her life anymore.
It was times like this that she wished that she could fall back asleep and see if she was actually in a state of multiple dreams, where she was waking from one dream and finding that she was in another one, which would continue the cycle until she managed to find herself back in Equus.
This time, however, she knew that she wasn't trapped in a dream, so she gently lifted her front legs, or whatever they were called, and gently attempted to pull herself from whatever she was laying on. It took her some time, and a lot of effort she mentally added, before she managed to pull herself into some sort of sitting position, allowing her to see where she was. She quickly found that she was in some sort of bedroom, complete with a set of furniture that was simple in design, though she assumed that they were used in the same fashion as what she had back in Ponyville. Even thinking about what she had at home made her feel homesick, but she knew that she needed to find someone that could help her go back home.
"Oh good, you're awake." a voice said, causing her to turn to the entrance of the room she was laying in and found a strange figure, one of the ones that had saved her from whatever was attacking her, standing there, "Lord Illidan will be pleased to hear that your up."
"W...where am I?" Lyra asked, though there were several other questions, or more like a thousand, racing through her mind at the moment, "Who are you? What am I? And who is this Lord Illidan that you speak of?"
"Well, that first one is easy," the creature replied, crossing his uppers legs for a moment, "Your in one of the unused bedrooms of the Black Temple, the fortress-citadel of my master, Lord Illidan. Who I am is easy as well; I am Kayn Sunfury, and I'm one of the generals in my master's army. As for what you are, that is another easy question for me to answer; you are a night elf, or Kaldorei as some people take to calling your race, though the name also means 'Children of the Stars'. From how you were acting the moment we found you, and what you've done so far, I can tell that this isn't your natural body and that you have no idea how most of it works... which means that we'll need to find you a teacher if you stay here.
The last question, however, isn't as simple as the other three. Lord Illidan is the Master of the Outlands and Leader of the Illidari, the army that I am a general in. Anything else you'll have to ask him about, because even I don't know everything there is to know about my master... and sometimes its better that way. Though now I have to ask who you are."
"Oh... well that's easy. My name is Lyra Heartstrings," Lyra answered, not surprised that she would have to answer some questions as well, though she was slightly annoyed that she hadn't figured out who the creature's master was, "I come from Equestria, a continent on the planet of Equus, where I was born a unicorn. I am not familiar with this body at all, so having someone show me how to work it would be most appreciated."
"So you're a mage then?" Kayn commented, causing Lyra to raise an eyebrow at him, "I am under the assumption that a unicorn is some sort of horse with a horn on its forehead, which you apparently still have at the moment, and that must mean that you have some sort of magical power... otherwise whatever had pulled you here would not have affected you at all. Then again, I am unfamiliar with the other variations of magic that the various races of the Outlands use all the time, so I really shouldn't be forcing my opinion on you."
"Well, I'm not much of a mage." Lyra commented, because she knew that she had next to no magical skill, she only had enough for the simple tasks of levitating objects and moving them around, "I'm more of a musician in my home world... one of the dying breeds anyway. I play an old fashioned instrument, the lyre to be exact, though the rest of the industry is quickly to turning to newer styles of music..."
"Not to be rude, but that's not really what I was asking about." Kayn said, sighing for a moment before holding one of his legs up, "I'll be back in a few minutes... I need to tell the master that you are awake."
Lyra let the creature leave the room that she was in, as she had no way of knowing how to properly use her new body and would likely hurt herself if she attempted something that was beyond her ability at the moment. This strange world, the Outlands, was definitely different from her home world, which was based on everything she had seen before she had fainted some time ago. When she thought about it she realized that she had absolutely no idea how long she had been out, which made her wonder if she had been out for an hour or if she was missing whole days.
"You were only out for an hour or two," a new voice said, causing her to look back at the room's entrance and found another creature, the female one that had killed the demon and saved her life, standing there, "and no, I can't read your mind or anything... I'm just very good at reading emotions. The name's Kor'vas Bloodthorn."
"Lyra Heartstrings," Lyra replied almost immediately, wondering how many more of these creatures she would be meeting, before she noticed that the creature's body looked almost identical to her new one, "That's an... interesting last name you have."
"It's because I spill the blood of my enemies and am a constant thorn in our enemy's sides," Kor'vas replied, though Lyra was unable to tell if she was joking or not, "Judging from your own last name I can assume that your music touches the heart and pulls at the emotions... though now I know why Kayn looked upset when he left this room. And no, Kayn has yet to tell our master everything that he's learned about you... I was standing just outside the door, eavesdropping on your conversation while he was in here."
Lyra decided that Kor'vas was definitely different from Kayn, though from what little she had already seen of the two she had to wonder if there was something between them... or if she was overthinking everything because of her current situation. Before she could say anything, however, she felt something draw closer to where she and Kor'vas were, something that reminded her of the time she had been to Princess Cadence's wedding. At the time the source of the power had been from Princess Celestia herself, when she had done battle with the Changeling Queen, though she had to wonder what was coming their way. Kayn appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, though that was before both he and Kor'vas moved to the right side of where Lyra was sitting, to which they knelt before whoever was coming into the bedroom.
Lyra's eyes widened as the Lord of the Outlands, for that was who she assumed the night elf was, walked into the bedroom and stared at her through what she assumed was a blindfold of sorts. The only pieces of clothing he was wearing happened to be a sash of some kind and some sort of pants, leaving his muscular chest bare for everyone to see. His body had several strange tattoos etched into his very skin, as they seemed to radiate with whatever magical arts he used, though that wasn't the only odd thing Lyra noticed. The Lord of the Outlands had claws on his upper legs, or arms as she recalled that minotaurs had them as well, while the lower part of his body ended in hooves that looked like they would hurt if he kicked someone with them. To top it off he had a pair of demonic wings attached to his back, though they had been folded in so that he could walk through the walls, and a pair of horns that curved back towards him.
The Lord of the Outlands was an imposing creature, with an aura that matched Princess Celestia's own, though it took all of Lyra's willpower to stop herself from shaking after just looking at him.
"Are you scared?" the Lord of the Outlands asked, standing before Lyra in his full height, without having his wings out at all, while both Kayn and Kor'vas watched what was happening.
"Y... yes..." was all Lyra could say, because the night elf before her was clearly half demon at this point, and considering what had happened with her first encounter with a demon she felt that she was entitled to be scared.
"Don't be," the Lord of the Outlands told her, beckoning to the two elves that were standing behind him, "The Black Temple is one of the most secure buildings in the entirety of the Outlands, so as long as my forces control it nothing will harm you here... other than whoever you happened to be practicing with. Kayn and Kor'vas will help you get on your feet and see what you are skilled in, be it the art of magic or the art of the warrior, while I see if there is a way to send you back to whatever world you came from."
All Lyra could do was nod her head at this point, because despite the fact that she had been told not to be scared, by the creature that appeared to control the new world she found herself in, she still felt scared. She heard the Lord of the Outlands say something about a morning meal to the two elves behind him before he walked out of the bedroom, with Kayn following behind him. She had no idea what was happening anymore... and silently prayed to both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna that whatever was happening came to a swift end.
Unfortunately she had no idea what was coming her way, or what type of training that the Lord of the Outlands had planned for her in the immediate future.
The first thing that Lyra did, now that she was awake and fully alert, was easy breakfast, which consisted of some bits of food that Kor'vas had brought to the room for her to eat. It was mainly a few slices of bread and some strange cheese, though despite the fact that Lyra found that both pieces of food had a strange taste to them, and was sure that the taste would linger in her mouth for a few hours, she actually enjoyed the food. She was also given a waterskin of sorts that was filled with spring water, though Lyra had no idea where Kor'vas had gotten the water to begin with, mostly because of the fact that everything she had seen outside the temple had been fire, ash, and lava. She guessed that there had to be some water reservoir that Kor'vas had drawn the water from, though she had yet to see one and had no idea if she was even right.
It also appeared that Kor'vas was to be her first teacher, as Kayn happened to be speaking with his master or doing something else that was keeping him occupied at the moment. They spent some time in the bedroom, where Kor'vas showed Lyra how to properly walk with a couple of steps and then asked her to repeat what she had just showed her. Suffice to say that Lyra wasn't as graceful as her teacher, as the moment that she tried to get onto her new feet, and tried to properly balance herself, she ended up falling on her side. She got up and tried again, attempting to gain her balance once more and attempt to walk, but found that she fell again and would have to try everything again. Lyra was finding life without her tail, the source of her balance, was actually throwing her off more than she originally thought it would, which only served to annoy her a tiny bit.
Eventually, after the first couple of minutes in learning how to walk in a bipedal manner, it was clear that Kor'vas was getting tired of seeing her fail, because she got up from the chair she had been sitting in and approached Lyra.
"Here, let me show you how its done," Kor'vas said, slowly moving her legs and feet so that Lyra could get an idea of what she had to do, "Based on what you told Kayn, about being a unicorn and whatnot, I can only assume that you have been trying to walk like something from your home world that walks like Kayn and I. I encourage you to follow how I walk, repeating my steps until you find your balance and can walk without falling onto the floor again... otherwise we'll be here all morning."
Lyra stared at her instructor for a moment, watching what she was doing the entire time, while silently being thankful that Kor'vas was even taking the time out of her busy day to bother to teach her how to properly walk. She was sure that Kor'vas was supposed to be doing something else that day, and that her training was likely interfering with whatever that something was, but she was determined to overcome everything that was thrown her way.
It took her some time to get close to what Kor'vas was showing her, and it involved hitting the floor a few more times, but eventually Lyra managed to stand straight and not fall over within the first few seconds. She still missed her tail, and the balance it gave her, but she was learning how to walk in this new body and knew it would be some time before she would be walking like everyone else. Lyra secretly hoped that Lord Illidan, and whoever was helping him study the magic that had brought her to this world, would be able to figure out a way to send her back home quickly, because she honestly had no desire to stay in this strange world.
"Well, I'm glad that you have the basics down." Kor'vas eventually said, though there was a pleased tone to her voice for a few seconds, long enough for Lyra to detect it before it disappeared completely, "Now then, I think its time to see where Kayn wandered off to and show you some of the Black Temple, because if you are going to be living here for some time you had best know where everything is."
Lyra was somewhat surprised that she was being taken outside her room so soon, because she had figured that she would have been confined to her chambers until she was able to walk without falling over, but it seemed like Kor'vas, and likely the other instructors, expected their students to know everything from one lesson so that they could move onto the next lesson as quickly as they could. In the end, however, Lyra merely nodded her head and followed after Kor'vas, who watched her as she shakily walked to the room's entrance before taking her out into the hallway. Kor'vas then took her outside, back to where Lyra knew the air would be filled with ash and a hint of fire, and kept an eye on Lyra in case she happened to fall.
Unfortunately Lyra did fall once or twice on the way out of the hallway, though when she stepped outside the temple she found that they were high in the air. She could easily see the mountain she had spotted when she had first opened her eyes and found herself in this strange world, though when she looked over the edge to her right she found that she was correct in assuming that they were high up. Apparently this was some form of ramparts, like a fortress had, only the ones at the temple appeared to be used in some other fashion than anything she could have read about.
And to make matters worse she spotted dozens of demonic creatures walking around the main gates that served as the entrance of the Black Temple, including a massive stone monstrosity that reminded her of the creature that had struck her, only this one had blue flames instead of green flames.
"Relax, they're not going to hurt you," Kor'vas commented, seeing the look on Lyra's face once she saw how many creatures were walking in the courtyard between the main gate and the temple's entrance, "Despite whatever you are thinking at the moment, and I can hazard a guess as to what that something is, not all of the creatures down there are demons. In fact that only demon between the gate and the entrance is Supremus... who happens to be the large infernal that's got blue flames inside of the usual green. The vast majority of the creatures you are seeing are orcs, of the Bonechewer Clan to be exact, and some of their brothers from the Dragonmaw Clan, including some number of their dragon mounts."
"They ride dragons?!" Lyra asked, shocked that any creature would have the ability to conquer a dragon and tame it to the point where they would be able to ride one.
"I take it the people of your home world don't do that?" Kor'vas asked, though by the tone of her voice Lyra could figure out that she was somewhat surprised by the idea.
"No... our dragons are, from what I've been told by others, jerks who hate ponies," Lyra replied, shaking her head as she moved away from the edge of the rampart, just so she didn't have to look at the ground anymore, "Other than that I have no idea what else the dragons of my home world do, because they have kept their culture hidden from us since the founding of Equestria."
Kor'vas seemed a little confused by what Lyra told her, which was fair considering that Lyra was confused about this world's type of dragons, but she merely shook her head and beckoned for Lyra to follow her again. The next area of the temple that they walked to, while taking breaks for Lyra to rest her weary legs, was what appeared to be a training ground of sorts. Lyra noticed that there at least a good dozen night elves, both male and female, training at the moment, but that was when she noticed that a second type of elf, similar to what Kayn looked like, training along side them.
"Blood Elves, or the Sin'dorei," Kor'vas commented, knowing that Lyra was going to ask what they were without even bothering to look back at her, "they are named that way because they honor their fallen brothers and sisters that died during the Third War. The ones you see here came with Lord Kael'thas Sunstrider, one of Lord Illidan's allies, and they have dedicated themselves to our Master's teachings... which is why you'll see them carrying around a pair of warglaives whenever they aren't practicing."
Lyra had been somewhat interested in the bladed weapons that the trainees had been carrying, a weapon that had a blade on both sides of the handle and some sort of shield that covered where the wielder would be holding the handle itself. The weapons looked deadly, though as Lyra watched the trainees use them against the dummies they had constructed she felt her jaw drop as the dummies were, for lack of a better term, hacked to pieces. The trainees didn't seem impressed that the dummies fell apart so easily, though they did appear to enjoy the feel of the weapons that they were carrying.
There was only one blood elf that wasn't swinging his warglaives at the moment, as they were hanging on his back in some sort of harness that he was wearing... though that was also when Lyra noticed the blindfold that he was wearing.
"This is Varedis Felsoul, our head trainer for new recruits," Kor'vas said, beckoning to the blood elf for a moment, who bowed his head slightly as he turned in their direction, "Varedis, this is Lyra Heartstrings. Kayn, Altruis, and I found her near the Hand of Gul'dan and saved her from an infernal that had been summoned some time ago. Lord Illidan has offered her a place to stay in the temple, until she can be sent home that is, so that means that we'll be showing her how to fend for herself."
"Oh... I see." Varedis stated, walking over to a weapon rack and picking up a pair of warglaives, before returning to where they were standing and holding them out for Lyra to take, "Here... let's see what you are made of."
Lyra looked at the weapons for a few seconds, unsure of what the blood elf was trying to do by giving them to her, but she sighed and took them in her hands. What happened next, when Varedis released his hold on the warglaives, was Lyra bending over as the center of the weapons hit the floor not a few seconds later. She hadn't been expecting the weapons to be so heavy when she took them in her hands, but then again this was the first time she had ever held a weapon in her entire life. Back in Equestria the only ponies that had weapons were either evil villains, like the dreaded King Sombra, or the Royal Guards, who usually carried spears into battle. Lyra was a musician, so there was no reason for her to concern herself with carrying a weapon or even trying to protect herself, not when the Royal Guards were around to protect ponies like her all the time.
"I should have expected this." Kor'vas commented, letting out a sigh as she took the warglaives from Lyra, allowing her to stand straight once again, "You said you were a musician... so that means you've never carried a weapon before. Tell me, is there any magic you know, or will we have to start from the basics with that?"
"I know some levitation magic," Lyra admitted, though by the looks on Kor'vas' face she knew that levitation magic clearly wasn't enough to impress her, or Varedis for that matter, "so I guess that means starting from the basics?"
"We'll have to wait for some of Lord Kael'thas' mages to pay us a visit before we can get started on that aspect of training," Varedis replied, picking up a pair of wooden swords and tossing them to Lyra, who managed to catch them before they hit the ground, before picking up his own pair, "so until then you'll be playing catch up with the rest of the recruits that I'm currently training at the moment. From what I can gather Kor'vas and Kayn will be watching you from time to time, to be sure that your keeping pace with the rest of us, while also getting in some more practice for any future missions that they are assigned. Once I have determined that you are prepared for your own warglaives they will be returned to you, so until then they will remain on the weapon rack and serve as a reminder for you to improve.
Are there any questions recruit?"
Lyra had originally expected her first day to be filled with mostly training herself how to properly walk while getting a good look at what the Black Temple had to offer. Instead she found that she was basically being roped into the training that Lord Illidan mentioned almost immediately, telling her that the people who served him liked to move fast and preferred to waste no time. It was almost as if they were preparing for something major, something that she had stumbled upon thanks to her sudden arrival in this strange world. What she needed at the moment was some time to adjust to her new body, and not be thrown at every instructor the Black Temple had to offer her.
At some point in her thinking Lyra assumed that she must have shook her head in a 'no' fashion, because that was followed by Varedis loudly saying something to her.
"Training beings now!" Varedis said, appearing before Lyra and slamming the handle of one of his wooden swords into her face, effectively knocking her to the floor and making her see stars, "You weren't ready..."
Kor'vas sighed as she set the warglaives down and walked over to where Lyra was laying, knowing that this was going to be a long training period for the poor girl if she was constantly being knocked out by everyone that she went up against. She was a little annoyed with Varedis, considering that he knew that Lyra had no skills with any sort of weapon and likely wasn't expecting to fight on her first day. She had been planning on introducing Lyra to fighting much easier than this, as in using her fists and feet for the first few days, but the instructor had simply gone over the top and now she had to wait for Lyra to wake up again.
She glared at Varedis for a moment as she picked Lyra up, because the blood elf seemed pleased to have shown Lyra something that would likely help her in the future, before returning to the lesson he had been showing the other recruits. She let out another sigh as she carried Lyra back to the room that Lord Illidan had given her, knowing that it would be some time before she would wake up and continue the tour of the Black Temple.
Lord Illidan had been meditating at the temple's summit ever since his encounter with the strange night elf that Kayn and the others had brought back with them; Lyra Heartstrings he recalled. She was an interesting creature, as she seemed to have the ability to sense his arrival when he was in her immediate vicinity, something that reminded him of what he and his fellow demon hunters could do. He knew that she must have come into contact with a creature of incredible power for such an ability to have left its mark, which made him wonder what her home world was like. Lyra couldn't be the only one of her native people who had learned that sort of skill, as he was positive that there had to be more like her back where she came from.
Still, the fact that Lyra could sense him, without even knowing where he was to begin with until he was near the bedroom, made him wonder if her home world had powerful creatures like him. If they did have such powerful creatures, and a strong source of magic that could penetrate the fabric between two worlds, than it was only a matter of time until the Burning Legion noticed her world, Equus she called it, and burned it to the ground. He had seen it happen to many stars in the night sky, one would vanish every now and then, which was what happened when the Legion destroyed another world.
Or maybe her world wouldn't be noticed by the Burning Legion for some time, giving him the opportunity to train her abilities until she was ready to head home. He couldn't deny that he wanted to see how Lyra took to the demon hunter training, so she could protect herself as he continued to remind himself, or see how much he could improve her ability to sense creatures like him. He had to wonder if she could sense magical creatures as well, like Kael'thas Sunstrider for instance, but he wouldn't be able to tell until the Lord of the Blood Elves came for a visit in the future.
One thing was for certain; he would never be able to teach young Lyra the skills that she would need in order to survive in this harsh land if she was constantly being knocked unconscious by his instructors... which meant that he was going to have some words with Varedis in the future.
Lyra moaned as she opened her eyes, where she silently wished that everything she had seen so far had been a dream brought on by drinking too much, but all she found was the ceiling of the room she had been given staring back at her. She was still in the Outlands, in the Black Temple, which meant that she had been shown a fraction of what the temple had to offer before the Head Trainer smacked her with his training weapon, knocking her out in the process. She had to resist the urge to rub her face where she was hit, because while it still hurt where Varedis struck her, rather uncalled for she mentally added, she knew that it was in an effort to show her how to properly defend herself against everyone and anyone that she might fight in the future.
Not that she actually wanted to fight and kill something in this world, as she had seen Kayn and Kor'vas do to that infernal creature that had hit her, because she was still hoping that Lord Illidan would be able to figure out what magic brought her here so she could go home... before something serious happened.
She eased herself into a sitting position as she thought about the strange world she had found herself in, the land that everyone seemed to call the Outlands. She remembered the map of the continent that Equestria was on, as there were multiple lands that shared the borders with her homeland, such as Griffonstone, the Crystal Empire, and someplace called Yakyakistan. As she took that into consideration she had to wonder what the piece of land she was in was called, because she knew that the entire world was likely referred to as the Outlands. The eerie area she was in, with the green flames, nearly blackened sky, and charred ground, had to have some name that was different from what the world was called.
She needed to find a map and see if she could figure out where she was in the Outlands, because she had the feeling that there was more out there that she was unaware of at the moment.
"I was beginning to wonder when you were going to wake up." a voice said, causing her to turn towards the doorway, to which she found Kor'vas walking into the room, "Varedis must have put more power into that attack than what he claimed, because you spent all afternoon sleeping off the effects of being knocked out."
"I wasn't expecting him to hit me without making sure that I was paying attention," Lyra admitted, though next time she would be sure to give the trainer her full attention to avoid repeating what had happened, though she also noticed that Kor'vas happened to be carrying a small crate in her hands, "I hope Lord Illidan isn't too upset that I was knocked out again, especially after I had just woken up from fainting at the sight of those demonic creatures that are standing before the door's of the temple."
"Lord Illidan has more pressing matters to worry about... so I don't believe that he'd be upset that Varedis knocked you out." Kor'vas said, setting the crate down on the floor by Lyra as she turned her attention to her, "Anyway, I was tasked to come and collect you... as well as to give you some new clothing to replace the worn out robe that your wearing."
Lyra hadn't paid much attention to the clothing that she happened to be wearing at the time of her arrival, considering that she was under attack not moments later, and she hadn't bothered to check when she had first woken up in the Black Temple, as she had three different people to talk with the instant she was up. She was wearing some sort of blue robe over her body, but there were several places where the fabric was torn, places where sections were missing, and she was fairly sure that there was a hole on her back where the flaming stone creature had hit her. She started to wonder how she could have not noticed the worn out robe that was covering her body, but then remembered what had happened since she first woke up in this world.
She supposed that it was time for a change in her attire, which made her wonder what Kor'vas had brought for her to wear... though she was sure that it was some sort of armor that the other initiates happened to be wearing. What was actually pulled out of the crate, however, was a violet robe that almost looked like it belonged to a high ranking mage, though that was what Lyra assumed it was thanks to the various golden symbols that had been added to the fabric. If that was the case, and she assumed that it was, she had to wonder why it was being offered to her, because Lord Illidan already knew that she had next to no skill in using her magic, as she was sure that Kayn had already told his master that piece of information.
"Are you sure that I can just take this?" Lyra asked, looking over the robe that Kor'vas was handing her, though she was impressed by how much it resembled something that Rarity would make for her friends and clients, "This looks like it belongs to a master of magic and not someone who has no skill in using their magic."
"Oh, this isn't the robes of a master mage... they're the robes of an apprentice." Kor'vas told her, which only made Lyra's jaw drop for a moment, "Still, seeing how you aren't a member of the Illidari, and therefore shouldn't wear their armor, this was quite literally the only other thing we have to offer. I'm not entirely sure why we happened to have a few crates full of mage clothing sitting around, but both Kayn and I figured it would be better than the worn out robe that your wearing. Its even got some boots and gloves... though for some odd reason there's no hood."
Lyra was amazed that such a fine piece of work, one that could easily rival the one's she had seen Rarity's friends wear, was only something that a mere apprentice would wear. That thought alone made her wonder what robes a master mage, or Archmage she mentally reflected, had to look like, though she then considered what Lord Kael'thas' robes looked like. All she knew about the mysterious 'Lord of the Blood Elves', as he appeared to call himself, was that he was a master of magic and was not to be taken lightly, which only made her wonder what type of robes he wore. She then let out a sigh and pulled off the worn out robes she was wearing, to which she was grateful for Kor'vas heading out of the room while she changed, before slipping on the new robes, boots, and gloves.
Once she was done changing, and was sure that everything fit as it was supposed to, she called for Kor'vas to rejoin her, who seemed happy with the fact that Lyra was now wearing something new.
"Well then, now that you are wearing new clothing its time we left the room," Kor'vas commented, heading to the doorway and pausing for a moment, to which she turned back to look at Lyra, "Lord Illidan has something he wants to tell you."
Lyra gulped as she followed Kor'vas out of the room, wondering if there was something else she had done that would require the Lord of the Outlands to call upon her as soon as she had woken up.
Kor'vas led her through the quickest route that would take them from Lyra's room to the temple's summit, though it gave Lyra the opportunity to see some more of the temple. She was amazed by the amount of demonic creatures that were walking around, not to mention the night elves and blood elves that happened to be training everywhere. Several of the demons almost looked like they were actually friendly towards the elves that were practicing. almost as if they shared a common enemy and were working together to destroy whoever that enemy was. Lyra had the feeling that if she stayed in this world too long that she would discover who this enemy was, though she couldn't help up wonder what would require so many warriors to defeat.
It took them some time to reach the summit of the Black Temple, but when they did arrive at their destination Lyra found a familiar face waiting for her; Kayn. He appeared to be waiting for someone before approaching his Master, who was either staring out into the harsh environment around them or was in some sort of meditation.
"Good. I was wondering how long it was going to take the two of you to arrive." Kayn commented, having turned around the moment Lyra and Kor'vas reached the summit, though how he knew there were there without looking Lyra had no idea.
"I needed to make sure that our latest ally had something to wear that wasn't falling apart," Kor'vas replied, coming to a stop beside Kayn, to which Lyra did the same so that they were in a row, "Besides, I'm curious as to why all three of us were called to the summit. I do hope its a mission to go and kill some demons."
"Don't get your hopes up too much, its likely a scouting mission." Kayn said, as if he was ignoring the fact that Kor'vas was excited about killing demons, which was understandable after what Lyra had seen on her first day.
It almost looked like the two of them were going to have a long winded conversation about what their master was going to do with them, and with Lyra for that matter, but before they could get any further Lord Illidan rose from where he was sitting and turned to face the three of them. The first time Lyra had been face to face with the Lord of the Outlands, and had felt his power, she couldn't speak and couldn't stop shaking, but this time she was surprised by the fact that none of that was happening. It was only a day ago, so she knew that she couldn't have adapted to the Outlands that fast, which made her wonder if Lord Illidan was able to restrict his power for some length of time.
If that was the case, and she assumed that it was, than she had something else to thank Lord Illidan for, otherwise she wouldn't be able to stand straight at the moment or keep her eyes leveled with his.
"I am sure that you are all eager to hear why I called you to the summit," Lord Illidan said, causing all three of them to tense up for a moment, "I have received word from one of Kael'thas' mages that there is some Legion activity at the entrance of Shadowmoon Valley. She could not tell me what they were doing, or how many of them there are, but I have a way to figure that out. Kayn, Kor'vas; I want the two of you to head out into the Valley and see if you can find where the Legion is trying to set up a foothold in my domain. All you need to do is gather some information on what they are doing and then report to me... and Lyra will be accompanying you, for some experience in how you operate as a team."
"It will be as you command, Lord Illidan," Kayn and Kor'vas said in unison, which surprised Lyra for a moment, as she was not expecting them to do that.
"Indeed." Lord Illidan said, turning to Lyra for a moment, who turned her attention to him, "I expect you to follow their orders while you scout out the demon's location... while I try and find a way to send you home."
"Y... yes Lord Illidan," Lyra replied, still finding herself a little scared by the night elf that was standing before her, but she was thankful that he was trying to find a way to send her back to Equus.
"Then fly my Illidari," Lord Illidan commanded, to which both Kayn and Kor'vas saluted their master, leaving Lyra to follow their actions, "I eagerly await your return."
As Lord Illidan returned to his meditation, or whatever he was doing, the trio departed from the summit of the Black Temple and gathered some items for their journey. It was then that Lyra was given a small pack that contained some food, some water, and a notebook of sorts that she would be able to write things down on, though she knew that she'd have to learn to write all over again. Kayn and Kor'vas both carried their warglaives on their backs, though Lyra had nothing considering that she had no experience with any of the weapons that they used. Once they were all packed up they made their way to the entrance of the Black Temple, where Lyra ignored the demons as they passed into what she now knew was Shadowmoon Valley.
Lyra did her best to ignore the fact that the area she and her companions were walking through was pretty much dead, or what she assumed was dead considering that she had no idea what had twisted the land into what she was currently looking at. She felt bad for this world as she looked at everything that was either dried up or was in the process of withering away, which only made her want to think about her home and how lively it was.
It took them some time to reach the destination that Lord Illidan sent them to, though Lyra knew she would have gotten lost on the way if she didn't have Kor'vas or Kayn to help guide her through Shadowmoon Valley. The area that they eventually stopped at looked like a mountain that had been torn apart by some large creature, while not mentioning the green flames everywhere. Lyra spotted several demons patrolling the area ahead of them, though they dared not get much closer, so they stayed behind the pile of rocks that they were hiding behind. It gave them the ability to observe the demons and see what they were up to, though the only demons that Lyra could see were the infernals and several smaller creatures, though she guessed they were imps or something else.
"So they're building a forge to make more infernals," Kor'vas commented, touching her warglaives for a moment, as if she wanted to run out and cut them to pieces, "Great, the Burning Legion is trying to build an army to invade the world again..."
Lyra was going to ask what Kor'vas meant by again, but as she started to open her mouth she noticed a tear in reality appear in the area between them and the forge area, as Kor'vas called it anyway. That was seconds before a massive creature tore through the tear and stepped out into the area the other demons were working in, though one look at it sent shivers down Lyra's spine. It was a massive four legged creature that had green flames burning along its backside, though it had two hands, one of which happened to be carrying a deadly looking weapon that looked like a massive version of a warglaive. There was even an armored section covering its chest, while it had two massive horns that she assumed were used for crushing enemies and tearing them to pieces.
Lyra knew that they didn't have any chance at defeating such a creature at the moment, not when she had no idea how to fight and that both Kor'vas and Kayn couldn't protect her all the time, which meant that they would have to retreat for the moment.
"A PIT LORD?!" Kayn said, staring at the massive creature in shock, as if he hadn't expecting to see a creature like this, "We must take this information to Lord Illidan. He'll devise a plan to take out that Pit Lord and disrupt the Legion's operations. Let's get out of here before that creature notices us."
Lyra couldn't agree more, though she had the sneaking suspicion that, at some point in the future, she would be fighting against those demons and, ultimately, a creature that was as terrifying and as powerful as that Pit Lord. She only hoped that Lord Illidan had found a way to send her home, because she was beginning to suspect that she wasn't cut out for this world and the various evil creatures that she was discovering every day.
When the trio returned to the Black Temple they discovered that the rest of the trainees had been released for the day, giving them time to relax and cool off after a hard day of training. Lyra would have loved to join them and talk with them, maybe make some friends while she was here, but shook her head as she followed her companions to the summit. They had news to bring to Lord Illidan, though from what little Kayn and Kor'vas had said on the way back Lyra was under the impression that having a Pit Lord demon near the Temple was a bad thing. She was frightened by the one they had seen already, as with every other demon she had seen in her time in the Outlands, but she decided not to be afraid and followed her companions as best she could.
She hated this world and the demons that she had discovered, to which she wished that she could head back home and forget that this entire world even existed.
It didn't take them very long to reach the summit, where they found Lord Illidan standing in the same spot they had seen him in when they had been given their orders. He seemed to be concentrating on something, so the three of them stood side by side as they waited for him to finish whatever he was doing at the moment. Lyra silently wondered if he had found some way to send her home, thanks to the efforts of his allies, but she didn't want to get her hopes up and remained silent as she waited. Eventually he seemed to relax before turning his attention to them, though there was a slight smirk on his face, as if he was expecting some good news.
"Good, you have returned." Lord Illidan said, turning his gaze upon all three of them before settling on Kayn, "Tell me, what did you find near the entrance of Shadowmoon Valley?"
"We found a demon camp that was begin made into a forge area," Kayn replied, informing Lyra that what they had seen was normal for demons, save the large creature they had seen, "but before we could get a better look at what they were doing a Pit Lord arrived in the area and took command over the demons that were stationed there. We didn't have time to see if there were any plans out in the open or any keys that would unlock something of use to us, so we came back to deliver our report."
"Interesting... so the Burning Legion sends a Pit Lord to oversee the construction of a new forge," Lord Illidan commented, though it almost sounded like he was a little surprised, but Lyra knew that such a powerful person was not easily surprised, "We will have to venture there at a later date and see if this newcomer is worth anything... besides training for the rest of our forces. Kayn, Kor'vas, you are both dismissed for the moment... I would like some time alone with Lyra."
Lyra noticed that both Kayn and Kor'vas were looking at each other, as if they were curious was to what their master wanted to say to her, but then they silently bowed their heads and walked out of the area they were in. Lyra was also wondering what the Lord of the Outlands wanted to tell her, though she knew what she was hoping for the moment she approached him.
"I have had words with Prince Kael'thas, but I have some unfortunate news for you." Lord Illidan said, turning to face the mountain again as Lyra stood beside him, "The method that brought you to the Outlands is, in the words of one of the greatest mages I know, impossible to replicate without creating a gateway on both this world and the one you came from. Unfortunately the Outlands will not be able to survive the connection to a second world, as it has already been tapped to the point of exhaustion by its connection to Azeroth. Secondly, we do not have the ability to contact a powerful mage on your home world, so building a gateway there would also be impossible, thus bringing me to the conclusion..."
"...that I'm stranded here." Lyra finished, not even bothering to consider the fact that she was being rude for interrupting Lord Illidan, but at the moment she didn't care, "Great. I get to live in a completely different world and, at some point in the future, die to the vile demons that are appearing on your doorstep... and no one back home will ever notice that I'm gone."
"I never said that you would be stranded here." Lord Illidan replied, not feeling offended that she had interrupted him, he was actually quite impressed that she had the nerve to do so after everything that she's been through, "While Kael'thas and I were speaking he mentioned that the Dark Portal, the link between this world and Azeroth, flared for a moment before dying down. What was odd about the Dark Portal being used again was that it had the same magical energy that brought you to the Outlands, but some discussion we both came to the same conclusion; there's another one of your kind roaming Azeroth."
That got Lyra's attention almost immediately, because there was only one pony, in all of Equus, that could have locked on to where she had been sent and figured out a way to briefly connect the two worlds together. She had to admit it, but Twilight Sparkle was a genius that was essentially unrivaled at the moment... not when her student, Starlight Glimmer, had disappeared a few days ago. While she thought about it Lyra also found it odd that Sunset Shimmer, the latest alicorn, had disappeared as well, though only made her wonder who Twilight was searching for. Was she searching for a lone unicorn who had no skill in magic, or was she searching for her friends?
"Do you have any idea who came through the portal?" Lyra asked, hoping that the Lord of the Outlands could give her something, anything really, to work with.
"Nothing besides the fact that she's wandering Azeroth at this very moment," Lord Illidan replied, shaking his head for a moment, "but, in time, she's bound to come here looking for you. She will not be prepared for the dangers that this land will throw at her... so will you take up your training and become the person that will save your friend from danger?"
Lyra hadn't even considered the fact that the Dark Portal, which she knew next to nothing about, was basically a gateway between worlds and that whoever had come looking for her could use it to get to the land she was currently in. Whoever had come would be ill prepared for the demons that infested this world, but not if someone took care of those creatures before the pony's arrival. Unfortunately Lyra was also ill prepared, both mentally and physically, but she was in the company of people that would be able to make her prepared for battle with the demons.
It was then that she realized that she had the opportunity to become some sort of protector for those that were defenseless against demons... and all she had to do was complete the training that Lord Illidan was offering her.
"Where do I begin?" Lyra asked, not knowing just how much her future was going to change, but she would deal with whatever the future held when the time came.
Two weeks had passed since Lyra and her companions had returned from the demon camp that they had scouted out, where they had witnessed the beginnings of a force that could potentially become an army if it wasn't nipped in the bud. Once Lyra had seen what the Illidari were up against, thanks to the massive Pit Lord that she had seen around the demon camp and the amount of demons that it commanded, she knew what she needed to do. She started training with the other initiates that wished to join the ranks of the Illidari, some of which were blood elves that had served Prince Kael'thas, while others were night elves that had seen the devastation the Burning Legion had brought upon their world. She trained with them because there was another world, one connected to the Outlands by a magical gateway called the Dark Portal, that was in constant danger of the Legion returning... and they were likely the only force that could permanently destroy them.
She trained with them because there was someone else from her home world of Equus that was currently roaming the lands of Azeroth, unaware of the danger that he or she was in if the Legion attacked the planet again. She purposely exposed herself to the harshness of the Illidari training, and that of her various instructors, so she could eventually leave the Black Temple with the rest of Lord Illidan's forces. She planned on finishing her training, find the pony that had traveled to Azeroth by accident, rescue them and the world from the Burning Legion, and then they could go home... once they figured out how to do that last step. She knew that she had plenty of time to figure out how to contact Princess Twilight once she had saved the day with the rest of the Illidari, so she decided to focus on the first few steps of her plan.
That also included swinging her edge of her right warglaive into her opponent's shoulder and knocking him to the floor, though she made no move to kill her sparring partner.
"I see that you have improved over the last two weeks," Kayn commented, picking himself off the floor, before he dusted of his armor and collected his own warglaives, "Kor'vas will never admit it, but she once told me that you didn't have what it takes to reach this level in our training... yet here you are, standing before me like a capable member of the Illidari."
"I had some excellent trainers." Lyra replied, bowing her head slightly as she spoke, "If not for the training that you, Kor'vas, and Varedis put me through, and had the patience to keep at it until I got it right, then I doubt I would have reached this point as well. I feel like I have the potential to keep pace with some of the lesser demons right now, though I think something like a Pit Lord might be beyond my ability at the moment."
"At least you know that training to be an Illidari doesn't make you invincible." Kayn said, though he nodded his head back a bit, in the direction of where Varedis was standing, "One of him is bad enough, two would be horrible for everyone here."
Lyra really didn't mind Varedis' attitude most of the time, mainly because he seemed to be one of the oldest Illidari at the moment and that usually meant he had some bragging rights. She actually didn't care that he spent some time with Lord Illidan over the last two weeks, where he was sent out to the various regions of the Outlands that she hadn't had the chance to explore yet. Every time Varedis left to do his master's bidding he seemed to return stronger than ever each time, leading her to wonder if there was something that he wasn't sharing with everyone else.
She was sure that Lord Illidan knew what was up with Varedis, considering that he was the master of all the Illidari, so she didn't bother with speaking her mind at the moment. She opened her mouth to saw something to Kayn, but then stopped when she noticed Kor'vas walking their way... with Varedis walking behind her.
"Lord Illidan has called for us." Kor'vas said, as if there was no need to elaborate on what they were been called upon for, before she turned to Lyra, "He also wants you to join the three of us."
Lyra nodded her understanding and slipped her weapons onto the straps that were thrown over her back, as that was how each and every Illidari carried their warglaives around when they weren't being used. Truth be told it still hurt her shoulders and back when she carried her weapons like that for an extended period of time, but it was getting better every day for some reason. She assumed that, in time, she would be able to carry her weapons like this and feel nothing, just like the others did when they slipped their weapons into their holders. Though once that thought was finished she had to wonder what Lord Illidan wanted to tell them, though she had the suspicion that it had to do with the demon camp they had seen.
They quickly made their way through the Black Temple, making sure to stay out of the way for their various allies, before they reached the summit, where they found Lord Illidan waiting for them in his usual spot.
"Good, you have arrived." Lord Illidan commented, turning to face them as they stopped behind him, "As you know there is a new demon camp in Shadowmoon Valley... one that is too close for comfort. From what I have been able to gleam from the various reports that the other Illidari have given me, and all of your accounts from when you scouted the camp the first time, the demons wish to take the temple for their own schemes. We cannot afford to have our enemy preparing to march on us... so I want you four to take some of the other Illidari and lead the assault on their main base."
"Would you like us to capture any of the demons that we'll be fighting?" Varedis asked, just so they all could know exactly what they were doing ahead of time.
"No..." Illidan replied, though he turned to Lyra for a moment, "Initiate Heartstrings... I would like a word with you before you leave the Black Temple with the others. The rest of you are dismissed for the moment."
Kayn, Kor'vas, and Varedis bowed their heads to their master before they made their way back down to the training grounds, where they would acquire the rest of their invasion force. Lyra, on the other hand, remained where she was standing, because she was wondering what the Lord of the Outlands wanted with her this time.
"The others clearly think that I shouldn't be sending you back to the forge so soon," Illidan said, though a small smirk appeared on his face for a second, "I know otherwise. You have embraced the training that one must go through to become an Illidari and have become an icon for those that are unsure of what they are doing here. I have heard several mentions on how some of the new recruits are inspired by your... dedication... to our training methods, leaving them to being inspired to do the same. You are almost like Varedis, though you lack some of his reckless behavior... which is better in the long run."
"I may not have seen what the Burning Legion is capable of doing to the worlds that they conquer, but I can take a guess based on what you've told me so far." Lyra replied, keeping her eyes leveled with Lord Illidan, "I wish to fight the demons that threaten this world, the world that this one is connected to, and my home world, so that way no one has to suffer like the people of this world have. Now that I've seen demons, and have seen what they do to the land around them, I would gladly give my life to fight them and make sure they never touch another world. And there is still the matter of finding who went to Azeroth, because they are, like you said, not prepared for the horrors that the Burning Legion will throw at them."
"I can see that a fire has been awoken inside of you," Illidan commented, "Go then, Lyra Heartstrings. Cut down any demons that you find at their forge and make them regret showing their faces in the Outlands."
Lyra bowed her head to Lord Illidan, before turning around and heading out of the summit so she could join whoever was coming along with her, Kayn, Kor'vas, and Varedis. She knew that if the Pit Lord was still there, and she suspected that it was, they were going to have a bad time on their hands, but also figured that they would have rough days every now and then. She would never admit it to anyone, but she was eager to be in battle for the first time, something that she shouldn't be eager for because of the peaceful life she had lived before coming to this world.
She shook her head as she walked down the hall, knowing that she had to focus her mind and ignore any stray thoughts that might interrupt her when she reached her destination.
As it turned out there were ten of them when they left the Black Temple, as all three of Lyra's companions had chosen two allies to take with them, though she was fine with who they had. The other Illidari seemed surprised that she was even coming along for this mission, likely believing that she wasn't ready for this sort of thing just yet, but she ignored their stares and walked along side Kayn and Kor'vas. She did her best to ignore the dead landscape around the exterior of the Temple, while imagining what the other areas of the Outlands had to look like. She was sure that there was some life left in this world, otherwise the Illidari and their allies would have been unable to sustain themselves in the long run.
Personally, she didn't like Shadowmoon Valley very much, but she walked down the road that had been built so long ago with the rest of her companions, still silently wishing that she could go home.
Eventually they reached the camp where they had originally spotted the demons, though when they approached the edge of the camp they stopped where Lyra and the others had spied on them the first time. From what Lyra was able to tell the sheer number of demons had doubled since the last time they had been here, but that was why they had brought some of the most skilled Illidari with them. There were quite a number of demons that she was familiar with, such as the infernals and the imps, while there were some that she had only read about in her spare time, like the dark gas-like creatures that were called voidwalkers.
Fortunately there was no sign of the Pit Lord that was in command of this camp, which meant that they could overrun it and clear the demons out before their leader even realized what was happening.
"Okay, here's what we'll do," Kayn commented, beckoning to an entrance on the other side of the camp, "Varedis and Kor'vas will attack from the camp's second entrance, while Lyra and I attack from this position. With any luck our surprise assault on their base will make them retreat to wherever they came from, but if not then we can kill those that decide to fight us. Let's go and show those demons the price they'll have to pay for setting up a camp so close to our base."
Lyra drew her warglaives out of their straps as the others moved towards the second entrance, though her focus was on figuring out who was leading the demons at the moment. The Pit Lord was nowhere to be seen, though from her studies she knew that there were other demons that were capable of leading large groups of demons in their master's name. One such demon was an eredar, though from her studies she knew that they were the original owners of the Planet Argus... before two of their leaders joined the Burning Legion willingly. She was still shocked that anyone could consider joining the Legion and actually go through with it, but none of the people she spoke to could tell her what happened to the third leader of the eredar, leading her to assume that he or she was likely dead.
Kayn beckoned to one of the demons that was approaching them, allowing Lyra time to snap out of her mind for a second, before the four of them jumped out of their hiding spot and cut down the imps that had been walking their way. They were the easiest demons to kill, Lyra knew this, but she also knew that it would take some time to maneuver around the tougher warriors that were waiting in the camp. As they entered the camp the felguards noticed them and drew their weapons, though that was before two of them were cut down from behind as Varedis and his group appeared.
The moment the fighting started Lyra noticed that the infernals that had been silent the entire time had suddenly become active, forcing some of the Illidari to switch their focus to them while the others dealt with the felguards. These demons had armor on their legs, feet, arms, and wore a helmet, but for some odd reason they opted to leave their chests bare, which the Illidari were more than willing to use against them. They also carried massive two handed weapons, usually massive axes, so Lyra and the others had to be sure that they dodged the weapons whenever they came close to hitting them before they could retaliate. Even the voidwalkers got in on the action, forcing the Illidari to focus on three different demons while making sure that none of them were overwhelmed.
As they were fighting, however, Lyra noticed a sinister green portal snap open in the back of the camp, though instead of the Pit Lord arriving she watched as a more human sized creature stepped out of the portal. The creature was easily eight feet tall and had a crimson tinted skin, though its feet ended in hooves and had some horns on its head that went well with the sinister green eyes that it had. It was carrying a staff in its right hand, one that appeared to be twisted by the fel energy around them, though the being carried no other weapon on his body... as far as Lyra could see anyway.
"I see that my minions aren't enough to deal with the likes of you," the eredar commented, flexing its open hand and summoning flames around it, "Come then, Illidari, and face the power of Lord Terraxas! I will enjoy presenting your heads to Kil'jaeden when I am through with you."
Lyra cast a glance at the rest of their forces, wondering if ten of them could deal with what she assumed was a high ranking demon in the Legion's army, considering that he was 'Lord' Terraxas. Kayn met her glance and nodded his head for a few seconds, as if telling her that they were going to attempt to beat the demon anyway, so she gripped her weapons and waiting for the first attack to be thrown. Lyra knew that the demon they were facing was a spell caster, the staff kind of gave it away, but she had no idea what a mage could do when they were empowered by the sinister fel energy. The ground around Terraxas caught on fire as he stepped towards them, though it was with a sinister green flame and not the usual colors that Lyra was familiar with.
One of the Illidari charged at the demon and swung his warglaives at him, only to strike nothing as the demon took a step back for a second before smacking him upside the head with his staff. It was at that point that Lyra realized that the eredar in front of them wasn't a mage, but was actually one of the warlocks that commanded demons and charred the land around them. She had heard stories from the other Illidari about some of their friends taking a liking to the power they controlled and willingly joined the Legion, though they became warlocks that were later killed by their former friends.
She growled at the demon and charged in with the rest of their forces behind her, each one of them swinging from a different direction in the hopes of catching Terraxas off guard. The annoying thing she had learned about demons was that they could only be permanently killed in the Twisting Nether, or the space between worlds. That meant that every demon they killed would only come back until they could kill them in that dimension, which was actually much harder than it sounded. There was a silver lining to living in the Outlands, as she had been told that the world had been broken a long time ago and that what remained of it was surrounded by the Twisting Nether... which was directly behind Terraxas at the moment.
A horrible idea formed in Lyra's mind, one that could easily get her killed in the process if she wasn't careful enough, but it could very well bring about the end for this particular demon.
"Kayn, can you and the others push him back towards the Nether?" Lyra asked, knowing that they could still kill the demon if he or the others said no.
"It shouldn't be too hard to do," Kayn replied, switching one of his weapons to his back so he could signal to Varedis, before pulling his weapon back out again, "I take it you have a plan for getting rid of this demon?"
"Sort of." Lyra answered, spotting a coil of rope out of the corner of her eye, "Just keep him distracted long enough, otherwise he might see through what we're doing."
Kayn shook his head and the Illiari, including the one that had been knocked down and had gotten back up, charged at the demon, though they were intentionally missing so they could see what insane plan Lyra had thought up. Lyra, on the other hand, sheathed her warglaives for the moment and picked up the rope that she had seen, to which she tied one end of it around a support structure for the camp. She made sure that it was tight enough to withstand breaking, though once she was sure of that she wrapped the other end of the rope around her chest and made sure that the second end wouldn't come undone. The moment her preparations were finished she turned around and faced the demon, though she kept herself at a safe distance to be sure that the first part of her insane plan would even work.
After a few steps towards the Nether, and away from the camp, Terraxas seemed to catch onto what they were doing, because he forced those in front of him backwards with his magic and glared at them all.
"Did you really think that you could beat me with such a pitiful plan?" Terraxas shouted, fel energy gathering around the top of his staff, indicating that he was preparing something major, "I will enjoy bringing an end to all of you!"
Lyra charged through the group of Illidari, threw herself into the air, and struck the demon in the chest with all the might she could put behind her attack, allowing the tips of her warglaives to dig into Terraxas' skin. She used the momentum that she had created to push the demon backwards, forcing him to take the stop off the edge of the area they were standing on and drop into the Twisting Nether. A look of pure rage overtook Terraxas' features, as if he couldn't believe that he had been tricked in some manner, but Lyra paid it no mind as she pulled one of her warglaives out. She then cut the demon's heart free from his body, ensuring that he was dead in the Twisting Nether, though she hoped that the stories were right about it being the permanent death for them.
Once the deed was done she pulled the other warglaive out of the demon's body and let it fall into the abyss below them, while the rope finally caught and stopped her fall altogether. She winced as the rope cut into her skin a bit, but she decided that a little pain was worth getting rid one of the demons that threatened the rest of the worlds. A few seconds later she heard Kayn shout something at the other Illidari and watched as they pulled her back to where the camp was located, though she was sure that some of them were surprised by her sudden and reckless plan.
"Next time, tell us that you'll be doing something stupid." Kayn commented, after finally heaving Lyra onto solid ground once more, "Though now that the demons have been routed we had best return to Lord Illidan... and share the good news with him."
Lyra smiled a bit at that statement, because she was sure that the Lord of the Illidari would be somewhat pleased what the death of a high ranking demon... whose heart she happened to be carrying at the moment. She had no idea why she was still holding onto the heart, but decided to let Illidan decide what to do with what remained of Terraxas... and with her as well.
Lyra let out a moan as she walked through the halls of the Black Temple, feeling the pain in her muscles from her stunt earlier, where she slew an eredar, ripped out its heart, and tossed the demon's body into the Twisting Nether. She knew that the demon had to be long dead by now, which meant that she wouldn't have to worry about it coming back to find her in the future and that she could relax just a tiny bit. Killing one demon meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, considering that there were likely hundreds, if not thousands, of demons left in the Burning Legion. Removing one high ranking demon meant nothing, not when the Legion's foul master could easily replace Terraxas with another demon, one that might be even worse than the one she had killed.
Even now, after her return to the Temple, she was still carrying the beating heart of the lesser Demon Lord in her left hand, something that the other members of the Illidari told her to hold onto until they spoke with Lord Illidan. Lyra had to wonder if Lord Illidan would be pleased that she had ended the life of a lesser Demon Lord, or if he would be his indifferent self again when he was told the news.
Her companions were quiet since they left the demonic camp, choosing to keep to themselves and not say anything about the fact that they had gotten rid of a Demon Lord. Lyra guessed that the Illidari would only be impressed if someone took out one of the three major Demon Lords, though Illidan warned them against such an action, as none of them were properly prepared for such a fight. Personally Lyra didn't even want to fight one of the major Demon Lords, because they seemed to be some of the toughest demons that they could possibly fight... and she knew that many of them would die if they attacked one of them. She also knew next to nothing about the three Demon Lords that Lord Illidan told them about, though it seemed like the Lord of the Outlands knew something about Archimonde the Defiler, Kil'Jaeden the Deceiver, and Sargeras, who was the Master of the Burning Legion.
Lyra, once again, worried about their chances at defeating the Burning Legion, but when she remembered that she had knocked out one of the lesser Demon Lords she knew that they would only fail if they gave up, to which she steeled herself and followed her companions... where they walked up the stairs that brought them to where Lord Illidan was waiting for their return.
"I see that you have returned," Lord Illidan commented, to which he turned and looked at the group that was approaching him, though Lyra noticed that a smile had appeared on the elf's face, "and it appears that you have completed the task I sent you on. So tell me, what happened at the forge?"
"We surrounded the demons and engaged them in battle," Kayn replied, though at the same time he and the others bowed their heads to their master, "though the Pit Lord was not there when we arrived. Instead we discovered that an eredar mage, one claiming to be a Lord in the Burning Legion under Kil'Jaeden, was now in charge of the forge and attacked us... though initiate Lyra decided to use a risky plan and cut out the demon's heart while dropping him into the Twisting Nether at the same time. We won't be worrying about that lesser Demon Lord returning in the future."
"Is that so?" Illidan commented, to which he turned his head in Lyra's direction, though this time she didn't flinch as her master looked at him, "Well then, I think its time that we formally invite Lyra into the ranks of the Illidari, so that she might become more like all of us and cause further damage to the Burning Legion. Fortunately the ritual area has been prepared for such an event, so I will allow you all to take an hour break before we see just how skilled our newest initiate is at stopping demons."
"It will be as you command," Kor'vas said, to which the group watched as Lord Illidan nodded his head and walked down the stairs that they had come up, surprising Lyra for a moment, because she had never seen the Lord of the Illidari leave his meditation area.
"I didn't know we had a ritual for joining the Illidari," Lyra spoke up, though she had waited until she was sure that their master was gone before speaking up, "Does anyone want to fill me in on what to expect, or is not knowing about the ritual part of the ritual itself?"
"Oh, not knowing about the ritual isn't a part of the ritual," Varedis said, to which he and the others stood straight up once more, before they all turned to Lyra, "the ritual is basically where an initiate takes the essence of a demon into their body and takes command of the powers that are granted to them, though it takes practice before such a thing is possible. Part of the ritual is where we take small daggers and stab our eyes with them, which is where the fel energy will enter our bodies and grant us the powers of our enemies."
"Does... doesn't that completely destroy your eyes and your sight?" Lyra asked, because she found it hard to believe that the Illidari would ritually blind themselves, while at the same time wondering how the trio of demon hunters around her were able to see with no sight and had some bindings around their eyes.
"Yes and no," Kayn replied, to which he tapped his own bindings for a moment, "we lose our normal sight and our eyes, but in the process we gain a new sight that allows us to see everything around us, as if our eyes hadn't been damaged... and, if we focus our energy on our new sight, we could see the presence of demons, especially those that are designed to hide in plain sight."
"We also gain the ability to absorb the abilities of certain demons," Varedis added, though Lyra detected that his tone spoke volumes of him wanting to gain power, no matter the cost to his own body and his mind, "it just takes some time to figure out which ones have abilities we can use and which ones are useless in the grand scheme of things."
"And don't forget about the special tattoos that help us seal the demons inside our bodies," Kor'vas spoke up, placing a hand on her own tattoos, which told Lyra that there was so much more she had to learn about the Illidari before she knew everything about them, "and the fact that each demon hunter has horns that grow out of their heads. With all of these powers and abilities at our command we intend on striking down the Burning Legion... no matter how long it takes to reach that goal."
Lyra nodded as she followed her companions down the stairs and walked into an area where they could rest, though at the same time one of them took the heart she had been carrying from her and promised that it would properly be taken care of, just to be sure that the lesser Demon Lord she had killed was permanently dealt with.
When the hour had passed Lyra found herself being escorted though a different hallway of the Black Temple, one that she assumed was hidden and would lead them to the ritual area that had been prepared for her. She still found it a little odd that Lord Illidan had prepared this ahead of time, which meant that he had been planning on properly inducting her into the Illidari. As such one of the requirements was that she hand her warglaives to someone before she entered the ritual area, though when she walked into the room she noticed that there was a small pool of sinister green energy resting in the direct center of everything. She also noticed that there were spaces where her companions could stand, which was when they gathered around Lord Illidan, who happened to be standing behind the pool.
She also noticed that there was a stand that contained two daggers, which had small blades that would prevent the tip from striking her brain and killing her instantly, though she could tell that the blades were dripping with fel energy.
"We do not have any words to say when someone takes on the powers of our enemies," Lord Illidan said, to which he beckoned to the pool, where Lyra gently removed her footwear and stepped into the foul water, where Kayn handed her the two daggers that were resting near him, "but know that many demons will fear you from this day forward... and so will their masters, once they realize the danger you now pose to their plans."
Lyra nodded and looked down at the daggers she was now holding, wondering if she should even go through with the act of stabbing her own eyes and allowing the fel energy to enter her body, but after a few seconds she steeled herself. She knew that the Burning Legion would one day find her home world, when they gave up on the world of Azeroth, and that her home would be unprepared for the assault that would be coming their way. She knew that Princess Twilight would frown at her, but she knew that neither Princess Celestia or Princess Luna had the power to stand against the demons, despite the fact that they raised the sun and the moon all the time.
A few seconds later Lyra rose the daggers into the air and, before her strength and nerve gave out, she lowered them into her eyes, to which she had to bite back a scream as she basically destroyed her eyeballs and allowed the burning fel energy to pour into her body. She could feel the vile energy tearing its way through her body, trying to corrupt her from the inside out, but at the same time she remembered her determination and focused on beating the energy that was coursing through her body. A few moments passed before she felt something happen to her body, which was the burning sensation as the tattoos started to appear on her skin, in whatever pattern they were creating, but unfortunately the pain didn't stop there... as the tattoos were followed up a pair of horns tearing their way out of her head, as well as some cramping in her feet and some pain in her backside for some reason.
When the pain subsided Lyra found that she couldn't see anything, though that was quickly followed by the signatures of four people appearing around her, where she could have sworn that she could see just fine... despite the fact that she knew that her eyes had been destroyed.
"Well I'll be," Kayn commented, to which Lyra looked up at him and the others, wondering why they seemed so surprised, if his tone was to be believed, "your eyes... they weren't consumed by the fel energy. In fact it looks like the energy is rolling out of your eyes, like a mist of some kind that dissipates after a few seconds... I have never seen anything like it in all the years I have spent in the Black Temple."
"Her true nature is speaking for itself," Lord Illidan stated, though as he spoke he reached towards Lyra and held a hand out, to which she accepted it and allowed her master to bring her back to her feet, "and it seems that she didn't stop at acquiring some horns and a set of tattoos."
Lyra opened her mouth to ask what he meant, though that was before he discovered that her legs now ended in hooves, though they looked more like the ones that she had seen the demons possess instead of her pony hooves. Thinking about her old form made something behind her move, to which she turned around and noticed that her tail had been returned to her, making her look like a cross between a pony, an elf, and a demon, though she was sure she could make this work for her.
"Come then, Lyra Heartstrings," Lord Illidan said, to which he handed her warglaives back to her, which she returned to her holder on her back, "its time we completed your training... because soon we shall begin our assault on the demons of Mardum and claim the key to stopping the Burning Legion. And then, once they have been dealt with, we can see to finding the other member of your race that followed you to this side of the universe."
Lyra nodded, because now she knew that she had the power to make a difference, though she still needed some training before she was ready... and she had to admit that she was eager to finally show the demons that their way of life was wrong, even if she had to cut a path through them to get her point across.
Six months passed since the day Lyra went through the Illidari ritual and truly joined their ranks, becoming one of the demon hunters that swore to protect the worlds of the universe, even if it meant taking a demon's essence into their body and becoming more like their targets. Word had spread that she was one of the more unique demon hunters, because of the fact that her eyes had remained undamaged while at the same time she had reacquired her tail and hooves, making her look more like a hybrid of three races. Still, most of the Illidari treated her with the same respect that they showed towards Kayn and the others, though she continued her training so she could be better prepared for whatever the world threw at her... be it another excursion to deal with some demons or something else.
Occasionally Lord Illidan would ask that she spend some time with him, where they would discuss the possible people from her home world that might have the misfortune to be teleported to this planet or Azeroth. Lyra knew that the answer had to be one of the royal sisters, who were powerful in their own right, or Twilight herself, because she was an expert with magic and had likely experimented with portal based magic at some point in time. Lord Illidan promised her that he was keeping an eye out for anyone that could match what Lyra had been before she went through the ritual, or more like her new form, just without the corrupting influence of the fel energy. Lyra knew that they would eventually find the other pony that had traveled to Azeroth or the Outlands, as it was only a matter of time until they revealed where they were, though at the same time she made sure to master her training.
It wasn't until the end of the second month that they received news that Varedis had been struck down by a group of adventurers, one that hailed from either the Alliance or the Horde, but the loss of one of their high ranking officers struck many of them pretty hard. Lyra had inquired as to who the two forces were, to which she learned everything that the Illidari knew about the two forces, which wasn't a lot at the moment. Apparently they had come charging into the Outlands because of the demon threat, though Lyra knew that, because she and the others had demons as allies, the two forces would eventually turn their attention to the Black Temple. As she came to that understanding she had to wonder when Lord Illidan would issue the assault on the place known as Mardum, because it seemed important enough for him to call the place by its name... but she patiently waited for that day to arrive.
The bad news only got worse for them, because Lady Vashj, another ally to the cause, had been struck down in Serpentshrine Cavern, along with the majority of her forces, which robbed the Illidari of a good deal of their naga forces. Time passed for some time until some additional news reached them, where Lyra heard that Kael'thas, the Lord of the Blood Elves, had been cut down inside Tempest Keep, the part that everyone called the Eye, though his death truly upset many of the Illidari. Another month or two passed before they received news that both the Alliance and the Horde was making their way through Shadowmoon Valley, though when the scout recounted the army that was coming in their direction the entirety of the Illidari, both the demon hunters and the other races, turned towards their master for direction... to which he ordered that they prepare themselves.
Lyra knew that many of the Illidari would be staying here, to hold the line until she and the other demon hunters found whatever their master wanted them to find, but even so she stood beside her master as they looked down at the forces that were gathering below them... both inside and outside the Black Temple.
"Lyra, do you feel her presence?" Lord Illidan commented, though at the same time he gestured with his left wing for a few seconds, causing Lyra to look out at the forces that were gathering in front of the Black Temple.
Lyra focused her mind for a few seconds and stared down at the army that was preparing itself, feeling the faintest hint of Equestrian magic down there, which meant that whoever had been brought here, to either the Outlands or Azeroth, was down there, preparing for the assault on the temple.
"Yes, I can tell that she's down there," Lyra replied, though at the same time she knew that now wasn't the time to go down there and stop the other pony from doing whatever she and her forces were planning on doing, "unfortunately I cannot tell which pony it is... but there are more pressing matters that we need to deal with."
"I couldn't agree more." Lord Illidan said, to which he and Lyra turned back towards the center of his meditation area, where they would patiently wait for the other demon hunters to arrive before he issued his command to all of them.
It didn't take the other demon hunters much time to reach the peak of the Black Temple, though as they arrived they made sure to recheck their armor and weapons, because they all knew that once they started this mission there was no going back... not until they found what their master wanted them to find. Kayn and the other officers gathered around the area and stared at each other, as they were curious if this was the beginning of the mission they had been training for, but they said nothing as the last of their forces arrived. When all of the demon hunters were in attendance, and were gathered around the peak of the Black Temple, Lord Illidan turned to face them all, indicating that this was what they were waiting for... which caused many of them to grip their weapons tightly.
"Illidari. My Demon Hunters." Lord Illidan said, to which he flapped his wings for a few seconds and moved himself to the edge of the peak, where he landed and looked down at the fighting that was happening below them, "With countless worlds burning in the Legion's wake, you answered the call. Yes these mortals, in their own ignorance, have come to destroy their own salvation. Our time is short and I will deal with these intruders. You must venture to Mardum and retrieve the Sargerite Keystone."
The moment Lord Illidan said the word 'keystone' he raised his hand towards the middle of the peak and a portal opened up before their eyes, indicating that he had been tracking the item in question down and had finally discovered where it was hiding.
"Now go," Lord Illidan commanded, though as the majority of the demon hunters charged into the portal he stopped Lyra for a few seconds, "Remember this, Lyra Heartstrings; should you and your brothers and sisters fail to retrieve the Keystone ALL the worlds in the universe will burn."
Lyra knew what Lord Illidan was talking about, because if they failed the acquire the Keystone, which she still had no idea what it did, then Equus, her home world, would eventually be a target for the Legion. She knew that such a thing couldn't be allowed to come to pass, because if it did then she might as well kiss her home planet goodbye, as the ponies were generally peaceful and would make for easy targets. She gripped her warglaives and nodded to her master for a second, to which she turned towards the portal he had opened and followed the rest of the Illidari to Mardum... where she knew they would begin their assault on the demons that called that place home.
When Lyra appeared on the other side of the portal she found herself in a world that seemed too much similar to Shadowmoon Valley, with the seemingly charred ground, the small rivers of fel lava, patches of ground that occasionally erupted with green fel fire, and the blackened sky. That was also when she noticed that there were several structures, or more specifically Legion structures, either floating in the sky or resting in the ground, though from what she remembered these were supposed to be gateways for the Legion to send their troops through. She also spotted what appeared to be some sort of warship in the air, as it was firing a green laser down at someplace in front of her, no doubt targeting a group of Illidari at the moment.
Once she had finished looking around the area in front of her, and knew what to expect when she spotted some demons resting on the path they would be taking, she approached Kayn and his small group, though she determined that they had to have been waiting for her to show up before they started moving.
"So Kayn, what's our first order of business?" Lyra asked, though she still found it odd that she was so eager for battle, especially when ponies were passive creatures unless threatened by someone or something else.
"We need to clear out some of the demons and take control of the demon's banner," Kayn replied, though at the same time he smiled at her as he pulled out his warglaives, "and then we'll see what needs to be done from there."
Lyra nodded, as she understood that they had no idea what to expect seeing how none of them had ever been to this world, before she gently removed her weapons from her back and charged down the pathway that was in front of the group. As she ran down she noticed that some of the other demon hunters were gliding down to a lower area of the zone they were in, to which she chuckled as she changed direction and double jumped in the air, without using her magic, and started to glide downwards. She had discovered that, after going through the ritual, that demon hunters could glide after double jumping and loosing the wings that came out of their backs, though they didn't stay in place for very long.
She glided down to a trio of Wrath Warriors, the large warrior class demons that either used either one or two weapons at a time, though the first one barely knew she was there as she cut him down with her warglaives. As the second noticed her standing there it swung his weapon at her, though she parried it with her own and ducked under the second demon's weapon. That was followed by her moving under the demon's legs, and allowing their weapons to hit the ground where she used to be standing, before she planted her weapons into one of their hearts. The final demon she fought on a more equal ground, parrying his attacks and cutting into his chest when he gave her an opening, though eventually she cut him down and began the search for some additional enemies to take care of... though she made sure to collect the soul fragments that followed the deaths of the three demons, as they, oddly enough, empowered her body and could restore her health if she was wounded.
It took her a few minutes to hunt down a decent amount of demons, as there was a fair amount of demon hunters roaming the area as well, but she eventually killed exactly fifteen different demons and made her way towards the banner, so while everyone else was busy ending the other demons she secured the 'banner'. When the banner was activated Kayn and his group moved into the area around Lyra, to which he told the others to continue the search for the Keystone while he and Lyra would deal with the gateway near them.
"Kayn, I do have one question." Lyra commented as they walked, as there was something about their mission that she wanted to know about before they got much further into Mardum.
"And that would be?" Kayn inquired, because while he was always eager to answer questions, and Lyra had asked him many when she was learning about her new abilities, he also knew that this wasn't the time to be asking too many questions, especially when there were demons to kill.
"What is the Sargerite Keystone?" Lyra asked, as that was the one thing she knew nothing about, because it seemed important and she wanted to know more about it.
"Its a skeleton key for all of the Legion worlds," Kayn replied, to which he stopped in front of the gateway and turned towards Lyra, "basically with the Keystone in hand Lord Illidan could open a portal or gateway to any of the Legion worlds, allowing us to attack them and ensure their destruction. Now then, let's see to opening this gateway and calling in some special reinforcements."
Lyra knew how these gateways worked, because they required a certain number of souls to be pulled into their activator before they could be opened, but fortunately all the dead demons in the area proved to be just the necessary number to activate the gateway. The pieces of the activator connected together and disappeared into the ground, though that was followed by the Broken, one of the allies that she and the others had, appearing and approaching her group. As the group approached them Lyra noticed some sort of fel creature, one that appeared to be some sort of cat creature that was wearing a saddle and some bone armor on its face and neck, walking beside the leader of the Broken.
"Lyra Heartstrings, I am Battlelord Gaardoun," the leader of the Broken said, though at the same time he beckoned to the cat creature walking beside him, "Lord Illidan told me that he had a present he wanted me to deliver to you once the first gateway was activated, so I present to you your very own mount; a loyal Felsaber."
Lyra looked at the dangerous cat for a few seconds and raised her hand towards it, causing everyone to look at them for a few moments, but then the Felsaber moved forward and pressed the base of its head against the palm of her hand. It was clear that the cat might have been trained by Lord Illidan himself, to respond to her alone, but she decided that now wasn't the time to ask questions. With the cat now following her, and apparently bound to her as well, Gaardoun explained that his forces were technically hers to command and that they would begin by taking the volcano stronghold, and the gateway that was being guarded by the demons.
Lyra chuckled as she climbed onto the Felsaber, because it seemed that the assault on Mardum was starting off just fine, but she focused her mind and followed the rest of the group, knowing that there were more demons to kill, potentially new abilities to learn, and a Keystone to collect.
It took Lyra a few minutes to get the hang of riding on the back of her new Felsaber, to which Kayn had to point out what she needed to do at a certain point, but she knew that she would be able to master the art of riding a mount given time, and it appeared that Mardum would provide the perfect opportunity for her to do so. Once she had mastered the basics, and could ride without falling off, she followed the path on her right, as she happened to be facing the gateway at the moment. She knew that the rest of the Illidari had been heading down that pathway after she and the others had activated the gateway, though she knew that it was time that she and Kayn get underway and see what havoc they could bring to the demons that called this world home.
A few seconds later she found two of her comrades interrogating a new type of demon she had never seen before, though before she could ask the question Kayn told her that the hood wearing demon, that also liked to float everywhere, was an inquisitor type demon. Apparently they liked capturing people, regardless of who or what they were, and stealing their secrets, or sometimes using them as bait for a specific person that they were trying to hunt down. Once they reached the contained demon Lyra noticed that two of the demon hunters she had met one time in the past, Sevis Brightflame and Allari the Souleater, were trying to get information from the dazed demon.
Lyra sighed as she climbed off her Felsaber, because based on everything she knew, from all the tomes she had read so far, she could tell that one of them had something they wanted to tell her... though at the same time she noticed that Kayn was moving forward so he could make sure the attack was moving on schedule.
"Ah, Lyra Heartstrings," Allari commented, barely glancing back at Lyra as she approached the pair of demon hunters, as she was focusing all her energy on interrogating the demon in front of her, "All the demons I have interrogated so far know nothing about the location of the Keystone, though they all repeatedly mention their loyalty to some queen that apparently controls Mardum. I know that Cyana and Jace moved forward with the rest of our forces, though I think that one of them might have been captured while they were moving through the area in front of us."
"Let me guess, I need to find the key and rescue anyone that's been captured?" Lyra asked, though at the same time she had to wonder how the others had been captured, as they were supposed to avoid that sort of thing, but she knew that she would never figure out how it happened.
"That is a sensible course of action." Allari replied, though it sounded like she was pleased that Lyra had caught onto what she was going to tell her to do, "The key is being held by a demon that specializes in stealing the souls of its victims, though you should be able to rescue those that were captured without losing anyone if you move quickly. I have also learned that a new inquisitor demon has arrived, though instead of wasting our time with trying to rip the information from him I think it would be beneficial for someone to kill him and take his power from him."
"We should also open the second gateway when you get the chance," Sevis commented, to which Allari nodded for a few seconds as she returned to her work, "we can bring in additional reinforcements to make this assault much easier."
Lyra knew that there was something else that Allari had waited to tell her about, because she had long since suspected that she and the other demon hunters might be able to steal the powers of the demons they slay, though this only confirmed her suspicions. She also had no idea that there was a second gateway in the area ahead of them, but now that she knew that she resolved to keep her eyes open for some powerful souls that could be fed into it, so she could summon whoever was waiting for the gate to open. With some new missions in mind Lyra turned down the path that was around the corner and headed towards the area that the demons currently controlled, where she noticed that the Felsaber made sure that she was in sight in case she needed it while also keeping its distance.
It didn't take Lyra long to find one of the jailer class demons, as they were the ones carrying a cage on their backs as they floated around the place, though as she engaged it she had to deal with a black felhound that wanted a piece of her. She moved around her opponents and quickly struck the felhound down, as it was the easier of the two she could pick from, though once it fell down she had to move out of the jailer's attack before she could retaliate with her own attacks. Fortunately for her the jailer fell within a matter of seconds, meaning that it was much weaker than what she was expecting, but it didn't have the key she was searching for, to which she turned her gaze towards the other three jailer demons that were floating around the area and knew that one of them had to be carrying the key.
She spent a few minutes cutting her way to each of the remaining jailer demons, to which she repeated what she had done to the first one, though when she finished off the fourth jailer demon she smiled as she pulled the key from its corpse. With the key in hand she returned to the first jail cell that she had passed, to which she released Cyana Nightglaive from her cell, to which she received some gratitude and a promise to never let it happen again in return. Lyra beckoned for Cyana to follow her as she made her way to the second cell that she had spotted, to which she rescued Belath Dawnblade. It was then that Cyana pointed out another cell, one that happened to be in a cave, so while she and Belath dealt with the demons standing guard Lyra slipped in and freed Izal Whitemoon.
With those three demon hunters freed they made their way to the final captive, one Mannethrel Darkstar, and rescued him as well, to which the five of them changed course and headed towards the inquisitor demon that was floating in front of the massive infernal that Lyra had been ignoring the entire time. Inquisitor Baleful, the inquisitor demon that they were hunting for, stared at them as they approached him, though before anyone could say anything he started summoning eyes that fired green bursts of energy at them... indicating that he intended to fight them instead of trying anything else. Part way through the battle Baleful rose into the air and surrounded himself with a shield, to which he ordered the large infernal to start throwing burning rocks at them, but thanks to their empowered sight Lyra and the others could literally see where the attacks would land, allowing them to move out of the way before the rocks even hit the ground around them.
Once Baleful grew tired of the infernal missing, and ordered him to stop, he lowered the shield and returned to the battle, to which the group closed in on him and took him out, though once the demon drew his last breath he shouted something about his eyes and died... to which Lyra felt a new fel power surge into her body, which she suspected was the same attack that the inquisitor had used with his eyes, the green laser attack. As the other demon hunters moved onto the area that would be their next camp, leaving Lyra to activate the second gateway, she approached one of the demons that was still hanging around and engaged it in battle, though when she used the new attack she was delighted to see that she basically loosed a surge of energy from her eyes, in the form of a pair of lasers, that dealt damage to her target.
Lyra had to admit that the 'Eye Beam' attack, as she decided to call it, would be a useful ability when she was surrounded by a fair number of enemies, but now that she knew what the ability did she called her Felsaber to her and rode to the second gateway... to which she discovered a group of dead Broken soldiers and a dying mystic.
"Lyra, you must hurry!" Sevis commented, surprising Lyra by the fact that he had been standing there and hadn't opened the gateway yet, which meant that there had to be a reason as to why she was the one that was opening all the gateways so far, "The mystic and his brothers have given their lives to guard and activate the gateway's activator... we only need you to deal the final blow and activate the gateway."
Lyra looked at the dying mystic and wished that there was another way to activate the gateway, but with so little options open to them at the moment she sighed and plunged one of her warglaives into the mystic's chest, allowing the activator to devour his soul as his lifeless body hit the ground. Once the deed was done she activated the activator and watched as the remnants of the Coilskar Naga were summoned to Mardum, though she caught a hint of sadness on their leader's face before she steeled herself.
"Lyra Heartstrings, I am Lady S'theno," the head naga said, to which she bowed her head towards Lyra for a second, though that was followed by her returning to her previous stance, "Lord Illidan sends his wishes for a speedy success."
Lyra smiled as the naga moved out to make sure that the area behind them was secure, which apparently would serve as a foothold for them, though that was followed by her climbing back onto her Felsaber and returning to the path that the other demon hunters had taken... though after some time she noticed Jace Darkweaver standing in front of some sort on contraption, though he was smiling when she approached him.
"I sense that you have grown stronger since the last time we saw each other, Lyra." Jace commented, to which he waited for Lyra to stop in front of him before continuing, "Does that mean that you have stolen a demon's essence?"
"I took the essence of Inquisitor Baleful a few minutes ago." Lyra replied, though at the same time she had to wonder why this was important, especially when they needed to move forward.
"Good, then we can use some of his power against whoever controls Mardum and see what they are planning," Jace said, to which he beckoned to the contraption that was sitting behind him, "Just place your hands on the Nether Crucible and use some of Baleful's essence to see what the Legion commanders are planning... and then we can get to work taking them out and securing the third and final gateway."
Lyra nodded and touched the Nether Crucible, though when she closed her eyes she focused on whatever ritual was involved in using the device in front of her. That was followed by her eyes focusing on a distant sight, where she discovered a bulky demon that had armor on its arms, shoulders, waist, and legs, while at the same time it carried a large sword in one hand. That demon was kneeling in front of some sort of demon that appeared to be a cross between a spider and a demon, one that appeared to be a queen by the body structure, but Lyra knew that this had to be the queen that the other demons had told Allari about.
"There are demon hunters on my world, Doom Commander!" the queen demon snapped, indicating that she was mad and was trying to keep her emotions in check, which told Lyra that the demon had to be worried about something or someone, "This is unacceptable!"
"My eredar are summoning in more demons to attack them from behind, your highness." the Doom Commander replied, though at the same time Lyra knew that she and the others would have to be careful in the future.
"Do not let them enter the volcano." the queen commanded, though at the same time the other demon flinched, as if expecting to be hit or something, "The key to the Legion's worlds must not fall into their hands, Beliash."
"I will personally deal with their leader," the doom commander, Beliash, answered, which told Lyra that he would be gunning for her when she and the others entered the next area of Mardum, "my queen."
"See that you do." the queen said, to which she started moving away from the area she and Beliash were in, while at the same time cutting the connection that Lyra had been using to spy on them.
Once the connection had been severed Lyra turned to Jace and told him what she had seen, to which she discovered that he had seen it all as well, as he had placed a hand on her shoulder and had seen the meeting as well, though he wasn't too pleased with the Legion having spider demons.
"The next phase of our assault should be obvious," Jace commented, though even as he said that Lyra nodded, because she had the feeling that she knew what he was going to say, "The others and I will occupy the attention of Beliash's eredar and the reinforcements that he's going to summon in, which should allow you to slip up to where he's waiting and take him out. With his power coursing through your veins you should be able to access the final gateway, though I'm sure that one of our brothers or sisters will have captured a powerful demon for you to use. Once the rest of our forces are summoned to Mardum we should be able to deal with the main bulk of our enemy's forces and acquire the Keystone... and then the real fun starts."
Lyra, once again, found it odd that Jace and the other Illidari were basically allowing her to take out the more powerful demons and steal their essences, though she had to wonder if it was because she was the newest recruit that had joined their cause and had gone through the ritual. Technically she was the weakest of the Illidari, as the others had years of experience backing them and had no doubt absorbed quite the number of demon essences since they started following the path that Lord Illidan was taking. She, on the other hand, had six months of training and had absorbed the essence of one demon, which, in her mind, meant that she was weaker than everyone else and explained why she was being told to gather the essences of certain demons.
In the end Lyra sighed and nodded her head, to which she climbed back onto the Felsaber and rode towards the area that Beliash was using to summon more reinforcements, where she discovered that the other members of the Illidari were already attacking the eredar that happened to be standing guard by the portals they had opened. It didn't take her long to find where her target was waiting, as he hadn't moved as his eredar summoned in reinforcements, but she climbed off the Felsaber and charged at Beliash. The Doom Commander activated two nearby pillars that apparently fired beams of energy at the area around her, to which Lyra spotted some power crystals in front of the pillars and smashed them with her own power, shattering them and stopping the beams in their tracks.
With that taken care of she returned her attention to Beliash and dodged the attack that was coming her way, though she had to suffer through some bolts made of shadow that he threw at her as she dealt damage to his body. The exchange went on like that for a few minutes, where she dodged an attack and tried to ignore the shadow bolts while dealing damage to her opponent... though that was before Beliash finally crumbled on the ground and died, allowing her to absorb his essence, and his power, into her body.
With her target dead, and his power taken from him, Lyra climbed back onto her Felsaber and rode up the pathway that would take her to the third gateway... where she discovered Sevis standing near the bodies of several large creatures, though it appeared that he was annoyed and worried at the same time.
"Lyra, your just in time. We have a problem." Sevis said, to which he gestured to the bodies and the nearby activator, "It appears that the Brood Queen you spotted earlier has done something to the gateway, as the powerful souls of the Mo'arg I have killed have done nothing to activate the activator. Thus we come to our problem; the soul of a demon hunter might be able to overcome whatever the Brood Queen has done to the gateway, but that means that one of us has to die to summon the rest of our allies... and I am ready to sacrifice myself for the cause."
"Come on, there's no need to joke about sacrificing ourselves to activate the gateway," Lyra replied, though she was seriously hoping that this was an attempt to pull a fast one on her, to which she gestured down to the fighting below them, "I'm sure that we can find a suitable demon down there and use his souls to power the gateway..."
"Most of the demons that the eredar summoned are already dead, and the rest of our forces have moved onward." Sevis stated, to which he held his hands out and beckoned for her to come towards him, "Its just you and me right now, so I will gladly give my life to ensure that the Keystone falls into the hands of Lord Illidan and the Illidari."
Lyra really didn't want to go through something like this, where she had to choose between letting Sevis live or killing him where he stood, but this was a decision she couldn't make lightly. She also noted that the other demon hunter had basically told her that she wasn't allowed to sacrifice herself to activate the gateway, which could very well mean that Lord Illidan might have ordered the others to keep her alive. After a few seconds of thinking over the situation in her head, and coming to terms with what she had to do, Lyra let out a sigh as she pulled out one of her warglaives... though as she drove it into Sevis' chest, and cut his life short, she felt some tears rolling down her face, because despite everything she had already been through she wasn't ready for something like this.
As Sevis' body hit the ground the gateway opened, to which Lyra wiped away the tears that she had felt and watched as the Shivarra, which were tall female demons that had six arms, which meant that they each carried six weapons at any given time, were summoned to Mardum... though their leader had a blue flame dancing around the headpiece she was wearing, which was different from the reds and greens of the other Shivarra.
"Ah, there you are." the head Shivarra said, though Lyra couldn't tell whether the demon was happy to be here or if she was annoyed about something, "Lord Illidan has placed my Shivarra at your disposal. A small force has infiltrated the Black Temple, but the main force, the Sha'tari army, is being repelled as we speak. We are to obtain the Sargerite Keystone with due haste and return to aid the defense."
For a moment Lyra had forgotten about the fact that an army was attacking the Black Temple, because she had been occupied with tearing apart the demons and absorbing the powers of Inquisitor Baleful and Doom Commander Beliash, but now that she was reminded of the attack she knew that they needed to be quick about retrieving the Keystone. One of her kind was on that battlefield, either on the outside or walking with the group that had infiltrated the temple itself, which meant that she needed to pick up the pace before something terrible happened. She quickly climbed back onto the Felsaber and turned towards the path that the rest of the Illidari had gone down while she was killing Beliash.
She needed to retrieve the Keystone with as much haste as she could muster, so she could prevent a disaster from happening and stop the assault on the Black Temple... though she had the feeling that the Brood Queen was going to make things difficult for her in the near future.
With the gateways open, and all of their forces moving towards the camp that was no doubt waiting near the lair of the Brood Queen, Lyra urged her Felsaber down the pathway that was in front of her. The Shivarra and the other allies of the Illidari were already moving as well, though she could tell that some of them had stayed behind to take care of any additional eredar that might have been missed. Lyra was thankful that the Illidari and their allies were so thorough in their war against the demons of Mardum, as they had killed the majority of the demons that had been standing in the area that Beliash had been commanding. Lyra also noticed that there were a few demon hunters that were coming towards the pass between Beliash's section of Mardum and the area that his queen commanded... where she noticed that the Legion ship, which was hanging almost overhead at the moment, was firing at the path she needed to take.
She understood that the soldiers aboard the ship didn't want them to reach the lair of the Brood Queen, but that didn't stop Lyra from sighing and urging her Felsaber through the rocky path, while at the same time using her empowered sight to help her mount dodge the charges that the ship was firing at them. Thankfully she only had to ride forward for a few minutes, as it didn't take her long to get out of range of the ship, which she found hard to believe but didn't argue with, before she spotted the camp that her friends had set up. The demon hunters were basically in the middle of the camp, while the naga were standing guard near the entrance, the Shivarra were standing at attention near her friends, and the Broken stood on the other side of the camp, where their shamans healed the wounded.
As Lyra brought her Felsaber to a stop near where Kayn was standing, with the other high ranking demon hunters, she noticed that there was a second Legion ship floating in the middle of Inferno Peak... though the front of it was facing towards the atmosphere, but she knew that it was out of reach at the moment.
"With Doom Commander Beliash dead, and the rest of our forces summoned to Mardum, we can focus on taking the fight to Brood Queen Tyranna." Kayn said, though he only started talking the moment Lyra climbed off her Felsaber and told him the news of what she had done, "All that is left is to deliver your orders to our Illidari captains. As you can see the mightiest of the Legion's forces have arrayed themselves within the volcano, but they will not remain on the defensive for long. We must strike first and we must strike hard. Once we destroy them, we can fly up to the command ship, defeat Brood Queen Tyranna, and take the Keystone for our own. Lord Illidan will be pleased once we bring him news of our success and present the Keystone to him."
Lyra nodded for a moment, but at the same time she was shocked that she was the one that was supposed to give the orders to the captains she had met after activating the three gateways. She had to wonder why she was the one that was supposed to give the orders and not someone like Kayn or Kor'vas, as they had much more experience than she did. Sure, Lord Illidan had asked her opinion on several of the missions he was planning on sending some of their forces on, which she guessed might be considered training by the other demon hunters, but that still didn't make her a commander. She waited for the briefest of moments, to see if Kayn was messing with her or something, but when he didn't say anything to tell her differently she let out a sigh.
Lyra turned towards the areas in Inferno Peak and took in everything that she could see at the moment, mentally remembering everything that she knew about the three forces she had summoned to Mardum and the layout of the various enemies she could see. She spotted what appeared to be a fortress full of spider demons, a machine that was called a Soul Engine, and a forge like area that reminded her of the one in Shadowmoon Valley... though once she finished looking at those areas she came up with a basic plan that could potentially allow them to destroy a good portion of Tyranna's forces and win them the Keystone. With the ideas rolling around in her mind, and the various abilities of their three groups of allies, Lyra climbed back onto her Felsaber and made her way to the naga, or more importantly their leader, Lady S'theno.
"I see you, Lyra Heartstrings." Lady S'theno said, bowing her head towards Lyra for a few seconds, though that unnerved Lyra for a moment, as she wasn't used to such a thing happening to her, "So, what's our plan of attack?"
"My Lady S'theno," Lyra politely replied, knowing that some of the Illidari leaders liked politeness and some didn't care for it, though she assumed that the naga liked it, "I would recommend that you and your forces head north and disrupt the ritual that the demons are performing on their Soul Engine."
"A fine task for the Coilskar to take care of," Lady S'theno stated, to which she looked back and noticed that several of the naga behind her, no doubt her advisors, were nodding, before she looked back at Lyra, "I am in agreement."
Lyra smiled and headed towards the Shivarra, noticing how the Matron Mother, who happened to be called Malevolence, was staring at the demons that were on the other side of the peak, as if she was gauging who needed to be killed and whatnot.
"Ah, the young commander graces us with her presence," Matron Mother Malevolence said, turning to face Lyra and her Felsaber, though at the same time Lyra knew that she was more interested in the demons she had been staring at, "How might I be of service to you today?"
"Matron Mother," Lyra replied, taking a brief moment to gather her thoughts on the other areas of the peak before responding, "I want you to take your Shivan across the gap to the Forge of Corruption and attack the demons in that area."
"We shall make them suffer!" Malevolence stated, though her tone told Lyra that she was eager to finally cut down additional demons and help out the cause in her own way, but before Lyra could depart she noticed that the demon was looking at her, "I would urge you to move fast, as the Black Temple is still under attack."
Lyra hated being reminded of that fact, because she had no idea how powerful the attacking band of adventurers was or how many of them had managed to get into the temple itself, which meant she had no idea if the guardians could stand against the force that was coming their way. As the Shivarra started to move out Lyra turned to the Broken that were standing nearby, to which she let out a sigh and approached Gaardoun, who saluted her as she stopped in front of him.
"Lyra Heartstrings," Gaardoun commented, once against causing Lyra to be a little shocked by how respectful the captains were to her, when they were technically her seniors, "We await your orders, ma'am."
"Gaardoun, you and your forces should assault the demons in the nearby fortress," Lyra said, beckoning to the spider infested fortress that was sitting nearby, "you should be able to stop the mass of their army from attacking us while we take out their leadership in the other areas of the peak."
"It will be as you say," Gaardoun replied, to which he turned towards the Broken soldiers that were standing behind him, "Ashtongue, with me!"
Lyra let out a sigh as she watched the three forces move out of the foothold she and the other demon hunters had created, as she was still recovering from being hailed as a commander by almost everyone around her, before she turned her mount around and headed back to Kayn. Hopefully this was a one time thing and that she wouldn't have to order people around again, because she didn't think that she had the talent to be a commander, not like Lord Illidan anyway. When she returned to Kayn and the others she could see that her teachers were pleased with her progress, though she had the feeling that something else was coming at her.
Before Lyra could leave, so she could begin her assault on the demons of Mardum, Kayn looked at her like he had something else he wanted to tell her, so she remained where her Felsaber was resting and waited for him to tell her exactly what was on his mind.
"Jace swears that he felt a demonic presence in a nearby cave and took some of the Illidari with him," Kayn told her, to which he let out his own sigh for a few seconds, "I'm sure that they'll find nothing in the cave, but would you go to him and give him some guidance... and, more importantly, your enhanced spectral sight?"
"Sure. I'll go see if Jace is right or not." Lyra replied, somewhat surprised that this was what Kayn wanted to tell her, but seeing how simple the task was she guessed that it was okay to take a few minutes to help a fellow demon hunter out, to which she turned her Felsaber in the direction of the cave and headed to Jace's location.
Lyra made her way up the path to the right of the camp's entrance she had been directed to and immediately noticed that there were four other demon hunters that were hanging out with Jace, though they were all staring at the ruined rock wall in front of them. She also spotted a few Broken shamans, two of the Shivarra standing near Jace, and at least three naga pointing their weapons at the rocks, leaving Lyra to wonder if they knew the demons were in a hidden cave and were trying to figure out how to enter their hiding spot. Or maybe they were being paranoid, as this was one of the demon worlds they were planning on invading and there was a lot of fel energy in the air, but she decided to approach Jace and see what he had to tell her.
"Lyra, its good to be in your presence again," Jace said, though at the same time he returned his focus to the rock wall in front of them, while Lyra climbed off her Felsaber, "I know that there is something powerful inside this cave, but because of the immense fel energy that permeates Mardum I cannot be certain. My vision, as some would say, is clouded by the fel energy. If there is anything inside this cave we cannot afford to ignore it, especially after what Beliash was planning on doing under Tyranna's orders."
"So what would you like me to do?" Lyra asked, because while she knew that Kayn wanted her to use her Spectral Sight to help Jace out, and she suspected that it would help them out, she wanted to be sure of the instructions before she did anything different.
"Your mastery of the Spectral Sight is second to none, save Lord Illidan." Jace replied, causing Lyra to rub the back of her head with her right hand, "Your empowered Spectral Sight should be able to cut through whatever is sitting in front of us... where we can determine if there are demons here or if the fel energy is making it hard to see the truth."
Lyra nodded and faced the cave wall, though this was the first time she had heard of her Spectral Sight being second to none, as she was sure that six months was barely any time to master the complicated technique that came with absorbing the fel energy into one's body. It was completely strange that all of the Illidari, be they the demon hunters or the other races, felt that she was just as skilled as Lord Illidan and acted like she was the second in command. She couldn't understand what was going on with everyone, as she had no skills in leading a force that was as complicated and as diverse as the Illidari.
Lyra let out a sigh and closed her eyes, allowing the fel energy to gather around her for a few seconds, before she activated her empowered Spectral Sight... where she discovered a large number of demons hiding behind the rock wall that the others were staring at, which confirmed Jace's suspicions.
"Jace, there's definitely demons inside that cave," Lyra said, though at the same time she opened her eyes and pulled out her warglaives, because she already knew what was coming.
"I knew I sensed something foul up here," Jace replied, to which he smiled as he pointed at the cave, which told the others that they were preparing to charge into the hornets nest, "Now that you have confirmed my suspicions I can sense the demons as well... including a powerful Fel Lord whose power would serve you well. We will attack the Fel Lord's forces and occupy them, allowing you to take out their leader."
Before Lyra had a chance to nod her understanding Jace beckoned to the demon hunters standing around them and they opened fire on the rock wall, loosing their own Eye Beams for a few seconds and tearing apart the rocks that were blocking their way. Once the demon hunters were done with their attack the way was clear, to which Jace called for them to rush the unsuspecting demons, allowing Lyra to see them all charge into the cave and start tearing into the enemies that were waiting for them. A few seconds later Lyra followed her comrades into the cave, where she followed the trail of dead demons until she spotted an area that had a large portal at the back of it... though in front of it stood a large demon that resembled a Felguard, only Lyra could tell that it was more powerful and more deadly than the counterpart she had encountered in the past.
"Greetings worm, I am Fel Lord Caza," the large demon declared, swinging its massive axe around for a few seconds, while at the same time Lyra held her warglaives at the ready, "I will enjoy breaking you and your forces!"
Lyra grunted as Caza brought down his axe on where she was standing, though she used her common sense to dodge the attack and deliver a strike to the demon's left leg. Caza growled and swung at her multiple times, to which Lyra forced herself to increase her speed to avoid the attacks, where she could pick and choose when to strike back. After a few seconds Caza jumped to one side of the chamber and raised his axe, indicating that he was preparing to throw it at her, though instead of allowing it to hit her Lyra dashed forward and used her Eye Beam to damage the Fel Lord's chest area. That was followed by her opponent tossing his axe where she had been standing after he had moved away from her, but now that she wasn't standing there he decided that he might want it back, as he raised his hand and summoned his weapon back to him.
Lyra took the opportunity that presented itself and delivered another powerful strike to her opponent, to which Caza let out a scream of agony as he fell to the ground... though that was followed by his essence flowing into Lyra's body, where she determined that the Fel Lord's power had been the ability to throw his weapon, which she might be able to apply to her own weapons at some point in the future.
With the Fel Lord taken care of, and his forces routed, Lyra walked outside the cave and mounted her Felsaber, though while Jace and the other Illidari charged into the beginnings of the war Lyra decided it was time to return to Kayn and report her success to him. When she returned to where Kayn and the others were standing she found that they were all pleased to hear that she and Jace had dealt with the demonic threat that could have hit them from behind, while at the same time sounding happy to hear that she was even stronger than ever... which was thanks to the essence that she had taken from Caza.
"Well then, its time that we get this war started in earnest." Kayn commented, drawing the attention of them all to him for a few seconds, which Lyra was thankful for at the moment, "We can focus all of our energy into destroying the Legion's forces and taking Brood Queen Tyranna down... and then we can take the Keystone for ourselves and return to Lord Illidan, where we can repel the invaders together."
Truth be told Lyra was getting a little tired, as there had been no break since they had arrived in Mardum, but she knew that time was of the essence, especially since they were running out of time. She wanted to get back to the Black Temple and stop whoever the other inhabitant from her home world from making a grave error... which meant that the Brood Queen needed to die. Lyra let out a sigh as she petted her Felsaber's head, because she was hoping that they could cut through the demons fast enough to return to Lord Illidan's side and save the day, but she decided to focus on the task at hand, which meant that she needed Kayn and the others to tell her what she needed to do first.
She had the feeling that this was going to be a quick war, but even so she knew that there were going to be some tough fights ahead of her and the others... but this time she was ready for anything that the Legion could throw at her and her fellow demon hunters.
Lyra waited for a few seconds, where she was standing next to her Felsaber and petting its head, while she waited for Kayn and the others to tell her exactly what needed to be done in their battle against Brood Queen Tyranna's forces. She could guess, from just looking at the various sections of the battlefield, that someone needed to take out the large cannon like constructs, the Legion Devastators she recalled them being called, before they did some serious damage to the camp. There was also quite a number of generals that needed to be taken out, which would no doubt tear apart their enemy's moral, but other than that she had no idea what else to expect. She was sure that the senior demon hunters knew what they were looking for and had already found what they needed to do, which was why she was standing there.
When Kayn turned back to look at her she immediately straightened herself, because this was what she had been waiting for and was eager to see what needed to be done in regards to the Legion's forces.
"Lyra, I'm sure that you can see the devastators that are arrayed against us," Kayn commented, pausing for a moment so Lyra could actually nod to him for a second, which told him that she was listening to him, "While you join the other demon hunters, and declare war on the forces that are guarding the Brood Queen, you should take out the devastators before they do some serious damage to our camp. We also managed to interrogate a few demons that told us there is a Imp Mother somewhere in this area, which means that she is no doubt carrying some of the Legion's secrets on her... which is why Kor'vas has gone out to hunt for her. If you find Kor'vas out there, while you're waging war on the Brood Queen's Court, I would recommend taking some time to help her, because the reward will be worth it."
Lyra nodded and climbed onto her Felsaber, because now that she had her instructions she was eager to see what the Brood Queen's Court had to offer her. She was sure that helping her fellow Illidari would allow them to cut their way through the bulk of their enemies, though she did notice that some of the demon hunters were staying behind, no doubt to make sure the camp was safe in case of a sneak attack from behind. Cyana and Kayn were the ones that decided to join her in battle, which Lyra was grateful for, while Allari and Mannethrel stayed back to help in the defense, meaning that Izal and Belath, the other demon hunters that she knew the names of, were somewhere in Inferno Peak.
As the three of them rode out of the Illidari Camp, where Cyana and Kayn were riding dark furred panthers, Lyra immediately felt someone spying on them, to which they all stopped for a brief moment and stared up at the Legion Ship, where Lyra was sure that the Brood Queen was staring down at them.
"I commend you on a good start," Tyranna shouted down at them, though from the distance Lyra could barely make out the spider demon's form, even with her enhanced Spectral Sight, "however, your forces are already wavering. I would look forward to us meeting, but none of you will survive Inferno Peak."
"Its YOU who won't survive, demon witch!" Cyana shouted in return, though at the same time Lyra knew that it wasn't wise to piss off the Brood Queen at the moment, especially since they couldn't reach her at the moment, but it was too late to stop Cyana from saying what was on her mind.
"How droll." Tyranna said, though her voice was still loud enough for the three of them to hear what she was saying, while at the same time Lyra didn't like what might be coming next, "Even from up here I can sense your uncertainty. Tell me dear, have you considered joining us?"
It was at that point that Lyra decided it was best that they not make the Brood Queen talk anymore, because she could see that Cyana was annoyed by the demon's words, but at the same time she sensed that her fellow demon hunter had considered the lure of the Legion's power... something that she knew that they couldn't afford to have at the moment.
"Cyana, don't listen to her words," Lyra commented, causing the night elf to turn towards her for a moment, as if her voice had snapped her out of her thoughts, "Remember, the Legion doesn't care for people like we do, as we are willing to sacrifice our lives, even our very souls, for the safety of the other worlds. Yes, taking the fel energy into our bodies makes the offer to join them more tempting, but to do so would twist us into the monsters that we have sworn to destroy. Turn your uncertainty into determination and turn it against the Legion... besides, there are demons to kill and a Keystone to take, once Tyranna has been dealt with."
"O... of course commander," Cyana said, bowing her head slightly, though Lyra assumed that she was also trying to hide her emotions over this, but that was followed by her lifting her head back up, "Let us begin our assault."
Lyra nodded and led them right into the nest of spider demons, where they each jumped off of their mounts and cut apart the first demon that crossed their paths, though at the same time Lyra kept her eyes peeled for anyone that might need saving from being overwhelmed. As Cyana and Kayn marched up the hill Lyra spotted one of the devastators in the area beneath them, to which she broke apart from them and cut down the spider demons that were guarding the cannon, though that was followed by a trio of Broken sneaking through the area and placing some bombs of some kind next to her target. Lyra then moved away from the devastator, along with the Broken, before the cannon was blown apart, to which she returned to the battle as her allies were heading towards the structure that was on their right.
Inside the structure they found a large spider demon, one that was different than the others Lyra had seen up until this point, that was in the middle of fighting Gaardoun, who seemed grateful for the aid. The three of them charged into battle and started hacking into the large demon, who declared that he was 'King' Voras, which meant that he was implying that he was Tyranna's mate. Voras spat acid at whoever he was targeting and tried to hatch eggs to call more spiders into battle, but Lyra noticed the second tactic immediately and broke the eggs before anymore spiders could join the battle... though that was eventually followed by Voras collapsing and Tyranna screaming in agony for a few seconds.
With Voras dead, and Gaardoun free to resume his duties, Lyra and her companions returned to the path they had been followed and made their way towards the next area of Inferno Peak... where Lyra immediately noticed a large Mo'arg demon that was fighting Malevolence. She and her companions cut their way through the demons that were in their way, while at the same time she spotted the devastator that was on her left, knowing that she'd be destroying it in a few minutes. When they approached the large demon, along with at least ten more members of the Illidari backing them, Malevolence told them that the demon was called Overseer Brutarg and that she had been occupying his attention until they had arrived.
Brutarg's tactics included quickly moving around the area and spinning around, to which Lyra and her forces stayed away from him for a few seconds, though when the spinning stopped they resumed their assault on the large demon... until he dropped dead and their forces separated once more.
With Brutarg dead Lyra moved over to the devastator and cut down the two demons that were standing guard, to which she allowed a pair of Shivarra to appear and destroy the cannon with their magic, though once the deed was done she followed the path in front of her. She stopped a minute later when she spotted Kor'vas standing near the entrance of a cave, which told her that this was where the Imp Mother was hiding, to which she and her companions climbed off their mounts and approached their friend.
"Commander Lyra, as you can determine I have found the demon I was searching for." Kor'vas stated, though Lyra had to resist the urge to sigh when she heard Kor'vas call her by the title that everyone else was calling her by, "Do you see the cave in front of us? This is where the Imp Mother we were told about is hiding, though the best part is that she is the keeper for some sort of book that contains fel secrets. We're going to need the power that she has been infusing into that book... which means that she needs to die as well."
"I figured as much," Lyra commented, to which she drew her warglaives and approached the cave entrance, though she was followed by Cyana, Kayn, and Kor'vas, "Let's do this."
Her fellow demon hunters cheered as they made their way into the cave, where they cut down the imps that were standing in their way before they came to the Imp Mother herself, to which Lyra had to resist the urge to throw up when she looked upon the ugly mug of their target. The demon they had been searching for was fatter than what she was expecting, though at the same time she apparently hadn't noticed that she had company, which worked in their favor as they approached where she was sitting. It wasn't until Lyra tossed her warglaive at the Imp Mother, using the ability she had learned a while ago, that the demon noticed that they were there, but she caught her weapon as they all zeroed in on the demon Kor'vas had been hunting for.
As they started fighting the Imp Mother, and avoided the poison attacks that were sent at them, Lyra learned that the Imp Mother was named Prolifica and that she demanded that they leave her alone so she could continue her work in peace... though her demands didn't last very long as the four of them struck her body and avoided her attacks. Prolifica would, occasionally, summon imps to interrupt them, but they didn't do much to stop Lyra or the others from continuing their attack. Eventually the Imp Mother collapsed on the ground, or rather she slumped over, though once the battle was over Lyra sheathed her warglaives and pried the tome from the demon's dead hands.
"I'm interested in seeing what secrets we can learn from that tome," Kor'vas said, though at the same time she and the others turned towards the entrance, where more demons poured into the tunnel, "and it seems like the Brood Queen wants it back before we can use it. Let's cut our way out of here and get back to camp."
Lyra couldn't agree more, to which she shoved the tome into the pack she had been carrying, which she had been ignoring the entire time since there was nothing she needed to collect in Mardum so far, before drawing her warglaives and following her companions outside the cave. It took them a few minutes to cut through the demons that wanted to keep them in the cave, but when they exited the cave they followed the path in front of them and continued towards the last of the cannons. Along the way they spotted a Pit Lord that had a group of naga pinned down, to which they made a brief detour and attacked the demon from behind, while at the same time learning that its name was Volroth.
Seeing how Volroth was being attacked from all sides, and could only face one direction and carried a weapon with a single point, it was rather easy for Lyra and her companions to cut him down and earn the thanks of the naga they had saved. Once that was done Lyra moved them towards the final of the three devastators and allowed her allies to rush forward and cut the demons down, to which some naga came into the area and froze the cannon solid, before one of them shattered both the ice and the cannon. With that deed done they made their way towards the pathway that the other Illidari were fighting near, which happened to be a way for them to circle back to the camp... though at the same time Lyra noticed that the Soul Engine had a powerful demon commanding it.
As she moved towards the final area of Inferno Peak, and the last of the generals, Lyra and her companions were joined by Lady S'theno, who told them that Count Nefarious, a Dreadlord, was guarding the Soul Engine... though that was when Allari chose to appear as they engaged the demon. Apparently the devices around the demon, which appeared to be soul wells, could be used to stun Count Nefarious, which Lyra used to their advantage and caused the downfall of the count. With the last of the generals dead, and the war pretty much over, Lyra and her companions returned to their camp, where she was prepared to tell them everything that had happened and get the final assault underway.
As they all returned to their camp Lyra could tell that everyone was feeling happy by their victories, though she also noticed that some of the Illidari were keeping watch and attacking groups of demons that were coming at them.
"The war of Inferno Peak is over and the devastators are destroyed," Kayn commented, to which he and the others climbed off of their mounts and returned to where they had been standing before they had departed earlier, "Now then, what can we all learn from that book?"
"The demons made a grave error inscribing their secrets into that book." Kor'vas said, pointing at the tome that Lyra was pulling out of her pack, though at the same time Lyra could feel the energy radiating from the tome, "The fel energy emanating from it is potent, but there's only enough to enact one of the rituals. After that, the book will be consumed. Commander Lyra... its up to you to choose which secrets we want to use against the Burning Legion."
Lyra was, once again, shocked that the more experienced members of the Illidari were asking her to choose something for them, but at this point she was tired of questioning what was going on. She sighed as she opened the tome and used her Spectral Sight to gaze upon the two rituals that were available, where she discovered that the first one was a more slender demon that had wings and a darkened skin color, while at the same time the tattoos were glowing more than what she had at the moment. The second form was a more demonic one, as the form had spikes growing out of its back and arms, though at the same time it looked more like a brute of some kind that had glowing green eyes, no doubt caused by the fel energy.
In the end Lyra turned her gaze towards the first demon form, the one that her mind labeled as 'Havoc', and allowed the knowledge on how to use the form to flow through the tome and course through her body, to which she grunted for a few seconds before the knowledge was hers to use as she desired... and then the tome burst into flames before turning into a pile of ash.
"The deed... the deed is done," Lyra said, though it took her a moment to say what she meant, as she was still winded from having the knowledge pour into her body like that, but at the same time she looked up at Kayn and the others, "I know how to use one of the rituals."
"Good, then you must teach us what you know." Kayn replied, though he made it sound like it was an easy task for her to simply explain what she had learned, which was what he and the others had done when they were teaching her how to be a demon hunter, "Share with us the knowledge, and the power, that you have learned."
Lyra had to wonder how she could teach this new technique to the other members of the Illidari, or more specifically the teachers that had taught her everything she had known before they had come to Mardum. As she thought about it, however, she remembered how she had learned the knowledge and wondered if she merely needed to touch her former teachers and show them what she had seen. Kayn looked at her for a few seconds, as if he was willing to be the first person she taught the new ability to, though that was before Lyra let out a sigh and rested a hand on his shoulder, where she focused on the form and power she had learned. When she had the image of what she had learned in her mind she 'pushed' it towards Kayn, hoping that she could at least show him what she discovered... though that was before Kayn let out a small gasp.
"I... I can feel the knowledge coursing through my veins," Kayn said, stepping back and staring at his hands, as if he expected something to happen to them, before he turned to Lyra, "This is why the Burning Legion fears us, because we can turn their secrets and power against them... becoming even stronger than they could possibly be. Now then, you should teach the others as well."
Lyra nodded and turned to Allari for a moment, where she repeated the process she had used on Kayn, to which she discovered that Allari enjoyed the feeling of being even deadlier than she had previously been. When she gave the knowledge of the Havoc form to Cyana, however, Lyra discovered that the night elf desired more power, which worried her that she might be thinking about what Tyranna had said when they started the war. Lyra then turned to Kor'vas, who was patiently waiting her turn to understand the power that Lyra had discovered, though once the knowledge had been handed off Lyra discovered that Kor'vas thought that she could destroy the Legion on her own... or maybe a smaller army, like the one they had taken out a few minutes ago.
When Lyra handed the information over to Mannethrel, however, she and the others discovered that their comrade was unable to contain the increase of power... to which he threw himself off the edge of the camp and headed towards the Twisting Nether, where he exploded into a burst of fel energy a few seconds later.
"Maybe we should hold off on teaching everyone else the knowledge you acquired," Kayn stated, to which Kor'vas and the other captains, including Lyra, nodded to his words, though that was before he beckoned to the ship that was resting in the area in front of them, "Now that we have crippled the Brood Queen's Court, and have stopped her attempts to destroy us, its time that we head to the command center and end Tyranna's life... and then we can finally rejoin Lord Illidan and defend the Black Temple."
Lyra had been expecting them to rest for a few minutes, as they had been fighting nonstop since they got to Mardum, but apparently the time she had spent teaching the others was all of the rest that she was going to get at the moment, to which she nodded and followed after the others. They approached the area that Izal was standing in, where Lyra discovered that the night elf had apparently captured some sort of bat like creature, though there was enough of the bats for her and the others to fly up to the ship. Izal was more than happy to give them passage up to the ship, where she promised Lyra that she would have all of the demon hunters up there before she started to attack Tyranna.
Lyra nodded and climbed onto the fel bat that had been prepared for her, to which she got underway as the bat followed the path that Izal had taught it, though a few seconds later she noticed that Kayn and the others were following her lead once more. It took a minute or two for them to reach the ledge that would allow them to directly attack Tyranna, who was standing in the middle of the area in front of them without any reinforcements, but instead of charging in immediately Lyra had them wait until the rest of their brothers and sisters joined them. They waited for a few minutes, to which more and more of their comrades showed up, before Izal herself showed up and said that every demon hunter that had made it to this point was accounted for.
With everyone ready for the final battle Lyra pulled out her warglaives, which signaled for everyone to follow her lead, before they all walked into the chamber in front of them... where the Brood Queen turned and glared at all of them.
"Demon hunters, you should have taken my offer to join my master's Legion," Tyranna said, though at the same time she walked to her right for a few steps, before she turned and faced the assembled group, "but now that offer is no longer on the table, as none of you will leave Mardum alive."
"Funny, I'm sure the same could be said to you," Cyana replied, though as she spoke she turned her head to Lyra, as if she was waiting for something, "Shall we commander?"
"Yes," Lyra said, to which she turned to the rest of the demon hunters and raised one of her warglaives into the air, before she pointed it right at Tyranna, "ATTACK!"
The moment the word left her mouth Lyra charged at the ledge in front of her and jumped off of it, while at the same time allowing her knowledge of the Havoc Form to surge through her body, transforming her into a more demonic version of herself. The transformation literally took between five to ten seconds, as the moment she had shifted into her new form she slammed down on the floor in front of Tyranna, where she immediately swung her warglaives at the Queen of Mardum. She was quickly joined by Kayn and the others, those she had taught the form to, while the rest of the demon hunters charged in behind them.
During the battle Tyranna actually attempted to mind control one of them, as she targeted Kayn almost immediately, but Kayn was much smarter than the demon and actually moved out of her range to avoid being taken control of. After her first failed attempt to take control of someone Tyranna slipped into the shadows and summoned spider demons from every angle that was around Lyra and her comrades, to which they changed their targets and started cutting down the new arrivals. It took a minute to clear out the spider demons, though once they were all gone Tyranna emerged from the shadows she had slipped into and attacked them once more, where her claws were met with Lyra's warglaives and the battle between the two of them resumed.
Tyranna slipped into the shadows once more and repeated the process with the spider demons, though once they were all cut down once more Lyra focused her sight and spotted their target trying to flee... to which she impaled the Brood Queen on both of her warglaives, much to Tyranna's surprise.
"L... Lord Sargeras... " Tyranna started to say, as if she was going to scream to the heavens about her failure to do her master's job, but before she could say anymore the life left her body as she crumbled on the ground in front of Lyra.
Lyra, on the other hand, sheathed her warglaives as she and the others broke free of their Havoc Forms, which meant that they had a limited time to use the new demonic form they had all acquired, but at the same time she reached down towards Tyranna's corpse. She had, for a brief moment during the fight, spotted the Sargerite Keystone on Tyranna's body, though now that the Brood Queen was dead it was time for her to claim the prize that Lord Illidan had sent them to acquire. She carefully pried the Keystone from the Brood Queen's body and held it up for the Illidari to see, to which she heard them cheer as they gazed upon the fel touched titan artifact.
"There's a room beneath us that we can use to open a portal back to the Black Temple," Kayn said, though at the same time the rest of the Illidari started to move down the ramps on the sides of the chamber, "Come on, let's go report our success to our Lord and stop the invading forces."
Lyra smiled as she followed Kayn and the others down the ramp they had chosen, to which they walked around to the lower level of the ship and entered the room that they had chosen to open a portal in. There were two spikes of fel origin sitting in front of the Illidari, though as she approached them she held up the Keystone and, by taking a guess at how to use the artifact, envisioned the summit of the Black Temple in her mind. A few seconds later a portal snapped to life between the two spikes, to which the Illidari cheered once more as they realized that Lyra had opened the way home. Lyra, on the other hand, was impressed that she had gotten the method to use the artifact so easily, which made her wonder if Lord Illidan had seen some sort of potential inside her and had been training her for something special... though that was before she shook her head.
She knew that she was only a temporary leader for the Illidari, for the assault on Mardum by the sounds of it, but she knew that she was going to be happy when she handed the leadership back over to Lord Illidan... to which she stepped into the portal and headed back to the summit of the Black Temple.
Lyra expected that when she and the others returned to the Black Temple, with news of their victory and the Sargerite Keystone in hand, they would arrive in time to help Lord Illidan fight off the invading forces, if the invaders managed to make it to the summit. She expected them to have a second exciting fight with the people that had slipped into the temple and likely watch as the Illidari succeeded in turning the tide against their opponents, who wouldn't be expecting their return. Even as she traveled through the portal between Mardum and the Black Temple she felt sorry for those that had died on Mardum, though their sacrifices were well worth it, as they had what they had been sent to acquire and were returning as their master instructed.
What Lyra couldn't expect, and even refused to think about even happening, was what rested in front of her eyes as she, Kor'vas, and Kayn were the first ones to come out of the portal and step back onto the summit of the Black Temple; as her eyes immediately landed on the glowing green crystal that was resting where Lord Illidan once stood. She refused to believe what she was seeing, but unfortunately she had to admit that the invading forces had actually done what she had originally deemed to be impossible. Lord Illidan, one of the strongest beings in the entirety of the Outlands, had been defeated by the greatest champions that Shattrath City and Azeroth could muster... though at the same time she glared at the group of armored soldiers standing around the crystal.
From what Lyra could tell the Wardens, the mysterious organization she had heard Lord Illidan mention in passing, had come to collect the corpse of their master... which meant that the other pony that had come to Azeroth had already departed from the Black Temple. At the same time, however, she could feel her rage building, because the only person that knew enough to send her back home, when she and the others managed to save Azeroth, was dead and there was nothing she could do to save him. It also meant that she and the other pony were trapped on this side of the universe, because the Keystone could only access Legion worlds... unless they could find someone who was skilled with portal magic, but she deemed that to be an impossible dream at this point.
As she finally returned to the reality that was her life, where Lord Illidan was dead, she heard several of the Illidari gasp as they realized that their master had been defeated in battle... to which she gripped her warglaives tighter than she had ever done in the past.
"No..." Kayn said, despair creeping into his voice as the rest of Illidari arrived behind them, allowing them to see the fate that had befallen their master while they were gone, "Lord Illidan... Lord Illidan has fallen?!"
Lyra could hear the disbelief in Kayn's voice, because they knew that their master had been a strong fighter by just his aura alone, which made her wonder if the one Warden, the one with the single spikes on each of her shoulder pieces, was the one that had helped the invaders out, because she could feel a powerful aura coming from the mystery Warden.
"Illidari!" Kor'vas called out, announcing their presence to the entirety of the Wardens that were standing in front of them, ruining their only chance at escape and forcing them to fight if they wanted to survive, "Avenge the master!"
"No." Lyra said, causing both Kayn and Kor'vas to turn to her, where they looked at her as if she had grown a second head or something, "We should retreat to Mardum, come up with an actual plan that doesn't involve all of us dying at the hands of the Warden... or the hands of the one that killed Lord Illidan. We've already lost Sevis, Mannethrel, and a large number of the Illidari in our assault on Mardum, be they our own brothers and sisters, the Broken, the Shivarra, or even the naga. We cannot afford any additional losses at the moment, not when we have the Keystone in our possession."
"So, the servants of the Betrayer have shown themselves at last," one of the Wardens said, though Lyra immediately detected that it was the one with the weird shoulder pads, as the other members of the secretive order nodded to her when she spoke, "Demon Hunters, surrender now and place yourselves into the custody of the Wardens. You cannot win in a fight against all of us, no matter what powers you might have learned from your demonic master... or from his own masters in the Burning Legion."
"Okay, that's where you would be wrong!" Lyra shouted back in return, to which she glared daggers at the head Warden, silently wishing that one of the lower Wardens would step towards her and the Illidari, because she was getting more pissed off than she had ever been in her home world, "Lord Illidan trained us so we could oppose and eventually destroy the Burning Legion, including their masters Archimonde, Kil'Jaeden, and Sargeras. So what if we take a little bit of the fel energy into our bodies? It allows us to hunt down our demonic enemies better than anyone else and put them down before they can do anything to someone else."
"You admit to being corrupted by the fel energy," the head Warden said, once again drawing agreement from the Wardens that were standing around her, "Surrender now and none of you will be killed, but continue to ignore my demands and I can promise you that some of you will be wounded before the day is done... possibly even dead."
Lyra growled as she looked at the two Wardens that were standing around the leader, as the two of them appeared to be ready for a fight, but as she looked at them she knew that if they took a step towards her, her brothers and her sisters she could always rush towards one of them and knock them to the ground before doing the same to the second. Then, as if some unknown deity was smiling upon her, the two Wardens she had been staring at stepped forward and drew their circular weapons, indicating that they were willing to fight as their leader suggested. It appeared that the decision was being made for them, so Lyra let out a sigh and stared at them, as she knew that it was time to stop talking and take some action... and get away from the summit before the Wardens captured her, her brothers, and her sisters.
A few seconds later, once the two Wardens were within range, Lyra dashed at the one on the left and slammed into her target, knocking the unfortunate Warden to the floor, before turning and doing the same thing to the second one... though once they were both down, and were knocked out, she faced their leader and glared at her.
"I'll say this once," Lyra said, to which she pointed one of her warglaives at the lead Warden for a moment, while she silently hoped that the person was going to be smart and leave them alone, "My brothers, my sisters, and myself are not servants of the Burning Legion. We exist as weapons to bring about their demise, so that none of the other worlds, across the vastness of the universe, have to suffer like the Outlands have. Leave Lord Illidan's body where it is and get out of our home... before someone forces you out."
"You bare the mark of HIS corruption," the head Warden said, to which she extended a hand and used some sort of blue magic on Lyra, to which she found herself held in place as the Warden's weapon glowed, though that was followed by the Warden swinging her arm to her side and Lyra's warglaives went flying across the summit, "And so the demon's blood within you will be your PRISON!"
The moment the last word left the Warden's mouth Lyra could feel the area around her becoming solid, to which she watched as her hands were encased in a green fel crystal structure, indicating that this had to be how the Warden's had sealed Lord Illidan in the crystal that was floating near her. She then watched as the crystal started forming around her hooves and her legs, to which she watched as the crystalline prison crept up her body and eventually locked her arms in place as well. Lyra struggled against the magic that was holding her, but as she tried to free herself she noticed that the crystal was creeping up to her head... until she was trapped inside the prison that the Warden had designed for her, Lord Illidan, and the rest of the Illidari.
"It... it cannot be." Kayn commented, his eyes wide as he realized what was happening, because Lord Illidan had been the strongest out of all of them and, according to their master, Lyra had the potential to overcome all of them, yet both of them had been beaten by the Wardens.
"This is your fate," the head Warden said, to which she beckoned to the other Wardens that were standing around her, who started moving towards the rest of the Illidari, "Soon all of you shall share the same fate as your master... so its in your best interest to stand still and accept your fate."
Kayn was thinking of allowing the Wardens to win this time, because Lyra was the one who had been carrying the Keystone and she was the only one that could use it at the moment, so if she was imprisoned in the special prison the Wardens had created for them then it would be impossible to leave without suffering casualties. Before he could shout out the command to surrender, and earn the wrath of the other Illidari, he noticed that several cracks were already appearing in the crystal that Lyra had been trapped in. He wondered if something was going to happen soon, something that would make them all believe in the fact that Lord Illidan had been right about Lyra... though that was quickly followed by the crystalline prison shattering into a large amount of fragments.
What emerged from the prison was Lyra, though instead of being in her normal demon hunter form, as she had been when she was sealed inside the crystal, she had transformed into her Havoc form, which meant that she had used the power of her transformation to shatter the crystal around her.
"I see the spell wasn't enough to contain you, but I shall not make that mistake a second time," the head Warden said, though at the same time she moved away from Illidan's crystal, as she didn't want it to be damaged during the fight that was coming her way.
Before her target could get very far Lyra rushed over to where the Warden was standing and swung her sharpened claws at her, though that was followed by the Warden rolling to the side as she avoided the attack. Lyra growled and followed after the Warden, as she leapt into the air and slammed her hooves on the floor, nearly hitting the Warden that was moving away from her. It was then that Lyra used the Eye Beam technique she had learned in Mardum, though once again the Warden dodged her attack and continued moving around the summit, as if she was waiting for Lyra to change back into her normal form... so she could imprison her in the crystal again.
Even in her rage, which would normally blind anyone else to what else was around them, she could hear the rest of the Illidari cheering her on while the Wardens said words of encouragement to a 'Lady Maiev', which she assumed was the name of the Warden she was trying to hit.
After another minute of dodging attacks Maiev decided that she had seen enough of Lyra's movements, as she went on the offensive and cut into Lyra's arms and legs. Every time Lyra tried to hit Maiev, and turn the tide of the battle, her target would dodge the attack and damage her in return, which lowered her speed with every wound that was inflicted on her. That was until Maiev appeared in front of her and tapped her chest, to which the blood on her chest hardened into the fel crystal that had been covering her earlier... which meant that she wasn't giving up on trying to imprison her and the rest of the illidari.
"The blood of your empowered form will serve as a much stronger prison," Maiev commented, though at the same time Lyra watched as the crystal rapidly spread around her body and was trapping her inside her new prison, without giving her much time to react or defend herself, "Go ahead and sleep, demon hunter, because that is what you will be doing for the rest of eternity."
Lyra could feel her rage suddenly burning out on her, to which she succumbed to the prison that was apparently leeching at her energy at the moment... and left the rest of the Illidari to their fate.
Maiev let out a sigh as the rest of her forces sealed the Illidari inside their prisons, though as they did so she stared at the crystal that she had placed beside the Betrayer's own prison. She had asked one of the demon hunters, the one named Kayn Sunfury, about the powerful demon hunter that had broken out of her first prison and charged at her, to which she discovered that Lyra Heartstrings was supposed to be from a world that was vastly different from Azeroth and the Outlands. From what she could determine the Betrayer had been training Lyra to be his replacement in the event that something happened to him, as her power seemed to be on a different level than the other Illidari, but her power was unrefined at the moment... and, truth be told, Maiev was glad that Lyra hadn't had more training that what she had been given so far.
The only reason that she even believed the story about another world, one more peaceful than the two worlds she knew about, was because Maiev knew someone that had told her the same story... as this person claimed to be a unicorn from the same world that Kayn had told her about, though at the same time this person had a unicorn horn that she preferred to hide under her hat.
"Lady Maiev," one of the other Wardens commented, breaking Maiev out of her thoughts and causing her to turn towards her, "Archmage Khadgar and his apprentice, one Trixie Lulamoon, have arrived and are waiting on the staircase behind us. Shall I bring them up, or is there something more that needs to be done before we meet with them?"
"Bring them to the summit," Maiev stated, to which she turned away from the Betrayer's crystal, because now wasn't the time for her to be focusing on the fact that she had finally ended the longest hunt she had ever been on.
The Warden nodded and moved towards the stairs that she and the other Wardens had used once the Betrayer had been dealt with, leaving Maiev alone near the two crystals. A few seconds later she watched as the Warden returned to where she was standing, though walking behind her were two humans; one older male and one younger female. The man was dressed in a unique robe that he had designed for himself, though in one of his hands he carried a powerful staff that radiated arcane energy that other mages could detect a hint of. From what Maiev could tell Archmage Khadgar had been cursed by his master, as it appeared that he was a young man in an older man's body, but she couldn't complain about the knowledge that the Archmage gave her and the other Wardens.
Trixie Lulamoon, on the other hand, was wearing a purple colored robe, which had bits of blue and brown mixed into the design, one that might have been reclaimed from the Tempest Keep, where Kael'thas was cut down. She was wearing a pair of gloves that mimicked the color of her robes, but where one would expect a pair of feet with some boots covering them, however, Trixie had a pair of hooves. Her hair, on both her hair and her pony tail, was mainly a pale blue color, though there were some cerulean stripes running through both of them. At the same time she wore a mage's hat on the top of her head, though beneath it rested her unicorn's horn, which she had been hiding, as she feared that people might not have trusted her... as people in the Outlands were paranoid of demons and might have targeted her if they had known the truth about her.
Maiev studied Trixie for a few more seconds, allowing her and her teacher to approach the crystals, because it appeared that Lyra and Trixie appeared to be from the same area, as they looked almost the exact same... save for the fel energy that was surging through Lyra's body.
"Archmage Khadgar, thank you for coming so quickly," Maiev said, as she wanted to get the crystals to the Vault as quickly as possible, as she would rather keep the Illidari contained before one of them broke out again, because if one could than she was sure that another could replicate it, "I see that you brought your apprentice with you."
"Yes. Trixie Lulamoon is an exceptional mage that learns with experience," Archmage Khadgar replied, to which Trixie blushed and rubbed the back of her head, as if she wasn't used to such praise, "Trixie has also told me that another member of her race appeared somewhere on Azeroth, or the Outlands for that matter, and that she wanted to be sure that she was safe. When we entered the Black Temple she felt the power of the other pony lingering in the air, so she has been keeping an eye out for her while we made our way here."
"Lady Maiev," Trixie spoke up, causing the Warden to turn towards her for a few seconds, "Have you seen anyone like me hanging around the Black Temple? Anyone with hooves, a unicorn's horn, any wings growing out of their backs, or tails like my own?"
Maiev stared at Trixie for a few seconds, as she was silently thankful that her helmet prevented anyone from seeing her face and her emotions, before shaking her head. She quickly came to the conclusion that if Trixie believed that the other member of her race, which had to be Lyra Heartstrings, was somewhere in Azeroth, then she might put her full effort into saving the world. She knew that it was wrong to lie to the young girl, as she had done nothing to deserve the lie in the first place, but it was a necessary evil at the moment, as if she revealed the truth to Trixie than she was sure that the girl would demand the release of Lyra... and, truth be told, Maiev still didn't trust Lyra, especially after being attacked by the demon hunter while she was in her empowered form.
"No. I'm sure that whatever you are feeling is the lingering traces of her energy," Maiev commented, taking a note of Trixie's disappointment, before she faced both of the mages, "The Betrayer must have sent her somewhere else, to prevent her from falling during the assault of the Black Temple, but there are no clues as to where she might have gone."
"We will take a look around the Black Temple, once we are done with our task," Khadgar stated, to which he approached the crystals that were floating all around the summit, knowing that the Illidari were trapped inside them, "Trixie, I will begin the spell to open a portal to the Vault, but I will need you to lend me your aid to keep it open long enough for Maiev and her Wardens to transport the crystals to their destination."
Trixie nodded and let out a sigh as she approached the central crystal, the one that had to belong to Illidan Stormrage, the man known as the Betrayer, though at the same time she noticed that there was a second one resting near it. She had to wonder what was so special about the second one, as all of the other crystals were resting around the center of the summit, but she knew that it wasn't her place to question it. All she could assume was that whoever was inside the crystal had deserved their fate, so she merely took her place and prepared herself for when her mentor started channeling the spell that they were working.
As she and her mentor opened the portal to the Vault of the Wardens, however, Trixie focused on where her fellow Equestrian could have gone, because it appeared that she might not be prepared for anything... though she hoped that she would have some time for that in the future. One thing was certain, she was going to have wait and see what the future held for her... and the Equestrian that was missing in action.
Trixie and her mentor Khadgar, after aiding the Wardens in transporting the crystal prisons of the Illidari and their master, Illidan Stormrage, to the Vault of the Wardens, spent a few good days studying the various halls of the Black Temple and the people who had lived there. From what Trixie could tell the various halls seemed to be separated for the various races that lived in the Black Temple, as the naga seemed to live in what could be the sewer area of the temple, the orcs lived in their camps at the front of the temple, the Shivarra seemed to live in an area before where the Illidari High Council rested, and the demon hunters themselves lived in bedrooms that took some time to find because of how well hidden they had been. Trixie had received some praise from her mentor when she shattered the protective spell that had been protecting the hidden hallways that led them to the bedrooms, but she merely blushed and continued searching for answers.
At the end of the week of searching she had discovered a room where the other pony had definitely been residing in during their time in the Black Temple, but from everything she could tell there was nothing to tell her or Khadgar the fate of the pony that Trixie was looking for. That meant that she couldn't tell if the pony had been sent out of the Black Temple before the forces of Shattrath City attacked the temple, had been let go the moment their wounds had been healed, or had been inducted into the Illidari and was stuck on whatever world the demon hunters had been attacking before their eventual return... which had been an hour or two after she and the adventurers she had joined up with, when they originally entered the Outlands, defeated of Illidan Stormrage.
Trixie had landed in Northshire, after the strange magical event that had snatched her from Equus and sent her flying through the universe until she reached Azeroth, and had immediately been found by one of the trainers that lived in that area of Elwynn Forest. From there she joined up with some of the warriors, priests, mages, rogues, warlocks, and paladins that had been graduating and were leaving on their mentor's orders, where they created some sort of adventuring band. She still couldn't believe that they had allowed her, who was essentially a nobody to them and didn't know a lot about her powers, to join their company, explore the Eastern Kingdoms and right the wrongs that were made known to them, and learned about her abilities as a mage. Their group eventually encountered dwarves, gnomes, and night elves, adding hunters, druids, and other members of the same classes they already had to their growing band... until she was sure that there were about thirty of them.
She remembered facing a large number of foes during the months of traveling they had gone on, where she and her friends eventually took out Ragnaros, the massive elemental that was apparently the 'Firelord', and a group of powerful dragons that could apparently change into human form and were manipulating the leaders of Stormwind. Sure, they had their fair share of run ins with the forces of the Horde, the second faction that lived on Azeroth, but they had always escaped each battle without losing anyone. The main forces of the Alliance, the faction that she and her friends belonged to, were the ones engaged in constant battle with the Horde, allowing her band of adventurers to help the people and, eventually, take out some impressive targets.
Her simple life changed a second time when a large ship called the Exodar crash landed on a pair of islands near Teldrassil, where the night elves were making their current home, and introduced the Draenei to the Alliance, giving both the main army and her band some shamans, who called on the very elements for their powers. Of course when the Draenei revealed themselves a second race showed up out of nowhere, as the blood elves joined the Horde and gave them quite the increase in mages, warriors, and paladins. What really changed during that time period was the reopening of the Dark Portal, the massive gateway that connected Azeroth to the Outlands... a portal that everyone had considered to be closed without the possibility of ever reopening.
The Alliance, concerned about demons flooding their world and burning it to the ground, organized an expedition be sent through the Dark Portal and see what was on the other side, which was why they eventually created Honor Hold and kept a garrison there at all times. She and her band of adventurers had been asked by the leaders of the Alliance, which included the old leaders and the newest addition, to aid their forces in the Outlands, which was why she and her friends passed through the Dark Portal and came here. Trixie had admitted it to the others, after the second day of being in the Outlands, that she could tell that there was another member of her race living in the Outlands... which was why she and her friends eventually came to Shattrath city in the first place.
It was there that they met with Archmage Khadgar, who the Alliance had long considered to be lost since he had been on the Outland side of the Dark Portal when it had been closed all those years ago, but oddly enough the famous Archmage had seen some latent talent inside Trixie and offered to take her on as her apprentice. Her friends were ecstatic when they heard the news, because it meant that she would actually be learning more than the other mages in their group, but she was more than willing to give them some pointers as well. Khadgar had traveled with them when they went to Serpentine Cavern and Tempest Keep, as he had some tips for them to think about before they assaulted the forces that were allied with the Illidari.
Eventually they attacked the Black Temple and took out each and every foe that stood in their way, but at the same time Illidan Stormrage managed to take out a few of their friends, who were being transported back to their homelands so they could receive a proper burial.
"Trixie," a voice said, which cut right through Trixie's thoughts, to which she discovered that her mentor was looking at her with some concern in his eyes, "are you alright?"
"Yeah, sorry for spacing out," Trixie replied, offering her mentor a smile as she rubbed the back of her head, because ever since she discovered that the other pony had been at the Black Temple she was concerned that she might have missed something about where they could have gone, "I was just remembering when I landed in Azeroth, in Elwynn Forest no less, and recalled everything I have seen so far, which made me concerned for whoever came to the Outlands."
"I'm still surprised that you can tell that another member of your race was here to begin with," Khadgar commented, though at the same time he stopped looking through the bedroom they were in and turned towards his apprentice, "This room seems to belong to someone that's only been here for a few months, though there's nothing personal on any of the pieces of furniture. All of the other rooms have something that describes or talks about the person that inhabited the room before their master sent them on their mission, yet this is the only room that doesn't fit the norm. Did Illidan not care about this one particular person all that much, or was she here for such a short amount of time that she didn't have the chance to put anything personal on display?"
Trixie had to admit that the question was curious and worth investigating, though the only unfortunate part was that they couldn't ask any of the Illidari about who used to live in this room. Most of the Illidari were dead, as they had died in the assault of the Black Temple, while some were apparently trapped on the demon world that they had been sent to, if they were to believe Lady Maiev's explanation, and the rest of them were locked away in the Vault of the Wardens, where Trixie knew they would rest forever. The only person that could potentially know who had called this bedroom home, and could describe who that person was, was the leader of the Broken, Akama, but the chances of getting that information out of him was slim to none.
Akama appeared to be the type that didn't trust outsiders, even after she and her friends had saved the Ashtongue Broken and enlisted their help in smashing through the barriers that prevented them from progressing through the Black Temple... but she had the feeling that Akama would ignore her if she came asking for information. Trixie let out a sigh as she looked at the closet, where she found what appeared to be a burned and hole riddled robe, which looked like an infernal had hit whoever was wearing it, and a second mage robe that could have belonged to a high ranking member of Kael'thas' court or a strong night elf mage. It made Trixie wonder who had worn the two robes, because there were no weapons or mage items in the closet, which meant that a novice had to have been living in this room... and yet that made the entire mystery all the more confusing.
"I'm sure that Illidan Stormrage cared about his forces," Trixie replied, knowing that her mentor expected an answer to his question, but he always gave her some time to form her own thoughts before expecting her to reply, "however, whoever lived in this one bedroom had to be a last minute recruit of sorts, before the big invasion of whatever demon world he had sent the demon hunters to attack. Whoever owned this bedroom barely had any time to settle in, as there's barely anything inside the closet, the bed shows a few minor signs of someone sleeping in it, and the weapon stand, where the demon hunters keep their warglaives when they aren't in use, barely looks used. I would wager that whoever lived in this room was here for at least six months... maybe eight at the max, before they were sent away."
"I would have to agree with your assessment," Khadgar commented, taking a look at the damaged robe that Trixie had been looking at a few moments ago, which spoke volumes about the person they were studying, "It appears that the person that slept in this room wasn't much of a fighter when she arrived in the Outlands, though the only reason I am saying that this room belongs to a female is because of the clothing. Look at both of the robes, they've both been tailored to fit the frame of a young night elf or blood elf, which means that the lady we are looking for is a mage... not one of the demon hunters that Lady Maiev and her Wardens sealed away."
"Which must mean that Illidan set whoever lived in this room away before our forces attacked the Black Temple," Trixie stated, to which she let out a sigh as she crossed her arms for a few seconds, "well, its going to take some time and effort to track down where our mysterious night elf or blood elf went... and there's no telling whether she's still in the Outlands or if she's gone to Azeroth."
"Don't worry about how long it will take to find the other pony from your home world," Khadgar said, to which he placed a hand on her shoulder and caused her to turn and face him, "you, and you alone, have the power to track the exact magical signature of whoever arrived in the Outlands, which means that you'll find her in no time. All you have to do is believe in yourself and soon you will be reunited with your long lost friend."
Trixie looked at her mentor for a moment, as she was stunned that he believed in her as much as he did, before she nodded her head and smiled at him, because he was the first person in a long time that actually believed in her ability and was willing to put forth the effort to train her... especially when she messed up a spell. She also knew that her mentor was right, she had the ability to follow the magical signature of whoever had come to this side of the universe, which meant that she could find them quicker than anyone else... to which she hoped that she and her fellow Equestrian were reunited swiftly, instead of having to wait years before seeing each other again.
Trixie walked through the streets of Dalaran and nodded to whoever waved to her as she walked by them, but she made no attempt to talk to anyone at the moment, as there was too much on her mind for her to enjoy a civilized conversation with the citizens of the city she was walking through. Too much had happened since she and her band of friends, later becoming a guild of adventurers called the 'Celestial Dragons', had helped the forces of Shattrath City and Azeroth in taking out Illidan Stormrage, the Lord of the Outlands. It had been seven years since she and her guild had taken out the Betrayer, where the Wardens sealed his body in their Vault, along with the demon hunters that had been sent to a Legion world... and the world of Azeroth had changed many times during those seven years.
With the Outlands 'saved' from Illidan, his Illidari, and their demonic allies, Trixie and her guild returned to Azeroth and eventually buried those that had fallen in the battle with the Betrayer, before they moved on to find the next threat that would ruin the peace they had helped create. All that changed when the Lich King, a horrible creature that used to be a man named Arthas Menethil, launched his sinister campaign to turn the world of the living into a world for the Scourge, a horrible army of the undead, to rule over. Trixie had her fair share of fighting the normal undead creatures, as she and her guild had fought against them several times in the past, but the Scourge was another matter altogether... as they literally stole the dead from their tombs and raised old heroes to fight for the Lich King.
Some of the Lich King's favored soldiers, the Death Knights that had been raised for the sole purpose of killing one of the greatest paladins in the known world, Tirion Fordring, had regained control over themselves and severed their connection with their horrible master. When the group of death knights separated into two groups, one containing Alliance heroes and the second containing heroes of the Horde, that was when Trixie and her guild realized that their dead friends had been brought back as well. She remembered meeting them again, after their audience with the king of Stormwind, and they all confessed that they wish Tirion had ended their suffering instead of letting them life in this new life that they were given... though they all promised to bring an end to the Lich King and his army.
From that point onward her restored guild rode to Northrend, the icy landmass that was occasionally called the crown of the world, where they launched their counterattack against the forces of the Scourge. Trixie recalled all the fights that she and her friends had gotten into, going from the Borean Tundra and stopping at the area known as Icecrown, where they turned the tide against the seemingly unstoppable forces of the Scourge. In the zone known as Dragonblight she discovered a majestic tower that was called Wyrmrest Temple, where the current heads of the five dragon flights gathered and made decisions. Soon after that Trixie discovered that her mentor had, somehow, convinced the other members of the Council of Six, the six most powerful mages that controlled Dalaran, to teleport the magical floating city from its place in the Eastern Kingdoms and bring it to Northrend.
Trixie was, of course, excited to rejoin her mentor and continue her studies, though before they could get too far she and her guild had to help the dragon flights in their war against Malygos, who was the head of the Blue Dragonflight and was convinced that the people of Azeroth were misusing magic and didn't deserve it. That sparked what they all called the Nexus War, where they had to stop some of the evil blue dragons from releasing the prisoners held in Dalaran and disrupt their operations all over Dragonblight... before eventually delving into the Eye of Eternity and putting a stop to Malygos. With the Eye restored they returned their attention to the Scourge, though while the Argent Crusade started building a fortress in Icecrown she and her guild ventured into Ulduar, an ancient Titan fortress that had been built in the area called Storm Peaks.
Trixie shivered as she remembered their epic encounter with the second of the Old Gods, the creature that was called Yogg-Saron, because he was known to drive people insane and he could have killed all of them, but she and her friends were lucky to have gotten the assistance of the Watchers that were assigned to keep the Old God in his prison. That made her remember her first encounter with the first Old God, the creature called C'Thun that was imprisoned inside the area called Ahn'Qiraj, but from what she could tell the creatures that were called Old Gods didn't die... rather their body died and their spirit would linger in some unknown state before returning in an unknown number of years. Azeroth was safe from two of them at the moment, but from all the glass panels Trixie had seen in Ulduar she knew that there had to be two more Old Gods hidden somewhere across Azeroth.
From that point she and her guild waged war against the forces of the Scourge as they made their way across Icecrown, where they eventually broke down all of the gates that had been placed in their way and stopped in front of the main door of Icecrown Citadel, where the Iich King was waiting for them. Trixie remembered the epic battles she and her friends had gone through to reach the peak of the Citadel, where they killed undead creatures of every variety, be they plague inducing monsters, vampiric creatures, and a massive undead dragon... before they eventually reach their foe and engaged him in battle. Trixie smiled as she recalled the shattering of Frostmourne, the sinister weapon of the Lich King, which allowed the souls inside it to be released and allowed Arthas to regain his sanity for a few seconds... allowing him to speak with the soul of his father for a moment before he finally died.
From there she was determined to resume her search for her fellow Equestrian, to which she searched Northrend for a week or two in vain, before she returned to Dalaran and picked up her studies, where she promised her friends that she would return to them if they needed her help in the future. That was swiftly followed by the massive black dragon known as Deathwing tearing his way out of where he had been hiding since his defeat and loosed a cataclysm that literally reshaped a good portion of the world... though one of the first things that happened was she and her friends welcomed some Worgens, men who were cursed with the form of a wolf that could walk on two legs, into their ranks.
Some of their guild went to Mount Hyjal, where they had to stop the forces of the Firelord and the Twilight's Hammer from burning down the World Tree called Nordrassil, which would actually aid in the destruction of the entire world if the massive tree was destroyed. The others went to the remaining zones that were revealed by the Cataclysm; the underwater area known as Vashj'ir, the desert area called Uldum, the Twilight Highlands that rested in the Eastern Kingdoms, and the elemental plane that was called Deepholm.
One of the first major things they did was venture into the Throne of the Tides, located in Vashj'ir, where they assisted Neptulon the Tidehunter, who was essentially the water version of Ragnaros, in defending his throne from the naga that were attacking him. After that their guild returned to Uldum, where they entered the Skywall and assaulted the forces of the Vortex Pinnacle, which allowed them to weaken the forces of the Windlord before they even considered attacking him, while at the same time stopping the elemental attack on Uldum itself. That was swiftly followed by them breaking into the Throne of the Four Winds and assaulted the three remaining commanders of the directional winds, before they engaged Al'akir the Windlord in battle and brought him down.
Unfortunately killing one of the major Elemental Lords didn't go unnoticed, as Ragnaros finally returned to the world in Mount Hyjal, where Trixie and her friends returned to the World Tree and began the long campaign to send the flames back to the Firelands. It took some time and effort, from both themselves and the druids that they were assisting, before they were allowed to lay siege to Ragnaros' keep, where they took out his strongest commanders, destroyed a green dragon that had turned traitor on them, cut down the leader of the Druids of the Flame, and assaulted their foe. They were assisted by Cenarius and some of his most powerful druids in binding Ragnaros to this plane, where they permanently killed the Firelord and stopped his assault on the World Tree.
They barely had any time to rest before they had to go back in time and fight against both the Twilight's Hammer and the Infinite Dragonflight in order to obtain the Demon Soul, which was apparently the only known artifact that could wound, or even kill, Deathwing before he destroyed the rest of the world. When they actually had the artifact in hand they returned to Wyrmrest Temple and assaulted the forces that were attacking the temple, which involved killing the forces of the Old Gods, where Trixie was sure that one of them had mentioned one called N'Zoth, and the rest of the Twilight's Hammer. They even climbed onto one of the Alliance gunships and followed after Deathwing, where she and her friends parachuted down to the dragon's back and literally tore three of the plates on his back off, which revealed a hole in his defenses that allowed Thrall, one of the greatest shamans in the entire world, to unleash the power of the Demon Soul and blast a hole in Deathwing's chest.
Deathwing crashed into the Maelstrom and attempted to use the rest of his power to loose a second cataclysm, one powerful enough to end the entire world in one motion, but the Dragon Aspects came in and aided them in ending the massive dragon's life... to which they sacrificed a good portion of their power, and their immortality, to destroy Deathwing, where Alexstrasza mentioned that the age of mortals was beginning.
She and her friends were allowed some time off before the next major crisis happened, which occurred when one of the Alliance's ships crashed into a moving island, though the people who commanded the ship returned in a hot air balloon... along with some panda creatures that identified themselves as the Pandaren. Her guild welcomed several Pandaren monks into their ranks that day, where they spent some time getting to know their new friends and got them up to speed on what might be happening in the near future. The change happened when someone delivered a message that told them that the island of Pandaria had been discovered, to which Trixie promised her mentor that she would return with some new knowledge once she was gone saving yet another land from disaster.
At first their venture into the land of Pandaria seemed to be like all the other ones, until they encountered a sinister creature that the natives referred to as the Sha, where one of the natives blamed the Horde and the Alliance for resurrecting this ancient terror. She and her friends made their way through the Jade Forest, where they enlisted the help of the Jinyu, which were walking fishmen, to repel the Hozen, which were slightly intelligent monkeys, but instead of assisting the main forces in their fight with the Horde, however, they made their way to a high point and watched what was going to happen next. That was before the battle destroyed the massive jade statue that the Pandaren natives had been building and released one of the major Sha into the world... where Trixie caught a glimpse of the large Sha of Doubt before it headed into the nearby temple.
As the rest of the Alliance and the Horde ventured into the other zones of Pandaria, and continued to upset the natural balance once again, Trixie and her friends moved into the Temple of the Jade Serpent, where they brought down and killed the newly released Sha of Doubt before it could do too much harm to the world. They then ventured into the Krasarang Wilds, where they made their way to the Temple of the Red Crane and killed all of the lesser Sha that were blocking their way. When they reached the temple they found the second major Sha, the Sha of Despair, attempting to do major damage to the land, but they quickly brought it down before it could put any of its major plans into action.
With two of the major Sha defeated, and Trixie assuming that four of them remained, they ventured into the Kun-Lai Summit area of the land and assisted the Alliance in building their main base in the area, before they gathered together and brought down the Sha of Anger that happened to be taunting them the entire time they were there. Trixie and a small group entered the Shado-Pan's ancient monastery in the region and fought their way through the Sha controlled people that resided there, until they eventually brought down the Sha of Violence, but at the same time the Sha of Hatred managed to escape from them. After that they made their way to the Townlong Steppes, where they assisted their friends and allies before they eventually uncovered Sha of Hatred, which had run away from them, and quickly moved in to put an end to its existence.
When that area was secured, and they were sure that the natives were safe, they made their way into the Dread Wastes and accidentally released one of the Mantid Paragons, who insisted that they help them in their effort to dethrone the Empresses and defeat the Sha that was controlling her. As the majority of their guild helped the Klaxxi build their forces, and hunted down the rest of the sleeping Paragons, Trixie and the others returned to the Wilds for some time to help the Alliance build their base in the area, and fend off Horde attacks from the camp on the other side of the zone they were in. When they returned to the encampment of the Klaxxi, and discovered that the Paragons had been awoken, one of them took Trixie into their most sacred of areas and told her that they intended to reunite with their master when he revealed himself... where she discovered that the master of the Klaxxi was one of the two other Old Gods she had learned about during the cataclysm.
With that terrible news in mind they managed to overcome the might of the Mantid army, broke their way into the throne room of the Empress, and dealt the decisive blow that ended her reign of terror, but the Sha that was controlling her managed to escape in the process. Trixie and her guild managed to track the Sha of Fear all the way to the Terrace of Endless Spring, where they fought against the mind controlled guardians that used to protect the spring and, eventually, brought an end to the sixth major Sha. Shortly after their victory they learned that the troll tribes they had been dealing with for the last few years, those not associated with the Horde, managed to find the body of their former ruler, Lei Shen the Thunder King, and revived both him and his stone servants.
From that point onward the Horde and the Alliance waged a great campaign against the forces of the Thunder King on his home island, the Isle of Thunder, while at the same time Garrosh Hellscream, the new leader of the Horde, seized every opportunity to steal and hoard artifacts of power that could be used to fight the Alliance. It took some doing, and a temporary truce between the smarter leaders of the Horde, for them to break through into the Thunder King's domain, cut down each and everyone of his servants, and make their way to Lei Shen himself... where they put an end to his rule once more, and cut out his black heart so he couldn't revive himself again in the near future.
During their fight with the Thunder King, however, Trixie and the others learned that Garrosh had found what he had been searching for, the heart of the Old God called Y'Shaarj, to which he promptly dropped the massive heart into a very important pool of water in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms... which ended up destroying half of the Vale with the sinister energy of the Sha.
It was at that point that Trixie, her guild, the Alliance, and the 'exiled' races of the Horde, those that Garrosh deemed unworthy to reside in his 'True Horde' gathered all of their might and marched on Orgrimmar, though they first stepped into the ruined area of the Vale and took out all of the Sha creatures that had been summoned by the heart's awakening. That happened to include the final Sha, the Sha of Pride, but Trixie and the others emerged victorious and made their way to the fortress city, where they planned their attack and made sure that everyone knew what they were going, because they would have one shot at making things right.
The combined might of the Horde and the Alliance decimated the forces that Garrosh had gathered inside the city; crushing his corrupted shamans into the ground, destroying all of the spoils that he had taken from Pandaria, killed his master engineer and blew up all of her 'toys', put an end to the enslaved animals that he had broken to his will, and fought the Paragons of the Klaxxi until they were no more. Then they did battle with Garrosh himself, who willingly took on the power of Y'Shaarj's to best them, but in the end they dethroned the mad orc and replace him with Vol'jin, though instead of executing him there the two forces agreed to sentence him to death on Pandaria... once they went through a trial of sorts to truly determine his fate.
Trixie had stated that the trial was a bad idea, as she was sure that something bad would come of it, and she hated to say that she was right, as one of the Bronze Dragons snatched Garrosh and went back in time with the mad orc, but there was no way to determine where he had gone and the matter was closed. Peace seemed to return to the world for a time, but it didn't last as the Dark Portal connected to a whole new world, where they discovered a new army of orcs, the Iron Horde, intended on burning their kingdoms and conquering their world. Trixie and her mentor agreed that this had to be the work of Garrosh, as none of the Iron Horde were tainted by the demon blood that the actual Horde had been tainted by so many years ago... which meant that they were dealing with a different timeline of Draenor.
Khadgar himself led the charge through the Dark Portal, where the greatest heroes of the Horde and the Alliance followed him through and discovered a large army that was making its way towards the Dark Portal. It was then that Trixie and her mentor had to made one of the worst calls they had ever made; they freed the imprisoned members of the Shadow Council and cut off the portal's power, though that involved letting Gul'dan, the master of the Shadow Council and the orc that was responsible for all of Draenor's woes, go free as well. With the portal deactivated they retreated into the jungle and carefully made their way through the various obstacles that were in their way, while at the same time they rescued some prisoners, spotted the various heads of the orc clans, and eventually made their way to the back of the army they had seen earlier.
They then got one of their dwarf smiths to take control of the massive tank that was resting behind the army, where they fired a massive charge at the Dark Portal and shattered one of the sides of it, effectively destroying the chances of the Iron Horde using it to head to Azeroth... though at the same time they had to flee and the two forces separated themselves so they could get to work with destroying the Iron Horde. Trixie and her guild landed in Shadowmoon Valley, where Khadgar and the leaders of her guild named her as the commander of the Alliance forces, which involved building the first stages of their garrison and opening relations with their neighbors.
One of the events that sealed their relations with the local Draenei was the defense of Karabor, where this timeline's version of Velen sacrificed himself to save one of the Naaru from being turned into a Void Lord. At the same time they stopped the assassination of some important figures, the Exarchs, and discovered that one was a traitor, sending him into hiding. Trixie ordered most of their forces to move onto the next zone and begin preparations for the building of an outpost, though at the same time she and her guild moved into the Shadowmoon Clan's burial grounds and killed Ner'zhul, who had been behind the corruption of the Naaru. With one of the heads of the Iron Horde dead Trixie and her group charted a course to Gorgrond, where they had to deal with a large number of massive plant creatures that seemed to enjoy eating people.
Fortunately the Iron Horde left themselves open to attack in Gorgrond, allowing Trixie and her friends to infiltrate their shipyard and slay their commanders, crippling their navy power for the most part, before they returned to the fight and brought some level of peace to the area they were in. They then ventured into the Talador area and fought the demons that had been summoned by the leaders of the Shadow Council, though as the majority of their forces secured the area they charted a course for the Spires of Arak. There they attempted to use the power of the Talon King to kill the Iron Horde, but their plans were shattered and the ancient king was defeated, which pissed off the leader of the Arakkoa, one Shadow-Sage Iskar.
This timeline's version of Nagrand was filled with more excitement than what Trixie was expecting, as they had to gather enough resources to build their final outpost and assault the area that Garrosh controlled, though in the end Thrall challenged him to honorable combat... which eventually resulted in the death of the mad orc.
Once that was done Khadgar called Trixie and some of her friends to his tower, which he had shifted to Draenor so he could have a better understanding of the planet they were on, where Trixie discovered that her mentor intended to create three special rings that could turn the tide against Gul'dan. As such they had to return to the Spires of Arak and assaulted the forces that were guarding that area, which actually helped the Arakkoa at the same time, before they made their way up to the peak and killed the person that wanted to burn all those that opposed her... where Trixie found three special rings that seemed to be different than the others, as one seemed to increase strength, one increase agility, and one increased intellect.
Trixie was, of course, given the intellect ring, though when they returned to her mentor they were told that they required four things to empower them; the Core of Flame from the Bloodmaul Slag Mines, the Core of Life from the Everbloom, the Core of Iron from the Grimrail Depot, and nearly five thousand Apexis Crystals per ring. It didn't take too long to hunt down the three cores and kill their guardians, which ended up helping everyone in the area they were in, though it did take some time to hunt down the crystals. Fortunately the garrison provided a perfect way to gather the crystals faster, as Trixie's followers noticed several caravans carrying the crystals, so she ordered them to raid the caravans before they could deliver the crystals to their enemies.
When they had enough crystals for all three rings they returned to Khadgar, who told them that they needed to take out Teron'gor and gather his blood so they could hunt down the orc's master, which involved them assaulting Auchindoun, but instead of killing him the orc ran part way through the fight... but left a pool of blood behind for them to use. With that task done they all returned to Nagrand and followed the Bronze Dragon Chromie to the resting place of the dragon that had brought Garrosh to this timeline, where they put his restless spirit down and returned to the tower. It was then that Khadgar empowered their rings with the powers that they had gathered, though once that was done they discovered that there was another step in creating a set of weapons that would destroy Gul'dan.
The next step in empowering their rings involved an assault on Highmaul, the seat of the Ogre Empire, where they were supposed to gather the Felbreaker's Tome, a special ring that the Sorcerer King carried on his person, and some special stones that were called Abrogator Stones. Once again Trixie's followers proved to be useful in gathering resources, as she was able to send them on missions to gather a large amount of the stone they needed, allowing her and her guild to focus on the assault itself. The moment they stepped into Highmaul they were attacked by Kargath Bladefist, another of the remaining warlords, where they engaged in battle before bringing an end to the orc's life, to which they assaulted the rest of Highmaul's forces... while at the same time the two headed ogre Cho'gall seemed to escape.
Trixie was able to wrest the Felbreaker's Tome from the hands of Ko'ragh, but as they entered the throne of the Sorcerer King they discovered that the king's guards were all dead and that their target had been killed by someone else, no doubt Cho'gall... but it made things easier for them, as they were able to grab the large sigil ring before they made their way back to Khadgar's tower. When they returned to her mentor they were attacked by an assassin called Garona, though they were able to overpower her and trap her in a special prison that would keep her in stasis until they broke through Gul'dan's enchantments on her... and acquired the cure to the poison she used on Khadgar. Once he was safe, and the poison had been taken care of, he further empowered their rings and told them where they needed to attack next; the Blackrock Foundry.
Trixie and her guild were more than willing to take the fight to their enemies, though at the same time they took every Elemental Rune that they could get their hands on, as they needed three hundred of the small fragments to magically recreate a single tablet. Since they needed three tablets, and nine hundred fragments, Trixie was happy to call upon her garrison followers, who were able to find a great deal of them, though at the same time they were looking for three other items; a Draenic Thaumaturgical Orb, the Heart of the Fury, and a tome known as the Flamebender's Tome. Instead of killing the boss of the Foundry, Blackhand himself, Trixie convinced the others to return to Khadgar and see if they needed anything else... but instead he gave them the upgrades to their rings.
During that process Trixie experienced the power of Dreanor's heart, as she had nearly been killed in the process of empowering her ring, but Cordana, the Warden that was guarding her mentor, had helped in bringing her back from certain death... though that was followed by Khadgar apologizing many times over what had happened, as the power wasn't supposed to do that.
Once she had recovered from her ordeal, and was ready to go, she and her guild returned to the foundry and put Blackhand down, though at the same time she grabbed his blackened hand, which apparently was needed to help them track Gul'dan or harness something else... but at that moment she honestly didn't remember which it was. When they returned to the tower Khadgar had them guard him while he attempted to break through Gul'dan's enchantments, though when they succeeded they discovered that they needed to go to a certain cave and recover the orb that was used on Garona. Trixie knew that it was supposed to reverse what had happened to the assassin, so she and her guild moved into the cave and killed the members of the Shadow Council that were there... to which they returned to the tower with the orb in their possession.
When they returned to Khadgar they broke through the enchantments and saved Garona, though while Cordana took the orb away to be destroyed Trixie caught a hint of a change in her voice, making her worry that something was up with the Warden. With Garona on their side they infiltrated one of the Iron Horde's last remaining fortresses and witnessed as Kilrogg Deadeye, one of the two remaining warlords, betrayed his leader, imprisoned him, and accepted the 'Fel Gift' into his body, damning himself in the process.
With Garona joining them they infiltrated the shipyard they had assaulted earlier, managed to rescue one of the shipwright that was being targeted by Kilrogg's forces, and secured the blueprints that would allow them to build their own shipyard. When they returned to their garrison Trixie ordered that the ship they had crashed into the ground, back when they arrived in Shadowmoon Valley, be converted into materials for a new ship, which was followed by the actual shipyard being built at the same time as the ship. With the ship ready they attacked the Tanaan Jungle from the sea, where they eventually secured a stronghold and build an outpost that would allow them to survey the area, though at the same time Khadgar had an unusual request from her... he wanted her to send the ship out, and some additional ones she was having constructed, and hunt down some special items for him.
It took some time and effort, but eventually Trixie's ships returned with a sea chart that covered the entire world, which was what her mentor was looking for, but once that was done he had her start planning an assault on Hellfire Citadel, where they needed to acquire thirty-three Tomes of Chaos. She already knew that he was planning on empowering their rings even further, if such a thing was possible, but she did agree with her mentor, to which she and her guild assaulted the citadel almost immediately. Fortunately they didn't get very far into the citadel before they found a cache of the Tomes that they were after, to which Khadgar told them to head back to his tower and get the deed over with before they continued the assault on Gul'dan's forces.
When they returned to the tower, however, Trixie was horrified to discover that Cordana had been corrupted by the orb she had sworn to destroy and had fallen into Gul'dan's clutches, though it appeared that her first task was to steal the three 'Savage Hollows' that Khadgar was making... to which Trixie and her friends destroyed the books and forced the corrupted Warden to flee, much to Khadgar's sorrow when he heard the news. He did have good news for them, however, as it appeared that they could ask the Naaru they saved earlier to unlock the final form of their rings, to which they carefully made their way to the temple of Karabor and spoke with Yrel, who went through some sort of speech before things got underway.
Once their rings had been blessed, and their final forms had been unlocked, Khadgar approached them as they lowered back to the ground and gave them the names of the three Savage Hollows. The first ring was called Maalus, the Blood Drinker, and it happened to be the ring of agility that was being held by the strongest monk of their guild, Xinyi Windfall, who was a female Pandaren from the Wandering Isle. The second ring was called Thorasus, the Stone Heart of Draenor, which was the ring of strength that was worn by Landan Nash, the human paladin that had been one of Trixie's friends from the beginning of her adventures. The final ring, the intellect ring, was to be named Nithramus, the All-Seer, which was the ring that Trixie was wearing on her right pointer finger.
With their rings named, and their full power was unlocked, Trixie and her guild returned to Hellfire Citadel and continued their assault, where they killed everyone that had allied with Gul'dan and accepted the Fel Gift... where they even killed the reanimated Mannoroth before he could fulfill his terrible purpose. They then cornered Gul'dan in front of the ruins of the Dark Portal, which he had been working on the entire time they had been fighting inside the citadel, but before they could kill him, and put an end to his schemes, the portal behind him opened and Archimonde the Defiler himself walked out to face them.
The fight had been intense and they had nearly lost a good portion of their forces, from both the Horde and the Alliance, but in the end they were able to kill Archimonde... who used the last of his power to send Gul'dan somewhere across the vastness of the universe. As everyone celebrated their victory over one of Sargeras' commanders, and packed up to head back to Azeroth, both Trixie and Khadgar knew that this wasn't the end of their fight... rather it could possibly be the beginning of the end.
Trixie let out a sigh as she fingered her legendary ring for a moment, allowing herself to exit her memories as she stopped outside the building that her mentor and the other members of the Council of Six usually gathered in when they needed to talk with each other. Right now she knew that the other five members wouldn't be in attendance, which meant that whatever they needed to talk about would be between the two of them, but she couldn't help but think of what was happening around the world. She had heard that Gul'dan might have been sighted on the Broken Isles, the only place they had no allies on at the moment, but she was hoping that she and her mentor could come up with a way to get around that... before the orc warlock did something major.
She let out a second sigh as she walked into into the building and let her staff touch the ground, to which Khadgar turned to face her the moment he heard her enter the building.
"Ah, Trixie, thank you for coming so quickly," Khadgar commented, to which he set the book he was reading to the side and turned to face her, "I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that the sightings of Gul'dan are real, though it appears that he's already opened the Tomb of Sargeras and has started summoning the Burning Legion to the Broken Isles."
"That's not bad news," Trixie replied, knowing exactly what was going to happen if Gul'dan and his dark masters got away with whatever they were planning on doing, "that's horrible news. We're going to have to find some artifacts of immense power if we're going to have any hope of turning the tide against our enemies... especially after the massive defeat we suffered on the Broken Shore."
Trixie never spoke about what happened on the Broken Shore, which had happened a day or two ago and was the main reason behind her walking around the city like she had been, but she seriously hoped that she and her mentor could think of something to turn the tide in their favor.
"I have some leads on how to do that," Khadgar stated, though he held up a hand to stop Trixie from leaving, which meant that there was more he wanted to tell her, "the good news is that I received a message from Lady Maiev... she's planning on releasing the demon hunters from their prisons so they can help us turn the tide against the Burning Legion. And, in case you had forgotten, they knew the person that was sleeping in that bedroom we studied all those years ago... which means you might finally discover what happened to the other member of your race."
Trixie had forgotten about the other pony that had been trapped on this side of the universe, as so much had happened over the years and demanded so much of her attention that she had honestly forgotten about that. Now that she was reminded of what she had been searching for so many years ago, however, she was excited to meet the demon hunters... and hopefully find out what happened to the pony she had been searching for all those years ago. Then she would get to work with turning the tide against Gul'dan, the Burning Legion, and his dark masters.
Maiev had spent the last seven years guarding the Vault of the Wardens with some of the strongest Wardens that she had trained over her long life, while the others were sent out on hunts or tasked with protecting certain people from their enemies. As such when the Dark Portal had connected to the past version of Draenor, before the world had been shattered and became known as the Outlands, she had chosen Cordana to travel with Archmage Khadgar and protect him from the Shadow Council, because she had known that Gul'dan would want him dead at some point in time. She had heard, from one of his brief visits back to this timeline, that an attempt had been made on his life and Garona, the assassin in question, was being held near his tower. That told Maiev that the Archmage wanted to break Gul'dan's hold on the half-breed assassin and turn her against the foul warlock... to which she wished him luck in his endeavor and went back to watching over the prisoners she had captured over the years.
She had heard from Khadgar only one other time, after they had defeated Archimonde and prevented the new version of Dreanor from being destroyed, where she learned that Cordana might have betrayed them and joined Gul'dan... but at the same time she silently hoped that it was a ploy and that the other Warden was planning on killing the orc warlock when his back was turned.
Maiev let out a small sigh, one that the other Wardens would be hard pressed to hear unless they were in the area around her, as she turned her gaze to the green fel crystals that lined the walls of the final chamber that she and the others had built all those years ago. She had reserved this portion of the Vault for the Betrayer, who had his own room that was sealed with the strongest sealing spells that she knew, and the Illidari that had willingly joined him, who had been caught after their assault on a Legion world. Most of the demon hunters had surrendered the moment the Betrayer and his second in command were beaten, but at the same time she couldn't deny the power of Illidan's chosen second, who could potentially beat her if she had more than six months of training.
She let out another sigh as she pushed open the door to the chamber she had been walking towards, where she found five sockets lining the walls, though while two of them were empty at the moment the other three had someone resting against the wall. On her right was the prison of Altruis the Sufferer, who she had assumed was one of the commanders when the demon hunters had been captured, while on her left rested the prison that contained Kayn Sunfury, who had told her about the one person she wanted to know about. The crystalline prison in front of her, which was the main reason she had come down here to begin with, was the prison of Lyra Heartstrings, the second in command of the demon hunters.
Maiev wasn't surprised to find that there were a large number of cracks in the prison, as they were the main reason she had refused to leave the Vault whenever something raised its ugly head and attacked Azeroth... because she wanted to keep this one demon hunter chained in her prison.
"Leave us." Maiev commanded, not even turning to the two Wardens that had been tasked with protecting this one chamber when she walked the other chambers, who nodded their heads and walked outside the chamber, where they closed the door behind them.
Maiev stared at the shadowy form that was reflected from the inside of the prison, taking in the empowered demonic form that Lyra had taken on when she had attacked her and the other Wardens, which had sealed her fate in the end. She had been locked in this form for seven years, but at the same time Maiev knew that the prisoner had been trying to escape by using her energy, which was where the cracks had come from. She had underestimated the power of Lyra when they had first fought each other, where she had dodged the demon hunter the entire time, and she was still underestimating her power to this day. Had she known that Lyra was this powerful, with the low amount of training she had been given, she would have constructed a special prison for her... but the crystal appeared to be enough at the moment.
She stood there for an hour, allowing herself to remain lost in her thoughts while ignoring the outside world that waited outside the door behind her, before she felt a change in the Vault... one that could only happen when one of the Wardens opened the main door to the Vault, which they were under orders to leave closed at all costs. She and the others generally entered the Vault by using either the front door, which they kept sealed after the Betrayer and his demon hunters were transported here, or by asking trusted mages to open portals for them to use. That was how Cordana managed to get out of the Vault and head to Draenor with Khadgar, they opened a small portal and she passed through it... though the opening of the seal meant that someone had betrayed them, which confirmed her worst fears.
"Lady Maiev, the Legion has broken the seal and are entering the Vault." one of the Wardens said, to which the door opened and the two Wardens faced her, which confirmed what Maiev was feeling at the moment, though at the same time she already knew that they needed to do something to stop Gul'dan, "What are your orders?"
"Gather the other sisters and defend the Vault," Maiev commanded, handing out their orders immediately, though at the same time her eyes never left the crystal in front of her, as she noticed that the cracks seemed to vibrate for a moment, as if Lyra had heard that the Legion was here, "There is something I need to do before I join you."
The two Wardens nodded their heads and charged out of the room with their weapons drawn, which made sense considering that they were going to attack whatever demons were summoned into the Vault, but at the same time Maiev decided not to focus on that... which was why she was staring at the prison of Lyra Heartstrings.
"Illidari," Maiev said, though while she spoke to all of them her main focus was on the one in front of her, to which she raised a hand and tapped the fel crystal with her sharpened tips of her gloves, which was something that would stir the person that was inside the crystal, "I have spent my entire life as keeper of the wicked, be they demons of the Burning Legion or elementals from the four elemental planes. For thousands of years, my only solace was knowing that the world was safe from your kind. But, given recent circumstances, I would do anything to save Azeroth... even if it means releasing all of you!"
With that said Maiev raised her weapon into the air and slammed it into the fel crystal that was in front of her, cutting a long gash into the crystal structure, but it was at that moment that she actually cursed the fact that she had used the blood of Lyra's empowered demonic form to bind her... as the harder crystal meant that it would be harder for her to break. She then raised her arm to strike the crystal again, but before she could do so there was a flash of energy inside the crystal, to which she felt the energy of Lyra Heartstrings awaken... which was followed by the cracks enlarging as the demon hunter started to tear her way out of her prison.
Cordana led her new master though the halls of the Vault, allowing the demons of the Burning Legion to attack her former sisters as she and Gul'dan made their way towards the one room they were looking for. She counted herself fortunate that the door to the Betrayer's room was never sealed, otherwise they would have to spend a few minutes breaking the seal. This way was better for them, as it allowed them to assess the body of Illidan Stormrage and steal it before the other Wardens were able to stop them, as the demons would be able to keep them occupied until it was time to sound the retreat. Even if the Wardens released the Illidari, on Maiev's orders, they would be weak from their imprisonment and would pose no threat to their plans... and maybe open the doors for some to be corrupted in the future, once they realized who was winning this war.
Before she could actually open the door to the room holding the Betrayer's body, and hand it over to the Legion, she felt a strong amount of fel energy suddenly awaken in the nearby area... one that she hadn't felt since the fateful day that the demon hunters had been captured and locked inside their prisons.
"She must be desperate if she's letting HER out of her prison..." Cordana commented, though at the same time she turned her head in the direction of the energy, where she wondered how the prisoner could be putting off so much power after being locked away for seven years.
"Her? Who is this her you are referring to?" Gul'dan asked, because he knew that Cordana's tone indicated that she was referring to one of the prisoners that were locked away down here, one of the Illidari by the sounds of it, but he wanted to know what she knew, as it could change the course of their mission, "And what is this energy I am feeling?"
"Lyra Heartstrings." Cordana stated, though even as she spoke she opened the door and led her master inside, but once they were on the other side Gul'dan sealed the door with a powerful seal, one that only Maiev would be able to break through once she had studied the seal, "Back when the Betrayer was defeated, and my sisters and I locked the Illidari in their prisons, we discovered a powerful demon hunter that could only be contained with the blood of her empowered demonic form. Lyra was strong, but her anger clouded her judgement, allowing Maiev to capture her and lock her down here with the others... but even after that I heard whispers that if she had more training, even a years worth, she might have been able to take out Maiev and secure the freedom of her kind."
"Really? She sounds interesting." Gul'dan said, to which he finished working the seal on the door and started walking towards the crystal in front of them, where the cold body of the Betrayer waited, "With the power she seems to be putting out she would do wonders as a warrior under either Kil'Jaeden or even Sargeras himself."
"I doubt that it would be that easy to convince her to change sides," Cordana replied, causing her master to turn his head towards her, though it appeared that he was interested in hearing what she had to say, "I was there when Maiev confronted Lyra, and the demon hunter stated that she and her kind existed to destroy the Burning Legion and their masters. Unless we could shake her reality, and make her think that everything and everyone on Azeroth is out to get her, I don't think we'll be able to corrupt her into a powerful weapon for the Legion to use against the other worlds of the universe... but if we could change her mind, and turn her to our way of thinking, we could create a powerful general that might rival Archimonde himself."
Gul'dan smiled as he started working his spells into the surrounding area, where he would summon three portals at the back of the room so the two of them could leave and set a trap for anyone that came looking for the Betrayer's body. This would be the perfect instance to test the power of the demon hunter that was in the process of waking up, because either his forces would kill her and damn her soul to be grabbed by his masters, which he would prefer, or she would cut her way through every demon in the Vault and increase her power... until the point where he and his masters corrupted her soul with all the demonic power she would be fighting against.
He had to admit, he was a tad bit excited to meet this Lyra Heartstrings, but at the same time he had a task to complete... and might be able to set the perfect trap for her fall, if she sprung it in the future.
Maiev watched as the fel crystal shattered into a thousand pieces and fell to the ground, though at the same time Lyra collapsed on the ground and remained that way for a moment, making Maiev wonder if something had happened to the demon hunter since she had been placed in the prison. Before she could step forward, and see what was wrong, she watched as one of Lyra's wings twitched for a few seconds, though that was before Lyra raised a hand and placed it on the ground. Maiev silently watched as Lyra pulled herself off the floor and raised herself to her full height, allowing Maiev to see that every inch of her empowered demonic form had remained since the day she had been placed inside her prison... which made her look like a female version of the Betrayer, though the only differences between the two were that Lyra had a third horn in the middle of her forehead, her feet were permanently hooves in both of her forms, and she had a pony tail that was the same color as her hair.
"You... you released me..." Lyra commented, taking a few seconds to take some deep breaths while she looked down at her Havoc Form, as she was surprised to find that she was still locked inside this form, before she turned her attention back to Maiev, "Why?"
"The Legion has returned to Azeroth and is beginning their third invasion," Maiev replied, though at the same time she moved over to a nearby stand, one that had a pair of warglaives resting on it, where she rested a hand on the weapons and faced Lyra, "Lyra Heartstrings, you told me that the Illidari were created with the sole purpose of hunting down the demons of the Burning Legion and killing their leaders, Archimonde, Kil'Jaeden, and Sargeras himself. The Legion is here, on Azeroth, and they seek its utter destruction once more... so tell me, will you help us defend our world?"
Lyra stared at Maiev for a few seconds, as she was stunned to hear that the Warden wanted her assistance in releasing the other demon hunters and turning the tide against the Legion, especially after sealing her and the others in those crystal prisons for so long. If they had been left to their own devices, and not captured, she knew that she and her friends would have attacked a large number of worlds and cut the Legion's forces down quite a bit, but there was no going back and changing the past. As much as she hated Maiev, for helping defeat Lord Illidan and capturing all of them, she let out a sigh and focused on the task at hand, because there were demons to kill, allies to awaken, and a Vault to escape.
"Maiev, I don't trust you after what you did... but that has nothing to do with my answer," Lyra said, to which she held a hand out and beckoned to the Warden, where she hoped that she wouldn't get put back in the prison once the Legion was defeated, "Hand me my warglaives... there are demons to kill."
Maiev nodded and pulled the warglaives off the rack, to which she tossed them over to Lyra, who immediately caught them with her hands, spun around for a few seconds, and swung her hands to be sure that they felt right... to which she frowned at Maiev for a moment.
"Yes, those aren't the warglaives you had when you left whatever Legion world you invaded," Maiev commented, though at the same time she turned towards the door and braced herself, because now was the time for them to get out of here and start killing demons, "You were the only one who wasn't sealed away with your warglaives, so we smelted them down and forged them into something more reasonable for someone that's supposed to be the Betrayer's second."
Lyra eyed the sharpened edges of her new warglaives, noticing that her new weapons appeared to be a combination of what she and the other demon hunters used, the form of the warglaive, with some pieces of the Wardens added to the section that protects her hands. She could tell that her new weapons were designed to do massive damage to her enemies, the demons of the Burning Legion for the most part, but while she was annoyed that her old weapons had been smelted down and reforged, however, she was glad to have something in her hands once more. Once she was done looking at them she returned them to the holder that was on her back, where she approached Maiev and waited to hear what the Warden's plan was.
"The two of us won't be enough to take out the demons that are between us and my sisters," Maiev stated, telling Lyra that she had little faith in her own abilities and the abilities of a powerful demon hunter, to which she beckoned to the walls around them, "I know that you can see the four slots in the wall that were designed to hold your kind, though only two of your allies were placed in this room... Altruis the Sufferer and Kayn Sunfury. Free them and add their strength to our group... and then we can focus on securing the Betrayer's body."
Lyra nodded for a second and approached the two levers that were near her, which activated some sort of opening sequence that shattered the crystal prisons, where Kayn and Altruis took a few seconds to regain themselves before they walked out to where Lyra and Maiev were standing. That was quickly followed by Altruis asking how many years they had wasted inside those crystal prisons, and piqued Lyra's curiosity, Maiev told them that they had been locked away for seven years, which annoyed all three demon hunters. Once both of her companions had regained themselves, and had collected all the pieces of their gear that happened to be resting in front of their prisons, they faced the door and nodded to Lyra.
Lyra smiled as she pressed a hand on the lever that would open the door that was blocking their way, because it was time to do what she and the other demon hunters had been trained to do before the assault on Mardum... it was time to kill the demons attacking the Wardens, awaken the rest of their forces, and show the Legion what they were up against.
Lyra waited for a few seconds, to give Kayn and Altruis enough time to make sure that they were rested enough and were prepared for whatever was on the other side of the door, though once the two of them nodded she moved the lever and opened the door. The instant the door was open they discovered a few Wardens fighting a large number of demons, though she quickly determined that half of the demons were the large felguards she had fought on Mardum while the other half were dog like creatures that came up to her knee. She had heard of the felstalker type of demon, thanks to the training she had been given by her mentors, but she cast her eyes around the room and noticed all of the portals the Legion had opened into this area... which meant that the demons in front of them were supposed to stall them until they completed whatever task they were hoping to accomplish. She even noticed a commander type demon that was engaged in battle with one of the Wardens, to which Lyra resolved to kill it before closing the portals.
Before Lyra could say anything, and start giving orders, Maiev broke rank and charged at the open door on the other side of the room, telling the three of them that she was more interested in chasing her prey than helping them awaken the rest of their forces.
"Well then, I guess the first order of business is to awaken the rest of our forces," Lyra commented, though at the same time she beckoned to the portals that were open at the moment, to which her friends looked at them, "Seeing how we have been trapped in those fel crystals for seven years, and haven't done much since we were captured, we should leave those portals open for a few minutes and cut the demons down. Considering that we can take in the fel energy we should use those to our advantage and use them to empower ourselves back to what we had been before we left Mardum. Once everyone is awake, and has their fill of fel energy, we'll close the portals and get underway... and see what the situation is like on the outside of the Vault."
"I agree on your plan of attack," Kayn said, though even as he spoke Altruis charged down the ramp they were at the top of and started attacking the demons, to which he smiled for a moment, "Let's do this!"
Lyra nodded and headed to one of the unopened prisons, where she slashed at it with her warglaives and watched as the crystal shattered, though she was pleased to find that the first demon hunter she had freed was Jace. Once Jace knew what the situation was, where Lyra basically told him that the Legion was attacking Azeroth and the Wardens were releasing them to deal with the demon threat, the elf charged off and started hacking into the demons around them. The second prison she opened, which happened to be on the level above Jace's prison, was where Kor'vas was being held, though she expressed her gratitude for being freed and joined the others. The third prison she ripped apart contained Falara, who was eager to get back into the fight, while the fourth one contained Marius, who was one of the few demon hunters that Lyra didn't know as well as the others.
She then moved around the edge of the room she was in and broke apart the fifth prison, which happened to contain Allari, who commented on how bad the situation had to be if the Wardens were releasing them, while the sixth prison she opened was the one that contained Cyana. Lyra found that Cyana had been visited by the 'voices in her head' once more, which meant that the Legion had made some sort of connection to her back on Mardum, when they were fighting Tyranna, but she was pleased to find that she was fighting the whispers in her head. Once Cyana was freed Lyra moved on to the remaining two prisons on her side of the room, where she freed Lyana Darksorrow, another demon hunter she didn't know much about, while the final prison contained Asha, who was happy to move again.
Once all of the prisons had been opened, and all of the demon hunters had been freed from their seven year sleep, they started carving up all of the demons that were in the room, feeding on the fel energy to return themselves back to the state they had been in before being captured. When they were all fully fed Lyra gave the command to shatter the portals and finish off any remaining demons, where they and the Wardens turned on the demon commander and brought him down under the intensity of their blows. With the deed done they all turned towards the opening and charged out of the room they were in, though while the majority of the Wardens and demon hunters continued forward Lyra, Kayn, and Altruis turned to the left... where they joined Maiev at the door to the room that contained Lord Illidan's body.
"Gul'dan could not access this chamber without knowing the specific spell layout of this seal," Maiev commented, informing Lyra as to what was going on, which told her that something was definitely wrong, "Cordana has definitely betrayed me... which means that she and her new masters are after the body of your master."
"Then open the door," Lyra said, to which she and her friends held their warglaives at the ready, because they were sure that there was going to be a fight inside the room that contained Lord Illidan's body.
Maiev nodded and broke the seal in front of their eyes, indicating that she had been waiting for them to arrive before she removed the last part of it, before the door swung open and they headed into the room... where they discovered that there was a corrupted Warden, one with fel energy on her armor, standing next to a sickly orc with six spikes on his back, though the crystal containing their master was nowhere to be seen.
"CORDANA!" Maiev shouted, causing the pair to stop in their tracks and turn towards the four of them, though neither of them seemed surprised by who had come to stop them from leaving the Vault, while at the same time ruining the surprise attack Lyra and her friends had in mind, "You will answer to the High Council for this!"
"Judge me all you like, sister," Cordana stated, though the way she said the word 'sister' told Lyra that the Legion had done something to her when they were turning her, because she almost sounded pissed off about something, "but you cannot stop us. Not even the Betrayer's beloved second can stop our plans."
"You are too late, Warden. This vault shall become your tomb." Gul'dan commented, though at the same time to portals on the left and right of him opened, to which a pair of Mo'arg stepped out and faced the group, but before he walked through the third portal he stared at Lyra, "So you must be Lyra Heartstrings, the second most powerful demon hunter that chooses to fight against the Legion. A pity you chose the wrong side, especially since I must take your new 'advantage' from you."
Before anyone could do anything Gul'dan loosed a small burst of fel energy, a fel fireball, that slammed into Lyra and pushed her back a few steps, but it didn't seem to do any damage. That was followed by Lyra taking a step forward and watching as she finally snapped out of her Havoc form, returning to her original demon hunter form, which told her that their opponent had noticed that she was locked in her transformed state and wanted her out of it. She had assumed that the orc was some sort of warlock, from her studies in the Black Temple, but now she knew that he was much stronger than she was originally expecting... especially if he could knock her out of her Havoc form and reset it.
"Only the demon hunters that join the Legion are allowed to be in their transformed state." Gul'dan stated, though his tone indicated that he was trying to trick Lyra into reaching for power so he could corrupt her, to which Lyra growled as she started at the retreating orc.
"Lyra, you and your kind must survive the Legion's assault on the Vault." Maiev said, causing the three demon hunters to look at her for a second, as they already knew that she was planning on doing something stupid, "Find the one named Archmage Khadgar... you can trust him. He'll help you and point you in the right direction."
Before Lyra, Kayn, or Altruis could say anything, and dissuade the Warden from her plan, Maiev charged at the middle portal as Cordana and Gul'dan disappeared into the swirling mass, leaving the three of them to fight the Mo'arg that were in front of them. Once Maiev made her move the two large demons came at them, to which Lyra and her friends engaged their enemies, though both Kayn and Altruis took the attention of one of them, allowing Lyra to attack whichever one she wanted to fight first. Lyra, however, jumped between the two demons, cutting into one for a few seconds, and dodging any attacks that were coming her way, before heading to the second one and repeating the process.
Between the three of them the two Mo'arg fell in a minute or two, though once they were dead Lyra felt a new power awaken inside her, one that her empowered senses told her was some sort of retreating move, to which she determined to test it out in the future.
"Well, we won't be following Maiev any time soon," Kayn commented, as the three portals closed in front of them, meaning that they had to make their way to the surface as fast as possible, "I spotted an elevator shaft when we were coming towards the door to this room, so that's going to be the only way out of here."
Lyra nodded and sheathed her warglaives, though that was followed by the three of them turning around and heading across the bridge so they could pass through the open door, while at the same time she tried not to think about what the Legion wanted with Lord Illidan's body. As they ran towards the door Lyra heard Kayn calling out to the other demon hunters, those that were still down on this level of the Vault, that they were leaving with Maiev's permission, to which Altruis stated that he was shocked that his companion trusted the word of the person that captured all of them. It was then that she learned that Altruis had, before her arrival in the Outlands, tried to rebel against Lord Illidan, as Altruis apparently had a different method to being a demon hunter... and that he had failed and rejoined minutes later.
She was surprised that Lord Illidan had kept Altruis around, especially after getting some of their kind killed when the Alliance and Horde attacked the Outlands, but she was sure that their master had his reasons... to which she ignored the elf for a moment as they made their way towards the top of the level they were on.
Lyra was pleased to find that every portal the Legion had opened, on the level they had been imprisoned on for seven years, had been closed and the portal masters had been slain, especially when she spotted one of the Inquisitor demons laying in a pool of his own blood. They found Jace standing next to an imprisoned felbat, one that would take them up to the next level, so Lyra had Kayn and Altruis head up before her so they could survey the situation or find out what they needed to do before they really escaped the Vault. Once the two of them were up there, and the felbat had come back, she rode it up to the next level and landed in front of the door to the next chamber, which was followed by the felbat returning to the lower level and bringing Jace up as well.
Oddly enough she found Kor'vas talking with Allari, which meant that she was trying to figure something out while Kayn and Altruis were somewhere on this level, no doubt trying to close a portal, kill a powerful demon, or contain one of the prisoners that was trying to escape.
"The Wardens kept all kinds of dangerous monsters locked up within this Vault." Kor'vas stated, to which she turned to Lyra, so she knew that Kor'vas was talking to her at the moment and not Allari, "Now that Gul'dan's forces have breached the walls, it's proving rather... inconvenient. From what we can determine all three of the prisoners on this level are trying to escape, though with how weak we are we'll have to imprison two of them again before we leave, meaning that we can use the third one to empower ourselves again. To our right is the room of a large fire elemental, a magma destroyer if the reports are correct, so the measures to trap him have to be somewhere in his room. In front of us is the room of a beholder creature, though it appears that the Wardens captured the creature with some special mirrors, which gives you how to capture it again."
"The third room, the one on our left, contains the demon known as Immolanth," Allari added, indicating that she had seen the demon and remembered what they knew about it, though even Lyra knew the name, "We already know that he led a Legion army that conquered and eventually ruled a distant nexus world. Somehow, the Wardens imprisoned him, which is no small feat mind you, and then kept him locked up in the chamber I mentioned. He is contained, but not for long. The demon's power is a valuable prize to any demon hunter who can defeat him, though I truly believe that person could be you, Lyra."
Lyra was, once more, taken aback by the fact that her friends put so much faith in her abilities, but considering that the demon hunters, the other races of the Illidari, and the Legion itself called her Lord Illidan's second, which was strange, caused her to sigh and not question what was happening. Lyra took a step forward and looked at the three rooms she had to chose from, where two of the prisoners would be put back in their cells and the third would die, before she decided to take out the beholder and the magma destroyer first. She was sure that whoever was holding Immolanth at bay could do so for a few more minutes, or rather until she was done with the other two prisoners... to which she headed across the room she was in and went right for the beholder.
When she walked into the beholder's room, and looked around, she noticed that the floating creature was using his energy to fire a beam of energy from his eye, which appeared to be focused on taking out Altruis... who was hiding behind one of the mirrors that were out in the open and was directing the beam to another mirror, while the other Illidari they had freed were attacking it directly and had no affect on it at the moment.
"Lyra, the creature's destructive beam is focused upon me." Altruis called out, allowing Lyra to know the situation, while at the same time giving her the opportunity to see what needed to be done for herself, "I need you to redirect the final mirror and shatter the creature's shield... where we should be able to flee before it regains its senses."
Lyra nodded and immediately spotted the mirror in question, which happened to be near the left side of the beholder, to which she started to move around the edge of the area Altruis and the creature were on. When she reached the mirror, and was amazed by the fact that the creature hadn't turned towards her even once, she gently touched the structure the mirror was attached to and turned it towards the beholder. The instant the beam hit the beholder the shield shattered and the creature floated there, completely stunned by what they had done to it, to which Lyra and Altruis called for a retreat to the previous room... which was followed by everyone leaving the beholder in his cell.
Instead of joining the others in their assault on the demons in the room they were in, and closing the portals, Lyra headed towards the room of the magma destroyer, where she discovered that Kayn and some of the Illidari were currently keeping the elemental at bay. She took a moment to look around the room, as that was what she had done with the beholder and her plan had worked like a charm, before noticing three icy spheres that were floating to the left, right, and behind the elemental. She then glided down into the area that Kayn and the others were fighting in and made her way towards the countermeasures that the Wardens had installed when they originally imprisoned the elemental, where she turned the first one on the instant she stopped in front of it.
Lyra quickly activated all three of the icy spheres, which turned on the real countermeasures and froze the large elemental until he was trapped inside a block of ice, which was followed by Kayn agreeing with Lyra's call to retreat back to the previous room.
When the second prisoner taken care of Lyra headed across the main chamber her friends were fighting in and headed to the prison of Immolanth, where she immediately noticed that the large demon was fighting someone. It took Lyra a few seconds to realize that the demon was fighting Cyana, as she had morphed into her demonic form to stall the demon until Lyra arrived. The moment she knew who was fighting Immolanth, and understood that she had left Cyana to fend for herself, Lyra snapped into action and started cutting into the demon's legs, immediately drawing its attention to her and causing it to try and hit her.
As she and Cyana fought the Immolanth, and started to turn the tide in their favor, the demon tried to taunt them into leaving the Wardens to die and join the Legion, where he would give them unimaginable power to help them burn Azeroth to the ground. Eventually Lyra grew tired of listening to the demon and jumped into the air, where she delivered two powerful diagonal cuts to Immolanth's chest, though they formed an x shape as the large demon collapsed on the floor. As she landed on the floor, and let out a sigh as Cyana morphed back to her normal form, Lyra left the power of the demon flow into her body... where she felt her empowered senses inform her that the power was one that could allow her to stun her foes with a burst of fel energy.
That was Immolanth's power, some sort of 'Chaos Nova', though Lyra also discovered that her empowered senses informed her of three more abilities that she had unlocked due to her experience fighting all of these demons; an ability that allowed her to lock enemies in some sort of prison, another that allowed her to call upon a small amount of darkness to reduce the damage she took, and an agility move that involved her literally dancing around her opponent and cutting them up with her warglaives.
With her new abilities unlocked, and she reminded herself to try them at some point in the future, she and Cyana returned to where Allari was standing... though at the same time Lyra noticed that all of the portals had been closed and that the majority of their forces had moved onto the next floor.
"Kor'vas went ahead to meet with Kayn and Altruis," Allari said, to which the three of them climbed onto the elevator that was in the middle of the room, though that was followed by it lifting into the air and heading towards the floor their companions had gone to, "It will be good to get out of here at long last."
Lyra nodded as they rode the elevator to the upper level, as she would be glad to get out of the Vault and take in some fresh air before they started planning the Legion's downfall, though as they passed by the floors she noticed that the remaining Wardens were still fighting the last of the demons that had been summoned into the Vault. The elevator didn't stop on the other floors, which meant that they would be leaving the Wardens to either kill their enemies or die in the one place they swore to protect. When they reached the upper level, and the elevator stopped, Lyra and her companions walked around the nearby stair ramp and entered the next chamber of the Vault... where they discovered that Kayn and Altruis were fighting again, though this time they were trying to kill each other.
Lyra honestly couldn't understand why they were doing this, when they were so close to leaving the Vault, but she suspected that it had something to do with their ideals being in conflict with each other... to which she sighed as she approached them and Kor'vas, who was trying to get them to stop.
"Lyra, seeing how you are the commander of the Illidari in place of Lord Illidan, you need to chose your second-in-command... be it Kayn or Altruis." Kor'vas stated, once more informing Lyra that she had been trained to replace their master, in the unlikely event that he was ever defeated and taken away from them, though at the same time she beckoned to the two elves for a moment, "I fear that you will need to chose quickly, because the two of them appear to be determined to kill each other... before you can make your decision that is."
Lyra looked at the two elves for a few seconds, studying how they were fighting each other and how they were using their warglaives as they fought, before she noticed that there was one moment, before their weapons connected, that she could use if she wanted to stop them in her tracks. She then sighed as she pulled her own warglaives out, which caused the other Illidari to look at her for a moment, before she dashed in between the two of them and raised her warglaives into the air, to which she blocked the two of them and caused surprise to appear on their faces. That was swiftly followed by her planting the base of one of her hooves against Altruis' warglaive and forced him backwards, before she used her own strength to throw Kayn back as well.
"Look, I know that the two of you don't get along," Lyra stated, to which she glared at both of the demon hunters, because she was shocked that two of Lord Illidan's highest and most trusted generals were trying to kill each other, "but now isn't the time to be fighting among ourselves. We lost a good portion of our forces in Mardum, and who knows what happened to the captains when we left behind, but we have more pressing matters at the moment. Now, I'm supposed to pick one of you as my second-in-command, as Lord Illidan would have wanted me to do if he had handed me the reins himself, but let me make one thing clear; I don't want either of you to bring up your disagreements while there are demons to kill and a world to save. Do I make myself clear?"
Lyra had no idea whether the two demon hunters decided that her neutral position on their dispute was the cause behind them changing their mind, or whether there was something commanding about her now that she had accepted that Lord Illidan had trained her to be his replacement, but she mentally smiled when she got her answer.
"As you wish, Lyra Heartstrings," both Kayn and Altruis said, surprising everyone else by the fact that they were agreeing on something and had spoken at the same time, though what really surprised all of them, including Lyra, was that they both sheathed their warglaives and knelt to her, "We await your decision."
Lyra stared at the two demon hunters for a moment, reflecting on everything she had seen from them since she had joined the Illidari, before she had actually gained her horns and tattoos, and remembered the orders that they gave when Lord Illidan told them to gather some fighters to take on missions. Oddly enough she and Kayn got along more than she did with Altruis, though that was mainly because the night elf wanted nothing to do with her half the time she had been training in the Black Temple, but she knew that opinion had changed after attacking Mardum. She also considered which one of them would be the best candidate for the position, because she was sure that their ideals would influence everyone else to some degree... but after a few more seconds she nodded, indicating that she had made up her mind.
"Kayn Sunfury," Lyra said, her voice silencing everyone in the room, though at the same time she was sure that one of the Wardens had been passing by and had stopped herself for a second, as if she was curious about the decision as well, "would you honor me by taking the position as my second-in-command?"
"I... I would be honored to accept the position as your second-in-command," Kayn replied, bowing his head slightly, indicating that he was surprised and shocked by Lyra's decision and was trying to hide what was on his face at the moment, "I will serve you to the best of my ability... just like I did for Lord Illidan."
"That's good to hear," Lyra stated, to which she turned to Altruis, who had a look of annoyance and shock on his face, as if he actually expected to take the position as her second-in-command from Kayn, but he at least looked her in the eyes to the best of his ability, "Altruis the Sufferer... would you like to rejoin the Illidari and aid us in bringing down the Burning Legion and their foul masters?"
She already knew how it sounded, that she was essentially going to be giving Altruis a pass on betraying Lord Illidan and killing several of their allies before rejoining their ranks, but she wanted them to have a unified front and not leave anyone alone, because there was no telling what tortures the Legion would inflict on them in order to make them change sides and join their enemies. Besides, she was sure that Altruis knew that he wouldn't be starting at a high position, as she considered Kor'vas, Jace, and Allari to have a higher position than him at the moment. If Altruis declined and decided to leave the Vault on his own, however, Lyra wouldn't hold the decision against him and would go about exiting the Vault with her forces... though it all depended on what was going through the night elf's mind at the moment.
"I... I would like to join YOUR Illidari," Altruis answered, putting emphasis on the fact that the Illidari were Lyra's to command, which meant that he was expecting some changes now that they were following a new leader.
The sounds of surprise behind her told Lyra that the others were expecting Altruis to decline and run the moment she picked Kayn as her second-in-command, but she was pleased to prove them wrong... which meant that they would go on to do good things as a unified group.
Once everyone was ready to go, and both Kayn and Altruis were done with their fighting, Lyra smiled and led the way up the stairs that were in front of them, though at the same time she kept her warglaives at the ready, just in case there was something else waiting between them and the exit. When they turned the corner, and found a second unique room that appeared to be some sort of grand entrance for the Vault, Lyra immediately spotted a red skinned eredar that was waiting for them to arrive. The demon was larger than the one she had taken out, back when she had just started her training to become one of the Illidari, though at the same time the demon was carrying a large sword and looked prepared for a fight.
"Greetings Illidari," the eredar said, though at the same time he stared at Lyra, as if he knew who she was and was going to focus on her first, "I am Bastillax, the leader behind the attack on the Wardens' precious Vault. If you wish to see sunlight again you must go through me... but I promise you that I will execute all of you and deny your desires."
"Illidari, remove this demon from our path!" Lyra shouted, to which she raised a warglaive into the air and pointed at the eredar, where some of her forces immediately shifted into their demonic forms and attacked Bastillax.
Lyra stood there for a second, where she discovered that Bastillax had two portals left over to summon assistance, where some of her followers broke off from the main group and charged at the reinforcements before they could aid their foul master. The moment the portals were occupied she took a deep breath and accessed her inner power, to which she jumped towards Bastillax and shifted back into her Havoc form, where she slammed into the ground and started attacking her target. It proved to be the best time to use some of her new abilities; as one demon slipped passed her forces and she locked it in place with her imprison ability, though when it came to fighting Bastillax she used the shadowy ability to provide some protection against damage... while at the same time using the 'Blade Dance' to deal damage in return.
The moment the portals were taken care of the rest of their forces turned their full attention to the eredar, where their combined might eventually brought him down and ended his life... to which the Illidari backed away from the corpse and allowed Lyra to take one final power, which was a variation of the shadow ability, only more potent and caused her body to blur for a few seconds.
With Bastillax dead, and the way to the outside open, Lyra and the others followed the pathway out of the Vault, though when they stepped through the opening of the Vault, and took in the fresh air once more, they were stopped from going any further as two people teleported into the area in front of them. Lyra focused on them for a few seconds with a clam expression on her face, because her expression told the other Illidari to stand down while keeping their weapons at the ready. She discovered that the person on the left, who was an old man, had to be some sort of important mage, as his robes seemed too unique and he carried a special staff, which reminded her of Kael'thas when she spotted him from afar. When she looked at the other person, who was a young girl that was between twenty to thirty years old, she immediately noticed something odd; the younger mage had hooves instead of feet, had a pony tail resting behind her, and she could have sworn that she noticed the outline of a horn for a few seconds under the hat that she was wearing.
Lyra was stunned for a moment as she remembered one of the main reasons behind her joining the Illidari all those years ago, as she had been searching for the other member of her race that had been brought to this side of the universe... and she had to wonder if fate was finally giving her the answer she had been searching for. It was at that moment that she was grateful that she had fallen to the back of the pack, as it allowed her to conceal herself until she was sure what was going on at the moment.
"Greetings Illidari," the old mage said, causing many of the demon hunters to turn towards him for a few seconds, indicating that they were interested in hearing what he had to say, "I am Archmage Khadgar, leader of the Kirin Tor. This is my apprentice, Trixie Lulamoon... and she has a question for all of you before we get started on saving this world from the Burning Legion and their foul masters."
"And that question would be what exactly?" Kayn asked, because seeing how he was at the front of the line at the moment he felt he should ask the question and deliver an answer, unless Lyra decided otherwise.
"When my friends and I arrived in the Outlands I felt the presence of another member of my race," Trixie stated, causing Kayn and the higher ranking demon hunters to look at her, while the others kept their eyes on Khadgar, "I was directed to the Black Temple and we searched for any clues as to the whereabouts of the other pony that was brought to this world. I was told that my fellow Equestrian had been sent away before the attack on the temple, though I never crossed paths with them in the last seven years... and I only remembered it when I heard you guys were being released. My question is this; do any of you know something that looks like me, with hooves instead of feet and having a tail that resembles mine... and maybe possesses a pair of wings on their back or a horn in the middle of their forehead?"
Kayn stared at the pair of mages for a few seconds, as if he was thinking about answering the question in the place of his commander, before he turned his head backwards and glanced in Lyra's direction, who was still hidden by the rest of the Illidari. Lyra was shocked by the fact that fate was bringing her and her fellow Equestrian together, after seven long years of being locked away in the Vault of the Wardens, but in the end she sighed and beckoned for Kayn to say nothing. It was the sign that told the others that she would answer the question herself, as she felt that Trixie deserved to have the answer delivered to her in person.
The Illidari parted as Lyra stepped forward, though when she reached the front of the group she noticed the looks of shock and confusion that were on the faces of both Khadgar and Trixie... which meant that someone had lied to them in the past and they were only now discovering the deception.
"Trixie Lulamoon, I am Lyra Heartstrings," Lyra stated, to which she stepped forward and held a hand out, though at the same time she actually smiled at the other Equestrian, "and it is good to finally find out who else was brought to this side of the universe."
"Lyra Heartstrings..." Trixie said, taking a moment to remember everything she knew about Lyra, which couldn't be a lot considering that they barely knew each other save for some passing glances when she was in Ponyville, though at the same time her expression turned to a pleasant one as she ran forward and threw her arms around Lyra, "You have better give me the entire story as to how you came to this world and why you're with the Illidari... and then I'll need to have a word with Maiev the next time I see her, because she lied to me seven years ago."
Lyra mentally chuckled at that statement as she pulled her arms out and embraced Trixie in return, because she also had some business she needed to tie up with the leader of the Wardens, as in a rematch for what happened on the summit of the Black Temple... but she knew, from looking at Khadgar for a few seconds, that there wouldn't be a lot of time to rest and catch up. The reason behind her and the Illidari being released was that the Legion was invading Azeroth once more, which meant that they needed to make sure that the leaders of the two factions, if they still existed, were alive and well before they started planning their attack. She was eager to bring the fight to the Legion, and save this world from them, but there were things they needed to do before they could get that far.
The Legion might have invaded Azeroth, with the purpose of destroying everything and enslaving the races that they could reach, but Lyra and the others were ready for them... and none of them would rest until the Legion and their foul masters were destroyed.
"Okay, now that we're free I need to ask something," Lyra said, to which she and Trixie separated from each other, though at the same time she glanced at Khadgar, who was staring at the two of them, "what is your plan for dealing with the Legion and their foul masters?"
"Gul'dan has accessed the Tomb of Sargeras and opened a portal for the Legion to enter this world," Khadgar commented, to which he pointed his staff in the direction that was behind him, where Lyra and the other Illidari noticed something in the distance, "Now this portal is allowing many of the powerful demons we have killed over the years, with great sacrifice at times, to return from the Twisting Nether to wage war against us once more, along with their personal armies. The combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde launched an assault on the Broken Shore, but many of their soldiers were defeated and some important rulers were slain in the process... though the majority of their armies were able to flee before they were overrun.
As the two factions are recovering from their loss at the Broken Shore, and are trying to figure out how to overcome this loss with something good as the outcome, Trixie and I have started researching ways to seal the Felstorm and close the portal that Gul'dan has created... though we both know that its only a matter of time until he has amassed enough power to summon Sargeras himself to Azeroth."
Lyra knew the name of the fallen titan that ruled the Legion, as Lord Illidan had told her the name when he was teaching her the names of the three demons she would need to watch out for when she joined the battle against the Legion, at least until she had enough power to match them. Sargeras, from what she knew, was supposed to be some sort of twisted creature that had originally created Mardum, years ago anyway, before shattering the world and creating the Legion that they were fighting today. She knew that allowing their enemy to come to Azeroth, before they were ready, would result in the instant destruction of the world and the deaths of thousands of people... which was one of the reasons that she had joined the Illidari in the first place.
As she remembered what she knew on the master of the Legion, however, she cast a glance in the direction that the Archmage had been pointing in a few seconds ago, where she noticed a beam of fel energy surging into the sky, creating what appeared to be a maelstrom of fel energy... the Felstorm. From what she knew she could already determine that the Legion had brought in a few of their ships and were no doubt infesting the land around the Tomb, which she would have to ask about when they had time. At the moment she knew that she and the others would have to travel to the main cities of the Alliance and the Horde, because if one of their leaders had recently died than they should be holding some sort of funeral for them... which would be the perfect opportunity for the Legion to cut down their leaders while their guard was down for a few seconds.
The moment the thought came to mind, however, Lyra let out a sigh as she cast a glance back at Kayn, who seemed to agree with what she was thinking based upon the nod he was giving her... to which she turned her attention back to Khadgar and Trixie.
"Before we catch up on what we've been doing since we came to this side of the universe, there's something we need to do first," Lyra commented, to which she noticed that Khadgar was raising one of his eyebrows while Trixie seemed interested in what she had to say, "You just said that one of the leaders, for both the Alliance and the Horde, died on the Broken Shore, which means that the two factions are going to have their own funerals for their fallen friend and leader... which is something that the Legion won't miss, especially if all of the leaders, for both factions, will be present at their respective funerals."
"She's right," Trixie said, to which she brought a hand to her face for a second, as if she couldn't believe that she had missed something so important, before turning to her mentor, "the Legion's no doubt getting their forces ready for an assault on the leaders of the Alliance and the Horde, which means we need to act fast before something happens to them... and we have an advantage they won't be expecting."
"True, we have the Illidari on our side now," Khadgar said, though his tone indicated that he was agreeing with his apprentice, but at the same time he started moving his hands around as magic started to gather around them, "It is a good thing that I sent a message to some friends in both the Alliance and the Horde, because they are fully expecting me to teleport some of the Illidari to their cities to help defend against an immediate attack by the Legion. Lyra Heartstrings, I take it that you are the leader of the Demon Hunters that are standing behind you?"
"That is correct." Lyra replied, though at the same time she had the feeling that he was about to ask her to command them like they were her personal soldiers, which in some cases was right considering that she was filling Lord Illidan's shoes at the moment.
"Good, then I need you to pick some of them out and prepare them for a brief journey to Orgrimmar and Stormwind," Khadgar stated, which immediately told Lyra that the magic he was gathering was for a portal of some kind, one that would allow them to travel to the two cities he had mentioned, "The funerals of King Varian Wrynn and Warchief Vol'jin will be happening within the next thirty minutes, to allow their cities to grieve before the factions prepare themselves for all out war with the Legion. Your chosen champions will travel to those two cities and help establish themselves with the new faction leaders, unless you would prefer to travel to Stormwind yourself."
"Why can I only travel to Stormwind?" Lyra asked, because she didn't understand why she would go to one of the two cities and not go to the other one, as she felt that it would be in her best interests to be sure that her chosen champions completed their tasks, "Why can't I travel to Orgrimmar?"
"Because Stormwind is the capital city of the Alliance," Trixie explained, though she had to wonder how Lyra didn't know about the races that belonged to the two factions, to which she silently determined that she would explain everything to her fellow Equestrian later, "Here, let me explain something to you; Night Elves, like yourself, are allied with the Alliance, while the Blood Elves, like your friend Kayn, are allied with the Horde. Since they are grieving at the moment the Horde will likely attack if they see a night elf walking in the area, so its better if you send some blood elves in your stead."
Lyra thought about that for a moment, remembering the old reports about how the two factions generally hated each other and attacked each other on sight at times, and decided that it made sense, despite how she believed the two factions should not be fighting each other when the Legion was still a threat. She then turned to the demon hunters that were standing behind her, waiting for her to give them their orders in regards to saving the new leaders of the two factions, before deciding who needed to go to which city.
"Allari, I want you to gather a few of our blood elf brothers and sisters and head to Orgrimmar," Lyra commanded, though she hadn't expected Allari to actually salute her the moment she gave her a command, to which she mentally sighed at the fact that she was ordering around her former mentors before moving towards her next target, "Jace, I want you to do the same thing with the night elves and head to Stormwind. Archmage Khadgar, is there someplace where the majority of my forces can gather and survey the situation, so we can better plan where to attack the Legion?"
"There is a small patch of land near Dalaran that could be used by your forces," Khadgar commented, though at the same time he snapped three portals open, which caused Lyra to raise an eyebrow as she noticed the number of magical gateways in front of them, "The portal to my right is for those that are going to Orgrimmar, the one on my left is for those that are heading to Stormwind, while the one in the middle is for those that aren't going to either city, so I've opened a portal to Dalaran. I'm sure that those of you that won't be going out to fight, so soon after being released from the Vault, will enjoy the opportunity to explore a new area, talk with some citizens, and maybe learn a profession while you wait for the others to come back."
"Great, then those that aren't selected will go to Dalaran and survey what the Legion is doing," Lyra said, continuing to issue her commands to the others, as she knew that some of them were interested in hearing what she wanted them to do, "Kayn, I want you to head to Dalaran as well and start searching for some way to turn the tide against the Legion... and hopefully you'll have something once Stormwind and Orgrimmar are safe."
Allari nodded and gathered her selected blood elves, though at the speed that she had done it at told Lyra that she had started picking her group the moment she was selected, before the group of seven walked through the Orgrimmar portal. Kayn also nodded to Lyra and walked through the middle portal, though he was followed by the other blood elves that weren't selected as they entered the portal as well, leaving Jace to choose five other night elves and allowing the remainder to head to Dalaran as well. It made Lyra wonder why he had only selected five demon hunters to follow him, especially since Allari had selected six, but she was sure that there was a reason behind his decision.
Once those that were heading to Orgrimmar had gone to the main city of the Horde, and the other blood elves were gone as well, Khadgar closed that portal and turned towards the others... as both he and Trixie were wondering what was going through Jace's mind at the moment.
"Commander, would you accompany me and my forces to Stormwind?" Jace asked, surprising Lyra and the two mages for a moment, because none of them were actually expecting him to ask Lyra that question, "I know you have faith in my abilities, if you chose me to represent our forces in the main city of the Alliance, but I have the feeling that we might need your assistance in the city... though personally I hope I'm wrong."
"You and I can spend twenty-five minutes catching up before King Wrynn's funeral," Trixie commented, though at the same time Lyra detected that she must have had a decent relationship with the former king, because she detected a hint of sadness in the other Equestrian's voice, "and then, once the funeral is over, we can get back to work... whether our work involves catching up some more or planning the downfall of the Legion."
Lyra glanced between Jace and Trixie for a moment, wondering if the two of them had accidentally given her the opportunity to explore Stormwind and see if she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary before heading to the funeral of the King of the Alliance, before she let out a sigh and nodded her head. It was clear that Trixie wanted to spent some time with her, especially since she had been locked away with the rest of the demon hunters, so she decided that she might as well use this opportunity to learn the layout of the city for the future. She would also learn what Trixie had been doing for the last seven years, because based on what she had seen she knew that the other Equestrian had faced some hardships while she had been locked in the Vault.
She was also sure that something would happen inside the city, so she wanted to be there when the event happened so she could help contain and stop whatever the event was.
"Well then, we should head to Stormwind," Khadgar commented, drawing the attention of the small group to him, while at the same time he closed the portal to Dalaran, "I'm sure that all of you are interested in leaving the Vault behind and starting a new chapter of your lives."
Lyra nodded and followed Trixie into the portal that was waiting before them, because she was interested in seeing the city that Trixie could have been calling home for the last seven years... to which she smiled as she stepped into the portal and headed towards the main city of the Alliance.
When Lyra stepped through the other side of the portal she immediately noticed the seemingly pristine white city that was resting in front of her, as there appeared to be marble structures and statues all around her. In front of them stood a small bridge that could be raised to seal off the keep, where the new king and his trusted allies were no doubt preparing for the funeral of the previous king. She could also tell that there was a canal that could potentially go throughout the entire city, while at the same time she swore that she heard the sound of a bell ringing, which had to be for some sort of ship that was in a nearby harbor. Lyra was sure that there was more to Stormwind than what she was currently seeing, especially if it was the main city of the Alliance, but she was sure that she would see it all at some point in time.
Jace and the other demon hunters joined her a few seconds later, to which Khadgar told them that they would find the king in the keep in front of them, though he also recommended that they mention that their master was here... just in case the new king wanted to speak with Lyra instead. Once Jace knew that he and his forces walked towards the building, leaving Lyra and Trixie with Khadgar for a few seconds, though at the same time Lyra knew that the Archmage might be needed somewhere else.
"Trixie, if you'll excuse me, I am needed back in Dalaran," Khadgar said, to which Trixie nodded for a second, as if she had been expecting something like that to leave her mentor's mouth, before he turned towards Lyra for a moment, "Lyra Heartstrings, I will ensure that the citizens of Dalaran welcome your forces with open arms and don't attack them... and then I'll start searching for ways to turn the tide against the Legion."
Lyra nodded and watched as the Archmage drew in some more magic before teleporting himself to the mysterious city he had mentioned many times in the last few minutes, though once he was gone she turned to Trixie, as she knew what they were doing better than she was.
"Hey Lyra," Trixie commented, though at the same time she beckoned for Lyra to follow her, to which they started to walk away from the keep, "you wouldn't happen to have a mount you can use, do you?"
"I have one, but he's back on Mardum," Lyra answered, to which she noticed that Trixie was looking at her with a slightly confused look on her face, where she determined that she needed to tell her about the prison planet, "Mardum was the demon world that my forces and I were sent do while the forces of Shattrath City and Azeroth were attacking the Black Temple. Lord Illidan had prepared a special Felsaber for me, in the event that we opened the first gateway to summon some of our forces to the shattered planet, and he carried me across the world without question. Of course when we attacked the main ship I had to leave the Felsaber back at our main camp, so he's either still trapped on Mardum or he's been killed by our enemies."
"And you don't have a way to call your Felsaber to you?" Trixie asked, as if it was common sense in this world to have some special way to call a mount to you, though Lyra was familiar with the mount staying in a safe area before being called back to their owner.
"Not that I'm aware of," Lyra said, to which she shrugged for a few seconds, as she wasn't familiar with how most of Azeroth worked, but she was sure that she would learn those facts in the next few hours.
"Well, that rules out my personal mount for the time being," Trixie commented, to which she fingered a different ring that she was wearing, though this one was almost as important as the ring she and her mentor had created, "Lyra, I should inform you that I picked up a pair of professions over the last seven years, ones that actually paid well despite me not knowing that fact. I am an accomplished herbalist and alchemist, which means that I pick herbs and mix them together to create potions, poisons, and all sorts of elixirs that my friends use to aid them in battle... as well as a good portion of the Alliance itself. It actually feels good to be useful to someone, despite the fact that my friends and I have stopped the Lich King, a large dragon called Deathwing, Archimonde the Defiler, and three Old Gods..."
"Wait a second," Lyra said, because she wanted to be sure that she had heard Trixie right, as it seemed strange when she heard one of the names, "you and your friends killed Archimonde, one of Sargeras' most powerful followers?
"Yeah, though I'll have to tell you about the circumstances that led to the fight happening some other time," Trixie replied, though at the same time they turned a corner as Trixie brought them to a park area, one that seemed large enough for a decent sized beast to rest in, before she turned to Lyra, "Anyway, I said that I was an alchemist, and one of the things that are in high demand, thanks to the holidays, are transformation type elixirs, though unfortunately there aren't many recipes of that variety in the world. There is one elixir that a friend of mine showed me the recipe for and helped me gather the components so I could create it... though instead of describing the effects I'll just show you what the elixir did, as its a permanent effect I can use whenever I want."
Lyra watched as Trixie tapped the ring she had been touching a few seconds ago, which was followed by the sand around them kicking up for a few seconds as it created a vortex around Trixie. For a few seconds she could see Trixie as clear as day and then a few seconds later her vision was obscured, though when she was able to see the other Equestrian again she stared at Trixie in shock. What was resting in front of her was a large dragon, like the ones she had seen the orcs ride when she had been walking around the Black Temple, though this one happened to have an earthy texture to its scales... along with what appeared to be yellow crystals on its tail, its wings, and its head.
Oddly enough Lyra noticed that there was a saddle on the dragon's back, which meant that it could be ridden by someone, and some armor that rested on its head and back, though she had no idea what was going on at the moment.
"So, what do you think?" the dragon asked, though Lyra's eyes widened for a moment, because while she was shocked that the beast could talk she was more shocked that it was speaking with Trixie's voice, which happened to sound more like a dragon's voice.
"T... Trixie?! Is that you?" Lyra said, though at the same time she carefully approached the large beast and ran a hand over its scales, finding that it felt like a real dragon and not some sort of illusion.
"Yes, though this is the form of the Sandstone Drake," the dragon replied, to which Trixie lowered herself to the floor for a moment and beckoned to her back with her head, as if she was inviting Lyra to climb onto her back, "The elixir I mentioned is known as the Vial of the Sands, which allows the user to transform into this state whenever they want... provided they drink the elixir first. The Vial of the Sands is an expensive elixir to make, as some of the components are hard to find and the location of one ingredient is known by only one man, so its hard to make so many of them. I've only sold four of them to this date, which means that I have made five of them; two of which I sold to the greatest champions of the Horde and the other two I delivered to two of my friends in the Alliance."
"How much do they sell for?" Lyra asked, though she wasn't interested in buying one, especially since she had next to no gold at the moment, but she was interested in the price so she could determine how much gold Trixie had earned over the last seven years.
"The Vial of the Sands sell anywhere from thirty-five thousand to sixty thousand pieces of gold," Trixie stated, to which she noticed the surprise on Lyra's face, which was followed by a chuckle escaping from her, "Trust me, if the ingredients were easier to come by I might have stopped being an adventurer and become a full time alchemist that sells to both factions. My mentor Khadgar once told me that, if I ever wanted to stop going out to save the world every time a disaster struck Azeroth, I could become one of the greatest alchemists the world has ever seen... though I was determined to find you and make sure you were safe. If not for the fact that there was another Equestrian stranded somewhere on Azeroth, or the Outlands in your case, I would have become an full time alchemist... but that's something for another time.
Now tell me, Lyra Heartstrings, how would you like a tour of Stormwind City, before we head to the keep and see how Jace is holding up in establishing relations between your forces and the leaders of the Alliance?"
"I would love to have a tour of the city," Lyra replied, though at the same time she carefully climbed onto the back of Trixie's dragon form, as while she was amazed by how real the transformation felt she didn't want to cause Trixie any pain, "So, where to first?"
"I'm going to head through the Dwarven District, show you Stormwind's harbor, and then head to the Mage District," Trixie explained, though once Lyra was in place she rose to her full height and started to flap her wings, to which the two of the rose into the air and started flying over the city while giving Lyra a view over everything, "then we'll circle back to the Trade District, Cathedral Square, and then Old Town... though once we're done we'll have to stop at the keep and see how everyone is doing. We'll talk about our adventures later, so for now why don't you enjoy yourself?"
Lyra chuckled as they started to fly over the city, because while she knew that they needed to focus on the threat that the Legion posed to Azeroth, especially when they had a portal on the Broken Shore that was trying to bring Sargeras to this world, but she wanted to enjoy herself for an hour or two... because she knew that she would be killing some demons before the day was even over.
Lyra had to admit it when she was looking down at the entire of Stormwind that was below her, and she immediately mentally chuckled to herself in the process, but riding on the back of a dragon was actually one of the more interesting things she had done since she had come to the Outlands and Azeroth. It was clear, from how well she handled herself, that Trixie had spent a decent amount of time in this form, as she seemed to know how to maneuver herself in this form as if it was second nature for her. It was almost as if Trixie enjoyed being a dragon, which she guessed that a fair amount of ponies might have thought about when they were younger, but she was glad to see that her fellow Equestrian was happy to fly around the city and show her the various sections of the city.
The Dwarven District, as Lyra soon discovered, was the home of a good number of dwarves and gnomes, who were working hard to make a living for themselves, though it appeared that they were making a decent living if the smoke in the air and the sparks on the ground were any indication. From what Trixie told her, as she stopped above the district to tell Lyra about it, there was a trove of shops that sold literally every type of weapon in the world, for all of the classes they had, and that every shop was generally busy helping the adventurers like her and her guild or helping the people that called the city home. That second option seemed to be on the minds of the shopkeepers these days, as Trixie informed Lyra that lots of weapons and armor went to arming the local warriors against threats that continued to spring up... as for some reason many of the first foes she fought when she arrived in Azeroth continued to come back for another beating, which was perfect for all the recruits the various classes received.
She also discovered that there was a tram in this district, the Deeprun Tram as Trixie called it, that connected Stormwind with the dwarven capital of Ironforge, which Lyra was determined to visit at some point in time, just so she could see what it was like.
Once they were done with that district Trixie turned to the harbor and allowed Lyra to see the various ships that the Alliance had, where some of them could travel to Rut'theran, which was close to the night elf capital of Darnassus and the island that the Exodar, the ship the draenei had been traveling in, had crashed into. There was also a ship that occasionally made a trip between Stormwind and Northrend, the northern most continent in the entirety of Azeroth, where Trixie briefly explained that she had gone there to stop someone called the 'Lich King' and his army of the dead. Lyra also noticed an area where a large ship was resting on the ground, a ship that appeared to be some sort of flying ship, to which Trixie mentioned that she had been on one when she visited Pandaria, another land she promised to tell Lyra about... after they attended the funeral.
From there they made their way towards the Mage District, where Lyra immediately spotted a large tower that almost rested in the middle of the district, while at the same time noticing that there was a faint shimmer of magic around the tower. Trixie explained that a fair number of mages trained in the tower, either setting it on fire by accident, encasing the entire thing in ice from time to time, or even making half of it disappear with the power of the arcane, though at the same time she mentioned that there was a number of small portals inside the tower. Apparently there was a portal inside the tower that could take her to the Outlands, where she could explore the rest of the Outlands and return to the Black Temple... but Lyra didn't want to head there at the moment.
She also discovered, thanks to Trixie's knowledge of the area, that the district was filled with a few tailoring shops, a couple of warehouses that stored magical artifacts and reagents, and a few bustling coffeehouses and bars that were occasionally filled to the brim with both mages and warlocks.
They then moved into the Trade District, which was the first district that visitors came through when they entered the city from the front gate, though there seemed to be a fair number of guards patrolling the area as well. Lyra guessed that the number of guards made sense, especially since Trixie informed her that half of the city's banks, auction houses and inns rested in this district of the city. Since there wasn't too much to see in this district Trixie flew over to the place she called Cathedral Square, where Lyra discovered a large chapel that was the place where new paladins, of the Alliance anyway, generally made their vows to the Light. Lyra knew enough about the various types of magic on this side of the universe to know that the Light was another type, one that was potent enough to have its own order dedicated to it.
Lyra would have said that she would like to meet one of the paladins and see what they were like, seeing how she knew nothing about them or their order, but Trixie told her that one of her friends, one of the people she had traveled with and founded her guild with, was one of the strongest paladins in all of Azeroth.
Once they were done with Cathedral Square, and had taken in the sights, Trixie flew over to Old Town, where Lyra learned that the more shady individuals of the Alliance, such as rogues and assassins, like to hang out and do business with each other. She also discovered that there was a legal organization, one that was supposed to safeguard the kingdom as a whole, that had its headquarters inside this district, though she also learned that the group was called SI:7. Lyra didn't like the idea of a shady organization roaming this area of the district, even if they were employed by the King and his men, but she didn't voice her concerns to Trixie.
The moment they were done with the various districts of Stormwind City, and Lyra indicated that she was done with seeing the actual city, Trixie took them back to the keep, where she landed on the bridge that they had been on earlier and let Lyra climb off her back... which was followed by her reverting back to her human form.
"As much as I enjoy flying around in my dragon form, I understand the importance of having some balance between the it and my human form," Trixie commented, to which she stretched for a few seconds, thought that was followed by her tapping her staff on the ground and beckoned to Lyra, "Come on Lyra, its about time we figured out how Jace was doing with the leaders of the Alliance... and whether or not the demon hunters have been accepted."
"That all depends one what the new King of Stormwind decides." a voice said, to which Lyra turned her head to the right and noticed two people standing by the other side of the bridge, though the one who hap spoken happened to be a male human that was clad in some sort of plate armor.
"I'm sure that the King will allow them to join the Alliance," the second person said, though Lyra noticed that it happened to belong to a female panda, one who was dressed in some armor that seemed to make the area around her more peaceful, though her fur pattern happened to be a light brown color with some white stripes, "I am Xinyi Windfall, member of the guild that is known as the Celestial Dragons, and this is the leader of our guild, Landan Nash. You must be the leader of the Illidari that Jace told us about; Lyra Heartstrings."
"That I am," Lyra replied, though at the same time she shook both hands that Landan and Xinyi offered her, to which she noticed that the two of them were wearing rings that seemed to radiate some sort of power, which reminded her of the ring that was on Trixie's pointer finger, "Its a pleasure to meet the two of you."
"Agreed." Landan said, to which he beckoned towards the keep, indicating that it was time that they enter the funeral and present themselves to the leaders of the Alliance.
The four of them turned towards the keep that was sitting in front of them and started walking forward, where Lyra noticed that the guards that were posted along the hallway were staring at her, which she knew was because she was a demon hunter. Lyra also noticed that there were still a fair number of civilians that were paying their respects to the fallen king, which was the reason why Trixie and her two friends were visiting the keep to begin with, though that was before she noticed Jace standing in the area between the hallway and the main chamber... along with the other demon hunters that were patrolling the area.
"King Varian Wrynn might have been killed on the Broken Shore, but that's what the Legion wants," Jace commented, only speaking when Lyra stopped next to him and allowed the trio to approach the coffin in the middle of the room, though he gestured around them for a second, "they want to spread disorder among their enemies and weaken the armies that remain. As you can see, all of the leaders of the Alliance have gathered in this one area to mourn the loss of their former King and to help the new King take up the throne that he has been handed... but this all plays into the Legion's hands. Lyra, check some of the guards with your Spectral Sight and see what you can find, because I have the feeling that there are enemies around us and the leaders of the Alliance must be warned if they are in danger."
Lyra had to wonder if Jace's own Spectral Sight was weaker than her own, because when she was training in the Black Temple he had been stronger for some time before something had weakened his sight, but she didn't comment on it. She was used to the other demon hunters asking her to aid them in piercing the veils that the demons wrapped around them or kill a demon that they might not be able to beat on their own. She did, however, grip one of her warglaives and woke up her empowered sight, to which the disguises that the guards around the room were wearing fell apart and revealed that there were enemies waiting all around them... which meant that the battle would be beginning soon enough.
She tapped Jace on the shoulder, indicating that he had been right to suspect that demons were in the area, to which he nodded as Lyra walked up to the throne, though at the same time she noticed all of the leaders were staring at her... and there was one man, who seemed to be a mix of night elf and a bunch of different animals, glaring at her. She was sure that the man had some history with Lord Illidan, considering that the man mentioned that he was uneasy with her and the other Illidari watching over them, especially since they had been locked away since his brother's defeat. Lyra decided not to pay too much attention to the night elf at the moment, to which she stopped before the throne and stared at the fair haired young man that was sitting on the throne... with a look of sadness on his face.
However, before Lyra could actually say anything to the new King, let alone introduce herself to him and his fellow leaders, he started speaking the moment she stopped in front of him.
"I don't have time for pleasantries, demon hunter." the young King said, though he did take a brief moment to look at Lyra while he was talking, which was more than she was expecting at this point in time, "As I told the other Illidari, I have much to contemplate at the moment. I must raise our army so we can take on the Legion, despite the fact that some of my allies cry out to attack the Horde and avenge those that died on the Broken Shore."
"Good King of the Alliance, I am afraid that what I have to tell you cannot wait," Lyra replied, knowing that the young man might not even listen to her, but at the same time she knew that she had to try before the demons attacked them, "I'm afraid that there are demons among your ranks... and I can prove it to you."
The young King actually lifted his head for a moment, as if he was curious as to how Lyra could tell that they had demons standing around them, before he silently nodded his head for a moment, giving her the silent command to show her what she was talking about. Lyra smiled and approached the guard that was standing to the left of the throne, who seemed to be minding his business, but thanks to the lingering effects of her Spectral Sight she knew that he was one of the demons that had come to kill the enemies of the Legion.
"You cannot hide what you truly are from us, demon!" Lyra said, though at the same time she inched her hands close to her warglaives, because she knew that, once the group of demons had their existence revealed, they would launch their attack on the leaders of the Alliance.
"You are too late, Illidari!" the guard said, to which he dropped the disguise he was wearing and revealed the wrath warrior that had been hiding near the leaders of the Alliance, "FELBLADE, ATTACK!"
The moment the command left the demon's mouth the rest of the disguises dropped and the demons started their assault, revealing that they had actually created portals throughout the entire keep without anyone noticing anything odd, which told Lyra that they meant business this time around. Before she could snap out a command, and order the other Illidari to attack the demons, the warrior in front of her brought down his weapon of where she was standing, though she used her warglaives to stop them before they could touch her. She then followed that up by cutting the demon's hands off, and forcing him to lose his weapon, and then removed its head from its shoulders... though instead of relaxing she turned to the others and held a warglaive up.
"Illidari, attack the demons that are assaulting the keep," Lyra shouted, to which she ducked under another warrior's weapon and sliced into it's chest, "Shatter their portals and drive the Legion back!"
As her forces engaged the demons that were invading the keep, and she mainly occupied herself with killing those that came close to her, she noticed a few things happening in the area around her. Landan lifted what appeared to be a large two handed hammer from the holder on his back and wings made of light seemed to shimmer into existence behind him, to which she slammed the head of his weapon into the first demon that came at him and sent it flying back into the trio that were behind it. Xinyi slammed her bare fists into one of the warriors that were coming at her and broke its armor under the weight of her rapid attacks, though she did have some weapons, as she pulled out what appeared to be a fist style weapon, as she gripped onto the handles in the middle of the two weapons and planted three blades into the chest of her opponent... effectively killing the demon and allowing her to move onto the next foe.
The person that Lyra watched the most was Trixie, as the other Equestrian used her staff to block certain attacks from the warriors that wanted to fight her, though at the same time she made sure to stay out of their reach as her magic swirled around her body. Three images of Trixie seemed to phase into existence around her, leaving the demons confused as to which one was the real opponent they were trying to kill and giving Trixie the opening she had been searching for. She then used bursts of magical energy to harm her opponents, as she blasted her targets in the chest and knocked them backwards, though occasionally she would release a stream of small magical missiles to further punish whoever she was fighting.
Lyra chuckled as Trixie brought down a group of five demons on her own, which made since considering that the two other members of her guild were doing the same thing... to which she joined them in battle until there were no more demons left in the keep, and Jace confirmed that all of the portals they had created had been destroyed as well.
"I must admit," the young king said, approaching Lyra as she and her Illidari sheathed their weapons on their backs and turned towards him, "by discovering that our enemies were hiding in our ranks, you and your forces just saved us from a second tragedy this day... one that would have been far worse than the loss of my father. What did you say your name was?"
"Lyra Heartstrings." Lyra replied, though while she knew that she had never gotten the chance to tell the king her name she wasn't about to correct him, not when they had managed to earn a small fraction of his trust.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the young king said, to which he raised a hand for a moment, though Lyra gladly grasped his hand and accepted the handshake that he was offering her, "I am Anduin Llane Wrynn, the newly crowned King of Stormwind and the new High King of the Alliance. Seeing how you and your forces just helped the Celestial Dragons in saving all of our lives, by warning us of the Legion's presence and fighting against them, I have decided to grant Jace's request... you are allowed to establish your camp in the Mage Quarter. I have the feeling that the Alliance will have need of you and the Illidari in the near future, so try to relax before the Legion comes knocking once more."
Lyra knew that there wouldn't be a lot of time to rest and relax, not when the Legion had opened the Tomb of Sargeras and was summoning more of their forces to burn Azeroth to the ground, though she also suspected that they would be launching some assaults to cut down their forces. It was one of the tactics that Lord Illidan warned them about and have trained them for, so she already knew that she and the others would be keeping their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. As she considered what the Legion was going to do next she noticed that Anduin was talking with the other leaders, no doubt to prepare themselves for the next attack, to which she silently turned around and made her way out of the keep... where Jace and the other Illidari followed after her, though they also had someone else following them.
"So what's the plan?" Trixie asked, to which Lyra noticed that she was followed by the other two members of her guild, which meant that they were likely keeping an eye on her in case she did anything to Trixie, "Surely you and your friends have an idea on how we can turn the tide against the Legion?"
"We managed to find some demons while we were wandering the city earlier," Jace commented, though at the same time he glanced back at Trixie and her friends, "and I mean demons that belong to the Legion, so don't assume we shackled the demons that serve the Alliance's warlocks. Now, these demons we found are some of the lesser level ones, as they are supposed to carry items around and occasionally steal from the people they are sent to spy on... though the one we captured had two surprises for us. The first was a list of the areas the Legion planned on attacking, which we will share the moment we verify where the locations are, and the second was that the small demon planned on defecting the moment he heard that we had been released from our prisons."
"And how will you determine whether this demon speaks the truth?" Landan asked, though as they walked Lyra could determine that he was worried that they had brought a demon to the city in order to spy on someone, despite the fact that they had saved the lives of the leaders of the Alliance.
"We've inscribed a rune of truth into the cage the demon was placed inside," Jace replied, telling Lyra that someone must have a sense for demonic runes, which she guessed that she was going to have to learn at some point if she really wanted to know everything the Illidari used in their war against the Legion, as she only knew how to fight and how to lead at the moment, "We took the knowledge on how to use the more powerful demonic runes from an Inquisitor demon, one that was resting on a Legion world we took out before Lyra arrived in the Outlands. We didn't tell you when you started your training because we had no idea whether you were going to join us and take on the responsibilities of a demon hunter or run for the hills once you had your training... though now we know the answer."
Lyra nodded and glanced up at her horns for a few seconds, reminding herself that she had given up a part of herself to take out the Legion, before she focused on the path they were following... where she spotted an area that already had some of their flags resting around it. She hadn't noticed that one of the demon hunters that had come to Stormwind hadn't been present during the attack on the keep, but she guessed it made sense considering they found a small lesser demon running around the place. The small red skinned demon was looking around from inside the cage that it had been placed inside, which reminded her of the Imprison technique she had picked up inside the Vault, but it seemed at peace... almost as if it had been expecting something like this to happen and had accepted its fate.
Lyra also noticed one of the smaller Legion devices that she had spotted a few of back on Mardum, though instead of showing whoever was on the other side, as it was generally used for communication, it displayed the two continents of Azeroth, the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor... and that there were several blinking Legion icons on the map.
"It seems that the Legion has already started their attack on Azeroth," the demon hunter, Elerion Bladedancer, told them, to which he gestured to the icons on the map, "It appears that they plan on attacking Westfall, Dun Morogh, the Hillsbrad Foothills, Azshara, the Northern Barrens, and Tanaris... though I have already sent word to our comrades in Orgrimmar, so they already know what's coming their way."
"I'll gather some soldiers and head to Westfall," Landan said, to which he turned towards the rest of his group, "Xinyi, you should do the same and head to the Hillsbrad Foothills, though I have the feeling that you'll find the Horde there, defending their people from the Legion. And, how that I think about it, I'm sure that the mages will be teleporting people across both continents to stop our invaders before they do any lasting damage."
"Lyra and I will head to Dun Morogh and stop the Legion forces that we find," Trixie commented, though at the same time she smiled at the thought of spending more time with Lyra.
"Agreed." Landan said, to which both he and Xinyi started to leave the area they were in, though that was before he turned back to look at Lyra, where he raised his hand, "Hey Lyra."
"Yeah?" Lyra asked, though as she turned to face the paladin he tossed something to her, to which she caught the object and looked down at it, where she discovered a small silver that was resting in the middle of a shield, "Forgive me for asking something stupid; but what is this exactly?"
"The emblem of the Celestial Dragons," Landan replied, though at the same time he, Xinyi, and Trixie turned their smiles towards Lyra, informing her that she had missed something, "Trixie had that made when she discovered that there was another one of her kind wander the lands of Azeroth, back when we first journeyed to the Outlands. She said that she intended to welcome whoever the other member of her race was into our guild when she found them, though she entrusted the emblem to me after we stopped Archimonde from burning the alternate version of Draenor. So that is for you... and welcome to the guild."
Lyra smiled as she fingered the emblem for a few seconds, where the two other members of the Celestial Dragons summoned their mounts, a gryphon with armor for Landan and a strange blue serpent dragon for Xinyi, before they departed from the Mage District. Trixie, on the other hand, moved into the open area and shifted back into her Sandstone Dragon form, allowing Lyra to climb onto her back before she started flapping her wings and took to the skies. Lyra was sure that some of the other demon hunters would ask the mages to teleport them over to Dun Morogh and the other zones the Legion were going to attack, but at least she and Trixie could recon the area and form a plan of attack.
Once they had repelled these attacks she knew that they would begin planning their counterattack, which Lyra was looking forward to... as this was what she had been trained to do and was willing to ensure the Legion failed in destroying Azeroth, and that meant killing the rest of their foul masters.
Trixie angled herself to the north of Stormwind and started flapping her wings, to which she and Lyra started to make their way towards the area known as Dun Morogh, where they would either find the Legion attacking the region or preparing for their attack. The two of them were eager to reach their destination, as there were innocent people who couldn't fight resting throughout the entire area, according to what Trixie told Lyra anyway, and they wanted to save everyone from the Legion. As they flew through the air Lyra noticed a chapel of some kind that was on the other side of the mountain that was behind Stormwind's keep, keeping the back of it safe from harm, though she didn't comment on it as they left the city... though that didn't stop Trixie from commenting on the fact that she had landed outside the building and had met her friends there seven years ago.
As they flew over the land Lyra noticed a seemingly barren place to their right, which was apparently the Blackrock Mountain according to what Trixie told her, and that the mountain housed the entrance to the Molten Core, where they dealt a crippling blow to Ragnoros, the Firelord. Lyra nodded her head and refocused on the task at hand, though as Trixie flew over some water she took a deep breath and enjoyed the air, as she hadn't been to a beach since being locked inside her prison and mentally stated that she would visit one when she had the chance to do so.
It took them some time to reach the area they had been flying towards, maybe thirty minutes based on the speed that Trixie was going, though Lyra let a light smile appear on her face as she noticed that the zone they had been heading towards was a snowy region. It was a seemingly peaceful place, as Trixie mentioned that the dwarves and the gnomes maintained the peace in the area and fought against any enemies that sought to do harm to their races, though Lyra liked what she was seeing from the air. Trixie also pointed out, with a nod of her head at the nearby mountain, the location of Ironforge, the capital of the dwarf kingdom, which was someplace that Lyra was determined to visit at some point in the near future.
One thing that Lyra noticed, while they descended towards a town that was helping adventurers prepare for the incoming Legion attack, was that the Legion ships, which she had seen during her time in Mardum, were nowhere to be seen... but she knew that they could warp into the area and could change the situation in a matter of seconds.
"So, where's the Legion?" Trixie asked, though as Lyra climbed off her back she reverted back to her human form, where the two of them looked around the area near the small town she had landed near, "Your friend said that they would be coming here and attacking the region, but there are no demons trying to burn the place down...save for the warlock's imp that is trying to torment a nearby chicken."
"They're analyzing the area and planning their assault," Lyra replied, as she knew most of the tactics that the Legion could use in a situation like this, which made her wonder if giving them six possible targets was to weaken the forces guarding the main cities, but she had the feeling that they were in the right place, "Trust me on this Trixie, the Legion will be attacking this region in a few minutes and we'll be thankful for all of the soldiers that are already gathered here. We should be able to turn the tide against the Legion, and save this region, without getting anyone killed."
"It is good to hear that someone knows that the Legion is definitely coming," a rough voice said, to which Lyra noticed a male orc, clad in plate armor that made him look tough and carrying a pair of swords on his back, walking towards them, "Well met, Trixie Lulamoon. It has been some time since we have last seen each other."
"I agree, it has been some time sense we last saw each other," Trixie replied, to which she turned to Lyra for a moment and beckoned to the orc, "Lyra, this is Kurost Skullcleaver, who is one of the Horde's strongest warriors and is responsible for defending his people by killing a thousand demons, from this world, the Outlands, and the alternate Draenor. Kurost, this is Lyra Heartstrings, who is the new commander of the Illidari in the place of her former master, Illidan Stormrage."
"It is an honor to meet the new leader of the Illidari," Kurost stated, to which he raised a hand and placed it over his chest, or more accurately over his heart, before he stared at Lyra, "My forces and I received word that the Legion would be attacking several settlements over Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, along with the fact that the new leader of the Illidari was heading over here. I asked the mages in Orgrimmar to teleport my forces here, so we could fight the Legion and meet you, though it appears that the Legion are holding back this time. Lyra Heartstrings, how long do you think we have until the Legion attacks this region?"
"They'll attack us soon." Lyra said, though at the same time she pulled her warglaives out and waited, because in her heart she knew that the Legion would be making its move in the next few minutes, "And, if I know them as well as Lord Illidan trained me to know them, they'll start their attack here, in this town, before trying to weaken us by attacking the rest of the region."
As she answered the question Lyra noticed that some of the other soldiers, be they from the Horde or the Alliance, had been looking at her the entire time, as if they had been curious as to what her answer was going to be, but now they were getting ready for the incoming attack. She had been told that the two factions hated each other, which was was they were almost always at war with each other, but it was only in the face of the Legion invading their world that they were able to overcome their hatred and do what was necessary to save their world. She was sure that there were other instances where they banded together to save Azeroth, and she knew that Trixie had to have lived through some of them, but she was happy to see that they were willing to work together.
It made her happy that they were stopping their personal wars and entering into an era of peace until the Legion was stopped... though her thoughts were interrupted as she looked at the sky and watched as a Legion ship warped into the sky above the town, where some of the soldiers shouted and pointed at it. As they all noticed that their enemies had arrived, however, the ship opened fire and sent small fel fire shots at them, which either vanished after hitting the ground or remained burning wherever it hit. Lyra turned her attention to the area around the town as the demons teleported from their ship and arrived all around the soldiers of the Horde and Alliance, to which she did what came naturally to her at this point in time.
"Soldiers of the Alliance and the Horde," Lyra said, jumping in front of the demon that was heading her way and severed the arm that was carrying the large axe it was carrying, before cutting the demon's heart out and causing it to collapse on the ground, "Attack the demons that are invading Azeroth and drive them back to whatever Legion world that they came from!"
Despite the fact that Lyra sucked at shouting orders around, and she knew that she needed to work on that if she was going to be the commander of the Illidari, the assembled forces of the Horde and the Alliance drew their various weapons and engaged in battle with the demons that were attacking the town. Arrows and magical missiles were flying through the air while pets, both those from nature and those bound to warlocks, struck the demons that warped into the town, though at the same time the melee classes dodged attacks that were coming their way and cut their foes apart. As Lyra fought by Trixie's side, and cut down any demons that dared to come their way, she noticed that the Legion was not holding back, as they were summoning wrath warriors, eredar, felbats, and the larger demons to take the defenders down.
As they fought against the army the Legion had sent to this region Lyra noticed some priests, monks, and paladins standing around the battlefield, though they were seeing if anyone was wounded and were apparently healing their allies before they were killed... though some of them were also dealing damage to enemies that were coming their way. She even spotted one or two of her Illidari gliding into the area from above and taking out enemies that were trying to flank someone, where some additional reinforcements arrived from the air and focused on the demons. With the combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde fighting together, and were cutting down the demons that were trying to burn down the town, Lyra immediately noticed that two larger demons, who had to be lieutenants from the Legion ship, warped right into the middle of the battle.
As the lieutenants were focused down, as each of them required half of the assembled forces to kill one of them, a third demon warped into the battle, though this one was a larger wrath warrior than the ones Lyra had fought on Mardum. His attacks cut open the road as the warriors dodged his attacks, though some of them were unfortunate to get hit and required the attention of a healer for a few minutes, but even with some of their forces being knocked out Lyra and the others managed to bring down the commander of the assault... where the ship remained silent as the fighting settled down. Lyra knew that the fight wasn't over yet, because she could feel the power of a high ranking demon that was waiting aboard the ship, though she was silently surprised when the demon actually shouted down at them... though it appeared that he was commanding his forces and trying to install fear in them at the same time.
"Leave no stone unturned!" the commander demon shouted, which was no doubt boosting the morale of the demons that currently remained at the moment, "Snuff out every mortal life you come across!"
"Spread out." a voice shouted, to which Lyra noticed that one of the leaders of Ironforge, Muradin Brozebeard thanks to what Trixie whispered to her, had actually been fighting the demons and seemed to be beckoning out to the area that was his domain, "This fight is just getting started!"
The moment the command was given Trixie and Lyra moved through the air, once again thanks to Trixie's dragon form, and searched around the region for any Legion invasion points, which Lyra was able to point out from the air, or any wandering demons that could be generals. At the same time Lyra noticed that the rest of the soldiers did the same thing, to which she noticed that there was a wide variety of flying type mounts; dragons, gryphons, wyverns, carpets that were infused with magic, contraptions made by gnomes and goblins, and others that Lyra couldn't identify. Trixie took them towards Ironforge, where they noticed a small group of Legion demons that were trying to open a gateway to a Legion world and summon reinforcements to aid them in their assault... where Lyra smiled when they and some other soldiers headed down to deal with them.
Apparently the demons and eredar they were dealing with had tied their lives to a fel shield that was surrounded a set of floating fel crystals, which was a mistake on their part as it actually lowered their abilities and allowed the group to take care of them, effectively destroying the portal that they were trying to open. The pieces of the portal broke apart and disappeared, no doubt returning to the ship or wherever the Legion was keeping them, to which Lyra, Trixie, and the other soldiers moved on to the next site. Lyra targeted a Pit Lord that happened to be wandering close to the gates of Ironforge, in the area below the actual gates, though the demon in question tried to kill her by breathing fel fire on her, loosing fel energy to push her backwards, and straight up using his claws to get the job done.
With the other soldiers keeping the Pit Lord's attention, for the most part anyway, Lyra managed to jump off of Trixie's back and landed on the demon's back, to which she ran up his spine and reached his head... where she drove her warglaives into the demon's thick head and brought him down to the ground. Lyra couldn't help but chuckle as she took some of the Pit Lord's essence from the demon, because she had, once upon a time, been terrified of even thinking about fighting one of these demons, though now they held no sway over her. At the same time she shivered when she felt the demon's power, as it mainly restored any wounds she had sustained and boosted her own abilities by a little bit... though she returned to where Trixie was and they set off for the next invasion site.
Thanks to all of the soldiers that were running around Dun Morogh, taking the fight to the Legion's forces and destroying all of the structures they were attempting to permanently tie to the land, they managed to stand against the power of the Legion and come out on top... until Lyra heard Muradin call out that the main commander, who seemed pissed over losing so much of his army, was personally attacking Kharanos. Once they heard that news Lyra and Trixie, accompanied by the other soldiers, returned to the town that had been under attack earlier, where they discovered a large Doomguard demon standing in the middle of the town, as if he was waiting for someone to arrive.
It was when Trixie and Lyra landed at the head of their forces, those that were facing the demon, that the large demon decided that it was time to speak... though Lyra could have sworn that it was staring at her the entire time.
"Greetings worms, I am Flamebringer Az'rothel," the Doomguard loudly said, as if announcing what his title was would cause them to bend their knees and submit to the Legion, but no one did that as they stared at the demon, "I will burn this entire region to the ground... and I will start by purging you and this town from existence!"
The moment those words left the demon's mouth he started raining fire down upon all of the people arrayed against him, though at the same time Lyra and the melee heroes charged at the demon and started swinging at him. Az'rothel summoned fire into his hands and sent fireballs at those he deemed important enough to kill, as it appeared that he was targeting the healers, but some of the smarter heroes used shield type spells to block most of the damage. It allowed Lyra to cut some gashes into the Demon Lord's legs and use her speed to do the same on his arms and back, but it appeared that it would take some time to finish the demon off.
One thing none of them were expecting was for Az'rothel to conjure several flaming spheres that detonated if no one hit them, but when someone struck them they would disappear, meaning that they had to break their concentration and get rid of the orbs before they refocused on the demon. Thanks to all the experienced heroes they managed to force the Demon Lord to his knees, though as he tried to kill them all one last time Lyra leapt off the building she had climbed to the top of and struck the demon in the head... effectively killing the demon and causing his body to crumple to the ground, which was followed by the ship warping away from the area and allowing the sky to clear once more.
"A fine victory." Kurost commented, to which he walked up to the corpse of the Demon Lord, which was resting in the middle of the road, though at the same time he cleaned his weapons of the blood that was on them, "It was an honor to watch you fight, Lyra Heartstrings, because the illidari you sent to Orgrimmar said that their new master happened to be quite powerful in her own right... and I can tell that they weren't kidding. I am glad that you, and your forces, are on our side, though I wouldn't mind facing you at some point in the future."
Lyra opened her mouth to say something, and tell the orc not to listen to the things that the Illidari had told him, but before she could speak one of the other mages came over and mentioned that they were moving to another zone that had a Legion ship floating above the region. It was then that Kurost asked if Lyra and Trixie would be willing to lend him their assistance in stopping the Legion from burning the Barrens to the ground, to which the two Equestrians nodded as Trixie aided the other mages in opening a new portal to a new location Lyra had never been to before. Lyra was pleased that they had actually suffered no losses while they were fighting the demons that were attacking Dun Morogh, as she actually expected a few deaths, but she was going to take what fate was giving her.
Soon she and Trixie, and the other heroes she was meeting, would stop the Legion attacks on both the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, where they would begin their assault on the Broken Shore once more... though she was sure that Archmage Khadgar was coming up with a plan to turn the tide against their enemies, to which she smiled and followed the other heroes into the portal, as there were more demons to kill and more people to save.
Lyra and Trixie, with help from the strongest heroes that the Alliance and the Horde could offer, spent a week traveling between the various locations that the Legion attacked and brought down the forces that were attacking the town in the region they happened to be traveling to. It gave Lyra some time to explore and know the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor better, as she had never explored them before and needed Trixie's knowledge to show her where everything was, while at the same time they took the fight to the demons that sought to destroy Azeroth. It also gave her the opportunity to meet some of the strongest heroes that the two factions had, which meant that she met warlocks, rogues, priests, and the other classes that existed throughout the world... including the Death Knights, which Trixie had to spend an afternoon explaining their origin to her before she understood them.
To Lyra it seemed that the strongest heroes, with the inclusion of her for the demon hunters, seemed to be evenly split down the middle, as six of the classes had the strongest heroes in the Horde while the remaining six remained in the Alliance... which Lyra was sure had pissed some people off, but she wasn't about to complain, as it put both factions on equal ground for the war with the Legion.
There were times where Archmage Khadgar recalled Trixie to Dalaran, as it appeared that he might have discovered something that could help them in the war with the Legion and wanted his apprentice's input before coming to a decision, which meant that Lyra had to catch the portals that the other mages opened. It felt weird when she had to attack the invaders without Trixie, especially when she was used to explaining why the Legion continued to attack the same six locations a few times. Nonetheless she and the other heroes killed hundreds of demons, from the various races that made up the ranks of the Legion, and she was able to sample almost every type of demon soul in the process... though she was annoyed when they did little more than empower her for a few seconds.
As she and the other heroes stopped what was the fifth invasion for the day, which was a record for the Legion, she had to wonder if there was a way to imbue her weapons with the power to absorb the souls of the demons she slew so they wouldn't come back in the future... and, more importantly, allow her to boost her natural abilities as a demon hunter. She had asked Kayn about that when she was last in Dalaran, which had been about four days ago, and she had been promised that she would be informed if a stronger weapon, one that fit the information she had given Kayn, had been found among the ranks of the Legion... or anywhere else across Azeroth.
She turned to the Alliance mages that were gathering together, to open a portal to the next area that they needed to defend from the Legion, when she noticed that the area they were heading to was actually Dalaran. When she asked one of the other heroes what was going on, however, she discovered that Archmage Khadgar was calling for all the heroes to gather in the city before they teleported the city to a new location. It quickly became clear that Trixie and her mentor had discovered something that could help them turn the tide against the Legion, which meant that they were going to be heading to a new location and would be seeing something other than the same invasions... which was apparently ending, as it appeared that the Legion had stopped focusing on the towns she and the other heroes had been guarding.
When Lyra stepped through the portal, and returned to Dalaran with the other heroes, they found that the city was under attack by six Legion ships that were arrayed to do the maximum amount of damage, indicating that they were planning on knocking the city out of the sky. Sure, there were some lesser demons running around the city, mostly imps and a few infernals, but it appeared that they didn't need Lyra's help... which was fine, because Trixie ran out of the middle area of the city and spotted her within a few seconds.
"Trixie, did you and Khadgar find something that could turn back the Legion?" Lyra asked, though she knew that even if they hadn't found anything the Legion would have attacked the city in due time, because it was a prime target and was full of magic that the demons would want to take for themselves.
"Yes, though we had to trek through a small section Ulduar and visit Karazhan to get the information we needed," Trixie replied, to which she beckoned for Lyra to follow her into the area she had walked out of, where Lyra discovered the Council of Six charging some sort of magical spell in the middle of the area they were in, "We need to find the five Pillars of Creation, which are five immensely powerful artifacts that can lock the portal in the Tomb of Sargeras and prevent the Legion from coming into our world. Unfortunately the five artifacts are located on the Broken Isles, which we have been studying since we discovered this information... though now that the Legion is attacking the city we all agreed that it was time to act and recover the Pillars."
Lyra was glad that they had gained something while protecting the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor from the Legion, though she had no idea what these five Pillars were or where to find them on the Broken Isles, but she had the feeling that Trixie and Khadgar had an idea where to start. She was sure that Khadgar and the others had a plan to get rid of the six Legion ships that were baring down on the city, which oddly weren't sending their larger and tougher forces to fight them in battle, though she patiently waited for the mages to finish whatever they were doing.
"Citizens of Azeroth!" Khadgar called out, to which he moved his hand towards the middle of the room as he spoke, which was a motion that was apparently repeated by the other five mages as both Trixie and Lyra watched what was going on in front of them, "Today is the day that we turn the tide. Today is the day that we re-take our world. And send the Legion back to the hell that spawned them."
The moment Khadgar said that the area between him and the other mages lit up as a beam of concentrated magic surged through the room and hit the top of the building, though Lyra could feel that they were preparing something massive based on the power she was feeling. It was almost like she was back in Canterlot, during the wedding when Princess Celestia dueled the Changeling Queen for a few moments, because the power she felt almost reminded her of her home world... and she was sure that Trixie was feeling the same way.
"Our path is clear." Khadgar said, using the same volume that he had used a few seconds ago, while at the same time the other mages nodded their heads, as if they were telling Lyra and Trixie that this was the best course of action, "The Pillars of Creation await... on the Broken Isles!"
The instant the last word left Khadgar's mouth Lyra felt a surge of energy pass through the building and cast a glance outside, where she found that the Legion ships were missing. She had to wonder if part of the spell had destroyed the ships, or if the mages had simply teleported the six ships to a different location, but she decided that it didn't matter at the moment. That was followed by the purple arcane energy leaking out of the chamber they were in and flowing over each and every building that Lyra could see, making her wonder what the Council of Six was even trying to do, before the area around them disappeared and they teleported the large city to its new destination.
Lyra moaned as she came to, to which she picked herself off the floor and looked back into the chamber that the Council of Six had been standing in, though she found that she and Trixie were the only ones left at the moment. She suspected that Trixie wouldn't be caught off guard by the amount of magic that the six Archmages had poured into their teleportation spell, as she suspected that it required a lot of power to move a city of Dalaran's size, but it had still caught Lyra off guard. After a few moments Trixie walked over and helped her onto her hooves, to which the two of them walked out of the chamber so they could make sure that the rest of the citizens were okay from the massive teleportation spell that had surged throughout the entire city.
"Okay, now that we're near the Broken Isles, where should we go first?" Lyra asked, though at the same time she wished that she had time to actually study the area they would be heading towards and aiding the locals in their various problems, whether that meant fighting the Legion or settling a dispute between two factions.
"My mentor told me that some of the smartest members of each class have been searching for powerful artifacts that can help us win this war," Trixie replied, to which she let out a sigh for a few seconds, which told Lyra that she either didn't trust the other mages to find something powerful or that she didn't want such a weapon, "He said that we should take a breather and wait to see if we can find anything... because we might find some useful weapons that can aid us and deprive our enemies of the weapons they would use to hasten the end of our world."
Lyra nodded her head for a few seconds, because she agreed that the various classes should take every opportunity that presented itself, so they could secure every powerful artifact weapon and keep them out of the Legion's hands. Not a moment later she noticed Kor'vas walking over to where the two of them were standing, though the look on her face told Lyra that she might have some information regarding such a weapon.
"Lyra, it's a good thing I found you so quickly," Kor'vas said, to which she turned her head to the left and right for a few seconds, as if she didn't trust anyone besides her and Trixie, "Kayn told me that he might have found a weapon that matches what you told him earlier... and that he's waiting in Krasus' Landing, where he'll give you the information he has on the weapon in question."
Lyra glanced at Trixie for a moment, knowing that the other Equestrian was curious as to why she had been searching for a weapon before this point, before she headed in the direction of Krasus' Landing. As she stepped out onto the landing, where people were coming into the city every so often by some sort of flying mount, she immediately noticed Kayn standing next to a table, with some tamed felbats sitting on the wall behind him.
"Lyra, I see that you got my message." Kayn commented, knowing that the reason Lyra was here was not because here wanted to have a normal conversation, but rather because she had heard the news he had told Kor'vas.
"I did." Lyra said, knowing that Trixie was standing behind her, though at the same time she couldn't fault her for following along, "I heard that you managed to find a weapon that matches what I told you a few days ago?"
"Actually, we found two pairs of blades that you could use," Kayn replied, to which he picked up a sheet of paper and handed it over to Lyra, who glanced down at it and looked at what she was being shown, "The first pair of warglaives are known as the Aldrachi Warblades, which were bestowed to a demon hunter that willingly became the servant of Kil'Jaeden, though we're fairly certain that it's Carla who holds them. The second pair of warglaives are called the Twinblades of the Deceiver, as the original pair of warglaives were empowered by some of Kil'jaeden's chaotic power... though they are being wielded by one Varedis Felsoul at the moment."
"Varedis?!" Lyra asked, not believing what she was hearing, because the demon hunter had been one of her former teachers and had been killed shortly before the attack on the Black Temple, "How can he still be alive? We all know that he fell before the forces of Shattrath attacked the Black Temple."
"From what we can gather Kil'Jaeden revived him in the Twisting Nether, inflicted some torture on him, and converted him to the Legion's side." Kayn answered, though at the same time he sounded annoyed, which was understandable because Lyra was both shocked and pissed off at the same time, "Varedis and the Twinblades are still within reach, that much we know for sure... but, if you want to pursue this weapon we'll have to ask the eredar lord that was captured and imprisoned inside the Violet Hold."
"I heard that the demon you're talking about put up quite the fight before he was captured." Trixie said, remembering what Khadgar had told her about the Kirin Tor's encounter with the demon, "The eredar you're referring to killed quite a good amount of people before he was wounded enough to capture... and I don't think the warden will let you inside the prison to speak with him. However, that doesn't mean that we can't simply ask someone to speak to the warden for us."
Lyra immediately knew that Trixie was referring to her mentor, who seemed to be the one person that most of the people in Dalaran listened to in times like this and was well respected by the other members of the Council of Six. When she told Kayn who Trixie was referring to, however, she found that her second agreed with them, to which the three of them made their way towards the area where the Council gathered. It didn't take them long to find the majority of the Council of Six deep in conversation, no doubt sharing news about all the potential weapons that might be used against the Legion, though they didn't seem to mind it when Trixie asked if she could talk with Khadgar for a few minutes... though Lyra did noticed that Trixie used the word 'mentor' and not his name, indicating that she knew that Khadgar was still higher in ranking than her, despite the deeds she had done over the last seven years.
When Trixie explained why the three of them wanted to speak with Khadgar, however, they learned that the Archmage had specifically ordered that the eredar lord be captured and not killed when they encountered it, because he had heard that the demon might know where a pair of warglaives might be found... though the trio knew he was referring to the Twinblades of the Deceiver. Seeing how Khadgar had captured the eredar lord specifically for the weapon to be found, and was merely waiting for them to come and see him about the weapon, he agreed to speak to the warden on their behalf. They quickly made their way towards the Violet Hold and approached the warden, who got into a small conversation with Khadgar before he agreed to let Lyra and Trixie inside the prison.
As the trio entered the prison, and noticed that it was guarded by several guards and a fair number of magical constructs, the warden spoke to a familiar made of arcane energy and had it lower the barrier it was generating, while at the same time the other guards ran towards the door and left the prison. Kayn and Trixie, knowing that this was where Lyra would follow the warden, promised her that they would stand by the door and be a last line of defense in the off chance the eredar tried to escape through the open door. The two of them approached the cell that the eredar was behind held in, though as they walked up to it Lyra could have sworn that the demon knew her... and that really didn't sit well with her as they stopped in front of the cell.
"Lyra Heartstrings?!" the demon stated, though Lyra could hear the anger in the demon's voice, which told her that something from her past was rising to the surface once more, "You were the one that slew my brother, Terraxas, in Shadowmoon Valley! You would dare to stand before me, Taldath the Destroyer, after so many of your kin have fallen and after you slew my brother? If you release me I promise that I will make your suffering quick... but I will enjoy personally torturing your soul until you bend your knee to Lord Kil'Jaeden, just like the others we have broken!"
"I can see that you and Taldath might have some 'history' with each other," the warden commented, though it was clear that he didn't like the sound of some demon hunters being broken and siding with the Legion, but that didn't stop him from accessing his magic, "Remember, you were never here."
Lyra stared at the large eredar as the cell door disappeared, while at the same time the warden teleported out of the prison, though she was more interested in getting the information she needed from Taldath. As the eredar lord stepped out of the prison he thrust his hand towards Lyra and surrounded her in fel magic, to which he forced her back to the floor level that was below them and teleported to her as she broke free. The moment she was free, and had her warglaives drawn, Taldath charged at her with the wide variety of attacks that were at his disposal; which included breathing fel fire on her, throwing fel fireballs in her direction, summoning a hail of fel fire from the air to burn the ground, and used two balls to create a beam of dark energy that was designed to damage her.
Lyra remembered her encounter with the demon known as Terraxas, back when she was a novice in the style of fighting like one of the demon hunters, but her experience and power aided her in bringing down Taldath... after he had, foolishly she mentally added, proclaimed that all of Suramar would bow at his master's will.
"So Varedis is in Suramar," Kayn commented when Lyra returned to the group, where the three of them left the prison and nodded to Khadgar, informing the Archmage that they knew where the Twinblades were located, "two other demon hunters should join you as you hunt Varedis down, mainly to ensure that none of the other demons interfere with your fight. The rest of us will stay here, where we can keep a close eye on the second pair of blades... just in the off chance that we might want to claim them and remove them from the Legion's possession."
Lyra nodded as they walked back to Krasus' Landing, where she discovered that a third felbat had been prepared with the other two, who already had riders on their backs. It was clear that the moment they went to talk with Khadgar, and ask about seeing the eredar, Kayn had ordered that the felbats be made ready for her. She heard that Darksorrow and Ravencrest would be heading out with her, which made her somewhat happy as she climbed onto the felbat that had been prepared for her, bid Trixie farewell for the moment, and took off with her companions.
Lyra looked out over the fel infested hold that was apparently called Felsoul Hold, which told her that Varedis wasn't even trying to hide himself at this point, and noticed all of the red felbats that seemed to be lingering in the air. She had ignored the massive elven city that was resting near Felsoul Hold, because it wasn't of importance at the moment and she needed to have all her focus on the task at hand. Her fellow demon hunters were silent as well, as it meant that they could keep themselves hidden for the most part, though the other reason was because she was their leader and they were waiting for orders to be given to them.
Unfortunately one of the flying doomguards noticed that they were riding on the felbats and shouted down to the others, to which the sky was filled with fel shots as the demons tried to shoot them down... though they succeeded in blowing her companions out of the air and forcing her to dismount her own felbat, where she rushed towards the closest cannon and took it out with the energy that had gathered around her for a few seconds.
"To arms!" a high ranking demon shouted, telling Lyra that the entire hold was going to be ready for her assault, though at the same time she pulled her warglaives out as she stood back up, "Lord Felsoul must not be disturbed."
Lyra charged down the ramp that was in front of her and collided with the demons that were coming towards the cannon she had taken out, where she danced around the blows that were coming her way and cut down the demons that were in her way. It didn't matter what sort of demon tried to fight her, because she fought the wrath warriors, fel stalkers, eredar, and even a pair of Mo'arg that had been summoned from a nearby portal, though she did notice a fel construct that appeared to be powering the barrier she had seen when she and the others had entered the area. She loosed her Eye Beam at the fel pillar and tore it to pieces, which seemed to weaken the barrier for a moment, before she noticed that she needed to take out two more if she wanted to get at Varedis.
The commander demon she had heard a few minutes ago was standing in front of the second pillar she needed to destroy, though when she engaged him in battle the demon proclaimed that this would be as far as she went... to which she mentally laughed as she dodged his attacks, delivered her own to his body, and swiftly cut him down. Once the demon commander was dead, and any demon he had summoned during the fight had been taken care of, Lyra turned to the pillar and brought it down as well.
"Lyra Heartstrings." a familiar voice said, to which she turned around as she looked for Varedis, though when she didn't find him she knew that he was taunting her from the piece of his hold that was resting behind the barrier, "It has been years since we last saw each other. You, of all people, should know better than to challenge me."
Lyra let out a sigh as she followed the pathway that would no doubt lead her right to where Varedis was waiting for her, to which she had to contend with an infernal that hit harder than any of the other ones she had encountered before this point, but the souls fragments that she shaved off healed the majority of the wounds she had been dealt. She then advanced on the eredar summoners that were standing in her way, to which she cut them down and advanced towards the end of the path she was on... where she found an Overfiend, a large demon that had fel fire on its body and was wearing armor, step out of a portal.
Lyra groaned as she stared at the demon, because she had heard about this type of demon and never encountered one until this point, which means that this would be a new experience for her. Fortunately it appeared that this particular demon had been designed to defend Varedis against demon hunters, because if it had any additional abilities then Lyra would have been in trouble, but the speed of their attacks was about equal. Since her opponent had nothing more than speed backing it, however, she used her abilities to stun the demon where it was standing and delivered a group of punishing blows with her other abilities... to which she brought the demon down and let out another sigh.
As she destroyed the third and final pillar, however, she watched as the barrier fell apart, though before she could take a step Varedis appeared on the other side of the fel river that rested between where they were standing. Lyra was surprised when she saw what had become of her former mentor, because his skin had darkened more than the other demon hunters and his tattoos burned with fel energy. His feet were permanently locked in the form of hooves, while at the same time his wings were out in full display, as if he was proud of the fact that he had joined the Legion and had taken on such a corrupting position. Varedis also wore nothing on his chest, though he was wearing some pants and a sash, making him look like a mockery of Lord Illidan, which only served to piss Lyra off more than she already was.
That was before she noticed the warglaives that Varedis was carrying, because the weapons he was carrying seemed much sharper and more deadlier than what Lyra was carrying at the moment... and that wasn't taking into consideration the fact that Kil'Jaeden had empowered the weapons with his own power, because Lyra was sure that she could feel the small fragment of the Deceiver's power from where she was standing.
"I was Illidari once..." Varedis commented, though at the same time he glared at Lyra while he spoke, as if he blamed her for something that she didn't know about, "left for dead at the Black Temple. Now you will witness the power of my new master! Behold the infinite power of the Twinblades!"
The moment the last part came out of his mouth Varedis leveled one of the Twinblades with where she was standing and loosed some strands of fel energy into the river between them, to which he forced a piece of the ground beneath them to rise and form a bridge for Lyra to use. Lyra, on the other hand, had no idea if Varedis was trying to impress her enough to make her change sides, but she gripped her weapons and charged forward as her target moved backwards. Instead of fighting Varedis in her base form, which would be asking for trouble when she considered the power he had commanded when he was training her, Lyra immediately accessed her Havoc form and jumped into the air... to which she slammed into the ground in front of Varedis and let her warglaives come into contact with the Twinblades.
When one of them stunned the other and loosed their version of the Eye Beam on their opponent, to do damage to them, the other would break free and do the same thing, just to even the playing field. When one of them used the Blade Dance in combination with the area of darkness effect the other would copy them, which was generally followed by their blades coming into contact with each other. Neither of them seemed to be making any progress in defeating the other, as they seemed to be evenly matched in their empowered forms, though that was before something powerful froze Lyra where she was standing and allowed Varedis to back away for a few seconds.
"Return to Argus." a new voice said, though this one was so commanding that Lyra knew that it had to belong to Kil'Jaeden the Deceiver, which meant that he had been watching the two of them fight the entire time, "We will deal with this one another day."
"I have no need for mortal armaments!" Varedis declared, to which he threw the Twinblades at the ground in front of Lyra, where they impaled the ground with one side sticking into the ground, before he charged at the portal he had been building and turned back towards Lyra, "You and I will meet again, Lyra Heartstrings, and when we do I will take great pleasure in corrupting your soul!"
As Lyra recovered from being stunned by Kil'Jaeden she watched as Varedis charged into the portal and disappeared, though before she could follow him to Argus, and finish the fight, the portal closed... to which she let out a sigh as she left her empowered state and approached the Twinblades, where she gently placed hers on the ground and took hold of the powerful weapons. She could feel the power of the blades the moment she took hold of them, which made her stagger for a few seconds, but she stood up and let a smile appear on her face, because Varedis just gave her the weapons she had been searching for... and would take great pleasure in using them against the Legion.
"Well done Lyra," a voice said, to which Lyra turned and watched as Kayn flew in on a felbat, along with a few more of their companions, "It's a shame that Varedis got away, it truly is, but you have what you came for... though the day will come when you and Varedis will cross paths again. Come on, let's get back to Dalaran and put those Twinblades to use."
Lyra nodded and sheathed the Twinblades on her back, as she was slightly surprised by how light these ones were, though before she moved she picked up her old warglaives and tossed them to one of the demon hunters that had accompanied Kayn. The reasoning was that someone else might need a pair of warglaives in the future and it was best if they took them away from Felsoul Hold, in case the other demons tried to corrupt them or something, though that was followed by her climbing onto the remaining felbat and taking off with the others.
When they arrived in Dalaran, and approached Krasus' Landing, Lyra noticed three of her fellow demon hunters, Kor'vas, Belath, and Asha, standing near the middle of the landing, though they were accompanied by Trixie and Khadgar. Her fellow demon hunters were amazed by the Twinblades, while both of the mages stared at them in awe, though that was before Kor'vas mentioned that Jace needed her help with something and that they should head towards the small floating island that Khadgar was allowing them to use. Lyra nodded and followed her fellow demon hunters towards the ruined wall, to which they jumped off the edge and used their fel energy to summon their temporary wings from their tattoos on their backs... though Lyra noticed that they were followed by the slow falling forms of Trixie and Khadgar.
It didn't take them long to reach the floating island in question, which appeared to be a piece of the ground that had been ripped out of the earth when Dalaran had been teleported into the air so long ago, but Lyra was happy to see that Jace and the others were waiting for them... and that they had some demons imprisoned on both sides of an area that could serve as a portal to some location. There was also a Legion communicator, which Jace must have taken from the Vault while she and Trixie were busy saving the world, sitting nearby, though Lyra was pleased to find the image of the Matron Mother looking at her.
"Lyra, I have good news to tell you," Jace said, to which he tapped the communicator for a few seconds, indicating that whatever he was going to tell her was definitely something important, "I was able to make contact with our forces aboard the Fel Hammer, which they have held ever since we left Mardum all those years ago. Unfortunately the Matron Mother used most of the ship's power to teleport the bulk of our forces aboard the ship, but it greatly taxes what power remains in the ship. We now have a much better way to get to the ship... since your new weapons hold a fragment of Kil'Jaeden's power you should be able to open a permanent portal to the Fel Hammer. All you have to do is give the word and we'll get started opening our portal."
Lyra looked at the demons that had been gathered on this island, knowing that if they were free they would have brought ruin to the world in one form or another, to which she let out a sigh as she stepped between the two containers and faced the point where the portal would be created.
"Do it." Lyra commanded, to which Asha and Belath raised their warglaives and loosed their Eye Beams at the demons they were standing in front of, where their souls flowed towards the area in front of Lyra.
She waited for a few seconds, to be sure that all of the souls had gathered in the one spot, before she pulled the Twinblades out and swung them at the area in front of her, effectively cleaving a hole in the air that forced her to take a few steps back... though she smiled when she saw the gleaming portal that would take them to the Fel Hammer.
Her fellow demon hunters cheered as they walked into the newly opened portal, heading to the ship they had taken from the Legion, to which she beckoned for Trixie and Khadgar to follow her through the portal. When they appeared on the other side the Matron Mother expressed her delight in seeing Lyra again, though that was when she beckoned for her and her new friends to enter the ship. As Lyra walked into the main chamber of the Fel Hammer she immediately noticed that the body of the Brood Queen she had killed, more than seven years ago, was hanging in the middle of the ceiling... though she was sure that the demon was very dead at this point.
As she stopped in front of the console that rested in front of her, however, Lyra heard a growl that she hadn't heard in seven years, to which she turned and smiled as her felsaber walked up to where she was standing and sat next to her. Once she was reunited with her mount, who was pleased to see her again, Lyra raised one of the Twinblades into the air and the Fel Hammer responded, to which the entire ship woke up from its seven year slumber and powered up all of its systems. Lyra smiled as a star chart burst into existence in the middle of the room, detailing all the broken planets that rested near Mardum, while also noticing the sphere that had to be Azeroth.
Lyra let her smile grow as the Ashtongue, the Coilskar, and the Shivarra teleported aboard the Fel Hammer, because now that the ship was under the control of the Illidari they could begin gathering additional resources and soldiers as they searched for the Pillars of Creation... and she was going to enjoy stopping the Legion every step of the way.
If someone had accused Trixie of being stunned when Lyra showed her and her mentor the Fel Hammer, the Legion ship that she and the other demon hunters had taken seven years ago when they invaded the prison plane known as Mardum, she would have agreed with them. The Fel Hammer had a number of secrets that she and her mentor could spend months learning about and still be no closer to figuring out everything that the ship had to offer, though at the same time she was glad that they had one on their side. Khadgar was already making a map in his head of where the potential weak points of the ship were located, because it seemed like the Legion mass produced these ships and that by studying one it would give them the edge against the other ships... if their enemies used them again at some point in the future.
As Lyra got caught up to date about what had happened since she and the others returned to the Black Temple seven years ago, where they were captured by Maiev and her Wardens, Trixie took some time to take in the appearance of Lyra's mount, the felsaber, and decided that she was glad that she had never fought that particular demon before. The catlike demon let out a yawn as Lyra spoke with the captains of the various races that were part of the Illidari, though Trixie noticed that her fellow Equestrian seemed pleased by what she heard. She found it amazing that Lyra's forces could have held the Fel Hammer, and the area around it, for seven years and held off every demon attack that came their way, which had to be a fair number.
Trixie had to wonder what was so special about Mardum, and the Fel Hammer, that would make the Legion attack the area every now and then, but she could tell that the only way she was going to figure that out would be to ask Lyra... as the other demon hunters hesitated to trust her, despite her connection to their leader.
"Trixie, I know that you are going to go find your own artifact weapon soon, but I think there might be one more thing we haven't seen yet," Lyra said, beckoning Lyra and Khadgar to follow her for a moment, to which she turned to the Broken warrior that was standing in front of her, "Gaardoun, could you show us what you found?"
"Of course Commander," Gaardoun replied, to which he started walking towards one of the four ramps that would take them to the lower level of the ship, where the prize Lyra had mentioned was located, "Legion reinforcements arrived soon after you and the others left for the Black Temple, destroying the portal behind you... though all I will say is that it was a glorious battle. In the aftermath we uncovered an ancient Nathrezim forge, one that was used to create many of the Legion's most powerful weapons. We've guarded it carefully ever since we discovered its existence... though I'm sure that it will prove quite useful to you."
The forge in question was unlike anything Lyra or Trixie had ever seen before, because while the forge looked imposing, with the spikes and the two skulls on both the right and left sides of it, they could feel the fel energy coming from the seemingly ancient forge. Lyra stepped forward and gently placed the Twinblades on the forge, wondering how all of this worked, though she decided to take a leap of faith and closed her eyes, making it appear that she was trying to commune with her weapon. She could feel the demon souls that Varedis had fed to the Twinblades empower the pair of blades with new power, spending the energy that had been lingering in the blades and telling her that she would need to kill more demons, and potentially other enemies, to further empower her new weapons.
Lyra wasn't quite sure what she got in return for using the power of the souls that had been swallowed by the Twinblades, but she was sure that she would discover the difference... once she and Trixie started their quest to find the Pillars of Creation.
"Hey Lyra,"Trixie said, causing the other Equestrian to turn towards her for a moment, "Khadgar and I are going to return to Dalaran and see if the other mages have had any luck uncovering anything useful, so is it okay if we leave you and your forces to catch up with each other... and the events that are unfolding on Azeroth?"
"Sure, if that's what you want." Lyra replied, sounding a little annoyed that Trixie wanted to separate once more, but then she sighed and smiled at her friend, which told Trixie that her friend fully expected her to go find her own artifact and empower it a little bit, "I'll return to Dalaran as soon as I'm finished up here."
Trixie nodded and turned towards the ramp that they had used to reach the lower level of the Fel Hammer, where she and her mentor started walking towards the portal that would take them back to Dalaran. She was sure that one of the mages, from either the Horde or the Alliance, had to have uncovered something she could use in the fight against the Legion. It was the same feeling she had about the other classes that were running around the city, as everyone else was researching the various artifacts that belonged to their particular class and were devising plans to find and recover any of the weapons they could locate.
She glanced at the demons that were looking at her and Khadgar, the ones that were allied with the Illidari, and knew that they would continue to keep this ship safe... to which she and her mentor stepped through the portal that two demons were maintaining, why she had no idea, and returned to Dalaran so they could plan what to do next.
"I must return to the Council and tell them about the Fel Hammer," Khadgar commented, though at the same time he and Trixie walked down the street of Dalaran for a few seconds, but he did so at a pace that told his apprentice that he expected someone to come looking for her, "Trixie, you are one of the strongest mages I have ever seen in my entire life, in the entirety of Azeroth, so I would expect one of our fellow mages to approach you at..."
Before he could finish his statement, and inform his apprentice that he fully expected her to acquire an artifact of her own, a magical construct, in the form of a fly to avoid alerting their enemies of what they were doing, approached the group and stared at Trixie. Khadgar, knowing that a message was about to reveal itself, stopped and faced Trixie, making it look like the two of them were having a conversation, despite the fact that he had no idea what the message was.
"Trixie Lulamoon! Thank goodness I've reached you!" a voice said, one that Trixie immediately recognized as one of the Forsaken's mages, though she was sure that she had never met the person that the voice belonged to, "I need your help. Come to the tower above the Silver Enclave and I will explain everything to you."
Trixie found it odd that the mage wanted to talk with her in a specific building in Dalaran, one that was close to Krasus' Landing, and instead of speaking to her upon her return from the Fel Hammer the mage sent a magical construct to find her and direct her to the building that she and her mentor had walked passed a few seconds ago. As she thought about the message the magic expired and the magical fly vanished, to which she looked back at the building that was behind them and wondered what the other mage could want with her.
"It appears that I was correct." Khadgar said, to which he placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder for a second, where he smiled at her, "I am sure that you and your new associate will be able to locate a powerful weapon for you to use... and then we can see to finding the Pillars of Creation."
Trixie nodded and carefully made her way to the building the mysterious mage had requested that they meet up in, though the reason for being careful was because she had no idea if she was being watched and was trying to act like everyone else that was around her. As she stepped up to the entrance of the building she noticed a raven fly through the air, which had to be her mentor using one of the powers that his own staff gave him, before she took a deep breath and headed inside the building. The few mages that were in the building hardly noticed her walk into their area, which told her that they weren't who she was meeting, to which she walked to the upper level... where she noticed an undead mage sitting in the middle of the upper level, with some books surrounding him.
After coming to a stop at the entrance of the upper level Trixie let out a small cough, one that immediately made the undead mage turn around and notice that he had company... to which he smiled, to the best of his ability, before his face changed back to a frown.
"Good, you made it." the mage said, to which he closed the book he had been looking at, and placed it back on the pile that it apparently belonged to, and faced Trixie, "I'm afraid that we have an escaped Dreadlord on our hands."
"Explain what you mean." Trixie stated, because while she knew that Dreadlord demons could be disastrous to the area they were in, such as Dalaran, she also had no idea how such a demon broke free of the prison that the mage had originally put the demon in.
"I was a fool. I believed that I could banish Kathra'natir once and for all," the mage explained, to which he let out a sigh as he spoke, which told Trixie that there was something terrible about what she was hearing, "Years ago the Dreadlord was tricked into possessing my body, where it was believed that he would be contained until the end of time... but with the return of the Legion he has broken free and has escaped. Unfortunately he knows the secrets of the Council of Tirisfal, which he could use to disastrous effect... and potentially cripple our order forever."
"Okay, then we had better stop him," Trixie stated, though at the same time she had no idea where the demon could be, but she was sure that her new friend might know that answer, "Do you have any idea where Kathra'natir could have wandered off to?"
"Yes. He's gone to steal our order's most ancient relic, a forge that the Council of Tirisfal has used to imbue their weapons with their power." the mage replied, which immediately reminded Trixie of the forge she had seen in the Fel Hammer, where she wondered what the mage version of the forge looked like, "The Council hid the forge inside the Violet Hold for safekeeping... so that is where we must go. Oh, and before you ask, my name is Meryl Felstorm."
Trixie had to wonder how she hadn't spotted the magical forge if it was inside the Violet Hold, as she had been there an hour ago when Lyra was speaking with the eredar that had been captured, but before she could say anything Meryl opened a portal that apparently went into the prison. The two of them entered the portal and appeared in the prison, though the moment they were on the other side Trixie immediately noticed the large Dreadlord in the area in front of the prison's entrance, though a magical barrier rested between the demon and the middle of the prison. There were also four more shadowy demons positioned around the prison, apparently firing their powers at the middle of the prison, which meant that they were here to steal the forge and grant its powers to the Legion.
Before Trixie could even think up a plan of attack, or even take the time to properly prepare herself, Meryl charged forward and stopped in front of the demon, to which he held his staff up and prepared himself for battle.
"It's over Dreadlord," Meryl shouted, causing the large demon to turn its attention from the middle of the prison and lock eyes with the person he had been imprisoned in for so many years, while at the same time Trixie stopped next to him, "your evil reign ends here!"
"How pitiful. You should have brought an army to fight against me!" Kathra'natir stated, though his tone indicated that he believed that his strength was greater than the two mages that were standing against him, "What good is one little mage against the power of the Nathrezim!"
Trixie and Meryl raised their hands and started throwing spells at the Dreadlord, though even as her spells collided with the demon's chest Trixie could tell that they were having less effect than the demons she had struck when she had been fighting on the Broken Shore. She suspected that the demon was either empowered by the forge itself, which might make him untouchable, or he had been gathering his power over the years and this was his natural strength, though she was willing to believe the second guess more than the first one. After a minute of their attacks doing nothing, and having to move to avoid being cut down by Kathra'natir's claws, Meryl had a brilliant idea and froze the demon in a large block of ice... to which he turned towards Trixie for a few seconds.
"He's too strong to take down on our own," Meryl stated, echoing the thoughts that had been going through Trixie's mind for a few seconds, "we need the power of the forge to take him out. I'll distract the demon while you find a way passed his barrier... and then take the forge's power for yourself."
Trixie nodded and charged at the magical barrier that was in front of her, to which she called upon the Blink spell she had learned, which was pretty much a teleportation spell, and reappeared behind the barrier. With the deed done she turned her attention to the first of the four shadowy demons she had seen, which were actually rifts now that she was up close and personal with them, and opened fire by using her arcane energy on the rift. Of course the rift tried to fight back, which she fully expected it to do, but it quickly fell and allowed Trixie to maneuver around the prison, where she targeted and took out the remaining three rifts that were around the area.
When the last one fell, however, she noticed that a shimmering magical font appeared in the middle of the prison, which had to be the forge that Meryl had mentioned... though she suspected that the reason she had never seen it before was because of the seals that had been placed on it, which must have been undone by the rifts. As Meryl continued to apply frost to the ice block, which was keeping Kathra'natir contained, Trixie approached the forge and placed her hand on it, where she could feel the power flow into her body. She could have sworn that she heard someone mention her taking their power to banish the demon back to where it came from, to which she lifted into the air and let the power surge through her... though a few seconds later she landed beside the forge once more, with a shimmer added to her body.
The instant after she landed on the floor, and returned her attention to the task at hand, Kathra'natir shattered his icy prison and flared his wings, looking really pissed off that Meryl had been able to stall him like that, but this time Trixie was ready for him. The moment she started firing spells at the Dreadlord she immediately noticed that they seemed to pack more of a punch, though when she spotted her opponent applying a beneficial spell to himself she accessed another spell, the Spellsteal spell, and snatched the effect for herself. When she was about to deal the finishing blow, however, her opponent disappeared and reappeared at the highest point in the prison, to which he told her that he would hand the Legion the secrets he knew and that he would return in the near future... where he disappeared and left Trixie to check up on Meryl.
When Trixie approached her new friend, however, the shimmer on her body surged out of her and built into a shimmering man beside Meryl, though Trixie was pleased to have her body all to herself again.
"Alodi!" Meryl said, though his tone indicated that he knew who the shimmering man was supposed to be, which made Trixie wonder if he had been one of the legendary Guardians she had heard about.
"It is good to see you again old friend, though I wish it was under better circumstances." the specter replied, to which the two of them approached Trixie, where the three of them started walking towards the newly revealed forge, "The Dreadlord is only temporarily defeated, so he'll return from the Twisting Nether in the near future."
"I understand." Meryl stated, to which he glanced over at Trixie for a few seconds, as if there was something more she needed to do at the moment, "Trixie and I will lend you our magic and help you teleport the Forge of the Guardian to a much safer location."
Trixie knew that they would need the forge to battle the Legion, and she had felt the power within the forge when she had freed it from the rifts, so it was easy for her to channel her magic into the teleportation spell that the two mages were weaving into the air around them. A few seconds later she felt the air shift and they blinked out of existence, heading to the unknown location that would keep the forge safe and allow them to begin gathering the other mages together again.
When Trixie came to she was standing in front of the forge, which was now embedded in the floor in front of her, while both Meryl and Alodi were looking around the area they were in. She glanced around and found that the area that would keep the forge safe was full of cobwebs, bookshelves that had stacks of books laying in front of them, bits of rock scattered on the floor, and a large book that was floating in the back of the room they were in. She could tell that this place hadn't been used too much in the past, based on the size of the cobwebs anyway, though considering she had no idea where they were she guessed that the forge would be safe in this area... as long as Kathra'natir had no idea that this place even existed.
"The Hall of the Guardian!" Alodi commented, sounding sad to see the place in the state it was in, though Trixie knew that with some effort they could restore it to its former glory, as she was sure that a certain princess back home would have told her to do the same thing she was thinking, "It pains me to see this place in such disrepair."
"The hall hasn't seen any use since the disbanding of the Council of Tirisfal." Meryl stated, though at the same time he moved away from the forge and observed the damage that was on the wall to his right, "The wards protecting this place are still strong, so it should serve our needs quite well."
"And just what is your plan?" Alodi asked, though at the same time Trixie already knew what Meryl was thinking, because he had called upon her, instead of one of the other mages from the two factions, and that meant that he was planning on having her lead the restored order.
"I plan to reform the Tirisgarde," Meryl replied, to which he raised a hand towards Trixie for a few seconds, where she noticed a small smile on his face, "and Trixie Lulamoon will, if she chooses to accept the position, be its first champion."
"Meryl, are you sure I should be the first champion of the new order?" Trixie asked, because while she knew that a past version of herself would have jumped at the chance, and likely ruined the entire order in the process, she wanted to be sure that the undead mage had thought this through.
"I do." Meryl answered, to which he placed a hand on her shoulder, which was something Khadgar did when he needed to convince Trixie to believe in her own abilities, which were some of the strongest he had ever seen, "I have been keeping an eye on all the potential candidates that could take this position, in case the Legion ever attacked Azeroth again, and out of all of them you were the only one that stood out. You went from a novice mage and became the apprentice of Archmage Khadgar, an honor that no one else has ever had, and you have helped Azeroth by foiling the plans of three, count them THREE, Old Gods... and that's not even mentioning that you and your guild brought down Archimonde. I can think of no one more suited for the position."
Trixie wasn't shocked to hear that the undead mage knew about her deeds in dealing with the Old Gods C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, and Y'Shaarj, or her part in bringing an end to Archimonde's life. She was shocked to hear that he had so much faith in her abilities, as if he had been studying her since she had arrived in Azeroth, as he had no one else that could be the champion of the Tirisgarde. She knew that Lyra had been faced with accepting her position as the new leader of the illidari, and had likely tried to refuse what was happening for some time, so she decided that if her fellow Equestrian could do this, with so little time, than she could do it as well.
"Very well then, I will do my best to live up to your expectations," Trixie replied, to which she let out a sigh as she tapped her staff on the floor, "So, what's the first order of business that we need to attend to?"
"First, I will grant you the spell we used to teleport here," Meryl stated, to which he pressed his hand on Trixie's forehead, or to the best of his ability thanks to her horn being in the way, before he imparted the knowledge into her mind, "The second piece of business we need to take care of is deciding which ancient artifact you will search for and recover, though we'll keep our eyes on the other two you don't choose and send others to gather them in the future. The book behind me has the knowledge you seek."
Trixie nodded and walked up to the massive book that happened to be floating in the air, though when she stopped in front of it she gently placed her hand on the pages and closed her eyes, allowing the knowledge to flow into her mind for a few seconds. From what she could see there were three weapons she could choose from, though she found it interesting that two of them happened to be staffs and the third happened to be a sword. The staff that belonged to the Frost school of magic, which she had a tiny bit of experience in, was a staff called Ebonchill that used to belong to the first Guardian, Alodi himself, though the book had no information as to where the legendary staff was located. The sword happened to belong to the Fire school, though from what she could tell Felo'melorn was lost somewhere in the lands on Northrend, which made her wonder how she and her friends didn't find it... especially since they had spent so much time up there before they defeated the previous Lich King.
The third and final weapon, the one that belonged to the Arcane school that she had the most experience in, was a staff that was called Aluneth, though it was, according to the book, the staff that Aegwynn, the Guardian that had bested the Avatar of Sargeras so long ago, had wielded. The Guardian in question had been the mother of Medivh, the mad Guardian that had been possessed by the Fallen Titan's power and forced his own apprentice, Khadgar, to kill him in order to save the world. She had heard the stories about the fall of Medivh many times, and she always found it sad that such a powerful mage had been corrupted from the inside by the enemy of Azeroth, but she knew that the weapon Medivh's mother had carried for a time could be the perfect weapon to use against the Legion... especially considering the history that the weapon might have.
Trixie raised her hand from the book and opened her eyes, knowing that it was time to head back to where Khadgar was speaking to the Council and see if she could speak with Kalec for a few minutes, because the book told her that Aluneth had been entrusted to the Blue Dragonflight and had been locked inside a secret vault. She only hoped that Kalec would be willing to help them recover the staff, otherwise she was going to have to recover one of the other weapons and hope for the best... unless Meryl deemed the weapon too dangerous to go after and asked her to pick another one. She let out a sigh, because she hoped that acquiring Aluneth was as easy as Lyra's trial to claim the Twinblades... though she knew that she had to prepare herself for one of the toughest quests she had ever been on since she arrived in Azeroth.
"So Trixie," Meryl said, to which he and the spirit of Alodi turned towards Trixie, who was walking away from the large magical tome that had told her about the three artifacts she could choose from, "Have you decided which of the artifacts you want to go after, or do you require some help, from both Alodi and myself, in making the decision?"
"Yes and no." Trixie replied, though at the same time she knew that she was going to have to explain herself, because most people in Azeroth needed some sort of explanation when such an answer was given, "No, I don't need help deciding on which artifact to go after... I have chosen the arcane artifact weapon to pursue, though it might be the most dangerous of the three."
"Is that so?" Meryl commented, to which he gave Trixie his full attention, because when she mentioned that it might be the most dangerous of the three she was shown his curiosity was immediately peaked, "So what is the arcane artifact that the book told you about?"
"Aluneth, Greatstaff of the Magna," Trixie said, recalling the weapon's full title with ease, though at the same time she reflected to call the weapon by the beginning of its name, because she saw no reason to say the whole title all the time.
"A powerful weapon indeed." Meryl stated, to which he nodded his head for a moment, indicating that he knew something about the weapon she had chosen, while at the same time allowing Trixie to smile as she realized that she had picked well, "If you believe some of the old stories, the name also belongs to an old arcane entity that was bound to the staff by some ancient magic. Meitre, the mage responsible for creating the staff so long ago, also created some special scrolls that tell how a mage might bind themselves to the powerful staff. Aeqwynn herself used some of these scrolls to seize control of the staff for a time... so, if we're going after Aluneth, we might want to search the Hall for a bit, because there are bound to be some of them laying on the ground."
Trixie looked around the area of the Hall that they were in and spotted three scrolls resting on the ground, oddly in a triangle if she concentrated hard enough, and supposed that three scrolls were better than none, to which she walked over to them and gently put them into her bag. It didn't take her long to gather the three scrolls and return to where Meryl was standing, though at the same time she silently wished that there was more for her to see before she left the Hall, but due to the wooden barrier blocking her way she knew where she had to go first.
"Now that you have the scrolls in hand your next step is to find where the staff is located," Meryl said, though at the same time magic danced around his fingers as he snapped a portal open, one that appeared to go right to Dalaran, "I know that Aeqwynn entrusted the staff to the Kirin Tor, who in turn handed it over to the Blue Dragonflight so it would be out of the hands of those that would misuse it. So, with that in mind, the only one that would willingly give you Aluneth's location is Kalec... though with you being Khadgar's apprentice I don't need to tell you where the Blue Dragon is spending the majority of his days."
Had Trixie not been the apprentice of one of the strongest Archmages to grace Dalaran, and had been left as an adventuring mage with her guild, her first guess would have been to visit Dalaran and ask Khadgar where Kalec was. Thanks to the time she had spent with the Council of Six she knew that the Blue Dragon was a member of the Council, which meant that he would be in Dalaran, no doubt discussing things with Khadgar and the others. Once she came to that understanding on her own she merely nodded her head and headed through the portal that Meryl had opened, to which she headed towards Dalaran so she could begin her search for the powerful staff known as Aluneth.
A few seconds later she reappeared on Krasus' Landing, where the guards merely nodded to her as she came to her senses, though once she had nodded to them in return she started to walk towards the Violet Citadel... but when she entered the area she was heading towards she noticed that one of the Council members was missing, though the one she was looking for happened to be present.
"Ah, Trixie, it is good to see that you are well." Khadgar commented, to which he stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her, because it was something that generally helped her calm down and figured that she needed it after what happened at the prison, before he stepped back, "So, what can the Council help you with today?"
"I need to speak with Kalec for a few minutes," Trixie replied, to which she glanced over at the dragon that was wearing his human form, who raised an eyebrow when he heard his name being mentioned, "he's the only one that knows the location of the artifact weapon I have chosen to pursue... and I have the scrolls needed to help me bind the weapon to my will, for some unknown amount of time."
"Aluneth, of course." Kalec said, his eyes widening when he realized which weapon Trixie was referring to, where she knew that the mention of the scrolls had helped him understand, before he nodded and beckoned her to follow him to the back of the room they were in, "Long ago the Kirin Tor entrusted the Blue Dragonflight with safeguarding the weapon, to which it was locked away in the one place we deemed was safe enough for such a weapon... the Nexus Vault. I have not been there for some time, as the Nexus was abandoned after my dragonflight was dissolved, so I have no way of telling you if the Vault is even intact or what might await you inside the Nexus. All I can do is offer you what aid I can provide and hope that you can secure the weapon... or at least permanently seal the Vault if such a thing is beyond you."
Trixie knew that Kalec couldn't come with her, considering that he had to be busy with the rest of the Council, though she was more than willing to accept the communication crystal that the Archmage handed her, as well as the knowledge that the teleporter in the middle of the city was still usable... and that there was one for Wyrmrest Temple waiting for her. That told her that Kalec knew that something had to be happening near the tower and that he fully expected her to find out what was going on, as it might impact her search for Aluneth. With that thought in mind she bid the Council, and her mentor, farewell for the moment and headed back to the middle of the city, where she teleported down to a chamber that had been closed off to her the entire time she had been Khadgar's apprentice.
She had never stepped in this one hall, where there were a few pedestals that she assumed the Pillars of Creation would rest when she and the others collected them, before she walked a level down and noticed the portal area, where she stepped through the Wyrmrest portal and headed towards her destination.
When Trixie appeared at the top of Wyrmrest Temple she immediately pulled out her map, which magically changed to the region of Northrend she was in, and looked at it for a few seconds, to which she pinpointed where the Azure Dragonshrine was located. Based on what Kalec didn't did tell her, but communicated by how he was looking at her when he mentioned his former dragonflight, she was sure that he suspected something might be happening at his former shrine, which was where she was planning on going at the moment. The moment she remembered where her destination was she put her map away, tapped on the sandstone ring she was wearing, and allowed her body to change into the form of the Sandstone Drake... though at the same time she noticed some of the Red Dragons staring at her, almost as if they were interested in her dragon form.
Before any of the dragons stopped her from her mission, however, Trixie spread her wings and took off, to which she headed towards the location of the Azure Dragonshrine... though when she arrived she noticed some constructs and weapons that belonged to the Ethereals of the Outlands. She had no idea what the Ethereals would be doing on Azeroth, as they had never bothered to come to this planet, but seeing how they changed tactics she knew that she needed to be careful. She also noticed that there were some void creatures, shadowy monsters that reminded her of the voidwalkers that warlocks summoned, wandering around the area.
Trixie landed near one of the constructs that the Ethereals had placed in the dragonshrine and reverted back to her normal form, to which her staff touched the ground as she took in what was around her. She walked towards the construct she had landed near and smiled, because the Void creatures didn't seem too interested in her at the moment, to which she recognized the construct as an Ethereal portal. She had to wonder if Malygos, the former Aspect of the Blue Dragonflight, had promised the Ethereals something before she and her friends had entered the mad dragon's life... though when she approached a large ring she noticed a device that seemed to exploit the Void energy that had been released all those years ago.
She also spotted a sword that had been corrupted by the Twisting Nether, which meant that someone was trying to weaponize the Void... though she was sure that such a thing would spell danger for all of them if someone didn't stop whoever was behind this. Trixie then spotted what appeared to be an Ethereal communication device, to which she quickly shifted into her other form and flew over to it, though when she was near it she changed again and started inspecting it. After a few seconds she determined that the device had been abandoned in this place not long ago, which meant that there might still be time to stop whoever was messing with the shrine... to which she turned the device on and stepped back as an image of a Nexus Prince appeared before her.
The Ethereal, which was an energy creature that was bound in magically infused wrappings of sort to keep its body together in a certain form, looked around for a few seconds before it started speaking.
"I thought I ordered all to return to the Nexus?!" the Nexus Prince demanded, though that was before he noticed that Trixie was standing in front of the communicator, "What's this? Another intruder come to claim the artifacts inside the Nexus Vault? You are too late, mage! Even now the power of the artifacts serve to widen the breach within the Twisting Nether. With this power the Ethereum will become an unstoppable force... we will become Void!"
The instant the image disappeared Trixie tapped the communication crystal she had been given and summoned the image of Kalec, to which she explained what she had discovered so far. Kalec, for the most part, claimed that fate had to have planned a hand in bringing her here, as she could stop the Ethereum and recover Aluneth at the same time. Of course he couldn't come and aid her, as he was far too busy inside Dalaran, but he promised her that he would guide her to the best of his ability. The first set of instructions she was given was to head to the Nexus itself and see what the situation was like, to which she assumed her dragon form and headed in the direction of the place the Ethereum were trying to harness the power of.
It didn't take her long to reach her destination, especially since she flew as fast as she was able to in this form, but as she arrived in the area outside the Nexus she started searching for anything out of the ordinary... though as she approached the Nexus itself she heard Kalec speak through the crystal. Apparently he could feel the incredible amount of Void energy that the Ethereum were generating at the moment, even through the crystal he had given her, to which he suggested that she fly up to one of the Surge Needles and see what was going on. When she reached the top of the closest needle she heard Kalec comment on how the Ethereum had modified Malygos' Surge Needles so they could tap into the Void energy that was caused by the rift.
Trixie had forgotten about the magical rift that had been inside the Nexus, as she had been assured that their actions all those years ago would have prevented something like this from happening, though it appeared that the Ethereum had messed with her efforts.
Kalec continued to say that she needed to check the foundations of the Nexus, because he could tell that there was a specific shield being generated and that by studying the lower area they might be able to come up with a plan to breach the shield. When Trixie reached the foundation of the Nexus, however, both she and Kalec agreed that, due to the wandering energy that was manifesting everywhere, that Aluneth's energy was trying to break out of the Vault. Kalec's plan, however, was to have Trixie defeat the various magical elementals wandering around the foundation, absorb their energies, and then explode one of the Surge Needles... creating the opening she needed while at the same time turning the tide against the Ethereum.
Trixie landed close to some of the arcane elementals and shifted back to her human form, though once that was done she opened fire on the closest target and loosed a few spells at her target. It didn't take her too long to take the elemental down, though once the power it had contained was absorbed into Trixie's body she moved onward to her next target and repeated the process. She even paused when she found some arcane energy emitting from the walls that made up the foundation, which really empowered her and gave her a much needed boost, before she continued taking out the elementals that were running around.
Once she had enough power, as Kalec informed her when she had reached the optimum level, she shifted into her dragon form and flew around the area that rested around the Nexus... where she killed the Ethereals that were waiting beneath the Surge Needles, allowed the power to surge into the Needles, and detonated all three of them into pieces. As the Surge Needles fell apart, and their connection to the Nexus was shattered, Trixie could have sworn that she heard the voice of another Blue Dragon speak for a few seconds... one that Kalec recognized as Azuregos, who was essentially the keeper of the Vault, and that was followed by him asking Trixie to lend the other dragon her aid.
Trixie, who was already going into the Nexus to stop the Ethereum and recover Aluneth, decided that rescuing Azuregos would be to her benefit, because she was sure that her enemies might have damaged the Nexus in some manner... to which she flew towards the entrance and headed into the Nexus.
As she entered the Nexus, and reverted back to her human form, she noticed some illusionary enemies waiting between her and the dragon she was going to save, though to save herself time she simply used a dispel spell she had to get rid of them. She then stepped towards the area in front of her, which had been a prison of sorts for a unfortunate Red Dragon back when the Lich King was the threat she was taking out, and noticed some Ethereals channeling magic into Azuregos, keeping him bound and locked in place. Fortunately one of them happened to be missing a shield, to which Trixie summoned her magic to her and started slamming it into her target, who had to stop what he was doing and charge at her... but due to her sudden appearance the first Ethereal fell within a few seconds.
As the first fell the second immediately took its place, throwing spells at her with the intent to kill her, but she retaliated with her own spells and swiftly removed the second foe from her path. The third one attacked a few seconds later, indicating that they wanted her dead, but Trixie smiled as she used her power to crush the final guardian that was watching over the dragon.
"You are quite capable mage." Azuregos commented, to which Trixie turned and watched as the dragon rose to his full height, where she had no doubts that he was shaking off the effects of the magic that had been used on him, "With their magics gone I can feel my strength returning. Am I correct in assuming that you came back here for something from the Nexus Vault?"
"Yes," Trixie replied, though because Kalec had called Azuregos a warden of the Vault, however, she was willing to share the artifact she was after, because if she earned his trust, by stopping the Ethereum, he might be willing to let her walk out of here with the weapon, "I came here to stop the Ethereum... and recover Aluneth, Greatstaff of the Magna."
"What you seek is one of the most terrifying weapons that has been locked away inside the Vault," Azuregos stated, though at the same time the dragon shimmered before reverting to a more comfortable form, that of a blood elf with blue hair and a pair of horns could out of his head, "I will be able to help you open the way to the Vault, but first we must travel to the Librarium and deal with the Ethereum that had infected the Nexus. Then we can see to trying to harness the power of the weapon you seek... though, before we get started, I would know the name of my savior."
"I am Trixie Lulamoon," Trixie said, to which she offered a smile towards the Blue Dragon, who gave her a small one in return, which told her that they were off to a great start.
"Well met, Trixie Lulamoon," Azuregos said, to which he summoned a staff into his right hand and beckoned to the open area around them, "Shall we get moving?"
Trixie nodded and the two of them headed towards the opening on Trixie's left, where she spotted another group of illusionary enemies that she got rid of with another dispel spell, though as she got rid of them the magical ice wall that was blocking her path shattered. Azuregos commented that the power of her artifact was no longer fully contained, which meant that the Nexus Vault had weakened more than either of them had been aware of, leading Trixie to wonder if the scrolls she was carrying would even be enough at this point. As they walked down the hallway Azuregos also mentioned that the chaotic power of the staff might lash out at them and that they had better be prepared, though she was fairly sure that the staff wanted everyone dead... as there were small explosions of arcane energy happening all around them and she had to use her Blink spell to get passed paths of ground that were pulsing with energy.
As they progressed towards the Librarium they had to take out some of the arcane elementals that were wandering the halls, where Trixie noticed that there were a fair number of them, while also taking out some of the Ethereals that were trying to kill the elementals... which only made Trixie happy when the two of them killed two birds with one motion.
It didn't take them too long to reach the location of the Librarium, where Azuregos stood near the edge and mentioned that he might have a way into the Vault, as the actual entrance they would have used had been broken by Malygos during the Nexus Wars. As he went on to explain what he was planning on doing, however, he warned Trixie that the energy in the Vault was surging, to which they moved away from the center of the area they were in as the energy gathered into an arcane elemental that was taller than the two of them. Trixie found that the echo of Aluneth's power, because that was what the evil looking arcane elemental had to be, took a large amount of punishment and dealt some damaging blows when they failed to move out of the way of his attacks.
Fortunately the elemental moved and attacked like all the other elementals Trixie had encountered so far, in the seven years she had been on Azeroth, which meant that they were able to break it down and take a moment to regain their energy... to which she handed Azuregos some of the conjured food she had summoned before following Trixie into the Violet Hold.
"If Aluneth goes unchecked for too much longer it will bring the entire place down around us," Azuregos commented, informing Trixie of the consequences that would follow if they failed to secure and contain the weapon, though at the same time she was more worried about the Legion trying to gain the power of the staff, "We had best hurry."
As they followed the path that would take them to the rift, which was apparently the only way to get to Aluneth and the Nexus Vault, they had to fight against some more of the Ethereals that wanted to stall them, to which Trixie mentally smiled when she and her new friend took their foes out. Unfortunately their luck seemed to run out as the bridge that connected the Librarium and the area that the rift was located in, and both Trixie and Azuregos agreed that there had been a bridge between the two areas, had been destroyed recently.
"You fools!" a voice shouted, which Trixie immediately recognized as the Nexus Prince that she had heard in the Blue Dragonflight earlier, which meant that he was close to obtaining the power that he desired, "You may have destroyed the Surge Needles, but you are too late to stop us! The power of Aluneth will suffice to rip open the breach!"
"That fool has no idea what he's doing," Azuregos stated, though at the same time he jumped into the air and rapidly changed into his dragon form, where he cast a brief glance back at Trixie, "I will bring whatever power I have to bare against the Nexus Prince, though it will be up to you to defeat him and stop him from completing his plans."
Trixie nodded and jumped up onto Azuregos' back, to which they moved across the gap that had been created by the missing bridge, though before she had a chance to jump off they watched as the Nexus Prince transformed into a hideous Void creature, one that reminded her of one she had faced back in Draenor. This more dangerous type of Void creature, which was potentially a Void Lord in Trixie's eyes, wore armor on its chest, had shoulder pads and a helmet that looked like they were trying to eat something, and six Void tendrils that were coming from its back. The one from Draenor had been around for more than a few minutes and had the power to nearly annihilate her entire guild, so this one would be easier considering the Nexus Prince had only recently shifted forms.
It was at that point that Trixie used every trick in her book, as she summoned her three Mirror Images and threw an orb of arcane energy at her target, though as the images held the Void Lord's attention she moved to the side and started throwing spells at the creature's side. The Void Lord used an ability to control the gravity, in some manner, and tried to push her away, while at the same time following that up with a beam of concentrated Void energy to destroy one of her images. Her opponent also dropped several spheres of Void energy around the area, though considering how far they were from where she was standing Trixie was fortunate not to be hit... as it allowed her to pour her magic into defeating the Void Lord.
After a minute or two, and after using the majority of her magic, Trixie brought down the Void Lord and let out a sigh as the corpse collapsed on the platform she was standing on... to which she smiled at Azuregos as he landed beside her and transformed back into his blood elf form.
"So much for the all powerful Void." Azuregos commented, though Trixie noticed a smile on the face of her new friend, which she assumed was from her claiming some measure of revenge for the weakened dragon, who turned and looked over at her, "You know, you aren't too bad for a part human part horse creature. It's actually a shame that you aren't a dragon, because if you were than I'm sure that you would have been one of the Blue Dragonflight."
"Technically, I was originally a unicorn back on my home world," Trixie replied, to which she pulled out her mana drink and took some sips from it, while at the same time noticing that Azuregos was surprised by something, "I have been on Azeroth for seven years and I have stopped questioning how I was able to change from a unicorn into an anthro like form... and besides, there's more dragon to me than what you are seeing."
"I'll have to see that later," Azuregos said, though his tone indicated that he was interested in learning what Trixie was and figuring out what she was talking about, "I can open a portal to the Vault by using the rift, but I'll have to stay on this side to keep it open."
Trixie nodded as Azuregos summoned his magic and let a portal shimmer into existence in front of where the rift was located, though before she lost her nerve Trixie walked through it and headed towards the area that Aluneth was being held in. When she appeared on the other side of the portal she found herself on a platform that reminded her of the Surge Needle, only this time she guessed that the platform in question was supposed to nullify the power of the staff, which was failing at the moment. She looked around the platform and found that Aluneth's power was manifesting all around her, as there were a large number of small arcane orbs moving around the platform and three barrier like areas that happened to form a perfect triangle if she lined them up.
In the middle of the platform was Aluneth, the staff she had come to collect, though the power inside the weapon was gathering all around the base, which meant that she had to move fast before something terrible happened.
Trixie, taking a leap of faith, pulled out one of the scrolls and moved inside the arcane barrier to her right, where she held the scroll up and allowed the ancient spells to take hold of the energy around her, to which it floated in the middle of the bubble and remained there. As she placed the first scroll in the position she needed it to be in, however, she heard a voice emit from the staff, one that claimed that its power could not be contained. She quickly made her way to the second arcane bubble, which was across from where the portal was located, and repeated the process with the second scroll, to which she heard that the staff would not bow to her pitiful magic. She ignored what the staff was saying, as it was trying to distract her, and made her way to the third bubble, where she placed the last of the three scrolls in the center of it... and silently hoping that three was enough.
The moment the third scroll was in place, however, Aluneth let out a gasp or a shriek as the manifested power vanished from the platform, leaving her and the staff where they were standing... though she patiently waited as the staff called her a child, one who was lesser than the Guardian that had previously wielded it, before it proclaimed that she should take it and cause havoc on her enemies. When Aluneth quieted down Trixie gently placed her old staff inside her bag, to which it disappeared, before she raised her right hand and grasped the mighty weapon, where she felt the power surge through her body for a few seconds. A part of her reflected on who she had been before she came to Azeroth, as the power hungry version of herself, the part of her that she had let go, would have used such a weapon to terrifying effect... to which she smiled as she headed back towards the portal.
When she reappeared where Azuregos was standing, and rose to her full height once more, the portal closed behind her, though she had the feeling that the staff was pleased to be out of the 'prison' it had been locked inside ever since Aegwynn had turned it over to the Kirin Tor.
"You continue to impress me, Trixie Lulamoon," Azuregos stated, though at the same time Trixie could tell that his eyes were locked on the staff she was carrying, "Never have I seen a mage that is capable of controlling Aluneth... though maybe the reason behind that is because of your unique situation, being a hybrid of two races."
"Technically three," Trixie said, to which she tapped her sandstone ring and took on the form she had been granted by the elixir she had created all those years ago, though at the same time Azuregos raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You said it was a shame that I wasn't a dragon, though while I'm not a real dragon, like you or Kalecgos, this is as close as I will ever come to matching any of the dragonflights."
Azuregos stared at her for a few moments, to which he ran his hand down her dragon arm, as if he was trying to determine something from a simple touch, before backing away and started looking at her wings, her tail, and the other parts of her dragon form. Trixie was sure that he was looking for something, as no one had looked at her Sandstone Drake form in such detail, but she kept her mouth shut and waited for the Blue Dragon to finish his observations. When he actually stepped away from her, however, he summoned a small box, which must have been hidden inside the seemingly infinite space that made up the Nexus Vault, and pulled something out; a small necklace that had a decent sized azure colored crystal and two smaller ones, with one on the left and one on the right.
As Azuregos closed the box and caused it to disappear, however, he also beckoned to Trixie, who shifted back into her human form and looked at the strange necklace the Blue Dragon was holding.
"The Sandstone Drakes, those that match of colors of your other form, were some of the more intelligent members of their species," Azuregos commented, to which he turned towards Trixie and stared at her, though she was sure that she was seeing the other side of her and not the side she was using at the moment, "I'm sure that almost all of them were hunted down and killed, how I have no idea, though the survivors are likely in hiding... though three of them came to me, while they were dying, and asked if I would keep their essences safe. They willingly created a necklace, which looks similar to this one, to fulfill that purpose, so that one day we could restore them to their former glory... while at the same time granting me the knowledge to store the essences of others into other crystals.
I personally knew the dragon whose essence resides in this crystal, but she has been dead for so long that I'm afraid that the only part of her that remains is her dragon soul. I have been hiding this in the Vault for as long as I can remember, but when you mentioned that your Sandstone Drake form was as close as you would get to feeling like a real dragon it got me thinking. Maybe, with how unique you are, that you and Kalecgos will figure out how to use this."
Trixie was surprised that Azuregos was willing to hand her something that was so important him, as she was sure that the dragon whose soul resided in the necklace had been either a lover or a child, but she nodded and allowed the dragon to place the necklace around her neck. Once the deed was done, and Azuregos gave her a nod of approval, he turned towards the middle of the platform and summoned a portal, one that appeared to go back to Dalaran.
"I must remain here and secure the Nexus, so something like this doesn't happen again in the future." Azuregos said, to which he glanced over at Trixie as she took a step towards the portal, where he let out a sigh for a moment, "Once the Vault is secure, and I'm sure that I can leave without risking its safety, I would like to visit your city and see how the mages of Dalaran are doing. Until then, give Kalecgos my regards."
With Aluneth in hand, and the azure necklace around her neck, Trixie stepped through the portal and headed back to Dalaran, knowing that the Nexus Vault would be in good hands, or rather claws, once Azuregos managed to have some rest and recover the energy that he had lost due to the Ethereals attacking him.
When Trixie appeared in Dalaran, and made sure that there weren't any lingering effects from taking Aluneth into the portal, she shifted started walking towards the Violet Citadel, as she was a little tired from flying around and decided some addition movement for her legs was necessary at the moment. As she walked towards her destination she noticed some of the other heroes running around the city, no doubt gathering information about the artifacts that they were searching for, but from what she could tell the various orders were trying to recover whatever they could get their hands on. She passed by a group of paladins that were talking about how Landan was going after the Ashbringer, one of the legendary swords that existed in the entire world, while a group of monks mentioned that Xinyl might be going after a pair of fist weapons that used the power of wind.
Trixie silently wished her friends luck in recovering the weapons they were after, whether the rumors she heard were true or not, before she walked up the stairs and entered the Violet Citadel... where the Council of Six stared at her, and Aluneth, as she entered the building. Kalec, of course, was waiting for her to return, to which she walked over to him and quickly told her what had happened inside the Nexus.
"You have my gratitude for saving Azuregos, as I have no doubt he'll keep the Vault safe for the rest of his days," Kalec stated, to which he noticed some of the other members nodding their heads as well, as they all knew that he was a Blue Dragon and had likely been concerned for the artifacts in the Vault, "Trixie, I can see that you are still full of surprises. Never before have I seen a mage that could control the chaotic energies of Aluneth... which means that you are definitely one of the heroes that Azeroth needs in this dark hour. Now, you should return to the Hall of the Guardian and empower Aluneth... as I suspect that you're needed back there now that you have your weapon."
Trixie nodded and recalled the spell that Meryl had given her, the teleport spell that would allow her to slip through the seals protecting the Hall of the Guardian, to which she slipped Aluneth onto her back and started channeling the spell she needed to use... to which she swiftly finished the spell and moved herself to her destination. She only hoped that Meryl was ready to receive the news that she had gained the staff and was ready to move on with their plans to save Azeroth from the Legion... and that Lyra was ready to leave the city as well.
When Trixie finished casting her teleportation spell, and moved herself to the Hall of the Guardian, she was surprised when she discovered that the entire place seemed much cleaner than when she had been here, after transporting the forge away with Alodi and Meryl. Now she could see all of the paintings and the statues that had been hidden the last time she had been here, though as she looked around she could feel the magic energy in the air as several arcane constructs patrolled the Hall. She also spotted several enchanted brooms moving around the Hall, sweeping up whatever dust remained since the last time the Hall had been used, but she eventually shook her head and walked up the stairs as she headed towards where Meryl would be waiting for her.
As she walked into the room where the forge was located, however, she noticed that the spirit of Alodi was absent, which meant that whatever spell had allowed him to come into existence had expired or he was merely resting until someone needed to speak with him about something.
"Ah, Trixie, it is good to see that you have returned, and with Aluneth I might add." Meryl commented, to which he turned away from the books he had been staring at and faced his new companion, though at the same time he took in the staff that she was now carrying, "Kathra'natir will rue the day he made you his enemy... though we should focus on the task at hand at the moment. The Forge of the Guardian can channel the power of other mages into one to create a Guardian, but it also allows the user to manipulate the power within the artifacts of this world. I'm sure that you know what will be coming next, thanks to your experience with your friend Lyra and her artifact?"
"I have an idea of what to do next." Trixie said, as she knew that this was where she would empower her new artifact and increase the power inside it a little bit.
Trixie turned towards the Forge of the Guardian, which rose out of the ground as she approached it, and gently placed Aluneth in the middle of it, to which she closed her eyes and concentrated. She could tell that the weapon had absorbed some arcane energy before she had come to claim it, how she had no idea, though she used that arcane power to empower the damage of her arcane spells. Once the deed was done, and she was done studying what she could potentially do with the weapon once she figured out how to give it more power, she removed it from the forge and allowed it to sink back into the floor.
With Aluneth in her hand once more she turned back to Meryl, who seemed pleased by what he had just seen, though at the same time Trixie hoped that he had a plan to truly use this place, and all of it's resources, to it's full potential.
"Impressive." Meryl said, looking at the staff in a new light, as if he had seen her empower the weapon and knew of Aluneth's true potential, before he shook his head, "However, even with your weapon you alone cannot stand against the Legion...and I don't mean with your friend by your side. We need to begin recruiting more mages into the order, though the wards around the Hall will prevent us from simply teleporting everyone here. However, I do have a solution to our problem that was apparently under our noses the entire time. There is a goblin mage, in Dalaran no less, who goes by the name of 'The Great Akazamzarak'... and his specialty is creating portals, which has gone unnoticed thanks to all of the preparations for the war with the Legion.
I'm sure that he won't agree to help us simply because we ask him to, which is no doubt in part thanks to his goblin nature, but there is a way around that flaw that we might be able to use to our advantage. I have prepared a bag of gold that can be used to bribe him into helping us this one time, maybe even more if he so chooses to do so, though all I need you to do is head to the fountain and speak with him. If I know him as well as I think I do, and I'm fairly certain I do, then he should come running to help us... and then we can get the order ready for the trials ahead."
Trixie knew that what Meryl wanted to say was that Akazamzarak was a street performer, like she had been before she had come to this world, but she held her tongue and simply took the bag that was offered to her, which had a decent amount of coin inside it. With the bag in hand she returned to the spot in the Hall that she had teleported to, which apparently had a portal to Dalaran already established for her and the others to use, though she paid it little attention as she moved herself back to the city. Once she was back on Krasus' Landing she approached one of the guards and asked if they had seen or knew the location of the goblin she was looking for... to which she discovered that he was near the fountain that was parallel with the staircase that led to the Violet Citadel.
It wasn't hard to find the goblin mage showing off his talents to the masses, like she had done so long ago and would have continued to do had she not stopped in Ponyville that fateful day... though she patiently waited for his act to be over before she approached him, to which she deposited the bag in his hat and caused the mage to close up shop.
"So, I take it you, and whoever sent you, are looking to hire me on full-time?" Akazamzarak asked, to which he carefully collected his hat, and the bag that was inside it, before he turned to Trixie, "Well, with this 'payment' I can tell you that I am all ears at the moment. So what exactly do you need me for?"
"We need your skills in opening portals," Trixie replied, knowing that the goblin mage would likely only agree to this if there were more payoffs like the one she had given him, though she had the feeling that Meryl knew that and was likely prepared for such an event to happen, "The Hall of the Guardian, which is going to be the mage order's base of operations, is surrounded by wards that keep our enemies out, while at the same time making it difficult to get people inside it. If you can get inside the Hall, with your skills in opening portals, then we can summon more allies, with your portals, to help us in the fight with the Legion."
"Ah, so the first part of this is a test of my abilities." Akazamzarak stated, to which he gathered his energy around him, indicating that he was going to see if such a thing was possible for him, though he smiled a moment later as a portal opened between them, "Piece of cake. I'll see you on the other side."
Trixie let out a sigh as she followed the goblin into the Hall of the Guardian, though when she appeared on the other side she knew that the portal had been designed to close behind them. Once she was back in the Hall she led the goblin to where Meryl was standing, though once they arrived the undead mage nodded his head and beckoned the goblin over. She already knew that he was going to explain where everyone he intended to summon was located, though not a few seconds later the goblin started the summoning process, which was followed by eight portals opening and eight well known mages stepped through them... one of which was Kalec.
"Mages of Azeroth." Meryl said, approaching the group of mages he had called to the Hall of the Guardian, while at the same time Akazamzarak left to go explore the Hall, "I have summoned you here because we face a threat to the future of the world itself. The Dreadlord Kathra'natir has escaped into the Twisting Nether, carrying with him the secrets of the Council of Tirisfal. We must hunt him down and ensure that the knowledge he has cannot be used against us... so to this end I hereby reform the Tirisgarde! Will you join us and take up arms against the Legion?"
Not even five seconds had passed before the assembled mages shouted their agreement to reform the Tirisgarde and join the ancient order, so they could defend their world against the Legion that sought to kill them all.
"Then the Tirisgarde is reformed." Meryl continued, to which he turned towards Trixie for a moment, who was pleased by the progress they were making, "Trixie Lulamoon, the newly restored order will require leaders to help them in the near future, though while I am capable of such a role I'm not a strategist. Will you take up this challenge and lead us to the best of your abilities?"
Trixie was slightly caught off guard by that statement, because she had fully been expecting the undead mage to take up the position of the leader of the Tirisgarde, as it was his idea to reform the order, though at the same time she knew that something like this had been coming. She had been the one called to arms when the Forge of the Guardian had been threatened, it was she who, with the aid of Alodi, defeated the Dreadlord Kathra'natir, and it was she who claimed the staff known as Aluneth. She never wanted to be any sort of leader, especially after what she had done under the influence of that one necklace she had worn, but she guessed that her fate was sealed in this matter. If she refused she could potentially shatter the new order before they even started their war against the Legion, to which she simply sighed and nodded her head towards Meryl.
She had no idea if the undead mage even knew everything that she had told Khadgar, as by this point in time the Archmage knew everything about her, but Meryl smiled and turned to the others.
"Very well then." Meryl said, to which he addressed the other mages that were assembled in front of them, while keeping his eyes on Trixie, "Here, in the presence of so many of Azeroth's greatest mages, I hereby dub you Trixie Lulamoon, Conjuror of the Tirisgarde. Though, before you do anything else, you should take the rest of the day to rest and restore your energy... we'll start our war with the Legion tomorrow."
Normally when someone told her to rest, which was usually Khadgar when she was trying to learn all of the spells this world had to offer her, she would try to ignore them and continue what she was doing, but she had been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours. She had done so much that she hadn't noticed how tired she was getting, from all the running around she had been doing and all the spells she had been throwing. Now that she knew that someone thought that she looked tired, however, she was starting to feel exhausted, to which she simply nodded to Meryl and headed for the Dalaran portal. The moment she reached the portal she stepped though it and headed back to the city, to which she stretched her arms as she looked around Krasus' Landing for a few seconds.
It was then that she spotted Lyra standing near some of her Illidari, no doubt listening to their reports and sending them off to scout the other areas of the Broken Shore that they didn't know about yet... though at the same time Trixie had the feeling that her fellow Equestrian was getting tired as well, but she waited till the others were gone before she bothered to approach Lyra.
"How are things going on your end?" Trixie asked, causing Lyra to look behind her and smile, though at the same time it was clear that they both needed a break before they started their assault.
"Good at the moment," Lyra replied, though at the same time she glanced around, reminding Trixie that she could tell if demons were nearby and was likely making sure that they were safe, "Is there somewhere we can talk... somewhere that's not out in the open like this?"
Trixie nodded and beckoned for Lyra to follow her, to which she led her back into the city and made a right turn the moment they left the Landing. They walked forward for a little bit before she brought them to the Legerdemain Lounge, one of the three main inns that existed in the city, though it was more accurate to say that it was the neutral inn. There was one inn in both the Horde and Alliance sections of the city, where members of that faction were allowed to enter, but at the moment Trixie didn't care too much about that and simply wanted some rest. When they arrived at their destination she approached one of the barmaids and put in an order for something to eat, though once that was done she beckoned for Lyra to stay put as she headed upstairs... where she rented out the room with two beds for the night.
Most of the people who lived in the city, and worked on their professions or their talents, lived in the place of their practice, though only they had the keys to those sections of the buildings and knew where the hidden doors were located. As such the inn Trixie had chosen had, at most, two to three open beds at any given time, though one was usually rented out to the same person every night and left Trixie with only one option. Sure, she could have easily gone to A Hero's Welcome, the inn that was located in the Alliance section of the city, but she had the feeling that someone might be showing up later on and wanted to be in a neutral inn so they didn't get harassed when they tried to find her.
With the deed done, and the room reserved for the night, she returned to the lower level of the inn and found that Lyra had taken one of the open tables for herself, the one that was near the middle of the room oddly enough, but Trixie smiled as she took a seat in one of the chairs.
"So, what have you and your forces discovered so far?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she helped herself to some of the food she had ordered, as she had expected it to be done and delivered by the time she arrived, because the cooks in Dalaran were some of the best she had ever seen.
"So far we have heard rumors about four of the Pillars of Creation," Lyra said, though as she spoke she pulled out the map of the Isles she had been carrying with her, before she pointed at the zone that was the closest to the floating city, "From what we can tell the Tidestone of Golganneth is rumored to rest in Azsuna, though we would no doubt have to ask the inhabitants of the area if they would be willing to help us locate the relic. The second Pillar, the Hammer of Khaz'goroth, is rumored to be hidden by the tauren of Highmountain and only a select few know where it is located. The third Pillar we have rumors on is the Aegis of Aggramar, which might be located in the land of Stormheim, though we don't know much about the land itself. And the fourth, and final, Pillar we have rumors on is the Eye of Aman'thul, which may or may not rest in Suramar... and in the Legion's hands if the worst case scenario plays out."
"And what about the fifth Pillar?" Trixie asked, pointing to the zone that was known as Val'sharah, "Surely this zone also possesses the last Pillar of Creation."
"Yes, Val'sharah does possess one of the Pillars," Lyra continued, though at the same time she didn't appear to be annoyed by the interruption, as she had done the same thing to Lord Illidan when she was first learning how to be a demon hunter, "We have it on good authority that the Tears of Elune are located within the ancient forest, though personally I feel that the druids should be the ones to recover that artifact. I feel that the Tears will be the easiest Pillar to collect, and my fellow Illidari agree with me, so I have determined that my forces will be heading to Azsuna first... and, if the rumors are to be believed, there are some Blue Dragons living within the area as well."
That last part caught Trixie's attention more than the fact that a Pillar of Creation might be in the zone they were discussing, because she had to wonder if Azuregos had any family that was living with the Blue Dragons in Azsuna. The reason was because of the necklace she had been given, as she was curious as to why the dragon would have simply given it to her without any explanations as to why he was doing so. The only thing he told her was that she and Kalec might be able to figure out what to do with it, as if he expected the two of them to suddenly raise the dragon from the grave... though she guessed that the necklace was better off in her hands at the moment, as she might get some answers from the dragons in Azsuna.
Trixie also guessed that she had been touching the necklace and ignoring who was around her, because when Lyra coughed she shook her head and cast her thoughts about the piece of jewelry out... to which she turned her attention back to her companion.
"Azsuna sounds like a good place to start your search for the Pillars of Creation," a voice said, one that Trixie immediately recognized, to which Azuregos, in his blood elf form, appeared next to the table with a smile on his face, causing the two Equestrians to turn towards him for a moment, "From what I have heard there's supposed to be an army of spirits that are guarding the Tidestone, though I have never personally been to the area and cannot confirm whether the rumors are true or if they were lying."
"Azuregos?" Trixie asked, as she was shocked to find that the Blue Dragon was even here, as he had told her that he was planning on remaining in the Nexus until he sealed away the Vault, "What are you doing here?"
"After a few minutes of internal debating I decided that I might as well come and speak with Kalecgos myself," Azuregos replied, to which he carefully removed a necklace from beneath the collar of his robe, one that happened to look a lot like a key, "I checked on the rest of the Vault and it appears that the Ethereum were only after Aluneth, so the majority of the seals are still in place. To be sure that something like this doesn't happen again I decided to come here and see if Kalecgos might have some suggestions as to how I can permanently seal away the Vault... though hopefully he'll figure out how to make the Vault respond to someone who possesses this special key, and only the key."
"I'm sure that he might have something in mind," Trixie commented, though at the same time she had another thought come to mind, as there was someone else that might be able to help the Blue Dragon out, "though if he's a bust you can always ask my mentor, Archmage Khadgar, if he has any ideas."
"I see." Azuregos said, to which he lowered his head for a moment, as if he was bowing to her for a few seconds, "I will return to you and your companion once I have spoken with Kalecgos, and your mentor if necessary... and hopefully you would be willing to have another fighter at your side."
Trixie recalled how well she and the Blue Dragon had fought side by side in the Nexus, and how the two of them were able to take out groups of two to three on their own, to which she wondered how well they would function with Aluneth on their side... along with Lyra and her Twinblades. She was sure that the three of them would be able to hold their own against the demons that may or may not be in Azsuna, to which she nodded her head and noticed the smile that Azuregos gave her. Not a few seconds later the disguised dragon respectfully bowed his head and left the inn, no doubt heading to where Kalec and her mentor were discussing matters with the other members of the Council of Six.
However, she wasn't the only one that noticed the look that Azuregos had given her, because out of the corner of her eye she could see the smile that was on Lyra's face.
"Trixie and Azuregos..." Lyra said, though she did it in a tone that sounded like she was singing, but at the same time she seemed to be happy about something for once.
Trixie had no idea why her fellow Equestrian thought that she and the disguised dragon were something other than friends, but at the same time she decided that it was best not to take away Lyra's happy mood. It was clear that Lyra had seen some terrible things before she was imprisoned in the Vault, and had likely done some terrible things that she would rather not think about, so she decided to let her be happy for once. Sure, she was letting Lyra think that she and Azuregos were more than friends, but if such a thing made her laugh and smile, and restore some of the happiness that had been taken from her, then Trixie was willing to take the embarrassment.
Tomorrow they would be beginning their assault on one of the zones in the Broken Isles, likely Azsuna by what they had discussed so far, though Trixie was all for getting some rest before then and she was hoping that Lyra would do the same thing... once she stopped laughing and got serious once more.
Trixie yawned as she pulled herself from the bed she had slept in, rubbed her eyes for a few seconds, and then stretched her arms as she observed the area around her. She and Lyra, after the other Equestrian had gotten over the humor she discovered in the friendly relationship she and Azuregos had, started discussing what they should do when they went down to Azsuna. From what Trixie knew Lyra had already sent down her Illidari to one of the ruins to begin their search for the location of the Tidestone, or someone that knew where the artifact might be located, so she was pleased to have some progress already done while they were up here, in Dalaran. She had admitted that having a lead on a second Pillar of Creation, as the druids claimed they knew where the Tears were located in Val'sharah, which meant that they could bring an end to the Legion's invasion of Azeroth that much faster.
Trixie sighed as she glanced over at the bed that Lyra had collapsed in last night, where she discovered that the other Equestrian was already up and getting ready for their trip to Azsuna, to which she pulled herself onto her hooves and started gathering her stuff. She noticed that she had left Aluneth leaning against the wall, which would have been annoying if someone had taken her staff while she was sleeping, but she grabbed onto the ancient staff and returned it to her back. With that done she made sure that her clothing was in proper order, and that everything was still in her bag, before she walked down the stairs and went to the lower level... to which she spotted Lyra sitting at the same table they had been sitting at the previous night.
Trixie had to resist the urge to chuckle at the fact that Lyra had picked the same table, as the others were open at the moment, before she walked over to where her friend was sitting.
"You ready to head to Azsuna and begin the search for the Tidestone?" Trixie asked, causing Lyra to look up for a few seconds, to which she discovered that her companion was looking at a message she had received while they were sleeping, "Did something happen?"
"You could say that," Lyra commented, to which she let out a sigh as she got onto her hooves, while at the same time allowing Trixie to see that her warglaives were still on her back, before she slipped the message into her bag, "My forces have already landed in one of the ancient elven ruins that dot Azsuna's landscape and have claimed it as a base of operations while we search for the Tidestone. From what they can tell, at the time they sent the message, the Legion has already infected most of the area that's in front of the ruins they have taken, which means that they have started the fight against our enemies. Now, they haven't requested that I join them or anything, but since we were already heading to Azsuna I figured that we might start our search there... as I am certain that we might get a lead while we're there."
Trixie may not trust the Illidari as much as Lyra did, which was no doubt due to all the time she had spent training with them before Illidan had sent them to Mardum, but she did trust her fellow Equestrian and knew that she would never intentionally lead her astray.
"Helping the Illidari sounds like a good idea." a voice said, to which the two of them noticed that Azuregos, now carrying the staff he had been using when Trixie had helped him in the Nexus, standing near the entrance they were going to pass through in a few seconds, before he smiled and moved out of their way, "Especially since Kalecgos told me that one of the Blue Dragons in the area might have been captured by the Legion, with the purpose to learning their secrets and twisting them into a tool to corrupt Azsuna."
"What about the Nexus Vault?" Trixie inquired, though at the same time she fell in with her companions, as she figured that the disguised dragon was here to aid the two of them to the best of his ability.
"Safe." Azuregos replied, to which he tapped the area beneath his neck for a brief moment, indicating that he and Kalec must have come to a decision and put some better seals on the Vault, "Kalecgos and I have improved the seals on the Nexus Vault, to which the key is the only thing that can open the way... so I can rest easy knowing that the other relics are safe from harm at the moment. With my newly discovered free time I decided that I might as well lend you my assistance, to repay my debt to you for showing up when you did and stopping the Ethereum before they could complete their plans... and, if we have time, I wouldn't mind talking with the Blue Dragons that call Azsuna home."
Trixie had been thinking about talking with those dragons, if she and Lyra had time to do so while they were in Azsuna, so it was a little weird to be thinking the same thing as the disguised dragon, though at the same time she noticed the look on Lyra's face. It was clear that, despite the hardships of the demon hunter training she had gone through, Lyra was going to poke fun at the fact that she and Azuregos seemed to be thinking the same thing at the moment, but Trixie knew that there might be some jokes in the future. Trixie already knew that, if she asked Lyra her opinion on whether they should allow the disguised dragon to join them on their adventure, her fellow Equestrian would eagerly agree to letting Azuregos come with them... to which she nodded to the dragon she was following, who smiled in return.
When the three of them reached Krasus' Landing, where they could chart their course for the land known as Azsuna, Trixie spotted her mentor standing in the middle of the area, which meant that he was going to either send them off or he was accompanying them to where the Illidari were stationed.
"Ah, Trixie and Lyra, it is a good thing I caught you before you left," Khadgar commented, causing the group of three to stop in front of him for a moment, though at the same time they made sure that they weren't in the way of the other heroes heading to the other zones of the Broken Isles, "The Council and I have noticed that, in addition to the Blue Dragons, the spirits of long dead elves, and the newly arrived demons, that a small army of naga are apparently moving into Azsuna. That means that you might have competition from Queen Azshara herself... which means that another force might have a hand in trying to gain the powers of a Pillar of Creation."
"N'zoth." Trixie replied, remembering all the theories that her friends in the Celestial Dragons, along with some of the more friendly members of the Horde, had about the origins of the naga, where they all determined that they had to have been created by an Old God.
"It seems to be the most likely explanation," Khadgar stated, nodding his head for a moment, though before Trixie could say anything he held his hand up for a moment, "Don't worry too much about them at the moment, because we'll deal with them after aiding the Illidari... which leads me to my next question. Lyra Heartstrings, do you have a mount whistle or do you still need to pick one up?"
"You mean this?" Lyra replied, to which she reached into her bag and withdrew a fel green colored whistle, where Khadgar raised an eyebrow as Trixie chuckled, "Gaardoun, who originally handed me my felsaber back in Mardum, pulled me aside while I was getting used to the speed of my new Twinblades, where he handed me this whistle and told me that I would be able to summon my mount wherever I was. Unfortunately I haven't tried the whistle out yet, so I have no idea if it even works or not."
"Well, seeing how you won't be able to rely on Trixie's Sandstone Drake form all the time, now is the perfect time to make sure the whistle works," Khadgar said, to which he, and by extent Trixie and Azuregos, backed away from where Lyra was standing, "Go ahead, blow into it and see what happens."
Lyra stared at the whistle for a few seconds, knowing that it had to be important for her to have a working whistle, before she let out a sigh and raised it to her lips. She blew into it for a moment or two, to make sure that there was a solid note, before she pulled the whistle away from her and glanced around the area they were standing in. A few seconds later she was about to ask how long it took for the magic to happen, as she had no way of knowing, but before she could say anything a small fel portal, about the height of her felsaber, opened behind her. As she turned and looked at it, however, her felsaber jumped out of the portal and came to a stop beside her, to which it growled as she petted it for a moment.
"It seems that your whistle works just fine." Khadgar commented, causing the group to look at him once more, as it was clear that he had more to tell them, "Now that we have cleared that up, and determined that Lyra can use her own mount in the future, we should get underway and head down to Azsuna... because the longer we wait the closer our enemies get to uncovering the location of the Tidestone and claiming it for their respective masters. Shall we take to the skies and begin our search?"
Trixie knew that the question was designed to let them know that there would be no going back, not until they had finished searching the entirety of Azsuna for the Tidestone and returning it to Dalaran, to which she nodded her head. A few seconds later she tapped her ring and shifted into her Sandstone Drake form, where she noticed that some of the crystals on her body had a blue tint to them all of a sudden, but she decided to ignore the slight change as she beckoned to Lyra with her head. Her friend seemed to understand what she was doing, because Lyra patted her felsaber's head for a moment before she climbed up onto the saddle that came with Trixie's dragon form. Once Lyra was in place, however, Azuregos smiled and shifted into his own dragon form, revealing the Blue Dragon Trixie had met in the Nexus, before they all turned towards Khadgar.
Khadgar smiled as he held his staff up towards the air and allowed the magic to take hold of his body, to which he morphed into a small raven and departed from Dalaran... to which Trixie and Azuregos took off and followed after him, though they both made sure to go slow so they didn't overtake him.
As they followed Khadgar down to Azsuna, on a predetermined path that was going to show them some of the landscape and what they might be up against, the group was able to glance over at Suramar and ponder the mysteries that were waiting in that area of the Broken Isles. Lyra already knew something about the area, considering that was where she had claimed her Twinblades from, but there was still more that none of them knew about and they had no idea how much of the landscape the Legion had already corrupted. Such a thought made Trixie wonder where Gul'dan had run off to, because there had been no reports on the orc's movements since the defeat on the Broken Shore... but she was sure that they could find the orc, once they secured the Pillars of Creation.
"Look there. The naga forces are moving into those ancient elven ruins!" Khadgar called out, causing the group to look down at the large force of naga that was moving into the area they were flying over, though at the same time both Lyra and Trixie knew that they would be coming here at some point to deal with them, "Breathtaking. Imagine all of the arcane knowledge that was lost here..."
Trixie had to agree that the ruins had likely been some sort of magical school, much like Dalaran and other sections of the various cities around the world, and that it was sad to see it in such a state. They flew over the ruined school of magic and spotted an area that had a decent amount of dead spirits wandering around the grounds, before they moved around a building and noticed a lone tower... one that the Illidari had made their camp in. It was then that Trixie noticed that the area in front of the Illidari's camp was infested by the Legion, as the demons were trying to move into their area and mow them down, but Trixie was pleased to find that Lyra's forces were holding their own.
Once they moved into the area near the Illidari, who must not have noticed their arrival due to the demons that were constantly coming at their camp, Khadgar landed in a small clearing and reverted back to his normal form... to which the group landed before him and followed his lead, to which Trixie and Azuregos reverted to their original forms.
"It is good to see that the demon hunters are holding their own against the Legion," Khadgar said, to which he tapped his staff on the ground for a moment, before he beckoned for the others to join him as he walked towards the command tent, "Come, let us lend them our aid and turn the tide against this attack."
As Lyra followed the others towards the command tent, where she expected Kayn to be standing and going over some reports he had been given, she noticed that all of her forces, those that came to this area, were either fighting the demons, interrogating those they had imprisoned, or were tending to the wounded that had been replaced. Something she had learned while she was training beside these hardened warriors was that there weren't any slackers, as everyone was always doing something while they were in the field. She was pleased to find that they were following their training to the letter, because this reminded her of their campaign against the demons of Mardum... only this time the prize at the end was a different artifact.
Lyra even noticed that the Malevolence was standing near the command tent, which meant that she must have used the Fel Hammer's systems to teleport their forces here, though Lyra wasn't annoyed with that and continued to where Kayn was standing.
"Commander Lyra?!" Kayn commented, noticing Lyra and her friends approaching his command tent, though he actually sounded surprised to see her standing in front of him, "This is an unexpected surprise. When I sent that report I was expecting you to order some additional reinforcements to join us, though I didn't dare to hope that you and your new companions would come to our aid."
"Trixie and I determined that one of the Pillars would be best left to the druids and whoever decided to help them out," Lyra said, recalling what she and Trixie had gone over the previous night, though at the same time she could already see a decent number of demons being mowed down by her forces, "besides, we also agreed that the other classes could deal with finding and recovering both the Hammer of Khaz'goroth and the Aegis of Aggramar. When we took into consideration that Queen Azshara's forces would be coming here, and might attack either you or the spirits, we agreed to come here and lend you our aid. That being said, I know you have already met Khadgar and Trixie, but allow me to introduce our new friend Azuregos."
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Kayn said, holding out his hand for Azuregos to shake, though at the same time he knew that in a second things could change and he might need to attack any demons that came at him.
"Likewise," Azuregos replied, to which he reached forward and shook the hand that was offered to him, but a few seconds later they pulled back from each other, "I heard that there were Blue Dragons in the area... do you know where they might be?"
"We haven't had a chance to go anywhere besides staying in this camp," Kayn said, to which he turned back towards Lyra for a moment, knowing that she and her friends could easily help them turn the tide against the demons and create a stalemate situation between them, "I know that Allari needs some help gathering demon souls so we can figure out where the Legion took Lord Illidan's corpse, though I would also suggest that you speak with Jace as well... he's got something special planned for our enemies."
Lyra smiled as she walked over to where Allari was standing, where she, Trixie, and Azuregos caught a glimpse of her finishing her questioning of the demon she had captured, which ended in the demon's soul being taken by the scythe she carried at all times. When Lyra approached her comrade, however, she was handed a red stone and Allari asked if she and her companions would capture eight demon souls, specifically ones that were being taken by the other Illidari. With that in mind she turned over to Jace, who asked if she and her friends could reactivate the wards he had dropped into the beach that rested between them and the demon's main camp... as the wards were designed to harm demons and would help cut down their numbers.
With those tasks in mind Lyra pulled out her Twinblades and leapt down into the area in front of the camp, to which she threw one of the warglaives at a wrath warrior and cut into it's side, though as the demon approached her she caught her weapon as it made the return to her. As she prepared to cut the demon down, however, a blast of arcane energy knocked the demon back, indicating that Trixie and Azuregos were aiming at the same target, though the attack proved to be the perfect distraction as she cut the demon down. Lyra tossed the red crystal over to Trixie, who raised her left hand and allowed the soul of the demon to be absorbed into it, before Lyra moved towards the felstalker that was charging at her and cut it to pieces.
The three of them moved towards the first of the three wards that Jace had pointed out, where Trixie and Azuregos took care of the smaller demons while Lyra focused on the wrath warriors, though the three of them converged on the infernal that was walking around the area and combined their powers to take it out. Once the first ward was activated it launched energy at a nearby demon, that had apparently moved into the ward's range, and blew the unfortunate demon out of the air. With the first ward activated they fought their way to the second ward, where they claimed some of the souls from the dead demons, before they reached their target and killed the demons walking around it. As the ward turned on Lyra continued to the third and final ward and used the Twinblades' special ability on the demons that were guarding it... to which she spun the Twinblades around her body for a few seconds and cut down her foes, where she activated the ward and smiled.
Once all three of the wards were turned on, and Trixie confirmed that they had gathered enough souls to please Allari, the three of them turned around and headed back towards the camp, to which the main line of the demon hunters saluted Lyra for a moment before resuming their duties. When they returned to the camp, however, they discovered that Jace was happy to hear that the wards were activated, because that meant that they could have some breathing room before they launched their counterattack on the demons they had been studying. Allari, on the other hand, had the group follow her to an area she had set aside for interrogating the demons she had captured inside the crystal she was carrying, while at the same time doing the same thing to the demons they had captured.
When they arrived at the area in question Lyra noticed that Allari was quick to set up the crystals in a manner that would allow her to take the information they were after, to which the demon hunter asked that one of them break the crystal on the left of where they were standing. Trixie, wanting to see what happened next, walked over to the crystal and smashed it, to which Allari compelled the demon to tell them what they had done to Lord Illidan's body, where the demon promised her that all the demon hunters would soon bow to the Legion before disappearing. Azuregos stepped up to the second crystal and repeated the process when Allari asked him to smash it, though the demon told them that he and the other stolen demons were stronger than the scythe.
It was then that Allari said that the powerful demon she had been keeping trapped in the third crystal must have been helping the other's resist her questioning, to which she asked that they invade the crystal and take the demon out while she stayed put to prevent the demon from escaping. When Lyra and the others smashed the final crystal, and revealed the soul of an inquisitor demon, she immediately attacked the demon soul and distracted it, allowing her companions to position themselves around their target. With the three of them taking turns attacking the demon soul, and interrupting the attacks they could interrupt, they were able to take down the soul without taking any damage at all... though as the soul perished it told them that the Illidari was unraveling and that one of them had betrayed the others.
Lyra growled as she glanced over at Allari, because the demon's statement meant that some of their forces had to have been taken captive once more, though the betrayal part meant that one of them might have been corrupted by the Legion. There was only one member among their ranks that might have been corrupted, though as Lyra looked at her friends she silently hoped that she was wrong, because eventually hunting down and killing both Varedis and Carla, the two slain demon hunters that had been resurrected by the Legion, already hurt Lyra. If she had to hunt down and kill Cyana, who was more like a sister to her thanks to all the time they had spent together, it would make her hate the Legion more than she already did... and it would cause her heart to ache more than it already was.
Lyra let out a sigh as she walked over the Kayn, because he deserved to know what they had discovered and what they might have to do next... though she was sure that she, Trixie, and Azuregos would be heading over into the demon camp in the next few minutes.
"Lyra, normally I would tell one of our fellow Illidari to not take the words of an inquisitor demon to heart," Allari commented, though as she spoke she knew that Lyra was concerned for any of the demon hunters they had sent into the demon's camp, "but I know that won't stop you from worrying about them. If you suspect that there might be a traitor to the cause, because of something a demon said, than I am sure that you might be right... despite how much I pray that you are wrong. I suggest you talk with Kayn for a bit, as I'm sure he has information that you might be able to act on."
Lyra nodded and headed over to where Kayn was standing, leaving Allari to clean up the mess they had made of the crystals that had once contained the souls of the demons she, Trixie, and Azuregos had captured. The inquisitor demon had sounded sure that there was a traitor to their order, indicating that someone must have joined the Legion, though as she walked over to Kayn she silently hoped that the demon was referring to Varedis and not someone that had been recently freed from the Vault. When she and her companions approached Kayn, however, her fears that the traitor was someone she knew only grew as she noticed the look on Kayn's face.
"Kor'vas and Cyana took a small force of demon hunters over to Faronaar," Kayn told them, to which he noticed that Lyra was definitely concerned about them already, which meant he was only adding fuel to her fire, "I told them that their mission was to disrupt the Legion's forces and, more importantly, not get caught by our enemies... though I have no heard from them in some time. Lyra, my forces and I will make sure that we hold the demons at bay, so why don't you and your friends go see if you can't find our missing soldiers... and then lead them to success, if they still require your aid."
Lyra nodded and turned towards her friends, to which she noticed that Trixie and Azuregos were a little confused, which made sense considering that the dragon had never met the other demon hunters and Trixie was likely having trouble linking a face to the names. As she lead them away from the main camp, and they walked along the beach so they didn't attract any additional demons, she took a few minutes to explain who Kor'vas and Cyana were. Trixie recalled that Kor'vas was one of the commanders of the Illidari, before all of them had voted for Lyra to take over and direct them, though she openly admitted that she didn't know too much about the other demon hunter. Lyra said that Cyana felt like a sister, as the two of them had spent a good deal of time together while they were training, so it was understandable when she said that she hoped nothing bad had happened to the group of demon hunters that went into Faronaar.
Once she finished explaining who Kor'vas and Cyana were, and her new companions knew part of the reason why she wanted to be sure nothing happened to them, they searched an area that was near a fountain and found Kor'vas laying around some demon corpses.
"Ah, Lyra, I had a feeling you would be coming," Kor'vas said, noticing the trio approaching her, to which she dusted herself off and stood up, "and I see that you brought friends. I suspect that Kayn knew that Cyana and I, along with a few other demon hunters, couldn't handle the mission he gave us if he's asked you to come check on us... and I think it would have been better to wait until you arrived and then gave the mission to you. My force wiped out the demon's forward base here, but an imp mother and her brood managed to capture Cyana and the others, though I have the feeling that they were taken alive so the Legion can corrupt them. Before I was captured I caught a glimpse of a blue drake swoop in and started attacking the demons, though as they brought her to the ground she managed to kill quite a number of them."
"There's a blue dragon being held captive here?" Azuregos asked, just to verify Kor'vas' story, though when the demon hunter nodded the disguised dragon turned towards his companions, "Having a local blue dragon on our side would be a stroke of luck, considering that she might know where the Tidestone is located and can be a valuable ally in the future."
"Agreed." Lyra said, though as she spoke up she knew that there had to be other reasons behind the disguised dragon wanting to save another blue dragon, but she didn't say anything about it as she faced Kor'vas, "Well then, let's get inside that demon camp and kills us some demons... while also rescuing any demon hunters they have captured and free the blue dragon that attacked them."
Trixie smiled as the group, now having four members, walked over to the entrance of the demon camp and started their assault, which was where Lyra and Kor'vas threw one of their warglaives at their target and gained their attention, allowing her and Azuregos to fire their spells at them. She spotted several inquisitor demons roaming the area, as well as some large brutish looking demons that Lyra called the Mo'arg, a few doomguards, several felstalkers, and a fair number of imps. She was sure that there were other demons that she didn't know about, but at the moment she focused her attention on gathering her magic and throwing it at whoever Lyra and Kor'vas were fighting at that moment... though out of the corner of her eye she spotted several groups of eredar trying to summon more allies into the area.
The group slowly cut a path to the first prisoner, who had been left out in the open so the demons could taunt the Illidari with the fact that they caught one of their friends, but Lyra smashed the crystal hanging above his head once the coast was clear... though she was happy when the demon hunter reported that he, and potentially some of the others, didn't give in and turn on their order. The second captured demon hunter reported that the demons had started doing terrible things to them, basically torturing them with the purpose of turning them against the other Illidari, but it appeared that all of them had held out and withstood the desire to join the Legion. The third demon hunter reported that the demons offered all of them unimaginable power, though the cost would have been corrupting their soul and becoming a monster that would have taken joy in killing their enemies... just like what Varedis had become.
They approached a cave and found an inquisitor demon trying to torture another demon hunter, though once they cut their foe down the grateful demon hunter revealed that the one behind them being captured and tortured was a Warden that had joined the Legion. Trixie froze when she heard that statement, to which she revealed to the others that she knew the old Cordana, the one that had been helping her mentor back when they were in Draenor, and that she had no idea what the new one was like. When they reached the back of the cave they found another demon hunter trapped, though when they freed her, however, she mentioned that the demons might have corrupted Cyana into joining the Legion... but she also told them that it seemed like Cyana hadn't fully converted to the other side, indicating that some part of her was still fighting the corruption the demons were forcing on her.
Lyra seriously hoped that Cyana hadn't given in to the fel energy that was inside her and joined the Legion, because she seriously didn't want to kill her... though before they found where Cyana had been taken, where Cordana might be waiting for them, Trixie pointed out the blue dragon Kor'vas had told them about... who was currently trapped in a prison made of fel energy.
When they approached the area that the blue dragon was trapped in, and slew the demons that were standing guard around it, Kor'vas pointed at the demonic locks and said that she believed that the key to the locks was on the jailer demon that was floating to the left of where they were standing. Unfortunately they noticed that the jailer demon was protected by other demons, so the four of them had to cut their way through the enemies that were gathering in front of them before they could even attack their true target. As they started the fight with the jailer demon, and dodged the attacks that were coming their way, the demon inquired if they were here to 'free the pitiful blue drake', which in turn annoyed Azuregos more than he was willing to admit.
The group had to avoid being trapped in the fel cage that the demon carried on it's back, which he threw at one of them occasionally, while making sure that they avoided the demon's attempts to shackle them to the ground... though that was before they dealt the finishing blow and dropped the jailer demon to the ground, where Lyra snatched the key.
With the key to the locks in their possession the group turned back towards where the dragon was being held and approached it once more, to which they started to deal with the demons that had gathered in front of the prison so they didn't free their captive. Trixie and Azuregos gathered their magic and started throwing spells at the enemies that were attacking Lyra and Kor'vas, who were holding the line as they progressed towards the unfortunate dragon. Once all of the demons were taken care of, for the moment anyway, Lyra walked over to the first lock as the others stood guard, because they wanted to be sure that the demons didn't try to stop them before the blue dragon was freed. A few seconds later the first of the three locks shattered before her eyes, to which Lyra smiled as she moved onto the second one... while at the same time the dragon seemed to notice that friendlies were in the area.
"Thank you, demon hunter." the dragon commented, though at the same time Lyra moved onto the next lock, because she knew that it was only a matter of time until more enemies came charging into the area they were in, "I am Stellagosa."
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Azuregos said, causing the dragon to turn towards him for a moment, while at the same time Lyra shattered the second lock that was keeping her bound, "I am Azuregos, Keeper of the Nexus Vault, and this is Trixie Lulamoon, champion of the Tirisgarde, and Kor'vas Bloodthorn, one of the commanders of the demon hunters. Lyra Heartstrings is the one that is currently freeing you at the moment."
"My thanks to all of you for this timely rescue." Stellagosa replied, though the moment Lyra shattered the final lock, and let the prison unravel before their eyes, the dragon flapped her wings and took off, "Now I am going to finish off the Warden that did this to me!"
Kor'vas reached out, as if she was trying to stop the dragon from leaving and resuming the hunt that was likely ruined at this point, but one look from Lyra told her that they had more pressing matters to deal with. Lyra had felt a surge of fel energy near their location, one that made her wonder if the Legion was trying to convert someone to their side, so she decided that, with Stellagosa pursuing her own path, that they might as well stop whatever was going on before they left. She called for them to mount up and used her whistle to summon her felsaber, though at the same time she noticed Kor'vas riding a cat that had grey fur, while also noticing that Trixie's normal mount was also a saber of some kind, and that she was letting Azuregos ride on the back of her mount.
Once they were all ready Lyra moved out of the area they were currently in and headed to the left, where she rode up the walkway and then took a path that took them up to a small clearing that had a Legion contraption in the middle of the area... though inside the contraption was Cyana, who seemed like she was still being tortured.
"I know you can feel the fel energy coursing through your body," a voice said, to which Lyra noticed a projection of a corrupted Warden standing in front of the contraption, using one of the communicators that Jace liked to use, though as the group dismounted the projection turned around, "Ah, Trixie Lulamoon and Lyra Heartstrings, I have been expecting your arrival since these demon hunters made their base camp across from Faronaar. I was hoping that I would have broken through Cyana's resolve and turned her to our side, but I guess this means I can actually use my back up plan. She may not be Felsworn, not yet anyway, but she'll kill you with the powers that her former master and her new masters gave her... and then we'll take great pleasure in turning you as well, Lyra Heartstrings."
Lyra growled as Cyana screamed in pain, though she knew that it had to be from the jailer demon that was hiding up on the cliff above them, to which she pointed it out to Kor'vas, as they both knew that the demon's cage held Cyana's soul and that was how they were controlling her. As Kor'vas walked away, and Lyra had the others back away for a moment, Cyana's body was forced out of the contraption she had been locked in and started making her way towards Lyra, though she could tell that the demon hunter was trying to stop herself. Lyra could tell that the fel energy that had been forced upon her hadn't had an effect on Cyana's body, not like what she had seen when she confronted Varedis, but the Legion had made sure that they could control her... in the off chance that she resisted them.
As the projection of Cordana faded away, claiming that the corrupted Warden had other business to attend to, Lyra went on the defensive and started dodging or blocking the attacks that came her way.
"L... Lyra..." Cyana weakly said, one more proving how much control the Legion had over her, thanks to the jailer demon that Kor'vas was going over, "I... I need you... to kill... me!"
"Cyana, please don't talk like that," Lyra replied, though at the same time she felt some tears already forming, because even thinking about killing someone that had been like a family member to her was hard enough, "Kor'vas is dealing with the jailer demon that has control over your soul... and then, once you are free from his hold, we'll figure out how to break whatever the Legion has done to you."
"Maybe this... was why... Lord Illidan liked you," Cyana commented, though as she spoke her body swung her weapons at Lyra, who used her own to block the incoming attacks while making sure that neither of them were hit in the process, "Even when you are presented with something that is irreversible, like what Cordana did to me, you always try to see the positive of the same situation. The Legion's tendrils are too far rooted into my body, so even if I was allowed to live I would eventually fall into the same madness that has consumed Varedis... and I don't want to become the type of monster that he has become. If anyone else killed me I would be condemned and my soul would belong to the Legion... but only the Twinblades can spare me of my fate, with their ability to consume the souls of the enemies they have slain, so it must be you who sets me free."
Lyra was torn, because on one hand she wanted to use the Imprison ability she had picked up, back in the Vault of the Wardens, so she could lock Cyana up and have her teleported back to the Fel Hammer, where they could work out what was wrong and if she really couldn't be saved. On the other hand she remembered that Lord Illidan had told her and the other demon hunters that there was always some sacrifice that had to be made, where she wondered if this was Cyana's last one. Before she could make a decision, however, she noticed Kor'vas cutting down the jailer demon and let the soul trapped within go free, to which it raced down to where Cyana was standing... though once it was returned the demon hunter let go of her weapons with a pleading look on her face.
Lyra, making a split second decision, gripped the right warglaive and thrust it right into Cyana's heart, though at the same time she wanted to be sure that the last thing Cyana saw, with her empowered sight, was her.
"Th... thank... you..." Cyana said, to which a small smile appeared on her face before her body went limb, where Lyra pulled her weapon back and gently placed the deceased demon hunter on the ground.
Lyra sighed as Stellagosa swooped in to aid them in leaving Faronaar, for the moment anyway, but at the same time all she could think about for the moment was how she had lost another friend, as she knew the names of two demon hunters that had perished on Mardum... along with a large number of their forces. It was hard seeing another comrade go, especially one that had been with her since the beginning, but it gave Lyra all the more reason to hunt down and destroy the rest of the Legion. She and Trixie were going to make sure that they stopped the demons from destroying this world and then kill their remaining commanders... though before they could do that they needed to find the Tidestone first.
Fortunately for them Stellagosa knew someone who might know where the Pillar of Creation was located, so the group knew that the moment they landed they would inform Khadgar of what their next step was and then they would journey to the home of Azsuna's blue dragons... much to the joy of Azuregos, based on the small smile he wore.
"Lyra... I am sorry that you had to go through with that." Kor'vas commented, though she had only spoke up when they had returned to their camp, where Stellagosa remained in her dragon form as she stood next to Archmage Khadgar, while Azuregos had reverted to his elven form and stood beside Trixie, "but we have dealt the Legion a small blow in removing Cyana from their hold... and you did free her, to the best of your ability."
Lyra nodded as she glanced down at the Twinblades for a moment, as she had taken them off her back the moment they had landed and had placed them on the ground. She could only imagine what was going on inside the two warglaives, as she was sure that the weapons consumed the energy of those she slew and converted the energy into power, which she would unlock at the forge. She was sure that the Legion had pumped fel energy into Cyana's body, which she had willingly given to Lyra and her weapons the moment she died, but it still hurt her to think about how she had to end the life of one of her closest friends... and remember her determination to stop it from happening again in the future.
"Even if we dealt the Legion a small blow we still have a problem," Kayn said, gesturing in the direction of the Tomb, where Gul'dan had opened the largest Legion portal any of them had ever seen before, "With that portal open the Legion is summoning in more powerful demons, ones that will make all the others seem like kittens in comparison."
"The Legion cannot be allowed to regain their momentum," Stellagosa added, already knowing what would happen to the rest of the Broken Isles if the demons invaded the other regions, which was thanks to what she saw in Faronaar, "otherwise the entirety of Azeroth, not just the Broken Isles, will be lost. Lyra Heartstrings, you and your friends must come to the Azurewing Repose and meet with my grandfather, Senegos, while your army stays behind to keep the demons from advancing into Azsuna. If there is anyone who might know where the Tidestone is located it would be my grandfather."
"That is a great idea," Khadgar said, to which he nodded his head in agreement, though that was before he turned to Trixie and Azuregos, "I will meet you at the Azurewing Repose and then we can see what needs to be done about finding and securing the Tidestone... before the naga or the demons get their hands on it."
Trixie nodded and watched as her mentor used his staff's power to morph into a raven, before both he and Stellagosa took off for the Repose, to which she turned back to Lyra. She had known that her fellow Equestrian would have made some special bonds with the demon hunters she had been training with, as she had made several friendships and had seen one of them shatter when Illidan killed one of her friends... who had been later resurrected by the Lich King. She knew the pain that Lyra was feeling and truly wanted her to get over it before they moved on, but there was more they had to do and she gently helped Lyra stand once more.
Lyra gently picked up the Twinblades and returned them to her back, to which she called over her felsaber, quickly mounted the cat, and then took off down the old road that Khadgar and Stellagosa were following... to which Trixie called her normal mount back to her and followed after her friend, whole Azuregos rode on the back of her mount as well.
It didn't take them long to find the location that Stellagosa had brought them to, though as they entered the Repose they noticed that there was a fair number of blue dragons, in every size that Trixie had seen during the last seven years, either standing around or getting some work done. Azuregos was amazed by what he was seeing, because it had been some time since he last saw such a large number of his own dragonflight, though that was before they all focused on the larger dragon that was resting in a rather large pool... which may or may not be made of pure arcane magic. As Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos approached the pool, where they found Khadgar sending arcane energy into the large dragon, they spotted a high elf with blue hair weeping next to him... which they determined had to be Stellagosa in mortal form.
One thing that struck Lyra was how weak the ancient dragon looked, which meant that the only person who could point them to the Tidestone was dying before their eyes.
"This does not look good... he is not well." Khadgar commented, though that was more for the others as they walked up to where he and Stellagosa were standing, while at the same time trying not to worry the other dragons too much, "What is happening here?"
"Let the youthful ones approach," the large dragon, who could only be Senegos, said, though he made no effort to look directly at the group, indicating that he was in pain, "I am not as dead as I look."
"Khadgar, what exactly is going on here?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she, Lyra, and Azuregos climbed off the mounts they had been riding on, before they stopped behind her mentor.
"He is... he's dying!" Khadgar replied, unknowingly echoing the thoughts that had been racing through Lyra's mind the moment she laid eyes on the dragon, "Senegos is possibly the oldest dragon alive. We cannot simply let him slip away. And I can tell tell you that there is something not quite right with the magic energy here... I can feel that much."
"What can we do to save him?" Lyra asked, because right now she didn't want someone else to lose someone dear to them, because she knew how devastated Stellagosa would be if her grandfather died.
"I will do what I can to stabilize him, but the small amount of energy he has left is coming from the mana pool he rests in." Khadgar commented, to which he looked around the Repose for a few seconds, where he noticed some of the smaller blue dragons, whelplings he realized, bringing crystals out of a cave and dropping them into the pool, "Follow the whelplings' lead. Dropping ley crystals into the pool gives him a bit of energy, thus buying him a few more breaths. They seem to be getting the crystals from inside that cave."
Lyra, not knowing much about this world's magic and the rules that came with the arcane energy, decided that it was best not to argue with the Archmage that had taught her friend almost everything she knew, to which she walked over to the cave with Trixie and Azuregos in tow. The three of them passed by some of the other blue dragons, those that seemed to be watching over the cave and allowed them to enter the magic filled cave, where Lyra noticed some worm like creatures that appeared to be made out of some sort of crystal. Trixie stopped them for a moment, to which Lyra and Azuregos watched as some of the arcane energy in the air moved around and was absorbed into her staff, much to the surprise of all of them.
"Okay, that was weird." Trixie commented, though at the same time she smiled, because it appeared that absorbing the excess energy had empowered her staff to some degree.
Lyra nodded as she held one of the Twinblades out and threw it at the closest crystal worm, pissing it off in the process, though she allowed both Trixie and Azuregos to blast it apart with their magic. As Trixie searched the worm for any sort of crystals they could use, however, Lyra noticed that the whelplings were either picking pieces of crystal from the larger ones or from the worms themselves. The worms seemed to be ignoring them until Lyra tossed her weapon at them, so instead of wasting her time in making them all angry she had Trixie and Azuregos focus their power on the nearest crystal... where she used the Twinblades to carefully carve out fist sized crystals that they could carry.
Lyra would have questioned how she and the two mages could make the crystal malleable like this, but she decided that now wasn't the time to do that and helped her friends carry the crystals they had gathered to the mana pool... where they tossed the crystals into the water, much to the relief of Senegos, as a few seconds later the dragon let out a sigh.
"Thank you," Stellagosa said, only speaking when Lyra and her friends returned to where she and Khadgar were standing, to which she sighed as she looked at her grandfather, "your efforts have dulled his pain... for now."
"Senegos, we seek one of the Pillars of Creation," Khadgar called out, knowing that the dragon would be able to help them, though they might require aiding the dragons that called Azurewing Repose their home before they got the information that they were after, "the Tidestone of Golganneth to be exact. We know that it is here, somewhere in Azsuna, but we have no idea where it might be."
"I know that it was shattered a long time ago," the elderly dragon replied, though there was still some pain in his voice, indicating that the crystals were only a temporary fix and didn't last very long, "I do not know how it was shattered, but I do know where the pieces lie."
"The Tidestone can wait for a new more minutes," Azuregos said, causing the group to turn towards him, where he beckoned to the mana pool and the fact that nothing had changed since they had arrived in the Repose, "Something is clearly affecting Senegos' mana pool and preventing him from getting the energy he needs... and I have the feeling the new arrivals might have a lead for us to follow."
Trixie and Lyra looked in the direction that Azuregos was looking in and discovered that one of the blue dragons, one of the ones that walked on four legs and had an upper body area, similar to a centaur, standing before four whelplings that were as exhausted as Senegos... to which the three of them approached the dragon so they could see what was going on elsewhere.
"Hail mages and demon hunter," the centaur-like dragon said, surprising Lyra by the fact that he knew what she was from just a glance, before the three of them focused on him, "I am Agapanthus... and we could use your help. The Nightfallen have assaulted the whelplands... and these four whelplings need to be treated with ley crystals immediately."
Lyra and Trixie knew that the reason that Azuregos was so willing to help these blue dragons was because they were technically, by some degree anyway, part of the extended family line that the various Dragonflights had, though Trixie was more than willing to help him out, especially after all the help he had given her. They moved into the cave behind the dragon and found some more of the ley crystals that they had used to partly heal Senegos, to which they walked inside and focused on finding the crystals that the creatures that called the cave home were ignoring. It took a few minutes to find the crystals in question, and avoid the wrath of the small wyrm creatures that were floating about the cave, but they eventually found the necessary crystals and exited the cave.
Once they had the crystals they approached the wounded whelplings and started to use the ley crystals to restore them to full health... though when they reached the fourth one it collapsed as they attempted to heal it, to which Senegos seemed to notice and weakly asked them to bring the wounded whelpling over to him.
"Of course the Nightfallen would attack now." Senegos commented, his eye moving down so he could look down at the mana drained whelpling that Azuregos was carefully carrying over to him, "Those withered devils couldn't have chosen a more effective time to strike... already my brood suffers. Stellagosa, do me one last favor. Your younger brothers and sisters need your help."
"Of course," Stellagosa said, immediately knowing that her grandfather wanted her to go stop the Nightfallen, though as she turned to walk away she turned back to her grandfather for a moment, "Farewell, grandfather."
The trio watched as Stellagosa leapt into the air and reverted to her dragon form, to which she flew through the air and left the Repose behind, heading to the area that the rest of the whelplings rested. Before they followed after her, because all three of them knew that she couldn't handle everything herself if the events of Faronaar were anything to consider, they turned to Senegos and wondered what he had to tell them.
"See you soon, starlight." Senegos said, telling the trio that he was speaking to Stellagosa as if she was still there, but they kept quiet as he turned towards them, "Heroes, I must ask for your aid. Since the fall of Deathwing, we dragons have lost nearly all our power. To make matters worse, we can no longer bear eggs. My whelplings are the last of the last. Please, help defend my whelplands and I swear to you that the blues will be at your side when you need them."
"Senegos, as a fellow blue dragon I will do everything in my power to keep your brood alive," Azuregos stated, to which he turned to Trixie and Lyra, where they noticed a look of determination in his eyes, "Come on, let's go find Stellagosa and see what we can do to save the Azurewing from these Nightfallen."
Trixie had known that the situation regarding the Dragonflights was bad, especially after the Aspects had sacrificed their great power to stop Deathwing from destroying the world all those years ago, but she had no idea that the situation was actually this bad. She had no idea that the dragons could no longer bear eggs, meaning that they would be an extinct species at some point in the future, even if they stopped the Legion from destroying Azeroth. It was terrible to think about, the complete extinction of an entire sentient species, which she knew was partly because of the fact that she was a pony and all of her kind, save for a few bad apples, wanted to prevent something like that from happening... which was why she was devastated to hear that the Dragonflights would be gone in the future.
She resolved to help the dragons that were in danger at the moment, because even if there was no way to fix the more important problem that the Dragonflights were facing, extinction, she and the others could use their help in stopping the Legion... which meant that they were going to ensure that the people attacking them were stopped and the mana pools were restored to their former glory.
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos followed after Stellagosa as she flew towards the Azurewing Whelplands, where the younger dragons were apparently being raised until they were older, or at least that was what Lyra thought considering that she had next to no knowledge on this sort of thing. As they rode their mounts towards where Stellagosa was going, however, Lyra also noticed what appeared to be some sort of elf that was bent over one of the dead whelps, though the elf appeared to have a strange coloration to its skin and apparently couldn't tell where the three of them were as they rode passed it. She had the feeling that they would be seeing more of that type of elf in the immediate future, because she was sure that Senegos had been referring to that particular type of elf when he mentioned the Nightfallen.
It didn't take them too long to reach the area that Stellagosa had been flying towards, though as they entered the ruins that the Azurewing had taken move the group noticed a projection of Senegos appear in the middle of the area... to which they rode up to the transparent projection.
"Don't you worry, small ones." the projection said, apparently noticing the looks on the trio's faces, while at the same time telling them that Senegos could speak with through the projection, "It doesn't take much energy to throw a projection of myself here and there. I may be old and dying, but I AM still a blue dragon. Speak with Agapanthus, he knows the situation more than I do."
The group nodded and headed over to the entrance of the only building that was in this part of the ruins, where they found the dragon in question waiting for them... though they knew that he must have left the moment they took the fatally drained whelpling to Senegos.
"The withered are the worst kind of pest." Agapanthus said, giving the three of them some knowledge about their enemy before he asked them to do something, though the three of them nodded their heads for a second, so he knew that they were paying attention, "They capture our whelplings, knock them unconscious, and then drink whatever mana they can get from the helpless babes. Normally our drakes and keepers would fend them off, though today, however, it looks like we need your help."
"So kill withered and save the whelplings," Azuregos commented, to which he turned towards Lyra and Trixie, noticing that they were thinking the same thing that he was at the moment, "We'll be back once we have turned back the withered and rescued the whelplings."
The three of them walked away from the ruins, choosing to leave their two mounts behind at the moment, though as they approached a bridge they noticed that there was a large mana crystal, about the side of one of their hands, to which Azuregos yanked it out of the ground. With the crystal in hand they continued towards the area that was the actually whelplands and noticed some of the Azurewing keepers already engaged in battle with the withered, though they also noticed that the withered appeared to be blind and were only attacking back when they sensed their opponent's movements. When they entered the area, however, several of the withered immediately noticed their arrival, as it appeared that they might have felt Trixie's staff, but she was more than willing to give them a taste of her power... to which she sent a bolt of arcane magic into one of the withered's chest, knocking him into the pillar behind him.
Lyra, seeing more of the withered elves approaching them, pulled out the Twinblades and sent one flying through the air, damaging several of her targets before it returned to her hand, where she used it to cut down one enemy that was walking towards her. As she and Trixie targeted withered, and cleared a path that would allow them to reach the injured whelplings, Azuregos followed behind them and healed those that they could reach at the moment. They also noticed that Stellagosa was in the area as well, though it appeared that she had been knocked out of the sky and was resting in the middle of the ancient road that had gone through this area.
One of the withered seemed to think that it was a good idea to approach Stellagosa, though both Trixie and Azuregos noticed and sent a pair of arcane blasts at their target... knocking the withered elf into the tree and giving Stellagosa the time to pick herself off the ground, where she floated in the air for a few seconds.
"Thank you. I fell so quickly, though it is because I am not as strong as I once was." Stellagosa said, though the trio knew that she was referring to the weakening of the dragons that had occurred after the fall of Deathwing, even if Lyra had missed all of that while she was in her prison, "We truly do need your help. One of these disgusting creatures ran off with several of the whelplings, though I do believe that I heard his name: Runas the Shamed. I will survive, seeing how my home is not far away. You still have strength, though. Slay this Runas before he does any more damage to our brood."
The trio looked at each other and knew that Runas had to be stopped, as taking the whelplings and feeding off of them was weakening the dragons as a whole, so they nodded and watched as Stellagosa flew off towards the Repose. Once the dragon was gone, however, the trio returned to their work and continued to combat nay of the withered that came at them, while finding the time to secure some of the remaining whelplings and restore them to a state that would allow them to fly home, where they could get some real rest. They also spotted the cave that Runas must have run into, as it was the only place the withered elf could have gone if he wanted to make sure no one found him, so once they had saved enough whelplings, those that could be rescued anyway, they made their way towards the cave.
Inside the cave they found the withered elf resting on a bedroll, though it appeared to Lyra, from a glance anyway, that the elf wasn't in the same state as the withered they had been fighting so far, but it also appeared that he was progressively getting worse as time wore on. Once they had gathered around the withering elf, who hadn't noticed that they had entered his cave, Trixie and Azuregos called their magic forward, to which they blasted Runas in the chest and woke him up. Lyra was the one that went on the offensive, making sure that the elf's attention was on her and not on her companions, though she also noticed that Runas seemed shocked and surprised at the same time, while speaking almost like a madman.
After a minute or two of fighting, however, Runas did the one thing that Trixie had only seen a few of her enemies do without having a plan to fight back once her guard was lowered; he surrendered.
"I... I surrender." Runas said, falling to his knees and taking up a begging type of position, though at the same time the trio was caught a little off guard by the sudden change in his personality, as he had gone from a fighter and turned into someone that didn't want to die, "Please, my friends, forgive me. I am truly, truly sorry. Feeding on such raw energy... it clouds my judgment. I hope you can see beyond my tattered robes and desperate behavior. I am not a monster. Watch. I shall prove to it to you. I am not some mana-addled FREAK, like the rest of those wretches."
The last bit of the elf's statement, about the rest of the wretches, immediately told the trio that there had to be more of the withered, or the Nightfallen, somewhere nearby, no doubt effecting Senegos' mana pool and harassing any of the other dragons that lived in the area. Lyra considered ending the elf where he was standing, thus offering the Azurewing some protection for the moment, but her gut was telling her that there was more to this than what they knew, to which she pulled the Twinblades back and sheathed them... before she picked the elf back onto his feet. She glanced at her friends and noticed that they were nodding their heads, to which they made their way out of the cave and headed back to where Senegos' projection was... though Lyra made it clear that they were going to stop whatever the other Nightfallen were doing to the Azurewing.
When they returned to where Senegos' projection was, however, they all noticed that the dragon didn't seem to approve of the elf that was following them... despite Runas' attempts at being polite.
"Who is this?" Senegos asked, though he was only being polite because the withering elf was doing the same, because he could have easily ordered someone to attack Runas and was choosing a peaceful route at the moment.
"I am called Runas, son of Indarril, formerly of Suramar." Runas replied, informing the group that he was from the one place that the Legion already had a stronghold in, though it didn't appear that he was on their side, as he was missing the fel flames or energy that came with it, "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Nightfallen." Senegos said, though this time he didn't bother to hide his disapproval, not that it seemed to bother Runas at all, "I do not trust you and your kind."
"I understand, good dragon." Runas stated, though at the same time he bowed his head a little, indicating that he wished to do something about that, "My people have earned your distrust. Allow me to make amends."
"Very well then. Azuregos," Senegos said, turning to face the disguised dragon for a moment, to which Azuregos nodded that he heard the old dragon, "You and your friends will accompany Runas to his destination, after which I will shift my projection to your new destination... and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this."
"Off to Zarkhenar then," Runas stated, to which he pulled out his own mount whistle and blew it, though that was followed by a saber that appeared to have magical runes on it appeared next to him, where he climbed onto the cat's back, "We must put a stop to Ael'Yith's plans."
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos remounted and followed after the withering elf, to which they listened to him commenting on how they were basically going to kill his family for weakening the entirety of the Azurewing. He also apologized for hurting the dragons, as consuming the raw magical energy made it impossible for him to remember everything clearly, and promised to help them stop Ael'Yith and his followers. Runas also had to ask them what they were even doing in Azsuna, as he had no way of knowing that they were searching for one of the Pillars of Creation, though before he could finish his question the projection of Senegos appeared to their left... to which they looked upon the decent sized elven ruins, with a large part of the middle area broken apart by arcane energy, and knew they had reached Zarkhenar.
"So, they are tapping into the Ley Lines and pulling mana out of the ground." Senegos' projection said, to which he turned its head over to where the others were resting their mounts, where the trio looked back at him, "This explains why not even my mana pools can dull my pain, though at the same time it make me worry for my brood. Without the Ley Lines we are nothing... and then I won't be able to help you find the resting place of the Tidestone. Look for their mana siphons, and punish the cowardly Nightfallen elves that are using them."
"And can you find a few mana jewels for me as well?" Runas asked, though at the same time he gestured to all of the mana that he could see at the moment, "All of this is making it harder for my riddled mind to concentrate, but a few jewels will give me the energy I need to focus... I swear that they will."
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos looked at each other for a moment, just to be sure that they had heard the withering elf right, before they simply nodded and headed down into the ruins below them. The Nightfallen were quick to attack them, as they realized that the trio was here to disrupt their operations, but Lyra was ready for them as she used the Twinblades to block attacks and deliver her own in kind. As she forced the elves to attack her, however, Trixie focused some of her attention on gathering her magic and firing spells at the mana siphons that they were near, tearing the smaller ones apart while keeping an eye on the larger ones. Azuregos spent a few moment picking mana jewels from the pockets of their slain enemies, though once he had a fair number he started attacking the Nightfallen with his own spells, blasting a number of them backwards before they were finished by either of his companions.
It didn't take them very long to find one of Ael'Yith's overseers, as the female Nightfallen wore better clothing than the rest of the ones they had seen, but her attacks were predictable and it was easy to bring her down, thanks to both Trixie and Azuregos blocking several of her spells. Once the elf was dead they turned their attention to another elf that was resting on the other side of the small chasm that rested between them, apparently working on an arcane golem of sorts. Lyra carved open the path to their target while Trixie and Azuregos provided cover fire, but when they challenged their target to a fight they discovered that he was too focused on using the construct he had been working on... to which the three of them tore the construct apart and then put the second overseer down.
With those takes complete they turned around and headed back to where Senegos' projection was waiting, though Runas seemed overjoyed to have his mana jewels while Senegos was pleased about this turn of events... to which Senegos said that it was time to kill Ael'Yith while Runas suggested that they also take out the four large mana siphons on their way to him, with the help of the whelplings that is. Even as Runas suggested that, which would help the Azurewing out, a group of whelplings, those they saved in the whelplands, flew into the area and waited above their heads... though the group knew that Senegos was agreeing with Runas, even if he didn't say anything to the withering elf.
Lyra smiled at her friends, because it was time to deal with the person that was weakening the Azurewing dragons... and then, once Ael'Yith was defeated and his schemes ruined, Senegos could point them in the direction of the Tidestone, or whoever knew the location of the Pillar of Creation.
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos returned their attention to the ruins of Zarkhenar, where Runas pointed out the four ley siphons that they needed to take out if they wanted to weaken Ael'Yith and restore power to Senegos' mana pool. The three of them knew that stopping Ael'Yith would be a more permanent solution, or rather his death, so they focused on where the lone Nightfallen elf was standing. It was clear that the elf believed himself to be some sort of prince, as it appeared that he was putting himself over the rest of his kind, but even so the trio knew that he had to be dealt with before they could even start their quest to find the Tidestone.
Once the three of them agreed on a course through the ruins, which would allow them to hit all of the siphons and get them to the stairs that would take them to Ael'Yith, they started moving forward. Fortunately they had already cleared part of the ruins, as the enemies in the area they had been on had been taken care of, though when they walked down into the lower area they had to deal with some more Nightfallen that wanted them dead. As Lyra held the attention of the elf in front of them, Trixie and Azuregos called the whelplings over and beckoned to the siphon that was close to where they were standing... to which the whelplings circled around the device for a few seconds, before they loosed a mana charge that ripped the entire device apart.
That got a reaction out of the 'Nightborne Prince', as Ael'Yith shouted in anger when he saw them destroy one of his siphons and threw a barrage of missile attacks at them, though the group dodged the attack and continued towards the second siphon.
Fortunately the second siphon wasn't even guarded, by the withered or by the Nightfallen, to which the group smiled as the whelplings flew into the area and circled the siphon they had secured, to which they shattered that one into a thousand pieces. Lyra spotted the third one resting down the stairs in front of them, where she gladly used the Twinblades to cut down the Nightfallen elf that was standing guard, allowing Trixie and Azuregos to repeat the process with the group of whelplings that was following them. When the third siphon tore itself apart, and they were no longer being harassed by the elves that had been guarding it, they walked back up the stairs and headed towards the set of stairs that would take them up to their real target... though before they began their ascent they targeted the final siphon and made sure that the whelplings blew that one to pieces as well.
With the four large siphons destroyed, and the ley energy was no longer being taken from the ground or from the dragons in the Repose, the group walked up the stairs and engaged the few elves that were up there, to which they dispatched them and their magical construct before they made their way towards Ael'Yith's 'throne'.
"Did that dragon send you to stop me, interlopers? Or was it that beggar, Runas?" Ael'Yith asked, though at the same time he chuckled as he turned to face the trio as they entered the chamber he was in, indicating that he found something funny, "In the end the answer doesn't really matter. Soon all of you will be bowing to Azsuna's new prince."
As the battle with Ael'Yith started the group discovered that he was going to fire magic at them until they submitted, though at the same time he summoned arcane spheres that detonated when they were struck, where Lyra noticed that the spheres moved around the area. Trixie and Azuregos determined that, in the room they were in, that this wasn't the best place for Lyra to fight, as with her new speed she was more likely to accidentally hit one of the spheres and hurt herself in the process. Lyra agreed with their statement, to which she stepped outside the room and watched what was happening, though she also informed them that she would help if they truly needed her assistance.
Trixie and Azuregos, however, separated from each other and moved to the side of where Ael'Yith was standing, effectively forcing him to pick who he wanted to attack and who he wanted to leave himself open to. The Nightborne Prince, however, called his magic to him and started throwing it at both of them, causing them to move and throw their magic back at him. As the battle between the three of them started magic flew around the room they were in, though those that missed crashed into the walls and blasted small holes in the pillars. Trixie, however, still had a trick up her sleeve, as Aluneth had given her an ability to use when she had first tamed the staff and she hadn't had the opportunity to use it in combat yet... to which she raised the staff and called upon it's power, which caused a rune to appear beneath Ael'Yith's feet and started dealing damage to him.
Despite the power of her staff, and the rune that she used, Ael'Yith still proved to be a powerful opponent, as he resisted the damage Trixie had dealt to him, but Azuregos was able to do some damage while the two of them, against all odds, managed to avoid taking any damage... though before they could kill their opponent Ael'Yith moved to one of the balconies that the room had and growled at them.
"Forget the ley-lines, brothers!" Ael'Yith shouted, to which he jumped off the balcony he was standing on, though that caused the group to run up to where he had been standing, where they watched as he rode a large magical construct away from the ruins, along with his army following close behind him, "We shall feast on the dragons instead!"
"Oh no!" Trixie said, as she immediately knew what the Nightfallen elf was talking about, because he intended to go for Senegos and the rest of the Azurewing dragons, which caused Azuregos to growl in anger, "Don't worry, we'll be sure to stop him and put an end to his schemes."
It was in that moment that Stellagosa showed up and stopped next to the balcony that Ael'Yith had been standing on a few moments ago, to which she called for them to hurry so they could stop the incoming invasion. Azuregos jumped into the air and transformed into his true form, to which he beckoned for Trixie to climb on before they got underway, leaving Lyra to climb onto Stellagosa's back again. Once they were all ready to go they departed from Zarkhenar and began the short flight back to the Repose, though as they did so they all noticed that a large number of withered elves were making their way over the mountain... indicating that Ael'Yith intended to swarm the Repose with sheer numbers and wear everyone down until something terrible happened.
The sight of the Repose under attack by the withered, however, did nothing to sooth the anger that both Stellagosa and Azuregos were feeling at the moment, though as they landed they all got prepared for a fight.
"You bested their leader in combat, and then he came here to take what isn't his for his own personal gain." Khadgar commented, only speaking once he noticed that Trixie and the others had landed outside the Repose, where he happened to be standing at the time, though as he spoke he swung his staff and loosed a volley of arcane blasts that sent his targets backwards, "Some of these withered are already dying, despite what their leader promised them before they turned into this state, so our only course of action is to kill as many of them as we can and save as many dragons as possible."
"I will take to the skies and kill as many as I can," Stellagosa stated, flapping her wings for a second, just to show that she was serious about this, "you should take that ley crystal you picked up in the Whelplands and heal any injured dragons you come across... just so we can truly save as many as we can."
Trixie and Azuregos were the first to take action, as they charged into the battle that was unfolding in front of them and started throwing arcane blasts at any of the withered that dared to attack Senegos, though the ones that were already attacking him were being thrown into the rocks walls all around them and crushed by the dragon's mighty claws. Lyra, on the other hand, let out a sigh as she made her way around the battlefield, using the ley crystal to heal the wounds of each dragon she came across. Some of the dragons that she healed continued to fight against the withered elves, allowing her access to more of the wounded, while those that were too young to fight flew away so they could save themselves and wait until the battle was over. Lyra also had to use the Twinblades to cut down several enemies that thought she was easy prey, though she silently allowed the warglaives to absorb the soul energy of those she slew, knowing that at some point she would have to return to the forge and see what happened next.
After at least ten minutes of healing the dragons and killing many of the withered elves, which helped turn the tide of the battle in Senegos' favor, the trio returned to Khadgar and noticed that Stellagosa was resting before she resumed the battle once more.
"Well done. I saw the other drakes take to the skies," Stellagosa commented, though she sounded pleased with what they had done, while at the same time noticing that one of the whelplings was flying near the group and refused to leave, "though it appears that Emmigosa has taken a liking to all of you. Maybe she'll be safer in your floating city... away from all of the Nightfallen and their withered counterparts."
"One of the dragons I healed mentioned that one of the Nightfallen went into the cave the crystals are being held in," Lyra said, remembering what the dragon in question had said, though based on the look Stellagosa was giving her she guessed she knew which dragon she was referring to.
"So Cedonu saw a Nightfallen elf go into the Leyhollow... I don't like the sound of that." Stellagosa replied, to which she turned her attention to the group at the moment, while noticing that the whelpling had moved over to the Archmage's side for the moment, "Grandfather seems to be holding his own, but just in case something happens Khadgar and I have agreed to stay out here and watch him... which means that you three should head into the cave and stop whoever went in there, though a part of me hopes that it was Ael'Yith that went in there."
The trio nodded and headed towards the cave that held the crystals they had used to help ease Senegos' pain earlier, though as they entered the Leyhollow they kept their weapons at the ready, just in case they found whoever had entered the cave while they were fighting. When they rounded the corner, however, they came upon the small mana pool that rested before the entrance of the section of the cave that contained all the crystals, to which they found Runas kneeling in the mana infused water.
"Runas?!" Trixie asked, because this was the last person they expected to find in the cave, though at the same time she noticed that he was shivering more than the last time they had seen him.
"Trixie? Is that you, my friend?" Runas inquired, causing him to turn his head and look around, indicating that he might have actually lost his sight, though the action caused his body to shake as he violently coughed a few times, "I am weak. The hunger is devastating, my friend. I understand now why your dragon rests in these pools. I came to warn you but... it looks like I was too late. I hear him outside now. Ael'Yith... is... here..."
"Good. Then we can finish this madness once and for all." Trixie replied, though while she knew that anger could spell disaster for her, if the events of what happened in Pandaria with the Sha was any indication, but she couldn't let the monster that tried to ruin the Azurewing get away with his deeds.
"This hunger is consuming my very mind. It is taking every ounce of my energy to just... just..." Runas explained, causing the group to wonder if he had possibly lost his hearing as well, though at the same time his body was rocked by a fit of coughing again, "Can you hear me, my friend? I... I can not see you anymore. I think... perhaps it is time to say goodbye, then. Thank you, my friend, for letting my last few hours mean something."
Trixie and the others watched as Runas shook once more before he violently transformed before their eyes, becoming one of the withered that they had been fighting since they came to the Repose... to which Trixie looked over at Lyra, who sighed as she held her Twinblades up and delivered the killing blow, allowing Runas to pass on without having to live as a withered for more than a few moments. A few seconds later Trixie growled and charged out of the cave they were in, leaving Lyra and Azuregos in her dust, though when she reached the entrance she found Ael'Yith standing on the back of a large arcane construct... which seemed to be stealing the power that Senegos had, if the stunned form of the ancient dragon was anything to take into consideration.
"Yes, yes!" Ael'Yith shouted, as if he was proud of what he was doing, which only served to get on Trixie's nerves and remind her of the anger she had for Maiev, "Surrender your power, dragon. These pools belong to the Nightborne now!"
Trixie growled as she charged at Ael'Yith and his large construct, to which she tapped back into Aluneth's powers and threw the powerful rune at the construct, where the rune dealt damage to the construct, but not nearly enough to stop it in its tracks. Ael'Yith noticed that she was attacking him and launched several arcane blasts at her, intending to keep her away from his construct so he could completely steal the power of Senegos and further empower himself, but eventually Trixie forced him and his construct to focus on her. What she wasn't expecting was the construct to advance on her so quickly, as she barely had time to realize that she had gotten to close to it before it swung at her... to which the arm of the construct hit her and sent her flying passed Senegos.
Lyra and Azuregos just happened to be leaving the cave, after dealing with Runas and realizing that Trixie had already left, when they watched Trixie's back collide with the rock wall next to Senegos' pool... to which she fell into the mana pool and sunk into the mana infused water.
"TRIXIE!" Lyra shouted, knowing that her fellow Equestrian had been through too much to be killed now, by some random upstart that was calling himself a prince, but when she didn't resurface Lyra felt her anger rise as the fel energy inside her ignited.
Lyra charged at the construct and leapt into the air, to which she morphed into her Havoc Form and landed beside the construct, where she brought her warglaives down and carved off the arm that was near her. Ael'Yith noticed this and commanded his construct to attack her again while he cast spells at her, though as Lyra tore into the construct Azuregos used his magic to cancel out the spells the Nightfallen elf was throwing around. It didn't take Lyra long to completely dismantle the construct that Ael'Yith was commanding, discarding the various pieces all around her, before she started to approach the elf that had done in her friend.
Ael'Yith, however, slowly backed away from Lyra as she and Azuregos focused on him, though before he could get too far the mana pool rippled for a few seconds, causing him and his enemies to glance at it. A moment later a blue dragon, who was an inch or two shorter than Azuregos' dragon form, suddenly erupted out of the mana pool and landed on the ground near Ael'Yith... though that was followed by the dragon bringing it's arm down and knocked the elf onto his back, before trapping him under its claws. Lyra and Azuregos were surprised by what they were seeing, because there hadn't been a second dragon in the mana pool, but they watched as the dragon pressed its claws against the elf, intending to crush him under the weight of its arm... to which they witnessed the death of Ael'Yith, causing his withered followers to flee from the Repose.
With the deed done, and Senegos restored to his full power for the first time in years, the new dragon collapsed on the ground before a light emitted from its body... though when the light faded it was revealed that the blue dragon had been Trixie, though Lyra noticed that she seemed to be sleeping now. Lyra had no idea what had happened, but at the moment she didn't care, because her fellow Equestrian was alive and well... and slightly changed from her ordeal. She sheathed the Twinblades and approached Trixie, knowing that it might be some time before her friend woke back up, though she was sure that they could spend some time letting her rest before they continued the search for the Tidestone.
Once Trixie had rested, and came to terms with what happened to her, the three of them would see if Senegos knew where the Pillar of Creation was located... and hopefully stop the naga from claiming an artifact that was important in their fight against the Legion.
After the fall of Ael'Yith, which made the Azurewing dragons that much safer than they had been in a long time, Lyra had suggested that she and Khadgar return to Dalaran and place Trixie somewhere safe, so she could rest and recover from her ordeal. Senegos and Stellagosa, on the other hand, overruled her suggestion and said that Trixie would rest in the small mana pool inside the Leyhollow, where Runas had gone to try and force his conditions back before his eventual transformation. What shocked most of the Azurewing was that Senegos has Runas' body removed from the pool he was resting in and had him buried in the small graveyard that rested nearby, complete with a tombstone that would forever honor the Nightfallen elf that had redeemed himself and help safe the Azurewing... in his own way.
When Lyra questioned why they should leave Trixie in the pool, however, the response was that seeing how she had mysteriously become a blue dragon, who were attuned to the leylines and the magic of the world, was that the mana pool would ease the pain her body was feeling and push her power to new heights. She learned that most of the mortal races, those that weren't dragons, usually had a certain level of potential power that they could use, while some, such as Khadgar, had the potential to be extremely powerful in their own right. Trixie, being a mage from a distant land that was vastly different from Azeroth, already had the potential to reach the same level as her mentor... yet Senegos knew that, from just a quick glance at her, that Trixie's power would have increased from her transformation.
Senegos explained that, if the dragons were still immortal, that Trixie would have been hailed as one of the greatest blue dragons to ever grace Azeroth and potentially replace the long dead Malygos, who had been the leader until Kalecgos had been chosen to replace the fallen Aspect.
As Trixie rested, however, Lyra sat on one of the rocks outside the Leyhollow and thought about what she had been told, because something similar had happened when she took on the fel power and became a demon hunter. Lord Illidan had told her that she had the potential to be one of the greatest demon hunters he had ever trained and even joked that she may even be stronger than him. At the time she thought her master had been joking, but now she realized that Lord Illidan would have never joked about something like this, especially since Lyra was beginning to believe that he might have been right about her.
For a moment Lyra wondered if ponies, who weren't used to the constant warfare that the people of Azeroth were used to, were more in tune with the powers that had shaped the universe they lived in... and were only waiting for the right push to make them realize their full potential. From what she remembered Sunset Shimmer had been dropped off in a distant world and returned after completing an adventure of her own, though when she returned she was an alicorn, instead of the unicorn she had been. She had thought that the pony who told her that story had been drunk at the time, but now she was beginning to wonder if there was some truth to what she had been told.
It was possible that her species, who could adapt to any situation and to any power that they came into contact with, might actually be the key to stopping the Legion... but she wouldn't know that until she figured out how to return to Equus and talk with the Princesses about what she and Trixie had found.
"Lyra," Azuregos commented, breaking Lyra from her thoughts, to which she turned her head towards the disguised dragon and noticed that he was beckoning to the Leyhollow with a smile on his face, "Trixie... she's starting to wake up!"
Lyra hadn't been expecting to hear that news, especially since it had only been an hour since Trixie had fallen to the ground after she had ended Ael'Yith's life, but at the same time she was glad to hear the news. She got up from where she was sitting and followed the disguised dragon back to the Leyhollow, though as they drew close to the opening she heard the sound of someone panting. When the two of them rounded the corner, however, Lyra was shocked to find that another change had happened to Trixie's body during the hour her friend had been asleep... one that seemed to be linked to the transformation that had happened during their fight with Ael'Yith.
When they had placed Trixie inside the mana pool she had been a mix of human and pony, that much Lyra was sure of, but now it appeared that the combination of the transformation and the pool she was in had another effect, as Lyra would have mistaken Trixie for Stellagosa, as their bodies almost looked identical. Trixie's hair color had remained the same, as the strip in her hair allowed Lyra to tell that it was actually her and not the dragon she was thinking about, though her ears had become pointed like an elf's, or more like Lyra's own ears. That was when Lyra started noticing the differences in Trixie's body; because there were some patches of blue scales around both of Trixie's wrists, her nails had lengthened a tiny bit and could easily be mistaken for claws, and her hooves had become more dragon-like, as Trixie now possessed a pair of feet that had three sharp claws and the leg structure to match an actual dragon's leg.
What completed the half dragon half elf look that Trixie now possessed were two things; the fact that her pony tail had morphed into a reptilian dragon tail, small enough to fit her size, and the fact that she had a pair of horns growing out of the sides of her head... though oddly enough they were curved backwards like Lyra's horns, which effectively made the two of them the only people to have three horns in the entirety of Azeroth.
"Ugh... my body aches more than it did when I first arrived in Azeroth," Trixie moaned, to which she forcefully picked herself up and noticed, once she had opened her eyes anyway, that she was resting in the mana pool that Runas had died in, though that was before she noticed what had happened to her body, "By the Titans! What in the world happened to my body this time?"
"As far as I can tell your body is still adjusting to your new form," Khadgar commented, though at the same time he felt lost, because he had never witnessed such a thing happen to anyone, which meant that he had no idea how to help Trixie through this difficult time, "After Ael'Yith's construct hit you, and sent you flying into the rock wall, we all expected you to get back up and fight back, but then you sank into the mana pool. I considered that this might be the end of our journey together, because it didn't appear that you were breathing anymore, but just as Lyra destroyed the construct a blue dragon, you I might add, burst out of the water and crushed Ael'Yith. Then you hit the ground and reverted back to the form you have been wearing since your arrival... though it appears that the mana pool has awoken the dragon side within you, hence the reason you appear to be trapped between two worlds."
"I thought that the magic that had changed my form into what it had been had disappeared after the first year I spent in Azeroth," Trixie said, flexing her feet for a moment, as she found it odd to have digits on her feet after having hooves, though Lyra could tell that something else was bothering her, "I just don't understand what could be happening..."
"Actually, I think I have an idea of what might happened." Azuregos said, causing the group to look at him for a moment, to which he let out a small sigh, "Back in the Nexus I gave you a special necklace that housed the essence of a blue dragon and mentioned that you and Kalecgos might be able to figure out some purpose for it. It's possible that the power of the mana pool resonated with the necklace while you were inside the water, awakening the essence that was locked away inside that piece of jewelry. You took the essence of a blue dragon into your body, apparently rewriting who you were to some degree... and it seems that your new hybrid form might be your body trying to get used to the new sensations and power that it possesses.
Trixie, when I gave you that necklace I never expected something like this to happen, as it has never happened in the history of Azeroth... and if I had known this would have happened I would have kept the necklace locked away."
"Azuregos, it's fine," Trixie commented, causing a surprised look to appear on the disguised dragon's face, as he hadn't been expecting her to say that, though she smiled at everyone, "At this point in my life I have gotten used to strange things happening to me, like meeting and defeating three Old Gods in battle, at separate times I might add. I've faced down and killed Archimonde the Defiler, helped protect the safety of this world from the likes of the Lich King, and even helped take down Deathwing... so I think I can handle another change to my body, even one of this degree."
The dragons that had been watching her seemed shocked that she was so accepting of her new changes, despite the fact that when she tried to walk she ended up falling back into the mana pool, but Lyra was pleased that she wasn't letting this phase her friend at all. Lyra also assisted Trixie to the best of her ability, though one thing she was asked to do was go back into the large mana pool and pick up Aluneth, which seemed annoyed to have been left behind, but it apparently thought that having a hybrid master was worth sticking around for... though Lyra told it to stop talking to her. Senegos also invited them to stay the night, as it was already getting dark out, to which Lyra, Trixie, Azuregos, and even Khadgar accepted the offer.
When morning arrived, and Lyra woke up with it, she found that Trixie had been up for some time, as she was actually walking around better than she had been the previous evening, though she could immediately tell that it was only for a few minutes. After those minutes were up Trixie would have to sit down and take a few breaths, which told Lyra that having dragon feet instead of hooves meant that she had to relearn some of the basics, though at the same time Trixie seemed to be getting the hang of things. Some of the Azurewing seemed to be very interested in helping her out, as Lyra spotted several of them walking alongside Trixie and pointing out how they moved with their legs, giving her an idea of how she should move hers.
After a light breakfast, and saying farewell to Khadgar for the moment, as he wanted to ask Senegos some questions before he headed back to Dalaran, Trixie, Lyra, and Azuregos started to leave the Repose as well... until Lyra turned around and approached the elderly dragon they had just saved.
"Something just occurred to me, we never asked where the Tidestone was." Lyra said, to which she directed the question to the elderly dragon, "So, um, who exactly has the Pillar of Creation now?"
"The ghostly elves, to the south, once had the Tidestone of Golganneth," Senegos explained, though the dragon chuckled for a moment, knowing that the excitement had made Lyra and her friends forget to get the information that they were after, "Their great city of Nar'thalas was destroyed an eon ago and their ruler, Prince Farondis, fell with the city... most of you small ones die so easily, though you and Trixie seem to be an exception to that. If anyone knows where the fragments of the Tidestone rest, it will be the ghost of the prince. Seek out his people and discover the resting place of the Pillar of Creation."
Lyra thanked the ancient dragon for them information and headed back to where her companions were waiting for her, though as she left the Repose she noticed that Khadgar didn't like the news that the Tidestone had been shattered so many years ago. Once they were back together they headed towards the ancient ruins that had been pointed out to them, thanks to one of the blue dragons that had followed them out of the Repose for a few seconds, though as they approached the grounds they noticed that a battle seemed to be going on. From what they could tell the army of ghosts that lived in this area were under attack, as the forces of Queen Azshara, which were the naga they had seen when they flew into Azsuna the previous day, were assaulting the ruins and attacking the ghosts.
Lyra actually had no idea if killing one of the spirits would permanently kill them or if they would keep coming back until some ritual was completed, as she had never experienced this sort of thing before, but before they could actually pass through the threshold, and enter the ruins, they were stopped by one of the spirits... who happened to appear out of the shadows in front of them and had her weapons at the ready.
"Who goes there?" the elven spirit asked, staring at the group for a few moments, as if she was trying to determine if they were potential allies or potential enemies, "Are you a group of emissaries from that bizarre floating city?"
"Sort of." Trixie replied, though she made no motion to attack the elf, which had to be what she was waiting for, before she beckoned to the naga, "Let me say this; we are not allies of the naga... in fact they are one of our worst enemies and we make sure that they are stopped whenever we come into contact with them. We actually came here in search of Prince Farondis, because we wanted to ask him about a relic that he and his people used to possess so long ago."
"You're looking for Prince Farondis?" the spirit asked, though it glared at them for a moment, as if she was trying to determine what side of the conflict they were actually on, before she let out a sigh, "I can take you to Farondis... but first things first; these naga suddenly attacked us and forced us to fight back, though I have noticed that they take orders from one called Zarrin, in the low hills to the west. Help me take Zarrin's head, and you'll have my ear."
"We'll take out some of the naga as well." Lyra replied, knowing that these naga were different from the ones that she knew, who were all aboard the Fel Hammer at the moment, which meant that they were okay for them to kill, "Wouldn't want the naga to overrun your forces once their leader dies."
The spirit either hadn't thought about having them kill the underlings as well or had been about to add in that part, though she let out a sigh and had them get underway. Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos passed by the spirit and gazed upon their new enemies, who were preoccupied with attacking the other elven spirits that called these ruins home. The naga seemed more interested in their current opponents, allowing Lyra to toss one of the Twinblades at her chosen target and force it to turn towards her... though as she caught the warglaive on it's return trip, and prepared for the incoming attack, a blast of arcane energy rushed passed her and slammed into the naga, blasting it back into the tree that was behind it.
The spirit that had been under attack was stunned for a moment, as was Lyra, though it reached down to the naga and tapped it's chest with the sword it was carrying, though after a few seconds they all determined that the naga was dead.
"You know, Senegos mentioned that my power had increased after the transformation," Trixie commented, looking between her hands and the dead naga that she had struck, as if she couldn't believe what had happened, "but I think my power must have tripled at least... and now I have relearn how to control my power, before something is accidentally destroyed."
It was then that Azuregos decided that attacking the naga forces would be left to Trixie, to which the two of them walked forward and started attacking the naga, where Azuregos would point out a target and mention a spell he wanted Trixie to use. From there it was up to Trixie to pull off the spell and not overload it, because it could backfire and hurt her, but they were both pleased to find that her skill in keeping her power stable, and at the level it had been before the transformation, was still intact. Unfortunately the attacking naga soon found themselves under assault by two skilled mages, as the pair picked out their targets and fired at them without wasting a second, effectively cutting down the number of enemies that the elven spirits had to deal with.
Lyra, on the other hand, merely sighed as she walked over to the location of the naga that was called Zarrin, who was resting in the front of an old elven building and was shouting orders at his soldiers... though he only stopped when he noticed that Lyra was walking towards him.
"I like your bravery, little one." Zarrin commented, though at the said time he raised his weapon, which seemed to be a spear of some kind, and pointed the tip at Lyra, "I'll enjoy gutting you in front of my entire battalion."
"What little of it remains." Lyra said, to which she pulled the Twinblades out and dropped into her battle stance, keeping her weapons at the ready as she looked at her opponent, "Come and try to put me down."
Zarrin growled at her and immediately moved up to where she was standing, though Lyra could tell that he wasn't used to being on the surface, if the speed his serpent body was moving at was any indication. Thanks to her opponent's lousy movements, and her own training, Lyra was able to outmaneuver her opponent and easily dodge the attacks that were coming her way. She knew that she could easily defeat Zarrin, because he was one of the worst opponents she had ever fought, but she was stalling for time as she waited for Trixie and Azuregos to cut the naga forces back... though it appeared that their leader had no idea his forces were suffering so.
Once Lyra heard the sound of Azuregos calling out to her, which was the signal to complete her side of the task, she quickly turned her weapons around and sliced through Zarrin's chest, to which he crumbled to the ground... though to be sure that the spirit knew that they had completed their side of the bargain she removed Zarrin's head and returned to where Trixie and Azuregos were standing.
"The naga have been routed, for now," Trixie said, causing the elven spirit to turn towards them, while at the same time she beckoned back to the head that Lyra was holding onto, "oh, and we took out Zarrin as well."
"That is definitely Zarrin... and it appears that my doubts about all of you are unfounded." the spirit replied, to which she let out a sigh, indicating that there was something between her and the prince, "You said that you seek Prince Farondis? Follow me... I will show you to the prince's hall."
Now that the way was clear, for the moment anyway, the spirit carefully showed the trio the way to where her prince was at that exact moment, though when they reached the ruins where the prince was they found that every spirit in the area was glancing at the main building with hatred in their eyes... and that they seemed to smile when they noticed the group walking passed them. Lyra knew that the spirits were hoping that they were assassins, sent to kill the spirit of their former prince, but she wished they wouldn't look at them and expect such a thing to happen. The spirit stopped in the entrance and faced them, though she beckoned back to the spirit that stood in the middle of the small building... who the group knew had to be the spirit of Prince Farondis.
"You seek the Tidestone of Golganneth, do you not?" Prince Farondis asked them, though all three of them were shocked to hear him ask it, but they nodded their heads anyway, "I figured as much. The only reason those naga have been attacking us is because they want the Tidestone as well... though I suspect that their reasons are the opposite of your own. The answer to your question is yes, I know where the Tidestone lies... though it is in a place to which I prefer not to return. However, seeing how you managed to convince Idri to bring you to me, I propose an exchange of services; you help me deal with the naga that are harassing us, as well as help some of my Elders with a few tasks, and I will show you where the Tidestone is located."
If it weren't for the fact that they were looking for a Pillar of Creation, which they needed to seal the Tomb of Sargeras, Lyra might have told the spirit that they would only help him out, but before she said anything Trixie, the more seasoned adventurer, voiced her agreement and asked what needed to be done. Lyra had the feeling that they would be dealing with a lot more naga in the next few hours... though she seriously hoped that this would bring them one step closer to acquiring the ancient artifact. She was sure that, by the end of the day, she would know the answer to her thoughts and prayed that they would possess the Pillar of Creation by the time night was upon them once more.
"Okay, so what exactly do we need to do before Prince Farondis shows us where the Tidestone is located?" Lyra asked, as she had stopped paying attention to what the prince had been saying when some naga had tried getting up the nearby hill, to which she took them out while Trixie and Azuregos gathered the information they needed.
"Prince Farondis personally wants us to recover the bones of his ancestors, that were stolen by the murlocs and their naga allies." Trixie replied, knowing that Lyra was on a one track mind, one that reminded her of people who focused on one thing and one thing only, before she continued with the list she was reading from, "Lady Irisse asked us to find Elder Aldryth, who apparently went for a walk ten thousand years ago and never returned, and seeing how the naga are attack she is concerned for his safety. Magister Garuhod asked us to recover six arcane-infused eggs, which we can secure from the herons down by where the naga and murlocs are, as well as obtain the six eyes of Gangamesh... because he wants to use those specific items in creating a special drink."
"Those sound like easy tasks to complete." Lyra said, to which she actually smiled as she looked out over the area that the naga were coming from, where she spotted a cave in the distance and guessed that they could find Gangamesh inside it, as well as the herons and their eggs, "Let's get down there and knock those tasks out."
Trixie nodded and let Lyra walk down the path first, before she and Azuregos followed after her, where the three of them headed down to where the naga and their murlocs were running around, doing whatever they happened to be doing at the moment. As they approached the area Lyra tossed one of her warglaives at a naga and forced it to come over towards her, to which Trixie and Azuregos targeted other groups of enemies that happened to be in the area, using Trixie's power up to her magic to their advantage. Trixie was able to take out a small group of five murlocs by casting one spell and having it detonate in the middle of their group, which seemed to be another change to her magic thanks to her sudden transformation.
Lyra, on the other hand, moved around her opponents as she made sure to avoid their spells and their attacks, which was all due to the training she had gone through back at the Black Temple. She had actually trained against several members of the Coilskar, the naga that were allied with the main forces of the Illidari, so she knew the movements of her opponents quite well... sometimes even predicting them before they even made their attack. One of the naga surprised her and managed to cut her cheek a little bit, which prompted her to quickly slay the naga where she stood, though she slipped one of her warglaives onto her back and touched the cut. She found the same fel green colored blood that one found when they killed demons, once more illustrating how taking the fel energy into her body, which had turned the eredar into demons, had changed her.
Up to this point she had actually never sustained any damage to her body, which she was lucky when she considered everything that she had been up against, but she wiped the blood away, pulled her other warglaive out, and resumed fighting the naga and murlocs that were around them.
"You okay Lyra?" Trixie asked, though she was shocked by seeing her friend get wounded for the first time since they had found each other, as she had assumed that the reason she always avoided damage was because of her training.
"Yeah. That guy got a lucky hit... one I don't intend to repeat." Lyra replied, though as they started searching for the bones of the long dead elves, which the murlocs had been carrying a lot of, she also found a red glass bottle that had a note locked inside it, "Strange, this murloc was carrying a red bottle that had a note in it... one that claims that a Okuna Longtusk and his shipmates are being held prisoner by sea giants."
"Really?" Trixie inquired, to which she walked over and looked at the note that Lyra was holding, finding that her friend was telling the truth, "Well, when we get back to Prince Farondis we can ask one of his Elders if they know anything about these giants... and maybe help us determine whether or not we should pursue the contents of this note."
Lyra nodded and tucked the note into her bag, to which she and Trixie counted all of the bones that they happened to have recovered up to this point, where they determined that they had found at least fifty-five individual bones from all of the murlocs they had killed. Once they decided that they might have enough bones to satisfy Prince Farondis' request, which brought them one step closer to finding the Tidestone, Lyra pointed out the cave she had been staring at and revealed that she believed that Gangamesh lived in that area. Azuregos, who had been patiently waiting beside them, agreed with her statement, as there were enough heron around the cave for a large creature to eat... meaning that they could definitely recover both items that the one Elder wanted them to recover.
He also revealed that he believed that the Elder they were supposed to be looking for might be trapped under the water, but warned that they should get their other objectives cleared before they bother searching the water... to which both Lyra and Trixie agreed with him.
Once they were in agreement with each other, and knew what they were doing, they resumed their attack on the naga forces that were in front of them, focusing on their opponents at the same time instead of pulling separate groups and targeting them all in unison. Fortunately if they didn't target a second group they could make decent progress towards the cave, where they cut down the opponents in front of them and blasted apart the ones that were standing at the back of the pack. When they reached the front of the cave, however, the herons that were standing near the entrance fled from them, allowing them to turn their attention to the three headed creature that was lurking in the back of the cave.
"So that is why Magister Garuhod wanted us to grab all six of his eyes," Trixie commented, beckoning to the creature's three heads, which happened to have two eyes apiece, "because Gangamesh is actually a hydra. This will be an interesting fight for sure."
Lyra, who had no idea what was different between an Azeroth hydra and a Equus hydra, simply held the Twinblades out and charged at the three headed creature, though while the middle one focused on her the other two got blasted in the face with magic, from both Azuregos and Trixie. Thanks to the three of them they were able to take out the hydra, though in order to do so Lyra had to cut off the head that was focused on her before she could turn her attention to one of the other ones. Once all three of the creature's heads were cut off, and the body had stopped moving, Lyra sheathed the Twinblades and reached into all three of the fallen heads, plucking the eyes from their socks and pocketing them inside her bag... wrapped in some cloth to prevent additional harm.
Once they had claimed all six of the eyes, and Azuregos actually applauded Lyra for taking the initiative to actually tear them out herself without any prompts from him or Trixie, they walked outside the cave and approached one of the nests that were around the entrance. When Azuregos gently pulled the egg from the nest, however, the heron that called the place home attacked him, to which Lyra quickly caught it and shoved it away with the edge of her weapons. She didn't want to kill an innocent creature, one that was clearly protecting its own nest, but her rough nature seemed to eventually change the animal's mind and caused it to turn away.
They repeated the process with the remaining five nests, one more relying on Lyra to turn away the herons before they got hurt, before they had the required number of eggs that Magister Garuhod wanted them to grab. With that taken care of Azuregos beckoned to the ruins that were submerged in the water, where he told them that he believed that the Elder they were searching for was somewhere in there. When Trixie asked if he had any ideas to prove that, especially with a sea giant roaming the underwater ruins, Azuregos grinned and morphed into his dragon form and flew over the water. Lyra and Trixie watched as the sea giant took notice of Azuregos and tried to grab him, though while their friend distracted the sea giant they dove into the water and swam down to the ruins... where they found a spirit somehow trapped under one of the fallen pillars.
Together Trixie and Lyra helped the trapped spirit out from where he was pinned down, knowing that he had to be the Elder that Lady Irisse had asked them to find... Elder Aldryth if their memory served them.
"Thank you, strangers." Elder Aldryth said, though at the same time all three of them returned to the surface of the water and made their way to the nearest shore, "I don't know what happened. I heard a loud crashing noise, and then I found myself stuck beneath that beam. Since then, I've just been waiting. Now then, I had best be getting back to the others... they must be worried sick about me."
Trixie and Lyra would have said something to the spirit, though before they could actually opened their mouths the spirit started walking back to where Prince Farondis was waiting for them, where he mentioned something about a lovely girl that was lost on the two of them. A few seconds later Azuregos came down near them and beckoned to his legs, to which they grabbed on and allowed him to take to the skies, leaving behind a rather confused sea giant that had been trying to grab him. He took them over to where the Prince and his Elders were waiting for them and allowed both Trixie and Lyra to drop to the ground, before assuming his disguised form once more... to which the three of them approached the room that Prince Farondis was standing in.
Once they arrived they found that Elder Aldryth had returned as well, and was already in a conversation with Lady Irisse, though they knew that they should inform the Elders and Prince Farondis of their success.
"I can't tell you how relieved I am that Elder Aldryth has returned." Lady Irisse said, as she already appeared grateful for a break in the conversation with the previously missing Elder, "Honestly, life here in the palace hasn't been the same without him. Everything seemed to have... lost its color. Perhaps now we can get back to our normal lives."
"I'm glad to hear that you are adjusting so well," Trixie commented, to which she turned her attention to Magister Garuhod, while at the same time making sure that Lyra handed over the eyes that they had acquired earlier, which seemed to catch the Elder's attention immediately, "Magister Garuhod, we have recovered the arcane-infused eggs and the eyes of Gangamesh that you requested us to acquire."
"Capital! A prodigious start." Magister Garuhod exclaimed, taking the arcane-infused eggs from Trixie, apparently choosing to leave the eyes for last, "I implore you to create this marvelous mixture for yourself. I want to share the delight of alchemical spirits with the world! You'll need to get more eggs for yourself, though. And you have the eyes of Gangamesh, excellent!"
Trixie, Lyra, and Azuregos watched as the Magister started mixing the arcane-infused eggs with whatever else he had in his possession, to which they wondered what he was doing. They assumed that he was creating the drink that he wanted their help in gathering the other ingredients for, though they patiently waited until he had some sort of drink in his hand, which caused the other spirits to look over at him. They all watched as the eyes served no purpose in the actual mixture of the drink, as they appeared to be a presentation item of sorts, but they patiently waited for him to do whatever he was planning on doing.
"I was going to present this mixture to one of the ladies of the court," Magister Garuhod explained, to which he held the drink up for all to see, as even the guards outside the room they were in seemed interested in seeing what they were all doing, "which is bound to increase my standing in certain social circles. But, I just can't bring myself to do it. Who better to drink my latest masterpiece than, well... me?"
The group, both the spirits and the living, watched as Magister Garuhod turned the glass for everyone to see, giving them a decent look at what he was holding, before toasting to his brilliant mind. Once he had done that he tipped the glass towards his mouth and drank the contents, though once it was empty he gently set the glass down and turned to face the assembled group. They all waited for a few seconds, as they were curious if his mixture would have any effect or be a dud, before he doubled over in pain for the briefest of seconds and exploded into a wisp... to which he happily zipped through the air and departed from the ruins.
Once the excitement was over, as it appeared that Magister Garuhod had developed a potential cure for the curse that plagued the spirits and failed to tell anyone the exact mixture, the trio turned to Prince Farondis and delivered the good news... and the bones that he had asked them to recover.
"Our bones are all we have left of an existence we left behind a long time ago." Prince Farondis said, gesturing for one of the soldiers to take the bones from the trio, to which the bones were transferred to a room and the Prince directed their attention back to him, "Stay with me, heroes... I will help you find your Tidestone."
As the trio followed Prince Farondis out of the room, however, they heard Lady Irisse questioning Elder Aldryth about his walk, to which the Elder denied visiting the specific girl that she had asked him about... before saying that he had been visiting another girl before his accident befell him. They then followed Prince Farondis towards the massive city that looked like it had been partly swallowed by the water, and damaged by it as well, though at the same time they heard the spirits of the citizens cruse their Prince for what he had done to them. The trio had to admit that this was a curious development, as they had been sure that there was no intense hatred between the citizens and their leader, but that appeared to be wrong thinking on their part.
One thing they discovered was Prince Farondis' skill, as he appeared to be an incredibly powerful mage that was able to summon a barrage of flaming boulders to destroy the few naga and murlocs that dared to come his way, without asking them to stand in for them. The trio suspected that there was something larger than what they were seeing, though they kept their mouths shout as they walked towards the fallen city... knowing that it would reveal something about what was going on at the moment. All they had to do was wait and see what they could find out in the ruined city, while helping the Prince with whatever he asked of them... all so they could find and recover the Tidestone.
The group was barely a minute away from where they found Prince Farondis when they were stopped by a pair of angry spirits, though instead of focusing on Lyra, Trixie, or Azuregos they focused on their prince. Trixie had seen hatred in the eyes of both the Alliance and Horde, back during their campaign in Pandaria, but this was on a level beyond what she was used to. She had known that the entirety of Azeroth had suffered ten thousand years ago, when the Well of Eternity exploded and tore apart the landmass that that existed at the time, creating the continents of the modern age, and it appeared that these spirits might be from that time period. If they were really ten thousand years old, and their curse had not been lifted from them, that meant that they were dealing with someone incredibly powerful... and judging by who their enemies were, the naga and their allies, that meant it could be only one person; Queen Azshara.
Sure, she and Lyra had known this fact since they flew into Azsuna and helped the Illidari, but now this was further verification of what they knew... and that meant that they had to work fast before their enemies discovered the location of the Tidestone.
"You have some nerve showing your face around here." one of the spirits angrily said, to which she spit in Prince Farondis' direction, before she and her companion parted ways and allowed them to continue walking.
"I… I am sorry." Prince Farondis replied, clearly trying to regain the trust of his people, but when it appeared that this group would not listen to him he sighed and moved forward, causing Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos to follow after him.
Not a minute later they spotted another group blocking their path, though Prince Farondis took out the group of naga that were approaching them by burning them with boulders, before they stopped in front of the spirits once more.
"You did this to us, Farondis." one of the other spirits said, accusing the prince of what he had done in the past, which made Trixie curious as to why the spirits hated their prince so much.
"I only did what I thought was right." Prince Farondis insisted, telling the group that he must have tried this many times over the last ten thousand years, which meant that he was persistent and wouldn't give up if he believed that he was doing something right.
With the spirits out of the way the group of four continued to the entrance of the ruined city and approached the bridge, where Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos noticed a spirit, who was dressed in the same armor as the lady they had first helped, standing in their way.
"Hold right there." the spirit exclaimed, stopping the group in their tracks, though the only reason Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos did that was because Prince Farondis wanted them to do so, "We will not let you into Nar’thalas again. Not after what happened last time."
"I beg your forgiveness, Thaldrys." Prince Farondis replied, informing the group that, despite what happened all those years ago, the prince was truly sorry for whatever he had done.
"You sundered the land we called home." Thaldrys said, his tone full of accusation, which meant that he had spent a long time preparing for this and was letting everything out all at once, "You denied us the release of death. Ten thousand years of damnation for ten thousand elves. All because your foolish alliances and botched politics."
"Thaldrys..." Prince Farondis said, sounding a little defeated for a moment, which meant that the spirit in front of them had been a loyal follower until they had a falling out, "What can I do to make amends?"
"I doubt there’s anything you can do now, prince." Thaldrys replied, though he crossed his arms and said no more, indicating that he would not allow his prince to enter the ruined city, but Trixie knew that she and her friends might be able to get away with entering the city.
"Perhaps this was a mistake." Prince Farondis said, to which he pulled the group back for a moment, though his movements indicated he had something for them to do, "They have not forgiven me, and I cannot blame them considering what happened, but past crimes aside, I am still their prince. Even in death, I will do what I can to protect my people. Friends, I need the three of you to act as my champions for some time. Find and defeat the creature that leads this naga attack against the people of Nar’thalas. After all these years, the three of you may very well be the instruments of my redemption."
Trixie knew that finding the naga in question would be rather easy, considering all they had to do was save some spirits and they would point them in the right direction, to which she beckoned for her friends to follow her... though a few seconds later she stopped as she spotted two living people sitting in an area of the ruins that was close to where she, Lyra, and Azuregos would be passing through. Instead of leaving the two living elves alone, and likely get them hurt in something they weren't prepared for, Trixie sighed and walked over to where they were resting... to which the female elf immediately noticed the group approaching them.
"Hi! Trixie Lulamoon, right?" the female elf said, to which Trixie nodded, as she wasn't expecting to find someone down here that already knew her name and face, "The archmages in Dalaran said we might see you down here. My brother and I are here on a reconnaissance mission. We’re looking for our parents. We’ve lived our entire lives thinking that our family was killed in Azsuna several thousand years ago, but look around! Most of the elves here are ghosts. Olothil’s been searching through books for clues as to why, but we could use some help."
"In order to find the spirits of our family, I will need materials to scry their location." her brother, Olothil, commented, though the group could tell that he was annoyed about something, "The naga carry magical trinkets imbued with ley energy that is better-attuned to this land than anything we have in Dalaran. If I had a few of those, I could do some real scrying."
"Okay, we'll find a few of the naga's magical trinkets and see if we can't find any intact books," Lyra said, though at the same time she sighed, because these two were distracting them from their mission, but Trixie had already committed them by approaching the pair of siblings and there was no backing out now.
The trio left the siblings in their hiding spot and walked down the road that they had been following, which brought them to the middle of the ruined city and allowed them to see that the naga were using siege machines that they had built to deal damage to the entire city. It was clear that they weren't interested in keeping what remained of the city intact, though both Trixie and Azuregos growled as they watched the naga attempt to bring down the wall near them, only to fail in the end. The pair separated themselves from Lyra and charged at the closest siege weapon, to which they ignited their magic and blasted the naga off of the device, before they destroyed the weapon as well.
Lyra sighed as she watched her fellow Equestrian and the disguised dragon continued their assault on the naga's siege weapons, though that was before she continued the search for the naga they were after... to which she found a spirit that was pinned to a wall with a trident sticking out of its stomach, where she didn't bother to question how a spirit could be impaled on a wall in the first place. She freed the spirit after taking out the naga that was standing near it, though when she asked about the leader of the naga's forces she was pointed up the large set of stairs and was told that Athissa was at the building at the top. With that information in hand Lyra climbed up the stairs and easily found the building in question, though she had to kill the four naga that were standing guard outside the entrance.
Inside the building she spotted a lean naga, one that seemed to be dressed in the naga's version of a sorceress' armor, that happened to be interrogating some of the spirits that had been brought to her... and so far hadn't noticed that Lyra was approaching her from behind.
"Your orders are clear! Find the Tidestone, and return it to Her Glory, Queen Azshara!" Athissa shouted, bellowing her orders to the naga that were attacking the city, as if she was taking a break from the interrogation or something, "These creatures only pretend to understand its power. The Tidestone belongs to Azshara, Her Radiance, the Light Beneath the Tides! Scour the sands! Pillage the ruins! Slay anyone and anything that gets in your path! FIND THAT TIDESTONE! Your Queen Azshara wills it, and so shall it be done!"
Lyra decided to intervene while she had the chance, to which she threw one of the Twinblades at her target and grinned as it cut into one of Athissa's arms, causing her to drop the spirit she was holding onto and focus on Lyra. As Athissa turned her attention to Lyra, and started to ignore the spirits behind her, the spirits seemed to sense that this was the best time to flee and took the opportunity to leave, allowing Lyra to fight without having to worry about hitting them in the process. Lyra moved around the chamber they were in, dodging Athissa's attempts to hit her with a single spell and making her miss when she tried to use a blizzard spell, though the only one she had to watch out for was the large number of people sized bubbles that rained down from the ceiling... though she suspected that they would trap her in an instant and avoided them to the best of her ability.
While she ran around the area, and forced her opponent to miss her, she occasionally charged at her and delivered a cut to some part of her body, pissing Athissa off in the process before she moved away again... though she was truly stopped when the naga zeroed in on her and froze her where she was standing.
"Enough of this!" Athissa declared, though as she said that she started moving towards the building's entrance, clearly intending to leave the area for the moment, "The Tidestone will be ours!"
A few seconds later Lyra broke out of the ice that she had been trapped in, which was nothing compared to the fel prison Maiev had locked her in for all those years, before she charged outside and looked around for her target... where she discovered that Athissa had fled the moment she had cast the freezing spell on her.
"Such a troublesome pest," Lyra commented, though at the same time she sheathed her warglaives and walked over to the edge, where she found the location that Trixie and Azuregos were in.
It was times like this that Lyra was glad that she was still wearing her Illidari robe, because her back, and the fel markings that were near her shoulders, were bare for the world to see. The first time she had used her demon wings, to glide from the top of the Black Temple to a spot where the Illidari practiced gliding towards, she had asked where they came from and why they weren't permanent. From what she had been told only the really strong demon hunters, such as Lord Illidan, were capable of making their wings a permanent addition to their body. The fel markings on her back, which existed in the same location for every demon hunter that was under her command, were where her wings were, waiting to be unfurled at a moment's notice.
It made her think back to when she was locked in her Havoc Form thanks to Maiev, before Gul'dan snapped her back to reality, but she shook the memory away and jumped into the air... where she unfurled her wings and glided down to where her friends were fighting, surprising them in the process.
"I cannot believe that I forgot you could do that." Trixie said, trying to find the fact that she had forgotten Lyra could glide from high places, though at the same time Lyra allowed the fel wings to fade back into her tattoos as she looked around the area.
"I don't mind that you forgot," Lyra replied, though at the same time she noticed that Azuregos was carrying three trinkets and some books, "I take it you guys found what we were asked to find, while I was busy taking out Athissa?"
"We found a few trinkets that Olothil is bound to like," Azuregos commented, sounding a little pleased that he and Trixie were able to pick up what they were after, while getting revenge on the naga that was were trying to destroy the rest of the ruined city, "We also three tomes that detailed the downfall of Azsuna; apparently Prince Farondis disagreed with his Queen's idea of joining forces with the Legion, to which he planned on staging a coup to stop the destruction of the world. One of the people that were in his circle learned of his plans and told the Queen about what he intended to do... to which Queen Azshara used her magic to shatter the Tidestone and place a curse on the people of this land, trapping them in the state they are in now."
"That explains why the spirits hate their prince so much," Lyra said, a frown appearing on her face for a moment, because she wasn't liking how this was going at all, "I don't know how Queen Azshara had the power to shatter a Titan artifact like the Tidestone, but all this means is that we need to be careful while we're here... because something tells me that she won't sit idle while we fight her forces."
Trixie and Azuregos looked at her for a moment, realizing that she had come to the same conclusion that they had reached while they were fighting the naga, before they moved back towards the location that Prince Farondis had chosen to stay in. They needed to tell him that the task he had sent them on was done, as well as tell Olothil the good news... before they truly focused on finding and securing the Tidestone, before Athissa came back with an even larger army than what they had seen so far.
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos quickly made their way back to where Prince Farondis, and his formally loyal subject Thaldrys, had been left standing and facing each other, though as they approached them, however, the trio noticed that a group of spirits had arrived and were calling their prince all sorts of names. Apparently all of them believed that their prince was some sort of murderer that had killed them all for defying their Queen, which was certainly true from all of the books they had been able to find, but at the same time the spirits were wrong. If they had sided with the Legion they would have either been killed as well or turned into demons to further the destruction of Azeroth, which meant that either way they cut it the spirits would have been killed either way.
While they waited, mostly for the spirits to leave, Trixie took it upon herself to head over to the living elves that they had talked to earlier and told them the news, leaving Lyra to keep an eyes on the prince. The two siblings seemed happy with the news that Trixie and her friends had gathered the items they needed, so much so that the sister told the story about Queen Azshara and the betrayal of Prince Farondis... while at the same time blasting her brother with fireballs in the process, which only seemed to stagger him for a few seconds. Once the siblings had settled down, and started working with what trixie had brought them, Trixie bowed out and returned to Lyra and Azuregos.
Lyra stood there for a few more moments, patiently waiting for the spirits to leave the prince alone, before the small group of spirits actually departed and she was allowed to approach him, though she did notice that his mood immediately lifted once he noticed that she was in front of him.
"Ah, Lyra, what news do you bring?" Prince Farondis asked, while at the same time ignoring the glare that Thaldrys was sending his way, because he wanted to hear what Lyra was going to tell him.
"Athissa, the leader of the naga forces that have been attacking Nar'thalas, has been forced to retreat," Lyra replied, noticing that Trixie and Azuregos were happy to hear this news, especially since they had been occupied with attacking the naga forces around the ruins, "though as she fled she proclaimed that her forces would find the Tidestone and that it belonged to their leader."
"She spoke of the Tidestone?" Prince Farondis said, as if he was actually surprised that the naga would know about the existence of the artifact, before he smiled for a second, "That sea witch must not realize how close she truly is to finding it. We should move quickly now... we are close to your prize, and the naga are circling in."
"Indeed." Trixie said, knowing that the time had come for them to move quickly, so they could secure the artifact before the naga found where its resting place, "So, where to next?"
"The echoes of Nar’thalas still haunt me, and I cannot bear the pain of this accursed town any longer." Prince Farondis commented, referring to the spirits that were constantly calling him names and distracting him from their task, though he also seemed glad to have them as allies, "I may still be able to get you closer to the Tidestone... however, we will need to skirt around the edge of town. Follow me."
Prince Farondis brought them over to the building that was on the left of them, after they walked across the bridge that brought them to Nar'thalas, and carefully took them down the staircase that was in the building. When they reached the lowered level of the building they were attacked by another angry spirit, though this one was intent on harming them, to which the prince obliterated the spirit with a swift wave of his hand and a burst of arcane energy. They then followed the prince outside the building and continued down the path that he was following, where he blasted apart the spirits and the murlocs that chose to attack them.
Lyra was still surprised that the spirit of Prince Farondis had this much power left inside his body, but she was glad that he was still on their side... though before she could say anything they reached another bridge and Prince Farondis stopped, allowing the group to stare up at the large building that was in front of him.
"Here, the Nar’thalas Academy. This is where it all happened." Prince Farondis told them, looking up at the large building and remembering something from the past, before he shook his head and focused on them again, "This sunken structure, on the other side of this bridge, was once called Nar’thalas Academy: the center of magical studies in all of Azeroth during the time when I was alive. You should have seen her in her full splendor. The Tidestone should be locked up somewhere inside it's halls. I dare not enter the building, but you, my friends, you may enter with my blessing."
"Actually, I think that this is something that one of us should tackle alone," Trixie commented, causing Lyra and Azuregos to look over at her for a moment, as if she had lost her mind, to which she beckoned to the naga that were still attacking the ruins, "Athissa is still out there and she said that she was going to return with some more forces, so someone has to make sure that her army is stalled long enough forus to secure the Tidestone... and besides, I know the most about magic, so it makes sense for me to go in there."
"The part about knowing the most about magic is debatable," Azuregos said, though at the same time he laid a hand on Trixie's shoulder, "but if you want to go in there, and find the Tidestone on your own, then I won't stop you... besides, I'm eager to show the naga the fury of a dragon."
Trixie chuckled as she glanced over at Lyra, who merely shook her head, indicating that she believed this to be a bad idea, before beckoning for her to enter the academy, meaning that she also believed that Trixie had the skills necessary to find and secure the Tidestone. Once the two of them were fine with her entering the building, alone, Trixie walked across the bridge and followed the stairs up to the entrance, where she found that part of the inside was actually broken... giving her a walkway that allowed to delve deeper into the academy. She then walked down to the lower level and immediately spotted the spirits of the dead mages still practicing their skills, as if they hadn't noticed that they were actually dead.
The spirits ignored her as she made her way around to the stairs, which allowed her to walk down to where another group of mages were practicing... though as she looked around she was stopped by one of the mages that reminded her of the instructors Khadgar had introduced her to back when she started training in Dalaran.
"A new student?" the male instructor asked, though when he noticed that Trixie had no idea what he was talking about, however, he seemed to sigh as he prepared to tell her something, "I am Thyrillion, the Academy Curator, and this is Andellis, the Librarian. Now stop right where you are standing. Look at you! You look like you just walked in off of the street. Where are your robes and hat? And don’t tell me you’ve entered the academy without your wand and spellbook. Freshmen. Pull yourself together, and maybe then I will consider letting you enter the academy."
"And a moment, if you please." Andellis said, causing Trixie to look over at her for a moment, wondering what else she needed to do next, "One problem with maintaining such a large arcane library is that the books often pick up an errant enchantment and start darting about on their own. These overmagicked books need to be destroyed before they cause any further damage. If you encounter any of these exasperating essays, please put them down. Quietly."
Trixie counted off the items she needed in her head as she walked away from the two elven mages, knowing that she needed to borrow a set of robes, a hat, a wand, and a spellbook, as well as take out a few enchanted tomes. Her luck turned for the better as she approached the two mages that were practicing on the same level as the two elves she had walked away from, where she found a bookcase that had a book sticking out of it. With the book in hand Trixie turned to the two mages that were practicing under their instructor's orders, where she watched as one of them had their hat knocked off a few seconds later. She waited for a few seconds and watched as the elf picked it back up, though a few seconds later it went flying off again, to which Trixie quickly collected it and moved on... while making sure to pull her own hood back and place the spirit wizard hat on her head.
She then walked back up the stairs and looked around for anything else she could borrow, where she ignited her magic and took out one of the floating spellbooks that Andellis told her to take out. Not a few seconds later she spotted a mage that had her back turned to Trixie, where she noticed a wand that was left out in the open, though as she claimed it she heard the mage mentioning that she must have been reading the same scroll for ten thousand years and still didn't understand any of it. She paused for a moment, where she noticed that Aluneth seemed to disappear thanks to the wand and spellbook, but she decided not to focus on that as she moved forward. As she searched for a robe that she could wear, for now anyway, she took out a second flying spellbook that was near her... to which she found a sleeping spirit, which could provide the robe she needed.
As she gently removed the robes from the spirit, all without waking the spirit in the process, she carefully pulled it on and found that she was now covered in the same aura that surrounded all of the spirits around her, making her look more like them... despite the fact that she was more dragon than any of them. She carefully erased one more flying spellbook before feeling that she had completed the tasks that the two elves had set her out on, to which she walked down the stairs and walked back up to where they were standing. When she stopped in front of the two elves, however, she decided to tell Andellis the news first, though she suspected that both of them would be quite pleased with her.
"Don’t worry about the scattered pages and spines, I will have my aides clean up." Andellis said, though she sounded pleased with what Trixie had done, almost as if she believed that Trixie was actually one of their students this time around, "Thank you. You may return to your studies."
"Still trying to get into the academy, I see." Thyrillion commented, noticing that Trixie had returned to where he and Andellis were standing, "Your hat and robes don’t match, but you still look better. I hardly recognize you. Now, what was it you wanted?"
"I'm looking for the Tidestone," Trixie said, knowing that just by saying which artifact she was after, and not mentioning which Titan it was supposed to have crafted by, the spirit was likely to know which one she was talking about.
"You’re here to see the Tidestone of Golganneth?" Thyrillion asked, though when Trixie nodded her head, indicating that she was here for that one artifact, the spirit started laughing at her, as if he found something funny, before calming down and staring at her, "No, only the academy’s Headmistress has the keys to that chamber, and she hasn’t opened the door in… oh, I’d say about ten thousand years. You’d best be off to class, now. Go on, then! Into the west wing with you!"
Trixie noticed that he was beckoning to the path on her left, so she let out a sigh and approached the door, which seemed to open by her touching it. With the door out of the way, for now anyway, she walked down the path that was in front of her and came to a room that had a decent number of mages practicing their skills, as well as a lone elf that was standing in front of what she assumed was the area that the Headmistress had to be in. Trixie smiled as she crossed the entirety of the room, because it seemed that everything was going her way at the moment... until the elf in front of the Headmistress' chamber stopped her in her tracks.
"Excuse me, is the Headmistress in?" Trixie asked, knowing that if she presented herself as a student the spirits might respond to her more, because if she tried to be something like an outsider she wouldn't get any answer.
"Yes, the Headmistress is in her study, but I can’t have you bothering her right now." the spirit responded, which made Trixie silently curse that the spirit actually believed that she was a student, because it appeared to be coming back and biting her already, "Classes are about to start."
"Very well then." Trixie said, letting out a sigh as she realized that she would have to play along in order to get at the Headmistress, though at the same time she had to wonder if they would teach her something she didn't know, "What is the lesson for today, um..."
"I am Instructor Nidriel," the spirit replied, sounding a little pleased that Trixie would bother to ask who she was, while also sounding a little disappointed that Trixie forgot her name, as if she was actually a student, "We’ll start with some wand work. You have your wand with you? Good. I’ve set up a number of targets around the hall. Use your wand to hit as many as you can. And no point blank shots! That’s cheating."
Trixie glanced down at the want she was carrying, which was actually Aluneth in disguise and happened to change forms based on what the spirits around her were saying, before she noticed some targets appearing around the room. She moved into the middle of the chamber and focused on the targets, to which she waved the wand and loosed a small blast that simply hit one target. She tried the same thing on three more targets and noticed that she hit them as well, to which she continued to wave the 'wand' around and continued to hit all of the targets that phased into existence, which also faded when she hit them.
She only stopped when Instructor Nidriel coughed and beckoned for her to stop, though seeing how there weren't any time keepers down here she had to guess a few minutes had passed at least... though she would know when she reunited with Lyra and Azuregos later.
"And… it looks like we’re out of time for today’s wand practice." Instructor Nidriel said, to which she made the motion to get Trixie out of the room, once again thinking that she was just another student, "Go on, then. Off to your next class!"
Trixie sighed as she backed away from the elf, because while she knew where the Headmistress was located, she couldn't get in unless someone let her into the area... though before she could think of a plan she noticed a spirit to her left shaking his head at her.
"Would you mind?" the spirit asked, though at the same time Trixie moved closer to him, because she was sure that he might be able to help her in some way, "I’m working on a very important paper, and it’s difficult to concentrate with you neophytes shooting everything in sight."
"Sorry, I was just trying to make an appointment so I could speak with the Headmistress." Trixie commented, though at the same time she tried her hardest to sound confused, though while she disliked this sort of thing she knew that she needed to trick the spirits into helping her.
"What’s this? A new, confused student, desperately trying to win the favor of the headmistress, wandering the halls without anything to do?" the spirit said, to which Trixie mentally moaned, because while her acting had gone downhill since she arrived in Azeroth, as she hadn't needed to use her skills at all over the last seven years, she knew she shouldn't have been able to pull that off at her current level, "Perfect! I need help with my research. I’m writing a paper on combat. Grab me some books from the shelf over there."
"Sure thing, um..." Trixie replied, though once more she acted like a confused and lost student, because if things were going to go her way she might as well get the spirit's name now... just in case they needed to come back here for something in the future.
"My name is Sythorne." the spirit replied, sounding happy to have someone like Trixie ask what his name was, once again making Trixie mentally moan at how bad her acting had gotten over the years, "Now then, I just read an interesting paper on the lowly kobold. Apparently, these creatures are more fierce than their visual affordance might suggest. Fetch me a secondary reference on kobolds. I’d like to verify this hypothesis."
Trixie looked at the shelves of books that Sythorne was beckoning to and sighed, because it appeared that some of the tomes were actually damaged beyond repair, though she started her search. It took her a few seconds to actually find the book, as it had been out in the open, and she returned it to the table that the spirit wanted her to put it on, to which she found that the picture on the book came to life as a worn looking version of a kobold appeared in the middle of the room. Seeing how she was going to have to fight the creature, to progress onward, Trixie used her magic to attack the drawing that had come to life, quickly obliterating it... which made sense considering that it was only a drawing and not an actual living creature.
"Fascinating." Sythorne said, to which Trixie watched him take some notes before he turned back to her, though she had the feeling that there were more books for her to look for, "Of course, a more pressing concern to our academy is the constant encroachment of the skrogs. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that our library suffers a scarcity of information on these creatures. Find me a book on skrogs. Anything will do."
It took Trixie a whole minute to find the book in question, to which she summoned a drawing version of the sea giants that were currently roaming the area around the academy, keeping the enemies of the naga away from the building, to the best of their ability anyway. This time she studied how the drawing moved, and how it attacked, before she started blasting holes in it, eventually allowing it to crumble like the one before it.
"Lastly, I’d like to brush up on dragons. Blue dragons, to be precise." Sythorne spoke up, though it was at this point that Trixie was glad for the spirit illusion the borrowed clothing she was wearing was giving her at the moment, because it prevented the spirit from seeing that she was half dragon, "We are currently on good terms with our northerly neighbors, but should our friendship wither, it can’t hurt to know how they fight."
This time Trixie found the book in question within a few seconds, though when she summoned the drawing she noticed that it was an image of Senegos, and she had recently seen him fight in order to protect his home. The drawing of Senegos was the only one to hit her while they fought, as it managed to smack her with its tail, but she was still the stronger fighter thanks to the fact that the drawing was more brittle than she was. It took her a whole minute to defeat the drawing of the powerful blue dragon, though when that was gone she turned to the spirit and wondered if there was more for her to fight, or if she was free to try something else to reach the Headmistress.
"Research can be grueling work. My hand is beginning to tire from taking so many notes." Sythorne commented, rubbing his hand in question for a few seconds, though Trixie knew that, as a spirit, such a thing wasn't possible and that he was only reliving what had happened before his death, "I think it’s time we took a break."
"Still aching to get into the Headmistress’ study, eh?" Instructor Nidriel asked, noticing that Trixie had finished with Sythorne and hadn't gotten any closer to entering the Headmistress' study, though it appeared that she might have the solution that Trixie was looking for, "I suppose I can let you in… as long as you prove that you’ve been studying. Proper rune formation is essential when it comes to spellcasting. If you can draw a rune, you can cast a spell. I will provide outlines for you. You can simply use your feet to trace the runes. Now, trace me an arcane rune, a fire rune, and a frost rune... and make sure to trace the fifth circle in the frost rune, as almost everyone forgets that one."
Trixie smiled, as one of the first things that Khadgar had taught her was how to trace runes, with magic instead of walking around and using her feet to trace them, but she knew that she had this lesson done before it even started. The arcane rune was three circles that were touching each other, forming a triangle, and Trixie smiled as the outline appeared on the floor in front of her. She easily traced the rune with her steps, though once that was done the outline disappeared and the outline of the fire rune appeared in its place, which happened to be four circles connected on one point and getting smaller as you drew closer to the center. The final rune, the frost rune, was five circles that were connected together, forming a five pointed star of sorts, though she remembered to draw the fifth circle and completed the rune.
With the lesson complete, just like she knew it would be, Trixie turned back to the instructor and smiled, because she was one step closer to the Tidestone at long last.
"Exemplary work, young Trixie. With runes like these, you’ll be graduating in no time." Instructor Nidriel said, sounding pleased with Trixie's progress, though she grew serious a few seconds later, "I can see you’re anxious to see the Headmistress and am worried that you might consider stopping your studies in order to visit her, so I have come to a conclusion. Headmistress Azuremoon can be found up ahead, though I doubt she will enjoy being interrupted."
Trixie smiled as the arcane wall came down and allowed her to enter the Headmistress' 'study', though the spirit in question merely waved a hand as Trixie entered the area, throwing the wall back up almost immediately after Instructor Nidriel brought it down.
"Yes, yes, what is it?" Headmistress Azuremoon asked, though she sounded impatient, as if she was pissed off about something and might take her anger out on Trixie, "If this is about the evocation final, then the answer is no, you may not take it again."
"Actually, I came to ask if you could lead me to the Tidestone of Golganneth." Trixie said, once more falling back on trying to be nice to the spirits and come across as a friend, but this time she suspected that this wasn't going to work.
"You what!?" Headmistress Azuremoon exclaimed, which meant that Trixie was wrong to have asked her to lead her to where the artifact was resting, "You ARE aware that the Tidestone Chamber is under quarantine, and has been so since the very day of Prince Farondis’ betrayal, correct?"
"One of the instructors may have mentioned that…" Trixie lied, hoping to salvage this somehow, because she really didn't want to get into a fight with the spirit at the moment.
"And you are ALSO aware that infringement upon said quarantine carries punishments as severe as death or even detention, correct?" Headmistress Azuremoon asked, though her tone told Trixie that she might have overstayed her welcome this time.
"No, I was not aware of that." Trixie replied, though at the same time her hand inched close to her weapon, because she suspected that things were going to turn against her and that she needed to be prepared for whatever happened.
"You students have been warned countless times. I will have to make an example of you!" Headmistress Azuremoon said, rapidly turning on where Trixie was standing, though her actions told Trixie that this would come down to a fight between them, "No talking in class! You insolent… little… AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Trixie watched as the spirit was consumed by some sort of force, transforming her into a banshee that floated there for a few moments, which was followed by the creature attacking her. Trixie and the banshee knocked each other around with their magic, proving to Trixie that Headmistress Azuremoon was supposed to be the guardian of the Tidestone, before she started to gain the upper hand. It took Trixie a minute or two to overpower the banshee's attacks before she loosed one final burst of magic and blasted the creature apart, though all that was left behind was the key that she had been searching for the entire time.
With the key in hand, and a nod given to Instructor Nidriel, Trixie crossed the room and headed back up the stairs, as she needed to speak with the elf that had sent her down there... where she found Thyrillion standing in the same place that Trixie had left him in.
"Were you able to meet with the Headmistress?" Thyrillion asked, to which Trixie nodded and held up the key that she had grabbed, to which shock crossed the spirit's face, "She… she gave you her key? My word! I suppose you can go in, then. The shattered pieces of the Tidestone of Golganneth are contained within the academy’s eastern wing. Even as curator, I cannot attest to their condition, as I have not been in to inspect them in many millennia. Oh, and please do not touch anything while you are down there."
Trixie approached the door that had been on the right of where she had been standing earlier, to which the door opened the moment she approached it with the key in hand. She walked down the steps and carefully pulled off the borrowed clothing and weapons that she had collected, all in order to speak with the Headmistress and open the door to where the Tidestone was resting. When she entered the room she noticed a fair number of spirits, banshees like the former Headmistress, floating around the ceiling, completely ignoring Trixie and giving her the opportunity to see that the Tidestone had, indeed, been shattered. At the back of the room she noticed what appeared to be the core of the ancient artifact, while she spotted the five large fragments resting around the room... to which she sighed and started collecting the pieces.
When she had the five fragments of the Tidestone, and she was sure that there weren't any other ones hidden from her sight, she approached the core... where she spotted something coming up behind her, though she was too late to do anything to save herself, as she was frozen in a block of ice a few seconds later.
"How perfectly convenient," Athissa commented, though at the same time she and her commander slithered up to the block of ice, where she stared at her prisoner and the prize that she would be collecting, "the brainless blue dragon led us right to the Tidestone. Our Queen Beneath the Tides can reassemble the pieces. As for you... you will make an acceptable slave, once you are permanently bound to a mortal form and have your powers permanently blocked."
Despite being frozen, and unable to do anything to protect herself, Trixie already knew that the naga had made a big mistake... because Lyra and Azuregos were going to save her, and then they would tear apart their enemies and recover the completed Tidestone.
Prince Farondis stood in the center of the bridge as he watched Trixie, someone who seemed to be a mix of a dragon, a human, and something else, walk into the Nar'thalas Academy and disappear, though at the same time he felt paralyzed. Trixie's companions, Lyra Heartstrings and Azuregos, seemed to be as odd as she was, as one of them seemed to be a mix of demon and elf, while the other seemed to be a mix of elf and dragon. He had no idea what was going on, as he was sure that hybrid creatures like that didn't exist during his time period... but then he had to remember that ten thousand years had passed since the time of his death and that things had been changing ever since.
As he stood on the bridge, however, Lyra and Azuregos moved back into the city ruins and took the fight to the naga, leaving him alone with his thoughts and the emotions that he was feeling at the moment.
Just thinking about how long it had been since the day he died, and was forever cursed to live as a spirit like the rest of his people, made his heart ache as the guilt he had buried started to resurface. He had known that Queen Azshara would have doomed Azeroth ten thousand years ago, back when she was using the power of the Well of Eternity to aid the demons that had found their world. The Queen had seemed to have been tricked by their master, Sargeras if his memory was correct, but in reality she was more than willing to let the demons into their world... which was why he had started to stage his coup all those years ago. He silently cursed out the elf that had betrayed him and told his plans to the Queen, who had called upon the power of the Well, mixed it with her own, and then shattered the Tidestone like it was made of clay... which sunk the entirety of Farondis' kingdom as well as cursing them to live as spirits for the rest of their lives.
His people, who had been loyal to him until his desperate attempt to stop the Queen, started to accuse him of being a murderer, a butcher, and all sorts of horrible names, all because he was trying to protect their world against a Queen that wasn't right in the head... and this was his reward for trying to do the right thing; he, and all of his people, were nothing more than spirits, doomed to walk the planet until they were released from their curse.
Still, despite the grief and guilt that was eating away at him from the inside, he knew that there was some hope to their predicament, as one of his Elders had already been freed from the curse... and there were people among the living that gave him hope for the future. There was something about both Trixie and Lyra that made them seem like there was more to them than what he was seeing, especially since one was half dragon and the other was half demon... and there power, which they hadn't used a lot of since he had met them, had to be impressive. Add in the fact that they likely had a full grown dragon following them around, a blue one if his guess was correct, made the three of them an effective team when they worked together... and, oddly enough, it filled him with hope that they would make it through this and claim the pieces of the Tidestone.
When he thought about the hope that Trixie and her friends instilled in him, however, Prince Farondis found the strength to cast off his guilt for a moment and face the academy with a new sense of conviction... though before he could take a step forward he noticed two naga emerge from the middle of the building. He quickly ran towards the academy building and hid behind one of the large pieces of the walkway, making it much harder for enemies to see him, though he could see the two naga clearly. One was female, which had to be Athissa, and the other was a male brute, which had to be some sort of commander to replace the one that had been killed an hour or two ago... though that was when he noticed that Athissa was carrying the fragments of the Tidestone, and that the brute was hauling an unconscious Trixie away with a plain looking rope.
"Make sure that prisoner doesn’t awaken, Parjesh." Athissa said, stopping for the briefest of seconds to address the larger naga that was following her, while at the same time being completely unaware that Prince Farondis was watching their movements.
"Yes, my mistress." the larger naga, Parjesh, responded, to which the two of them continued moving away from the academy building, with both Trixie and the Tidestone in hand.
Prince Farondis kept his eyes on the pair for a moment, wincing at how they were poorly treating Trixie by dragging her across the ground like they were, and watched as they crossed the bridge he had been standing on, turned to the left, and stopped at a small shrine not even a minute away from the bridge. Once he was sure that neither of the naga were moving, as for some reason they had chosen to stop at that exact area, Prince Farondis picked himself up and made his way across the bridge... where he saw Azuregos and Lyra tearing apart more of the naga's siege weapons, while at the same time being unaware of what was happening with Trixie.
He chose to let the two of them had their battle with the rest of the naga's forces, allowing him to take on their commanders and rescue their friend... to which he walked over to where Athissa and Parjesh were standing.
"Unhand my friend you wretched naga," Prince Farondis said, to which he gathered a small amount of his power and blasted Athissa in the back, causing her and Parjesh to turn and face him, "and hand over the Tidestone... it belongs to me, and whoever I gift it to."
"Be gone, spirit!" Athissa replied, though at the same time she faced Prince Farondis, while her companion seemed to be getting read to leave them alone, "The Tidestone belongs to us now!"
"You deal with our guest, Athissa." Parjesh commented, to which he tightened his grip on the rope he was holding and hauled Trixie's unconscious body into the air for a moment, "I shall take the prisoner to the slave pens."
Prince Farondis wanted to chase after Parjesh and rescue Trixie, but Athissa slithered between him and his target, allowing the larger naga to flee with his friend. In response to that Prince Farondis started to blast his opponent with small bursts of arcane energy, while at the same time dodging the bubbles and waves that Athissa sent at him. It was clear that she was trying to trap him, so she could make her getaway with the fragments of the Tidestone, but at the moment he wasn't about to let her trap him. He even summoned a barrage of small meteors and pelted Athissa with them, though after the barrage was over his foe seemed to lose the will to fight him and slithered away from the area they were in... taking the bag with the Tidestone fragments with her.
Just as he was about to give chase to Athissa and Parjesh, however, he heard the sound of footsteps coming his way, to which he turned around and watched as Lyra and Azuregos walked up to him.
"Prince Farondis, what's the matter?" Lyra asked, though at the same time she noticed Athissa, who she immediately recognized, slithering into the ruins that were off to the right of where they were standing.
"Athissa and one of her allies, who I'm guessing is a warlord by the name of Parjesh, have taken the Tidestone," Prince Farondis replied, though as he spoke he knew that the two people in front of him would be able to understand what he was saying, "and, to make matters worse, they have also captured Trixie."
"That would normally be a problem if we had no idea where they were taking her," Azuregos commented, to which he walked forward a bit and pointed at the ruins that Lyra had caught a glimpse of, which happened to have a large number of nagas roaming the area around the main structure, "I would guess that the naga brought her here, to their main camp in Azsuna, though there's no way to tell without actually heading over there and searching for Trixie."
"Okay, then our order of business should be this," Lyra said, staring at the complex that the naga had set up, while at the same time remembering the tactical training that Lord Illidan had given her, "First, we find where they are holding Trixie and free her, as we as any other prisoners that the naga might have captured so they can cause some havoc of thier own. Once we have Trixie back, and she's conscious again, we'll need to start attacking certain points of the camp to confuse the naga, allowing us to slip into the heart of the ruins, where we'll likely find Athissa and the Tidestone. We should be able to rescue Trixie, and reclaim the artifact, in no time."
Prince Farondis smiled as the three of them followed the path they were on and encountered a small group of three naga patrolling the single building in front of them, to which he crushed them with a small meteor shower. Lyra and Azuregos made sure to only fight the groups of enemies that were directly in front of them, which wasn't a problem because there was someone on the other side of the ruins apparently causing some chaos. They could see several groups of naga moving towards where the commotion was coming from, though Azuregos smiled as he noticed Stellagosa flying around and breathing fire on certain groups of naga.
He wasn't sure what had possessed her to come and help them all of a sudden, but it was good to have some assistance... though before they could get too far into the camp Prince Farondis noticed a cave nearby and ran over to it, where he stopped as he felt something familiar around him.
"Farondis! My most loyal subject." a familiar voice said, though not a few seconds later Prince Farondis had an idea who the voice belonged to, as he had heard it many times before the Tidestone had been shattered, while at the same time he hated the fact that it was easy to match it to its owner, "It’s been too long."
"That voice…" Prince Farondis commented, though at the same time he held up a hand to prevent Lyra and Azuregos from getting too close, as he needed to face this demon alone... which was when a shadowy naga, one that was slightly larger than the other ones, appeared in front of him.
"I’m sorry, you must not recognize me." the shadowy naga said, to which the image rippled until an elf was standing in the cave's entrance, one who was wearing unique set of white robes and other pieces of jewelry, though at the same time Prince Farondis was sure he would have been sweating if he was still alive, "Is this better?"
"Queen Azshara…" Prince Farondis stated, to which Lyra and Azuregos determined that the ten thousand year old spirit had no idea that his former queen had been changed into a naga after the Well of Eternity had exploded, creating the landmasses that Azeroth had these days, "you… YOU lead the naga?"
"Poor, deluded Farondis." the vision of Queen Azshara said, though her tone would have normally made Lyra draw her weapons and attack, but she knew better than to try and do that this time around, to which she allowed the Queen to speak with the prince, "Don’t you remember? I quashed your rebellion ten thousand years ago. Do you remember how powerless you were to stop me? And look at you now! A spectre of your former self, cursed to an eternity of undeath and ineptitude. I’m giving you an opportunity to kneel before me, princeling. Maybe something can be done about that little curse…"
"To release my people’s curse…" Prince Farondis repeated to himself, as he knew how tempting the offer would have been to many of his people, who had given up on a cure so many thousands of years ago, "to redeem myself and secure my legacy…"
Prince Farondis looked back at Lyra and Azuregos, recalling what he had thought about earlier before the naga had dragged Trixie out of the academy, where he felt hope by looking at Trixie and Lyra. He still had no idea why he felt hope when he looked at them, but there was something about them that screamed that they were the heroes that would turn the tide against whoever their enemy was and make sure Azeroth was safe from harm. He was sure that they must have done some incredible things in the past, which meant that if he placed his faith in them, and answered the call when they needed aid, he was bound to end the curse that plagued his people.
The thought of ending the curse the natural way, and not siding with the Queen that had cursed them in the first place, made Prince Farondis smile as he turned his attention back to the image of Queen Azshara... and, at the same time, gathered his energy for what he was about to do.
"No." Prince Farondis declared, to which he stared into the eyes of the image that was standing before him, knowing that his friends were likely pleased that he hadn't given in, especially when he was being offered something that he really wanted, "I know I what I must do. The people of Azsuna were, and always will be, too proud to kneel before your demonic allies, witch. And we will NEVER… KNEEL… BEFORE YOU!!!"
As the last four words left his mouth Prince Farondis called upon the largest barrage of flaming meteors he had ever called since the time of his death, to which a barrage of meteors raced out of the sky and slammed into where the image of Queen Azshara was standing. He already knew that he was wasting energy, as this was just a projection meant to speak with him, but he knew that this would show his former Queen where he stood... and that he would continue to oppose her, especially with his new friends.
"Ha ha ha haaa…" the image of Queen Azshara stated, which meant that the actual Queen Azshara found what he was doing amusing, before she grew serious for a few seconds, "my wrath is coming."
A few seconds later the image of the Queen disappeared, to which Prince Farondis stopped summoning more meteors and waited for the fire to clear, before he let out a sigh and walked into the cave. He spotted several naga walking around the small cave, to which he summoned some fireballs and put each and every one of them down, though at the same time he spotted Trixie resting against one of the walls. Lyra, entering the cave behind him, noticed her friend and rushed over to her side, to which she raised a hand to her forehead and checked for a pulse... where she let out a sigh of relief as she discovered that Trixie was fine.
"Brr..." Trixie moaned, shivering for a few seconds, to which she carefully pulled herself up and sat against the wall the naga had left her by, where she noticed that she had company, "Hey guys... is it just me, or is it a little cold in this cave?"
"No, you're feeling cold because of your new hybrid form," Azuregos replied, though at the same time he heated up his hand with his magic, to which he rubbed some of Trixie's new scales, which had been cold the moment he touched them, "Am I correct in assuming that Athissa cast a freezing spell on you while you were trying to claim the fragments of the Tidestone?"
"Yes... the last thing I remember is being blasted with frost magic from behind," Trixie answered, though she smiled as she felt some feeling return to her legs, to which she stretched her new toes for a moment or two, "I was just about to claim the fragments of the Tidestone, after all the hard work I went into getting the key and opening the door, when I noticed Athissa coming up behind me at the last second. Then she froze me and declared that the Tidestone belonged to her Queen... as well as making me into a slave after they bound me to a more mortal form and sealed my powers."
"I would have liked to have seen them try that." Azuregos said, chuckling for a few seconds as he moved his hands onto Trixie's back, which would speed the process of warming her up, "The dragons of Azeroth might have been weakened after the death of Deathwing, but we are still powerful in our own right... and I highly doubt that someone like Athissa could think that she could bind your power. I think that the only naga that might be able to do that is the Queen herself... and no one has actually seen her since the collapse of the Well of Eternity."
"If you say so," Trixie commented, to which she noticed the one odd thing that was resting next to her, as the naga had captured her and let her keep Aluneth, though that was followed by her picking the staff up and pulled herself to her feet, "Now, let's go get that Tidestone."
"Are you sure you should be moving so soon?" Lyra asked, as while she didn't doubt that Trixie could be moving now, thanks to everything she had been through for the last seven years, she knew that she should be resting right now.
"We have to move quickly before the artifact is taken where we cannot follow," Trixie said, as no one actually knew where Queen Azshara's new palace was, or if she even had one after all of the years of living under the water, "and besides, I need to pay Athissa back for freezing me in that block of ice earlier."
Fortunately for them Stellagosa was still attacking the naga, along with a few additional dragons that had seen fit to aid her in her quest, allowing the group to sneak around the camp without the naga actually paying attention to them. They were able to easily find their way to where Athissa had to be hiding, the middle of the ruins to be exact, where they discovered her and Parjesh standing in an area with the Tidestone fragments in front of them. Trixie was more than ready for a fight, as the moment the four of them approached the two naga she raised her hand and slammed a blast of magical energy into Athissa.
"Hey you wretched naga, remember me?" Trixie called out, causing the two naga to turn towards her group, while at the same time Athissa seemed surprised to find that she was up and about already, "Now hand over the Tidestone and maybe I won't hurt you as much as I was originally planning."
"Parjesh!" Athissa said, choosing to ignore Trixie at the moment, while at the same time passing the fragments of the Tidestone into his hands, "Rally the rest of our forces. I shall make short work of this minor interruption."
"It will be done, Tidemistress." Parjesh replied, though before the group could even stop him the naga rushed down the walkway in front of where he and Athissa had been standing, disappearing into a vortex of energy.
"Hatecoil!" Athissa called out, to which the naga that weren't engaged with the dragons emerged from the surrounding area and prepared themselves, "Seize them!"
"Look alive, nightwatchers!" a new voice called out in turn, to which Trixie and her friends noticed that Thaldrys and his soldiers had followed them to the naga's camp, "Our prince needs us!"
Lyra, Azuregos, and Prince Farondis focused their efforts on taking out the soldiers that the nightwatchers were attacking, leaving Trixie to her magic duel with Athissa. Magic flared between the two of them as the spells that they threw collided with each other, exploding upon impact in the area between them, though for a while it appeared, to those that were observing the fight, that the two of them were at the same level of power. A few seconds later, however, Trixie grinned as she tapped into Aluneth's power, drawing a rune on Athissa's chest, which gathered energy until it detonated, utterly obliterating her opponent's chest with her well placed attack.
The naga that had been watching the attack, however, were caught off guard by the death of one of their leaders, to which the nightwatchers were able to put a good number of them down before they fled... allowing the group to gather together again, as well as let Prince Farondis come to terms with what he had seen.
"You killed Athissa, Trixie." Prince Farondis said, though he was a little shocked by the power that she had displayed, to which he determined to ask her about her weapon at some point in the future, "My people… they fought for us… But, Warlord Parjesh has escaped through the portal with the Tidestone. You must pursue him and retrieve the Pillar of Creation."
"Yes... I guess it's time for a dungeon run," Trixie commented, staring at the portal that was in front of them, while noticing that the blue dragons were flying back to the Repose, to which she turned back to Lyra, "We'll need to head back to Dalaran and see if we can't find some of the other heroes that went to the other regions of the Broken Isles. The three of us are powerful, but we'll need at more than just the three of us to deal with an entire army of naga... and whatever else is waiting on the other side of that portal."
"I'll leave that up to you and your friends, though there is another matter I must deal with," Prince Farondis said, to which he turned his attention to the soldiers that were gathering around them, "Why, Thaldrys? Why did you and your men come to my aid? I thought you despised me."
"We saw what you did." Thaldrys replied, though he and the other nightwatchers smiled at their prince, as they were pleased with what he had done earlier.
"Any elf with the courage to stand up against the Queen herself is worth following." Idri added, telling their prince that they had seen him attack the Queen.
"The nightwatchers are yours to command once more, my prince." Thaldrys said, to which he and his soldiers saluted their prince, causing a smile to appear on Prince Farondis' face.
"I am glad to hear it." Prince Farondis said, to which he looked upon the faces of his loyal soldiers, as he was sincerely glad to have them all on his side once more, "Come, let us return to where Trixie and her friends first met us, so we can begin preparing ourselves for the battle ahead... because if these heroes need the Tidestone then that means that something big is coming, and we had better make sure that we're ready."
Lyra was glad to hear that Prince Farondis and his soldiers were on friendly terms again, and that they were going to start preparing for the fight with the Legion, but she had to moan about something. The reason the spirits of the elven people in this reason hated their prince was because he stood up to the Queen and cursed them with undeath, which had been caused after the destruction of the Tidestone. She found it odd that they would be willing to follow him again, especially when he had done the same thing that had put them in this state of undeath to begin with, but she merely sighed and pushed the thought away. From what she had seen the people of Azeroth were weird with how they acted some times, and a prime example was Prince Farondis and his people... though a few seconds later she focused on the important task ahead of them.
She, Trixie, and Azuregos would be heading back to Dalaran to gather soldiers for the attack on wherever Parjesh had taken the fragments of the Tidestone... and she was sure that there was going to be a small war between her group and the naga in the near future.
Getting back to Dalaran proved to be much easier than what Lyra was expecting, as all they had to do was have Azuregos shift into his dragon form and take the three of them back to the floating city. Trixie was still a little shocked by what Athissa had done to her, back in the ruins of Nar'thalas' academy, so she didn't change forms either, though she also wasn't sure if she could access her new dragon form just yet. Azuregos told her that, at some point after they had claimed the Tidestone and returned it to Dalaran, he would spend some time with her and teach her how to change into her blue dragon form... to which Lyra chuckled when she imagined Trixie's guild mates finding out that she had changed since the last time they had seen her.
Once they arrived in Dalaran, however, Azuregos let Trixie and Lyra off of his back before he resumed his elven form, to which they followed Trixie into the city.
"So how many people will we need to face Queen Azshara's army?" Lyra asked, because this was going to be her first 'dungeon run', as that was what Trixie had called what they were about to do, and she was excited for the experience.
"I'm thinking that we'll need at least ten adventurers to start with," Trixie replied, knowing that they would be fighting quite the army, especially since their enemy was Queen Azshara and that they had no way of knowing what to expect once they returned to the portal that Parjesh had entered, "The three of us will need a tank, someone that can keep the enemy's attention on them for the entire fight, and a healer, someone that can mend our wounds and even inflict some ranged damage at the same time. Once our group is filled out we should be able to get another group of three damage dealers, another tank, and another healer to round things off... and then we can head back to the Hatecoil's camp and follow Parjesh to wherever he has gone."
"What is this about needing a healer?" a new voice asked, to which the group stopped where they were standing and faced the direction it was coming from, though at the same time Lyra was interested in seeing who was talking to them.
Lyra watched as a blue skinned eredar walked out of the building that rested in the middle of the city, though it took her a few moments to realize that the person in front of them wasn't one of Sargeras' cursed followers, but rather one of the draenei that had fled from Argus, according to what Trixie had told her during their time together. The female draenei was wearing a set of robes that told everyone that she was a priest, though at the same time her hood was pulled back so they could see her face. The lady seemed kind and even smiled at them, though Lyra was a little interested in the staff that was on her back, as it seemed to radiate a light that wasn't of this world... or maybe it was and she hadn't see it yet.
"Maraa? I didn't realize that you were back in Dalaran." Trixie said, to which she smiled at the draenei, who seemed very happy to have been recognized, though at the same time Lyra noticed the emblem for the Celestial Dragon guild pinned to her belt.
"I only arrived a few minutes ago and I was seeing what had changed since the last time I stepped into the city," Maraa replied, though at the same time she glanced at the pair behind Trixie, while noticing something odd about her and Lyra, "You know, I had heard that you recently found the other Equestrian that had been sent to Azeroth, but no one told me that she was a demon hunter... much less Illidan's replacement. And the last time I saw you, which was sometime before the events of Draenor, you didn't look like you were half dragon, so what exactly did I miss?"
"Plenty, my friend." Trixie stated, though that was when she turned to Lyra and Azuregos, who were staring at her as they waited for her to explain herself, "Maraa here was on the Exodar, when it crashed on Azeroth seven years ago, and was one of the first draenei to seek out the Alliance for aid. Landan and the other members of my guild noticed how skilled she was in the healing arts, as she was on par with our best healer at the time, and she agreed to help us while we were traveling through the Outlands. Since then she has been fighting Azeroth's greatest foes with me and the others, though when it came time to go to Draenor I got so preoccupied with everything that we got separated..."
"I went and aided the soldiers that were wounded from their fights with the Iron Horde," Maraa explained, to which she rubbed the back of her head for a moment, before growing serious once more, "I was also there on the Broken Shore, healing our allies to the best of my ability, though while I didn't fight the Legion I saw what they did to our leaders and fled when everyone else ran. Since then I have been perfecting my craft and acquired this artifact, along with the two other priests of my order gathering the other two remaining weapons as well."
"I'll have to check with Meryl later and see if the other two weapons I didn't choose are still available," Trixie commented, though that was before she shook her head and looked at her friend, "Listen, we managed to track down one of the Pillars of Creation, but it's being guarded by Queen Azshara's forces... and we're looking for some people, namely a healer and a tank, to aid us in our quest to recover the artifact."
"I will gladly join you in recovering this artifact," Maraa said, to which she held up a hand to stop anyone from complaining, not that Lyra and Azuregos were even thinking about that to begin with, "though I did overhear you mention that you would need at least ten adventurers to take down Queen Azshara's forces... something tells me that five will be just fine."
"And I take it you have a tank in mind?" Trixie inquired, as the only reason for them to deviate from her plan was if Maraa had one of the best tanks in mind, or at least the one that was on the Alliance side anyway.
"I do," Maraa said, though at the same time she glanced back at the tavern that they would have been entering if she hadn't stopped them, as if she knew something that they didn't, "and, if my calculations are correct, he should be walking out of the tavern any second now."
The four of them watched as a figure walked out of the tavern and turned towards them, though Lyra was a little shocked to find that the creature they were looking at appeared to be a wolf that walked like a man. She had heard of this race as well, the cursed worgens of Gilneas that had a bitter hatred for the Forsaken and their queen, though she could easily tell that, by the creature's body structure, that it was male. The worgen was wearing what appeared to be a suit of plate armor that reminded Lyra of a forge, as it was almost all black and had some places that looked like exhaust from a forge could erupt out of it at any given moment, though at the same time he wore no helmet. His weapon, however, appeared to be some sort of sword that appeared to have been crafted out of the bone of a creature or something... though at the same time Lyra noticed that it came with a matching shield, which appeared to be made out of a scale that must have dropped from a large dragon.
Lyra could see that both Trixie and Azuregos were staring at the weapons that the worgen was carrying, which meant that one of them had to know what they were, but before she could say anything the worgen stopped in front of them and stared at them... almost as if he was determining their skills and classes without asking them anything.
"Allvar Darkwalker," Trixie said, realizing who was standing in front of them, because while she and many other belonged to the Celestial Dragons guild, one of the largest guilds among the Alliance's ranks, this one worgen belonged to no guild, preferring to walk alone and lend his aid whenever he was around to help.
"Trixie Lulamoon. It has been some time since we last saw each other." the worgen replied, though he did not smile at her or her friends, which caused Lyra to worry that he might be here to stop them from leaving, "I hear that you are in need of a tank... I would like to volunteer for the position."
"I think you'll do just fine," Trixie stated, though that was before Allvar walked passed where she and the others were standing and made his way to where the flight master was located, before she beckoned for the others to follow her, "Look, he may not like the Forsaken like the majority of the other worgen, but he's one of the strongest warriors that Azeroth has at the moment... he's on par with Kurost Skullcleaver at least."
Lyra, having seen the orc warrior in action, knew that having another warrior on that level as their tank would mean good things for them... though she had to wonder what was waiting for them in the location that Parjesh had run off to.
It didn't take the five of them long to reach the area that the Illidari had claimed, and returned the bats to the person they had acquired them from, before they began the trek back to where they had last seen Parjesh. During their ride Lyra noticed that Allvar was riding a nightsaber, one of the mounts that the night elves used all the time, while Maraa was riding a large elephant type of creature, one that she called a elekk. Fortunately Allvar was more than willing to follow Trixie to the magical portal that Parjesh had entered, though as they arrived in the area around the portal they found the forces of Prince Farondis keeping the naga in check... allowing them to get close to the portal without having to actually engage in an unneeded fight.
In the area in front of the portal, however, they found Prince Farondis and his nightwatchers standing guard, though it appeared that they were finishing things up before they went back to the ruined palace they had found him at.
"Ah, I was not expecting you to return so soon," Prince Farondis said, to which he nodded to Trixie, Lyra, and Azuregos, before shaking the hands of both Allvar and Maraa, "Allow me to explain the situation; Warlord Parjesh has ventured into the magical vortex just ahead of us, allowing him to return to an island off the shore to the southeast, where Queen Azshara is no doubt staging more of her forces. The Queen is beyond angry because we, once again, opposed her... though in retaliation she is summoning up a monstrosity known as her Wrath to, which she plans on using to exact revenge for our defiance and drown the Broken Isles. I cannot stress the fact that you must defeat the Wrath of Azshara, before the Queen lets it loose to destroy us all!"
"And recover the Tidestone." Lyra added, knowing that one of the reasons that they were even going into the portal was because the naga had the Titan artifact and were planning on using it against them.
"Agreed." Prince Farondis said, to which he beckoned to the magical portal that he and his soldiers had been standing near, noticing that the group looked at the portal for a moment, "You had better get moving... there's no telling how long it will take the Queen and her minions to summon her Wrath, so you had better move fast."
Trixie nodded and beckoned for the others to follow her to the gateway, though once they were in front of the magical vortex she stepped through it and disappeared from where they were standing. A few seconds later she reappeared on the other side of the vortex, though that was before she noticed that she wasn't in the ruins that were surrounded by the Hatecoil's camp. What rested in front of her was the naga forces that they had been warned about, though she had to raise an eyebrow when she noticed that there weren't as many naga as she would have thought there would be... it was like Queen Azshara had assigned a few of her weaker forces to secure the Tidestone, which made her sigh for a moment.
It appeared that Lyra's first dungeon run was going to be slightly boring in the end, but she guessed that her friend would enjoy the experience anyway... to which she turned around and watched as the rest of the group teleported into the area behind her.
"The landwalkers are here!" one of the naga near them shouted, her voice echoing through the area around them, warning the others that Trixie and her friends were here to stop them and collect the Tidestone, "We will drive them back by salt and scale!"
"So they know that we are here," Allvar commented, merely walking forward and counting the enemies that stood between them and their target, though it was clear that he was slightly disappointed by what he was seeing, "We should be done with this soon enough."
With that said Allvar charged forward and slammed his shield into one of the enemies that were in front of him, though as Lyra joined him she noticed that he appeared to have some sort of intimidating aura or something, as none of their enemies even turned towards her when she cut into them with the Twinblades. Trixie and Azuregos focused on the spell caster enemies, apparently noticing the signs of a powerful spell or benefit and stopping the naga from casting that particular spell. Maraa, true to her word, watched what they were doing and threw a healing spell around when someone needed it, though for the most part she was free to simply wait and watch... while at the same time using whatever harmful spells she knew to help them move faster, by damaging their enemies.
Lyra also noticed that the turtle creatures that were walking nearly, which originally seemed peaceful and wanted to ignore them, also came into the area to attack them... though Allvar had no problem adding them to his list of enemies and swung his sword and shield at them. Even when one of the larger brutes, the feral like one that walked on four legs and stood twice as tall as one of them, engaged them it didn't really make a difference, as it only targeted one person at a time and that allowed Lyra to slip passed it's defenses before she and the others brought it down. They even took out the group that was standing in front of the first real opponent they had to face, Warlord Parjesh... though even at a glance Lyra could tell that he didn't have the pieces of the Tidestone anymore.
"Ah, we meet again, weaklings." Parjesh said, to which he turned and faced them, though at the same time Lyra noticed that he had to have grown since the last time she had seen him, making her wonder if Queen Azshara's power was boosting the size of her champions for some odd reason, "Now it’s just you and me… and my guards!"
Sure enough a trio of naga came in at Parjesh's command and focused on attacking Allvar, allowing Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos to focus their efforts on hurting the boss, who was purely focused on the worgen. Lyra noticed that Parjesh's main weapon was the trident, which a lot of naga seemed to favor, and that the large naga liked to rapidly move across the area they were fighting in, forcing Allvar to follow him. At the end of that movement, however, Parjesh would lift his trident into the air and randomly target one of the members of their group, though that was when they used his own guards to their advantage... as they forced him to accidentally target his guards at the last second and impale them, leading the warlord to yell at the surviving naga before pulling his weapon back and continuing the fight.
The fight went on like that for a few minutes, where the group make sure to force Parjesh to take out each and every one of his guards, before Allvar and Lyra dealt the finishing blow at the same time, causing the massive naga's body to go limp and collide with the ground.... where it finally went still.
"Whose the weakling now?" Allvar asked, though at the same time he knelt beside the dead naga and noticed a small bag that had survived the battle, to which he grinned as he pulled it up and held it for the others to see, "It appears that he had picked up some loot while he was here... and now his treasures are ours to use as we see fit."
Lyra and the others nodded and followed after the worgen as he walked the path that went to the left, when coming from where the portal was resting, though at the same time Lyra felt the need to ask Trixie what Allvar was talking about. She quickly learned that, when running through one of these dungeons, the tank of the group, who was always considered the leader since he kept the attention of their enemies on himself and always led the way around wherever they were, always picked up a bag of treasure from each boss type creature they took out. Once they were done with the dungeon, however, they would gather someplace and see what sort of loot the creatures had been carrying, which was sometimes better armor or trinkets that they could wear.
Trixie also told Lyra that, at some point in the future, they were going to have to get Lyra some better armor, as she was positive that the Illidari robes she was still wearing would eventually fall apart... to which Lyra focused on the task at hand and worried less about acquiring some trinkets, as they still had several more enemies to defeat before they were finished with this island.
As Allvar lead them right into a naga spell caster, who seemed attuned to some sort of shield, Lyra also noticed that, in what had to be the middle of the island, was some sort of ritual that a number of naga were performing, while above them rested the Tidestone. The naga mage didn't approve of them being here and immediately attacked them, to which Allvar repeated the same movements he had used on the earlier groups, allowing Lyra and the others to fall right back into the pattern they had established. When the naga fell a few moments later one of the other naga in the area yelled something about a shield weakening, where Lyra noticed a larger naga mage floating in the air... and she was surrounded by a shield.
That was when Allvar led them on a quest to find all of the naga that were powering the larger one's shield, where the five of them outwitted and cut down each and every naga that was standing in their way... until at last Lady Hailcoil, as the other naga had named the larger one, was no longer surrounded by her protective barrier.
"Continue the ritual!" Lady Hatecoil shouted, to which she lowered herself into the small watery area that she was in, before she turned and looked at her guests, "I will handle these fools!"
As the battle started, and Allvar struck the first blow, Lady Hatecoil's first action was to summon the power of lightning to shock them while they were all standing in the water, though before that could happen the group moved onto the small bits of ground that were poking up out of the water, protecting them from any damage. Lyra silently admitted that she had been the last one to reach a patch of ground, as she had no idea that such a thing would have happened to begin with, but she had learned from her near mistake and knew that she needed to pay more attention to their opponents. Lady Hatecoil then summoned some sort of globe like creature, a small group of seven to be exact, and when they died they slowed down whoever was really close to them... leading Lyra to wonder why the naga didn't stand with the globes and then summon the power of the storm.
Lady Hatecoil even tried to shock them with the power of the sky itself, though Lyra noticed something odd about that attack; if they were standing in the water they would suffer a small shock, but if someone was standing on one of the small patches of land, however, the bit of sand would be obliterated in an instant and do slightly more damage to whoever had been standing there. Azuregos, who had been the unlucky one that caused that to happen, merely laughed at the naga as he resumed the battle, while at the same time Lyra noticed that Maraa's spells healed the small wounds that the disguised dragon had suffered so far. Two minutes later, after a second round of the same attacks, they dealt the finishing blow and slew Lady Hatecoil where she was standing, weakening the naga's forces even more.
With another one of Queen Azshara's minions taken care of Allvar, after collecting Lady Hatecoil's treasure bag, led the group to the northern part of the small island, where they encountered a whole mess of wildlife that seriously wanted them dead. It wasn't because they were under the naga's control, if the few dead bodies were any indication, so that told Lyra that the animals didn't like people intruding on their territory and had only allowed the naga to remain because they hadn't come this far. Something told her that if Queen Azshara herself had come here the wildlife could have simply bowed to her and followed whatever her orders were... but Lyra was thankful that the Queen hadn't thought about that.
Lyra was still amazed that they had to cut down a large number of pincer crabs, four legged sea creatures that Trixie referred to as 'Hardshells', the occasional hydra like creature that walked towards them and tried to hurt them with lightning based attacked, and even a seagull or two.
When they had cleared a significant amount of the wildlife, and had spotted a cave that they could easily reach thanks to the amount of dead animals they would be leaving behind, Allvar stopped them as a large green reptilian head, like the ones that the hydra's had, erupted from the middle of the area they were in and stared at them.
"So this is Serpentrix," Trixie commented, causing the group to look at her for a moment, as they hadn't been told anything about this creature, "One of the nightwatchers mentioned something about hoping that we didn't bump into this monster... but it appears that we'll have to take it down as well, as I don't think it will let us leave without a fight."
Sure enough Trixie was right about the the creature not wanting them to leave, as Serpentrix immediately started spraying it's poison like spit on the ground and forced them to face it. Once again Allvar held it's attention as the others moved in with their various attacks, though occasionally one of them had to break ranks as the large serpent looked at them, where poison would follow them for a few seconds before turning back to the worgen. After a minute of fighting Serpentrix retreated and slipped back into the water that had to be beneath them, though that was followed by it and two more heads, a red one and a blue one, returning to the surface all around them. Lyra immediately noticed that if they left the red head alone it would start spewing fireballs and other fire related attacks at whoever was closest, and the same could be said about the blue head, to which she and the others focused their fire on the two other heads while Allvar fought the main head.
Once the two heads were down they returned to what they had been doing, up until Serpentrix repeated the same pattern and forced them to move once more... though once all of the heads had been defeated a third time they collpased against the ground and stopped moving. That was when Allvar simply pulled the treasure bag out of the mouth of the green head, before turning and heading towards the cave, forcing the others to follow him.
Inside the cave they found a sea giant sitting near the opening, though it chose to ignore them for some odd reason and allowed them to progress through the inside of the small cave. They had to deal with two groups of murlocs, a group of what appeared to be goblins that had grown up underwater, and even an angry snail, before they emerged on the back end and followed the path that was in front of them. That meant taking a right and heading along the fine path in the sand before they found a path that would take them up to where a pair of sea giants were standing... and behind them rested an even larger one, which had to be the king of their kind.
The two sea giants had an interesting attack pattern, as one would stomp the ground and stun them for a few seconds while the other tried to hit them with small water geysers that it created... though they proved to be no match for the group, even if they sustained a few injuries had had to wait for Maraa to heal them before they moved up to the larger seat giant.
"Come landwalkers, face the power of King Deepbeard," the sea giant said, to which it turned away from the ritual that was happening below them and faced the group, "I don't know which group of landwalkers killed my son, but I will gladly let Queen Azshara drown all of you!"
King Deepbeard had the power to summon lightning from the sky, summon up water bubbles that would drown whoever was trapped in them unless they could break them first, and even caused the ground beneath their feet to quake a few times while they were fighting. Lyra noticed that the King had a personal hatred for her and the others, as if they were the ones that had taken out his son, which told her that he must have actually cared for his child before someone killed the prince. Fortunately King Deepbeard was angry, which meant that he wasn't actually controlling his powers to the best of his ability, as that meant that none of them were actually damaged by any of his attacks... though he was damaged by their attacks.
Thanks to the King's anger, and his inability to actually hurt any of them, the fight went relatively quickly, allowing them to claim victory over the King as he collapsed on the ground... though before any of them could rejoice they heard the sound of something happening in the ritual area.
"THE STORM AWAKENS." a menacing voice shouted, to which the group ran towards the right of where they were standing and came to a drop off that would allow them to jump down to a broken ship below them.
What they saw, in the middle of the island, was a large monstrosity that appeared to be made up of water, though some parts of it seemed more solid than the rest of it. The large creature resembled a naga, which made sense considering that it was supposed to be Queen Azshara's Wrath, though the lower part of the body appeared to be incomplete at the moment. Lyra suspected that the creature was only partially formed and that, if they acted quickly, they could easily defeat their opponent and claim the Tidestone... before it got too powerful for them to destroy without even more backup. Allvar took a moment to return to the body of King Deepbeard and claimed the bag that was hidden on his body, before he returned to the group and started jumping down the various parts of the broken ship... before he made it to the water below them.
Trixie and Azuregos cast a 'slow fall' spell on them and Maraa, allowing the three of them to simply jump into the air and slowly glide down to where their friend was standing... leaving Lyra to use her fel wings to glide down as well, though once she was there they started moving.
At this point it appeared that there were only four more naga left in the entire area, which meant that the Wrath must have sucked the life out of nearly all the summoners that had been present, though the four naga were so distracted by their task that they didn't notice the group approaching them at first. Allvar was able to take the head of the first summoner before they moved onto the second, who tried to slow them down and blow them up with an arcane bomb of sorts, which failed in the end. The third one tried to turn them into frogs so she could kill them faster, which ultimately failed thanks to both Trixie and Azuregos stalling the spell before it could be cast, while the final naga simply tried to blow them up like the second summoner.
Once all four of the summoners were taken care of the progress the Wrath glared at them, indicating that it was furious thanks to the power that Queen Azshara had fused into it, but that didn't stop the group from getting ready.
The Wrath's attacks consisted of targeting one person at a time and blasting them with a powerful water blast, targeting someone with an arcane bomb, summoning small twisters that knocked people into the air so they could b easier for the creature to punch, and calling upon waves to prevent people from running. Since they were attacking water, even in a slightly solid state like the Wrath, Lyra had no idea if there were actually doing any sort of damage to their opponent, as the Wrath didn't appear to be capable of feeling pain. Trixie and Azuregos, who were more attuned to this sort of magic than the others, said that they were doing just fine and that they needed to continue avoiding the attacks to the best of their abilities.
Eventually they dealt the finishing blow, which caused the creature to explode and completely empty the pool it had been resting in... though at the same time it's crystal shaped heart floated to the ground and rested just above the floor, while at the same time the completed Tidestone floated down to them.
"We had better get this back to Dalaran," Trixie commented, to which both she and Azuregos wrapped their magic around the Tidestone, forming a barrier that would allow them to safely move it away from this area, just in case Queen Azshara had any more tricks in store for them.
"That means we've secured the first of the five Pillars of Creation," Lyra said, to which she smiled as she sheathed the Twinblades on her back, as while the dungeon run had actually been fun she knew that there was more that they needed to do, especially with the demons gathering their forces on the Broken Shore.
"Come, I will open the way back to Dalaran," Azuregos stated, to which he expanded a little more of his power and summoned a portal for them to use.
Lyra smiled as they all stepped into the shimmering portal that had been opened in front of them, because they were now one step closer to driving back the Legion and stopping their invasion of Azeroth. She knew that, one they had gathered all five Pillars of Creation, they would turn their attention to the Broken Shore and attack the Tomb of Sargeras... though until that point in time they had to patiently wait and gather their forces. She didn't want them to make any mistakes that could lead to the Legion winning this war and bringing about the destruction of Azeroth, because then her home world would be at an even greater risk of being discovered and destroyed.
Lyra hoped that this was one of a large number of victories that she and the others would be having over the next few months... and she was sure that Trixie was happy to be one step closer to protecting this world from the Legion.
With the naga that had called the Eye of Azshara their base of operations defeated, and all of their allies disposed of for the moment, Lyra, Trixie, and their band of heroes teleported back to Dalaran, where they appeared on Krasus' Landing. With their return they were hailed by several of the Kirin Tor that protected the city, as well as some of the shopkeepers and the other adventurers, as they made their way towards the middle of the city. Allvar and Maraa told them that they would meet them at the tavern that they had been in earlier, before they had joined the group, to which Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos watched as they walked away. None of them were concerned, as they were in a safe place and could easily protect themselves, though Trixie took them to the teleport pad that was in the middle of the city and teleported away.
When Lyra and Azuregos joined her they found themselves in what appeared to be a chamber with a large number of bookcases, spread through the three areas that the chamber had... though in the middle of the area in front of them, however, there were a few stands where the Pillars of Creation could rest while they, and the other heroes, could house the ones that they had collected.
"Where are we?" Lyra asked, because while she assumed that they were somewhere in Dalaran, she was unfamiliar with the city and had no idea where this chamber could even be.
"In Aegwynn's Gallery," Trixie commented, to which she looked at the four slots that were glowing, indicating that they knew the locations of four of the five Pillars of Creation and that her mentor had prepared these stands for the ones that they actually knew about, "This is supposed to be where Aegwynn, one of the most powerful Guardians in the history of Azeroth, kept her private collection and notes... but even Khadgar has had trouble finding anything that can tell us about the remaining Pillars of Creation."
A few seconds later Trixie levitated the Tidestone up and set it onto the stand that rested to the right of a path that would take them down to a set of portals, though once the artifact was in place she let out a sigh of relief... though that was followed by Prince Farondis phasing into existence near them, informing them that he must have been given permission to be here by Khadgar.
"It has been ages since I have seen the Tidestone whole, but there it stands." Prince Farondis commented, staring at the Pillar of Creation for a few seconds, before turning towards the trio once more, "I and my people owe all three of you a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. Please take a moment to rest and relax after your ordeals, before even thinking about returning to Azsuna. There is much yet left to do, but we can wait for our heroes to regain their strength before we prepare for the coming war that looms over all of us."
Lyra nodded her head to that statement, because now that they had acquired one of the Pillars of Creation she was sure that the Legion was going to step up their efforts in an attempt to acquire one of the other three that they knew about. That made her think about the other Illidari, who were no doubt gathering supplies and waiting for her to return, but she said nothing as Trixie and Azuregos nodded their heads. Once Prince Farondis knew that they, and their allies, would be in Azsuna to help them again, at some point in the future, he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, leaving them to their own devices.
"So now what?" Lyra asked, knowing that her next objective was to head back to the Fel Hammer and see what her forces were doing, though at the same time she was positive that they could do without her for some time.
"Now we head back to the inn that Allvar and Maraa went into," Trixie replied, to which she beckoned for Lyra and Azuregos to follow her as she headed towards the teleport pad they had used to enter this part of Dalaran, "there we will divide the treasure we earned evenly among the five of us. After that I think we'll have to take some advice from Prince Farondis and relax for the rest of the day, that way we'll be better prepared to face whatever trials that tomorrow brings... and we can also see what the other Orders are doing, in terms of finding the other three Pillars, so we can determine which part of the Broken Isles we should head to next."
Lyra nodded and followed Trixie and Azuregos to the teleport pad, to which the three of them teleported back to the central building of Dalaran and made their way towards the inn that their companions had headed into... where they found out that they had reserved the large table in the back of the room. Lyra was sure that taking that specific table made it easier for them to see who was entering the inn and determining whether something was going to happen, but she didn't say anything as she sat down with the rest of the group.
"Allow me to be the first to say that those naga had no idea what had hit them," Allvar commented, though at the same time he placed five small coin bags on the table, which immediately told Lyra that there was one for all of them, "Maraa and I have already sold off anything of little value, while you were busy storing the Tidestone away, and five hundred gold is what we have earned... one hundred apiece."
Lyra was somewhat surprised to find that they were able to find enough junk to earn that much gold, and wondered how the shopkeepers had that much on them, but she then decided that the gold system in Azeroth was something that she shouldn't be focusing on. She took the coin pouch that was offered to her and stored it away in her bag, though at the same time she knew that she would likely never find a use for it.
"Now then, on to the loot that each of the major enemies were carrying," Allvar said, to which he pulled a second bag onto the table, before reaching in and pulling what appeared to be a belt of some kind out, "Lady Hatecoil was carrying this belt in her treasure bag, though now we can put it to use in our fight against the Legion... and Maraa and I have decided that it should go to her."
Trixie and Azuregos nodded, to which Lyra silently nodded as well, but despite the fact that this was her first time running a dungeon she had no idea why the belt was even going to Maraa. Trixie, noticing the confusion on Lyra's face, explained that there was an intellect enchantment on the belt, meaning that Maraa's skills would be slightly better than they were before. Lyra then asked how Trixie could tell, to which the response was that she had dabbled in enchanting when she was trying to find out which professions matched her, and she had picked up a bit of knowledge on how to determine which enchantments a piece of armor or jewelry had.
Oddly enough Allvar said that Parjesh had been carrying a belt with him when they defeated him, another enchanted one, though this one was more attuned to strength than intellect, which meant that he was the only one in their group that could use it... to which he eagerly accepted it, though Lyra could tell that he was planning on using his new power to fight the Legion the next time they found the demons.
Allvar then turned to Trixie and Azuregos, who also used intellect by Lyra's reasoning, and presented them with a pair of items; a pair of mage boots and a set of gloves, though Lyra could tell that either of them could use both items. Trixie and Azuregos for a few seconds before the disguised dragon beckoned for Trixie to take an item first, indicating that he might not actually need either item, to which Trixie picked up the gloves. Azuregos, who was likely feeling guilty over Trixie's new half dragon form, could have also let her pick first to make up for what he had done, but Lyra wasn't sure about that and kept her opinion to herself.
"And now for the newest adventurer," Allvar said, causing Lyra to look at him, just as he set two items on the table, which had to be the last two based on the deflated bag he had been carrying, "a chest piece and a pair of gloves, both dropped from Serpentrix."
Lyra looked at the slightly dark purple colored gloves and wondered how much stronger they would make her, because at the moment she was still used to wearing her Illidari Robes and the rest of the outfit. She hadn't even considered that she might need to change her armor at some point in time, just to make sure that she didn't take a large amount of damage. She was fine with putting the gloves on, as it appeared that they wouldn't get in her way of wielding the Twinblades, but when she looked at the chest piece she could only stare at it in shock. The armor in question was more revealing than what she was currently wearing, as this actually showed off parts of her breasts thanks to the 'V' shape that was on the front of the armor... though she guessed that there was something good about it, as the back was open and wouldn't do anything to her wings when she needed them.
She glanced out the open door of the inn for a moment and noticed two of the Illidari, one a female night elf and the other a female blood elf, walking down the street to get some supplies from one of the shops... though she could tell that the armor they were wearing was identical to what was in front of her, and neither of them were embarrassed about it. She then glanced down at her own clothing and realized that a good portion of it had tears in the fabric and leather, though she had been so preoccupied with acquiring the Twinblades, awakening the Fel Hammer, and finding the Tidestone that she had never noticed how damaged her armor actually was. For a moment she mentally cursed Maiev, as a good portion of the damage was likely her fault from their duel seven years ago, but she then let out a sigh... she guessed this was better than nothing.
Lyra was also sure that she would be able to replace this at some point in the future, so she decided that she should suck up any embarrassment the chest piece brought to light and continue with their mission... once she found a private place to put the armor on. Trixie mentioned that sure was sure that no one would be upstairs at the moment, meaning that she could slip into her new gear without having to worry about anyone watching her while she changed. As the others started going over what they were going to do next, however, Lyra excused herself and headed upstairs, where she found her way to an area where she couldn't easily be seen and sighed. She quickly pulled off the chest piece she was currently wearing and slipped on the new piece that she had been handed, trying her best to ignore any embarrassment that she might have felt when she put it on.
She looked over at the mirror and told herself that the moment she found something better, and less revealing, she was going to replace the chest piece... to which she sighed and walked back down to the others. When she reached the first level of the inn, however, she noticed that Asha had entered the building, though Lyra suspected that the demon hunter was looking for her.
"Lyra, Battlelord Gaardoun asked me to retrieve you." Asha said, though it appeared that she was somewhat happy to have found her so quickly, while at the same time her tone told Lyra that something must have happened if Gaardoun wanted her back so soon, "He says there is a very important matter that he needs your help with. He requests your presence back on the Fel Hammer as soon as possible."
"Trixie, Azuregos, if you'll excuse me." Lyra commented, turning to the group that was sitting at the table and nodded her head for a second, to which her friends nodded back to her, before she turned towards Asha, "Let us see what Gaardoun has to tell me."
Asha nodded and lead the way back to Krasus' Landing, where the two of them climbed up onto the ruined ledge and used their wings to glide down to where the portal to the Fel Hammer was located. Once they landed on the small floating island they approached the portal and stepped through it, to which they cross the space between Azeroth and Mardum, before appearing in the Fel Hammer. Lyra noticed that the Illidari were busy preparing themselves, as she suspected they would be, though she also noticed that the higher ranking ones that she had seen back down on Azsuna had come back here, meaning that they trusted whoever they had left behind. None of the Illidari said anything about her new armor, which she was thankful for, so she focused on the task at hand and looked for Gaardoun... who was standing in front of where the Broken were, no doubt trying to teach them.
"Commander Lyra, I am glad to see that Asha was able to find you so quickly." Gaardoun said, taking a moment to give Lyra a small bow, once again reminding her of her position as the leader of the Illidari, "There is something important that you must attend to as soon as possible."
"That is why I came back to the Fel Hammer," Lyra stated, knowing that she could easily be planning where to go next on the Broken Isles, but she was sure that this was just as important as finding the Pillars of Creation.
"The Matron Mother, Lady S'theno, and I have been watching you and the rest of the Illidari." Gaardoun stated, which wasn't something that surprised Lyra, as she had known that the three leaders had been watching her and the others since the day she joined the Illidari, "We have something of an outsider's perspective on things, which gives us a degree of objectivity. We have come to a unanimous recommendation: in order to keep the Illidari from splintering, you must begin to recruit champions. These exalted few will aid in projecting your power beyond the confines of the Fel Hammer. Our unanimous recommendations for the first two are Kayn and Asha."
Lyra could hear the shock in Asha's voice as she gasped, meaning that she hadn't been told about this when she had been ordered to find her in Dalaran, though Lyra was a little shocked. She knew that Kayn was a worthy champion of their order, just as Asha was, but she found it a little unfair that Altruis hadn't been mentioned at all, while at the same time noticing that the elf in question wasn't anywhere near them at the moment. Lyra quickly found Kayn and asked both him and Asha if they would consider becoming champions of their order, though she was surprised to find that they eagerly accepted their new positions as her champions. With that done Gaardoun beckoned her over to Kor'vas, who seemed to have something on her mind... something that was likely along the lines of gathering more soldiers for the war.
"I was told that you have something to tell me." Lyra commented, wondering what Kor'vas would even want to tell her, but she suspected that it would need to be done immediately.
"Battlelord Gaardoun has offered to recruit more broken warriors for the cause." Kor'vas replied, to which she beckoned to the Captain of the Broken for a moment, before looking down at the panel in front of her, "He just needs a few things first. He said something about the right tool for the job, or something like that. Time to put your new champions to the test. I'm sure it will be a grueling mission."
Lyra looked at the circular panel that Kor'vas was looking at and was shocked to find that, if she stared at it for a few seconds, she could see a list of missions she could send her champions on, though at the moment it appeared that the only one was the one that Kor'vas had told her about. Once she knew what she was looking at, and sort of understood the whole system that she was being taught how to use, she sent a command to her two champions and sent them on the mission that Kor'vas had prepared for her to send them on. The instant Kor'vas touched her back she knew that she had succeeded, to which she broke the connection between her and the circular panel, to which she decided to take a break and wait for her champions to return from their mission.
She was sure that there were a few more missions she would need to send them on, once they got back, so she decided to look around the Fel Hammer and wait for the two of them to return.
As Lyra waited for her champions to return from the mission she had sent them on, hopefully with news of their success, she walked around the Fel Hammer and took in the various parts of the ship that she had ignored every time she had visited the ship. She could tell that there were fresh recruits, night elf and blood elf citizens that had seen the return of the Legion and wanted to stop them, no matter the cost. She often wondered why only night elves and blood elves could become demon hunters, but she had been told that they were the only two races that could withstand the demonic power without falling to corruption... or at least they didn't fall as quickly as the other races.
If that was true than Lyra would have never been able to bond with the demonic power that she had injected herself with during the Illidari ritual all those years ago... which could mean that the other races might be able to become demon hunters as well and had never been asked, but she decided not to bring it up with the others just yet.
As she walked down onto the lower level of the Fel Hammer she turned towards the ramp that would bring her to the Forge, where she could empower the Twinblades with the souls of the demons and other creatures she had killed during her time in Azsuna. While she was pleased that the souls of the demons would be put towards stopping the invasion, as it would prevent some of them from being resurrected, she felt sorry for the other souls that were trapped in the warglaives, as they would simply allow her to empower her weapons further. She wished that the Twinblades only absorbed the souls of the demons she slew, and nothing else, but there was no changing her weapons... to which she sighed as she set them on the Forge and let the souls further empower the warglaives.
"So those are the Twinblades of the Deceiver," a voice said, snapping Lyra out of her thoughts, as she had originally thought that she had been alone by the Forge, before she turned to the right and noticed someone standing there, "and I see that they have found a worthy owner."
The demon hunter that was standing to her right was a female blood elf, one whose skin appeared to be slightly hardened and dark red colored on her arms, legs, and the majority of her body, though the rest of her chest was lighter colored, like the other blood elves Lyra had seen in Dalaran. The demon hunter was, of course, wearing the standard Illidari Robes, though Lyra could tell that the blood elf's tattoos mimicked her own, only her's were blood red colored. The blood elf's hair was also red colored, while her horns were curved backwards, just like Lyra's pair of horns... though one thing that caught Lyra's attention was the blades that the blood elf was carrying. She could tell that they were powerful weapons, even if their design wasn't in the style of the warglaives she was used to using, though she had the feeling that they had been taken from a corrupted demon hunter... just like her weapons had been taken from Varedis.
Lyra stared at the demon hunter for a moment, trying to place where she had seen her while she slipped the Twinblades back onto her back, before she realized who was standing in front of her.
"Wait a second... Lyndraxa?" Lyra asked, to which the blood elf nodded her head for a moment, while at the same time a smile appeared on her face, indicating that she was pleased that Lyra had recognized her, "Lyndraxa Bloodmoon... the last time I saw you was when I followed Kayn and the others back to the Black Temple. Where have you been all this time?"
"Well, after the other demon hunters left with the Sargerite Keystone I was stuck here with there rest of the Illidari," Lyndraxa replied, though at the same time she cast a glance outside the ship, indicating that she was remembering something, "I was so caught up in killing demons that I hadn't noticed that you and the others went to challenge the Brood Queen that controlled Mardum. It wasn't until the Legion attacked the Fel Hammer that I realized that you guys had already disappeared, though without the Keystone I couldn't go anywhere. I then spent the next seven years with the rest of the Illidari, killing demons and protecting the Fel Hammer from the Legion... though I was only reunited with everyone once you opened the portal between Azeroth and our new home.
Kayn and the others also filled me in on everything that happened since you returned to the Black Temple... though while I dislike the Wardens for what they did I'm sure that you have a burning hatred for one of them."
"Maiev." Lyra growled, recalling the name of the Warden that had sealed her and the others away for seven years, before finally freeing them when she actually needed their help, to which she sighed, "I would have words with her if I knew where she had traveled to..."
"Val'sharah." Lyndraxa stated, causing Lyra to look at the blood elf for a moment, to which she beckoned for the leader of the Illidari to follow her for a moment, "I have been keeping my eyes and ears open for anything that could tell us where Maiev was last seen, though I was considering calling off the search when the news came to me. Maiev was last seen somewhere in Val'sharah, no doubt chasing down either Gul'dan or his demonic allies... though no one has seen her since and I can tell that the Wardens, those that speak with us, are getting worried."
"They should be worried," Lyra commented, to which she glanced to the side and recalled exactly what she and the others could have been doing during the seven years they had been locked up, "If they had just left us alone we could have cut down a large number of the Legion's soldiers and taken away many of the worlds that they have taken for themselves."
"Agreed." Lyndraxa said, though at the same time she and Lyra reached the upper level of the ship, where she brought them to the console that Lyra had been staring at minutes ago, "The druids that call Val'sharah home, and those that have gone to aid their brothers and sisters, should be able to find the Pillar of Creation on their own. At the same time, however, we have received notices about corruption slowly spreading around the ancient forest, in one form or another. The four leaders of the druids have asked for reinforcements, from any Order that might be able to spare them... and as far as we can tell the fighter type classes have gone to Stormheim to search for the Aegis, while the priests, warlocks, and others have gone to Highmountain. Some have also gone back to Azsuna, to clean up whatever you and Trixie didn't do... but so far no one seems to be taking the corruption seriously."
"Then we shall take it seriously." Lyra firmly said, because it seemed like everyone believed that the druids could handle their own problems with the forces that they had, but even so Val'sharah seemed like a big place and she knew that the druids needed some assistance.
"While you and your friends are aiding the druids of Val'sharah, I will be in Azsuna," Lyndraxa stated, to which he pointed at the zone that Lyra and Trixie had been in a few hours ago, "Kor'vas and the others want me to gather some demon blood and some other ingredients, though they refuse to tell me why at the moment. By the time you get back from the home of the druids we should be able to move onto whatever the next step of Kor'vas' plan is."
"Right." Lyra said, to which she started to head towards the portal that would take her back to Dalaran, but before she got too far she circled back and stopped beside the other demon hunter again, "Out of curiosity, what are those blades you are carrying?"
"The Aldrachi Warblades, taken from Carla's cold body." Lyndraxa said, though she seemed pleased with her deed, as it meant there was one less obstacle in their path to stopping the Legion.
Lyra nodded, as she recalled the weapons in question being mentioned to her when she was choosing which artifact to go after, before she bid her forces farewell for the moment and headed back to the portal, where she headed back to Dalaran so she could speak with Trixie.
When she returned to Dalaran she walked towards the inn and found that the only person still sitting at the table was Azuregos, who informed Lyra that the rest of the group had gone their separate ways. Lyra considered what she had done upon her return to the city and decided that the others had to have gone to wherever their Order Halls were located, to which she simply sat next to the disguised dragon and waited for Trixie's return.
"So why didn't you go with Trixie to her Order Hall?" Lyra asked, knowing that since the disguised dragon had taken on the persona of a mage, and that her fellow Equestrian happened to be a mage as well, he could have easily been granted access to Trixie's Order Hall.
"I did not wish to push the boundaries of our relationship," Azuregos answered, though he immediately raised a hand to stop Lyra from saying anything, "and I don't mean in a romantic sense. The two of us are friends, nothing more and nothing less, and I feel that asking her to personally invite me into her Order Hall would be a bad idea. As you have no doubt determined I'm don't belong to any of the groups of mages that call Dalaran their home, and I don't want me asking to reflect poorly on her... especially since she just earned her new position a few days ago."
"I think helping us find and retrieve the Tidestone will have erased any doubt that Trixie's followers might have for you," Lyra stated, though at the same time she smiled as she spotted their friend walk back into the inn, "Trixie, did your followers tell you the good news?"
"Maybe." Trixie replied, though it appeared that she was going to play a small game with Lyra, one that she was willing to play this time, "What did the Illidari tell you?"
"Maiev, the Warden who imprisoned me and the other Illidari, was last seen in Val'sharah," Lyra stated, to which she grinned for a moment as she noticed a small smile appear on her friend's face, "The way I see it we head down to the ancient forest, give some aid to the druids that are searching for the Tears of Elune, and then see if we can't find Maiev. Personally, I would like to give her a piece of my mind for imprisoning me and my forces in her vault for seven years... and I'm sure that you would like to have some words with her as well."
Trixie stared at Lyra for a moment, wondering if this would allow her friend to let go of her anger and hatred towards the Warden, before eventually sighing. The temptation to find out what happened to Maiev was too great, to which she offered Lyra a small smile and said that Val'sharah would be a great place to head to next... while at the same time she knew that the two of them would benefit in some way, though she hoped in a positive way and not a bad way.
"Is there anything we need before we head down to Val'sharah?" Lyra asked, as she wanted to be sure that she, Trixie, and Azuregos were well prepared for the journey ahead of them.
"Nope. It appears that we already have everything that we need." Trixie replied, as none of them had sold much of what they had picked up from their time in Azuna, save for her when she and the two other additions had sold the items they had acquired from the Eye of Azshara.
"Then let's get going." Lyra said, to which she, Trixie, and Azuregos walked out of the inn they had been sitting in and made their way to Krasus' Landing, where they were sure they could pick up a flight to the zone they would be heading into.
As they walked down the street Lyra noticed that there were a great deal of warrior type heroes entering the city, apparently telling the others about how they dealt with one of their enemies in Stormheim, though it appeared that they were no closer to finding the Aegis of Aggramar yet. Those that were returning from Highmountain, so they could restock on essential items they needed, also appeared to be having some trouble retrieving the Hammer of Khaz'goroth, which may or may not be in the hands of someone who didn't know how to us it, depending on which story they were hearing. It made Lyra happy that the Tidestone of Golganneth had been recovered and safely secured inside Aegwynn's Gallery, which could be one of the safest places in the city... and she smiled as she realized that the Tears of Elune would soon be there as well.
When the trio reached Krasus' Landing, and had passed all of the heroes that were returning for supplies so they could continue their hunt for the two Pillars of Creation they were after, they noticed that Khadgar was standing in the middle of the landing... and he seemed pleased to see them once more.
"I rarely get to say this, but I have good news for all of you." Khadgar said, waiting for the trio to approach him before he spoke, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie smiled at him as well, "Malfurion Stormrage, and the four chosen Archdruids, managed to make landfall in Val’sharah some time ago and have already taken care of things there. It seems that fortune is still smiling in our favor! They are waiting for you as we speak in Lorlathil. Speak to Aludane Whitecloud, whose standing over there, to secure a flight to Val’Sharah... though you should know what to do when you arrive."
Lyra almost chuckled at that statement, because if everything she had been through was anything to go by Khadgar might have just jinxed them. Trixie, on the other hand, nodded as she walked over to the man in question and said that they needed two mounts to take them to the village in question. The man wondered why only two, to which Azuregos smiled and shifted into his dragon form, leaving the man to nod as he prepared two hippogryphs for Trixie and Lyra to use. Once they were ready to go the trio took off, to which Azuregos stayed at a decent distance to keep the hippogryphs from freaking out, but making sure that he could see his friends and be sure that nothing happened to them.
The trio flew over Azsuna, taking in the sights of the places they had cleared out in order to find the Tidestone and wondered if Prince Farondis was looking up at the sky, before they turned their attention to the forest in front of them. The two hippogryphs seemed to know the way to Lorlathil, as they moved through the forest with such speed and accuracy that told them that Alundane had trained them very well. It didn't take them long to reach the village that they were supposed to be meeting Malfurion and the Archdruids in, though as they descended towards their location Lyra noticed the familiar night elf that had several animal features attached to his body.
Standing to Malfurion's left was a creature made out of wood, a treant Lyra recalled, and a creature that looked like the drawings of the moonkins that Trixie had shown her while they were saving Azeroth from the small Legion invasions. On the ancient druid's right, however, was a intimidating bear that had armor on it's front legs and impressive claws, as well as a dark furred cat, who had armor on all four of its legs and some metallic claws over its front pair. Lyra could tell that the four Archdruids were very powerful, as the various weapons they commanded definitely held great power within them... to which she wondered why she and Trixie were even here to help them, as she would love to hunt Maiev down now that she knew who was standing in front of her.
"Elune-Adore." Malfurion said, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie climbed off of the hippogryphs they had been riding on, while Azuregos shifted back into his elven form, "It is good to see that the people that answered our call for aid are the same ones that recovered the Tidestone; Trixie Lulamoon, Lyra Heartstrings, and the dragon called Azuregos. Allow me to introduce Esalia Dewforest, Linbu, Monoskah Windhorn, and Bloodclaw."
From what Lyra knew about the druid class, which admittedly wasn't a lot, there were four different paths a druid could take when they had enough training, such as how a mage could become a frost mage, a fire mage, or an arcane mage. Druids, on the other hand, were broken up into restoration druids, balance druids, guardian druids, and feral druids, to which she determined that the order they were named matched up with their chosen path. She resolved to properly introduce herself to their allies, because she was sure that they would be getting to know each other in the next day or two... as well as the fact that they would be helping out when it came time to deal with the Legion.
"It is good to meet all of you." Trixie replied, to which she, Lyra, and Azuregos bowed their heads towards the four Archdruids, though that was followed by the four druids repeating the movements themselves, before she turned back towards Malfurion, "What's the situation?"
"Cenarius, the Lord of the Forest, has been cursed by some vile power." Malfurion said, though that was followed by him letting out a sigh, one that indicated that whatever power had befallen the powerful being was something he either hadn't seen before or it was something old that was coming back, "Our first objective should be to gather the three Archdruids that lead and protect the forest.... with their help we might be able to determine what afflicts my mentor, and potentially find a way to cure it. I will remain here and lend Cenarius what aid I can. The three of you will join the leaders of the druid order and speak with Remulos... he should know the whereabouts of the other Archdruids."
Trixie and Lyra nodded to Malfurion, who immediately turned around and headed to the right of where the group was standing, which told them that Cenarius had to be deeper in the forest. Once the night elf had disappeared the group of seven walked over to night elf centaur that was standing beside a tree that had an inn built at the bottom of its roots.
"Keeper Remulos," the treant said, causing the centaur to look over at the group, to which he raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Lyra and Trixie were standing with the four druids, "Cenarius has been cursed by some foul and wicked power... we need your help in finding the three Archdruids that rule and protect the forest, so we can help the Lord of the Forest get better."
"I see." Remulos replied, to which he pulled out a map of the forest and beckoned for them all to gather around him, which was easier said than done considering that there were seven of them this time around, "In Moonclaw Vale, which is across the main road from where we are position, is where Thaon Moonclaw, the Archdruid of the Vale, and the feral druids that follow him reside. To the south of us rests the Den of Dreams, where Archdruid Koda Steelclaw and her dedicated disciples carry out their sacred duty to observe the Emerald Dream. And to the north of us lies the ancient grove Thas’talah, where Elothir communes with nature and instructs his acolytes in the ways of healing and lore. Once you have aided the three Archdruids, and informed them of our crisis, you should return here and help Malfurion with the next steps of his plan."
"Will do," the dark furred cat stated, to which Remulos started to walk away from where everyone was standing, allowing him to turn to the group, "Okay, I think we should split up into three groups and contact the three Archdruids at the same time."
"That sounds like an excellent idea." the moonkin said, though that was followed by everyone, including Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos, nodding their heads in agreement, "I take it that you already have some ideas for the groups, considering that you volunteered the information?"
"I have indeed." the cat stated, though that was when everyone really quieted down, so they could accurately hear what the feral druid wanted to tell them, "I would suggest that Monoskah, Linbu, and Azuregos head down to the Den of Dreams and awaken Archdruid Koda and her disciples. That would allow Esalia and Trixie to head over to the grove of Thas'talah, where they can seek out Archdruid Elothir and tell him the dire news we all face... leaving Lyra and myself to find Archdruid Thaon."
"Considering the number of people in our group, that sounds fair for all parties." the bear commented, to which he stared over at the moonkin and Azuregos for a few seconds, before beckoning for them to follow with his head, "Come on, we had best get moving before something else happens."
Trixie and Azuregos embraced each other for a moment before the disguised dragon followed the bear and the moonkin down the path that they had to take. The instant they were out of sight the treant walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, telling Trixie that it was time for them to get started as well. As they walked down the path they needed to take, however, Lyra had the feeling that she and the feral druid might have picked the Archdruid that was in the most danger... because she had the feeling that something bad was going to happen, but this time she hoped that she was only overthinking things.
Once Trixie was out of sight Lyra and Bloodclaw turned around so they could head over to Moonclaw Vale, where they hoped that they would be able to find Archdruid Thaon quickly... because Cenarius was depending on their success, and neither of them wanted to disappoint him or Malfurion.
"So Bloodclaw," Lyra commented, to which she looked down at the feral cat that was walking beside her, because she wasn't sure who he or she was, seeing how they were still in their cat form, "what can you tell me about yourself?"
"Well for one thing I abandoned by human name a long time ago, back when Gilneas was attacked by the worgen," Bloodclaw replied, though at the same time Lyra detected that the cat was bitter about the entire thing, which meant that something else had happened during that time, "Once I became a worgen I adopted a new name and helped the Alliance combat the Cataclysm that had rocked the world, using my powers as a druid to hunt down our foes and help heal allies when I had a chance. After Deathwing was killed I dedicated myself to my training as a druid, mastering my abilities and forging bonds with my fellow Order Leaders, before dealing with Garrosh and the Iron Horde. When Gul'dan escaped I returned to Azeroth and prepared myself for what could be coming... and now we have demons attacking the planet and something terrible seems to have awoken in the forest.
Oh, and in case it wasn't obvious by my body structure, I'm female... the only reason I'm telling you is because you look too confused when you look at me for this to be funny."
Lyra had to wonder what sort of terrible force could have awoken in the forest, but seeing how she didn't know anything about the druids and their lore she decided that it was best not to ask dumb questions until she caught back up with Trixie and Azuregos. Another thought that came up was that she had no knowledge on druids and the differences between a female druid and a male druid, so she was going to have to take Bloodclaw's word on her gender.
"What about you?" Bloodclaw asked, though at the same time she and Lyra crossed the road that was in front of them, before she glanced up at her companion, "I have never seen a night elf like you; a cross between an elf, a demon, and what I assume is a horse... or a pony, if what Khadgar said is true."
"He's correct, though at the moment I am technically one third night elf, one third demon, and one third pony," Lyra replied, though at the same time she hadn't expected her companion to actually ask her a question while they were walking, but she was glad to take her mind off of their task for a few moments, "I know that this might be hard for you to wrap your head around, but Trixie and I are actually from another world, one that's filled with more creatures like us... only they are full pony."
"Really?" Bloodclaw said, though there wasn't any hint of shock or confusion in her voice, which meant that the worgen was fine with the news, but Lyra guessed that it made sense because of the draenei, "So what are the two of you doing here? I don't mind the assistance in stopping the Legion, but I would think that you and Trixie would prefer your lives on your home planet... instead of being here, fighting an army of demons that want to destroy Azeroth."
"Once upon a time I would have agreed with you," Lyra stated, remembering what she had seen, and what she had done, that had changed her mind and enforced her decision to help aid Azeroth from the demons of the Burning Legion, "Truth be told I'm not even sure how Trixie and I suddenly moved from our homes on Equus, our home world, and arrived on Azeroth... or the Outlands in my case. The only known magical artifact in Equus that has the power to teleport the user from one world to the next is a crystal mirror that was resting in the castle of Princess Twilight, and I never entered her castle before I ended up here."
"Maybe someone tampered with the mirror and it sent out shockwaves that resonated with you and Trixie?" Bloodclaw suggested, though at the same time she and Lyra turned down the path they had been walking towards and headed towards their destination, "I'm no expert in magic, so that's all I can think of that might go that to you."
"Maybe..." Lyra said, to which she shook her head, because now Bloodclaw had brought up the one thing that had bothered her since she and arrived in the Outlands; how she, and by extent Trixie, had moved from Equus and were dropped off in their respective locations.
Lyra only knew of one creature that could have the power to make such a sudden change to an artifact that was supposed to have been created by Starswirl the Bearded, a certain draconequus that loved to spread chaos and generally annoyed the Royal Sisters. She had to wonder if Discord had played a hand in this and had cursed the mirror to send ponies to random worlds, where they had to help the inhabitants until he chose to retrieve them. Unfortunately she had no proof that the draconequus was behind this and would likely never know until she and Trixie finally returned to their home world... once they saved Azeroth from the Legion anyway.
The two of them then rounded the corner and came to a small village that looked like the one they had met Malfurion in, though there were satyrs and imps attacking the druids and attempting to corrupt the entire place... and there was a larger feral cat tearing into his attackers. Lyra and Bloodclaw noticed some enemies trying to flank Archdruid Thaon, as that was who the large feral cat had to be, to which they engaged the satyrs and interrupted their attacks. It didn't take them long to cut down and tear apart the small group of satyrs, especially because they weren't expecting the Archdruid to have reinforcements arriving, though Lyra did hear the large cat sigh for a moment as it turned to face them.
"I am grateful for your aid, visitors." Archdruid Thaon said, though at the same time he glanced back at the nearest group of satyrs and glared at them, as if he was daring them to come forward and attack him once more, "These wicked vermin must not prevail over my precious grove."
"Master Moonclaw! What has become of your grove?" Bloodclaw asked, though Lyra noticed that her companion was being respectful by using the Archdruid's last name, to which she reflected to do the same thing when she had a chance to speak with the powerful druid.
"After the War of the Ancients, the surviving satyrs were assembled together." the Archdruid explained, though his tone indicated that he had no love for the satyrs, but Lyra suspected that he now hated them with a passion, "I argued to execute them for their transgressions, but our merciful nature won the day. I was overruled. Instead, the satyrs were placed in an eternal sleep deep below the roots of Shala’drassil. Now, somehow, they have awoken. We shall not make the same mistake again, if I must kill them all myself!"
"Archdruid Moonclaw, we come with news from Lorlathil," Lyra stated, drawing the Archdruid's attention to her for a moment, though she suspected that the powerful druid might not care for someone like her at the moment, "Cenarius has been stricken with some sort of curse and we need your help in aiding whatever Malfurion has planned."
"If Cenarius has need of my aid, he will surely have it." Archdruid moonclaw replied, though at the same time he beckoned to the area they were in, indicating that they had some work to do before they left the Vale behind, "However, even as we speak, the legions of darkness enclose upon us, twisting and slaying my disciples."
"Then we shall kill them and rescue your disciples," Bloodclaw said, to which Lyra nodded her head, as they had come to tell the Archdruid the news and knew that he couldn't leave without taking out the threat that was trying to overtake this village, "Where should we start?"
"Xandris the Dishonored was among the first to betray his brethren and accept the curse of Xavius." the Archdruid answered, though Lyra had the feeling that the person called 'Xavius' had to be important, even if she had no idea who that person was, "During the great war, it was he who led the slaughter of many of my comrades. The last time I met him on the battlefield he fled. Help me to dispense justice on this foul being."
"It will be done." Bloodclaw and Lyra said, to which they respectfully bowed to the powerful Archdruid and crossed the bridge that he had been standing on when they arrived in the village.
Their first course of action was to attack the imps that were attacking one of the druids that happened to be trapped by some dark and vile colored vines, though they were quick to dispatch their opponents and free the feral druid from the vines. Lyra spotted some satyrs trying to perform some sort of ritual on a totem, so she charged at them and cut them all down as she avoided their magic, though once they were all dead she raised the Twinblades and literally hacked the wooden totem to pieces. She and Bloodclaw then repeated their actions with the next few groups, where Lyra used herself as bait for the imps and satyrs, allowing her companion to sneak through the shadows and attack their enemies from behind.
The druids they saved expressed their gratitude in them saving their lives, though instead of running away they stayed in Moonclaw Vale and started freeing the rest of the captive druids... allowing Lyra and Bloodclaw to make their way to the larger satyr that was standing in the entrance of one of the buildings.
"These druids were weak…" Xandris the Dishonored said, to which he looked away from the bodies of the slain druids that were resting around him and stared at his new challengers, "I hope you have more fight in you than they did!"
Lyra immediately went on the defensive, allowing the satyr to attack her as she used the Twinblades to defend herself, while at the same time allowing Bloodclaw to use the shadows to her advantage against their opponent. Despite all of her training, however, Lyra could tell that the servant of Xavius was far stronger than anything she had fought in the past, as even the Wrath of Azshara was weaker than Xandris. That thought made her worry, because if Xavius could empower his minions to this degree, and she had no idea what the limit of his abilities were, she and the druids of Val'sharah could be fighting a losing battle. She had to wonder what the mysterious Xavius was hoping to gain by attacking Val'sharah and the druids that lived there, when he could be using his power to help stop the Legion... though she was sure that she and the others would find out what his intentions were soon enough.
The fight was abruptly brought to an end as Archdruid Moonclaw jumped out of the shadows and tore off Xandris' head with his teeth... causing Lyra and Bloodclaw to look at him in shock for a moment.
"Xandris has been slain, but there are others that must be dealt with if my grove is to be saved." the Archdruid said, though at the same time he spat out the satyr's head and stared down at the duo, "During the great war, Kagraxxis took great pleasure in corrupting the lands he once called home. Were it not for the foolish mercy of my fellow druids, I would have slain him myself. Find the demon and bring justice upon him. I must entrust this task to you alone, for I sense an even darker presence here… one that requires my personal attention."
With that said the Archdruid slipped back into the shadows and disappeared, to which Bloodclaw followed the path that took them up a hill on their left, only to head up another path that lead them to a cave entrance. Lyra followed after her companion and together they fought the satyrs and imps that stood in their way, as well as allowing some time for Lyra to break the other totems that were in front of them. Once they reached the entrance they followed the path down into the earth, where they eventually found their target patrolling a small area... one that had another druid that was locked in a cage at the moment.
Lyra looked at the satyr and knew that he was trying to corrupt the area he was in, which meant that he needed to die before they joined the Archdruid... to which she drew her weapons as she and Bloodclaw approached their target.
"Soon, this wretched forest will be bathed in darkness!" Kagraxxis declared, indicating that there was something sinister happening to Val'sharah at the moment, which annoyed Bloodclaw, "You think you’ve won?"
The moment the fight started Lyra knew that Kagraxxis was as strong as Xandris, maybe even a little stronger then the now deceased satyr, which was why she felt the need to go on the offensive this time around. She used every skill she knew at the moment, the ones she had practiced with and the ones that she had learned since the attack on Mardum, and danced around the area to avoid damage being dealt to her. Bloodclaw tore into Kagraxxis' legs and jumped on his back when the opportunity presented itself, though when the satyr was distracted by the cat clawing at his back Lyra used the Twinblades and her offensive attacks to deal as much damage as possible before the satyr turned back to her.
It took them a few minutes to take out the satyr, but when victory was finally theirs they watched as the satyr collapsed on the ground and finally died, much to the joy of Lyra and Bloodclaw. With victory on their side once more they approached the cage and released the druid that was being held against her will, though they had the feeling that she had something important to tell them.
"You have my thanks, friends. I am Evelle Nightwhisper." the druid said, offering them a small bow at the moment, before she got serious once more, "If not for your timely arrival I would have surely perished here."
"What's going on in Val'sharah?" Bloodclaw asked, because she was hoping that while Evelle was able to get some information from her captor, "Why are there satyrs and imps attacking and killing druids?"
"Xavius has returned." Evelle replied, though that one sentence was enough to make Bloodclaw go still for a moment, informing Lyra that the mysterious Xavius had to be someone that the druids hated... maybe on the same level as they hated the Burning Legion.
"Im... impossible." Bloodclaw said, though Lyra could tell that there was definitely something she was missing, to which she resolved to ask Trixie or one of their druid friends who and what Xavius was when they had time.
"The Nightmare Lord is here in Val’sharah, personally orchestrating the corruption of this land." Evelle said, though this time both Lyra and Bloodclaw sweated a little, because if the big bad was actually here, in Val'sharah, that meant that things would be much harder than they were in Azsuna, "My captor revealed as much to me before I was to be sacrificed. We must find Thaon Moonclaw and inform him before it is too late!"
Bloodclaw quickly agreed and told Evelle to head back to Lorlathil, so she could inform the others about the information she had gleamed during her time as a captive, to which the druid agreed and left the two of them alone. The duo stood there for a few moments, allowing Bloodclaw to feel what was going on in Moonclaw Vale, before her eyes snapped open and she beckoned for Lyra to follow her. As they left the cave they were in Lyra noticed that the druids they had freed were openly fighting the satyr that were attacking their home, though it appeared that many of them were going to flee once their fight was over... but it gave them the opportunity to enter the building that Bloodclaw brought them to.
As they followed the passage downwards, however, Lyra caught sight of a projection that was walking towards them, one that appeared to be a satyr with some red crystals sticking out of his body in certain locations... as well as some spikes on his tail, which looked like thorns.
"He put up quite a fight," the image of Xavius said, though then he laughed, as if he found something funny, "but your archdruid belongs to me now..."
As the image faded away Lyra and Bloodclaw ventured down into the lowest chamber and found that Archdruid Moonclaw had indeed been corrupted, as there was a red aura and some sort of sinister red coating covering his fur. Lyra once again worried about their chances, because if Xavius was able to corrupt someone as powerful as Thaon there it made her wonder who else he might be able to corrupt. It was clear to her that Xavius was trying to turn the druids into his personal army, which meant that everyone that was corrupted had to die... otherwise the corruption would spread until all of Val'sharah was under his control.
Lyra sighed as she shifted into her Havoc form and landed beside the corrupted Archdruid, stunning him for a few seconds, before she brought her weapons down and cut into his skin, but it was clear that he was going to fight her to the death. As she fought in her empowered state Bloodclaw charged in and started attacking the person they had been sent to enlist the help of, clawing up his fur and dealing as much damage as she could to the former protector of Val'sharah. Thaon proved to be much more powerful with Xavius' power backing him, as he was able to fight on par with Lyra's empowered state, but she would not surrender to the corrupted druid... and her determination pushed Bloodclaw forward as well.
It was a relatively short fight in the end, as Lyra was able to deal a direct blow to Thaon's spine, which was completely on accident considering that she had been aiming elsewhere and the corrupted Archdruid had turned at the last second, but in the end she and Bloodclaw stood over the still form of Archdruid Moonclaw... though they were both shocked that they had survived the fight to begin with.
"Come on, let's get back to Lorlathil and tell Malfurion the news," Lyra said, though at the same time she reverted back to her normal demon hunter form, "Something tells me that the others might have their hands full... and might receive the same bad news as we just did."
She seriously hoped that this was the last that she and the others would see of Xavius, but she knew that was a foolish wish at the moment... to which she resolved to hunt him down and put him in the ground, after she and Trixie helped the druids with their mission and finally located Maiev.
Azuregos had to admit that when he had decided to leave the Nexus Vault, which was now better protected than it had been since he had first started watching over it, he never considered the possibility that he would be walking beside some of the strongest druids to ever grace Azeroth. Monoskah, from what he could tell, had to be a tauren, while Linbu was, by from how his name sounded, a troll, though he had nothing against the races of his companions, because he knew that everyone could rise to greatness given the right circumstances. Trixie, from the stories he had heard a little of while he was in Dalaran, had certainly done that during her time on Azeroth, though he suspected that Lyra had done the same thing in her own way... especially when he remembered that she was a demon hunter.
Oddly enough his companions didn't want to talk for the moment, which was fine with him, as it gave him the opportunity to finish up his thoughts as they walked down into an area that had a single building on their right... and what appeared to be a druid shrine to the far left. In front of them, on the immediate left, was a night elf that was tending to a guardian druid, as the bear appeared to be in some sort of pain, though as they walked up to the pair the elf turned towards them and smiled.
"The forest already whispers of Malfurion’s return." the night elf said, though Azuregos detected that she was speaking to the druids and was ignoring him for the moment, "There are few among us who have not heard of his deeds. The trees said he also travels with a group of seven companions; four very powerful druids, two incredible mages, and a demon hunter whose power may rival that of Illidan Stormrage. What could the companions of Malfurion want with the Druids of the Claw?"
"We seek an audience with Archdruid Koda," Monoskah replied, speaking for the first time since they had departed from the village they had gathered in.
"I suspected as much." the elf commented, to which she sighed and beckoned to the path that was in front of them, which didn't head into the druid shrine area, "The nearby furbolgs have gone into a frenzied rage. For days, it has been all we can do to protect our grove from their aggression. They have cut off our access to the barrow dens, where the Archdruid and our clan sleep in the Emerald Dream. In order to awaken them, we must first eliminate the furbolgs."
"Then that is what we will do," Azuregos said, knowing that they wouldn't need to kill the entire tribe of furbolgs to open the way, because it seemed like there was something else at work here.
Monoskah seemed to agree with him, though that was followed by the guardian druid charging towards the village in question and barreling into one of the furbolgs that were standing on the other side of the entrance. As Linbu followed after him, and started attacking the other enemies in the immediate area, Azuregos spotted a friendly furbolg standing on the side of the entrance... though this one appeared to be elderly and in no condition to fight anyone.
"Stranger, I beseech you!" the elderly furbolg said, stopping Azuregos in his tracks and causing him to look at the creature, "My once peaceful brethren are now cursed with insatiable wrath. My nephew and I tried to leave against the Chieftain’s wishes. The clan wrested him from me, and would have torn me apart if I did not flee. He is trapped in the village, and I fear the worst. Great mage, please save him. I am too old and too weak to do it myself."
"Very well, I will ensure that your nephew is rescued," Azuregos replied, though at the same time he had to wonder if the creature had been leaving to warn the druids about the rest of his tribe, but then shook his head and followed after his companions.
Monoskah was, from what Azuregos could tell, already tearing into his enemies, using his larger form to slam into those that were coming his way and using his claws to tear his foes to pieces, while Linbu was restoring whatever damage their friend happened to take. Once he got close to them Azuregos explained what the elderly furbolg had told him, to which the two of them agreed to free the nephew, in the off chance that he pointed them to what was making the tribe go hostile all of a sudden. It actually didn't take them long to find the furbolg in question, as he happened to be chained up to another totem, though as Azuregos blasted the attackers with magic Monoskah used his claws to tear the furbolg free,
"Thank you strangers." the furbolg said, rubbing his wrists for a few seconds, before he stared at them, "I heard the others talking earlier. I may know the cause of their fear. They say the Chieftain has a mysterious totem. It gives him power, and fearful visions. If you destroy the totem, the madness will end."
"Evil totems, we should have seen that coming." Linbu commented, though at the same time he looked down the path that was opposite of where they were standing, "And I am willing to bet that it's in that direction."
"Agreed." Azuregos said, as he had the same feeling that Linbu had, to which the three of them bid the furbolg farewell and headed down into the lower area of the village.
As they walked through the village, and fought the attacking furbolgs that wanted them gone, Azuregos froze as many of them to the ground as he could, because if they were being controlled by some evil object they could simply save the lives of so many creatures instead of killing them. Linbu and Monkskah agreed with him, despite the fact that they were a little shocked by how the disguised dragon could accurately feel what a druid felt, before they came to an area with a larger furbolg standing in front of a sinister looking totem. The moment they discovered their target Monoskah charged forward and knocked the corrupted shaman onto his back, allowing Linbu to use his restoration magic while Azuregos dealt whatever damage he could do.
The shaman tried to use his totems to turn the tide in his favor, but his power was short lived as Monoskah inflicted enough wounds to bring the corrupted shaman down... though as he and Linbu worked on cleansing the larger totem, and destroying it in the process, Azuregos spotted the shaman's beads and collected them. When asked about them he said that they had to be passed down to the next leader of the tribe, and the furbolg he had spoken to earlier would be able to decide who that was when the time was right. With the furbolg's freed from the curse the totem had inflicted on them, and were no longer aggressive, the group was able to leave the small village and return to their allies... while Azuregos stopped at the elderly furbolg and his nephew.
"We have saved your nephew and your tribe is no longer hostile," Azuregos said, though as he spoke he was sure that the elderly furbolg had noticed both of these events, but he also held his hand out and deposited the beads in the elder's open hand, "and I believe you'll be needing these in the future."
"Thank you for your assistance, great mage!" the elderly furbolg replied, using the class that Azuregos had taken for his disguise instead of his name, as he had never given the elder his name, "My nephew is returned to me. He explains that the source of the madness came from a powerful totem, which you and your allies have now destroyed. It makes sense now that I think about it, but who – or WHAT – gave us such a thing? I will share this knowledge with the druids at once. As for the beads, Graw was the first to succumb to the madness, and the rest of the clan followed. With these, I will take the reins as our clan’s new chieftain. Thank you, traveler. I will do my best to rebuild my clan."
Azuregos nodded and walked over to his companions, who were busy telling the night elf they had spoken to earlier about what they had done and what they had seen, though he suspected that she was glad that they had figured out what had been plaguing the furbolgs.
"Now, we must focus our efforts on waking Archdruid Steelclaw." the night elf said, to which she beckoned to the barrow that had previously been blocked, though now it appeared that the angry guardians were leaving of their own free will, "She and our druid brethren slumber in the barrow dens to the south. With the furbolgs quelled, we can pass safely to the entrance. Go and awaken the Archdruid. I pray to Elune that we are not too late."
Monoskah nodded his head towards the night elf and beckoned for Azuregos and Linbu to follow him, to which the trio walked down the hill that was behind where the elf was sitting and approached the entrance of the barrow. As they walked up to the entrance they discovered a fair number of furbolgs still patrolling the area, though this time they weren't hostile and simply let the three of them walk on passed them. It took them a few seconds to reach a crossroads of sorts, as they had three options to choose from; they could either go straight and head deeper into the barrow, they could go to the right and see if the Archdruid was down there, or they could have gone to the left... but the left tunnel was walled off by sinister looking vines.
The trio looked at each other for a moment and headed to the right of where they were standing, to which they walked down into a chamber that had a large bear sleeping in the middle of the room... and it appeared that the Archdruid might be stirring on her own.
"The Dream was clouded with such darkness…" the Archdruid muttered, apparently talking to herself for a few seconds, though that was before she opened her eyes and noticed that she had some guests in her chamber.
"Archdruid Koda, we came to ask you for your assistance," Monoskah said, though at the same time he nudged the powerful druid with his head and helped her onto her feet, before returning to his companions and turning to face her, "Malfurion needs your help in tending to Cenarius."
"Malfurion Stormrage… a name I have not heard in centuries." the Archdruid commented, almost as if she was remembering some of her fonder memories for a moment, before she shook her head and turned towards the group, H"e was teacher to many of us. If he seeks my audience, I cannot refuse. I will go to the Grove of Cenarius, but first, we must awaken the rest of my clan. They slumber with no way of waking. A mysterious force of great power is at work against us. I am still too weak from my hibernation. Please strangers, go and free them from their dreams... and while you are at it, could you also clear our barrow of any enemies?"
"We would gladly help you and your clan out." Azuregos said, knowing that for them to get the Archdruid to leave the barrow he and the others would have to clear out whatever was threatening her fellow druids.
With that said the trio retraced their steps back to the intersection they had turned down and headed down the other pathway that they hadn't taken, where they discovered that the first foe they had to face was one of the demonic hounds that warlocks occasionally summoned when they were hunting down mages. As they mowed down the demon they moved into the next chamber, where they found satyrs either trying to corrupt or torment the sleeping druids, to which they did battle with their enemies. The satyrs were clearly not expecting enemies to be disturbing them, as they were rather easy to tear down and interrupt whatever they were doing... though as Monoskah and Linbu moved on Azuregos made sure to awaken the druids that they had freed.
They continued along that pattern for a few minutes, killing the satyrs and their demonic allies while at the same time freeing the sleeping druids, who fled the moment they were awake, before they reached what appeared to be the end of the barrow... and they happened to be above Archdruid Koda. Instead of jumping down and landing on the powerful druid, and pissing her off in the process, they quickly backtracked through the area they were in and approached the Archdruid.
"We have rescued every druid that has been sleeping in your barrow," Linbu said, though at the same time the Archdruid turned to face them, "and we have killed the invaders."
"Excellent. The chambers are clear." the Archdruid said, to which she looked at the barricade that was blocking the way to the enemy leader, though at the same time the trio prepared themselves for what was coming next, "I will open the way for you, but be careful. I sense powerful magic down below."
"Then it is a good thing that we have a powerful mage with us." Monoskah commented, though at the same time Azuregos could tell that the tauren's tone indicated that he wanted the disguised dragon to prove himself in the up coming fight.
Archdruid made no comment to what Monoskah said, as she focused her energy towards the barrier and forced it to unravel before their eyes, allowing the trio to walk down the pathway in front of them... to which they quickly came to a chamber that had a large satyr standing in the middle of the area.
"Welcome worms, I am Morphael, and we are prisoners of the druids no longer." the satyr declared, telling the group that he was referring to both himself and the other satyrs that they had taken care of, as well as any other satyrs that were absent, "Soon, your world will become ours! You are too late! The master’s plan is already in motion. Yes, yes! I will feed upon your fear, and twist it into a living nightmare! This is just… the beginning."
As Monoskah attacked the satyr, and Linbu was backing him, Azuregos called upon his magic and attacked the large satyr with every spell that he knew, while at the same time using his power to shatter any illusions that the creature summoned to the fight. Soon it became Azuregos' primary focus, where he dealt with each and every illusion that the satyr called upon, while his companions dealt as much damage as they could to their opponent. Oddly enough that appeared to be the satyr's only power, as they were able to quickly take care of their foe and drop him to the ground, where they caught their breath before heading back up to the Archdruid... where they told her the news.
Her reaction, however, told the trio that there was more to what was happening in Val'sharah than they originally realized... and that there was a larger game happening behind the scenes, being played by one of the strongest enemies that the druids had ever faced.
"In my dreams, I saw the satyr’s leader." the Archdruid said, a hint of worry in her voice, indicating that she shared the group's feelings on the matter, "His face was familiar, though I could not see it clearly. I pray to Elune that it is not too late. I will go to Malfurion at once."
The group decided to follow her and make sure that she was safe from harm, because they knew that their enemy might attack them and they wanted to be prepared... while at the same time praying that the others were fine and were finding success in their various missions.
Trixie and Esalia followed the path that took them out of Lorlathil, or more like Trixie followed her companion, who clearly knew the forest better than Trixie did, but at the same time Trixie kept her eyes open for anything and everything that might want to slow them down. Thanks to her vast experience over the last seven years, since she first landed on Azeroth, she knew that something could spring up and demand her attention, preventing her from doing what needed to be done. A new task could also pop up out of nowhere if she found something important on the body of one of their foes, like a journal or an unusual gemstone, though she made sure that nothing escaped her gaze.
Of course one of the things that she forgot about was the fact that her companion had never seen a person like her, with the fact that she was half dragon at this point.
"So how does one become a dragon like you?" Esalia asked, to which she glanced over at Trixie for a moment, watching the muscles in her companion's legs as they walked, before staring at her face once more, "One of my friends, a gnome called Dokisizz Sparksprocket, theorized how such a transformation could occur, but he could never figure out how to actually make the change work."
"I... I honestly don't remember the transformation," Trixie replied, though at the same time she still found it odd that she had adapted to her new body so quickly, but she guessed that was because of her experience adapting to her old body, "All I know is that I was wearing a necklace that contained the essence of a Blue Dragon inside it, and then when I was knocked into a large mana pool the energies around me interacted with the essence and fused it with my body. I actually haven't tried to change back into my dragon form... not since I first assumed it and crushed the elf that was my foe beneath one of my hands, or claws I guess."
"You are a lucky one." Esalia said, though that was before they turned a corner and spotted the large treant, which had a different color than all of the other treants that Trixie had seen, "Archdruid Elothir!"
"Welcome, travelers. The forest whispered of your arrival." the large treant, Elothir Trixie realized, replied, turning to face them for a moment, though he actually sounded pleased to meet them, unlike some of the other creatures that she had encountered over the years, "Few outsiders have entered my precious grove. Please show reverence during your visit."
"Of course Archdruid," Esalia and Trixie said, to which the two of them respectfully bowed to the powerful druid, though that was followed by them remembering why they had come here in the first place, to which Esalia spoke again, "Archdruid Elothir, Malfurion calls for your aid in tending to Cenarius!"
"Cenarius requires me?" the Archdruid asked, to which both Trixie and Esalia nodded their heads, though that was followed by a sigh escaping from the druid, "I shall depart as soon as I am able, but I mustn’t leave while my druids are in crisis. A vile harpy coven has emerged and seeks to claim my grove as their own. These vermin inflict a terrible petrifying disease which, given time, will destroy the infected. While I wish for all of my followers to be cured, it is crucial that my elder disciples survive to protect the grove in my absence. If you would assist us, find my disciples and rouse them from this treacherous state."
"Sounds simple enough." Trixie commented, though she suspected that there was more they would have to do before they could get the Archdruid to leave the area they were in, "What else needs to be done to ensure the safety of both your disciples and your grove?"
"The numberless years of my life have been dedicated to learning and perfecting the arts of healing and restoration." the Archdruid replied, his tone indicating that he was pleased with what he was able to accomplish over his life live, though that was before he turned his gaze towards the pair, "Nothing in this world pains me more than taking a life, travelers. It is with a heavy heart that I must commission the death of Magula, the leader of the harpies that threaten this grove. May her death save the lives of more noble beings."
"Again, that sounds simple enough," Trixie said, though at the same time she came to a realization that she had never noticed before, one that she thought she should have detected over the many years of traveling across the world and chasing a lie, "Huh... I never knew that I was so eager to do battle and take a life... Princess Twilight is going to be upset with me and Lyra once we return to our home world."
"You have got to explain your world to me while we work," Esalia commented, though at the same time she followed Trixie down the path they had been following and entered Elothir's grove, where they spotted a fair number of harpies flying around the area as if they owned the place.
As they walked down the path Trixie apologized in advance, because she wouldn't be able to do justice to Equus with her description, but that didn't deter her companion from knowing everything and anything that Trixie could offer her. With that decided Trixie went to work telling Esalia about her home world, while at the same time using her magic to blow up the harpies that were in their way. She followed the same story that she had told Khadgar all those years ago, starting with the fact that Equus' ancient history, everything that was before the founding of Equestria anyway, was either pure myth or was waiting to be proven by some brave scholars.
As she started blasting harpies out of the sky, because they were clearly planning on attacking the two of them, she felt the need to briefly summarize the various villains that had been defeated while Celestia and Luna had been on the throne. Basically all she did was give the villain's name, what they had done, and what their punishment had been before she moved on through the list. Never once did she explain how she had come to Azeroth, as she herself had no idea how it had happened, but her companion didn't seem to care... which made Trixie smile as they freed one of Elothir's elder disciples from their stone prison.
They then moved down into the area off to their left and continued their assault on the harpies that were trying to take over the grove, where Trixie used her magic to deal damage to everything that wanted them dead while Esalia mended any wounds that she suffered. As they walked through the area Esalia also decided to cull the numbers of the harpies even further, as she smashed some of the dozens of eggs that were laying around the area and burned some of the nests that they passed by. After they freed the second of Elothir's elder disciples they found a small cave with a different colored harpy resting in the middle of the area, which Trixie determined had to be Magula.
Magula was less than pleased to see that her home was being invaded, even if she had been the one to invade Elothir's grove in the first place, and she attacked them with fury in her eyes. Trixie used every skill in her arsenal, once again gained from her vast experience over the years, and dodged the attacks that she was able to dodge, while relying on Esalia to heal her wounds. At the same time Trixie called upon her magic and unleashed the power that she now commanded, to which she and the harpy dueled for a few moments... though that was before she accidentally loosed a powerful blow into Magula's chest, blasting her into the back wall of the cave.
"F... Fools!" Magula coughed out, to which she glared at Trixie and Esalia, who were stunned by the fact that Trixie's attack had done the harpy in, "This forest will soon die… and you with it! Wretched! Soon… you will... follow me in... death!"
With that said Magula collapsed in front of them, though when Trixie felt for a pulse she discovered that she had killed the harpy with one violent attack that she had no control over, once again reinforcing the fact that she needed to reign her power in before she really destroyed something.
As they freed the last of Elothir's elder disciples, without being harassed by the harpies, Esalia asked about the power that had coursed through Trixie's body while they were fighting the harpy, to which Trixie said that she was experiences random bursts of magical energy whenever she was fighting her opponents. She explained what had happened in Azuna, back when she had first gained her new abilities, and described what had happened to the naga she had been fighting, which had resulted in what had happened to Magula earlier. Trixie was sure that she was now the most powerful mage in all of Azeroth, next to Aegwynn anyway, and it reminded her of her goals back when she started traveling Equestria, where she wanted to be 'great and powerful'... and yet now all she wanted was her old level of power, because it would take some time to master what was happening to her.
With their tasks complete they retraced their steps and exited the area that the remaining harpies called home, to which they walked through the grove and returned to where Elothir was waiting for them.
"Archdruid Elothir!" Esalia called out, to which the powerful druid turned in their direction for a few seconds, though Trixie was sure that she could see a smile somewhere on the Archdruid's face, "We have completed the tasks that you have asked us to complete."
"Now that my grove is safe, I can turn my attention to the threat you speak of." Elothir said, to which he turned towards the path that Trixie and Esalia had used to reach his grove, where he started moving and beckoned for them to follow him, "To hear of Cenarius’ plight is disturbing indeed. Come, we shall travel together and return to Malfurion's side."
Trixie and Esalia nodded and followed the Archdruid out of the area that he watched over, to which they silently followed the powerful druid back to Lorlathil. It didn't take them long to reach their destination, though as they entered the area surrounding the small village Trixie spotted Azuregos and his group, along with a large bear that had to be Archdruid Koda Steelclaw. She was glad to see that he and the druids he had been traveling with had succeeded in their mission, though as she looked around for Lyra she spotted her fellow Equestrian enter the village with Bloodclaw walking beside her... though there was no sign of Archdruid Thaon anywhere, and Lyra seemed annoyed about something.
That was when it hit her, something had happened to Archdruid Thaon and they were here to deliver the news to Malfurion, though Lyra's expression told her that the news wasn't good.
The now enlarged group walked down towards the grove that Cenarius was resting in, where the two Archdruids separated from the group and walked over to Malfurion, along with Bloodclaw for some reason. A few moments passed before Bloodclaw returned to the others, apparently having told the Archdruids and Malfurion the news, which meant that Archdruid Thaon had likely been killed while they were trying to enlist his help. A couple of minutes passed before Malfurion separated himself from his friends, to which he walked over to the group, who eagerly awaited his news and what they were going to do with one missing Archdruid.
"Heroes, I am glad to see that all of you have returned safely." Malfurion said, looking at each of them in turn for a few seconds, before gesturing to the Archdruids with his head, "I have counseled with the other Archdruids and concluded that Cenarius’ condition is merely a symptom of a much greater problem. Lyra and Bloodclaw's experiences in Moonclaw Vale make that clear. We need help. There is one who can bring understanding to these events. With Thaon gone, we must ask that you aid us in reaching out to the lady of Dreams."
Trixie immediately knew that Malfurion was referring to Ysera, the green dragon that had been one of the powerful Dragon Aspects that had helped her and her guild take down Deathwing, though at the same time she had to wonder what the dragon would say when she noticed that Trixie was half dragon. The four druids that she and her friends had been helping, however, eagerly agreed to help Malfurion summon Ysera to their location, to which everyone moved around until they were in the proper area that Malfurion needed them in. Once they were all in position Malfurion called upon their powers and the air was filled with energy for a few seconds... though that was before a large green dragon appeared before them, which meant that Malfurion's actions had been a summoning spell of some kind.
Lyra, on the other hand, was amazed by Ysera's beauty, something that she had never bothered to pay attention to since her arrival in the Outlands, but she felt that it was appropriate to do so now... for a few seconds anyway.
"Lady Ysera," Malfurion said, to which he and the two remaining Archdruids bowed their heads in respect, which everyone else mimicked a few moments later, "thank you for answering our call. We face a dire threa..."
"No need to explain, Malfurion. I have seen what is coming." Ysera said, her voice soft and kind, which was something that Lyra wasn't expecting to hear from such a creature, "The Emerald Dream is being overtaken by the Nightmare. The Legion and the satyr Xavius are to blame. Shaladrassil, the World Tree, has fallen to the Nightmare’s corruption and spreads its curse across our precious land. The Nightmare Lord must be vanquished, or Val’sharah is lost. Even so, we dare not underestimate him…"
Lyra had the terrible feeling that she and the others were about to walk into some sort of trap or something, because she wasn't liking what she was hearing about this 'Nightmare Lord'... and yet she already knew that, at some point in the future, she and the others would likely have to fight Xavius for the fate of Azeroth.
"Lady Ysera," Trixie said, causing the large green dragon to turn towards her and Lyra for a moment, to which she noticed that the former Aspect was raising an eyebrow at her, "What can we do to save Cenarius?"
"As you know, Cenarius is in danger." Ysera replied, noticing that the person next to Trixie was annoyed about her mentioning the obvious, though she decided to ignore that for the moment, "If his condition is not reversed soon, he will be lost to the Nightmare that threatens the Emerald Dream. To spare him that fate, we must have the Tears of Elune... the same relic you were sent here to retrieve. Elune’s temple is not far from where we are standing, so go there and find Lyanis Moonfall. Show her my seal and instruct her to release the tears into your custody... and I suggest you hurry, because time is not on our side."
"I will show you were the temple is located," Malfurion commented, to which he pulled out his map and pointed at the road that was near Lorlathil, where he traced the route the group should take, "You should be able to reach Elune's temple and recover her Tears in a matter of minutes."
"Then we shall depart at once!" Bloodclaw stated, to which she and her fellow druids departed from the grove that they were standing in, indicating that this mission was one of great importance for all of them, before she returned a few seconds later to acquire the seal that she had left behind and then rejoined the others.
Azuregos and Lyra sighed as they followed after their druid allies, knowing that they could easily handle themselves and knew that they could benefit from Lyra keeping an eye out for hidden enemies with her Spectral Sight. Trixie, on the other hand, remained behind for a few moments, knowing that Ysera would have questions for her in regards to her new form. That was because the last time they had seen each other would have been after the defeat of Deathwing, when she was wearing the form that she had found herself wearing when she first landed in Azeroth.
"Trixie Lulamoon," Ysera said, causing Trixie to turn towards the large dragon, while at the same time Malfurion and the Archdruids returned to tending to Cenarius, "how is it that you have become a dragon? I sense the essence of a blue dragon lingering around you... and it is not from the blue dragon that travels with you."
"I was wearing a necklace that contained the essence you are feeling," Trixie replied, though at the same time she had learned to stop questioning the Dragon Aspects, because some of them were weird and could feel some strange things at times, "A day or two ago I was knocked into a large mana pool and the magic in the water reacted to the necklace, where I guess the essence fused with the person that was closest to the necklace; me. Once the essence had fused with my body I transformed into a blue dragon and crushed the person that knocked me into the pool to begin with, where I promptly collapsed from exhaustion. When I woke up some time later my body had become what you are seeing now... and if I'm being honest, I'm actually liking the fact that I'm a dragon... or half-dragon I guess."
"I always told Kalecgos that you would have made an excellent blue dragon," Ysera commented, causing Trixie to look up at her again, before she beckoned to the walkway that her friends had gone up, "but that is a tale for another day. You should catch up with your friends before they get too far ahead of you... though I wouldn't mind seeing your new form at some point in the future."
Trixie respectfully bowed her head to Ysera for a moment, stunned by the fact that the green dragon liked the fact that she was part dragon now, before excusing herself and ran in the direction that her friends had gone in. It was rather easy for her to catch up with Azuregos and Lyra, though not too far ahead of them were the four druids that they were helping out. She mentally reflected on how screwed their enemies would be, because it would be seven on one and their various skills made it hard for something to take them out. While they walked Azuregos asked what Ysera wanted to talk to her about, though she basically told him that it was about her new form... and the dragon form that she hadn't used since she crushed that one elf that was pretending to be the prince of Azsuna.
When they finally came to the area that the temple was supposed to be located in, however, they were shocked by what they were seeing before their eyes... so much so that Lyra felt the need to voice what they were seeing and what they were feeling.
"Oh come on!" Lyra angrily said, staring at the ruined section of the temple and the chaos that was surrounding the section of the building they were staring at, "Not only is the 'World Tree' corrupted, which Ysera told us about, we've got evil root like creatures and satyrs attacking the defenders of the temple... and there's a Doomguard patrolling the area, no doubt looking for the Tears of Elune! This is sheer stupidity, that none of the people in Lorlathil knew this was happening when we were at least five minutes down the blasted road!"
"You don't have to be so mad Lyra," Trixie commented, though at the same time she had never seen her friend this pissed off before, which meant that she either knew something she and the others didn't or was just venting in a strange manner, "I'm fairly sure that our enemies haven't found the Tears of Elune yet, otherwise they would be taunting us with the artifact."
"Are you blind?!" Lyra snapped, pointing at the ruined bit of the temple with one of her warglaives, which seemed to be guarded by a fair number of Nightmare infused root creatures that seemed to be patrolling the area, "The temple was compromised before we even got here, and I'm fairly certain that the Tears of Elune are long gone... no doubt taken by Xavius while we were all distracted by gathering the Archdruids."
"Why don't we just head into the temple and see if Lyanis is still there," Monoskah stated, though his commanding tone indicated that he wasn't pleased with Lyra at the moment, to which she glared at the guardian druid as they approached the part of the temple that rested on their left.
The guardians let the group pass into the main part of the temple, where they found a few night elves, those that Lyra had to be of importance considering how different their armor looked from the ones outside the room they were in, standing together and discussing something... though they stopped when they noticed that they had company.
"Help has arrived at last!" the female night elf exclaimed, though at the same time the group knew that she had to be one of the priestesses that followed the goddess that was called Elune, if her clothing was anything to consider, "Elune be praised!"
"Are you Lyanis Moonfall?" Trixie asked, though as the night elf nodded Bloodclaw held up the seal that Ysera had given to the group, to which Trixie got to the reason why they had come to the temple to begin with, "Ysera asked us to show you this seal and tell you to release the Tears of Elune into our care."
"You... you bear the mark of The Dreamer. Elune be praised!" Lyanis exclaimed, once again proving that she was glad to see them, despite the fact that they wanted her to tell them were the artifact was already, "You’ve arrived just in time, heroes. Shaladrassil’s roots are at our doorstep…"
"Yes, we saw them as we approached the temple," Lyra butted in, because at this point they were seriously just wasting time that they didn't have, and that was starting to annoy her to no end, "now, what about the artifact?"
"The Tears of Elune are a sacred artifact, protected by my order for thousands of years." Lyanis explained, to which Lyra had to resist the urge to slam her hear into one of the walls and break the entire structure down, "I tell you this so that you may understand the gravity of your request. However, Ysera is noble and wise, and I trust in her guidance. You will find the Tears in a vault at the eastern edge of the temple grounds. Proceed with caution though, as that area has been overrun by demons."
"May I make a request, seeing how you are heading towards the vault?" the male night elf asked, to which the group looked at each other for a few seconds, before they decided to allow the elf to ask them what he wanted them to acquire for him, "I am Isoraen Nightstar, though I shall move onto the matter at hand. The massive roots of Shala’drassil are strangling all life within the forest. If we are to save Val’sharah, we will need to find a way to cleanse the corruption from the world tree. If you bring me enough corrupted root samples, we may be able to find a cure for Shala’drassil. Only then will we know how to stop the spread of the roots once and for all."
Trixie considered this to be an easy assignment, because all they had to go was acquire the Tears of Elune and some samples of the corruption for Isoraen to study, though the one thing she could do without was Lyra acting like it was the end of the world... which some people happened to be shouting about back in the major cities, though they had been thrown in jail for attacking the guards and whatnot.
With their missions fresh in their minds the group headed out of the section of the temple they were in and approached the chaotic side of the temple, where they took stock of what needed to be done. Lyra quickly volunteered to be one of the people to go to where the Tears were supposed to be located, though she also said that she was going to bring down the doomguard that was patrolling the area. The others didn't care who did what, so they separated into two teams, one that attacked the corrupted enemies and a second that would help get Lyra to the other part of the temple. The first group would also collect all the samples of corruption that they could find for Isoraen, effectively allowing them to kill two birds with one stone.
As the groups separated, however, Lyra quickly moved through the enemies that were standing in her way, where she used her warglaives to carve the corrupted treants into pieces, allowing her friends to pick up whatever was left over. Some of the satyrs jumped out of the area around her and tried to attack her, but Trixie, who was following Lyra, used her magic to blast each of them in their chests, knocking them backwards and dropping them like flies. Bloodclaw, who was eager to see which of her strange companions was correct, was also following along, though she made sure to tear apart the enemies that were attacking the elves that guarded the temple.
When Lyra reached the area that had to be the vault that Lyanis had mentioned, which happened to be a chamber that was open from three different directions, and found that the artifact that they had come to retrieve was no longer here... which meant that she had been correct in thinking that they had been played the entire time.
"Foolish mortals!" a voice said, to which another image of Xavius appeared near where Lyra was standing, though Lyra was growing to hate the Nightmare Lord, so much so that she growled at the mere sight of the image, "The Tears of Elune are mine now! If Malfurion wants them back so badly, he can seek me out. I’ll be waiting."
Lyra held one of her warglaives out as she stared at the image, to which she spun around and sent it flying towards the image, where it passed right through it and embedded itself in the pillar behind the image... though as few seconds later she sighed and pulled the warglaive free, leaving a smooth hole in the pillar. The moment she had her weapon back, and the image of Xavius was gone, Lyra walked out of the 'vault' and returned to the others, though before she could get too far the doomguard seemed to notice that she was there.
"Lyra Heartstrings," the doomguard shouted, causing Lyra to turn towards him for a moment, though she was in a bad mood and wanted nothing more than for the demon to shut up, "We meet at last. I am Gravax the Desecrator, the herald of doom for your pitiful world! I will be rewarded greatly for defeating you and delivering your broken body to my masters... and then you will join us in burning this world to the ground!"
The tragic fates of Varedis, Carla, and Cyana reminded Lyra of the horrible fate that awaited any of the Illidari that died and had their bodies stolen by the Legion; they would become demonic beings that would be hellbent on erasing all life in the universe, as that was Sargeras' long term goal. She had seen what had happened to Varedis, who had been twisted by Kil'jaeden, and had seen the beginning of the process back in Azsuna, when she had to kill Cyana. She knew that the Legion would delight in having her as an addition to their ranks, though she dreaded to wonder how twisted she would become if they captured her.
Lyra stared at the demon for a few seconds before tapping into her true power, to which she transformed into her Havoc form and attacked the demon, though this time she did something completely different. She used the force of her transformation, along with her wings the moment they phased into existence, to propel herself through the air, allowing her to fly up to Gravax's chest and strike him in the center of his body, by kicking him with one of her hooves. As Gravax regained himself, and prevented himself from squishing anyone around them, he raised a fist and swung it at Lyra, who used her smaller body and her empowered state to fly around the fist and land on his outstretched arm.
Gravax tried to shake her off of his arm, to which her retort was to bite into his arm with her warglaives, though he decided to push her off with his other hand, where Lyra grinned as she pulled one of her weapons out and cut one of the demon's fingers off, which crushed one of the corrupted treants that happened to be walking beneath them. As Gravax howled in pain, and pulled his fist away from his target, Lyra tore the other warglaive out and charged up the demon's arm, swinging her weapons and cutting gashes into his arm. When she reached the demon's neck Lyra raised her weapons up for a moment, but before she could strike Gravax reached for her again with his wounded hand, where she severed two more fingers.
As the fingers crashed on the ground Lyra swung around and cut into the demon's neck, spilling some of his vile blood in the process, though that was followed by Gravax grabbing her with his other hand and trapping her for the moment, where he started to squish so he could crush her.
"Yes... struggle..." Gravax stated, his voice a mix of anger and joy, as if he actually believed that he was beating her at the moment, "your meager attempts to survive amuse me! I will crush you here and now... and then your world will fall before the might of the Burning Legion!"
At first nothing happened, leading Gravax and the watchers to assume that he had actually succeeded in crushing Lyra in his fist, though that was before a dark colored mist started to leak from the space between his fingers. Gravax, who chose to do the wrong thing in that sort of situation, opened his hand to see what was wrong, where a burst of magic struck him in the chest and knocked him backwards. Lyra, who had been in his hand the entire time, was set free and landed on the ground beneath the demon, though she glared up at Gravax with a look of hate in her eyes.
Trixie, on the other hand, noticed a sinister colored mist rolling off of Lyra's eyes, one that she had seen only one other time before, back when she had asked Princess Twilight about the one type of magic that a certain tyrant had used.
"Before I became a demon hunter, I was a rather unimpressive mage," Lyra stated, though at the same time the fel energy surged through her body, preparing itself for what she was about to do, "now, however, I am actually much stronger than I had been before hand... allow me to show you what happens when you combine two powers together."
A ball of energy, made up of both fel energy and magical energy, formed in front of Lyra, who spun around and kicked it with the base of her left leg, sending it flying through the air at speeds that she was sure would make Rainbow Dash jealous. The ball collided with Gravax's chest and exploded upon impact, where it left a fairly decent sized hole that seemed to have destroyed the demon's heart, to which the body staggered back a step before collapsing... and crushing several more of the corrupted treants that were walking around the area. Lyra then held the Twinblades up and watched as Gravax's essence floated into the air, where it separated into three smaller pieces and flew through the air. Two of the pieces were absorbed into the Twinblades themselves, while the third piece was absorbed into Lyra's body... though once that was done she fell to one knee as she shifted back into her normal form, where she panted for a few moments.
"Lyra, are you okay?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she was impressed, because Gravax stood nearly as tall as Archimode did and she was sure that he would have been really strong if he was a herald of some kind.
"Yeah... though remind me to never do that again unless the situation demands it," Lyra replied, to which she weakly pulled herself into a standing position and looked at Trixie, "Arcane magic and Fel magic shouldn't be combined out of the blue like that... not without proper training and preparation anyway."
Trixie nodded her head and helped her friend walk with them back to where Lyanis was waiting for them, though at the same time she kept thinking about what she had seen. Lyra's eyes had the same sinister purple mist as the one tyrant that had taken over the Crystal Empire, as well as Princesses Celestia and Twilight, who had learned the magic to better counter it. She may not have any real experience with the magic herself, but Trixie knew what type of magic Lyra had been using against the demon... which meant that she hadn't combined arcane magic and fel magic, but rather dark magic and fel magic, which had to explain her sudden weakness.
Trixie assumed that Lyra's hatred and anger towards the demons is what empowered her to try something like this, but she chose not to say anything as they entered the part of the temple they had been in a few minutes ago... where they found Lyanis and Isoraen standing exactly where they had left them.
"Lyanis, we have some bad news," Bloodclaw commented, causing the female night elf to look at her for a moment, with a look of concern on her face no less, "The Tears of Elune weren't in the vault... they were stolen by Xavius."
"The Tears of Elune have been stolen?!" Lyanis asked, to which the entire group nodded to her, where she forced herself not to break down in front of them and steeled herself, "Then you must return to the Grove of Cenarius and inform Ysera of the situation. Though these are the darkest of times, I have faith that Ysera will guide us to victor. Return to your companions at the Grove of Cenarius with speed and safety."
As the group prepared to leave, however, Trixie remembered the samples they had collected from all of the corrupted treants that had been walking around the area outside the temple, to which she turned them over to the elf that had asked them to acquire them. Isoraen was less than pleased when he looked at the roots, indicating that it may be impossible to cure the world tree while Xavius was still alive, but he also stated that he would still look for a cure at the same time. Once that was done the group departed from the temple and headed back in the direction of Cenarius' grove... though they all knew that Malfurion and Ysera weren't going to like the news that they had to tell them.
With the news that Xavius, the Nightmare Lord himself, having returned to Val'sharah, and had already stolen the artifact that Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos had come to collect, the group silently retraced their steps and headed back towards the grove that Cenarius was resting in. Failure weighed heavily on their minds, as they had come to prevent the powerful artifact from being stolen and they had arrived too late to prevent that from happening. Lyra, on the other hand, was furious with the dragon known as Ysera, because according to her she had seen this entire series of events coming and did nothing to stop it from coming true. They had lost one Archdruid, had the Tears of Elune stolen, and Cenarius was infected with what the druids referred to as the Nightmare... and all of it might have been prevented if Ysera had simply said something sooner.
"This may not be the best time to mention this," Monoskah commented, causing most of the group to turn towards the bear as they walked, "but back when I was acquiring the artifact I carry, the Claws of Ursoc, the shade of Xavius appeared while I was gathering the artifacts and made off with Ursoc..."
"Let us hope that we don't lose Cenarius as well..." Bloodclaw said, though Lyra knew that the reason the feral druid didn't want to continue the conversation was because she was getting annoyed at all of their failings.
The group continued to walk in silence as they returned to Lorlathil, where the assembled druids were still going about their business and had no idea what was happening at the Temple of Elune. From there they turned towards the path that would take them back to Cenarius' grove, where they found Ysera, Malfurion, and the two remaining Archdruids tending to the infected centaur. As the group arrived, however, Lyra spotted that the green growths that had been growing on the centaur's body, the corruption that Malfurion had mentioned, had turned into a sinister red coloration... one that reminded her of Xavius.
"Lady Ysera, we bring troubling news..." Bloodclaw said, though at the same time she got no further, as Ysera let out a sigh and stopped everyone from speaking for the moment.
"So, Xavius has returned… and that means that he has stolen the Tears of Elune." Ysera commented, once again annoying Lyra with her choice of words, though she still paid her no attention, "The situation here is far worse than I had imagined…"
Not a few seconds later the one thing that Lyra had been hoping to avoid happened, as a swirling mass of sinister energy surrounded the unconscious Cenarius for a few seconds. When the energy disappeared, however, the group found that Cenarius was no longer where he had been resting moments ago, which meant that Xavius had another prize to add to his growing collection of toys.
"NOOOOOO!" Malfurion screamed in anger, to which he turned towards the group that was assembled in front of him, where they could see the anger in his ancient eyes, "I have wasted too much time here! I'm going to kill Xavius and rescue my teacher!"
Before anyone could stop him Malfurion transformed into his bird form and flew off, disappearing into the tops of the trees as he begun his hunt for the Nightmare Lord... while at the same time causing the assembled druids to sigh.
"Cenarius has succumbed to the Nightmare and Malfurion has run off with the rage of all the ancients." Ysera said, though while her tone had some urgency to it Lyra was still annoyed about what was happening, "Quickly now, heroes! We must find him. Speak with me when you are ready to begin the pursuit."
"Look, before we leave, there is something I need to ask," Lyra stated, causing everyone to look at her, as they were all sure that she would have been eager to chase Malfurion and kill Xavius as well, "I have heard the names of Cenarius and Ursoc mentioned a little bit since we came to this forest, but can someone please tell me exactly who they are?"
"They're demigods." Trixie replied, knowing that the simplest answer was best at the moment, especially when they had no idea what Xavius was going to do next.
"You mean that our enemy, the Nightmare Lord himself, has two demigods under his thumb now, as well as the power of the Tears of Elune?" Lyra asked, to which the entire group nodded to her, though at the same time she could tell that they were wishing that she would stop reminding them of what they knew, "Well then... Val'sharah is already screwed beyond repair."
"Lyra!" Trixie said, as she had never seen her friend like this before and it was surprising to see her so readily give up on the region they came to save, "There is still hope for Val'sharah... we just need to find and kill Xavius."
"Who likely has an entire army of corrupted druids and other powerful creatures serving him at this point," Lyra replied, though at the same time she looked at everyone that was staring at her, "Let's face the facts; Xavius has likely corrupted Ursoc into being a loyal follower, which is what happened to Cenarius just now, and there is no telling how many other druids are under his thumb as well. Xavius also has the Tears of Elune in his possession, so he's already much stronger than he has ever been before and will likely be near impossible to kill without taking the Tears back. He's got two demigods, a Pillar of Creation, an army of corrupted druids, and who knows who his master is, cause everyone has a master of some kind in this world... so this entire region is already finished off, and its all because someone didn't warn you about the danger ahead of time."
"I know that you are angry with me, but do not continue down this dark path you are on," Ysera said, causing Lyra to turn towards her for a few seconds, "your anger and hatred will only lead to your downfall... just like they eventually lead to Illidan's downfall."
"Oh, I'm not angry... I'm pissed off!" Lyra snapped, turned her gaze towards the large green dragon, "You said it yourself, you knew that this was coming and did absolutely nothing to prevent the worst possible outcome from coming true. You could have warned Malfurion of the danger that Xavius posed and secured both Cenarius and the Tears of Elune, but instead you kept the warning to yourself and we all played right into Xavius' plans. You have officially turned this war, which had two enemies fighting each other, into a three way war between the armies of Azeroth, the forces of Xavius, and the seemingly endless hordes of the Burning Legion... I hope you are happy with yourself."
"Will the both of you stop fighting for just a minute?" Trixie snapped, to which she stepped between the two and held her hands towards them, though at the same time she was ready to erect some arcane walls and stop the two of them from moving if they tried to attack each other, "We have already wasted valuable time on your arguing, so we'll have to make up for it by finding Malfurion and stopping whatever plan Xavius has in store for us. Lady Ysera, can you show us where Malfurion went?"
"I can," Ysera said, to which she turned away from Lyra and looked into the sky, though at the same time she lowered herself, as if allowing someone to climb onto her back, "but I will not carrying your pet demon on my back."
"Fine, I'll just ride on my felsaber and catch up with you guys," Lyra growled, though at the same time she pulled out her whistle and blew into it, to which her mount appeared nearby and allowed her to climb into its back, "I'm ready whenever everyone else is ready."
Trixie watched as the four druids that they were helping transformed into their bird forms as well, leaving her to climb onto Lady Ysera's back while Azuregos transformed into his dragon form. Once everyone was ready they took to the skies, following the lead of Ysera as they traveled through the forest, though at the same time Trixie made sure that Lyra was actually able to follow them.
"Rage has blinded Malfurion." Ysera commented, hoping to distract Trixie from what Lyra had said, about all of this being her fault for saying nothing about what she had known, "He and Xavius have a long history of conflict, though even Malfurion cannot hope to defeat Xavius alone. We must find him at once."
Trixie said nothing as they flew through the forest for a few seconds, turning to the right of the fork that would have taken them to the Temple of Elune, before they dropped down in front of a bridge, allowing her to climb off of Ysera's back as the druids and Azuregos returned to their natural forms.
"I sense a powerful dark presence here, heroes, but it is not of Xavius." Ysera commented, though at the same time Lyra caught up with them and dismounted, but Ysera knew that the demon hunter wasn't going to like what she was about to say, "This feels too familiar. I sense a druid’s touch here, a druid twisted by the shadow of the Nightmare. We must deal with this threat if we are to find Xavius. I will take to the skies and lend you my aid. Find this corrupted druid and cut down his tainted and twisted plants."
Lyra glared at Ysera as the dragon took to the skies, leaving them to deal with the enemies that were in the corrupted part of the forest that was waiting in front of them, as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Before she actually had time to think about what Ysera had said, however, the rest of the group entered the corrupted forest, where they quickly discovered the corrupted druid adding to the corruption that was resting around him.
"I am Lyrathos Darkgrove... and Xavius is the master of this forest now." the corrupted druid said, staring at them for a moment as more corrupted flower creatures popped up out of the ground around him, to which he disappeared and let his voice echo around them, "To enter it now is to succumb to the Nightmare."
"Darkgrove has fled into a nearby cavern." Ysera called down to them, launching a ball of green energy down at the creatures that had just been summoned, killing all of them in the process, "Hunt him down and end this."
Trixie nodded and realized that Ysera knew which cave the corrupt druid had gone into, to which she told the others to follow the trail that the green dragon was leaving for them, with her bursts of energy and the corpses that were left behind. Thanks to the aid of the Ysera they were able to find the cave in question without wasting any of their energy, though it was clear that Darkgrove had tried to stop them thanks to the multiple times he spawned more enemies in front of them, only for Ysera to destroy them. As they followed the corruption into the depths of the cave they found Darkgrove hard at work continuing the mad orders of Xavius, though he seemed to focused on his work and ignored them... up until Lyra tossed both warglaives at his back and punctured his armor, in both the heart and the stomach.
"I live... to serve... Xavius." Darkgrove spat out, having just enough energy to say those five words and turn around to face the group, before collapsing in front of them.
"Did you really need to kill him so quickly?" Bloodclaw asked, though she was also glad that Lyra had acted as she did, as that gave them valuable time to continue their search and not be distracted by a corrupted druid.
"Yes... Darkgrove had fallen to a point beyond redemption," Lyra said, to which she pulled the Twinblades free from the corrupted druid's body, cleaning the tips on the ruined robes Darkgrove had been wearing, before she turned to the others, "Come on, maybe we can stop Malfurion before Xavius captures and corrupts him as well."
The group nodded and headed outside, where they immediately spotted Ysera to their left, as she was firing more shots at the corrupted creatures that were coming near her, though oddly enough when they reached the green dragon the plant creatures stopped rising to attack her.
"Darkgrove has been killed," Trixie said, hoping that Ysera had some good news for them, especially with the time they were making on this mission.
"Malfurion cannot be far." Ysera stated, making no effort to acknowledge the information, save for a brief sad look in her eyes, before she grew serious once again, "You check the summit of Andu’talah while I continue to scour the forest. Be swift, heroes, time is of the essence!"
As Ysera flew away Trixie and the others followed the stairs that were to their left, to which they walked up the various sets that they found and noticed that none of the corrupted creatures were anywhere near where they were at the moment. That immediately raised the alarm bells in Lyra's head, because they had been told that Xavius owned this place and that generally meant that they were walking into a trap... though when they noticed Malfurion tied up, in corrupted looking vines no less, the majority of the group approached the open area while she hung at the back. A few seconds later a large number of vines erupted from the floor and wrapped around all of them, trapping them in a number of positions that were designed to prevent them from doing anything... though Lyra had more than everyone else, meaning that Xavius had seen her empowered form and had a way to stop her from using it.
A moment later Xavius, in all his glory, stepped out of the shadows with a sinister red colored teardrop shaped item floating above his right hand, which Lyra immediately recognized as the Tears of Elune... confirming her worst fears that Xavius was much stronger than any of them had realized.
Before Lyra could say anything, however, she heard a roar and looked into the sky, to which she noticed Ysera flying down towards where the Nightmare Lord was standing, but she had done the stupid thing and announced her presence to her target. Xavius, on the other hand, zeroed in on where the green dragon was located and threw the corrupted Tears of Elune through the air, to which the corrupted artifact struck Ysera in the chest and burned its way into her heart, which was followed by a small explosion knocking her out of the air. A few moments later Ysera crashed into the ground and remained there for a few seconds, though when something emerged from the hole the group watched as the Nightmare surged through Ysera's body, darkening her scales and turning her talons the same sinister red that the rest of the corrupted people and plants possessed.
With the deed done Xavius climbed onto Ysera's back, confirming that she had been completely corrupted into a beast that was loyal to the Nightmare Lord, before they took off and grabbed Malfurion, taking him into the air and disappearing without a trace. A few seconds later a series of arrows pierced the vines that they were all trapped in, allowing them to move as Tyrande Whisperwind, one of the leaders of the night elves, rode in on her saber.
"Malfurion, my love… In vision I saw him, enraged and then distressed, and now lost beyond my mind’s reach." Tyrande stated, to which she stared at the group as they untangled themselves from the vines that they had been trapped in, though they were sure that they would be chasing after Xavius this time around, "You’re coming with me, heroes. If Malfurion succumbs to the horrors that have befallen this land I shall hold all of you personally accountable! Now gather your wits and follow me!"
Lyra growled as she and the others followed the night elf leader down the path that Xavius had gone down, though if Malfurion succumbed to the Nightmare Lyra was more than willing to blame Ysera, as everything that had happened so far was all her fault. She knew that if the green dragon had simply warned them about the danger they wouldn't be in this terrible situation... though Lyra hoped that she and the others could salvage something from this situation, otherwise this entire trip was a massive waste of time.
Lyra and her friends, along with their druid companions, followed Tyrande Whisperwind into the area that the Nightmare had already invaded, as she could see that there were corrupted treants and other creatures that had once been allies to the druids of Val'sharah. It sickened her when she laid her eyes on all of the corruption that rested around them, because all of this might have been avoided if Ysera had told her allies about the danger, and the more she thought about what happened the more she disliked the corrupted dragon. She was sure that everyone else was going to try and find a way to save those that had been corrupted by the Nightmare, but to her eyes she could tell that many of them were already beyond redemption and deserved only death before they consumed the world.
She determined that, at some point in the future, she and her friends were going to have to fight Ysera and kill her before she did something drastic... and she was sure that she might be the one to deal the finishing blow.
They followed Tyrande into what appeared to be a hollow that had been created beneath a tree, with a sort of small camp built around it, though the night elves in the area were scared about something. Lyra had the feeling that she and the others would be helping them at the same time they aided Tyrande, as that was what they had done in Azuna and Lyra knew that they would be repeating it many more times in the future. When they reached their destination Tyrande climbed off her mount and entered the small hollow, where Monoskah and Bloodclaw stood guard while everyone else listened to what the leader of the night elves needed to tell them.
"Xavius led Ysera past here, but their destination is unclear." Tyrande commented, though at the same time she beckoned to the area that was near the hollow they were all gathered in, where the group knew that she was referring to the corruption they had seen, "This twisted wickedness smothers my mind! These refugees tell of an ancient Moonwell hidden in the ruins of their home. If it somehow resisted this corruption? I will beg of Elune a vision to give me direction. With her light, I may find my husband yet."
"Okay, but that begs the question as to how you know that information." Lyra asked, once more finding something wrong with what someone was telling her, while at the same time everyone else stared at her for a moment, "We literally just arrived in this area, so how do you know that they have a 'Moonwell' when you haven't had the time to ask them anything?"
"I came here first when I arrived in this particular part of Val'sharah and asked them," Tyrande replied, though she was one of the first person that Lyra had met who sounded annoyed when someone questioned what they were saying, "Meet me at the Moonwell at once, heroes."
The group watched as Tyrande walked out of the hollow them were in and headed into the village that was nearby, no doubt heading towards the Moonwell so she could start communing with Elune, though at the same time Lyra let out a sigh as Trixie spoke to the other elves that were in the hollow. Lyra was interested in hearing what tasks the elves wanted them to go through, at the same time as helping Tyrande with her mission, to which she waited for Trixie to talk with them so they could get underway with helping Tyrande.
"As if Shaladrassil’s encroaching roots were not enough to deal with," one of the night elves said, a male one by the tone of his voice, though he looked up at the group for a moment, indicating that there was more to the situation than what they knew about, "now the Wormtalon harpies have come to take advantage of our plight. Kill them, heroes. They deserve nothing less for feeding on the misery of others."
"That can be arranged." Bloodclaw commented, easily hearing what the night elf wanted them to do and actually licked one of her paws, as if she was imagining the battle to come.
"And what about you?" Trixie asked, turning to the female night elf, who looked up at her in surprise, as if all of this might be a dream and soon she would wake up.
"Is this the end?" the night elf replied, though at the same time Lyra could hear the despair in her voice, meaning that she must have seen something that had frightened her, "Our beloved Malfurion, I saw him in the Dreamer’s clutches, only she was… changed. Twisted just like Shaladrassil, our mighty world tree, and corrupted beyond recognition. We were forced to flee our homes without our belongings. Some of our belongings were heirlooms, sacred to me. Return them to me if you can, heroes."
Trixie nodded and lead the others out of the hollow that they were in, though as they walked into the entrance of the abandoned village, however, they spotted Tyrande standing next to what she assumed was the Moonwell, to which they walked over to her.
"I will need to focus on the vision to understand its message." Tyrande said, not even bothering to give the group a chance to announce their arrival, though at the same time she made eye contact with everyone in the group, except for Lyra, "Make yourselves useful and stand guard."
"Yes High Priestess!" the group, excluding Lyra again, replied in kind, though once the words had left their mouths they formed a half circle around the leader of the night elves and prepared for their enemies to come at them.
As Tyrande started to commune with the Moonwell, however, the harpies that called the area they had invaded home crept out of the trees and flew down to do battle with the group. Trixie, Azuregos, and Linbu, the ones who used ranged attacks, stood at the back as they focused their fire on the enemies that were coming at them, while the rest of the group stood at the front and physically attacked the harpies with their weapons and claws. As Lyra cut down the harpies that came at them she noticed that a few of them were carrying pouches on their belts, which had to contain the heirlooms that the one night elf asked them to retrieve.
With their combined powers they made short work of the harpies that had been coming at them, though as Lyra counted the bodies, and the bags she had picked up, she determined that neither count would be enough for the elves that had asked them to kill the harpies and retrieve the heirlooms... though she didn't say that as the group turned towards Tyrande, so they could hear what she had to tell them.
"His location is still unclear, but he lives." Tyrande commented, turning to the group once more, though the look on her face told them that there was more they needed to do before they could catch up to where Xavius carried Malfurion off to, "We must go deeper into the nightmare. Wherever he is, peril is already upon him! Meet me back at the refuge and we will continue our search."
The group watched as Tyrande departed from the area they were in, heading back to the hollow that they had gathered in mere minutes ago, though at the same time Lyra told the others about the lack of kills and heirlooms. Bloodclaw, upon hearing this, charged out of the area that they were in and immediately sunk her fangs in the leg of a harpy that happened to be flying by, dragging her to the ground before tearing her apart. Lyra and the others followed Bloodclaw through the rest of the invaded village, killing more of the harpies that tried to attack them and collected every bag that they could find, discovering that some of them actually were money pouches and some were the actual heirlooms.
After about ten more minutes of fighting, and leaving a fair number of harpy corpses behind them, the group returned to the hollow with their heads held high... though when Trixie and Bloodclaw walked in, as Lyra was getting tired of Tyrande acting like she wasn't even there, the leader of the night elves beckoned to the two elves they had spoken to earlier, who were happy to hear that their tasks had been completed.
"Such violence should not be necessary." the male night elf stated, nodding his head as he heard that the group had killed a fair number of the harpies that had attacked the village, "Thank you, regardless."
"It is not much, but it is better than I could have hoped for." the other night elf added, looking at the number of heirlooms that they had managed to recover, which meant that many were either still lost or destroyed by the harpies, "You have our gratitude."
With that done, and the people of the village knowing that their attackers had been punished for their deeds, Trixie and Bloodclaw turned to Tyrande again, so she could tell them the next step in what they needed to do in order to find out where Malfurion had been taken.
"I know only that my husband is somewhere deeper in this twisted forest. He is still alive, but it remains to be seen if he is whole." Tyrande said, though at the same time Trixie watched as a scowl appeared on the High Priestess' face, indicating that she was thinking of something terrible, "Elune herself cannot protect Xavius and his ilk if he is not."
"Somehow, I don't see Elune offering Xavius any sort of protection," Lyra commented, as it was rather easy to hear what Tyrande was saying, though she didn't turn back and look at the High Priestess, "Striking him down, now I can see that happening... or him besting her in some manner. Whichever happened to come first if such a scenario ever happened."
"Trixie Lulamoon," Tyrande stated, causing Trixie to look at her again, though at the same time Tyrande seemed to be glaring at the back of Lyra's head, "while I respect you and your master, Archmage Khadgar, I would ask that you keep your pet demon in line... or better yet send her back to the Hell that spawned her. In time she will follow the path of her previous master, Illidan Stormrage... only she may very well bring about the end of this world, if she joins the forces of the Legion."
Trixie doubted that Lyra would so willingly give herself to the demonic forces that wanted to burn the universe to the ground, especially when she remembered the fight between Lyra and that large demon that had been patrolling the area in front of the Temple of Elune. At the same time she remembered what she had seen back in Azuna, when they had found Cyana being corrupted into a pawn of the Legion and had to kill her before she could be completely turned against her allies. She also recalled Lyra's tale of how she acquired the warglaives she was carrying, where she described the appearance of Varedis, a demon hunter that she and her guild had killed before the assault on the Black Temple.
As all of this returned to her, however, she could also see, for a few moments anyway, a fully corrupted Lyra at the head of Sargeras' army, easily filling the empty position left behind after she and her guild had killed Archimonde. It was a disturbing image, where Lyra brought the might of the Legion down upon the entirety of Azeroth... to which she shook her head and dispelled that image. She was glad that Lyra had a firm dislike, a hatred that some could call it, for the Legion and their foul master, as it meant that she would remain on their side... unless something happened that shook up her world.
"Tyrande, I have only one thing to say to you right now," Lyra spoke up, causing everyone else to turn towards her, though Trixie discovered the same dark look in her eyes that had been there when she killed that large demon earlier, "I will NEVER be a pawn of the Legion... so stop acting like I'm about to betray Azeroth and let's get a move on. Besides, there's a certain dragon that I want to punish for her idiocy..."
Tyrande growled as she walked passed the group, refused to make eye contact with Lyra, and mounted her saber once more, before heading down the path that they had been following before they entered the hollow. Trixie and the others followed after her, not even bothering to summon their own mounts considering that the druids didn't have one and Trixie could move faster thanks to her new hybrid body. Lyra, being the last one to leave the area around the hollow, let out a sigh as she followed the group, knowing that Tyrande would never like her and that she would be fighting a losing battle no matter what she did or what she said.
Not even a minute later they all stopped in front of what appeared to be a split in the path, though they waited for Tyrande to speak, as they were following her vision and she knew which way they needed to go.
"The path splits..." Tyrande said, causing Lyra to bang her head against one of the trees around them, because she couldn't believe that the High Priestess was stating the obvious, before noticing something important, "Wait, what is that? Feathers and blood… it is still wet! There may still be time!"
Lyra moaned as she and the others followed Tyrande into an area that had clearly been consumed by the Nightmare, as there were signs of its corruption everywhere, though she had them stop by a bridge.
"The corruption is thick here." Tyrande commented, which made Lyra glad that the High Priestess could see and feel what she and the others were feeling, though at the same time she noticed something on the other side of the bridge, "What is that across the bridge? Follow closely."
What they found on the other side of the bridge was Elothir, as Trixie and the others recognized him almost immediately, but what was horrible about the situation was that he had been consumed by the corruption as well, as his colors matched the corrupted creatures that were walking around the nearby areas.
"Elothir? By Elune… not you too!" Esalia stated, sounding very depressed about the situation, as they had now lost two of the three Archdruids that once protected this forest, while at the same time the other druids hung their heads in a state of mourning, "Have you seen Tyrande's husband?"
"The trees whisper his name, but their words are madness to my ears!" Elothir replied, his voice startling the druids for a moment, as they had been expecting there to be no reply, while at the same time there was a hint of corruption in his voice, indicating that Xavius must have been behind this transformation.
"You must help me find him!" Tyrande stated, clearly showing desparation to find her lover, though at the same time Lyra knew that Xavius was just playing more games with them and that Tyrande was doing the same thing that Ysera had done, which was walk into each and every game the Nightmare Lord had set up, "Is there anything I can do?"
"You may not," Elothir answered, though he paused for a moment, which meant he was either considering something or his voice had been silenced, though the druids breathed a sigh of relief when they heard him speak again, but perhaps... your mother moon can."
Lyra had the feeling that by the end of this Elothir will have asked them to give him something that would allow him to kill himself, once he had give them all the help he could, and at the same time she couldn't blame him. Everything corrupted by the Nightmare needed to be destroyed, as leaving a corrupted druid alive or leaving an infected plant behind would only spread the infection around until the entire world was covered in it. She knew that it might sound harsh, and she would have thought the same thing if this was introduced to her back when she was naive about how the Outlands and Azeroth operated, but it was what had to be done to save the forest... and the entirety of Azeroth at the same time.
At the same time she only hoped that they could stop the Nightmare's corruption before the entirety of Val'sharah was overtaken and transformed into Xavius' domain... otherwise recovering the Tears of Elune, and saving the world from the Legion, would become impossible for them to accomplish.
"Archdruid Elothir," Esalia said, stepping forward to study the corrupted form of the powerful druid, though at the same time she knew who was to blame for the pain that they were all feeling, "Tell us what we need to do to aid you."
"I will muster all the strength that remains in me to locate Malfurion." Elothir stated, to which the four druids and Tyrande nodded their heads in understanding, though Trixie and Azuregos mimicked them as Lyra rolled her eyes, "I only wish I could aid you in his rescue. Might I call upon you for one last favor?"
"Of course you can Archdruid," Bloodclaw answered, knowing that they were pressed for time and that this was better than arguing or having a long winded conversation, "just tell us what task you want us to complete and we shall see it done before you fade away."
"An age-old friend, Varethos, has fallen to the Nightmare’s torment." Elothir said, though there was a hint of sadness in his voice, indicating that the two of them must have been close, "We once worked in unison to protect this land. His close ties to the land brought him low in this dark hour. As with all who suffer this fate, there is no restoring him. Please, friends, bring him peace."
"It will be done," the four druids replied at the same time, though Trixie was pleased to find that they were able to put their differences aside and work together, especially with the type of threat that they were facing.
Before anyone could ask where Varethos was located, however, Elothir used some of his power to call up a small plant creature that pointed to the path that was on the right side of the upcoming split in the path, before the creature's short life was extinguished and it was reduced to a pile of plant matter.
"Go, heroes, and bring an end to Varethos' life." Tyrande said, causing the group to look at her, to which she beckoned to the fallen Archdruid with her head, "I will stay here and petition Elune for whatever help she can provide. The Nightmare taint cannot be removed… but perhaps we can hold it back."
"Long enough… to seek him out…“ Elothir commented, though that was followed by him groaning, indicating that he was in pain and that he was going to perish within the next thirty minutes, maybe even sooner than that, "The forest speaks… I can almost understand…"
"Hold yourself on the edge of madness, Elothir!" Tyrande commanded, turning towards the fallen Archdruid and giving him her full attention, which meant that she was ignoring the rest of the group and silently telling them that they were dismissed, "Mother moon will carry you as long as she can."
The group looked at each other for a moment, determining that they were no longer needed, before they headed up the path that Elothir had pointed out for them, where they headed up to another area that was corrupted by the Nightmare. When they walked over the bridge and entered the new area, however, they found that there was a fair number of satyrs, corrupted dryads, and corrupted plant life patrolling the area that rested between them and Varethos, meaning that they were going to have to kill a lot of enemies before they reached their target. Lyra, seeing how many enemies were in front of them, drew her warglaives and threw one into the air, which struck one of the dryads in the back and cut a gash into her back.
As Lyra caught the warglaive Trixie and Azuregos started firing spells at the enemies that were coming their way, while the melee druids bit and tore into them while they were distracted. Lyra noticed that this was going to be a slow battle for them, because there truly was a large number of enemies converging on where they were standing, though at the same time it gave her the chance to test some of her stronger abilities. There was one she had picked up when she had first acquired the Twinblades, one that she hadn't used yet because she was always around one of her friends, so she moved herself to the back of their enemies and braced herself... to which she spun around and threw the Twinblades, where they spun around her immediate area and cut up everyone that was around her.
Lyra grinned as she noticed the severed pieces that rested around her, as she knew that several satyrs and dryads had fallen due to her new technique, before she caught the Twinblades again and charged back into battle once more. A few minutes later she and the others managed to get rid of the majority of the enemies that were in the area, as the other dryads and satyrs hadn't noticed that they were being invaded. As they walked down into the area that their enemies were guarding, and found no other defenders, the group discovered that Varethos was actually one of the centaurs that they had seen back in Lorathil... and he was, as Elothir told them, corrupted by the Nightmare.
Lyra and Monoskah charged at the corrupted centaur, where Varethos locked his attention on Monoskah and attacked him with everything that he had, allowing Lyra and the others to attack him without suffering any consequences for their actions. Not a minute or two later the group of seven had brought down the corrupted centaur, allowing them to take a moment to rest before they headed out of the cave they were in and retraced their steps until they were back where Elothir and Tyrande were standing.
"Varethos is dead." Bloodclaw said, causing Tyrande to turn towards them, though at the same time the group noticed that she had been tending to what appeared to be some sort of corrupted bat creature, but it seemed to have been broken by Tyrande.
"My sight is fading, but I am glad that he rests." Elothir replied, once more revealing that he was running out of strength, though he said nothing more and caused the group to look at Tyrande.
"The Archdruid's end draws near. His memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew him." Tyrande commented, letting out a sigh at the same time, indicating that she was saddened by what was happening in front of them, "Elothir's desperate efforts revealed that Malfurion is being held in Shala'nir, amidst the roots of Shaladrassil. My love. So near, yet so far...."
"So what are we going to do to rescue him?" Lyra asked, as she was sure that the High Priestess had something insane in mind, though it wouldn't have been the first time she had been asked to do something insane and went along with it because there wasn't another option available, "Are we going to rush into Xavius' domain and fight our way to Malfurion?"
"No, Shala'nir is infested with Nightmare creatures... to rush in would be suicide." Tyrande stated, though the sudden tone of her voice indicated that she was annoyed with Lyra, but at the same time Lyra was used to the leader of the night elves being upset with her in some manner, "I subdued one of Xavius' creatures... and one of you is going to use it against him to clear us a path to my beloved."
"I'll do it." Trixie replied, to which she climbed onto the bat's back and headed off into the air, where the group could see her fly above the corrupted village, Shala'nir as Tyrande called it, and begin her mission.
Apparently all Trixie had to do was throw bombs down at the army of corrupted creatures that served Xavius, where the bombs would detonate when they hit the ground and take out anything that was around them, while at the same time leaving the structures standing so she and the others could begin their search. As she flew over the village, and took in all of the corruption that was happening before her, Trixie noticed nothing that indicated where Xavius had taken Malfurion, to which she hoped that Tyrande had some ideas. Once she had determined that flying in the sky wouldn't get them anywhere, in terms of finding Malfurion, Trixie continued dropping bombs on the corrupted creatures... though once she was out of bombs she forced the bat back to where Tyrande and the others were standing.
She found them standing near the entrance of Shala'nir, which meant that Tyrande had moved them in anticipation for when she had finished her bombing run, though the High Priestess stabbed the bat between the eyes with one of her arrows, making sure that the Nightmare couldn't escape to another part of the world and spread the corruption.
"Now, let us search Shala'nir for Malfurion," Tyrande said, though at the same time she retrieved her arrow and returned it to her quiver, before walking towards the entrance of the village, "if we do not find him soon he will be lost to me... forever."
Trixie and the others nodded their heads and walked into the corrupted village, though Tyrande held a hand out and stopped Lyra from following after them... to which Lyra glared at the High Priestess.
"Trixie may trust you, but we do not need your assistance," Tyrande stated, taking a step forward and leaving the demon hunter behind, while at the same time being fully aware of the fact that Lyra had a pissed off look on her face, "go do something else and stop burdening us with your presence."
Lyra watched as Tyrande walked up to where her friends were standing and ushered them into Shala'nir, apparently deciding that she wasn't going to be of any assistance and that she was fine with six heroes. Lyra already knew that she could have been some help at tracking Ysera down, though now that Tyrande had pretty much dismissed her she could track the corrupted dragon down herself... and maybe kill her before Xavius could use her in whatever plan he had constructed before attacking Val'sharah.
Trixie glanced back and watched as Tyrande approached the group, though at the same time a pissed off Lyra walked away and started searching for something else, but she already knew who was to blame. She couldn't believe that the High Priestess was judging Lyra based on what had happened to Illidan, based on what she had heard over the years anyway, and had dismissed her without a second thought. Trixie let out a sigh and lead the group forward, though as they approached the entrance of the village they were stopped by a mirage of Xavius, to which she held a hand up to stop anyone from doing something stupid.
"Welcome to my 'dream' home! Your beloved Malfurion awaits within." Xavius told them, though at the same time Trixie, Azuregos, and the druids knew that he was talking to Tyrande, who growled at the image of the Nightmare Lord, "But what's this? Which Malfurion is real, and which is part of the Nightmare...?"
The group heard Xavius' laugh as his image faded away, to which they walked into Shala'nir and began the search for Malfurion, which involved them fighting the corrupted treants and dryads that wanted them dead. As they fought against the minions of the Nightmare, however, Tyrande called out to Malfurion, causing more enemies to come at them and made Trixie wish that Lyra had come along. Not even a minute later Tyrande suggested that they investigate the inn while she went somewhere else in the village, to which Trixie let out another sigh and walked into the inn, where they found Malfurion kneeling to the right in a daze.
When they approached him, however, he faded away and they heard Xavius taunting them by saying 'Guess again, mortals,", before Bloodclaw suggested that they try the other side of the lake that Tyrande was investigating. They followed the path that Bloodclaw suggested that they take, where they continued fighting the corrupted creatures and the satyrs that called Shala'nir home. It didn't take them long to find another 'Malfurion' standing in a daze near one of Xavius' totems, though when they approached him he shifted into another satyr, to which they got rid of their opponent and searched for the next location as Xavius continued to taunt them. They then fought their way around the edge of the lake, laying low everyone that was in their path, before they reached what Trixie guessed was another magical portal that lead to another dungeon.
Resting nearby was what appeared to be the corpse of Malfurion, though when they investigated it they found that it was merely the body of a druid that had died a few days ago, when Xavius first launched his attack... though not a few seconds later, when Trixie was about to suggest the next area they should search, they heard Tyrande calling for them to find her and that their search was over.
A few minutes later they found Tyrande, though in front of her stood Xavius himself, while to his right was the corrupted form of Ysera and Malfurion, who was still trapped by Xavius' vile vines.
"Tyrande Whisperwind! I have longed for this encounter for many years." Xavius said, his tone indicating that he was pleased about how his plans were unfolding, which made Trixie and her friends sick to their stomachs, "Your adoring husband will be joining me in the Nightmare. His was a special invitation. And our dear Ysera, could you believe that she has had a change of heart? She will aid me in my conquest of Val'sharah... and she'll be starting with your precious Temple of Elune!"
The moment the words were uttered Ysera let out a roar and flew off in the direction of the temple, indicating that Xavius was beginning his assault, though at the same time the group waited for the Nightmare Lord to finish explaining his entire plan to them.
"Such a dilemma, High Priestess." Xavius continued, walking over to where Malfurion was imprisoned, though once he was close enough his thorny tail wrapped around Malfurion's body, but it didn't touch him at all, "Would you rather kneel beside your beloved as he draws his final breath, or would you rather watch the temple of your goddess burn? There is also a third option, you and your all druid friends can join me in the Nightmare..."
Xavius purposely let the sentence as he and Malfurion disappeared into a red colored mist, which headed back towards the portal that Trixie and the others had been near a few minutes ago. Trixie knew what this was, Xavius was pretty much saying that Tyrande and the others could willingly join Xavius, even if Tyrande wasn't a druid, or they could stand by and watch as he burned Val'sharah to the ground... be on the losing side. This was his way of saying 'join me or die like the others', and despite their powers Trixie knew that fighting Ysera would still be tough for all of them. She may not be the Aspect of the Green Dragonflight anymore, but she was still and incredibly powerful dragon and had likely been empowered by the Nightmare... to fight her, and succeed in killing her, they need to bring their full power to bare, otherwise they would all die.
As Trixie turned towards Tyrande, however, she noticed Lyra standing on one of the vile vines that was resting above them, though she was focused on Ysera's shrinking form, though at the same time she already knew what Lyra was thinking. They were going to fight Ysera and kill her before she destroyed the Temple of Elune... and then they would turn their attention to rescuing Malfurion from Xavius' clutches.
Trixie and the rest of her friends watched Lyra for a moment, as she jumped down from the vine she was standing on and glided down to where they were standing, shocking the druids by the fact that she had demonic wings that appeared whenever she did this. Trixie knew that her friend was ready for a fight, if the look in her eye was anything to consider, but at the same time she knew that this was the right thing to do, because Ysera was going to conquer Val'sharah if someone didn't stop her soon.
"So, Tyrande, what move are you going to make?" Lyra asked, barely giving the High Priestess a passing glance, indicating that the two of them were at odds with each other and that she didn't like Tyrande very much.
"Malfurion, my love… My heart breaks for him, but I cannot follow where he goes." Tyrande replied, her tone telling the group that she longed to rescue her beloved from Xavius' clutches, but at the same time she clearly knew what needed to be done, "I have sworn myself to Elune, my goddess, to defend her temples and lands with all that I am. I cannot stand by while my order is in danger. May she keep you in her graces, Malfurion."
Despite the fact that she and Tyrande were at odds with each other, and that Tyrande absolutely hated demons and demon hunters, Lyra could tell that her eyes were glistening with tears, meaning that she definitely cared for Malfurion and hated doing what was right when he was in danger. A few seconds later, however, she turned towards them all and climbed onto her saber, to which Lyra and Trixie did the same time, before Tyrande beckoned for them to follow her lead.
"Come with me." Tyrande commanded, though as they moved away from Shala'nir she decided to explain everything to the group, or rather it might have been her way to come to terms with what was happening, "Ysera won’t stop until this whole realm is plunged into the Nightmare. Xavius is using Malfurion to bait me, to distract me from what must be done. We are the only ones who can stop Ysera. Ah, Malfurion, my beloved! For a hundred hundred years he slept beneath Moonglade. Whenever I was plagued with doubt, I would descend into his barrow. I watched over him as he slept... even in slumber, his presence calmed me. I left my fears below the earth and emerged, ready to lead my people. When Malfurion returned to my side, we worked as one. As if he had never been away. Have you ever loved as I have?"
"All of us have encountered friends that are dear to our hearts," Trixie replied, knowing that it wasn't the answer that Tyrande was looking for, but at the same time it was the only one she could give, as neither she or Lyra had actually found anyone to love with every fiber of their being.
"Now Xavius has me by the throat." Tyrande continued, almost as if she hadn't heard Trixie's response to her question, though at the same time Trixie wasn't bothered by it considering that too much was happening to the High Priestess at the moment, "I must abandon my beloved, and contend with the most beautiful creature I have ever known."
"Ysera is no longer the creature you remember," Lyra stated, though even as she spoke she knew that a fight was coming their way, but she was ready for whatever the corrupted dragon could throw her way, "She's now an instrument of death, destruction, and corruption... and she won't stop until either the entirety of Val'sharah is under Xavius' control, or someone puts her down. Death is the only thing she deserves..."
Trixie understood what Lyra was talking about, because her fellow Equestrian was still pissed off that they might have been able to avoid all of this if Ysera had told the druids about the danger that Xavius posed to all of them, instead of keeping the warning to herself. Now that Ysera was working for Xavius, to spread the Nightmare around Val'sharah, she had been corrupted beyond the point of redemption, which meant that the only option for them was to kill the former Dragon Aspect. As Trixie thought about that she realized that this would technically be the fourth Dragon Aspect she was going to have a hand in killing; as the first one she felled was Malygos, during the Nexus Wars while she and her guild were on Northrend, followed by Murozond, the twisted future version of Nozdormu, and ultimately brought about the death of Deathwing... before he could destroy the entirety of Azeroth with a second, and much more powerful, cataclysm.
That series of thoughts made her weep for Alexstrasza, the Queen of the Dragons and leader of the Red Dragonflight, because today was the day that she was going to lose another of her siblings to some form of madness... though her thoughts were interrupted as they rounded a corner and found Ysera attacking the temple, and its guardians.
"This is your end, mortals." Ysera shouted, while at the same time swinging her tail and knocked some of the temple guardians onto their backs, though it was clear that, in her twisted mind, she was enjoying the destruction that she was causing, "The dream is undone."
Tyrande and the others dismounted and prepared themselves for the incoming fight, though before any of them could step forward Lyra held a hand out to stop them from doing anything. Trixie wondered if her friend had a death wish, because it took twenty to forty adventurers to bring down the last three Aspects she had fought, and that was when they were still empowered by the Titans. Even without that great power lingering in their bodies they were still the oldest and most powerful dragons in the entirety of Azeroth, which meant that there was no reason for Lyra to believe that she could take Ysera out on her own. Trixie also knew that if Lyra died that the Legion would grab her soul and twist her into a monster that might be more powerful than anything they were currently fighting... but she stood down and resolved to step in the moment her friend needed assistance.
Lyra, on the other hand, draw the Twinblades as she walked up the steps, her eyes never leaving the corrupted dragon that was ignoring her and her friends... though once she was on the same level as Ysera she knew that it was time to get the party started.
"YSERA!" Lyra called out, causing the corrupted dragon to stop attacking the guardians in front of her, before turning towards the source of the noise, while Lyra held both of the warglaives out and prepared herself, "Did you see this coming, when you noticed that Xavius was planning on attacking Val'sharah?"
"You will burn with the rest of Val'sharah!" Ysera declared, to which she raised her head and roared at Lyra, while at the same time the druids moved away and healed their allies now that the opportunity had presented itself.
Lyra brought up her defenses as Ysera attacked her, though she was surprised when one of the claws slipped passed her defenses and poked her in her side, hard enough to actually puncture her skin, but that told her that she couldn't underestimate her opponent. In response to the claw puncturing her side Lyra swung her weapon at the claw and forced Ysera back, though that was followed by her going on the offensive to avoid being wounded again. Lyra had to turn Ysera away from the area that her friends were standing in, as the corrupted dragon tried to breathe her foul fire breath on her, before she decided to go on the offensive.
Lyra hacked into Ysera's legs as she avoided both the claws and the dragon's mouth, though even as she danced around the temple's courtyard she noticed that her warglaives left shallow cuts in the corrupted dragon's skin, which only bled a tiny bit. The cuts proved her theory that the Nightmare Lord had empowered Ysera the moment he corrupted her, which made sense considering that powerful heroes would try to stop her from wrecking the temple. At the same time she counted herself lucky that she had stopped Ysera's first attack in its tracks, otherwise the dragon would have cut her open before she had a chance to defend herself. She also noticed that Ysera must have done a number on the guardians that had been protecting the temple, as all of them were watching what was happening with a look of interest in their eyes.
Sure, Lyra had beckoned for her friends to stay back so she could determine what sort of defenses the dragon had, but she had no reason why the guardians had backed off as well... and that meant that she was at a slight disadvantage, one that Ysera was using to her benefit.
"What's wrong little demon, are you getting tired already?" Ysera asked, though at the same time she chuckled as her claws reached out for Lyra, who backed away from them as they scratched the stone beneath them, "Come, show me your full power, otherwise you'll die in a blaze of foolishness."
Lyra growled as the fel energy within her sprung to the surface, igniting her transformation into her Havoc form as she jumped into the air and landed in front of Ysera's face, where she cut several gashes into the dragon's leg and forced her backwards a tiny bit. Lyra had been hoping to avoid using this power until she truly needed it, but with what little damage she was doing, and the annoyance she felt because of it and Ysera's taunting, she knew that this was the best chance she had at besting the corrupted dragon. Her swings were faster, her strikes had more power backing them, her kicks could shatter a stone pillar if she wanted to, and she checked that one after her first transformation, and she was much faster in her Havoc form... but despite all of these improvements Ysera refused to go down and die.
It was infuriating for Lyra, because it appeared that Xavius had stripped Ysera of any common sense and turned her into a killing machine that existed for his conquest, as several of the cuts she had delivered to the corrupted dragon's body would have felled a lesser demon in seconds. Ysera seemed immune to the pain Lyra was inflicting upon her body, another sign of the Nightmare Lord's tempering, and it appeared that Lyra was going to do something drastic if she wanted to beat Ysera without getting anyone else caught in the crossfire. As Lyra dodged the next claw attack that Ysera sent her way, however, she failed to account for the corrupted dragon's tail and was painfully reminded of its existence as she was knocked back onto the stairs that lead to the room she and her friends had been in when they were trying to recover the Tears of Elune.
Before she had a chance to move, and get her back off the steps, Ysera brought her massive paw down on her and trapped her there, while at the same time putting enough pressure to crack some of her ribs and cause her to curse herself for being so careless to miss something so important.
"Did you really think that you could overpower me, little demon?" Ysera asked, to which she applied a little more pressure to her paw, as she intended to crush her foe slowly and enjoy the pain she was inflicting at the same time, "Thanks to my master I am nearly as powerful as I was before Deathwing was destroyed, and it took forty of the strongest heroes that the Horde and the Alliance could muster to bring him down. In a one on one battle like this you have no hope of beating me, even with the training and power you acquired for your own master... and you'll be overjoyed to hear that you'll be joining him soon enough!"
Ysera gripped Lyra with her claws and picked her up for a moment, though that was before she let Lyra go and spun around so her tail would strike her foe, sending Lyra into the wall behind her and causing her to moan as pain pulsed through her body. Before Lyra could pull herself free from the position she was in, however, Ysera leveled her head with where she was resting and loosed a volley of Nightmare colored bursts at her, each of which impacted her body and exploded seconds later.
"LYRA!" Trixie and the others shouted, because they couldn't believe what they were seeing, though at the same time Tyrande simply shook her head, as if she expected something like this to happen, while only Trixie had some tears in her eyes, "She's... she's gone... I can't believe that I've lost her already..."
Azuregos opened his mouth to say something, anything that might comfort his friend, but before he could do so a bolt of lightning, which was fel green colored and had a hint of darkness surrounding it, burst out of the smoke and barreled into Ysera's body, knocking her back a couple of steps. The group, seeing the corrupted dragon taking some sort of damage, turned their eyes to the smoke once more and found that Lyra, in her base demon hunter form, was standing in between the two sections of the building that were on her left and right. For a moment Trixie was happy to see that Lyra was fine, especially with what Ysera had been doing to her, but as she looked at her fellow Equestrian she noticed something odd; Lyra's eyes had the same sinister purple mist that was pouring out of her eyes, while at the same time the area around her eyes had turned green... and her actual eyes were a deep scarlet color.
This was similar to when Lyra had fought the demon Gravax, the demon that was assaulting the Temple of Elune in his own way, though this time Trixie could tell that the mist was more solid than it was the previous time... and she could feel a sinister power coming from her friend. Trixie knew what was happening, Lyra's hatred for Ysera and all her mistakes had pushed the other Equestrian to combine what she assumed were the powerful fel magic and her own arcane magic... when in reality she was combining fel magic and dark magic. Trixie wondered if Lyra would consider using this power if she knew that she was using dark magic, something that must have awoken inside her at some point in time, as she knew that the former musician had no knowledge of dark magic.
A few seconds later, however, Lyra gripped her warglaives and charged at Ysera, though this time she moved much faster than she had been in her empowered state and swung at Ysera's leg, cutting a larger gash into the dragon's scales as she landed on the floor behind her opponent. Ysera, even though she was corrupted, let out a roar that made it sound like she was confused about something, though as she turned around and swung her claws at Lyra, so she could win the fight, Lyra simply raised one of the warglaives and stopped the attack in its tracks. As Ysera raised her head in surprise Lyra took advantage of the opening that was presented to her, to which she jabbed forward with her other warglaive and cut into part of Ysera's neck... to which the dragon pulled back and pushed herself into the air.
Normally a flying dragon would indicate that warrior type heroes would have to wait before being able to fight again, but Lyra, being a demon hunter, had several tricks left in her arsenal... though she unfurled her own wings, rapidly ascended to a spot behind Ysera's back, and threw the Twinblades at her target. The group watched as the two warglaives came into contact with Ysera's shoulder blades, where her wings were connected to her body, and was forced back onto the ground by the pain that coursed through her body. Lyra, deciding that it was time to permanently ground her opponent, raced down towards where Ysera was resting and struck the area near where her left warglaive had pierced the dragon's body, feeling the bone shatter beneath her hoof... and render Ysera incapable of flying at the same time.
Once Lyra had pulled out the first warglaive she flew back into the air and repeated the attack on the other shoulder, making good on her decision to permanently ground the corrupted dragon... though once that was done she landed in front of Ysera and smirked at her wounded opponent. Ysera, on the other hand, growled as she lunged forward with the intent to chomp Lyra to bits, but Lyra had seen the desperate attack coming and moved to the side, where she spun around and cut a larger gash into the dragon's neck. As Ysera staggered for a moment, and opened her defenses even more, Lyra gathered some of her energy into her right warglaive and swung it at the dragon's body, blasting a long gash into Ysera's chest... knocking her onto her side and causing her to lay there for a few moments.
A few seconds later a clearly defeated Ysera raised her head once more and Lyra held her weapons out to deal even more punishment before she finally ended the fight... but before either of them did anything all of the assembled druids gasped and pointed at the sky, where Lyra say that the sun and the moon were forming an eclipse with the stars visible all around them. Lyra watched as some sort of magic or energy radiated off of the eclipse, though when she turned to Ysera she noticed that the red look in her eyes had disappeared and were replaced by a calming blue. It was in that moment that the corrupted dragon seemed to finally accept her fate, as she collapsed and closed her eyes, though at the same time the tendrils of energy wrapped around her body for a few seconds.
Everyone watched as the tendrils pulled Ysera's soul, or more accurately her essence, out of her corrupted body and gently carried a ghostly version of Ysera, as she was before Xavius had corrupted her, into the sky above them all. A few seconds later, when Ysera's spirit was closer to the eclipse, the tendrils turned what was left of the Dreamer's essence into a new batch of stars, which looked like a dragon taking flight. As the eclipse withdrew its power, and finally broke apart, everyone gathered around the shell of Ysera, which broke down into a mass of plant growth... though in the middle of it all, where the dragon's heart had been located, they watched as the corrupted Tears of Elune were lifted into the air by the plants and the taint was expelled.
As the Tears were restored to their former glory, however, all of the druids and night elves that were assembled started to weep for the loss of Ysera, remembering who she had been while rejecting the monster she had become. Trixie knew that their next course of action would be to make sure that the Tears were safely stored inside Dalaran, with the Tidestone, before she and the others even considered rescuing Malfurion. Then, once the Tears were secured and Malfurion was saved, she, Azuregos, and Lyra would see if anyone knew where Maiev went, as that was the whole reason they had come to this region in the first place.
Lyra, on the other hand, was pissed off even more now, and it wasn't because she had been denied the pleasure of actually killing Ysera herself, but rather because of what a certain goddess had just done. Elune had, on a whim, plucked out Ysera's soul and created a new constellation out of her, making sure that the people of Azeroth didn't forget the dragon. Lyra knew that Ysera didn't deserve what she had been given, not when she was responsible for everything that was happening in Val'sharah at the moment, and that alone made her want to find a way to punch Elune in the face, despite the fact that no one had any idea how to contact the mysterious goddess.
Lyra growled as she turned away from the night elves and druids that were mourning the loss of Ysera and celebrating the fact that the temple had been spared... there was someone she intended to hunt down, and now that the druids had been helped it was time to find out where Maiev was hiding.
Trixie stared at the Tears of Elune for a few seconds, as it almost didn't seem real that they were floating in front of her and the rest of their group, yet they had been cleansed of the corruption that Xavius had inflicted upon it and had been restored to its former glory. Sure, they had won the battle against the Nightmare Lord, but this was only the first part of the puzzle they had to deal with, as there was more to his plan that they needed to overcome before they dealt with him. She already knew that the Tears needed to be stored inside Dalaran, but at the same time she worried about Lyra, as the mist that had been emitting from her eyes had remained since the defeat of Ysera.
Trixie was worried that Lyra had opened herself to the same dark magic that had corrupted King Sombra, or that he had mastered depending on which pony you spoke to, which meant that in time she could potentially fall down the same path that Sombra had.
"Trixie, why don't you take the Tears back to Dalaran." Lyra commented, turning away from her fellow Equestrian as she scanned the area, making sure that they were alone and that Xavius wasn't hiding another trap for them in the off chance that Ysera had been beaten, "I will stay behind and help the druids in whatever way I can... and ask where Maiev was last seen."
For a moment Trixie considered telling Lyra off and saying that it was better for them to stick together, but one glance from Azuregos told her that this wasn't the time to try something like that. Lyra was still slightly under the effects of the dark magic she had called upon, thanks to the mist being the indicator for her to keep track of her progress, and her anger towards Maiev was keeping the darkness alert. Eventually she let out a sigh and gently removed the sacred artifact from where it was floating, where absolutely nothing happened when it was removed, before she climbed onto Azuregos' back, as he intended to fly them back to Dalaran so the artifact could be secured immediately.
As the two of them took off, however, Trixie noticed that Tyrande was walking to the person who took care of the flight location that was outside the temple grounds, where she claimed a hippogryph and followed after Trixie. She had to wonder why the High Priestess was following her and Azuregos, but she decided that she could ask her when they all reached Dalaran... if they were heading in the same direction anyway.
Azuregos managed to get them back to Dalaran in record time, which was really just a minute or two quicker than the hippogryphs that had gotten Trixie and Lyra to the forest when they started their quest, before he touched down and allowed Trixie to climb off his back. Once she touched the floor he reverted to his elven form, to which they waited for Tyrande to catch up with them before they made their way to the chamber where the Tidestone was resting. The citizens of Dalaran, along with the guards and warriors from both the Alliance and the Horde, had to stop for a moment as they noticed that Trixie was carrying another Pillar of Creation, which was likely making some of the other classes jealous that they hadn't found one yet.
When they entered the tower in the middle of Dalaran, and teleported into the chamber where the Tidestone was located, Trixie quickly found the resting place that Khadgar had set aside for the ancient artifact... to which she, Azuregos, and Tyrande smiled when she set it down on the pedestal that had been prepared a few weeks ago.
"Thanks to your courage, and that of your companions, the ancient lands of Val'sharah can at long last begin to heal." Tyrande commented, though as Trixie backed away from the Tears she noticed that the High Priestess had said companions, indicating that Lyra's earlier display might have changed her mind about the other Equestrian, "Now the Tears of Elune are added to our arsenal. May they bring us victory against the Legion!"
"All we need to do now is acquire the Hammer of Khaz'goroth and the Aegis of Aggramar," Trixie stated, looking at the remaining two pedestals that rested around them, before remembering that there was a fifth Pillar of Creation, "And then we can focus all of our efforts into searching Suramar for the location of the Eye of Aman'thul, which may or may not reside in the large Nightborne city."
"Trixie, I must ask you something," Tyrande said, causing both Trixie and Azuregos to look at her, because they hadn't been expecting something like this when they had planned on returning the Tears to Dalaran, "That demon of yo... I mean, what sort of power was Lyra Heartstrings using in her fight with Ysera? And how dangerous is it."
"She was combining the powerful and corrupting dark magic with the fel energies that reside in her body," Trixie replied, knowing that neither of her companions knew what dark magic was, but they didn't have time for her to sit them down and tell them everything she knew about the vile magic, "Basically she's combining two types of magic that could very well corrupt her into something that she's not... and honestly, I don't think she's aware of the danger she's in."
"Then maybe we can ask one of the Wardens if they'll teach her some self control," Tyrande said, causing Trixie's ears to perk up for a moment, as this wasn't something that she had considered, especially with the deep hatred Lyra had for the Wardens, "If Maiev is truly missing, like they keep telling me, and has been captured by one of our enemies, then freeing her might earn Lyra some respect with their remaining members... maybe enough to consider one of them teaching her some self control over her new powers and emotions."
Trixie considered that for a moment, because if Lyra continued to delve into the hole she was digging she was going to morph into a creature of hate and anger, one that could be taken by the Legion and turned against them. She knew that Lyra would never openly ask the Wardens for assistance, especially after what they had done to her and her order, but there was always the chance that they mended that bridge and put the two orders on speaking terms again. After a moment she decided that they had nothing to lose, because unless they found Maiev she knew that the Wardens would never listen to Lyra, so she told Tyrande that she and Azuregos were leaving... before they walked back through the teleporter and headed back to Krasus' Landing.
Trixie wanted to make sure that Lyra wasn't doing anything stupid to the druids while they cleaned up the mess that Xavius had made of their temple... to which she and Azuregos morphed into their dragon forms, which was much smoother for Trixie than when she used her Sandstone form, and they flew back to the Temple of Elune.
When Trixie and Azuregos arrived outside the temple, and morphed back into their chosen mortal forms, Trixie immediately noticed that the four druids they had been helping were nowhere to be seen, meaning that they must have returned to their Order Hall, the Dreamgrove, to plan out their next move. As they walked back into the temple grounds, however, they found Lyra kneeling next to a wounded human, with a fair number of healers moving away from their patient. Trixie suspected that this was a clue to where Maiev was located, to which she and Azuregos ran over to where Lyra was waiting, though when they arrived Lyra motioned for them to be silent and patted the wounded human on the shoulder.
"I look a right bloody mess, don’t I?" the human said, coughing for a moment as she opened her eyes, to which she looked at the people that were gathered around her, "My name is Darcy Hearthrow, and I barely made it here alive. Listen, my village is in trouble. First, there was strange signs. Wild dogs in the cemetery, flocks of dead ravens, villagers gone a missin’! Then the other day, we saw soldiers. But there’s somethin’ ain’t right about them!"
Trixie, Azuregos, and Lyra shared a look with each other, because if there were signs of wild dogs and dead ravens, along with villagers going missing, that meant that the soldiers had to be some sort of undead creature... and that meant that something important had to be happening near the lady's village.
"They was dead!" Darcy continued, though her tone indicated that she was hoping for them to offer her some assistance, "But not dead… alive dead! The druids ‘ave other matters to attend to so we’re sittin’ ducks out there. Just sayin’, we could really use some help."
Trixie, deciding to take a chance, called over one of the healers and asked if they knew where the village Darcy had come from was located, to which she learned that all they needed to do was follow the path out of the nearby gate and head to the left. From there they would be able to reach Bradensbrook, the home of the people who had fled Gilneas instead of staying and suffering the worgen curse. With the information in hand Trixie bid the healer to continue her duties, as there were other guardians that needed her assistance after Ysera's attack, before she looked over at Lyra, who was already heading away form where Darcy was resting.
Trixie and Azuregos followed after Lyra, following the healer's directions to the letter, where they immediately noticed an imposing castle that they had ignored the last few times they had visited the temple. With their destination in mind they continued down the path in front of them, where they eventually walked into the small village and noticed that the villagers, lead by their mayor, were pointing their weapons at a lone night elf.
"I am not your enemy, Mayor." the night elf insisted, though at the same time he was remarkably calm about the situation, though Trixie knew that Lyra would have attacked if she was in the night elf's situation, "I came here to find someone within Black Rook Hold."
"Stop with your lies, night elf." the mayor said, indicating that he and his villagers were highly suspicious of the night elf that was standing in front of them, "You’ll stay where we can keep an eye on you."
"Um... what’s going on here?" Azuregos asked, as he decided that it was time for someone other than Trixie or Lyra to speak, though at the same time the two Equestrians were more than happy to let him do the talking.
"My people have seen too much suffering." the mayor replied, though at the same time he never took his eyes off of the night elf that his villagers were pointing their weapons at, "It was the Scourge uprising that led us to flee Gilneas many years ago. Now, undead creatures have risen from the fortress to the north. I will defend this village to the bitter end."
"Care to explain what's going on?" Lyra growled, to which she turned towards the night elf, who seemed surprised by the darkness that was seeping out of her eyes, which she was ignoring at the moment.
"I am no enemy to these people, but there is no convincing them of that." the night elf replied, still acting calm despite the fact that he had never seen the type of darkness that was rolling out of her eyes before, "Their village has come under attack by some very old friends of mine. Friends who are no longer... living. There's no telling who or what controls them, but in life these noble soldiers would never engage in such acts. That's a mystery for another time. For now, help me earn the trust of these villagers. Strike down the Black Rook enemies who are terrorizing their citizens."
"Sounds easy enough," Lyra commented, to which she drew the Twinblades and made for the exit, though Trixie stopped her so they could speak to someone that appeared to be the wife of the mayor, or at the very least someone that helped him run the village.
"Forgive us, stranger. Mayor Heathrow has been under a lot of stress recently." the lady said, identifying who the mayor was without them having to ask the man his name, which saved them time for when they came back to the village, "I can't blame him: his own daughter, Penelope, has been missing for two days. In fact, we could use information on several farmsteads to the south: Mayor Heathrow's house, Granny Marl's farm, and the Radcliffes' dock. Can you go check on the situation out there? Help us, and perhaps the mayor's heart will soften."
Trixie had to admit that this was going to be a rather quick way to earn the trust of the people, as they could easily kill a fair number of the attackers and assist the owners of the various farmsteads, allowing the villagers to see that they, and the night elf they were angry at, weren't enemies and that they were here to help. Still, she wondered who the night elf was and who he was looking for, which made her wonder if he was searching for Maiev was well, but decided that time would tell her and Lyra all the answers that they needed. All they had to do was help the people of Bradensbrook and they would be one step closer to discovering the location of Maiev... and whether or not she needed any assistance from the three of them, when they finally caught up with her.
Trixie, Lyra, and Azuregos prepared to leave the small village of Bradensbrook, which had three houses around the area that they had entered, but before they actually left the village Lyra felt there was something that she needed to do first. She separated herself from the others and walked over to the mysterious night elf that she and the others had been talking to, who was just standing around and patiently waiting for the villagers to see the error of their ways.
"Excuse me, but there's something I wanted to ask you," Lyra said, causing the night elf to turn towards her for a moment, though at the same time the villagers wondered what she was doing, "Who are you exactly?"
"I am Jarod Shadowsong," the night elf replied, though Lyra tensed for a moment, because Maiev's last name was Shadowsong, according to Trixie and her mentor anyway, "Have our paths crossed before, hero? I once commanded the night elf forces who defended this land from the Burning Legion, ten thousand years ago. My sister is the Warden named Maiev, and it is because of her that my path leads here."
"Is that so?" Lyra said, though at the same time she restrained herself, because now she knew that the way to find Maiev was to help Jarod persuade the villagers that he was on their side, before she bowed out and left the village.
Lyra was pleasantly surprised, because she never expected to meet the brother of the Warden that had sealed her and the rest of the Illidari in the Vault, in a place like this anyway. Had Jarod not mention the fact that he was looking for Maiev, which meant that she had to be here somewhere, Lyra knew that she would have attacked him and likely pissed someone off. Because she restrained herself, and didn't attack him, she now had someone that could help her find the one Warden that she hated with a passion, to which she smiled as she followed Trixie and Azuregos towards the house that was directly in front of them... while at the same time cutting down the dead hounds and formerly dead night elf soldiers that wanted them dead.
When they walked around the corner of the building, however, they discovered an elderly lady that was pointed a gun at the enemies around her farmstead, but it appeared that she was waiting for something to happen before she started firing her weapon.
"Um, Granny Marl?" Trixie asked, as the person in front of them had to be the elderly lady that the Mayor's assistant told them about earlier, which meant that she was one of the people they were searching for.
"Without this corn, our village dies. But don’t worry dear, I’ve got this area on lockdown!" the elderly lady replied, indicating that she was Granny Marl without actually confirming Trixie's question, while at the same time she was staring at something, "Do you see those ravenous birds flying above my farm? Vicious creatures are spreading their filth an’ eatin’ my crops. I’d get rid of them with my trusty gun, but my eyesight’s gone downhill. Take this flare gun and mark them for me. Once I get my sights on them, I’ll make ’em scatter."
"Sounds easy enough," Azuregos commented, accepting the flare gun that the elderly lady pulled out, though Trixie wondered if the disguised dragon knew how to use the weapon.
"One more thing dears," Granny Marl said, causing the group to stall in their movements for a moment, because they thought that marking the ravens was all she wanted form them, to which they nodded their heads, "I’ve got a full summer’s corn harvest just sittin’ out in the field. I need some muscle to bring it in before the night elf raiders can destroy it. Get out there and bring me those crops, and I’ll reward you handsomely. The folks back in town need this food, and I sure as heck ain’t eating rats for another winter."
As Azuregos targeted the undead ravens and marked them, allowing Granny Marl to fire a shot at them and take them out, Trixie and Lyra moved towards the crops and started gathering the crops that they had been asked to acquire, or rather Trixie gathered the corn while Lyra cut up the enemies that wanted to kill them. The undead soldiers, the raiders that Granny Marl had mentioned, were clearly trying to steal all of the crops that they could, but Lyra cut them down and collected what they had stolen while Trixie collected the unpicked crops. After a few minutes Azuregos declared that he was out of shots in his flare gun, while at the same time the sky was much clearer than it had been when they found Granny Marl, to which Trixie and Lyra returned to where the elderly lady was standing.
"All right, I’ll get those barrels loaded up and delivered to the village in no time." Granny Marl said, setting down her gun for a moment, as there weren't any idiotic ravens hanging around the area anymore, and looked at the corn that trixie and Lyra were able to pick in such a short amount of time, "Thank you, heroes. There’ll be a lot of full bellies because of you. And thank you for helping me drive off those pesky ravens."
As Trixie said that it was their pleasure to help someone in need, however, Lyra spotted another undead night elf, this one a commander due to her armor and the fact that she was riding on a long dead saber, patrolling near a house that was clearly on fire. She gripped her warglaives and made her way over to the hill that the burning house was on, where she ambushed the commander and pushed her off her mount, allowing Trixie and Azuregos to fire at the beast while she held the commander's attention. Lyra quickly found that the commander wasn't well versed in any type of weapon that wasn't her beloved bow, which was rather easy for Lyra to deflect and maneuver around while she cut gashes into her opponent's body... before finally felling the commander, at the same time that Trixie and Azuregos put down her mount.
When Trixie and Azuregos walked towards the burning building, so they could search for the Mayor's kid, Lyra spotted an odd ring on one of the commander's fingers, to which she pulled it off and pocketed it, because the ring's green stone reminded her of the Wardens. She planned on handing it over to Jarod once they returned to the village, as he would likely identify which Warden the commander had stolen it from, before she headed towards the building as well. As it turned out there happened to be a basement that they could access, to which they found a young girl, likely the Mayor's daughter, hiding out and trying to get away from the undead that were attacking her house... but she did come out of hiding when she noticed that the trio was there.
"W-w-where is everyone?" Penelope asked, looking around for anyone else, but she found that it was just her and the trio, whihc caused her to tear up for a moment.
"It’s safe now." Trixie stated, causing the girl to look directly at her this time around, to which both Azuregos and Lyra nodded their heads, so that the girl would understand that it truly was safe now, "The others are back at the village."
"Thank you, heroes!" Penelope exclaimed, to which she ran forward and hugged all three of them, one at a time anyway, before she headed towards the stairs behind them, "I was so scared all by myself, but I know a shortcut back to the village!"
With Penelope heading back to the village, and apparently taking a path that was the shortest route there, the trio left the basement and headed towards the other side of the area that they were standing in, heading from the hill that the Mayor's house was standing on and stopped outside the dock area that they had been told about. When they approached the area, however, they found that the man they were likely supposed to have talked to was already dead, killed some time before they were told to come find him, and that his daughter was grieving near his body.
"Papa loved this village." the girl commented, apparently hearing them coming and chose to speak to them first, instead of them speaking and hearing her quest, "He’d never hear of leaving, even in these dread times. Before he died, he told me what attacked him: a monstrous falcon we call Rotbeak. You’re fighting these undead, aren’t you? Will you avenge my father? If so, you can find the beast northwest of here, patrolling our western route to the sea."
"You mean that falcon over there?" Azuregos asked, pointing at the dead and clearly rotting falcon, who happened to be perched on a boulder at the moment, before the girl looked up and nodded towards him, "Well then, this is a rather simple task that shouldn't take too long to finish."
Trixie and Lyra watched as Azuregos walked towards the foul falcon, which seemed interested in the fact that someone was daring to approach it once more, though the two Equestrians knew that something was up. They watched as their companion reverted back to his true form for a moment, hitting the ground and coming to a stop right in front of the boulder that the falcon was sitting on. A few seconds passed as the falcon looked at the dragon that was standing in front of it, moving its head to the side in what appeared to be a confused manner, before it opened its mouth and started making noise. Azuregos, however, raised a paw and crushed the falcon into the boulder that was resting beneath it, allowing him to take the falcon's head clean off, to which he turned around and walked back over to where the others were standing... and reverted back to his elven form as he dropped Rotbeak's head at the girl's feet.
"Like I said, it was a simple task for us to complete," Azuregos replied, to which he started the trek back to the main part of Bradenbrook, allowing Trixie and Lyra to follow after them as they left a confused girl behind.
When they returned to the village they found that Penelope had already beaten them to the Mayor, as he had already declared that Trixie's group, and Jarod for that matter, were friends and that the villagers didn't need to point their weapons at the night elf anymore. Jarod seemed pleased that Trixie, Lyra, and Azuregos were able to convince the villagers that he was on their side, though he also seemed a little more pleased when he heard the news that they had taken out a decent number of the undead that were roaming the farmsteads.
"Good." Jarod stated, just after Trixie told him that they had succeeded in taking out a fair number of the undead attackers, "These innocent villagers have done nothing to deserve these attacks. You have done well to help them."
"We also found this," Lyra commented, pulling out the ring she had found earlier and dropped it into Jarod's hand, before she pulled her own hand back, "I'm sure that this is a Warden's ring, I just don't know whose it is."
"This is Maiev’s ring." Jarod replied, to which Lyra's ears perked up, because while she had determined that the ring had belonged to a Warden she never expected it to be Maiev's own ring, "She would never part with it. She must be at Black Rook Hold!"
"And your positive that she's somewhere inside Black Rook Hold?" Trixie asked, because while she wasn't doubting Jarod, as he was Maiev's brother and had no reason to lie about whose ring that was, she knew that this was more than just a coincidence.
"Since Maiev chased after Gul’dan at the Vault of the Wardens, her sisters among the Wardens have been searching far and wide for her whereabouts." Jarob commented, confirming what Trixie and Lyra knew about the Wardens, while at the same time informing them that the secretive order wasn't having much luck finding their leader, "With so few Wardens remaining, I volunteered to join the search. I hope I will find sign of her within Black Rook Hold. The fortress will be well guarded, and I will need help to break through. Help me find her, and I will reward you handsomely."
"Trixie and I have... business... with your sister," Lyra replied, though at the same time she grinned, as now she could finally pay Maiev back for what she had done to her and the rest of the Illidari, once they found her anyway, "We'll happily help you find your sister."
Jarod nodded and called his mount over to him, which Trixie and Lyra mimicked a few seconds later, before they got moving towards what the trio assumed was the entrance of Black Rook Hold, which was the imposing fortress that the village had been built in the shadows of. They followed Jarod around one of the paths that took them into the fortress, though the area they entered was actually a cemetery, complete with a mausoleum just beneath the staircase that would take them into the fortress itself. Having reached their destination Jarod dismounted and walked inside the mausoleum, with his trusty saber following him inside, before Trixie, Lyra, and Azuregos did the same thing.
When they stopped, however, the trio noticed that the large coffin that Jarod was staring at happened to be empty, which meant that whoever had been inside it had already been resurrected and was trying to destroy Bradensbrook.
"What does the Legion want with Ravencrest?" Jarod commented, indicating that the lord of the fortress was someone called Ravencrest, which really didn't help the trio out at the moment, "He was dead and buried ten millennia ago."
"You said something about the other Wardens," Lyra stated, hoping to get a little more information out of Jarod before they started searching the fortress for clues, while at the same time causing the night elf to glance over at her for a few seconds, "Can you tell us anything else?"
"Yes, Sira and the other Wardens are doing everything they can to find Maiev." Jarod replied, though Lyra had to resist the urge to bring her palms to her face, because it was clear that the Wardens weren't doing everything in their power to find their leader, "The attack on the Vault of the Wardens was devastating. Of hundreds, only a handful survived. But the Wardens are tough as steel. They will survive."
"Out of curiosity, how did you and your sister get separated?" Trixie asked, because she was quite interested in how a pair of siblings could become as separated as Jarod and Maiev have become.
"Easy, Maiev and I chose very different paths in life." Jarod stated, apparently not caring about Trixie's question at all, though still gave her something that resembled an answer so they could move on with their mission, "Not long after the Legion’s first defeat on Azeroth, she dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice. Some would say she’s gone too far in that pursuit at times."
"Oh really?" Lyra asked, because this sounded like something that she would definitely want to hear, especially since it would help her better understand Maiev, "What did she do?"
"She murdered innocents, hoping to sever our people’s ties with the Alliance." Jarod explained, causing Trixie to actually take a step backwards for a moment, while Azuregos raised an eyebrow in surprise and Lyra grinned, because this proved that she wasn't the pillar of virtue that Maiev pretended to be, "Still, I couldn’t bring myself to kill her. At first I thought that I’d been weak... that love had left me unable to do what was necessary."
"So why are you trying to save her?" Trixie asked, though now she was annoyed with Maiev, more than she had been when she discovered that the leader of the Wardens had sealed Lyra away in the Vault seven years ago.
"I know my sister. She’d never commit such crimes unless she was under some foul influence." Jarod insisted, though at the same time he let out a sigh, as if he knew that it would be impossible to persuade them to believe what he was telling them, "Even so, rather than investigate fully, I assumed the worst. I’ve been a poor brother, but there’s still time for me to make things right."
"Oh don't worry, we'll help you find Maiev." Lyra stated, though she could already imagine her meeting with Maiev, where they could finally come to terms with what happened seven years ago and let her expel all of her anger.
All that stood between Lyra and Maiev was the entirety of Black Rook Hold, which meant that they would be in for the fight of their lives as they sought out the location of Maiev... and she would gladly take them all on, just to have a chance at settling the score with the one Warden she hated with a passion.
"Okay, so what's our first move towards finding Maiev?" Trixie asked, knowing that if Lyra took charge of their group they would fight their way through everyone that was in the fortress until they discovered the fate of the Warden.
"The disturbed tomb, demons here at Black Rook Hold, and the enemy night elves are no coincidence." Jarod commented, apparently ignoring Trixie altogether, which only made her sigh as she looked at the others, "The Legion has resurrected Lord Ravencrest. My former master lives again."
"Jarod, I know that this is an emotional time for you," Azuregos stated, placing a hand on the night elf's shoulder for a moment, while at the same time offering him a smile, "but we need to focus on finding your sister... then we can figure out what the Legion is doing here."
"Of course, I should not let the past prevent us from moving forward." Jarod said, to which he took a deep breath, as if he was concentrating on something, before letting it out and turned towards the trio, "The fortress grounds are just up ahead, and by that I mean around the corner from where we are standing. There is a large area for us to search, but if we split up I believe that we can cover a lot of ground in a lot less time. I would recommend that the three of you search the prison cages, the forge, and the guard tower for any signs of Maiev or pieces of equipment that she might have left behind for friends to find. I will check the upper ramparts and meet you on the other side of the keep."
"Should we take out some of their commanders while we're here?" Lyra inquired, while at the same time she pulled one of her warglaives out and stared at its edge, imagining it cutting through the spirits that were haunting the grounds, "I have the feeling that we'll be back here in the future, so we might as well clear the way and take out some of their commanders."
"If Lord Ravencrest has returned, then surely he will have his former officers at his side." Jarod replied, his tone indicating that he was agreeing with Lyra, which pleased her to no end at the moment, "Kester Farseeker, captain of the guard. Trelan Shieldbreaker, peerless swordsman and weaponsmith. Starlys Strongbow, who could split arrows while blindfolded. If we stand any chance of entering the tower itself, they must be eliminated."
To Lyra their missions were clear; they enter the fortress, figure out where the prison cages, the forge, and the guard tower were located, while along the way killing Kester, Trelan, and Starlys, as she suspected that each of the officers would be near one of the locations they needed to find. It was how things had worked back in Marduum, as in search a particular area and kill the demon located there, so she already had experience in this field. A few moments later, with their missions known to them, Trixie bid Jarod farewell and walked outside the mausoleum that they had been standing in, before they followed the stairs to their right and walked up to the opening of the fortress.
When they actually entered the fortress, however, some of the spirits immediately noticed them and attacked them the instant they discovered that they were 'foul demons', informing Lyra that their perception of the world around them was being twisted by something she knew well at this point; a Dreadlord. These demons, called the Nathrezim, were masters of manipulation and trickery, so for something to have taken the minds of all these spirits told Lyra that one of them had to be here somewhere. It also confirmed Jarod's suspicions that the Legion was involved here, though Lyra kept her knowledge to herself as she cut down one of the spirits, while at the same time Trixie and Azuregos blasted some of the other spirits with their magic.
"Lieutenant Stareye commands death to all intruders!" a voice said, to which another ghostly night elf, carrying a bow in one hand, assaulted the group while they were focused on the enemies in front of them.
Lyra found it amusing that Starlys had come out to play so soon, especially since she and her friends were dealing with all of the spirits that were around them, but she was pleased to have found one of their targets so soon. Starlys reminded her of the night elf spirit she had taken Maiev's ring from earlier, as she was great with a bow but really sucked at close combat, allowing Lyra to disarm the spirit and pierce her heart. Considering that these elves had been dead for so long she expected them to be tougher than what she was used to, because Farondis and his spirits were very strong, but Lyra decided that she had better accept what was in front of her and not complain.
"Well fought, demon." Starlys Strongbow said, though at the same time Lyra ripped out her warglaive and let the spirit take a few steps backwards, "You have bested me…"
That was followed by the spirit collapsing on the ground and fading away, allowing the group to continue their search for the other officers and anything that would tell them were Maiev was being held. Not even a minute away from where they were standing they found a set of cages that looked like they had been used recently, and they actually were used recently because of the body of a Bradensbrook villager that was laying in the cage. From the quick look in the cage they all determined that there was nothing that Maiev would have left behind for them, meaning that they had to choose a new location to search... and they quickly decided on the nearby tower that was across the way from where they were standing.
As they approached the tower they were attacked by more spirits, both warriors and peasants this time, though they were able to make their way to the chamber they were searching for, where they found the next officer that they needed to take care of.
"We have secured the walls, demons!" the male night elf spirit declared, though at the same time he raised his weapon and prepared himself to do battle with the trio, "You will not escape here alive."
This opponent, who Lyra assumed was the one known as Kester, was actually much stronger than Starlys, as Lyra found herself on the defensive as Trixie and Azuregos worked their magic to prevent the spirit from using any abilities that would strengthen his chances at beating them. Lyra also had to dodge certain attacks that would have harmed her, ones that were designed to do more damage than a normal attack, but soon she figured out his attack pattern and used it against him. She was able to stay one step ahead of her opponent, allowing Trixie and Azurgos to continue their task, before she exploited the weakness and cut the spirit in half.
The trio took a moment to take a breather, as they hadn't been expecting the spirit to be as strong as he had been, before they heard what his last words to them was going to be.
"I must… alert… the others…" Kester started to say, though that was before he eventually fell apart and disappeared, allowing the trio to take a small break before they moved deeper into the fortress.
While they were waiting Lyra discovered a scroll that was much fresher than anything she had seen so far, to which she pulled it over to where they were sitting and opened it so she could see what the officer had seen. From what she could tell the message came from the same Stareye that Starlys had named when she attacked them, though what was interesting was the fact that Stareye said 'Despite our attempts to extract information, the Warden remains stubbornly resistant', indicating that they had captured Maiev.
"Lyra, are you sure that its Maiev that this Stareye is talking about?" Trixie asked, because while she suspected that it had to be Maiev she didn't want Lyra's obsession with the Warden to trick her into making the wrong decision.
"Considering that Jarod said that the other Wardens are busy, I have to assume that its Maiev," Lyra replied, to which she opened her pack and stashed the scroll inside, along with the other items that she had collected so far, before she got back onto her feet, "Come on, let's go find Trelan and the forge. We're sure to find something interesting that might lead us to where Maiev is being held."
Trixie and Azuregos, already knowing that Lyra was obsessed with making Maiev pay for stealing seven years of her life from her, let out a sigh as they followed Lyra to the lower area of the fortress, where it appeared that a forge was waiting for someone to use it. As they stepped into the obvious training yard they were, once again, assaulted by more soldiers and archers, indicating that they had picked the wrong time to interrupt their training session, while at the same time Lyra noticed another spirit, carrying a large hammer, approaching them. It appeared that Trelan wanted to have some fun with them, instead of leaving them to fight his soldiers, to which Lyra trusted that Trixie and Azuregos could deal with the soldiers and charged at the final officer they needed to kill.
Trixie, on the other hand, summoned her three Mirror Images and had them attack the soldiers, allowing her to pick and choose which opponent she wanted to take out, while Azuregos focused on gathering their enemies together and freezing them to the ground. Together the two mages tore the soldiers apart with their magic, once more illustrating that the ten thousand years had not been kind to these spirits, unlike Farondis' spirits, before they were completely done... though when they turned around they found Lyra finishing off Trelan.
With their enemies taken care of, and a route to the ramparts secured thanks to their actions, the trio approached the forge and looked around for any clues that might have been left behind... to which Lyra picked up a circular glaive that she immediately recognized.
"This is Maiev's weapon..." Lyra commented, turning to Trixie and Azuregos for a moment, where she showed them exactly what she had found and started to explain herself, "When I fought her the first time I focused on her weapon and memorized it, thanks to all the times I had to watch it in action... and this is definitely the same one that she carried seven years ago."
"How odd," Azuregos said, studying the weapon and found that, while it was definitely old, there was almost no sign of wear and tear, despite the fact that Maiev had used this weapon so many times in the past, "one would think that a Warden's weapon would reflect the usage the owner put it through, but this one almost appears to be in pristine condition."
"Well, this just confirms that Maiev is here," Lyra said, stashing the weapon in her pack, which made her smile, before she noticed that Jarod was waving them over to him.
When the trio noticed Jarod they ran over to where he was standing and he had them follow him up the stairs he had been standing near, preventing them from being discovered by any enemies that might pass through the area while they were talking and discussing their next move.
"We have taken care of all three officers that you told us to take out," Trixie told the night elf, while at the same time wishing that she could have seen Trelan in action, despite the fact that she would had known the outcome.
"Thank you, heroes. May their spirits be at peace." Jarod replied, sounding pleased by the news that the officers had been taken care of, before he grew serious, "And what about Maiev? Did you find anything regarding my sister?"
"We found her weapon and a message concerning her," Lyra answered, knowing that Jarod would be happy to hear that his sister was somewhere inside the fortress.
"That is some good work." Jarod said, to which he beckoned for them to follow him, where they all started walking towards the ramparts, "There is no doubt that they have already moved Maiev into the prison cells beneath the tower."
"So what's the plan?" Trixie inquired, though at the same time she knew that if Maiev had been moved into the lower prison then they would need to find the key and her cell, but she didn't want to interrupt Jarod.
"I did not come this far to lose her in the final moments." Jarod stated, indicating that he was here for a reason and that he wasn't backing down, despite the fact that the trio didn't need to hear the same thing twice, "Maiev must be in the cells beneath Black Rook Hold. I scouted above, and the entrance to the prison is guarded by a fearsome jailor. I will sneak past and take out the guards inside. Defeat Araxxas, take the keys, and then meet me within."
"Its been a while since the last jailer demon," Lyra commented, referring to the one that they had slain so they could release Stellagosa from her prison, though she smiled as they walked along the ramparts and approached their target.
It wasn't hard to find Araxxas, as he was literally floating in front of the entrance that would allow them to access the prisons, though he was either not paying attention to anything or he was intentionally allowing them to get closer before trying to fight them. Lyra almost felt sorry for the demon, because the last jailer demon had been utterly decimated by just the three of them, though they were even stronger now and could easily destroy their opponent in a few seconds if they really wanted to.
"Another group of prisoners for my cells?" Araxxas asked, looking at the trio for a few seconds, as if he was delighted to see them all, before growing serious and glared down at them, "Looks like I’ll need to break all of you first!"
As the trio started the fight with the jailer demon, and started dodging the attacks that Araxxas was sending in their direction, the demon taunted them with the fact that he and his comrades, being both his demon brothers and the corrupted spirits of Black Rook Hold, had captured a Warden and successfully kept her inside the prison without anyone attempting to rescue her. The group already knew how to deal with a demon like Araxxas, thanks to their fight with one in Azsuna and Lyra's experience fighting the Legion's forces, so they avoided being trapped in the demon's fel cage and dodged his attempts to shackle them to the ground. After some time Trixie and Azuregos became Araxxas' primary target, allowing Lyra to slip away and do her thing while they kept the demon distracted, once again amazing Trixie that the Legion could have some easily fooled demons among their ranks.
The fight eventually came to an end when Lyra jumped off the roof that was above Araxxas' head dealt the finishing blow, which was really her warglaives going into his chest and penetrating his heart... though once his body had collided with the ground, and they were sure that he was dead, Lyra picked herself up and snatched the key. The only thing that stood between her and Maiev now was the corrupted spirits that were no doubt guarding the prison, though Lyra grinned at the thought of finally making the Warden she hated pay for everything she did to her and Trixie... and maybe break a bone or two while she was at it.
With Araxxas dead, and no additional spirits coming to harass them, Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos walked towards the staircase that the jailer demon had been guarding and glanced over the edge, spotting Jarod at the bottom. It appeared that he was tending to a prisoner that had tried to escape the prison, which meant that the wardens here might be stronger than the other types of wardens that they had fought in the past. With that in mind the trio walked down the stairs and kept their hands on their various weapons, just in case there was an enemy or two that they had to fight along the way. They were pleased to find that there actually weren't any foes waiting on the staircase, meaning that they could reach the bottom of the stairs and stop in front of the prison without having to do anything else.
As they reached the bottom, however, Lyra noticed that the prisoner that Jarod had been tending to was one of the Illidari, one Arduen Soulblade she realized as she looked at the elf's face, which annoyed her because she could tell that her comrade was dying.
"Do you have the keys?" Jarod asked, not even a few seconds after noticing that the trio was standing in front of them, to which Lyra snapped out of her mind and held up the keys that she had taken from Araxxas' body, "Good, these keys should open any of the cells within the prison. Maiev will be somewhere in the prison, so we should split up to search the cells more quickly. I will stay here, to ease this prisoner’s passing, before I start searching for my sister's cell."
"Arduen... what happened?" Lyra inquired, though at the same time she knelt beside her comrade, because while she may not have known him as well as her instructors he was still one of the Illidari and it pained her to see that another one of them was being taken out in such a manner.
"Lyra... within this prison are three of our… comrades." Arduen replied, to which he coughed for a few seconds, indicating that the damage that had been dealt to him was more than he could take, "We were taken by surprise while scouting in Azsuna. I am not long for this world, but please, save the others."
"I will Arduen," Lyra said, taking a moment to grasp her comrade's hand, allowing him to know that she was going to do everything in her power to save the other Illidari, before the same fate befell them.
A few seconds later Trixie placed a hand on Lyra's shoulder, indicating that they had best get a move on, before Lyra sighed and picked herself up off the ground, to which they turned towards the opening that was behind Jarod and entered the actual prison. As the trio walked into the prison, however, they were assaulted by several of the spiritual wardens, which were pretty much the same enemies they had been fighting before they reached Araxxas, so they had the advantage of knowing their movements. Lyra drew the attention of the spirits to her and blocked their attacks, allowing Trixie and Azuregos to throw several magical attacks at their enemies from a safe distance... though before long they had defeated the first group of enemies and were moving forward.
As they passed by the first cell, which happened to be on their left, Lyra noticed that one of her Illidari was standing in the cell, though he was facing the wall and was ignoring anyone that walked by the cell... to which Lyra opened the cell and walked inside, so she could tell her comrade that he was free to leave now.
"My blood… it burns!" the Illidari growled, causing Lyra to realize that it was Sirius Ebonwing that was standing in front of her, though the tone of his voice indicated that he was both in pain and was failing to control the power that was inside his body, "The fel energy… I can’t… control it…"
Not a moment later Sirius transformed into his demon form and swung around, his claws hitting the edge of Lyra's warglaives, as she had raised them the instant she realized what was happening in front of her. It pained her to see another of her comrades give into the fel energy that was inside all of them, especially since they had willingly taken it on so they could defeat the Legion, but she also knew what she had to do. Trixie and Azuregos watched as she dueled Sirius, blocking his attacks and cutting several gashes into his body, while at the same time making sure to avoid being damaged in return... before she drove one of the Twinblades into Sirius' heart, which caused him to snap back to his original form.
As Lyra pulled the Twinblade from Sirius' chest, however, she couldn't help but cry a little, because this was the fourth Illidari she had played a part in killing and it pained her to have to do this to the people that she had trained with and become friends with.
"L... Lyra..." Sirius weakly said, as if he realized who was standing in front of him and realized what he had tried to do, though at the same time Lyra listened to the last words of another comrade, "the demons... they control... Black Rook Hold. You must… stop them…"
Lyra stood there for a few seconds, giving Sirius come comfort in knowing that someone was there for him when he passed, before she gently laid his body on the ground and followed Trixie towards the next group of cells, which were guarded by only one warden... and two of the three cells were occupied. The one on their immediate left held another Illidari, one who smiled as she realized that friends had come to save her and the others, though ahead of them rested a night elf that was wearing rags and appeared to be beaten up a little bit. Lyra suspected that she, as well as Trixie, knew who the female night elf was, but instead of going towards her Lyra turned towards the cell that her comrade was standing in and opened the door... while at the same time offering her comrade a smile as she walked out of the cell.
"Commander Lyra, I was not expecting to see you in a place like this," Asha Ravensong commented, indicating that she actually never expected to meet Lyra in a prison, not after what happened back in the Vault of the Wardens anyway, "We were on the trail of a dreadlord named Balnazaar. We had strong reason to believe this demon knew the whereabouts of Lord Illidan’s body. Unfortunately, he lured us right into a trap."
"It figures that the Legion would use our master's body as the perfect bait..." Lyra said, annoyed that the Legion would go to such lengths to capture some of the Illidari, but at the same time she had expected some sort of trap once she heard that four of her comrades had been captured, before she sighed, "I originally came here looking for Maiev... then my friends and I ran into Arduen, who asked us to free you and the others... and, unfortunately, he and Sirius didn't make it."
"I’m sorry to hear that both Arduen and Sirius didn’t make it." Asha replied, though there was a hint of anger in her voice, which was what Lyra was feeling at that moment as well, "I will make sure the demons pay for their deaths... just as soon as we're out of this prison."
Lyra stood there for a moment, noticing that the demons that had captured Asha and the others had stolen her warglaives, to which she sighed as she sheathed the Twinblades and reached into her pack... though she followed that up by removing her old warglaives and held them out towards Asha, who took them almost immediately.
"I have been waiting to return those, so they could be given to another demon hunter who was in need of some weapons," Lyra said, though at the same time she closed her pack and faced the door, but she could tell that Asha was pleased to have some weapons again, "but, seeing how we're in enemy territory now, I think you should carry them into battle from now on."
Asha nodded and followed Lyra out of the cell that they were standing in, to which she guarded the opening of the other cell with Trixie and Azuregos... allowing Lyra to walked into the other cell and face the Warden that had imprisoned her and the other Illidari for seven long years.
"For weeks they tried to break me." Maiev commented, almost as if she was discussing the weather, instead of speaking to someone that was about to free her from her cell, "Amateurs! I kept my silence. I counted the minutes, measured their steps, and listened to the voices beyond my cell. I have been waiting for my chance to escape, and to strike back at my captors."
"I am offering you that chance," Lyra stated, causing Maiev's ears to twitch for a moment, before the night elf looked up and noticed who was standing before her, though at the same time Lyra pulled out a bag and set it on the floor infront of the Warden, "You'll find everything you need inside that bag."
With that done Lyra turned around and gave Maiev some privacy, something that she really didn't deserve but still gave it to her anyway, though before long she heard the sound of armor being put on and a weapon moving through the air. She remembered the last time she and Maiev had fought, where the Warden had used the blood of her Havoc Form to lock her in an empowered prison, but hopefully this time around Maiev knew that they wouldn't be doing something like that until the Legion was taken care of. A few moments later she heard a light cough and turned around, to which she found the familiar Warden standing before her, who looked ready for battle.
"Of all the people that I considered being my liberator, I did not expect it to be you." Maiev commented, indicating that she believed that Lyra would have left her here to rot if she had put her mind to it, though Lyra knew that the forces of Azeroth needed Maiev's aid, even if she personally didn't like her, "You brought me my armor and glaive… Thank you, Lyra Heartstrings. Maybe... maybe I was wrong about you."
"There's a war going on and we need every available fighter at the ready," Lyra replied, though at the same time she walked forward and passed by the rest of their group, "The Legion is attempting to locate the Pillars of Creation, of which we currently have two of at the moment, but they have a foothold in Suramar and Lord Illidan's body. There is also a lingering stench of fel energy, Gul'dan's to be exact, in the air around the Hold, though something tells me that he's behind everything that's happened to this place."
"All of your instincts are correct." Maiev stated, following Lyra outside her cell, almost as if the two of them had forgiven each other and were over their hatred for each other, but at the same time they both knew that this was only a temporary truce between them, "Gul’dan raised Lord Ravencrest, and his ghostly army from beyond the grave. Now, they serve the Legion, protecting secrets within the tower. Although Ravencrest commands from above, Lieutenant Desdel Stareye operates the prisons. He tormented me these past few moons, but I did not yield... his life must be ended."
Lyra nodded her agreement, though she had been hoping to just leave the moment she and the others had freed Maiev from her cell, but with one more illidari missing she knew that she and the others would be here for some time until they found whoever else had been captured... and it was at that point that Jarod walked up to the group.
"Little brother." Maiev said, almost sounding surprised to see her brother again, which told Lyra that something serious must have happened between them in the distant past, "You came for me. Even after I tried to k..."
"Never mind that." Jarod insisted, indicating that it was best if Lyra and the others didn't know what had happened between the two siblings, "I heard what happened in the Vault of the Wardens. Luckily my hair can’t get any grayer. Why did you have to chase after demons alone? Thank Elune you’re still alive."
"Well said, brother: we have bigger concerns." Maiev stated, turning towards the passage on their left, which would no doubt take them to where their final target was waiting for them, "Let’s go. Stareye has much to answer for."
Lyra and Maiev, two people that really hated each other, stood at the front of the group as they walked through the passage in front of them, striking the spirit wardens with their weapons while the others hit them with ranged attacks. Considering that their group had doubled in size they were able to make their way towards a cell that was being guarded by two more wardens, though as Maiev fought them off Lyra entered the cell and found a body laying on the floor. She couldn't tell who it was, because the body was nearly unrecognizable due to the torture that had been inflicted upon him, though she guessed that he had died from the wounds that littered his body.
Lyra sighed as she rested a hand on the demon hunter's head, knowing that she and the others would get their revenge on the demons and whoever served them, before she stood up and headed towards the door... where she stopped for a few seconds and glanced back at the corpse for a few more seconds.
"Be at peace, comrade." Lyra said, taking a moment to wipe away the few tears that had returned to her face, before steeling herself and walked out of the cell.
Not a few moments later they found Lieutenant Stareye standing in the middle of a room, though on the other side of the room Lyra spotted a door that had to connect with some piece of land that was outside the Hold, or at the very least outside the prison. Maiev and Jarod attacked Stareye almost immediately, while at the same time all three of them made comments about what was going on, though Lyra merely sighed as she and the others joined in on the fun. Fortunately six enemies seemed to be more than enough to take out Stareye, as he could only focus on one opponent at a time and that allowed the other five to gang up on him when they realized that he wasn't after them. It wasn't a fair fight, not in Lyra's opinion anyway, but she always waved those thoughts away when she fought someone that was allied with the Legion... as there was nothing fair about what the Legion did to the civilizations and the worlds they encountered.
A few minutes later they stood around the corpse of Stareye, or the corpse of his spirit anyway, and all mentally cheered over their small victory, as this was just the beginning of a long war for all of them.
"What a tragic waste." Jarod finally said, breaking the silence that was resting around everyone at the moment, as he couldn't take it anymore and wanted to get out of here, "Even in death, he only wanted to protect our people."
"Over here!" Maiev stated, pointing at the same door that Lyra had spotted when they entered the room, "This sewer will take us back outside. We should go before our enemies regroup."
Lyra and the others nodded their heads and headed through the opening that was in front of them, deciding that they had better not take their chances. Sure, there were six of them now, but there was no telling how many enemies would come looking for them and it was not worth the risk, especially with how tired some of them had to be getting. Fortunately they didn't have to travel for long, because they found an opening of sorts that allowed them to climb out near the graveyard Jarod, Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos had passed by when they first entered Black Rook Hold.
"Lord Stareye came from a noble house, but in war, he never came close to Ravencrest or my brother." Maiev commented, apparently remembering something about the spirit they had defeated, though at the same time Lyra honestly didn't care about Stareye's past, "Now that he is defeated, we can turn our attention to his commander.... however, that will be no easy task. We must gather our strength before facing Lord Ravencrest himself."
"I refuse to believe it." Jarod said, shaking his head for a few seconds, before glancing up at one of the towers that rested above them, "Lord Ravencrest cannot be working with Gul’dan."
"I do not believe it either, brother." Maiev replied, to which she and the rest of the group looked up at the tower as well, meaning that they all knew what the next part of their plan was, though at the same time she still felt the need to voice the plan, "To seek the truth, we’ll have to invade the tower. But it will be no easy task. Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, the two of you should come with me for now. There is something the three of us need to... discuss... before we can start to gather our strength for the fight with Lord Ravencrest."
Lyra and Trixie shared a quick glance with each other, because it appeared that they could finally get back at Maiev for everything she had done to the two of them... though at the same time Lyra suspected that there was more to what they would be doing, based on the way Maiev had said the word 'discuss'. She decided that something was up and should be ready for anything, to which Trixie silently agreed with her statement as they followed Maiev... as they were both eager, and slightly worried, about what the Warden wanted with them.
Lyra wanted to give Maiev a piece of her mind the moment they were all out of the prison that rested beneath Black Rook Hold, though the only reason that she held back was because Trixie insisted on teleporting all six of them to Maiev's preferred destination. At first Lyra assumed that the Warden was going to reply with the island that her vault had been built into, which was likely still overrun with demons searching for any secrets that the other Wardens might have left behind in their rush to leave the prison. For a moment she had to wonder if Cordana, the Warden that had betrayed her sisters and allowed the Legion to take Lord Illidan's body, was still inside the vault... but she eventually shook that thought from her mind and focused on what Maiev was picking as her destination.
What surprised her was the fact that the Warden picked Dalaran, but determined that her decision was a good one, especially since Asha still needed to tell the other Illidari about the two demon hunters that they lost in Black Rock Hold. Trixie and Azuregos, both knowing the spell that would take them to Maiev's destination, nodded their understanding and had everyone hold hands for a moment, though they did so in a manner so that Lyra and Maiev weren't touching each other. When everyone was ready, or rather as ready as they could get at the moment, Trixie and Azuregos channeled the spell and they all jumped from where they were standing and traveled to their destination... arriving in the portal room that would take them to the chamber where the Tidestone and the Tears were being held.
Once they had arrived in Dalaran the group stopped holding hands, to which Asha declared that she was heading back to the Fel Hammer and Jarod had business elsewhere in the city... leaving Lyra, Trixie, Azuregos, and Maiev to their own devices for the moment.
"If you don't mind me asking, what made you pick Dalaran?" Azuregos asked, though at the same time the trio followed Maiev out of the chamber they were in, to which she lead them towards the location that the Council of Six gathered in.
"Despite what I did, to his apprentice no less, Khadgar has remained one of the few mages I can trust with information and to keep certain things a secret," Maiev replied, speaking softly while they walked, though Lyra knew that there could be spies anywhere and knew that the Warden wanted to keep this information between them, "I have news for Khadgar, so he can better advise the leaders of the Order Halls... and that includes the two of you, Lyra Heartstrings and Trixie Lulamoon."
Lyra and Trixie glanced at each other again, because it almost sounded like Maiev had discovered something while she was in the prison, something that could help the various Order Halls with their individual fights with the Legion... which made them both wonder what she had to tell them.
When the group walked into the building that the Council of Six gathered in, however, Lyra secretly admitted to herself that she didn't expect all six of their members to be talking to each other, no doubt discussing the current war they were engaged in and the various victories that they were having across the Broken Isles. She also spied a arcane map that was hidden by one of the walls, one that showed which artifacts had been recovered and which were still unaccounted for, or rather which Pillars had been saved from those that would misuse them. There were other icons on the map, which represented the other continents that existed on Azeroth, though both Lyra and Trixie knew that the Council was making sure the Legion didn't attack somewhere else while the Orders were focused on the Broken Isles.
Lyra actually wondered how long it would be before Khadgar retired from his position and offered his place to Trixie, because she had fought off three Old Gods, defeated creatures like Deathwing and the Lich King, and had killed Archimonde, someone that Lyra and the Illidari were supposed to defeat. She was extremely proud of what her fellow Equestrian was able to accomplish in seven years, though she let out a sigh as she focused on Maiev... who was approaching the Council.
"Ansirem Runeweaver, Modera, Kalec, and Archmages Khadgar, Karlain, and Vargoth," Maiev said, causing the six members of the Council to stop talking with each other and look at their guests, to which Khadgar smiled when he noticed Trixie and Lyra, "Members of the Council of Six, as you know I have been missing ever since the Legion's assault on the Vault of the Wardens, chasing down Gul'dan and the prisoner he stole. The bad news is that I was unable to find and kill Gul'dan, not before the demons trapped me inside the prison beneath Black Rook Hold, where I was eventually freed by the heroes standing behind me. The good news, however, is that I was able to obtain some information that would be... most helpful... in our war against the Legion."
"Is that so?" Khadgar inquired, though when Maiev nodded he turned towards the other members of the Council, who also nodded their heads in agreement, before he beckoned for the group to follow them.
Trixie knew what was happening, because she had only been invited to this special meeting place of the Council of Six three times in the past, each for their own separate occasion, so she was pleased with what they were doing. Khadgar channeled his magic at the top of the stairs, between two specifically designed pillars, and created a portal, one that would take them to the Purple Parlor. It was one of the most secure places, in Dalaran anyway, where the six Council members could speak without anyone spying on what they were saying... though Trixie hoped that Maiev, Azuregos, and Lyra were honored to be allowed into this secret location.
When the portal was complete the six Council members, along with Trixie's group, marched up to the portal and entered it, allowing themselves to be pulled up towards their destination... which was a large room with a good number of chairs and seats.
"Tell us, Lady Maiev," Khadgar said, to which he and the other Council members took a seat at one of the tables, while Trixie's group did the same thing despite the fact that Maiev chose to remain standing, "What did you discover while you were being held captive inside Black Rook Hold?"
"While the spirits of Ravencrest's soldiers tried to torture me, I was visited by a man that called himself 'Mu'," Maiev replied, though at the same time she reached into her armor and pulled something out, something that looked like a small journal of some kind, before she placed it on the table that the Council was sitting at, "he slipped me that journal and said that I needed to get it into the hands of someone important, and that he would be arranging for my release in his own way. I have been hunting demons for a long time and I was able to tell that the man in question had been killed not even ten minutes prior to contacting me... and that he was one of the Nathrezim, a Dreadlord."
"Really?" Lyra asked, because while she had met some demons that despised the Legion, and the Matron Mother was a perfect example of that, she found it hard, if not impossible, to believe that a Dreadlord would willingly give her something and help her escape from her prison, "Have you seen this 'Mu' since he slipped you that journal?"
"Only twice more after we first met," Maiev admitted, meaning that she knew next to nothing about the Dreadlord in question, which didn't sit well with Lyra and the others, "The first time he informed me that his plan was in action and I only needed to wait a little bit longer... though the second time he informed me that the Hold was 'under attack'. The reason I said that I wasn't expecting to be rescued was so I could protect the identity of this mysterious Mu... I figured that we might meet again and he might have more information to share with us. He also mentioned something about that journal possessing information on what the Legion intended on doing to the Order Halls, so you may want to look at what he asked me to pass along."
"You know what Maiev, you are such a hypocrite." Lyra commented, causing everyone to turn towards her for a moment, even the Council members, as they were shocked to hear her say something like that, "Lord Illidan and I, as well as the rest of the Illidari, allied ourselves with demons that hate the Burning Legion and want nothing more than to see Sargeras brought down, but instead you see us as monsters, kill our commander, and then imprison us in your vault for seven long years. You, on the other hand, are simply captured by the Legion and thrown in a prison, where you meet a demon that might actually want to aid us and befriend him... and then you act like there's nothing wrong about what you just did."
"Watch your tongue, demon hunter," Maiev said, turning back to glare at Lyra, though at the same time Lyra growled as she looked at the Warden, "otherwise I might change my mind about you."
"So you'll just imprison me again?" Lyra asked, to which she actually had to chuckle over that, because Maiev was such an idiot at times, before she grew serious once more, "We're at war, my dear Warden, and right now you cannot afford to seal me away, especially since that might turn the entirety of the Illidari against you and whoever agrees with your suggestion. Do you really want to be responsible for the downfall of Azeroth?"
"Do not make such an accusation," Maiev replied in kind, though this time she actually grew her glaive and pointed it at Lyra, who actually smiled for a moment as she reached for her own weapons, "I would rather kill myself than be a part of our planet's downfall."
"Good, because the last person that lied to me ended up dead." Lyra stated, recalling what had happened back in Val'sharah, though at the same time the group glared at her, "I'm sure that all of you are familiar with Ysera, one of the former Dragon Aspects... well, she's dead and I killed her."
"Why would you do such a thing?" Kalec demanded, though at the same time he slammed his fist on the table, as Ysera had been a protector of the world and Lyra had killed her, making him wonder if Maiev was right about her.
"Becasue she was corrupted by Xavius," Trixie stated, knowing full well how Lyra could get when she explained some of these events to over people, or rather how excited and pissed off she could get, "Before that, however, Ysera openly told us that she had seen the return of Xavius coming and had done absolutely nothing to warn any of the druids about his return. As a result we have lost two of the Archdruids that have long watched over Val'sharah, nearly lost the Tears of Elune, had to put down a mad Ysera that was bent on corrupting the entire forest and destroying Xavius' enemies, allowed Malfurion to be captured, and, on top of all that, Xavius has Cenarius and Ursoc in his clutches."
She let the news of their crushing defeat, because in reality they were losing the battle with the Nightmare Lord, sink in for a few seconds, while at the same time seeing that Lyra was still pissed off... even if she wasn't the one that had told everyone the bad news.
"A war on two fronts, between the Nightmare and the Legion." Khadgar commented, to which he let out a sigh as he faced the other members of the Council, "In the end I guess that it was a good thing we had people like you, and the other champions, defending Val'sharah, otherwise we'd be hearing tales of Xavius' return and his conquest of the entire region. But to kill Ysera, who had to be quite powerful despite surrendering most of her power to defeat Deathwing..."
"Its because Lyra's been harnessing the power of both the Fel Magic and Dark Magic at the same time," Trixie replied, knowing that at one point she had mentioned the sinister Dark Magic to her mentor, because he recognized the term almost immediately, while at the same time Lyra looked confused, "Lyra, your anger and hatred towards Ysera allowed you to tap into powers that you aren't ready to use just yet, or at all for that matter... and I'm afraid that you might end up corrupted if you keep using them."
"Then I shall take her to the Isle of the Watchers and make sure she understands the folly of her decision," Maiev commented, to which she turned towards Lyra and beckoned for her to follow, "Come, Lyra Heartstrings. You and I will be getting better acquainted with each other soon enough..."
Lyra grinned as she eagerly followed Maiev out of the Purple Parlor, because she had been awaiting this moment ever since she and her forces had been released from their cells... and this time she intended on beating Maiev into the ground, even if she had to break her opponent's body in the process.
"So, where is this 'Isle of the Watchers' located?" Lyra asked, because while she was excited about the prospect of fighting Maiev, which was the reason she was following the Warden out of the Purple Parlor, she had no idea where this isle was located.
"Off the coast of Azsuna," Maiev replied, not finding it odd that Lyra has asked the question, as Khadgar had asked the same question when she enlisted his aid in opening the portal between the Black Temple and the Vault, "its the same isle that the Vault of the Wardens, where you and the other Illidari were locked away in, happens to have been built into. Since the Vault has been overrun with demons the isle has become an ideal place to train new initiates that wish to become Watchers... especially since so many died in Cordana's raid."
"Watchers?" Lyra inquired, because this was the first time she heard of something like this and temporarily forgot her anger towards the Warden that she was walking behind.
"Basically they are like me, only they are of a lower rank," Maiev answered, though this time she made sure to keep the tone of her voice hidden, meaning that Lyra wouldn't be able to tell if she was annoyed or angry, "We also built a shield of sorts to ensure new trainees don't escape from the island, in case their nerve fails them, and that when they admit defeat they're teleported somewhere safe until the exercise is complete. I intend to use the entire isle as our battleground... even if we won't use all of it."
Lyra grinned once more as she followed the Warden, though as they walked she heard some footsteps behind them, to which she watched as Trixie and Azuregos caught up with them. Trixie quickly explained that she wanted to watch what was coming next, because if either Maiev or Lyra went overboard, and she was fairly sure that something like that would happen, she wanted to stop them before they killed each other. She was fairly sure that if Lyra killed Maiev she would earn the ire of the other Wardens, and those that would replace those that died in the assault on the Vault of the Wardens, and possibly have a bounty placed on her head in the process. If Lyra was the one that died, however, Trixie knew that everyone would be out for Maiev's head, both the Alliance and the Horde, so it was in their best interest if someone made sure that nothing terrible happened while they fought.
Once they returned to Krasus' Landing Maiev had a mount prepared for her, to which she flew off and said that Trixie and Azuregos could follow along if they desired. Azuregos transformed almost immediately, shocking several of the nearby warriors in the process, though their shock was increased even further when Trixie did the same thing. Lyra had to chuckle about that, because not a lot of people in Dalaran knew that Trixie had transformed into a Blue Dragon during their time in Azsuna and that she preferred her new half-dragon form. She also enjoyed the shock looks whenever someone stared at Trixie's hybrid form, as a lot of people had never seen it before, though she knew that people would have stopped her if she hadn't been Khadgar's apprentice.
A few moments later Lyra stopped laughing and climbed onto Trixie's back, to which Trixie and Azuregos took off and followed after Maiev, leaving Dalaran behind and descending towards Azsuna. Lyra found it amusing that they flew over the various areas that they had traveled through some time ago, to which some of the Blue Dragons actually flew up to join them for a few seconds. When they reached the area that some of the demon hunters were still fighting in, to prevent the demons from surging into Azsuna, the Azurewing returned to their home... allowing Maiev and the others to land on the isle that they had been heading towards.
Lyra had to contain her laughter when she saw the initiates, because the moment Trixie and Azuregos landed the Warden trainees backed up and pointed their weapons at the trio, though it only took Maiev's arrival to tell them to back off... allowing Lyra to jump onto the ground and give Trixie some time to revert back to her hybrid form.
"I want everyone off the isle at once," Maiev commented, causing the other Wardens, those that had survived the assault on the Vault, to look at her in what Lyra assumed was shock, though at the same time Maiev pulled her glaive out, "the demon hunter and I need some... privacy."
The other Wardens seemed to understand what Maiev was talking about, because they started ordering the initiates to leave the isle, to which Lyra and her friends watched as the camp they had landed at started to empty almost immediately, leaving them alone with Maiev. As the last initiate left the isle, however, Maiev walked into the nearby tent and tapped a crystal that was resting at the back of it, to which Lyra and her friends watched as a shimmering blue barrier started to rise from the water. The barrier eventually formed a dome over the entire isle, trapping them on the side where all the demons were located, though at the same time that didn't bother Maiev as she faced Lyra and held her weapon at the ready... though as Lyra drew her warglaives Trixie and Azuregos backed away from the pair.
"Ever since I released you from your cell I knew that this day would come," Maiev said, though at the same time she held weapon at the ready, which Lyra mimicked, "Come then, Lyra Heartstrings, let us settle the score and determine who the better fighter really is."
Lyra, instead of wasting time, tapped into her powers and leapt into the air, to which she transformed into her Havoc form and landed near Maiev, where she dashed forward and swung her warglaives at her opponent. Maiev was smart enough to raise her weapon and parry her attacks, but instead of pressing any attack she maintained her defense and studied every move Lyra made. She knew why that was, because now that she was empowered by Dark Magic, which explained how she was able to overpower someone like Ysera, her strength, stamina, and speed were much faster than when she was solely in her empowered demonic form. At one point Maiev decided to go on the offensive and started sending her own attacks in Lyra's direction... along with attempting to rip the Twinblades from Lyra's hands.
After what happened at the summit of the Black Temple, where her weapons were ripped from her hands and tossed to the side, Lyra refused to have her weapons taken from her, to which she ensured that Maiev didn't accomplish what she was planning.
A few seconds later Lyra decided to change things up and started rushing around the area that Maiev was standing in, using her speed to her advantage by keeping Maiev confused, before she appeared somewhere near her target and swung her Twinblades once more. Maiev, following the same attack pattern she had used in the Black Temple, rolled to the side as she avoided the attack, though this time around Lyra had been expecting that and had planned accordingly before she launched her attack. Lyra shifted her stance for a moment and dashed towards her target, following after Maiev at a much faster speed than her opponent might have expected, before she spun around and planted her left hoof in the middle of Maiev's chest. The force of the kick sent Maiev into one of the nearby trees and felled the small piece of wood, though this time Lyra patiently waited for her foe to stand up before they continued their fight... because she wanted the satisfaction of beating Maiev while she was on her feet.
"I'm impressed." Maiev commented, getting back onto her feet as she stared at Lyra, while at the same time gripping her weapon even tighter than she had been moments ago, "Despite how short our first encounter was, you managed to memorize my movements and started planning for the next time the two of us fought each other, in case such a future came to pass. Not many can claim to have memorized my movements, even if its just a fraction of what I am capable of, but you have earned my respect as a proper opponent... Lyra Heartstrings."
"Our battle has only started, Maiev," Lyra replied, though at the same time she held her Twinblades out and prepared herself, because this fight was going to get more exciting in the next couple of seconds, "and I intend to be the victor."
"Despite all your power you will never be able to beat me," Maiev stated, causing Lyra to growl once more, though she had to wonder why her opponent was provoking her all of a sudden, "so long as you rely on the fel energy inside you, and the demonic power that courses through your veins, you will never beat me."
Lyra flared her demonic wings and surged towards Maiev, their weapons colliding with each other for a few seconds and sending sparks in every direction, before the two of them separated from each other and stared at their opponent once more. Maiev studied Lyra for a few seconds, which Lyra did at the same time, before they gripped their weapons and dashed forward again, though this time around they locked their weapons together and struggled against each other, where Maiev stared into Lyra's corrupted eyes as they battled each other. A few seconds later, however, Maiev changed tactics and slammed her foot into Lyra's chest, causing her to stagger backwards, before she spun around and cut two light gashes into Lyra's chest.
In retaliation, however, Lyra swung her right warglaive and cut a light gash into Maiev's chest piece, one that only added to chest piece's number of scars without actually damaging Maiev, though Lyra growled as she backed away. The two remained where they were standing before they surged towards each other, but this time around Maiev wasn't fooling around as she dodged the incoming attack and cut another gash into Lyra's left arm. Lyra growled as a few drops of her blood touched the ground, as she was annoyed that Maiev was still hiding a portion of her power, but it made sense that her power would be great considering that she had to have fought against Lord Illidan... but that didn't stop her from trying to beat her opponent.
Maiev's attacks increased, showing Lyra a bit more of the legendary Warden that everyone spoke about, before she spun around, slipped the center of her glaive around one of Lyra's warglaives, and literally yanked it out of her hand, before repeating the process with the second weapon... leaving Lyra without her weapons once more. Lyra growled as she faced her opponent and prepared herself, because this was where the real battle began... though before they could resume their fight Trixie noticed a blue arcane ball pass through the barrier and approach her. Maiev and Lyra, however, sighed when they noticed the ball, because they both knew that the only person that could get something through the barrier was Khadgar... which meant that he had already discovered something and was immediately telling them before they ended up killing each other.
"Trixie," the ball said, confirming their suspicions that it was Khadgar that was speaking to them, though at the same time Lyra transformed back to her normal form and picked up her warglaives, "I need you, Lyra, and Azuregos to return to Dalaran at once. Something strange has happened and I feel that the three of you should be the first ones the Council informs... I'll explain more when you arrive."
Lyra mentally moaned for a moment, because she had been seriously hoping that she and Maiev could settle their score, but this was the first time that she was cursing the fact that Trixie had such an observant teacher, as he had ruined their match and it would be some time before they could do this again. Trixie seemed annoyed as well, though she and Azuregos silently transformed back into their dragon forms as Maiev lowered the barrier, to which Lyra climbed onto Trixie's back. Once she was in place they got into the air and waited for the barrier to completely fall apart, before they headed towards Dalaran as Maiev moved towards where her forces had been staring at the isle, so she could tell them to resume their training.
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos had to wonder what was so important about what Khadgar found, especially since they had been in the city not ten minutes ago, when they gave him and the Council their report... but they knew that they would find out soon enough, and Lyra was bound to have some words for the Archmage for ruining her rematch.
Lyra was a tad bit annoyed by the fact that she and Maiev couldn't finish their battle with each other, though at the same time she knew that Khadgar must have discovered something important for him to stop them like that. She could tell that Trixie was pleased that she and Maiev hadn't killed each other, though at the same time Lyra eventually decided to take a deep breath and calm her mind. She knew that her anger wasn't going to help her in the near future, though as she relaxed she could feel the darkness and the fel powers receding, as she hadn't felt them before now and realized that her anger had been keeping her blind to what was happening to her. Lyra also swayed for a moment, finding that the exposure to both corrupting types of magic had weakened her for a moment, though she focused her mind as Trixie and Azuregos flew up to Krasus' Landing.
When they landed Lyra still found time to chuckle at the people who were surprised by the fact that Trixie was a dragon, something that she was sure she would find funny for days to come, before her companions reverted back to their mortal forms... to which they made their way back towards the building that the Council had been standing in, though they were near the original opening and not in the Purple Parlor.
"Trixie, Lyra, Azuregos, thank you for coming back so quickly." Khadgar said, though at the same time the trio discovered that the other Council members weren't present at the moment, meaning that they were still discussing what they had found in the journal that Maiev had brought to them, "I have a matter of some urgency that requires all of your unique talents... those of a demon hunter, a mage that possess Aluneth, and a Blue Dragon."
"Is that so?" Azuregos inquired, because this sounded promising, especially since they had dealt with the naga forces, a large amount of demons, the Wrath of Queen Azshara, and a fair number of Xavius' forces, "What have you discovered?"
"The Order of the Silver Hand has reported that an extraordinarily luminescent object has emerged from the Felstorm and is currently falling towards the coast of Suramar." Khadgar replied, though that was followed by the trio raising their eyebrows, because if something was emerging from the Felstorm they expected it to be covered in fel energy, "What I find most curious about this occurrence is that the object was reported as having 'cut a swath' through the Felstorm itself. Since the Council is busy investigating what's in the journal that Maiev brought us, meaning that we'll be busy for some time, we need someone to check out what this strange object is... so will you investigate the object for us?"
"Of course we will," Trixie answered, to which Lyra and Azuregos simply nodded their heads, though Lyra had the feeling that the object had something to do with defeating the Legion.
"Good, then I shall have a gryphon rider take you to the area that the object was last seen in," Khadgar said, to which he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something on it with a nearby quill, before he held it out for Trixie to take, "That will tell Aludane Whitecloud what one of his riders needs to do, but you can take a few minutes to relax before you follow after the mysterious object.. or you can go now, if you would like to get underway immediately. I will also inform the other leaders of the other Orders that you three are checking out this disturbance, along with your followers as well."
The trio shared a glance with each other before they nodded, because something that could cut through the Felstorm was something that they needed to check out, to which Lyra was actually happy to have her sparring match interrupted in such a manner. Trixie took the sheet that her mentor was holding out for her and beckoned for the others to follow her, to which they left Khadgar in the chamber and began the walk over to where Aludane was waiting, no doubt sending the other heroes to Highmountain and Stormheim. They all knew that the remaining two Pillars of Creation, the Hammer and the Aegis, would be discovered in no time, so them focusing on this mysterious object was just fine... especially since the Legion would be interested in it once they discovered its existence.
They found Aludane sending another shaman to Highmountain, who was apparently following a trio of hunters, before he turned towards the trio... though he sighed when he read the letter and had one of his riders saddle up.
"Be on your guard, heroes." Aludane stated, though at the same time his rider came out with his gryphon, to which the rider mounted his steed and nodded his head, "Suramar is a dangerous place. My rider will escort you to the exact location of this mysterious object and ensure that you start the search for it, but then he'll return once the area is clear."
As the rider took off Trixie and Azuregos shifted back into their dragons forms almost immediately, though once Lyra was on Trixie's back they took off, following after the gryphon rider as they flew towards Suramar, where Lyra could see Felsoul Hold in the distance. As the group flew over the land they all had to admit that, despite the presence of the Legion and the corruption that followed the demons, the land of Suramar looked beautiful in some places, mysterious in other areas, and downright deadly everywhere.
"Keep your wits about you, heroes." the rider shouted to the trio, who turned their attention away from the land below them and turned it back towards him for a moment, "If you and the Archmage noticed this object shooting out from the Felstorm, then I'm willing to bet that the Legion did as well."
"Look there, to the north!" Trixie called out, to which she and the others gazed upon a magnificent structure that contained the same aspects as the rest of the city they were flying over, "Gaze upon the Nighthold of Suramar! I wonder what sort of secrets the Highborne are keeping inside the Nighthold..."
Lyra was amazed that Trixie recognized the structure, but she figured that it made sense considering that to the right of them rested a nearly identical structure, though the second one was covered in fel green energy. She realized that she was staring at the Tomb of Sargeras, where the massive portal that Gul'dan had opened was located, and it was only when she realized what the building was that she felt the immense fel energy in the air.
"Amazing! Ancient Highborne ruins litter the landscape." Trixie continued, spying even more structures beneath them, while at the same time displaying the vast amount of knowledge she had learned over the years, "And there along the coast, it looks to be a Vrykul settlement! Fascinating."
Lyra chuckled for a moment, because she had known that, given enough time, Trixie would have turned into Twilight Sparkle, as the lavender alicorn had her nose in a book almost all the time, though that was how she managed to become an alicorn in the first place. She reflected on what Twilight did, completing an incomplete spell developed by Starswirl the Bearded, and had to wonder if the fact that she and Trixie had wings made them alicorns as well. That thought would have made her laugh, because she could imagine the look on Twilight's face when they returned to Equus with their new forms and their new abilities... but before she could follow that train of though she noticed something flash through the sky, something that looked like a magical afterimage of the mysterious artifact.
"There it is!" the rider called out, to which Trixie and Azuregos nodded as they began their descent towards the beach in front of them, "While you search for the artifact I'll head back to Dalaran and inform the Archmage that you have picked up the trail."
As the trio landed, and Trixie and Azuregos reverted back to their mortal forms, the rider took off and left them to their own devices, to which they faced the area in front of them and focused on what they were going to do next.
"Somewhere in those murky waters is our mysterious object." Lyra commented, though at the same time she smiled for a moment, because she had learned to overcome certain matters while she was training with the other demon hunters, "Time to get our feet wet."
Trixie seemed surprised by the fact that Lyra was so willing to get in the water and search for the mysterious object, especially since she hadn't done any of the strange and unusual quests that she had gone through over the years, but she was glad to find that her friend was willing to do so. Azuregos also nodded his head, confirming that getting in the water and getting wet was worth it considering that they had no idea what this object was, save for the fact that it cut a path through the Felstorm earlier. The moment they agreed on what they were doing the trio walked into the water and eventually submerged themselves, to which they swam over to where the image of the object had landed.
As they neared the site, however, Lyra discovered that the object was nowhere to be seen and that there were some aquatic goblins, who attacked them on sight, guarding the area where the mysterious object had been... though at the same time they defended themselves as they looked for any signs of where the object could have been taken.
It’s not here. Lyra thought to herself, though while she cut one of the aquatic goblins down she spotted a cave nearby, which had one of their enemies swimming out of the entrance, Those beasts must have dragged the object into that cave!
Lyra beckoned to the cave and both of her companions nodded their heads, indicating that they were thinking the same thing, before they started swimming towards the entrance while the aquatic goblins left them alone for some reason. When they entered the cave, and were able to breath again, Lyra quickly found out why the aquatic goblins had left them alone, because there was a sea giant sleeping in the middle of the cave... and he was holding the object they had been searching for.
"There it is... though the sea giant is holding it." Trixie whispered, keeping her voice low so that the sea giant didn't hear them at the moment, while at the same time they pulled themselves out of the water, "There’s only one way to separate a giant, be it a sea giant or one of the other types of giants, from its treasure..."
"Yeah... death." Lyra replied, to which she pulled the Twinblades out as she silently approached the slumbering sea giant, while at the same time Trixie and Azuregos stood back and prepared their magic for when the fight had started.
Lyra, deciding that time was of the essence, transformed into her Havoc form and slammed down on the sea giant's stomach, causing it to roar in pain as it woke up from its slumber, while at the same time Lyra jumped off of it and cut into its arm. As she dodged the punches at the sea giant sent at her, and delivered her own cuts to her opponent, Trixie and Azuregos launched their spells, which struck their target in his chest and head. Fortunately this particular sea giant wasn't as powerful as the ones that they had fought in Azsuna, as it didn't have any of the powers that the others had, which meant that the trio were able to defeat the sea giant in a minute or two.
When the sea giant collapsed on the ground, and Lyra finally returned to normal as well, the hand that had been holding the mysterious object opened, allowing the trio to gather around the object and study it for a moment. The object radiated a light of some kind, one that was faint from having to use its powers to cut through the Felstorm, though Lyra looked at the jagged edges and the overall shape of the object. She had heard a tale or two about the Naaru, from Lord Illidan when she was taking a break from her training, and recalled that the strange creatures had strange chest like areas that seemed identical to what they were seeing... only this one seemed even more important than anything she had ever seen before.
Trixie, after studying the object for a few more moments, directed her power to the area on her left, to which she opened a portal to Dalaran, allowing them to travel back to the city with the object, which required both Lyra and Azuregos to carry before they entered the portal. Once they were back in the city, however, Trixie felt the magic in the air and directed them to where they had stored the Pillars of Creation, where they eventually found Khadgar standing in one of the side rooms, studying some of the books that were located in this particular area. He turned his attention away from all of the books when he heard the trio approach him, though that didn't stop him from looking at the object with a mix of curiosity and interest on his face.
"Most curious indeed!" Khadgar commented, looking over the mysterious object as the group placed it on the ground in front of him, while at the same time they continued to look at it as well, "This is no object of the Legion's making. Let me have a closer look."
The moment Khadgar reached for the object, however, the light the trio had seen returned for a moment, to which the object lifted itself into the air until it was floating... though that was followed by the image of a man, one that was sort of obscured from their sight, appeared in front of the mysterious object.
"Azeroth..." the man said, though his tone indicated that he was someone of important status, which told Lyra that this might very well be what they were looking for, "I pray that this, the final plea of the Army of the Light, has reached you intact. The thousand years' war has reached its peak, but the nightmare is far from over. This vessel represents our ultimate sacrifice. It must reach the Prophet. He... is the key."
Trixie's eyes widened for a moment, because there was only one person, in all of Azeroth, that bore the title of 'Prophet', and that was Velen, the leader of the Draenei that had crashed on this planet so many years ago.
"None of us asked for this burden," the man continued, indicating that this was definitely a recording and that he only paused to catch his own breath while he was making this message, "but it is what fate has deemed. Succeed, and the Light may yet endure. Fail, and all worlds... will burn!"
With that last bit of the message said the image of the man disappeared and the object floated back to the ground until its lowest peak touched the floor... though at the same time the group was a little shocked by what the man had said, save for Khadgar at the moment.
"We will not fail," Khadgar said, his voice filled with determination, which Trixie had heard multiple times since she had first become his apprentice, while at the same time he continued to stare at the object, "Turalyon."
Trixie's eyes widened yet again, because Turalyon was one of the legendary heroes of the Alliance, as his likeness had been turned into one of the statues that stood on the bridge that people used to enter Stormwind. There were five total statues on the bridge, two of the left, two of the right, and one standing beside the split in the path, allowing people to enter the city from whichever side they wanted. When approaching the city the statues on the left were those of Kurdran Wildhammer, the Thane of Aerie Peak, and Khadgar himself, while on the right were the statues of Force Commander Danath Trollbane and Ranger-Captain Alleria Windrunner. At the end of the main road, just before it split, stood the statue of General Turalyon, military leader of the expedition that traveled to the other side of the Dark Portal in an attempt to seal off the dimensional gateway.
Popular belief had been that all five of those heroes had died on the other side of the Dark Portal, but Trixie knew that, after meeting him, that Khadgar had survived, especially since she was his apprentice now, and that Kurdran and Danath had survived as well. Since Turalyon and Alleria had remained missing everyone assumed that they had actually died, but now, with another of the original five appearing before them, she had to wonder if all five of them had survived and were waiting to show themselves.
"Turalyon lives!" Khadgar commented, to which he turned to the group for a moment, where they could see that he was happy to hear the news, "For ages I had thought that my old friend had perished on some desolate Legion world. But to know that he yet lives and is in danger is too much to bear. We must hurry. We must uncover the object’s sacred purpose. The prophet of whom Turalyon spoke of is undoubtedly the leader of the draenei, Velen. Take the object and journey to the Exodar. It is there that you will find Prophet Velen. I will open a portal for you now. Take my beacon and use it when you are ready to return."
Lyra grinned as she shoved the object into her bag, while at the same time ignoring how a large object could be shrunken and stored in her bag, because now it appeared that they might actually have a chance at beating the Legion... and all they had to do was figure out what the object had to tell them.
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos stood near Khadgar as he worked his magic into the air in front of them, to which a portal to the Exodar formed in in front of one of the bookshelves. The reason they knew that it was the Exodar was because Trixie confirmed that the image on the other side of the portal resembled the downed ship that she had been to several times to understand how such a ship could even fly through the vastness of space. Lyra wasn't too shocked by the idea of someone using spaceships, as she understood that the Legion had ships like that and she and her forces had taken over the Fel Hammer when they assaulted Mardum. Azuregos, on the other hand, was a little shocked by that information, though in the end he accepted what he was being told, because he had seen enough strange events to last a lifetime... and he was sure that they were far from over.
Once the portal was complete, and Trixie was sure that she had the beacon her mentor had handed her, the trio stepped through the gateway and headed to Azuremyst Isle... though when they arrived, and Lyra laid eyes on the large ship that had crashed into the ground, they found that the ship and its inhabitants were under attack by the Legion.
"We make our last stand at the Vault of Lights!" a voice called out, one that sounded like a leader telling their soldiers what they were doing, while at the same time informing everyone else where they were located, "If you can make your way here you will find sanctuary, although I cannot say for how long…"
The trio looked at each other for a moment before determining that Prophet Velen was alive and that his people were currently under siege by whoever the Legion had sent to attack the Exodar, to which they charged into the opening in front of them and headed down the passage that they discovered. A few moments later, when they entered the main chamber, they discovered that demons were roaming the halls and were searching for people, the draenei, to capture, kill, or even torture until their wills broke. Trixie knew that if someone was tortured long enough they would eventually crack and fall into darkness, though that all depended on what the torturer used to inflict pain on the captured victim... and she suspected that Velen was the target in this case.
"Did your visions foretell of this day, Prophet?" a second voice shouted, one that Lyra immediately recognized as one of the eredar that served Sargeras, which made her grip the Twinblades a little tighter than usual, "Did you see our coming? 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!"
"That demon's not here to capture or torture Prophet Velen," Lyra commented, though at the same time she had a burning desire to find this eredar and put him down, preferably by ripping his black heart from his chest and allowing the warglaives to take his soul, "he's here to kill everyone... and likely blow the entire place to pieces."
Trixie nodded and lead the way through the Exodar, which was understandable considering that she was the only one with any experience with the area they were in at the moment, but at the same time Lyra made sure to kill each and every demon that they encountered along the way. It actually didn't take them too long to reach the area of the ship that Velen had told them that he and the others would be gathering in, though when they reached the Vault of Lights they spotted demons charging at a barrier of Light... where they disentigrated into nothing, but at the same time the action weakened the barrier a little bit. Lyra had seen this tactic before, as some demons did the same thing against the arcane barriers that mages used, and she instantly knew how to fix this mess.
"Prophet Velen!" Trixie called out, though at the same time the trio walked through the barrier and approached the leader of the draenei, who was powering the barrier with his own energies.
"Trixie Lulamoon! Fate has delivered you, and your companions, to us in this most dire time!" Prophet Velen replied, though despite the fact that he was under a great deal of strain the trio could hear that he was pleased to see them all, even Lyra for that matter, "While I sense that your mission is urgent, if we do not push back these invading demons, we will all perish. This barrier protecting my people requires all of my energy and focus. I am afraid you must venture into the demon infested halls alone. Please, search for survivors and eliminate the Legion invasion point portals that you find across the Exodar. You must hurry. I do not know how much longer I can keep this barrier active!"
Fortunately for the draenei of the Exodar, however, Lyra already knew what to do in this situation and immediately moved forward to ensure the safety of the citizens that were under attack, which involved her heading to the right of where the Prophet was standing and attacked the demons that controlled that area. The felguards that were guarding the portal she had targeted attacked her the moment she was near them, though considering what the demons were doing Lyra attacked faster and harder than she usually did, to which she cleaved her opponents into pieces and raised her Twinblades into the air... where the energies inside the blades ripped the demonic portal to pieces.
Once the portal was destroyed, however, some of the warriors of the Light claimed the area for themselves and promised to defend it until she and her companions turned back the tide... to which she beckoned for her friends to go down the other path while she went down this path. She walked into the area known as the Crystal Halls, which she got from one of the signs, and attacked the demons that were in the area, who turned and attacked her the moment they noticed that she was there. She had already known that the demons wanted her dead, as every demon she had encountered since Mardum mentioned something about wanting her dead and torturing her soul, so she was just fine with what was happening.
As she carved the demons into pieces, and shattered their portals with the might of the Twinblades, she called for any of the innocent civilians to run passed her while the way was open, to which she smiled as the draenei civilians ran towards the tunnel and headed towards where the Prophet was waiting. At one point she realized that there was another tunnel that appeared to have some people fighting for their lives, where she charged at the demons that were in front of her and cut them down before she reached the shamans that were under attack.
"The Exodar shook from the force of the Legion’s arrival." one of the shaman, who Lyra suspected was the leader of this group, stated, though at the same time Lyra knew that more demons would be coming this way, "Before we could react, demons were running rampant through the halls, slaughtering everything in their path. If it were not for the Prophet, we would have all perished in the initial assault. I was charged with evacuating the Crystal Hall, which is when my Broken and I were separated from the main force. We fell back into the collapsed hall to make our last stand. With your aid, we may survive this invasion."
Lyra nodded her head and stood beside the Broken, though the first wave of demons that attacked them were just an army of imps and wyrmtongue, the demons that the Legion used as pack mules and slave labor, to which Lyra simply attacked them and let the shaman rest until the actual threat showed their faces. After a minute or two of fighting the lesser demons, and allowing the Twinblades to consume their souls, Lyra heard the voice of the demon commander calling for the felguards and doomguards to attack them, to which she smiled as a larger force came and attacked them. Now that she knew about the Dark Magic that coursed through her veins, and that it could empower her, she let the mist return to her eyes and resumed her fight against the attacking demons... where she scattered their severed body parts while the shamans blasted them with their elemental attacks.
After another few minutes she spotted a new wave of enemies coming her way, eredar using flying disks to avoid touching the ground and the felblades that they had encountered back in Stormwind Keep when they tried to slaughter the newly crowned King and the other leaders of the Alliance. Even with the Dark Magic empowering her Lyra knew that even she could fall to an army of demons, but fortunately all of her enemies always made a mistake and she cut them down accordingly... until the leader of the attackers, a Pit Lord, walked up the path and assaulted their position. The Pit Lord, who called himself Karzak, insisted that he would be the one to break Lyra's will and force her to submit to the Legion... to which Lyra transformed into her Havoc form, slammed into the ground in front of the demon, and engaged him in battle almost immediately.
Within a few minutes of a terribly predictable battle, however, Lyra stood on the corpse of Karzak and let the Twinblades drink in the demon's soul, thus empowering them further while Lyra wondered if it was time to visit her forge and truly empower her weapons again.
"You have my thanks, and the gratitude of the Broken, hero." the leader of the shaman, who she learned was called Farseer Nobundo, commented, though Lyra rubbed the back of her head, because it was still taking some time getting used to being called a hero, especially after a lot of people announced their dislike for her and the Illidari, "Many would have considered us an acceptable loss, yet you have shown us great compassion and kindness. An act that I... we... will not soon forget. Now we will return to the Vault of Lights and assist Velen as best we can."
Lyra nodded and beckoned for the shaman to follow her, to which they moved as a group and headed back through the path she had cleared to reach this area to begin with, though when they reached the area Lyra found that Trixie and Azuregos had returned to the Prophet... who was patiently waiting for Nobundo's return before he said anything.
"Divinius. Trixie Lulamoon and her companions have crushed the incursion." Prophet Velen said, to which the draenei in question approached him for a moment, indicating that a command had to be coming, "Now is the time to take the Chosen and finish off the leftover demonic taint within our halls. Secure the Exodar for our people once more!"
"As you command, Prophet!" Divinius, a female draenei paladin, replied, though at the same time she and her Chosen saluted their leader before they charged out of the barrier, which Velen dropped the moment he realized that it was no longer needed.
"I fear we have but a moment, heroes." Prophet Velen stated, though Lyra and the others already knew this, as they hadn't encountered the leader of the invasion since they started their counterattack, "Rakeesh, the leader of this attack, is still here... somewhere... and he must be stopped if my people are to find peace again. I know that you have ventured far to find me and have brought with you a dire message. In your possession is an object of great importance. May I see it?"
"Of course," Trixie said, to which she beckoned to Lyra for a moment, who reached into her pack and pulled the mysterious object out, before placing it on the ground in front of the Prophet.
Prophet Velen stared at the object for a moment, as if it was taking him some time to understand what he was seeing, but when his eyes widened the group knew that he already knew what he was staring at... especially when he glanced up at the three of them.
"Mother of Light!" Prophet Velen exclaimed, to which he picked up the object and cradled it like it was a baby, "I… I am sorry. I did not know. Champion, we have to go. NOW! I will explain on the way there."
"Prophet Velen, what is this object exactly?" Azuregos asked, though at the same time the trio followed after Velen, who was bringing them towards the middle of the Exodar, where Trixie informed them that a ramp existed that could take them down into a very special chamber.
"What you have brought to me is known as Light’s Heart. It is the sentience core of the Naaru Prime: Xe’ra." Prophet Velen explained, though the moment he mentioned that the object belonged to a Naaru, a Prime one at that, the group knew that they had found something incredibly important, "Locked away within the 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. This is why you were sent here. This is 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. If they destroy O’ros, the information within Light’s Heart will be lost forever."
"UNGUARDED?!" Lyra nearly shouted, because after the failure of Ysera she had expected everyone to be much smarter, but to leave someone like O'ros unguarded, especially while the ship was under attack, made her rethink everything she knew about the Prophet.
"For a prophet you are doing a very poor job of making predictions…" Rakeesh shouted, stopping anyone from replying to Lyra's rage, as Trixie knew the last thing they needed was an annoyed Lyra at the moment.
It was at that point that the group heard a bitter melody fill the air, one that told Lyra that someone was attacking the defenseless Naaru and that the creature was definitely in pain.
"HAH! It makes music when you beat it!" Rakeesh shouted, as if he didn't care that everyone could hear him, which just annoyed Lyra even more than before, "What a delightful creature! I will enjoy ending its existence."
"Light damn him!" Prophet Velen declared, surprising Trixie by his sudden outburst of rage, as she had never seen him like this before, "I will guide us to the heart of the vessel. Stay within my protective barrier as I cleanse the fel taint from the pathway."
The trio nodded as they were enveloped in the protective barrier and followed Prophet Velen down the pathway, where they watched as the fel taint was removed... though when they reached the bottom they discovered Rakeesh standing in front of the Naaru that the Prophet called O'ros.
"We have made it in time!" Prophet Velen said, though he did so lightly, as to make sure that Rakeesh didn't notice their arrival, though at the same time he prepared himself to do something important, "By the grace and glory of the Light, I will heal O’ros. Then we will deal with Rakeesh."
The trio watched as the Holy light gathered around Prophet Velen once more, to which it grew for a few seconds until it seemed like he was ready to burst... though at the last second he directed the healing power of his spell at O'ros and the wounds healed immediately, to which Rakeesh turned and faced them with a look of annoyance on his face.
"You have lost, Rakeesh!" Prophet Velen declared, though at the same time Trixie, Lyra, and Azuregos drew their weapons and stood at the ready so they could begin the battle with their enemy, "O’ros is renewed and now you must answer for the atrocities you have committed!"
"Ah, the fated heroes have arrived. It would appear that you have bested me, Velen. But before I surrender and face the judgment of the Light there is one last thing I must do." Rakeesh said, holding up his hands in defeat for a moment, though that was before a large fel robot, like one of the Reavers that Lyra had seen in the Outlands, erupted from the air above O'ros and landed behind the Naaru, before destroying the Naaru in an instant, "Can you know victory without first knowing defeat? Come. Fail. Die."
Lyra growled as she witnessed the death of O'ros, which meant that whatever knowledge that Xe'ra had sent to them had just been lost forever, to which she immediately transformed into her Havoc form again and slammed into the chest of the Reaver. Trixie and Azuregos, shocked by her sudden transformation into her Dark Magic empowered Havoc form, focused their magic on bringing down the Reaver as well, while Velen focused on targeting Rakeesh. Lyra's empowered form allowed her to cut gashes into the large machine that Rakeesh had called into the Exodar, though Lyra grinned as she severed one of the arms and tore the heart out of the robot... forcing Rakeesh to the ground.
Unfortunately the robot was still ticking and was trying to do something, though at the same time Trixie and Azuregos joined Prophet Velen in attacking Rakeesh.
"You think you’ve won?" Rakeesh shouted, clearly annoyed that his machine had fallen, though at the same time Lyra detected that her opponent hadn't been informed of her new power, "You will know the taste of defeat, even if it means my own death! From the mouth of Argus comes your doom! For soon the annihilator will have its fill and detonate with the force of a collapsing star! Nothing but ash will be left where we stand!"
"No, this is all wrong." Prophet Velen said, though at the same time he seemed to realize something, while Lyra and her companions continued their fight against their opponent," I… I have been here before, but that would mean… IT CANNOT BE! Heroes, we musn’t kill Rakeesh! Stop! Please!"
"He’s left us no choice, Prophet Velen!" Trixie stated, staring at the machine for a brief few seconds, as she was surprised that it was still gathering the energy of Argus in order to detonate, "If we don’t destroy the machine this place and every living soul inside will be annihilated!"
"If you will not spare him then I must stop..." Prophet Velen started to say, but Lyra detected something stupid coming from his mouth and dashed up to him, to which she kicked him in the chest and knocked him backwards, hard enough to stop him from enacting his stupid plan without breaking his ribs and heart.
Once that was done the trio turned their attention back to Rakeesh and his machine, to which Lyra focused on the demon while Trixie and Azuregos focused on the robot. Fortunately the two mages were able to figure out how to completely destroy the machine without setting off its charge, which was absorbed back into Argus somehow before the portal above their heads disappeared. The moment the robot was taken care of Lyra dealt the killing blow to their opponent, who staggered backwards until he stood where his machine had been.
"It will be your faces that I see in my last waking moments." Rakeesh stated, though at the same time Velen heard what was going on and approached them, "A final agonizing memory before I am turned to ash and cast into oblivion. I welcome it…"
"You asked me if I foresaw this day, child." Prophet Velen said, though at the same time he pretty much discarded Light's Heart, to which Lyra remained next to it, just in case there was something more they had to do with it.
"What’s wrong with the Prophet?" Azuregos asked, though at the same time Trixie shrugged, because she had never seen Velen like this and she was shocked by what she was both seeing and hearing.
"I… I did… And until this moment I did not understand." Prophet Velen admitted, though at the same time the trio heard a hint of sadness in his voice, a sadness that he must have been holding in for a long time, "In a time that is now just a whisper of a memory, I had a son. On the day of his birth, a vision came to me. In that vision I saw myself weeping as I held a dying eredar in my arms. His skin fel-pocked and battle-scarred. Like yours… But I buried that vision after Kil’jaeden took my family from me, and for eons let it be lost in the darkest recesses of my being. Now, finally, as I hold you in my arms, I understand."
Lyra's eyes widened as she realized that Kil'Jaeden, Archimonde, and Sargeras had stolen not only Velen's people from him, but also his family, and had twisted all of them into monsters that were bent on hunting the universe until they found the planet that Velen had run off to. It angered her to no end, because she could only begin to imagine the pain that the Prophet had felt when that day happened, though before anyone could say anything they watched as Velen closed Rakeesh's eyes and turned to face him.
"Trixie Lulamoon, here is nothing left here for you and your companions." Prophet Velen said, though at the same time he beckoned to Light's Heart, which Lyra was already holding onto at the moment, "Take Light’s Heart and return to Khadgar. Tell him… Tell him that the Light died here this day. Farewell."
Trixie felt terrible for Velen, she really did, but at the same time she was devastated by the fact that they had just lost a piece of knowledge, maybe the only real knowledge, that could help them bring an end to the Legion and their dark master. With a sigh of defeat she pulled out her mentor's beacon and activated it, to which a portal back to Dalaran formed in the area in front of her, but this time they knew that they would be returning with terrible news this time.
"And that's what happened in the Exodar." Trixie concluded, wrapping up everything that there was to tell about their trip to the crashed ship, especially after Lyra added her bits into the story as well.
"Kil’jaeden took the child from Velen, let Velen believe that the boy had been killed, then raised the child as an agent of the Burning Legion with the express purpose of murdering his own father?" Khadgar commented, though it was clear that he was shocked and annoyed by everything that he had heard so far, "That bastard waited 13,000 years to exact vengeance upon Velen for defying Sargeras and the Legion? The Deceiver indeed… For Velen to have to experience such tragedy after what he and his people have already been through is heartbreaking. Such a thing would test anyone’s faith."
"So what do we do now?" Lyra asked, because she was sure that they could continue to gather the Pillars of Creation, but even if they did the Legion would still be out there, seeking to destroy another planet.
"'You did not ask for this burden, but it is what fate has deemed.”' Turalyon’s haunting last words still echo in my mind." Khadgar said, to which he sighed for a moment, "I worry about the fate of the draenei… about the fate of my friend, Velen: but we must remain vigilant! For now, Light’s Heart remains under your watchful eye. There is one place on Azeroth that I would trust with the safekeeping of the object: one of your order halls. Take Light's Heart there and keep it safe... I will remain in Dalaran and continue looking for answers. There must be another way!"
Lyra had no idea what to do in the case of Light's Heart at this point, but she knew that she could kill some more demons and do some missions for the Illidari... and maybe discover something important while she was at it.
"Okay, so where are we going to store Light's Heart?" Lyra asked, though at the same time she glanced at the strange looking heart that was resting on the ground in front of them, while wondering what Xe'ra looked like with the object resting at the center of her being.
"Well, we can either place it in the Hall of the Guardian or the Fel Hammer," Trixie replied, though even as she spoke she knew what was coming, or suspected what her companion was going to say, "Personally, I'm against letting something so valuable rest in a Legion world, even if that world was taken by you and the Illidari seven years ago and held by the forces that were left behind. The Fel Hammer is the most dangerous place to hide Light's Heart, because the Legion will be expecting that to happen since you and I attacked their forces in the Exodar."
"Actually, putting it in the Fel Hammer would be a genius move," Lyra countered, to which she held up a hand to stop Trixie from arguing with her, "Think about this, the object is known as 'Light's' Heart, meaning that it might have some connection to the Light that both the paladins and the priests study and worship. The Legion will be expecting Light's Heart to go to either of those orders, and wherever their Order Halls are located, and likely wont be expecting us to send something so valuable to a Legion world. Trixie, we can hide it from the Legion until we have figured out a way to access the vast knowledge that the Army of the Light was trying to send to us... and turn the tide against Sargeras."
Trixie opened her mouth to say what was on her mind, and try and convince her companion that putting such an important artifact inside a Legion ship, on a Legion world no less, was a bad move... though Azuregos placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, indicating that it wasn't worth arguing. It also told her that the disguised dragon agreed with Lyra, though after a few seconds she guessed that Lyra might have a point in hiding Light's Heart in the one place where the Legion wouldn't expect it to be stored in.
"Fine, you can take Light's Heart to the Fel Hammer," Trixie replied, though at the same time she tapped Aluneth on the ground and gathered her magic around her, while making sure that Azuregos was standing next to her, "I'm going to head to the Hall of the Guardian and see if there is anything else that my followers can tell me about the other regions in the Broken Isles... just in case we missed something."
Lyra nodded and watched as Trixie used her magic to teleport herself, along with Azuregos, to the Hall of the Guardian, indicating that she believed that Azuregos would make a great recruit for her order while confirming that she was leaving Light's Heart behind. Lyra then let out a sigh as she picked up Light's Heart and carefully stored it back in her bag, before respectfully bowing to Khadgar as she departed from the building the Council of Six gathered in. She carefully made her way through the streets of Dalaran, making sure to keep an eye out for anything and everything that was out of place, before she arrived at Krasus' Landing. Once she arrived at the landing she looked at the other heroes that were gathering around the flight master, talking with each other about what was happening in Highmountain and Stormheim, where the other two Pillars were hiding.
She found it a little amusing that she, Trixie, and Azuregos managed to defeat Queen Azshara's forces, defy the will of Xavius, rescue Maiev from her prison, and recover two of the Pillars of Creation, while at the same time all the other heroes hadn't gotten close to finding the Hammer or the Aegis... to which she sighed as she jumped into the air and unfurled her wings, allowing her to glide down to where the portal to the Fel Hammer stood. Once she landed on the small floating piece of ground, and made sure that no one was following her, she stepped through the portal and crossed the vastness of space... where she stepped out of the other side a few seconds later and smiled as she gazed upon the Fel Hammer, and her comrades, once more.
Kor'vas approached her and inquired if something was wrong, because she could feel a slight disturbance in the fel energy that resided inside Lyra, to which Lyra told her what she and Trixie had found earlier, along with what she was carrying in her bag. Kor'vas then beckoned to an indent that rested near where the universal map was located, which would allow her to put the artifact somewhere where she could easily keep an eye on it when she returned to the Fel Hammer. Lyra had no idea that the spot even existed, as the last times she had been in his place she had been busy fighting or too focused on helping her followers, but she determined that it was the best place to set down Light's Heart... though as she did so she could have sworn that she felt some hope return to her.
"I heard a rumor that you are going to attempt to make contact with Illidan's immortal demon soul in the Twisting Nether." Lyra heard a voice behind her say, though when she turned around she discovered that the voice belonged to the Matron Mother, but at the same time she had no idea what the demon was even talking about, "You are going to need many magical things. I have taken the luxury of putting together a potential list for you. I do so hope that it proves helpful, gorgeous."
As it turned out that she could send some followers on a mission and gather several of the more important, and hard to find, fel components without her going out into the world and spending hours searching for an item she may or may not even know the appearance of. Fortunately both Kayn and Asha, along with a Broken Warrior as backup, were more than willing to take this mission on, though Lyra noted that the command center of the Fel Hammer also told her which region of the Broken Isles they would be going to. She had no idea where they were supposed to find fel components in Val'sharah, as she and Trixie had barely seen the Legion's presence in that area, until they got to Black Rook Hold anyway, but she decided not to question it and sent the trio on their way.
Once she had sent her followers on their mission, however, she heard a demon shouting at someone in the demonic language, though because it sounded so close she walked down the ramp and ventured down into the lower area of the ship... where she found Lyndraxa standing in front of a demon that was locked in one of the demonic cages.
"I was wondering when you were going to come down here," Lyndraxa commented, to which she turned towards Lyra for a moment and smiled, indicating that there was something that she knew that Lyra didn't know about, before she beckoned to the imprisoned dreadlord, "Allow me to introduce Razelikh the Defiler, who battled our former brother Loramus Thalipedes and was imprisoned together with him inside a powerful dagger. In the wake of the Legion's return that dagger was shattered and Razelikh returned to the Twisting Nether, though because both Razelikh and Loramus were fighting to control their body that meant that they continued to exchange possession over the demon's body. I had the others capture them at the Felblaze Ingress, which is located in Azsuna, and brought them here... where Loramus agreed to aid us in empowering our Order Hall, while keeping the demon at bay."
"I see," Lyra said, remembering one of the other demon hunters mentioning the name Loramus at some point, but he had disappeared shortly before her arrival and she had never had the pleasure of meeting him, "The Matron Mother told me that she heard a rumor about us trying to contact Lord Illidan's immortal demon soul... is this true, or is someone pulling my leg?"
"Oh, its definitely true," Lyndraxa replied, though at the same time she walked away from the imprisoned dreadlord, while Lyra noted that her tone indicated that her fellow demon hunter wasn't annoyed with her, "We're hoping to get some guidance from our master's soul... and maybe he'll tell us how to rescue his soul, before the Legion finds him."
Lyra nodded and decided to spend some time using the souls she had gathered so far to empower the Twinblades, finding that Lyndraxa was doing the same thing for a few minutes, which meant that she had killed a lot of enemies before she returned to the Fel Hammer. When she finished empowering her artifact, and departed from that area of the ship, she spent some time talking to the other demon hunters and the rest of the Illidari, so she could check up on what was happening in the other regions they had been sent to. From what she could tell her forces had seen a few Wardens wandering the land, making her wonder what Maiev was searching for, but she was glad to hear that her forces had been since she had been adventuring with Trixie and Azuregos.
An hour passed before Kayn, Asha, and their Broken Warrior returned to the Fel Hammer, where they announced their success and handed Kor'vas a crate that contained the components that they had recovered... which was almost everything on the list the Matron Mother had given them.
"The time has come to make contact with the Master's soul." Kor'vas commented, taking stock of everything that had been gathered, while at the same time glancing up at both Lyra and Lyndraxa, who were standing in front of her, "It is somewhere in the endless expanse of the Twisting Nether. Luckily, so is Mardum. Such a thing is not unheard of, but it will be exceedingly difficult, even here. In addition to what the Matron Mother had us gather, we need a great deal of demon blood. Like, a lot of it!"
"Then we'll get some blood," Lyndraxa replied, to which she glanced over at Lyra and grinned, while at the same time pulled out one of her blades and running a finger over its edge, "We'll just head to Azsuna and slaughter as many demons as necessary to gather a lot of demon blood... and then, once we've gathered enough, we'll come back and start the ritual."
Kor'vas glanced over at Lyra for a moment, as if she was expecting her to say something, but instead all Lyra did was nod her head, confirming that Lyndraxa's plan was sound, to which she bid the two farewell for the moment as they started making their way towards the portal. A few seconds later Lyra and Lyndraxa reappeared on Krasus' Landing, where they acquired a pair of griffons that would take them down to the outpost that the Illidari had set up in Azsuna, which was the first place Lyra and Trixie had arrived when they started their quest to recover the Pillars of Creation. It didn't take them long to reach their destination, especially since it was the closest region of the Broken Isles, though when they arrived the pair made their way towards Faronaar... where they both knew a lot of demons would be gathering together.
Lyra found that the next hour of her life was exceptionally boring, because she had fought these exact demons a day or two ago when she, Trixie, and Azuregos were searching for the missing Illidari, so she had already memorized their movements and knew where to find the best groups that would maximize the amount of blood they were collecting. Lyndraxa, on the other hand, was enjoying herself way too much, as she was simply going around the area they were in and was slaughtering every demon that dared to show their face to her, wetting the ground with the blood of their enemies as she hacked them to pieces. Lyra wasn't surprised by her companion's behavior, because some demons hunters took too much joy in their work, but at the moment she was tired of all of this and eventually called for Lyndraxa to leave the others alone... as she could always come back with reinforcements later if the amount of blood they collected wasn't enough.
Of course that meant that Lyra had to listen to Lyndraxa whine a tiny bit about having her fun ruined on the ride back to Dalaran, but she tuned it out to the best of her ability as they arrived in the city, flew down to the portal, and crossed over so they could hand the blood over to Kor'vas.
"Lord Illidan's immortal demon soul is lost somewhere in the vastness of the Twisting Nether." Kayn spoke up, to which Lyra and Lyndraxa watched as Kayn and Altruis approached them and Kor'vas, though that was before they turned their attention to the crucible that rested in front of them, "Contacting him risks much, as the Nether is full of creatures of unimaginable power and appetites. But, it must be done if we are to move forward. The ritual can be performed using the Nether Crucible. Lyra, make the blood offering."
Lyra glanced down at the large vial of blood that she and Lyndraxa had gathered from the Broken Isles for a few seconds, wondering if this was even going to work, before she took a deep breath and poured the contents into the middle of the Nether Crucible... to which an image started to appear before them.
"Lyra Heartstrings," a powerful voice said, one that made Lyra's heart skip a beat for a moment, as it was a voice that she hadn't heard since she and the Illidari went to Mardum seven years ago, "I have been expecting your arrival for quite some time now."
Lyra glanced up to where the image was and watched as it shattered into a thousand pieces, though they quickly reassembled before her eyes and transformed into the form of Lord Illidan, only he appeared to be light blue colored because of what they were doing and the fact that he was actually a soul at the moment.
"I am impressed that you managed to get Kayn and Altruis to work together," Lord Illidan commented, spying the two elves that hated each other, but had been willing to let go of their hate for the promise of Lyra leading them to victory over the Legion, "I have a few moments before my location is discovered, so listen closely. I entrusted the duplicitous Akama with planning the campaign against the Legion, though he is the only one that knows every detail of the plan... so you will need his counsel if you are to succeed. You must also regain the Sargerite Keystone to invade the Legion's worlds, which means that you'll have to ask the Wardens where they had hidden it.
Lyra Heartstrings, know that since the day you truly became one of the Illidari I knew that there was no one better to lead them should something happen to me, which is why I trained you to the best of my ability, so you could replace me at some point in time... but now they are yours to command, and I know that you will do everything in your power to stop the Burning Legion."
It was at that point that Lord Illidan noticed something in the area around him, to which he said that they wouldn't be able to contact him in this manner again... before he loosed a blast in their direction and broke the connection, though even as that happened they still had an idea of what they needed to do next. Lyra honestly had no idea how they were supposed to convince Akama to join them or retrieve the keystone, especially since Maiev would make sure she never got her hands on it, but seeing their leader again made her remember why she was doing this in the first place. Lord Illidan trusted her abilities and her desire to see the Legion fall, to which she mentally stated that she would do everything in her power to ensure that their enemies fell... and rescue his body from Gul'dan.
"Lord Illidan has officially placed you in charge, Lyra." Kayn commented, though at the same time Altruis nodded as Lyra faced him, where the two elves noticed that Lyra had a smile on her face, "The Illidari are now yours to command, as Lord Illidan originally intended. Come, let us head upstairs and let everyone know the news."
Lyra nodded and followed after the pair of elves, silently glad that Lord Illidan, even though he was a soul that was wandering the Twisting Nether, was able to see that she had done what was considered impossible and had gotten Kayn and Altruis to become more friendly towards each other. As Lyra walked she noticed that Kor'vas and Lyndraxa were following them, indicating that they were eager to see what happened when the announcement was made to the rest of their forces. When they walked up to where the star map was located, and Lyra noticed that most of the Illidari were taking a break from their various activities, the group stopped and Kayn cleared his throat... though what was interesting was the fact that her forces stopped what they were doing when they noticed that the group had stopped by the star map.
"Illidari, we have contacted the Master's soul and gained wisdom." Kayn called out, to which he let the various races of their forces cheer for a few seconds, before he held a hand up and had them quiet down so he could speak some again, "Salute Lyra Heartstrings... our new leader!"
Almost all of the Illidari knew that Lord Illidan had placed Lyra in charge of the assault on Mardum, and had remained in power because Kayn, Altruis, and Kor'vas agreed that she was the best one to lead them despite the fact that she didn't have the many years of experience that their Master had. Now that they had been told that Lord Illidan had told them, by speaking with his wandering soul no less, the Illidari now knew that their Master had intended for Lyra to take up his position if something happened to him. Once they understood that, and Lyra's group nodded to them, the Illidari cheered much harder than they had done mere moments ago, though after a minute of doing that they quieted down and resumed their duties.
Kayn, seeing how the Illidari reacted, turned to Lyra and beckoned for her to visit the Matron Mother Malevolence, who would know the best way for them to get into the Black Temple so they could speak with Akama... and fight him if he decided to resist Lord Illidan's wishes. Lyra nodded and walked over to Malevolence, to which she quickly explained what they needed to do, where she also noticed that the Matron Mother was thinking about something.
"Getting into the Black Temple is going to be tricky." Malevolence commented, though at the same time Lyra nodded, because after the defeat of their defenders she suspected that someone had to have taken up residence inside the temple, "Following the break-in by the Council of the Black Harvest, Akama had his Sha'tari priests erect a holy barrier. It prevents my teleportation. However, I might know a way to bypass those protections and take us directly to the Temple Summit. Long ago, I had a... liaison with a certain high elf wizard named Lan'dalock. He later joined the Kirin Tor. If you were to ask him very nicely, and drop my name, I am certain that he would help."
Lyra had to admit that this was the first time that she had heard of the Matron Mother having a liaison with the Kirin Tor, especially since the group of mages had been on another planet when she had first met Malevolence, but she decided not to question what she was told. She was fairly certain that there was a history between her and this Lan'dalock, but at the moment she didn't want to spend more time figuring out something that wasn't important to her current mission. Since she wasn't going to ask anything about the relationship between Malevolence and Lan'dalock, and the Matron Mother was turning her attention to one of the other Illidari, Lyra excused herself and headed back towards the portal that would take her back to Dalaran.
When she returned to the city, however, she discovered that there was still a number of people gathering around the flight master and ordering flights to either Highmountain or Stormheim, making her wonder if the other heroes were having problems recovering the last two Pillars of Creation. In the end, however, she decided not to worry too much about what the other heroes were doing and headed towards where she had left Khadgar, because he would likely know where to locate the mage she was searching for. Sure enough when she reached the location she found Khadgar standing around, no doubt coming up with a way to fix Light's Heart so they could figure out what knowledge had been sent to them... to which he stopped what he was doing when Lyra asked about the mage she was looking for, where she was direction to the walkway above them.
When she walked up the stairs, and stopped beside the area that they had taken a portal earlier, where she spotted the projection of a mage reading a book... one that appeared to be the one that she was searching for.
"Excuse me," Lyra said, doing her best to sound like she was lost in her attempt to find someone, to which the mage actually looked up at her, "are you Lan'dalock?"
"That I am," the mage replied, though at the same time he closed the book he was reading and looked at her with his full attention, which meant that he was curious about her, "and you must be Lyra Heartstrings, the friend of Trixie Lulamoon. What can I help you with?"
"Malevolence, the Matron Mother that serves as the Shivarra leader for the Illidari, sent me to ask for your help," Lyra answered, knowing that Malevolence told her to drop her name to enlist the mage's help, though she hoped that the mage would help her quickly and get back to his duties.
"The Matron Mother?" Lan'dalock inquired, though that was followed by him coughing for a few seconds and looking around surreptitiously, before turning to Lyra once more, "Yes, of course. Anything for Malevolence. How, what exactly do you require my help with?"
"We need a method to pierce a holy barrier that protects against fel energy," Lyra explained, knowing that it was best to keep most of the details to herself, though the brief explanation was best for all of them, "Malevolence seemed to think that you had such a method."
"A holy barrier that protects against fel magic, you say? I have just the thing to bypass it and enable Malevolence's teleport to whatever your destination is." Lan'dalock stated, to which he moved over to his pack, which happened to be physically here and not a protection like the mage himself, though as he glanced up for a moment he spotted an imp holding onto a book, "Sneaky! Look there... that imp just made off with it!"
Lyra barely had time to stare at the imp before it hopped over to the stairs and charged towards the entrance of the building, to which she jumped over the railing and glided down towards the lower floor and smacked the imp as it tried to open a portal to whatever Legion world it had come from. Before she actually had a chance to kill it, however, the imp recovered immediately and ran out onto the streets of Dalaran, forcing Lyra to follow it as it ran into a store called The Wonderworks. She had actually never been inside the shop before, but as she walked inside she found that it was pretty much a toy store of sorts, though as she looked at the shopkeeper she spotted a suspicious crate resting nearby... though when she approached it the crate charged towards the opening and the imp broke out of his disguise, attempting to leave her behind once more.
The imp then charged into another shop, The Scribes Sacellum, though Lyra didn't have to search for her target at all, because the owner had spotted her and the imp enter and immediately pointed her to where the imp was hiding, causing the critter to abandon its hiding place and charge outside once more. The imp than made its way into The Legerdemain Lounge and charged up the stairs to the floor that contained the rooms, though Lyra offered one of the owners a shift apology for the trouble the imp was causing before she found where it was hiding. It was at this point that she found that her target was trying to open another portal, which resulted in a failure thanks to her catching it one more, though the imp threw itself to the streets and ran towards Krasus' Landing.
Since Lyra spotted what appeared to be an invisibility spell go off, by the imp no less, she glided to the street and activated her Spectral Sight, where she spotted the imp in the distance, to which the imp noticed that she was looking at it and ceased creating another portal. That was when the imp leapt up several pieces of stone and stopped in an area where it believed that she couldn't touch it, where it started building another portal so it could leave Dalaran behind. Lyra, on the other hand, had other plans as she rapidly ascended the same stones that the imp used and, in a moment of quick decision, cut the imps head off... stopping its escape attempt and allowing her to claim the book that Lan'dalock had been about to give her.
She quickly made her way back to where the mage in question was projecting an image of himself, mainly so he knew that she had acquired the tome, before she headed back to the Fel Hammer... where she presented the book to Belath, as Malevolence was busy at the moment.
"I'll make sure to give the grimoire to Malevolence so that she can unravel its mysteries... though while she's doing that, however, we have some Black Temple scouting to conduct." Belath commented, to which he accepted the tome that Lyra had presented to him, though at the same time Lyra noticed a grin had appeared on Belath's face, "The last thing we want is for you, the new leader of the Illidari, to teleport right into a trap and get captured or killed in the process. We must discern their force structure, patrol schedule, new defenses, and what Akama eats for breakfast. I would suggest that you send our Broken warriors to handle this, as they'll be able to blend in with the rest of Akama's Ashtongue forces. We'll get what we need to know from the ones that make it back. A champion handler or two can scout outside the temple."
Lyra nodded and called Asha over to where they were standing, where she inquired if the demon hunter would like the chance to scout out the Black Temple and watch over a few of their Broken warriors while they gathered information on Akama's forces. Asha seemed pleased with the idea and agreed to take it on, to which she collected a few of the Broken that were being trained in one of the corners of the Fel Hammer, before they wandered through the portal, headed to Dalaran, and found a portal that would take them to the Outlands. Since it would take them some time to finish their scouting missing, and she had no idea how long that would actually take, Lyra went over to one of the corners of the ship, sat down, and did one of the things she hadn't done since Maiev had freed her... she meditated.
She honestly had no idea how long she sat in her corner and meditated, because she only used this back when she first started training with the Illidari and needed to calm her troubled mind, but eventually someone coughed near her and she opened her eyes... to which she found that Asha's party had returned with their findings, which had been given to Malevolence some time ago. Lyra nodded and pulled herself up, to which she walked over to where the Matron Mother was standing and inquired as to how things were going... and if there was anything else that needed to be done.
"Belath is such a dear. Very thoughtful of him to arrange for some scouting." Malevolence said, though at the same time she glanced at the number of people in the area they were in, taking in the numbers that she mentally counted, "I do hope that not too many of the Broken died to get us this information."
"From what I was told they were very careful in getting this information," Lyra replied, though a part of her found that getting this information, without someone being found out, made things seem far too easy, meaning that they had to be walking into a trap of some kind.
"In any case, I now have the means and the perfect location within the Black Temple to make our grand entrance." Malevolence stated, though Lyra had to smile, because that meant that the Matron Mother had found something inside the tome that would allow her to penetrate the barrier, "I will need but a moment to summon a gateway to the Black Temple. Stand back, please."
Lyra took a step back and watched as Malevolence used her magic to open a portal that would take them to the Black Temple, someplace that she hadn't been to since she and the others had been captured after they returned from Mardum with the Keystone. Once the portal had been completed, and Malevolence said that it was ready, Lyra and a few select Illidari, her champions to be precise, walked through the portal and headed to the Black Temple. The group prepared themselves as Malevolence cast her magic and sealed the door that separated them from the rest of the temple, to which Lyra and the others walked up the stairs... where they discovered that Akama was actually waiting for them to arrive.
"Ah, I see that you have arrived at long last," Akama commented, to which he picked up his weapons and turned to the group as they approached him, though while Lyra's companions drew their various weapons she did no reach for the Twinblades just yet, "and, as I was expecting, the only one to not have their weapons drawn is the latest recruit... now turned leader of the Illidari, as Illidan intended."
"We did not come to fight, Akama," Lyra said, hoping that the leader of the Ashtongue would be willing to speak with them, otherwise things were going to get nasty as she beat him into submission, as she knew that she didn't need the help of her companions this time around, "We spoke to Lord Illidan's soul not long ago and he told us that you were the only person that knew the entirety of his campaign against the Legion... and that we would need your assistance in bringing it to reality. We came to ask you if you would join the Illidari and aid us in bringing down the Burning Legion."
Akama stared at Lyra for a few moments, making her wonder if this was truly going to break down into a fight between the two of them, but all she could hope for was him to see that she hadn't come here to fight and that she wanted his cooperation in defeating their common enemy. A few moments later, however, Akama let out a sigh as he sheathed his weapons and stared at Lyra, his silent gaze telling her everything that she wanted to know.
"I would be honored to assist you, Lyra Heartstrings," Akama replied, though at the same time Lyra could have sworn that she noticed a hint of a small smile on his face, before he beckoned for them to lead the way, "Come, there is much to do and a short amount of time to do it in."
Lyra smiled as she, her companions, and Akama walked back to where Malevolence was waiting, because things had turned out much better than she had originally intended... and it felt good to solve some issues without having to resort to killing whoever disagreed with her, which seemed to be the norm in Azeroth.
While Lyra was busy carting off Light's Heart to the Fel Hammer, and storing it in the worst place that they could possibly keep such an important item, Trixie and Azuregos appeared in the Hall of the Guardian and noticed that there were a fair number of mages that hadn't been here since the last time Trixie had been here. Several of the mages seemed surprised to see Azuregos, as they had heard that Trixie was traveling with a blue dragon, but in the end Trixie was happy to see that her companion was welcomed with open arms. Some of the mages that weren't busy with Azuregos turned to Trixie and inquired about her shape, reminding her of her dragon feet and legs, the scales that were on her arms, her claw like nails, her dragon horns, and the tail that moved behind her.
Suffice to say that when Trixie explained what had happened to the mages, as Azuregos had told her anyway, she found that some of them were still stunned, as they had never heard of such a thing happening to someone, but she told them not to worry about her new form and walked down to where her command board was waiting. As she approached the magical command board, however, she found that Archmage Vargoth standing near it, though the look on his face told her that he was here for reasons that weren't connected to the Council of Six.
"Since the Broken Isles is the epicenter of ancient night elven learning," Archmage Vargot commented, though even as he spoke Trixie had the feeling that she knew where the man was going to say before he even finished speaking, "there must be countless magical artifacts secreted away in forgotten vaults and reliquaries. We must secure them so they do not fall into the wrong hands! Perhaps you should send a champion in search of them."
Trixie had to admit that she had no idea what other magical artifacts rested on the Broken Isles, besides the Pillars of Creation anyway, and she also knew that the Legion could still misuse the lesser artifacts in some manner to weaken the combined forces of the various Orders. She guessed that she could ask Kalec to gather some of the other mages and investigate one of the regions of the Broken Isles, just so they cover their bases anyway. Once she came to a decision he called for Kalec and explained the situation to the disguised dragon, while wondering what he was even doing here when he should have been focused on determining what was inside the journal that Maiev had given the Council, before Kalec nodded his understanding and departed from the Hall of the Guardian with a pair of apprentices following him.
Archmage Vargoth, seeing Kalec and the apprentices leave, bid Trixie farewell for the moment, claiming that he was needed elsewhere and had merely stopped by to inform her of the artifacts, before leaving the Hall as well... to which Trixie sighed and wandered over to a table, so she could read one of the books that had been stored inside the Hall. Based on what Lyra had told her it would take some time for Kalec to return with the apprentices, giving her the opportunity to see what sort of knowledge and artifacts had been hidden inside this secret place. That thought made her wonder if there were any artifacts she had recovered, as she had found a few during her travels, and she was fairly certain that one or two of them had magical properties... but she pushed that thought from her mind and focused on what the tome could tell her, and give her some insight as to why it was placed here in the first place.
An hour later, however, she was approached by a fire mage that was called Archmage Melis, where Trixie noticed that a pair amount of Archmages liked to come to the Hall of the Guardian and study the area, to which she closed her tome and turned towards the lady that was approaching her.
"Trixie Lulamoon, your champion and his apprentices have returned," Melis stated, though there was a smile on her face, which told Trixie that the lady was pleased that they were finally gathering up the other artifacts before the Legion got their hands on them, "it appears that they might have discovered some very powerful artifacts! Oh, and Archmage Vargoth's long-time apprentice, Ravandwyr, has arrived here in the Hall of the Guardian with an urgent message from his mentor. He will be waiting for you upstairs."
Trixie nodded and walked over to where Kalec was standing, where she found that the artifacts they had recovered, rather quickly she mentally added, were indeed powerful and made her wonder how she could have missed them when she and Lyra were exploring Azsuna. Then again she remembered that they hadn't actually explored any of the other ruins, which meant that it was possible that one of them held a few artifacts and would explain how she missed them, before she beckoned for Kalec to store them in the Hall, wherever they belonged anyway. Once she knew that the artifacts were here, however, she walked up the nearby set of stairs and rapidly found the mage that she was looking for, as Ravandwyr was standing next to a table... and that he, and Meryl, were apparently waiting for her.
One other thing that Trixie noticed was that Meryl appeared to be ill, which seemed odd considering that he was an undead mage, but she determined that it had to do with the Dreadlord that had been plaguing him for some time, though she pushed the thought away as she stopped beside the duo.
"Ah, Trixie Lulamoon, thank you for coming so quickly," Ravandwyr said, to which he glanced over at Meryl for a moment, as if he was making sure that the undead mage was alright, before turning his attention to Trixie, "I overheard that your champion discovered some sort of powerful magic emanating from the secretive Empyrean Society enclave in Azsuna. Archmage Vargoth asked me to request Meryl's aid in investigating it, but as you can see, Meryl is clearly too ill to travel at the moment. Would you be willing to go in his place? You will need to prove yourself in order to gain entrance. We should be able to find something sufficient in the Hatecoil Warcamp in Azsuna."
Trixie had no idea what sort of magic Kalec had found at this enclave, as he hadn't told her anything about it, but decided that getting mad over such a tiny thing wasn't the end of the world, because she trusted Kalec and knew that there had to be a reason behind him not telling her. In the end she decided that she would meet Ravandwyr in Azuna, though at the same time she decided that this time around she had best do this alone, which meant that she had to tell Azuregos the news. Truth be told she expected Azuregos to flip out and declare that he was heading back to the Nexus Vault, as that was his purpose in life, but as it turned out he was rather understanding of the situation and said that he hoped she could pull off this stunt of hers.
Once that was done, and Azuregos was fine with staying with the other mages, Trixie returned to Dalaran, headed for Krasus' Landing, and transformed into her blue dragon form, to which she got into the air and headed towards Azuna once more... and the Hatecoil Warcamp, where she had been taken with the intention of being turned into a slave. What surprised her is that when she flew over the warcamp she spotted a fair number of naga still patrolling the area, making her wonder why they were still there after the attack on their forces. In the end she decided that it was best if she didn't argue with what was happening, because sometimes the enemies she fought moved back into the area they were forced out of and had to be killed again... and multiple times after that until they got the message.
Trixie mentally sighed as she turned herself towards the ground and noticed that Ravandwyr was already waiting on one of the cliffs that overlooked the warcamp, making her wonder how he had gotten here so quickly... before she gently landed near him and reverted back to her elven form, to which she walked over to the mage that had called for assistance.
"The Empyrean Society is a dangerous cult." Ravandwyr commented, his head turned in the direction that the Society's camp was in, before he turned and looked at Trixie, "They claim to study all magic regardless of its source, but in reality they focus mostly on the forbidden. They will welcome you to their enclave if you bring them a magical artifact. The Hatecoil naga have found the perfect gifts; a Pearl of Arcane Wisdom and some scrolls from the depths beneath the Nar'thalas Academy. You will have to convince them to part with a few. I will meet you on the road just north of the Empyrean Enclave."
Trixie wasn't too keen on just acquiring some magical artifacts and handing them over to a group that was bound to do something terrible with them, but then she remembered that she could always steal them back if someone in the Empyrean Society blew her cover. She would be amazed if none of the mages in the Society recognized that she was the Conjurer that commanded the mages of the Hall of the Guardian, especially since her body was half dragon, but then decided that she would have to gamble and see what fate dealt her. She then sighed as she jumped off the short cliff they were standing on and slid down the slope, allowing her dragon feet to steady her, though when she reached the bottom of the slope she kicked off the wall and jumped into the air... where she slammed an Arcane Blast into the face of a naga that happened to be passing by.
As Trixie hit the ground, and rolled back up onto her feet, she realized that the naga she had struck was a warrior and not a mage, which meant that he wasn't likely going to possess what she was after, to which she continued the search as she made her way through the warcamp. The fortunate thing was that because she knew the layout of the warcamp, thanks to her and her friends waging war against the Hatecoil earlier that week, she could easily navigate herself around to the areas where the mages were supposed to be. The unfortunate thing she discovered was that there weren't all that many mages around the camp and that some of them weren't even carrying scrolls, making it much harder for her to gather what she needed. The only silver lining was when she fought a powerful naga that was called Spitespeaker Lir'kess, who not only possessed the Pearl of Arcane Wisdom, but also three scrolls that were clearly taken from the Academy.
She wandered around for another minute or two, collecting two more scrolls from the naga mages, before she retreated back to where Ravandwyr was standing and told him the good news.
"Good. Now we should be able to enter the Empyrean Society enclave and have a look around." Ravandwyr said, to which he beckoned for Trixie to follow and continued talking while they walked, "We don't know much about the Empyrean Society's activities here, but now that you appear to be a new recruit you should be able to ask some questions and take a look around for the strange magic Archmage Vargoth detected."
When the duo stopped near the entrance of the enclave, too close for Trixie's liking considering that the mages from the Society could see the two of them, they moved behind a rock and Ravandwyr started speaking to a blood elf called Esara Verrinde, who worked with the Magisters. Trixie didn't know much about the Magisters, considering that they were a part of the blood elf government in some manner, but they were also mages and she hoped that Esara was on their side. As it turned out Trixie and Esara were going to play the part of two new recruits for the Society and offer them the items Trixie had recovered, to which the two of them walked down towards the entrance and spoke with the first person they encountered... who happened to be a human mage.
The lady Trixie spoke to claimed that none of the Society members would speak about what they were doing here until someone named Marlan 'evaluated' their gifts, which meant that they had to find this person and talk with them... but as they did so, and moved through the enclave, Trixie noticed that some of the mages were staring at her. This would be one of the few times that she actually cursed Azuregos for giving her that necklace and infusing her body with the essence of a blue dragon, as she was sure that those that were staring at her realized who she was. Everything then went sideways when Trixie found a fel tome sitting out in the open, indicating that the Legion had some hand in using the Society, which in turn caused the Society mages to turn on them... along with the man called Marlan personally confronting them.
Suffice to say that Trixie wasn't too impressed by Marlan's abilities, as she and Esara were able to defeat the man within a matter of seconds, which caused Aluneth to brag in her hear about being an incredibly powerful staff... and making Trixie wish that she didn't have a staff that talked and reminded her of her old self every time it spoke up. Once Marlan was dead, however, Trixie formally issued the order that the Society was to be put down for attempting to harness magical energies that they could hand over to the Legion, as she had seen this so many times in the past and wasn't going to let the corruption spread this time around. She and Esara then went to war against the lesser mages that made up the Society, throwing magic around at each other from a safe distance while being absolutely sure that nothing got too close to where they were standing.
While all of this happened Trixie made sure to collect each and every fel tome she could find, that way she and her fellow mages in the Hall of the Guardian could decide whether they destroy the books or lock them away so they couldn't be used by their enemies. Once Trixie was satisfied with the results, with the Society destroyed in such a manner, she and Esara turned to the one building that was in front of them and, after shattering the fel rune with a blast from Aluneth, they walked inside... only to see that Ravandwyr, who must have checked the building out without informing them of what he was doing, was frozen in place. There was also another high ranking mage of the Society standing in the room, one that also intended to kill them with her spells, but unfortunately she didn't stand much of a chance against Trixie's empowered spells, as she blasted her target so hard in the chest that she went flying into the wall and stopped moving entirely.
As Esara freed Ravandwyr, however, Trixie ran over what the Society mage had said when they entered the building, that Archmage Vargoth would hear of this intrusion... and, to further her confusion, the nearby chest held both a missive that came from the Archmage, as well as the very journal that Maiev had given to the Council. Trixie growled as she looked at the items, as she had to wonder if the Council of Six had been compromised as well, but instead of openly accusing Vargoth of a crime she needed answers and evidence... to which she and her new companions, who she might consider to be her newest champions, teleported back to the Hall of the Guardian. There she could figure out what was going on and who was really on Azeroth's side... and, more importantly, who was a traitor to the cause.
When Trixie, Ravandwyr, and Esara returned to the Hall of the Guardian the first thing Trixie did was hand over the Fel tomes to someone that knew what to do with them, before following her companions to where Meryl was resting, where she discovered that the undead mage seemed sicker than he was when she left for Azsuna. From what she could tell none of the mages around the bed had any idea what to do with Meryl, which meant that they had no idea what was wrong with him, though she worried that something terrible might happen to him if they didn't cure his illness. A few moments later, with the three of the looking at Meryl, Khadgar walked over and checked up on the sick mage, while at the same time Trixie noticed that her followers were focusing on their tasks and giving her some room.
While Khadgar checked up on Meryl, however, Trixie took the opportunity to tell him what she, Ravandwyr, and Esara found in Azsuna, knowing that her mentor would have some insight to what was going on at the moment.
"Archmage Vargoth's involvement with the Empyrean Society is troubling." Khadgar said, though at the same time he focused on what he was doing with Meryl, which involved walking towards one of the bookshelves and running a hand over one of the spines, "However, as he has proven his loyalty to the Kirin Tor many times, we must give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Still, I am obligated to share our concerns with the rest of the Council. You had best travel back to Dalaran and meet with them in the Violet Citadel. I will remain here to care for our old friend."
Trixie knew that some of the Council members would at least lend her their ear because she had been Khadgar's apprentice for so many years, but at the same time she knew that none of them would be too happy to hear that she was accusing one of the other members of working with fel magic. A part of her said that something strange was going on here, as she had never seen Archmage Vargoth break the rules in such a manner, and she had been watching all six of the Council members whenever she was in the area. She wondered if the Dreadlord that had been messing with Meryl was behind all of this, but she kept her mouth shut on that matter and headed back to where she had left Azuregos.
The disguised dragon was sitting in one of the chairs and was currently overlooking the city from the balcony that the Hall of the Guardian had, though when Trixie walked up to him, however, he pulled himself from his chair and turned towards her.
"So, what's our next move?" Azuregos asked, though at the same time he tapped his staff on the ground as he returned to Trixie's side, where he preferred to be after what happened in the Academy a few days ago.
"We need to go speak with the remaining Council members and tell them what I found in Azsuna," Trixie replied, to which she started walking towards the portal that would take them back to Dalaran, where she found that Azuregos was following her again, "Archmage Vargoth may or may not be in league with the Legion... and I need to bring this to the attention of the other Council members."
Azuregos nodded his understanding, as they both knew that anyone tampering with fel magic was likely to fall into the hands of the Legion and hand over secrets that could spell the doom of their Orders or Dalaran itself, to which they accessed the portal and headed back to Dalaran. When they arrived at Krasus' Landing Trixie decided that they should walk to the building that the Council would be gathered in, though Azuregos agreed, as he had done nothing but sit around since she had left for Azsuna. As they walked they both noticed that some of the people were looking at them, mostly because they knew that Trixie and Azuregos were Blue Dragons, but Trixie was used to the stares... though they made good time and reached their destination in record time.
When they reached the building, however, Trixie found that Kalec had already returned from the Hall of the Guardian, meaning that he must have told the other Council members what Trixie had found... as she noticed that one of the Archmages, Ansirem Runeweaver, was definitely annoyed at the moment.
"We do not tolerate misconduct amongst our own, Trixie Lulamoon." Archmage Ansirem said, though his tone indicated that he wasn't using the respect he usually held towards her, since she was Khadgar's apprentice, which meant that her discovery had definitely pissed him off, "However, if your accusation against Archmage Vargoth proves malicious, know that the consequences will be severe."
This was one of those moments that Trixie was reminded of Lyra's annoyance with the people of Azeroth, as they were under attack by the Legion and one of the Archmages that served on the Council of Six was talking about punishing her for accusing another Archmage of dabbling in fel magic. Fortunately she didn't have to remain on that thought for long, as Kalec coughed for a few seconds and caused the other three Archmages to turn towards him.
"Ansirem, I have been following Trixie for some time now," Kalec commented, though as he spoke Trixie noticed that the other Archmage was slightly annoyed, if the look on his face was any indication, "and these are not spurious charges. I, too, have observed Archmage Vargoth behaving oddly."
"As have I." Archmage Karlain added, drawing attention to himself once more, before everyone turned their attention back to Ansirem, "Lately he has been preoccupied on something..."
"If it is true that Archmage Vargoth is exploring fel magic, I will be shocked!" Archmage Ansirem stated, though at the same time he let out a sigh, as if he had noticed something that was on the lines of what Kalec and Karlain had told him and hated to admit that he had seen the sign as well, "Still, I guess we owe you our thanks in bringing this matter to our attention. Trixie Lulamoon, since Vargoth has been absent for a while, you and your companion may have a look around his living quarters here in the citadel tower. Kalec will escort the two of you there. I will hold out hope that our esteemed colleague is merely up to his usual eccentricities."
Trixie silently hoped that Archmage Vargoth wasn't tampering with fel magic, but the evidence at the Empyrean Enclave, or rather the lack of evidence, meant that they needed to find something to determine what was going on and which side Vargoth was actually on. She nodded to Kalec and watched as a portal to Vargoth's living quarters was opened in front of them, to which she, Azuregos, and Kalec entered the portal and traveled to their new destination, where they appeared on one of the balconies that rested on the citadel's tower. Once the portal closed behind them Trixie opened the door in front of them and walked into the living quarters, though not a few seconds later she was followed by both of her companions... though it appeared that the place looked completely normal.
"This is a nice living space, for a mortal," Azuregos commented, looking at all of the items that rested around them, while at the same time noticing that Kalec was nodding his head in agreement, "Now then, let's see what sort of secrets Archmage Vargoth is hiding... if he is actually hiding anything."
"Now this is interesting," Kalec said, pointing at a scroll that had been open when they entered the room, to which Trixie raised an eyebrow for a few seconds, "I had no idea that Archmage Vargoth was also interested in the breeding habits of angelfish!"
Trixie quickly determined that the scroll was of no use to them, since angelfish had nothing to do with what they were searching for, so she ignored the parchment and continued looking around the chamber that they were in. She spotted a journal on Vargoth's bed, something that she determined to check once she and the others had made sure that there was nothing else of interest in the room. Kalec also expressed an interest in the open tome that was floating above one of the tables, as it apparently contained some information on ancient Nightborne rituals, and that he resolved to borrow it at some point in the future. Azuregos, on the other hand, found two interesting items to comment on; a doughnut that had been sitting on a table, which was molding and indicating that Vargoth had been gone for longer than they suspected, and a novelty crystal ball.
Once they determined that there was nothing else of interest, and were sure on that, Trixie collected the journal she had spotted earlier and opened it to the page that had been written last... though at the same time Azuregos and Kalec checked it out as well as they looked over her shoulder.
"Hmm. This appears to be Archmage Vargoth's notes on the Nightborne Soulstone." Azuregos commented, though Trixie knew that the disguised dragon would know about this, as he was supposed to hunt down and lock away powerful artifacts inside the Nexus Vault, though at the same time Kalec nodded his agreement, "Supposedly the energy of captured souls stored within it can be channeled directly from the stone! If that's true, it is very powerful, indeed!"
"Archmage Vargoth seems to be mixed up in something dangerous, not that that's unusual for an Archmage of his caliber and experience!" Kalec said, though at the same time he gently took the journal, as it would prove to be the evidence they needed for the others, before looking at Trixie, "The Arcway Vaults may be where he's headed, but we should investigate all leads in order to get a better idea of what he's up to."
Trixie nodded and knew that this meant that she needed to head back to the Hall of the Guardian and asked some of her champions, of which Kalec was one of, to investigate the locations that Kalec had given her a list of, to which she accessed her magic and teleported herself and Azuregos back to her Order Hall. When they returned to the Hall of the Guardian, however, Trixie made sure to approach the other three champions and asked them if they would be willing to search three of the locations that she had been handed. She was fortunate that they were eager to search for Archmage Vargoth, as they were curious as to what he was doing, and immediately set out to gather some apprentices before they set out for their destinations.
As Trixie headed towards one of the tables that Azuregos had been sitting at earlier, so she could relax a tiny bit after everything she had been through so far, she was stopped by one of the other apprentices... one who had a very interesting report to hand her.
"Conjurer, we've detected a strange energy signature coming from the area around Dalaran," the apprentice said, though at the same time Trixie looked over what she had been handed, "only this energy is nothing like what the magic that we possess... its more like what your magic is like."
"Equestrian magic..." Trixie commented, wondering what was even going on at the moment, before she noticed that the report said that the signature was located near the citadel she had just been in, on the small floating island that followed the city around, "Tell the others that I will be back in a few minutes... I need to check this out for myself."
The apprentice nodded and returned to her duties, though at the same time Trixie lead a confused Azuregos over to the Dalaran portal and returned to Krasus' Landing once more, but when they arrived they found that Lyra was already walking towards them.
"Did your followers tell you about the strange energy as well?" Trixie asked, because if Lyra's demon hunters had spotted the signature as well, something that she had missed, then there was no telling who else had noticed it.
"At first we thought that the Legion was going to pull in a ship and attack the city, but then I noticed that the signature was different than anything else we've seen so far," Lyra replied, though at the same time the three of them walked back over to where the citadel was located, but this time they ignored the building and walked over to a hole in the wall, which allowed them to look at the small island.
Normally there would be someone sitting on the island, fishing to his hearts content while the world around him shattered under the weight of whatever threat the world was facing, though today that man was no where to be seen and there was no one else on the island. There was, however, a creature that Trixie and Lyra had thought that they were never going to see again, as they were looking down at a creature that was made up of a variety of other animals, one that they had both learned about when they were fillies. The creature seemed to be sunbathing, if the chair and reflectors were anything to consider, though as the trio stared at the island the creature seemed to notice that he was being watched, as he turned his head towards them and waved.
Before Lyra and Trixie could wave back, however, the chimera leapt off of his chair, tossed the reflectors away, and slashed at the air in front of him, creating a portal to what appeared to be another world... to which he walked through the tear in the air and disappeared, which caused the strange portal to close.
"Wh... what was that thing?" Azuregos asked, because he had never seen anything like that creature before, especially since it appeared to have body parts that belonged to multiple animals, and its appearance had shocked him a tiny bit.
"Discord," Trixie said, though at the same time Lyra nodded, as she understood who they had just seen, before she glanced over at Azuregos, "he's the Lord of Chaos and the Spirit of Disharmony of our home planet, Equus. I have no idea what he was doing on that island, or how he managed to find out where we were, but his presence confirms one thing."
"And what is that?" Azuregos inquired, though he wasn't liking the sound of this character, because it sounded like Discord might be responsible for sending Lyra and Trixie to this world, not that he was complaining thanks to everything they had done to save the world so far.
"It means that, at any point in time, he can come and take us home," Lyra replied, though that was when she turned around and started heading back to the Fel Hammer, while at the same time knowing that she and Trixie likely needed to do something before the Spirit bothered to rescue them, "though it appears that he's waiting to see how this war ends before doing that. We had best focus on our tasks, least Discord's sudden appearance throw us off track completely."
Trixie wanted to know what Discord was doing here, as it appeared that he might have been spying on them, but at the moment she had to agree with Lyra; they had to focus on gathering the Pillars of Creation and stop the Legion from wiping out Azeroth... and then they could think about going home.
Lyra had been hopeful when she heard that her followers had detected an energy signature that matched her's and Trixie's own signatures, as that meant that someone from Equus must have come looking for them and likely followed their energy to Azeroth. She would have been lying if she said that she wasn't hoping for reinforcements from her home world, but the other ponies were guards or plain civilians and none of them were prepared for what forces were attacking this planet. Still, she would have been more comfortable if either of the Royal Sisters, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, or Princess Twilight had come to this world in search of her and Trixie... but instead they got the one creature that was no doubt responsible for them coming to this planet in the first place; Discord.
All she could determine was that whatever Discord had done, to whoever his target was, happened to have some side effects and caught her and Trixie in the process, which was why she had shown up in the Outlands while Trixie appeared in Azeroth itself. She silently cursed Discord for doing whatever he had done back on their home planet, because she had suffered quite enough since she had arrived in the Outlands... and she was sure that Trixie had more than her share, considering what she had been told a week or two ago. Lyra was still surprised when she remembered that Trixie and her friends, those in the Alliance and those in the Horde, managed to kill Archimonde... not to mention defeating so many other enemies, each of which could have easily ended Azeroth, and survived to tell the tale.
Lyra let out a sigh as she opened her fel wings and glided down to the portal that would take her to the Fel Hammer, though when she walked through to the other side she immediately noticed that Malevolence was beckoning her over... to which she sucked up her annoyance for Discord and approached the Matron Mother. One thing she noticed, however, was the fact that most of the Illidari, both the demon hunters and the races they were allied with, were on guard, meaning that something was bound to happen soon.
"So good of you to return, Lyra Heartstrings." Malevolance commented, though at the same time she seemed concerned about something, which told Lyra that she needed to be ready for whatever was coming at them, "Brace yourself, because I am detecting a strange magic, not like what you investigated, forming in the chamber. Something is projecting itself in."
That was rapidly followed by two images appearing to Lyra's left, near the wall that Gaardoun and his Broken trained in, though Lyra growled when she recognized the image of Varedis Felsoul, which meant that the smaller corrupted demon hunter was Caria, the one that Lyndraxa had killed.
"How touching." Caria commented, though Lyra could hear the mocking tone in her voice, while at the same time the corrupted demon hunters looked around the chamber as Lyndraxa stepped up to Lyra's side, "You've gotten a few more champions... as if it will help in any way."
"Quite the ragtag bunch you have here, Lyra Heartstrings." Varedis said, though that was followed by the Lyra's former trainer glaring down at her, while at the same time she glared up at him in return, "I would have thought that you could do better than this. But enough with the pleasantries. Our Lord, Kil'Jaeden, has sent us to inform you that you and your Illidari will soon be joining the Burning Legion..."
"...and to prove that you are not safe," Caria finished, though at the same time she and Varedis smiled at Lyra and Lyndraxa, almost as if they were sure that their message would cause some of the Illidari to turn traitor automatically, "not even here, on the Fel Hammer."
"Hear me, Illidari!" Varedis shouted, causing the entire ship to go silent in a matter of seconds, meaning that everyone was listening to what Kil'jaeden's pawns were saying, "All present are welcome into the embrace of the Legion!"
"Great power will be imbued into those that join us!" Caria added, though Lyra was thankful that most of the power hungry demon hunters had died in the assault on Mardum, otherwise she was sure that there would be more traitors for her and the others to deal with, "Pain and agony waits those that refuse this gift!"
"Personally, I do hope you refuse, Lyra Heartstrings." Varedis said, though at the same time Lyra could tell that he was staring at the Twinblades, the very weapons he had discarded during his fight with her, "Then those warglaives will return to their rightful owner."
"Fair is fair, Varedis." Lyra growled, though before she could do anything, such as pull out the Twinblades and stab the two images, the images of the corrupted demon hunters disappeared, leaving her and the others to their decision regarding the offer they had all been given.
"The two of them are puppets of Kil'jaeden and a bane on our existence. I am glad that you and Lyndraxa have their warglaives." Belath commented, approaching the pair of demon hunters for a moment, to which they turned towards him and gave him their full attention, "They will be that much easier to kill when we invade their world. I wonder, do you have a moment to discuss a rather urgent issue?"
"There has also been an increase in demonic activity below on Mardum." Malevolence added, to which Lyra nodded her head in agreement to that, because it made sense that the Legion would still be sending troops here in order to claim the world again, "There are still demons leftover down there from when we first invaded. To eliminate any threat to the Fel Hammer, it's time that they were destroyed."
It really didn't take Lyra long to come up with an answer to what Malevolence suggested, as she had agreed with it the moment the Matron Mother opened her mouth, though she did turn to Belath and asked what additional work they needed to do in their quest to stop the Legion.
"As much as we might not like it, we need the aid of the Wardens if we're to locate the Sargerite Keystone." Belath said, though he patiently waited for the flash of anger to leave Lyra's face, because she disliked the Wardens and hated Maiev, but she was, at least, willing to give the others a chance, "They took it from you when we were all imprisoned in the vault. With Maiev missing, again I might add, their current leader is Sira Moonwarden. On your behalf, I have agreed that we will assist them in tracking down some of the more powerful creatures that escaped from the Vault of the Wardens. In return, she will direct us to where we need to go to get the Keystone."
"How many targets do they want us to eliminate?" Lyndraxa asked, as she wanted to know how many of them she needed to kill before they could finally get the Keystone, something that Lyra agreed with.
"Sira said that there are five she wants us to deal with," Belath replied, to which he held up a list and started reading the names that had been written down on it, "Skul'vrax, Mellok, Fathnyr, Mal'Dreth the Corruptor, and something on the Isle of the Watchers. After those five missions are taken care of, and Mardum is secured once more, we should be able to gain the location of the Keystone."
Lyra nodded and headed towards the command table, where Lyndraxa asked her to be sent to Mardum so she could clean up the mess that they had apparently left behind, to which Lyra agreed and sent her out immediately. That left her with four champions that could carry out her will, though her decision was that one of her champions would deal with one of the threats that Sira told them about. Then, one the four named ones were dealt with, they would gather on the Isle of the Watchers and deal with the final target together... to which her champions saluted her and headed out towards the portal that would take them to Dalaran. Since she had nothing better to do, and it appeared that she wouldn't be going anywhere until her champions returned to the Fel Hammer, Lyra decided to train her skill by asking some of the other demon hunters, the newest ones, if they would like to join her.
To make things more fair for the new initiates, and to provide some challenge for her, Lyra opted to not use the Twinblades and used a pair that the demon hunters used when they were training, though once she was ready she charged at the Illidari that had accepted her challenge.
Some time, likely an hour or two, passed before both she and the initiates were done with their training, to which Lyra set her training blades back where she had gotten them from, collected her actual weapons, and had a quick word with the person that was training the initiates. From what she had seen they could all use some additional work, which the instructor agreed with, but she was pleased to say that they could definitely hold their own against someone like her, which made their instructor proud... despite the fact that they both knew that Lyra had been holding back the entire time. If she was looking for some serious training she would have transformed into her Havoc Form and attacked them, but she knew that using that form would have been overkill... though this method allowed her to understand how her followers were holding up and if there was anything that needed to change in order to make them stronger.
When she walked back up to the main floor of the Fel Hammer, however, one of the Illidari came over and handed her a report that had come in, from all of the champions she had sent out on missions, which made sense seeing how Lyndraxa was walking on the other side of the chamber. Lyra thanked the naga for the information and quickly read through the report, where she discovered that Lyndraxa had actually discovered a survivor who had been fighting on Mardum since they took control of the Fel Hammer... and apparently never picked up. With the report in hand she walked over to Belath and showed him what she discovered, though it appeared that he was surprised as well.
"Ariana Fireheart?!" Belath said, looking down at the name for a few seconds, before glancing up and noticing a new arrival had appeared in the Fel Hammer, "I thought she died the first time we were here. How horrible that she's been down there all this time. But, what an amazing survivor! I remember her being an excellent trainer of demon hunters. We should put her talents to good use immediately."
"Agreed," Lyra replied, as another trainer for the new initiates would be most welcome, as she was sure that Ariana would be able to improve upon what they were learning at the moment, before she turned to Belath again, "Now, what about the Wardens?"
"Well, we did everything that she asked, but that wasn't enough for Sira Moonwarden." Belath answered, noticing a look of annoyance appear on Lyra's face, indicating that she wasn't pleased by this turn of events, "She's asking for one more thing and she wants you to deal with it personally."
Lyra had been hoping that Sira was more than willing to give them the information that they requested, especially after her champions had killed five of the runaway prisoners that had escaped from the Vault of the Wardens, but it appeared that she was dealing with someone that was on Maiev's level of annoyance... to which she quickly gestured for Belath to continue so she could deal with this immediately.
"The way I see it, the Wardens owe us for all of those years we were imprisoned." Belath stated, indicating that he didn't much care for how they were being treated either, "Unfortunately, their new leader, Sira Moonwarden doesn't agree with my assessment. Even though your champions have already dealt with several of their escaped bounties, she wants more. In fact, as a sign of good faith, she's asking that you deal with it personally. You'll have to extinguish the flames of the kobold candles to summon forth the Devouring Darkness. The other two, Hertha Grimdottir and Theryssia, should be more straightforward... and she even passed on a small list to tell you where all three are located."
It turned out that the Devouring Darkness resided somewhere near a small settlement called Skyhorn, which happened to rest in Highmountain, while Theryssia happened to be located outside Black Rook Hold and Hertha rested in Suramar, near the border with Stormheim. Lyra was surprised that one of the three targets was in an area that she had already passed through, as she didn't see anything that matched Sira's description of Theryssia, but she simply sighed, walked through the portal to Dalaran, and asked the flight master to arrange for a mount to take her to three specific locations... which apparently didn't take too long for him to do, because soon she was on her way to Val'sharah once more.
The flight to Val'sharah, or more specifically Bradensbrook, gave Lyra some time to think about what she was going to do if Sira Moonwarden went back on her word and refused to hand over the Keystone. It was likely that none of the Wardens even knew what it was or what it did, but had likely kept it around since Lyra had been holding onto it before Maiev trapped her in her prison. The only reason they needed the Keystone, besides keeping it out of the Legion's hands, was so they could invade a Legion world and wipe its forces out, which made her wonder if Lord Illidan's plan had been to assault Argus at some point in time. She had to wonder what Sargeras was doing with the world that Velen and his people had come from, but something in the back of her head told her that they would find out about that soon enough.
When she arrived in Bradensbrook she climbed off the griffon she had been riding on, which was going to stay until she needed to find her second target, before she retraced her steps towards Black Rook Hold... where she quickly spotted a ghost floating near a tombstone, a ghost that matched the description of Theryssia.
Once the ghost of Theryssia spotted her, and shrieked in her direction, Lyra growled and charged at her target, allowing her warglaives to slash through her opponent's body and damage Theryssia, like she had done to the spirits in Black Rook Hold. Lyra soon discovered that this particular target was extremely boring, as all she had to do was silence Theryssia's ghostly wail before it could be used and the ghost went silent, to which she attacked her with her hands as Lyra hacked into her in turn. Theryssia made two more attempts to use its ghostly wail on Lyra, who in turn silenced her target, before she dealt the finishing blow and let the spirit of Theryssia journey to whatever afterlife she was destined for.
The moment Theryssia's ghost was dealt with, and a name was crossed off the list, Lyra returned to Bradensbrook and had the griffon fly her to Highmountain, so she could find the cave that the Devouring Darkness was in and deal with it before it plagued the tauren that called the region home.
It took her some time to reach Skyhorn, giving her some time to reflect on what she knew about Argus once more, before the griffon touched down in the settlement she was supposed to land in. As she asked around for where the cave she needed was located, however, a guardian druid emerged from the main building and looked at her, though when she noticed the unique armor it had on she knew that she had bumped into Monkskah again. The tauren druid came over and inquired why she was looking for the cave, to which she explained that the creature inside it, the Devouring Darkness, was one of the prisoners that had escaped from the Vault of the Wardens... and that the Wardens were personally asking her to get rid of it.
Monkskah agreed to help her, because of all the help she gave him and the other druids in Val'sharah, and quickly lead the way to the cave in question, where they found the bodies of some kobolds resting around the entrance, but neither of them were frightened by the display and carried on. It didn't take them too long to reach the 'alter' that the candles were lit around, though when they doused them a shadowy creature emerged from the darkness and attacked them without hesitation. Fortunately the most harmful ability that the Devouring Darkness had was summoning a small vortex in the immediate area around it, which Lyra and Monkskah could get away from without being hurt, and its attempts to throw bolts made of shadow at them failed... to which Lyra smiled when she and her comapnion put the second creature on her list down.
The two of them then took a few moments to walk outside the cave, allowing them to speak to each other for a few minutes, before they returned to Skyhorn, where Lyra said farewell to the druid and headed towards her last destination, which happened to be in Suramar.
When she arrived at her destination she found that there were some ruins nearby and a lone hippogryph standing on some rocks, to which her griffon chirped at it as they landed, though Lyra paid them no mind as she followed the directions towards where her final target was hiding. It didn't take her long to find the cave that Hertha was hiding in, though when she found her target Hertha lifted her large sword and attacked her within a few seconds. Once again Lyra had to wonder why this person was even considered a prisoner of the Wardens, as Hertha's attacks were slow and she could easily dodge them, leading Lyra to suspect that this was merely a test of her skill... and that Sira was trying to see if she could be trusted.
Since Hertha was just a lowly warrior who was terrible at fighting, Lyra quickly put her down and made sure that she was dead, before sighing and returning to her griffon, to which they took off and left the hippogryph behind. Since they were close to where Dalaran was located it didn't take them long to reach their destination, to which Lyra thanked the flight master when she arrived and returned to the Fel Hammer. once she was back in her Order Hall she headed over to Belath and informed him of her success... though at the same time she kept her suspicions about Sira's motives to herself.
"The Wardens should have cooperated with us much sooner than this." Belath commented, speaking about the number of prisoners that had escaped and had remained at large, only for them to cut that number down, "Still, we now know that we need to go find a Warden, one called Malace Shade, who happens to be in Stormheim. She was the one entrusted with safeguarding the Sargerite Keystone. That information, combined with some scouting I did on my own, will point you in the right direction. We'll have the Keystone before you know it."
Lyra smiled, because it appeared that things might be looking up for her and the Illidari, though all she had to do was find Malace, help her with whatever she was working on, and learn where the Keystone was located... and then they would be one step closer to bringing the Legion, and Sargeras, down at long last.
"As I mentioned, I did some recon in Stormheim before the Wardens contacted us." Belath said, to which he paused long enough for Lyra to nod her understanding, "What I have discovered is that the Tideskorn are a tribe of Vrykul who have been cut-off from the sea by their Kvaldir brethren. Many of the Tideskorn have pledged their services to the Legion and become Felskorn. Malace Shade was last seen heading toward the Felskorn Warcamp... and it is likely that she was captured, just like Maiev was. If you would give me a few minutes I can have a flight to Stormheim arranged for you."
"Good. The sooner I get to Stormheim the sooner I can start searching for Malace." Lyra replied, though at the same time she she found it amusing that she was going to have to rescue another Warden in the same week that she had broken Maiev out of her cell.
Lyra followed Belath through the portal and returned to Dalaran, though she looked out over the edge as she wondered what the land of Stormheim looked like, as this was the first time she had even considered that she was going to head to that region. One of the disadvantages she would be facing was the fact that she had no idea where anything was located, which meant that she was likely going to spend some time searching the land before she found where she her target was supposed to be located. She heard the sound of metallic boots walking on the ground behind her, to which she turned around and spotted Kurost Skullcleaver, with his twin artifact swords that fit into his nature as a Fury Warrior, coming her way.
"It is good to see you again Lyra," Kurost said, though at the same time he held a hand out, to which Lyra smiled and did the same thing, which was followed by them shaking their hands for a few seconds.
"Likewise Kurost," Lyra replied, though a few seconds later they separated their hands and stared at each other, while at the same time ignoring the looks that some of the nearby civilians were giving them, "so, what are you doing here?"
"I was planning on heading back to Stormheim, to check for anything that I, and the other heroes, might have missed while we were searching the area," Kurost stated, though at the same time he chuckled, as if he found the notion of missing something to be humorous, "What about you? I've heard that you and your Illidari have been busy killing demons, collecting souls, and doing a number of other things to bring about the downfall of the Legion... so what are you up to this time?"
"Belath is arranging for me to be taken to Stormheim," Lyra answered, though as she spoke she noticed that a griffon was already being readied, which meant that she would be departing from Dalaran soon, "There's a Warden that I need to find and she was last seen in Stormheim... though we're not completely sure whether she's been captured or if she's just refusing to report back to anyone. Either way I need to have a chat with her."
"Then allow me to accompany you," Kurost said, though his statement did catch Lyra by surprise, as she hadn't been expecting the orc warrior to opening say that, especially to someone whose race belonged to the Alliance, "I can tell that this will be your first time to Stormheim and that you don't know where anything is located, so I would like to lend you my aid in finding out where this Warden is located."
For a moment Lyra wondered if she really was that easy to read, as the orc had determined that she had never been to Stormheim before and claimed that she wouldn't find her destination without having someone guide her to her target, but she was thankful that the few demons she had spoken to didn't do what Kurost did. After a few seconds she smiled and told the orc that she would gladly accept his help, as that meant that she could get her mission done much faster with someone who knew the area helping her. She would have preferred having her friends with her, but they were busy with whatever missions the mages needed Trixie and Azuregos to go on, so she would deal with what was available to her... to which she and Kurost approached the flight master and headed out towards Stormheim.
As they flew away from Dalaran, however, Kurost asked where the Warden was supposed to be located, so he could easily lead her towards the area she needed to visit, to which Lyra revealed that she needed to head to the Felskorn Warcamp so she could talk with Malace.
It took them some time to reach their intended destination in Stormheim, a place called Valdisdall, though instead of sticking around, and talking with the people that called the tower area home, Kurost blew his mount whistle and called his frostwolf to him. Lyra nodded and pulled her own whistle out, to which her felsaber appeared nearby and purred when it stopped by her, though once the cat was here they climbed onto their mounts and Lyra followed Kurost towards the large structure that was some distance from where Valdisdall was located. As they approached the massive structure, however, she noticed a camp of some kind on their left, where she spotted a lot of Vrykul soldiers preparing themselves for war... though who they were going to war with she had no idea.
When Kurost beckoned for them to climb off their mounts Lyra followed his lead, to which they approached the lone Vrykul that was guarding a steel cage, killing the mystic that was tending to three glowing stones, before Lyra smiled as she stared at the Warden that was inside the cage.
"Lyra Heartstrings..." Malace commented, though instead of sounding annoyed about seeing her, as Maiev was every time the two of them happened to be in the same area, Lyra noticed that Malace sounded amused, "This is a rather odd turn of events, don't you think? You're free and now I am the prisoner."
"I came to bust you out of your cell, just like I did for Maiev," Lyra replied, knowing that the Warden had to know how she, Azuregos, and Trixie had gone through the effort to rescue the leader of the Wardens from the cell she had been trapped inside, even though Lyra hated Maiev and would have preferred to keep her trapped in there, "that, and your the only one who knows what happened to the Sargerite Keystone.
"A normal cage wasn't enough to hold me, so the Vrykul ensorcelled these runestones to trap me in here." Malace said, to which she gestured to the three stones that were sitting around her cage, "Each is powered by a different Felskorn rune. Unfortunately, they gave the runes to different guardians, who have all scattered to different places around Stormheim. So, if Sira said that you could have your precious keystone back, I'll gladly let you have it back... but you're going to have to get me out of here first. The guardians of the runes are called Runelord Ragnar, who resides in Hrydshal, Runesage Floki, who hides in the Tideskorn Harbor, and Runeskeld Rollo, who remains in Haustvald."
"Understood." Lyra replied, though before they were discovered she and Kurost backed away from where Malace was imprisoned and returned to where their mounts were located, to which she smiled as she realized that they had gotten away without an alarm sounding.
Once they had escaped from the warcamp Kurost had them stop and pulled out his map of Stormheim, where he beckoned to the three locations that Malace had told them about, to which Lyra discovered that the area behind them, which went some distance into the ground, was Haustvald. Oddly enough Tideskorn Harbor happened to be located not too far away from Haustvald, which meant that they could easily kill Rollo before hunting down Floki, which would allow them to travel to Hrydshal and kill Ragnar. Lyra suspected that the guardians of the runes would be difficult to defeat, especially since they had to guard the runes that kept Malace trapped in her cage, but she was going to show them why she and Kurost were much stronger than they were.
When they reached Haustvald Lyra noticed that the mystics in the area were attempting to rise the bones of the dead, dishonoring themselves and the warrior that they were calling back to this world, to which Kurost charged into one of the mystics and cut off his hand to prevent him from channeling the magic into the bones. Instead of killing the mystic outright, however, he kept the wounded person alive and started asking questions that regarded Rollo, while at the same time Lyra defended her orc ally from the Vrykul that came their way. From what Lyra could tell the other Vrykul thought that they were here to steal their secrets and save the fallen warriors that were being raised from their graves... but she paid it no mind as she used the Twinblades to hack into her enemies while keeping them off of Kurost.
As it turned out Kurost was actually able to get the location of Rollo, who happened to be closer to the back of Haustvald, though with the information in hand they silenced their remaining foes and headed down to where Lyra's real target was located. They did have to fight their way to the burial area that Rollo was supposed to be staying in, though when they arrived Lyra found her target praying to something, but when she and Kurost walked into the chamber Rollo got up, declared that by defeating Lyra he'd get into the Halls of Valor, and charged at her. Considering that this was her mission, and that she didn't want any interruptions, Kurost stood at the entrance and blocked it off, meaning that he would prevent any of the other Vrykul from interfering with their fight.
Oddly enough Lyra found the fight to be extremely easy, as Rollo swung his large axe like a Fel Lord would and used some of the same attacks that those demons used, meaning that her experience in fighting that type of enemy would come in handy this time around. Since she knew how her opponent fought, and had a good amount of experience in defeating the various Fel Lords she had battled since becoming a demon hunter, she was able to bring Rollo down with ease... to which she collected his rune and escaped with Kurost.
Once they had escaped from Haustvald, and left the dark mystics behind, Kurost had them cross the graveyard on their right for a few minutes, allowing Lyra to stare down at the harbor that her second target, Floki, was supposed to be hiding with his rune. Kurost suggested that they repeat the process he had used in Haustvald, indicating that they stop one of the Vrykul that were walking around the area and question them about the whereabouts of the guardian they were searching for. Lyra agreed immediately, because if one of the mystics in Haustvald could give them the information they needed she was sure that one of the warriors that were walking along the path in front of them would be able to give them the same sort of information on Floki.
Lyra found it funny when they found a warrior to ask questions to, as Kurost was able to disarm their target, as in relieve him of both his weapon and his arm, before asking where Floki was hiding... which was actually inside the large building that rested at the direct end of this path, which was halfway between the cliff they had been on and the water that was below them.
It didn't take them long to reach the building in question, where Floki greeted them by stating that Lyra would make an excellent sacrifice, to who Lyra didn't want to know, though Kurost defended the opening from attackers once more, letting Lyra focus on the fight with Floki. As it turned out her opponent was more focused on casting spells than using his axes to attack her, though her speed and the strength of her attacks were more than enough to deal with everything that Floki could send her way. It didn't take her long to take out her target, though when Floki fell to the floor Lyra made sure to grab his rune before departing from the building, to which she and Kurost headed back up the walkway and departed from Tideskorn Harbor.
With the second rune in hand Lyra inquired where Hrydshal was located, to which she learned that it was close to the border of Suramar and that they would be riding for some time before they reached their destination. Lyra chuckled and followed after Kurost, which involved them calling their mounts back to them before they got underway, though they stuck to the worn path that served as the road for this land. Kurost told her that to get inside their destination they were going to have to use a grapple hook to get over the walls, though when they eventually reached the stronghold Lyra had to chuckle, as she found some areas where she could actually use her double jump and glide abilities to get over the majority of the obstacles that would be in her way.
Once they were both inside the stronghold, and had regrouped, they sought out a Vrykul that was alone and repeated the process they had used back in Haustvald and Tideskorn Harbor. They learned that, from the main gate of Hrydshal, they needed to follow the path on their left, enter the area that was on their immediate left, and enter the second building on their left. Lyra found it amusing that the directions all included lefts, and Kurost agreed with her, though they carefully put down the Vrykul that they had wounded and made their way over to where Ragnar was hiding, where Kurost guarded the entrance while Lyra had her 'audience' with her target.
Ragnar was upset like the other two guardians that Lyra had faced so far, but he fought like a warrior did and Lyra already had experience fighting several of those thanks to the Legion's failed invasions of the towns and villages that the Alliance and Horde controlled. Lyra had to admit that she was vastly disappointed in who had been chosen to carry the runes, as they were everything that she had fought before and they offered her nothing new... making her wish that three specific demons had been granted the honor to imprison a Warden, but she would make due with what was in front of her. She was able to take Ragnar out in no time, to which she collected the third a final rune, before she and Kurost made their escape from Hrydshal, leaving the Vrykul behind.
With the three runes in hand they retraced their steps back to the Felskorn Warcamp, where they took out another mystic guarding Malace... which was followed by Lyra shattering the runestones that kept the magical portion of the cage operational, freeing the Warden and allowing them to escape without being noticed.
"I'm glad to see that the reports about you are true; you aren't to be underestimated." Malace commented, though at the same time she stretched, making Lyra wonder how long she had been imprisoned in that cage, before she turned towards her liberators, "Up to helping me out with one more little thing?"
"Might as well." Lyra replied, knowing that at some point Malace was going to hand over the information she desired, but she was more than willing to help this Warden out... because Malace didn't piss her off and she actually liked being around a Warden that appreciated her skills.
"The reason why I came out here was to capture or kill a Fel Lord named, Lochaber." Malace explained, though at the same time they separated themselves from the warcamp, to prevent the Felskorn from learning what their next move was going to be, "I am no longer in a capturing mood. Those fools actually let me keep my weapon, meaning that they thought their runs could hold me, though we should head up to the bridge in front of the Gates of Valor. That place is a scary mess full of Felskorn vrykul and demons. How do you think I got caught? So, I'd rather not go back in there. But, I think I know a way to get the demon to come out to us."
"Taunting him?" Kurost inquired, as it appeared that this time around the demon that Malace wanted dead might respond to something other than her presence or her strength.
"Exactly." Malace replied, to which she held out her weapon, which happened to be some sort of spear that looked deadly on its own, and beckoned for them to follow her, before all three of them started making their way towards the bridge, "Lyra, once this is over I will give you the information you desire, and maybe my respect as well."
Lyra thought about shooting Malace down and saying that she only wanted the Keystone, but that was something that Maiev would expect her to say if she was a heartless demon hunter, to which she nodded her head and followed Malace towards the Gates of Valor. When they arrived at the place that Malace intended to taunt the Fel Lord at, however, she raised a hand and both Lyra and Kurost stopped in their tracks, to which they spread out and pulled their weapons out. The taunt happened to be along the lines of calling Lochaber a coward for not wanting to face Malace in battle, to which the large Fel Lord came running towards where they were standing... though it slowed down when it saw Lyra.
Apparently this had to be some sort of trap devised by Varedis, in an attempt to get his warglaives back, but Lyra would not hand over the artifact weapon that she had spent the time and energy to recover from the Legion. Luck was on her side as Kurost got in on the action, dodging the wide swings of Lochaber's large axe and cutting into his legs, while at the same time Lyra aimed for his chest and heart. The only problem she had with killing a demon on Azeroth was that their soul would either be devoured by the Twinblades or return to the Twisting Nether, to be reborn, though she was banking on taking Lochaber's soul into the warglaives.
It didn't take them long to bring Lochaber down and bring a swift end to his life, meaning that Malace's mission was complete and that she could returned to her base of operations at long last... though before she did so she turned to Lyra and let out a sigh of relief.
"I thank you, and your companion, for helping me out," Malace said, though at the same time Lyra noticed that she was preparing to disappear, meaning that she didn't want someone else to see her leave the area, "The Sargerite Keystone was locked away in the once secured Vault of the Wardens, near the body of Illidan Stormrage, though right now we have no way of confirming whether that is true or not. Either way you should get some friends together, venture to the Isle of the Watchers, and check the Vault out... and kill any of the Legion's minions that you come across."
Lyra smiled as Malace disappeared, because not only did she finally meet a Warden that she didn't dislike with a passion, which was a refresher, she now had the location of the Sargerite Keystone... which would put her one step closer to saving Azeroth and, more importantly, her home world.
"Lyra, where are you going?" Kurost asked, though at the same time he followed Lyra as she walked back to the small village area they had flown to in order to being the search for Malace.
"I'm heading back to Dalaran so I can ask Trixie if she'll join me in taking out the enemies inside the Vault of the Wardens," Lyra replied, as she knew that the Legion must have left some enemies inside the vault, in order to prevent the remaining Wardens from recovering their vault and the other items that they might have sealed away in there, "She knows who can help us out in the vault, as this sounds like another dungeon run... much like the Eye of Azshara that we did earlier to recover the Tidestone."
"Very well then," Kurost said, though he did follow her back the to village, as he wanted to make sure that she was safe from harm considering that some of their enemies might not like her leaving the area, "I shall simply wish you luck and hope that whoever is holding this Keystone at the end of the day is you."
Lyra nodded and separated herself from Kurost, who ventured back into the area around them and continued on whatever quest he had been tasked with before Lyra had interrupted him, though once he was out of the way she turned to the flight master and charted a course back to Dalaran. She was sure that the rest of the Illidari would be happy to hear that she knew where the Keystone was supposed to be resting, though this time she was taking matters into her own hands and was going to bring a group into the vault, instead of wasting time like she had done earlier. All she had to do was talk with Trixie and hopefully get a group together to take on whatever they found inside the Vault of the Wardens, though a part of her was hoping that Trixie's friends would be willing to help them again.
It took her some time to reach Dalaran, which she had accounted for, but when she arrived she immediately made her way towards the citadel where the Council of Six rested, as Lyra was positive that she would bump into either Kalec or Khadgar while she was there. Those were the only two people that could get into contact with Trixie, as she didn't know who else was in the Mage Order Hall, and she needed her fellow Equestrian's help in this manner. She had considered attacking the vault with an army of Illidari, but that would cause a scene of some kind and no doubt alert the Legion to what they were doing... so she had decided on a small force, just like the last dungeon she had gone through. Several of the other heroes, from both the Alliance and the Horde, nodded to her and she repeated the gesture, as it appeared that while the rest of her forces may not be liked much by everyone else she had some respect from both factions.
She pushed that thought away as she walked into the citadel and came to a stop in front of where the Council of Six usually stood, though she found that most of them were busy in a corner and were apparently discussing something... though that was until Khadgar noticed her and walked over to the entrance.
"Lyra Heartstrings, this is a pleasant surprise," Khadgar said, as whenever Lyra and Trixie were around they always tended to do something interesting, or they were busy saving people from the Legion, or a number of other possibilities that he could think up, "What can we do for you on this fine afternoon?"
"I just discovered where the Sargerite Keystone is being held," Lyra explained, knowing that Khadgar had some idea as to what the keystone was, as he had likely been present for transporting the prison crystals from the Black Temple to the Vault of the Wardens and had likely asked what the artifact was, "I need Trixie's help in gathering some heroes so we can head into the depths of the vault, banish whatever foul creatures the Legion left behind, and recover the Keystone. It will help us turn the tide against the Legion, especially if we can put Lord Illidan's plan into action."
Khadgar raised an eyebrow before remembering that Maiev had mentioned something about a plan when she was battle Lyra the first time, though the plan involved the downfall of every Legion world, the death of both Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, and the defeat of Sargeras himself. With Archimonde already dead, hopefully for good this time around, and several Legion worlds already being assaulted by the various Orders because of how they acquired their artifacts and how their Orders were reacting to the Legion's assault on Azeroth, he knew that he could trust this plan. Sure, Lyra wasn't telling him anything about it, but with the possibility of a Legion spy being nearby it was better that way... to which he nodded to Lyra and summoned an orb, which he commanded to inform Trixie that he needed to speak with her.
Not even five minutes later Trixie, followed by an eager looking Azuregos, walked into the citadel, though when they saw Lyra standing nearby they both knew that things were about the get interesting.
"What's going on?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she had the feeling that she knew what they were going to tell her, so she braced herself and waited for whatever was coming.
"I found where the Sargerite Keystone is being held," Lyra explained, causing Trixie to raise an eyebrow, though that was before a smile appeared on her face as well, "According to my source the last place it was seen in was the Vault of the Wardens, but I'll need some help clearing out the enemies that the Legion left behind. Do you think we can convince Maraa and Allvar to join us, or should we look for other people to help us out?"
"Not at all... in fact, I'm sure they'll be interested in searching the Warden's special vault for something that can help end this invasion much faster," Trixie replied, though she was pleased that whatever plan Lyra's followers had been cooking up involved something like this Keystone, because if it did what Lyra said it did then it could be the key to getting to Argus and stopping the Legion... permanently.
It didn't take Trixie long to discover that both Allvar and Maraa were in the same inn that they had split the treasure from their first dungeon in, to which the trio approached the table and explained that they needed their services once more. As she suspected they were both interested in acquiring the Keystone, once they knew that it was skeleton key for the Illidari to invade the other Legion worlds, including Argus, they immediately agreed to join forces with the group and departed from the inn. Trixie then explained where the Vault of the Wardens was actually located and said that the best thing to do was fly there, meaning she and Azuregos would take on their dragon forms and fly the others to the entrance, where they would prepare themselves before delving into the Legion infested vault.
Once they reached Krasus' Landing they departed from the city and headed towards the island that the vault had been built into, though all Lyra did was focus on the task at hand and ignored the fact that she could find Maiev outside the vault. A few minutes later all five of them were standing outside the still opened door that marked the beginning of the vault, though once Trixie and Azuregos were back in their mortal forms, or hybrid form in Trixie's case, they all drew their weapons and headed into the depths.
When they reached the first area of the vault Lyra immediately recognized it as the place where that one eredar tried to stop her and the other Illidari from escaping, Bastillax if she was remembering his name correctly, before noticing a demon hunter floating in the air above the corpse of the eredar she had been thinking about. There were satyrs, demons, and other demon hunters walking around the area in front of them, but Lyra could see that her former friends and training partners had fallen from the path that she walked on. And to top it off she could hear someone shouting at someone else about crimes, but she decided that they had to focus on the enemies in front of them... which was what Allvar did as he charged into the group in front of him and started swinging his sword at them.
Lyra joined in and focused on making sure that the damned demon hunters didn't do anything to her group, while Trixie focused on interrupting whatever damaging spell the satyrs were preparing, though when one group fell they simply move onto the next one. It didn't take them long to reach the demon hunter who was floating in the air, who immediately fell down to them and attacked them the moment she noticed that they were close to where she was standing, where Lyra noticed that she preferred the Havoc style of fighting. Since she knew the techniques she became the focus of her foe's attacks, as it appeared that the demon hunter thought by taking her out she would have a much better time eliminating everyone else... which made her easier to kill.
As the group circled around to deal with the remaining damned demon hunters, however, Lyra realized that the one they had killed was Glayvianna Soulrender, though while she knew the name she personally never grew attached to this lone wolf... whose soul had been fed to the Twinblades, to keep her from awakening as a pawn of the Legion.
Once she was done staring at the body she rejoined the group as they assaulted another large group of demons that were guarding the path in front of them, which escalated quickly when one ran off to get more reinforcements, but at the same time the group proved to be better than the satyrs, demons, and damned demon hunters. They then had to fight through several more groups like that, each one ending in a similar fashion, before they reached the area that held the pool that Lyra could have gazed into to see the past, but she hadn't done that when they were escaping because she knew everything she needed to at the time to make her decision. What interested her, however, was that there was a wounded Warden sitting in the middle of the chamber and another demon hunter, Tirathon Saltheril if her memory served her, standing on the top of the platform above them... though he looked ready to kill all of them.
"I will serve MY people, the exiled and the reviled." Tirathon shouted, though at this point Lyra could tell that he was focusing on the Warden in front of him and not Lyra's group, before he pointed a warglaive down at his target, "I will kill you and all of your kin; and when I am done I shall fulfill the dreams of my master!"
The way Tirathon said 'master' instead of 'Lord Illidan' told Lyra that he must have made a bargain with Kil'jaeden at some point in time, which meant that he was likely here to guard the entrance to the Keystone, as the doors they needed to walk through were closed with a fel lock... and Lyra was sure that killing him was the only way to get them open. The Warden, despite their injuries, backed away from Tirathon as he leapt into the area in front of the group, to which Lyra and the others opened fire on the obviously corrupted demon hunter. As Lyra and Tirathon's weapons came into contact with each other, as Allvar was more than willing to allow her to 'tank' this battle instead of him stealing her glory, Lyra heard her opponent mention that it was good to fight again... which made her a little ticked off as she pushed her foe backwards.
After a few seconds of fighting Tirathon appeared to want a change of pace and launched a few small 'meteors' into the air, where they fell down onto the ground and stayed there for a few moments, emitting a force of fel energy that could hut whoever stepped on it, before they disappeared. Tirathon also attempted to coat his weapons in darkness to protect himself from damage, a worthless endeavor in Lyra's eyes considering he should have used the ability on himself, while also trying to hit her by throwing his warglaives at the walls. When he grew tired of missing her, merely because he appeared to be completely worthless with the power of the Legion backing him, he tossed his weapons aside and transformed into his demonic state, the Vengeance version of her Havoc form... to which she shifted as well and they continued to fight each other, only Lyra did more damage because she was smart enough to keep her warglaives with her instead of tossing them to the side.
The fight came much faster that Tirathon was expecting, because Lyra sidestepped one of his attacks and drove the Twinblades into his beating heart, ending their duel in a matter of moments.
"My... power... wasn't... enough?" Tirathon asked in surprise, while at the same time having to take a breath between each word as his life force drained out of his body, not to mention his soul was being drawn into the Twinblades.
"You should have stayed on the same path as the rest of the Illidari," Lyra replied, to which she tore the Twinblades out of her opponent's chest, causing him to stagger for a moment before he collapsed on the floor, "but you made your choice, Tirathon Saltheril, just like I made mine... and I intend on staying true to what Lord Illidan taught us."
Once Tirathon had been taken care of Maraa tended to the wounds that the Warden, Drelanim Whisperwind, had sustained during her battle with the corrupted demon hunter, though while Lyra could tell that this Warden didn't like the Illidari she was extremely thankful for Lyra and her friends saving her life. The moment they were done tending to Drelanim's wounds, and made sure that Lyra was fine from her battle, Allvar lead them into the passage that had been opened and discovered one of the obese Imp Mothers blocking the door they needed to go through. Allvar charged forward and took the demon's attention almost immediately, while at the same time Lyra joined him in attacking from behind... giving Trixie and Azuregos the opportunity to attack from afar with their spells.
Despite the fact that the Imp Mother tried to poison them, and twist them to her side if given the opportunity, the group was able to beat her in no time and unlocked the door that she had been guarding, to which they walked into the room in front of them and climbed onto the elevator that was waiting for them. When they reached the bottom level that the elevator could go to, however, the group discovered an Inquisitor demon, as labeled by Lyra when she saw it, floating around the area and studying whatever it looked at. They climbed off the elevator and noticed that the demon hadn't noticed their arrival, though as the elevator rose back into the air Allvar made the decision to attack... to which he leapt into the air and slammed into the ground around the demon, before cutting into his defenses.
"Ah, new subjects," the inquisitor said, though instead of drawing any weapons, which Lyra knew most Inquisitor demons didn't have, this one merely held his hands out and started swinging his hands at Allvar.
Fortunately the demon's attention was on Allvar, allowing Lyra to get behind him and start cutting into him from behind, while Trixie and Azuregos provided cover fire with their spells, which left some dents in the demon's chest that were pretty much ignored. After a few seconds the Inquisitor used an ability that was attached to all five of them, one that Lyra realized was supposed to drain their souls and prevent them from using one of their own abilities for some time, to which she activated her Drain Magic ability and stopped the demon in his tracks. A few moments later the Inquisitor teleported over to one of the clusters of cells and shattered the green crystals that were in front of him, releasing stone creatures that reminded Lyra of the Mogu that Trixie had mentioned she had fought in Pandaria.
She and Trixie focused their efforts on the stone Mogu, leaving Azuregos to stop the soul ability from being used, though once all of the Mogu were reduced to rubble they returned their attention to the Inquisitor and resumed their assault. Fortunately the Inquisitor repeated the same couple of attacks for the next minute before teleporting to another set of cells, releasing a group of Old God minions from their prisons, but Lyra found that there were incredibly weak from their long slumber and that she could easily defeat them. Lyra expected the demon to teleport away a third time and awaken another group of prisoners, though when he did he released what appeared to be some sort of moving corruption, one that Trixie had also fought in the past.
The Inquisitor never got around to releasing the four set of prisoners, as both Allvar and Lyra drove their blades into his body and wrecked havoc on his systems, to which he said something about this being a disappointing ending before dying in a heap... which was followed by two doors opening.
When Lyra glanced behind the group she found that one of the door led to the room that held the Beholder creature she had stunned when she and the Illidari were escaping the vault, while the door on their right, when they were facing the room she was staring at, held the large fire elemental she had frozen during the escape. She glanced over at Allvar and her friends, as she was curious as to which room they wanted to go into first considering that they likely needed to defeat both creatures before they could move onward. As it turned out Allvar approached the room that Glazer was resting in, though they had to defeat a Shivirra and her felhounds before they could actually enter the large chamber. Lyra found it amusing that the demon hadn't tried to escape yet, but she guessed that since the doors had closed it was simply waiting for the chance to leave.
"Visitors?" Glazer asked, though at the same time it chuckled as they approached, meaning that it was ready for a fight and was prepared for them, "How exciting!"
Glazer tried to bite Allvar, as he was the demon's main target at the moment, while at the same time releasing energy spheres on the ground that raced out in predetermined directions, though those directions were intentional so he could strike the rest of the group. If a sphere hit someone it separated into two smaller spheres and went off in two new directions, indicating that they needed to avoid the spheres at all costs before they were hurt in the process. After a moment or two of fighting Glazer summoned a magical barrier around him and started firing a beam of energy, coming from his eye, in one direction and moved his body to move the beam towards a target. Lyra remembered this from when she was supposed to stun this creature, to which he shouted for everyone to move to one of the mirrors that were around the platform and redirect the beam into Glazer's back.
A few seconds later, with the three mirrors turned in the direction they were supposed to be turned in, Glazer shouted out a curse, directed at the Wardens and their mirrors, before he turned his attention back to Allvar and continued his assault. Fortunately it didn't appear that Glazer had any other attacks in his arsenal, as he repeated the biting attack and his small sphere attack, but he never bothered to summon his shield again... which easily resulted in his defeat and allowing them to relax for a moment.
Lyra was honestly disappointed with Glazer, because he was supposed to be a dangerous opponent, but all she could determine was that their group was much more stronger than the demon was supposed to be and they were able to down him in such a short amount of time. The group stopped for a few moments, regaining their energy from the last three 'boss' level creatures they had encountered, before Allvar called for them to move forward, though they moved into a path on the left, before they entered the area with the elevator, and passed by a large number of cells that were frozen. A few seconds later they turned to the left once more and walked into the area that the large fire elemental, Ash'Golm, was frozen in... though once they walked down into his area he shattered the ice and started attacking them.
Ash'Golm attacked Allvar with both his feet and his fists, before raining several fireballs onto the ground that spawned heated areas that would damage whoever walked on them while also summoning several small fire elementals to the battle. Lyra charged at the smaller elementals and cut into them, where she was thankful that her weapon could actually cut into elemental enemies, though once she had dealt with them she turned her attention back to the fight, where she remembered something about this chamber. She glanced at the countermeasures and smiled to herself, to which she moved along the edge of the area they were fighting on and activated the countermeasures once more... to which Ash'Golm was encased in ice once more.
This time, however, Lyra and her companions launched a massive attack on Ash'Golm, using some of their stronger skills and techniques to inflict massive damage on their target. Lyra wasn't about to question how her fel attacks were able to pass through the ice and damage her target, or how Allvar's swings could also inflict some serious damage as well, as this strange occurrence allowed her and the others to effectively cut a large amount of Ash'Golm's help down before he shattered the ice again. After another minute or two the large fire elemental collapsed on the ground and died, to which the rest of the group cheered before they retraced their steps towards the room that Glazer was in... though from they they walked back out into the main chamber and approached the demon that was now guarding the door that would allow them to delve into the depths once more.
The Jailer demon tried to stop them in their tracks, with multiple attempts to shackle them to the ground and trap them in his cage, but they proved to be too much for him to take and they were able to kill him in no time... to which they walked into the chamber he had been guarding, climbed onto the elevator when it arrived, and lowered themselves down into the final stretch of the dungeon.
When they reached the end of where the elevator could take them they climbed off of it and watched as it rose back into the air, though once it was out of the way Allvar walked over to a small Warden owl statue and took the glowing sphere that was floating in the air, allowing him to illuminate a small area around him. Allvar then walked down the path in front of him and cut into the fel spiderwebs that were in his way, where Lyra assumed that the light from the orb did the trick before she and the others followed after their tank. Not even a few seconds later they were assaulted by a group of fel spiders, just like the ones from Mardum, but thankfully her companions were more than experienced enough to deal with them within a minute of engaging them.
They then turned around the corner and entered another area that had spider demons, as well as a Brood Queen type of demon that reminded Lyra of Tyranna, who she killed in Mardum, and some angry spirits of the Wardens that had died during the Legion's attack. It took them some time to take out the large group that attacked them, but they managed to do it and gave Maraa a few seconds to heal any of their wounds before they moved on, where they encountered two more groups of demon spiders along the way to the lowest level. When they reached the part where they needed to turn to the right, towards the door that led to the room that Lord Illidan's body had been sealed in, Lyra noticed that the path that led to where she had been imprisoned had collapsed... to which she silently hoped that all of the Illidari escaped from that area before the passage collapsed.
Of course they had to fight another group of spider demons, and two more Brood Queen level demons, before they approached the door to where Lord Illidan had been imprisoned... which opened a few seconds later, though they kept their guards up as they walked across the bridge that was in front of them. Allvar made the decision to set aside the light orb that had been floating above his head since he had picked it up, though not a few seconds later something collided with it and shattered it. Lyra glanced at the area where Lord Illidan's body had been resting and watched as a figure appeared out of the shadows, though while she recognized part of the design of her armor she knew who this person was... especially after hearing what happened on Draenor from Trixie, and the Warden that had betrayed Khadgar.
"Cordana Felsong," Lyra heard Trixie growl, indicating that she remembered the Warden's betrayal while they were on Draenor, especially since she was so easily corrupted by Gul'dan.
"Trixie Lulamoon and Lyra Heartstrings, how utterly predictable." Cordana said, fully appearing from the shadows that she had been hiding in the entire time, "I knew that the two of you, with a band of your friends, would come here. I already have the Sargerite Keystone, but I stayed here just so I could put an end to all of you... especially you, Lyra. The Legion has heard of your newfound power and want it for their own means, and I intend to give them what they want, which means you need to die."
Lyra chuckled as she walked over to the glowing orb that was on her right, because it appeared that Cordana had a death wish and it appeared that she didn't need anyone else to step in to help her fight, to which the glowing orb floated above her head as she turned towards her opponent. Lyra paused for a moment and allowed the fel energy to flare within her, to which her body morphed into her Havoc state as she slammed down on the ground in front of Cordana, where she swung her hand and blocked the attack that was coming her way. As the attack was pushed backwards she spun around and kicked Cordana in the chest, forcing her to take a step or two backwards, before her opponent charged at her once more and continued the attack.
While the two of them clashed Trixie had the others back away from the fight, as she had seen the damage Lyra had done when she mixed Fel Magic and Dark Magic, something that she knew had to be coming, so she wanted to get everyone out of the way and watch the two fight.
Cordana insisted on pulling out some smaller blades and throwing them into the area around her, where they would circle back to attack Lyra from behind, but for the most part Lyra flared her demonic wings and knocked many of the blades away from her. Cordana also insisted on calling some shadowy aspect of herself into the area so she could take the glowing orb that was above Lyra's head, but thanks to Lyra's instincts as a demon hunter she was able to sense the aspect before it could touch her and slew it in seconds. Cordana even tried to summon multiple shadowy versions of herself, one that floated in a line down one side of the platform to the other side, in an attempt to hurt her, but Lyra was smart enough to find the small gap in the line up and prevent herself from taking damage.
Lyra, on the other hand, also had some tricks of her own that she could use in this fight, such as gathering her power into her Eye Beam and blasting a part of Cordana's shoulder piece of in the process, only because she dodged before the attack could hit her chest. Her blade dance skill allowed her to cut multiple gashes into Cordana's armor while knocking her around for a few seconds, though at the same time she dropped some defensive skills to reduce the damage she could take from Cordana's attacks. When Cordana tried to disappear into the shadows Lyra activated her Spectral Sight and knocked her foe to the ground, where the corrupted Warden growled as she came at Lyra again... though at the same time Lyra could tell that her opponent was tiring already.
"I will not be stopped!" Cordana shouted, to which she swung her weapon at Lyra and missed, though at the same time she shifted her stance and continued swinging at Lyra, who continued to dodge the attacks, "I have fought too long. Suffered too much. Victory must be mine!"
Lyra took the opening that presented itself and used both of her warglaives to cut a x shaped cross into the center of Cordana's chest piece, though she then allowed her weapons to fly around the area after she threw them to the side... where she pulled her right hand back and drove it through Cordana's chest, tearing out her heart in the process.
"H... How?" Cordana asked, though at the same time Lyra could hear the sound of the corrupted Warden coughing up blood inside her helmet, though that was followed by her dropping her glaive to the ground, "You... are... NOTHING!"
"I fight to protect all the innocent worlds your foul master seeks to destroy." Lyra replied, to which she ripped her demonic hand out of Cordana's chest, where she spotted Cordana's heart in her hand, before she dropped it to the ground and caught her warglaives, "Trust me, Kil'jaeden and his dark master will be defeat at long last... and the universe will be saved from their crusade."
Cordana collapsed on the floor and went still, though as Lyra reverted back to her normal state she spotted the prize she had been searching for, the Sargerite Keystone, to which she grinned as she picked the relic off the ground and smiled at the rest of the group... because now she and the rest of the allied forces were one step closer to stopping the Legion, and their master Sargeras.
Lyra smiled as she looked down at the Sargerite Keystone, the one item she and the other Illidari had been searching for since they had been released from the Vault of the Wardens, though at the same time Trixie and the rest of her companions gathered the rest of their treasure. At the moment Lyra honestly didn't care about what they had found or what else they were gathering, because she had the one thing she had come here for and honestly didn't care about the other gear that Allvar had taken from the other boss level creatures they had fought. After some time Trixie called for everyone to gather near her as she snapped open a portal to Dalaran, to which they all moved through the portal and appeared on Krasus' Landing once more.
Despite the fact that Lyra needed to get this artifact to the Illidari, however, she followed Trixie to the inn that Allvar chose to stay in and reserved the same table they had sat at earlier, when they conquered the Eye of Azshara, though that was followed by them dividing the gold between them. Lyra wasn't really paying attention to what sort of gear they managed to take from the Vault of the Wardens, though whenever something was offered to her she simply shook her head and tried to get the others to take it. She remembered when she got the chest piece from the first dungeon and she still hated how it looked, to which she resolved to find a robe or something less revealing, so she could change clothing and be more like she had been when the Illidari were released from their cells.
Of course when Trixie told her that she should at least take the gloves that they had found on Tirathon's body, however, Lyra finally decided to accept her fate and took the hand armor, though at the same time she didn't understand the importance of upgrading armor and replacing perfectly usable clothing.
When they finally finished diving the gear and gold among the five of them, and Lyra could tell that her companions were pleased with what they had picked up, Lyra pulled herself back onto her hooves and bit the others farewell, though as she walked outside the inn she could hear the sound of two people following after her. She knew that Trixie would be curious as to what was 'wrong' with her, and why she was uninterested in the gear that they had collected, but those had some simple answers. Lyra stopped walking near the broken piece of Dalaran's wall, on Krasus' Landing, where she could glide over to the portal once she was done talking with Trixie and Azuregos.
"Why do you hate armor so much?" Trixie asked, gesturing to the gloves that she had to convince Lyra to take, as she had noticed that her companion seemed to prefer her standard Illidari gear and wasn't keen on replacing anything that she was currently wearing.
"I don't hate armor, I just prefer wearing the armor Lord Illidan gave me when I first joined the Illidari," Lyra replied, though at the same time she shrugged, as she really didn't see the purpose of replacing the gear that she had been gifted seven years ago, "besides, I guess I'll have to replace all of it at some point... my original gear is falling apart thanks to all the fights I've been in, though I haven't found anything decent to replace them with."
Trixie seemed unconvinced by Lyra's statement, especially considering what she had done back in the inn, to which she simply sighed and opened a portal for her and Azuregos to take back to the Hall of the Guardian. Lyra knew that her fellow Equestrian was going to be busy dealing with whatever else the Mage Order had to throw at her, to which she watched as her friends disappeared and the portal closed behind her. Once Trixie and Azuregos were gone Lyra summoned her fel wings and glided down towards the portal that would take her to the Fel Hammer, where she quickly landed on the island and passed through to the other side... where she found her forces preparing for the inevitable battle with the Legion's forces.
Lyra could see that her champions and Belath had turned towards the portal when she arrived on the Fel Hammer, though at the same time she smiled as she pulled out the Sargerite Keystone, telling them so much without her even having to say a single word.
"Finally. Its good to hear that Cordana Felsong has paid for all of the demon hunters whom she tempted into becoming Felsworn." Belath said, though at the same time Lyra could tell that he was glad to hear the news of her success, even if she hadn't actually told him anything, which meant that Malace had passed on some information after their meeting, "Cyana, Tirathon, Glayvianna, Cailyn, Illysanna, and more... Cordana's death has been coming for a long time. Though now the Sargerite Keystone is once more in our possession, Akama has joined our forces and has given us the plan Lord Illidan crafted so many years ago, and Cordana Felsong has been eliminated. For once everything is falling into place. The honor is all yours, Lyra Heartstrings."
Lyra let the smile remain on her face as she held the Sargerite Keystone above her head as she stood near the Star Map, where the Keystone floated into the air above the map and remained there, though she could feel the artifact's power being added to the ship once more. Now they had the ability to use the Fel Hammer and jump to the other Legion worlds, where they could begin their assault and weaken the vast army of demons that Sargeras commanded, but there was a certain pair of individuals that she knew they needed to go after first.
"With the Sargerite Keystone in our hands, all that we have to do now is prepare our forces and formulate an invasion plan." Kayn commended, to which Lyra glanced over to him for a few seconds, though even if she didn't say anything she already agreed with him, because someone in the Legion's forces likely knew that the Keystone was in their possession once more, "As our forces grow, and our reach extends ever outward, you have need of more trusted companions to handle the most important of missions. The time has come for you to elevate two more worthies into the ranks of your champions. It's my opinion that you should consider recruiting Belath and Malevolence. They have both proven that they are indispensable to the cause."
Lyra nodded, as she knew that without Belath and Malevolence it would have taken her a lot longer to get to this point in time, even if she and the others managed to figure this out on their own, to which she walked over to where Malevolence was standing and approached the Matron Mother.
"Malevolence, how would you like to be one of my champions?" Lyra asked, as while she knew that most of her champions would consist of the demon hunters she had trained with for some time she also knew that they needed to provide a united front against the Legion.
"What a rare honor. To be one of the Illidari, instead of a servant." Malevolence commented, reminding Lyra that Lord Illidan had seen the Broken and Shivarra as servants, while she saw them as allies that could contribute to their overall goal, "I must admit, I was worried you wouldn't choose me as one of your champions... but now you have, and I could just kiss you! It never made any sense to me that all worlds should be purged in flame when there are so many delicious playthings to have fun with. Sargeras can be such a bore. Together, we will bring the Burning Legion to its knees and make them grovel in the dirt."
Lyra had to admit that she was surprised that Malevolence could call Sargeras a bore, along with the fact that her choosing the Matron Mother almost made the demon feel like kissing her, though she bid Malevolence farewell for the moment and walked over to where Belath was standing.
"And how about you, Belath?" Lyra asked, causing the demon hunter to turn towards her for a moment, where she noticed that he was a little surprised to have her talk to him again, "Would you like to join my roster of champions?"
"You are choosing me as one of your champions?" Belath inquired, though as Lyra nodded her head she noticed that the demon hunter looked both surprised and pleased at the same time, which made her happy as well, "This is a great distinction. I pledge myself to you again, Lyra Heartstrings. I will see to it that the enemies of the Illidari are dealt with in your name."
"You now have six champions, seven counting Lyndraxa," Kayn commented, causing Lyra to turn towards him once more, though at the same time she spotted the other hero of the Illidari standing nearby with a smile on her face, "all of the Illidari and its forces, as well as a growing army of troops, all willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to bring down the Burning Legion. Speak to Allari... its time to prepare for the endgame."
"We have the Sargerite Keystone." Allari said, not even bothering to wait for Lyra to talk or approach her, though at the same time Lyra simply looked at her and the Star Map, "We have most of the forces we will need. We even have a plan. Now we need to locate the Felsouls and prepare for an invasion of whatever demon world they're hiding out on. Please leave it to me. If you will grant me the use of your champions, I and the Scythe of Souls will extract the information by any means necessary from the demons that we question."
From what Lyra could tell there were five objectives that her champions needed to complete so they could learn where the Felsouls were hiding, all of which revolved around going into Felsoul Hold, investigating the area, and reporting back to Allari. She was eager to finish them off so she and her forces could concentrate on more pressing matters, to which she turned to Allari and gave her the go ahead to put her plan into action. Allari, apparently happy about the command, also made sure to use all seven of the champions that she had access to, meaning that some of the demons they would be hunting would be captured much easier... though while they did that Lyra went down to the Forge so she could empower her weapon and meditate until the others returned.
Some time passed before Lyra was awoken from her meditation, though when she opened her eyes and looked up she found Allari standing near her, but there was a smile on her face that told her that she and the other champions had gotten some good information.
"I just finished torturing the demons we captured," Allari said, though at the same time she smiled as she swung her scythe around, indicating that she likely didn't show any mercy to the demons, "and now we know that Caria and Varedis are hiding away on the demon world known as Niskara."
"Good," Lyra replied, to which she got onto her feet and stretched for a moment, before she turned towards Allari as they both walked up to the first floor of the ship, "its time to finish this."
"All Legion constructs, including the Fel Hammer, are powered by souls." Allari commented, reminding Lyra of something that she preferred not to think about, because she could only imagine the number of souls that were fed into the vast machines that the Legion used to wage war on all the worlds they came across, "If we are going to take the command center to Niskara, we are going to need some very powerful souls... which is why I had Lyndraxa head out to collect the souls for us. Jace was also asking for some special items as well; a Fel Engine Injector, a Soul Configuration Matrix, a Fel Engine Ignition, and a Vile Soul Converter... and I had the other champions head back out to acquire them."
"So, I get a chance to rest before the big event... that's new." Lyra said, though at the same time she felt like she had earned the right to take a little time off from killing demons, an hour or two if she was lucky, but before she could say anything more she felt the Fel Hammer shake... and noticed Jace running towards them.
"I have no idea what that was, but you had better investigate it," Jace said, though Lyra knew that he was looking at her, to which she sighed as she made for the upper level, "It sounded like something big!"
Lyra raced through the Fel Hammer until she reached the top floor, where she turned towards the balcony that rested opposite to the one that lead to Dalaran, though when she arrived she noticed a massive swirling vortex of fel energy resting in front of the ship. Not even a few seconds later a projection of some sort started to emerge from the vortex, though all she could see were a pair of wings at the moment, a pair that belonged to a rather large creature. When the projection reached its full height it unfurled its wings and revealed the demon it had been hiding, where Lyra noticed that she could only see the top half of the demon's body. The demon wore no chest piece, though he was wearing a pair of shoulder pads, a chain around his neck that attached to something above his belt, and wore a pair of large gauntlets on both of his arms.
Even though this was just a projection, and he wasn't actually standing in front of her, Lyra could feel the power that Kil'jaeden was radiating, making her wonder what Trixie had felt when she came face to face with Archimonde.
"Lyra Heartstrings." Kil'jaeden said, staring down at Lyra and forcing her to look up at him, "Your insolence has come to an end. You and your Illidari WILL join the Burning Legion and become Felsworn, just like Varedis and Caria did when I offered them power beyond what your pathetic master could offer you. You may grovel now."
"NO!" Lyra shouted, though at the same time she pulled the Twinblades out and hurled them at the projection, knowing that she couldn't harm Kil'jaeden in this manner, but at the same time she knew that this would serve to show the Deceiver that as long as she commanded the Illidari he would never corrupt another demon hunter, before she caught her warglaives and pointed at her foe, "The Illidari will NEVER join the Legion... and Kil'jaeden, you had better watch your back from this day forward, because once Gul'dan is taken care of I'm coming for you."
"Very well. You have sealed your fate!" Kil'jaeden replied, to which his wings started to move back into position as his projection lowered itself back into the vortex, "Varedis and Caria will deal with you, personally."
Lyra glared at the Deceiver until his projection had entered the vortex and disappeared, which was followed by the vortex closing, before she sighed and sheathed her warglaives. Kil'jaeden had just declared that they would be dealt with by the same demon hunters they were chasing, which meant that this was a race to see who could be prepared for an invasion first... to which she prayed for Lyndraxa and her champions to finish gathering the items they needed, because she was eager to show Kil'jaeden and his solders just how strong her conviction was.
It took Lyndraxa and the rest of Lyra's champions an hour and a half to complete their various tasks and give Jace everything that they needed to empower the Fel Hammer, though while they were setting everything up Lyra told Lyndraxa what happened while she and the others were gone. Her fellow demon hunters were surprised to hear that Kil'jaeden had made an appearance on Mardum, even if it was in a projection and not his physical form, though they were all pleased to hear that Lyra had rejected the 'offer' that had been made, as they existed to defeat the Legion and not risk everything by joining their demonic horde. Lyra, on the other hand, was also pleased to find that her forces had gathered all of the required souls necessary to power the Fel Hammer, harvested from the demons that they fought against, and dismantled parts of several Legion buildings to get the other parts they needed.
Once all of the preparations had been made, and all of her champions and forces were ready for what was going to be happening next, Lyra returned to the level of the Fel Hammer where the forge was located and approached Jace, knowing that he had something to tell her.
"Everything is in place." Jace commented, turning to look at Lyra with a smile on his face, indicating that he was eager to begin the assault they had been planning, "All systems are operational and we have plenty of fuel. The Fel Hammer's jump engines are ready. Caria and Varedis know that you are coming for them. Belath's intelligence indicates that they have retreated to the demon prison world of Niskara. It's time to begin the invasion and finish this once and for all."
"Finally." Lyra replied, to which she walked back up to where the main level was located and approached the command console, the device she had used the Twinblades on in order to empower the entire ship after she had first fought Varedis, though this time around Lyndraxa stood beside her.
Lyra pulled the Twinblades out, noticing that all of her forces were staring at her, before she connected herself to the console and willed the ship to jump towards Niskara, while at the same time wondering just how many prison worlds the Legion had and how many they were going to take out. A few seconds passed before the energies of the Fel Hammer activated, to which a beam of fel energy shot through the star map, passed through the Sargerite Keystone, and surged into the top of the ship. Moments later she felt the energy in the air shift as Mardum seemed to shimmer for a few seconds, before Mardum disappeared entirely as the Fel Hammer jumped from one location and headed towards the destination she had specified... though at the same time she could see her forces smiling as they imagined the battle that was coming their way.
A minute passed before a new world appeared some distance in front of the Fel Hammer, though Kayn held up a hand as their ship started moving towards their destination.
"Moving into position above Niskara!" Kayn shouted, his voice contained inside the ship, meaning that none of their enemies would be able to hear what they were saying, though when the ship came to a stop he turned towards their forces, "Everyone up top. Commence bombardment!"
Lyra, Lyndraxa, and the champions moved towards a special teleport pad that took them to the side of the ship, as the Fel Hammer now rested on its side as it moved through space, before they stood near the edge and looked down at the planet below them.
"Lyra," Kayn said, causing his commander to turn towards him for a moment, while at the same time glancing down at the planet they were flying above, "if you bombard the demons below with the Fel Hammer's artillery, I will get the rest of our forces ready."
Lyra smiled as she took control of the artillery controls and started raining death and destruction on the demons that were waiting on Niskara, either launching a single fel shot that smashed the groups apart or a volley of fel shots that really decimated whatever area she was targeting. As she wrecked havoc on her enemies, which was funny because she was a Havoc demon hunter, she heard the sound of Caria screaming for her forces to start moving and fire back at the Fel Hammer, instead of standing still and being killed so easily. Thanks to the controls she also had the ability to look down at the field and noticed that several devastators moved out with the express purpose of taking the Fel Hammer out, to which she took great pleasure in blowing all of them up before they could actually damage the ship.
When she had taken out enough of the demonic forces that were below them, which she knew was when Kayn tapped her on the shoulder, Lyra pulled herself from the controls and rejoined the others, noticing that all of them were eager to get this invasion started.
"Kayn, sound the horns of war!" Lyra said, though at the same time she grinned as she pulled the Twinblades out, while Lyndraxa pulled her blades out as well, "Let's get down there and take out Varedis and Caria!"
"Illidari, hear me!" Kayn shouted, to which the assembled soldiers, both where Lyra was standing and on the lower levels of the ship, raised their warglaives and prepared themselves, "The time has come! All of our struggles, all of our sacrifices, have lead us to this moment. Akama, you and some of our forces will stay behind to guard the Fel Hammer, while the rest of us will take the fight to Varedis and Caria."
Together Lyra, Lyndraxa, and the rest of the chosen demon hunters jumped off the edge of the Fel Hammer and extended their wings, to which they glided down to a predetermined area that Kayn had picked out, where they followed him down towards the location he had picked out. When they landed, however, Lyra found that most of the demons that had been guarding the area had been killed by her bombardment, though the lieutenants were still running around and needed to be taken down next. Those lieutenants were called Carnivore, the Overseer, and Soulchaser, though Kayn also said that they should take out all of the portals the demons were opening so they would be deprived of reinforcements.
Once they had their task Lyra and the others mounted up and headed into the area on their left, where it turned into a battlefield as the Illidari waged all out war with the demons that called this area home, though Lyra had to smile as she noticed Kayn and Altruis tag-teaming one of the three lieutenants. As they advanced into the area Lyra heard the voice of Kil'jaeden declare that if they went any further, and killed the three lieutenants, he would allow Varedis and Caria to take care of them, before he personally twisted Lyra's soul once she was killed. Lyra decided to take all of her anger out on cutting down any demons that dared to come near her, while at the same time noticing that Lyndraxa stood beside her so they could take out their targets together.
Carnivore happened to be a large felhound, making her wonder how Varedis or Caria could label it as a lieutenant, but that didn't stop her and her forces from charging at their opponent and cut into his side, though since their opponent was a simple felhound it didn't have any interesting abilities that made it stand out from the rest of its kind. It only took them a half a minute to cut down Carnivore, to which their forces separated and started tearing down the demons that were around them and tore apart the gateways they had opened, robbing Varedis and Caria of some reinforcements. The Overseer was just a run of the mill Inquisitor demon, as in there were no distinguishing characteristics attached to it and it had the same skills Lyra had seen multiple times in the past.
Lyra had to admit that the first two lieutenants were actually boring and she wanted to get to Varedis and Caria, as she knew that they would definitely prove to be the most challenging foes she could fight on Niskara.
The third and final lieutenant, Soulchaser, was a jailer demon that was larger than the others Lyra had fought before, but it had no special abilities and constantly proclaimed that it would put them in its cage, though that proved to be the distraction they needed to end the demon's life. Once Soulchaser was dead Lyra turned her attention to making sure that all of the portals that the demons had summoned had been taken out, cutting off the reinforcements entirely and opening the way for her forces to get at their true targets. Unfortunately there was a fel barrier preventing her and her forces from getting into the building that they needed to get into, and it appeared that Caria wanted to brag about that fact.
"You really think we're just going to let you in?" Caria asked, though at the same time she chuckled, as if she believed that she and Varedis were completely safe from Lyra and her forces, "You came all this way for nothing, demon hunters!"
"Lyra, might I make a suggestion?" Kayn inquired, turning towards Lyra for a moment, who was focused on the barrier that was preventing them from entering the command center.
"Go ahead, I'm all ears," Lyra said, though at the same time she actually flapped her pony ears for a moment, causing some of the other demon hunters to chuckle, but they all knew that she was being serious when she replied.
"We should have Akama move the Fel hammer into position and fire upon the barrier," Kayn stated, deciding to get to the point, even though he found it funny to have her do something like that, "we should be able to breach the barrier with the artillery you used earlier."
"Give the order," Lyra said, as there was one thing she didn't want to happen, and that was something that Kayn was likely thinking about at that very moment, "the sooner we get inside the command center the sooner we stop our foes from escaping to another Legion world."
Kayn smiled and pulled out a small communicator of some sort, to which a fel rune glowed for a moment before he smiled, to which they heard Akama's voice say that it would be his pleasure to fire the cannons, which was followed by Akama loosing a beam of fel energy into the barrier... which eventually caused the barrier to fall apart.
"Varedis! Caria!" Lyra shouted, though as she charged into the command center, along with the rest of her forces, she found the two corrupted demon hunters standing in the middle of the building, "We've come for you!
"You are all going to die painfully," Varedis exclaimed, though at the same time Lyra noticed that he had a new pair of warglaives in his hands, which he raised as the group charged into the area he and Caria were standing in, "especially you, Lyra Heartstrings."
Both Lyra and Lyndraxa transformed into their demonic forms as they leapt off the platform in front of them, though as they landed on the ground Lyra charged at Varedis while Lyndraxa focused on Caria, forcing the two corrupted demon hunters to separate themselves from each other. Lyra raised the Twinblades and blocked the attacks that were coming her way, though at the same time she hacked and slashed into Varedis, while half of her forces aided her and the other half went after Caria. Lyra also utilized every skill she had learned since she started training with the rest of the Illidari, as while Varedis knew of some of her skills he couldn't know about all of them, which seemed to be to her advantage when she dipped into the Dark Magic once more and further empowered her strikes... where she put several cracks in his warglaives the moment they came into contact with hers.
Varedis' eyes widened as the Dark Magic surrounded Lyra's eyes, to which she started rapidly swinging her weapons at her target, cutting through his defenses and his weapons... though the moment that he was holding the handles of his ruined warglaives, however, she drove her weapons into Varedis' chest and pierced his heart, before she pulled them out and pushed her opponent's body to the ground.
"Kil'jaeden," Varedis coughed out, though Lyra knew that this time around the hand of Sargeras wouldn't bother to waste his energy bringing back such a failure, "bring me back to life again..."
As the life drained from Varedis' body, and Lyra transformed back into her normal form, she noticed that Kil'jaeden was actually watching them fight, though she smirked when she noticed that the Deceiver was annoyed with how pitiful his corrupted demon hunters were acting... more so when Lyndraxa cut off Caria's head and finished the Felsouls off.
"Very well, Illidari, your fate has been sealed." Kil'jaeden said, though this time Lyra noticed that the upper part of his body was here in this plane, instead of him using his projection to speak to them, to which she noticed that he started disappearing before their eyes, "You shall perish with your world!"
"Let's get back to Mardum," Lyra commented, though at the same time she sheathed her warglaives as they finished drinking in the rest of Varedis' soul, while Lyndraxa did the same thing with Caria, "Just because the Felsouls are dead doesn't mean that we've seen the last of Kil'jaeden, which means that we should continue to do what we've been doing until we can undermine Kil'jaeden and kill him."
As they returned to the Fel Hammer, and started the process of traveling to Mardum, Lyra knew that it was only a matter of time until she and the Illidari, or she and the other heroes, found Kil'jaeden and destroyed the Deceiver... and then she and her friends would turn their attention to bringing an end to Sargeras' foul crusade.
As the Fel Hammer returned to Mardum, and the Illidari settled down after warping out of the area before they were gunned down by any ships Kil'jaeden could have sent at them, Lyra was still amazed that they were able to get away with invading a Legion world and kill every demon that called Niskara home. Varedis and Caria were dead, their army shattered and unable to come back, and they had officially pissed off Kil'jaeden more than he already was, which told her that their opponent was going to make mistakes in the future because of what they had done. Lyra was pleased to find that her forces were overjoyed to see that they had succeeded in their mission, though at the same time she knew that it was only a matter of time until they had to declare war on the other Legion worlds that Sargeras controlled.
While she stood by one of the openings, which allow her to look out over Mardum, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her from behind, to which she found Kayn walking towards her.
"We have won the day!" Kayn said, though despite the fact that he usually controlled his emotions Lyra could tell that he was excited about what they had just done, "Caria and Varedis are no more, and we have sent a clear message to the Burning Legion that they are vulnerable, even on their own worlds. It is about time that we celebrated, but there is something else we need to do first. I think you already know what I am going to tell you, especially with what we've been doing so far, but I believe that it is time to make Allari and Jace the last of your champions. The two of them were instrumental in the planning and preparation for the invasion of Niskara. They have earned it and you would be hard pressed to find better champions anywhere."
Lyra nodded, because now that she thought about what Kayn had said she realized that it made perfect sense to elevate both Allari and Jace to the rank of champion as well, especially after everything the two of them had gone through to make sure that their war against the Legion was successful. Once she knew what Kayn wanted, and she agreed with him, she made her way down to the part of the Fel Hammer that Jace remained in, no matter what she and the other Illidari were doing. Sure enough she found him standing beside one of the controls and was focusing on it, though when she walked into the area Jace turned towards her.
"Jace, I had a question for you," Lyra said, though at the moment she smiled, because she knew that her friend would be overjoyed when he heard the question, "How would you like to become one of my champions?"
"Me? You want me to be one of your champions?" Jace asked, clearly showing that he was shocked by the fact, though at the same time Lyra nodded as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Yes, of course. A million times, yes! Just tell me where you want me to go, what you want me to do, and consider it done."
Lyra nodded and headed up the ramp that was behind her, where she spotted Allari already hard at work torturing another demon so they could get more information out of it, no doubt trying to figure out where Gul'dan had taken the body of their true master. As much as Lyra actually enjoyed leading the Illidari, and striking fear into the hearts of her enemies when they heard that she was coming, she knew that Illidan Stormrage would always be the leader of the Illidari and that she would easily return his place to him if they could bring him back to life. A few moments later she pushed that thought away and approached Allari, who stopped torturing the unfortunate demon that she and the others had captured some time ago and turned towards Lyra.
"Allari," Lyra said, knowing that she had no idea what to expect from Allari, because while the others had been easier to guess what their reaction could be Allari was a tougher nut to crack, "the time has come... how would you like to become one of my champions?"
"Very astute of you to have saved the best for last." Allari commented, though the playful smirk that appeared on her face told Lyra that she was already considering what she had said, "But in all seriousness I am deeply honored that you have chosen me to join the ranks of your champions. Something tells me that the worst is yet to come, especially after we pissed off Kil'jaeden like that, so we must remain vigilant if we're going to bring an end to the Burning Legion."
Lyra was pleased to hear that Allari was so willing to accept the position, in her own words anyway, to which she turned around and walked towards the ramp that would allow her to walk up to the first floor of the Fel Hammer, though at the same time she noticed that everyone was starting to gather around the star map. It appeared that there was going to be some sort of announcement in the next few minutes, to which she walked over to Kayn with the intention of finishing their business before something else demanded their attention.
"It is good to see that Jace and Allari accepted joining the ranks of your champions," Kayn said, to which he gestured to the assembled group with a brief nod of his head, indicating that something important was going to happen soon, "There is just one thing left to do. Lyra, we have all gathered here to honor you for your leadership, successes, and sacrifices."
Lyra had been expecting Kayn to say that they were here to celebrate their victory over Varedis and Caria, like a small party or something like that, though at the same time she had to wonder what he meant when he said that he and the others were going to 'honor' her.
"Illidari! Servants of Illidan! Hear me!" Kayn shouted, his voice echoing throughout the entirety of the Fel Hammer, to which Lyra watched as everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around the first floor of the ship, "We gather here today to pay tribute to one who has served with both honor and distinction as our indomitable leader. We have regained the Sargerite Keystone. We have defied Kil'jaeden and invaded a Legion world. And we have vanquished our nemeses, Caria and Varedis Felsoul. For this and countless other successes, we bestow one of our highest honors, the title of Slayer, to Lyra Heartstrings!"
The moment Lyra's name left Kayn's mouth the entirety of the Illidari, including the Broken and the Shivarra, cheered for Lyra and the successes that she had obtained since they had awoken from their slumber in the Vault of the Wardens, though at the same time Lyra smiled and rubbed the back of her head. She remembered when Lord Illidan told her that one of the highest honors of her order was the rank of Slayer, something that he only bestowed on demon hunters who proved themselves to him. When she first learned about this rank she often thought about what she would feel if she ever got the chance to obtain it, as she never considered that she would actually get to this point, but now that she was a Slayer all she could do was stand there and wave at the Illidari.
At that moment she wondered if Lord Illidan was looking down on them, from wherever his soul was resting at the moment, and hoped that if he was that he would be pleased in what she and the rest of the Illidari had done.
"Your leadership has provided us with victory after victory." Kayn said, causing Lyra to turn towards him for a few seconds, while at the same time the rest of the Illidari started returning to their various tasks, "We gladly serve and will sacrifice everything in your name, just like we swore to do for Lord Illidan. However, now that you have reached the rank of Slayer, there are two more things we have to do before we start the next stage of our master's plan; your weapon needs to be further empowered and you need some armor befitting your position as a Slayer. Falara Nightsong can help you with the armor, though I would recommend that we deal with your weapon first."
Lyra nodded and followed Kayn back down to where the forge was located, while at the same time wondering what would happen when they empowered her Twinblades, though when they arrived at the forge Kayn stood to the side and had her stand in front of the forge. At Kayn's urging Lyra raised the Twinblades into the air and watched as the energies of the forge struck her weapons, though that was before the weapons started to change shape in front of her eyes. The horns that existed on her weapons became longer and curled back towards where her arms would rest, while the already sharp edges of her blades became even sharper before her eyes. The Twinblades of the Deceiver had transformed into a pair of blades that would strike fear in the hearts of her enemies, to which Lyra smiled as she stared at them... before she and Kayn walked back up to the first level of the Fel Hammer.
When she arrived at her destination, and Kayn walked away from her, Lyra approached Falara and found that an armor stand had already been set up ahead of time, meaning that in the event of their success she had the armor prepared for Lyra. The shoes of the armor had been modified to fit over her hooves, how Lyra didn't know considering that she and Falara hadn't been near each other since the Fel Hammer had been connected to Dalaran, but she was happy to see that it actually fit into place. There were some engravings on the armor that looked like terrified mouths or something, which had to be terrified demons in Lyra's opinion, though the one thing that she disliked was how revealing the chest piece was, as it barely covered the upper part of her chest.
Despite the fact that Lyra disliked the chest piece, however, Falara promised her that she would soon find that her speed, damage, and ability to dodge attacks would be boosted while wearing this armor, to which she sighed as she moved to a more private area and changed into her new armor. When she came back out, and showed Falara how she looked, she discovered that Falara was pleased with what she saw and urged Lyra to continue with whatever task she had to focus on next... though Lyra wasn't sure what to do next. The other heroes were already searching for the Hammer of Khaz'garoth and the Aegis of Aggramar, which meant that she and the others should focus on finding Gul'dan... but before she could get started on something she noticed a shimmer in the air and watched as a small crystal ball appeared near where she was standing.
It appeared that Khadgar, as that was who was on the other side of the crystal ball, might have some information for her and was contacting her so he could either tell her something or have her come visit him.
"Lyra, I may have found a 'key' to unlock Light's Heart." Khadgar said, to which Lyra glanced over at the object that was sitting in her Order Hall, where she reflected that it had been a terrible idea to take such a thing to a location that Kil'jaeden had been present in, though she kept that to herself as she focused on the orb, "I was going through some ancient cosmology tomes when I stumbled upon a passage indicating that the Prime Naaru may have been created by Elune during the great ordering of Light and Shadow. If Elune did create Xe'ra, then it stands to reason that we could use the Tears of Elune to unlock the secrets of Light's Heart. I know that it's a long shot, but we've got nothing left to lose. Meet me in Dalaran as soon as you can, I will have the Tears of Elune ready for your arrival."
Lyra immediately moved towards the portal and headed back to Dalaran, where she quickly made her way through the city and approached the citadel that Khadgar would be waiting in, though when she arrived she found him standing near the doorway with the Tears of Elune waiting next to him.
"Here, the Tears of Elune," Khadgar said, allowing Lyra to take the Pillar of Creation for a moment, knowing how she must feel to have it in her hands again, "Hopefully this works out... we desperately need whatever information Xe'ra tried to send us."
Lyra nodded and decided that now wasn't the time to be wasting time, to which she turned around and headed back towards the portal to the Fel Hammer, while at the same time making sure that the Tears were hidden inside her bag so that any Legion spies couldn't see it at all. When she returned to the Fel Hammer she carefully made her way towards Light's Heart and pulled out the Tears, to which she stopped beside the object and touched the tip of the two objects together, as it was the only thing she could think of at the moment. She held the Tears in that position for a few seconds, trying to determine if there was anything else she could do to awaken Light's Heart, before she felt herself fade away and collapsed on the ground with the Tears in her hand.
When Lyra regained herself, which she suspected was only a few seconds after hitting the ground, she found a spectral form of herself floating in the air near a planet that immediately stopped her in her tracks. The planet was colored green, fel green to be exact, though parts of the planet looked like they were dead while she could see that there were pieces of earth floating away form the planet's surface. Lyra could feel the fel energy practically radiating from the planet she was staring at, along with the presence of something terrible that made her skin crawl, something that she could only describe as the presence of Sargeras himself. Her eyes widened as she realized what planet she was staring at, because this planet could only be Argus, the one that Velen and the Draenei had fled from when Archimonde and Kil'jaeden joined the ranks of the Burning Legion.
A few seconds later she felt the presence lighten as a golden colored Naaru appeared near her, to which she turned to her right and focused her attention on Xe'ra, as that had to be who had appeared before her.
Do not be alarmed, mortal. the Naaru said, though while her voice was powerful she could tell that it was kind as well, as it seemed to ease Lyra's being away from staring at Argus, Your consciousness has been projected to my astral presence in the Great Dark Beyond. 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. It was in that final battle that the all-powerful titan Pantheon fell to one of their own: Sargeras.
Lyra's eyes widened when she heard that bit of news, as everyone on Azeroth had assumed that the Titans had been busy trying to save the universe from Sargeras and his Burning Legion, but now it appeared that the seemingly powerful Pantheon had been completely destroyed.
After the fall, none were left to oppose the will of Sargeras. Xe'ra explained, apparently doing her best to give Lyra some comfort despite the fact that she was slightly afraid for their chances now, Unfettered, the dark titan and his Burning Legion would go on to annihilate countless worlds in their Burning Crusade. From the ashes of those ravaged worlds, survivors arose to stand against the demons. They became known 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. Should they fall, the Legion will initiate a new Burning Crusade, and with it the cosmos will tremble. I am here now on a mission of desperation. I seek the child of Light and Shadow: the boy destined to end the age of demons.
Lyra had absolutely no idea that the Army of the Light was so close to being destroyed, so soon after she and the people of Azeroth had learned of their battle against the Legion, but even as she heard that bit of news she had to focus on what Xe'ra was telling her... and who she was searching for.
I seek the one called Illidan Stormrage. Xe'ra said, noticing the look on Lyra's face despite the fact that they weren't actually face to face with each other, Before you go, I will share this warning with you...
Lyra's gaze shifted from Argus and went flying back to Azeroth, though as she came to a stop she spotted a massive storm cloud of some sort that looked like it could cause some serious damage to the planet if its storm was allowed to go off. That was before a colossal creature, one whose body appeared to have the appearance of charred ground that had cracks of fire under the earth, pulling itself free from the storm cloud, giving Lyra a chance to see the creature's massive wings and curved horns that reminded her of the same ones that Illidan had. The creature wasn't wearing a chest piece of any kind, though he was wearing two shoulder pieces and two gauntlets, while at the same time Lyra could see that the creature's beard appeared to be made out of pure fire and its eyes were filled with a burning hatred for all sorts of life.
Lyra's eyes widened for a third time when she realized that she was staring at Sargeras himself, whose upper body seemed to be the same height as Azeroth itself, before the fallen Titan held a hand out and a terrifying sword, one that looked deadly enough to install fear into whoever saw it, appeared out of thin air. That was followed by Sargeras bringing the massive sword down on Azeroth and splitting the entire world in two, cleaving it like a knife cutting through butter, before the entire world died in a fiery explosion before her eyes. Lyra would have assumed that seeing the death of Azeroth, even in a vision, would have been the end of everything, but that was before she spotted a second planet in the vision... to which her eyes widened even more when she realized that she was staring at Equus and watched as Sargeras cleaved her home world in half as well.
The shock of seeing her home world being cleaved in half, even if it was just a vision, snapped her out of whatever she was trapped in and she bolted awake, finding herself resting in some sort of infirmary that happened to be in Dalaran, though this time it was night time at the moment... to which she brought her hands to her face and wiped off the sweat that was rolling down the side of her face. There was only one thing she could do at that moment, which was her voicing her concerns while no one was around and hope that she was proven wrong.
Lyra sat on the bed she had been resting on for an unknown amount of time, going over everything that Xe'ra had told her and everything that had been revealed to her by the Prime Naaru, though she continued to come to the same conclusion no matter how much she thought about it. The Army of the Light, the very force that was supposed to be fighting the Legion on Argus at that very moment, was apparently losing ground and was approaching the point where the demons would utterly destroy them. The Titan Pantheon, considered to be the gods of this universe, had been slain by one of their own thousands upon thousands of years ago, meaning that they were hopelessly outclassed if they actually had to fight Sargeras in battle. And the only person that could stop the age of the demons, her master Illidan Stormrage, had been killed seven years ago by Trixie's guild, who she couldn't fault considering that they didn't know his destiny, and his body was in the hands of Gul'dan... no doubt intending on bringing Sargeras' spirit into Illidan's body to purge this world personally.
They were screwed beyond comprehension, so much so that her victory over Varedis and Caria seemed like nothing in the grand scheme of things that she had just discovered... and now she was worried that they were actually fighting a losing battle, because it seemed like everything was stacked in Sargeras' favor this time around.
She actually had to wonder what Trixie would make of what she had discovered, especially since she and her guild had been responsible for the death of Archimonde, the defeat of three Old Gods, a dragon that could have destroyed the entire world, and an undead king that wanted to kill every last living person that Azeroth had. Trixie had more experience defying the odds and saving this world, though even she would have to admit that these odds were terrible, but she had no way of knowing how Trixie would react when she told her the news. She also knew that she needed to keep this quiet for now, because if people thought that she had seen a vision of this world ending it might stop them from fighting and might speed along the downfall of Azeroth... and Equus as well for that matter.
A noise to her left interrupted her thoughts, to which Lyra turned her head to the left and spotted Trixie standing in the doorway she had seen earlier, though her fellow Equestrian was smiling as she moved into the building and threw her arms over Lyra.
"Lyra! I'm glad to see that you are alright." Trixie said, though Lyra could tell that her friend had been worried about her for some reason, something that she was going to get to the bottom of at some point in time, "You collapsed on the floor of the Fel Hammer after touching the Tears of Elune to Light's Heart, to which one of your champions, Kayn I believe his name was, delivered you to the infirmary and told us what happened. You have been unconscious for three whole days and I was beginning to worry that nothing was going to rouse you from your death like slumber."
Lyra couldn't believe what she was hearing, that she had been unconscious for three whole days after making contact between the Tears of Elune and Light's Heart, which meant that Xe'ra had done something to her mind before telling her the information she wanted to give her... to which she said what came to mind without stopping herself.
"God dammit Xe'ra." Lyra commented, though at the same time she brought a hand to her face, as she couldn't believe everything that had happened to her so far since she decided to take the Tears from Khadgar.
"What was that?" Trixie asked, to which she pulled back from Lyra and looked her in the eyes, as if she was looking for something specific, though Lyra knew that she was just concerned for her health.
"Xe'ra... she spoke to me," Lyra replied, knowing that Trixie would want to hear what she had discovered, though at the same time she knew of someone else they needed to talk to, "Trixie, take me to Khadgar and I'll tell the two of you everything that I discovered during my conversation with Xe'ra."
Trixie looked at her for a moment, wondering if she could get her to say anything important before they left the building, before she nodded her head and gently helped Lyra onto her feet, as it appeared that she was a little sore from what she had been through. Lyra had next to no experience in dealing with the Naaru, especially a Prime Naaru like Xe'ra, but right now she disliked the golden creature and hoped that she hadn't been misinformed, though she kept that to herself as she let Trixie take her outside the infirmary. From there they started their walk towards the citadel, to which the two of them nodded to the guards and the various heroes that were up and about in the early morning, before coming to their destination... where they found that Khadgar was already up and about, though he stopped what he was doing when he noticed Trixie and Lyra approaching him.
He beckoned for them to follow him over to a nearby table, where they would be out of the way of the few heroes that were still up and about, before placing some food items on the table for Lyra to chow down on, considering that she hadn't eaten anything for three whole days... though at the same time they knew that they needed to get down to business and discuss what happened to her.
"I'm assuming that my last ditch effort to acquire Xe'ra's information was successful," Khadgar said, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie nodded, as they both agreed that his plan had worked to some degree, before he leaned forward, "So what did Xe'ra tell you?"
"Nothing good I'm afraid," Lyra replied, to which she rubbed her head for a few seconds, as there was a lot of information she had been given and she was still depressed about it, before she turned her attention to Khadgar, "I hope you and the other leaders of the various orders aren't expecting the Titans to come in one day and stop the Legion from destroying Azeroth."
"And why would you say something like that?" Trixie asked, because while she would have loved to see the Titan Pantheon in action, and them wage total war with the Legion, she knew it was up to her and the others to save this world from the Legion.
"Because they're all dead," Lyra said, to which she let out a sigh as she noticed a pair of shocked expressions staring back at her, indicating that neither Trixie or Khadgar could believe what she was telling them, "Xe'ra told me that they went to war with Sargeras, in order to stop him from razing all of creation, but they were brought low by the Dark Titan and killed, allowing him to begin his terrible crusade."
"What about the Army of the Light?" Khadgar asked, recalling what his friend had told them when he activated Light's Heart, which had been followed by him sending Lyra and Trixie to the Exodar to learn the information that had been sent to them by the Prime Naaru.
"Apparently they are losing ground as well," Lyra replied, shaking her head for a moment, knowing that this was going to be a lot of terrible news, especially since she had seen a vision of Azeroth's end, "If they lose their battle, and are erased by the Legion, Sargeras will begin a new crusade and possibly destroy the entire universe. They sent Light's Heart to us so Xe'ra could locate the only person that's destined to stop the Legion, though Illidan has been dead for seven years and it makes little difference at this point."
Trixie had a look on her face that said that she wanted to say something about what Lyra had said, no doubt to apologize for what her guild had done to her master seven years ago, though she clearly decided not to actually say anything and move onto something that Lyra had mentioned.
"Why does it make little difference at this point?" Trixie inquired, as she was sure that they could turn this around, especially since she had it on good authority that the Illidari were searching for Gul'dan and Illidan's soul.
"Because of the vision Xe'ra showed me earlier," Lyra answered, not even bothering to hide what she knew, though there was no easy way to say this without depressing both of her companions, "I... I saw Sargeras cleave Azeroth in half, indicating that if we fail or if the Army of Light fails we'll pay the ultimate price and this world will be destroyed by our enemy. And I also saw the Dark Titan cleave Equus in half as well... meaning that we are completely screwed at this point."
Trixie had never seen Lyra like this, as before her mentor had suggested using the Tears of Elune Lyra had been excited about the possibility of saving Azeroth from the Legion, but now that she knew that one wrong move could literally mean the end of this world, and their home world, her mood had gone down in the process. At the same time, however, she knew something that Lyra didn't, something that might improve her overall mood and make her a tad bit excited about the future... instead of dreading it like she was.
"Well, that is some terrible news, but I have some good news," Trixie spoke up, causing Lyra to turn towards her and raise an eyebrow, indicating that she didn't believe Trixie, though she couldn't blame her after everything that she had witnessed and learned, "We managed to recover the Hammer of Khaz'goroth and the Aegis of Aggramar while you were unconscious for the last three days, while at the same time dealing with the threats that Dargrul the Underking, God-King Skovald, and Xavius' Shade presented. As of yesterday Azsuna, Val'sharah, Highmountain, and Stormheim are safe from those that were trying to betray us to either the Legion or the Old Gods, in the case of Queen Azshara anyway."
"Okay, I'll admit that this is some good news," Lyra replied, because when she had gone through with Khadgar's plan they only had two of them, but now the combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde had four of the five legendary artifacts under lock and key.
"And there is some other news you both should be made aware of," Khadgar said, to which he waved a hand and a sphere of magical energy appeared in the air near their table, though Lyra could tell that it was important, "For the last ten thousand years the elven city of Suramar has been sealed in an arcane barrier, much like Dalaran once was. That barrier has come down. Since then, waves of magical energy have been emanating from the city like ripples in a pond. It was in these waves that I sensed a pattern... a spell, encrypted among the chaos. I have recreated the spell here. It's not dangerous, but beyond that... I have no idea what it does!"
Lyra glanced at Trixie for a moment, indicating that it was her turn to humor her mentor, to which Trixie held back her chuckle as she held a hand out and touched the sphere, though that caused the spell to expand until the image of a female elf, like the ones they had fought against in Azsuna, stood before them in a spectral form.
"Ith'el kanesh!" the female elf said, though her first words told Lyra that they were part of a spell, or at least she assumed they were, before the lady focused on the spell she was weaving, "I am Thalyssra of the shal'dorei... the Nightborne. First Arcanist of in the court of Suramar. My people have made a dire pact, one that spells doom for this world. Time is short. If you have found this message, then you care capable of finding me as well. Make haste for Suramar... you may be our last hope. Ith'nala kanesh!"
With those last words said the image reverted back into the form of the sphere that Khadgar had conjured, to which Lyra and Trixie turned towards him for a few seconds, as they were equally surprised to hear that someone in Suramar was calling for assistance.
"A magical message in a bottle, slipped right beneath the Legion's nose... clever." Khadgar commented, to which he turned back towards Lyra and Trixie, before he offered them both a smile, "It appears that we now have the exact location of Gul'dan... as a dire pact generally means that someone has made a bargain with him. Trixie, Lyra, I'll let the two of you get some well deserved rest for a few hours... because in the morning the two of you, and only the two of you, will be teleported to where this message came from, and hopefully find out what Thalyssra needs for an invasion on her city."
Lyra and Trixie looked at each other, because if they found and killed Gul'dan it would put a dent in the Legion's plans and likely set them back for a week or two, giving them time to form a plan to close the Tomb... and maybe figure out what to do with Illidan's body, once it had been recovered.
After telling Khadgar and Trixie the bad news, and learning that they had done some good things since she had tried to figure out what Xe'ra had been trying to tell them, the last thing Lyra even wanted to do was sleep, especially since she had been out for three whole days. Instead she patrolled the citadel and the rest of Dalaran, nodding to the various heroes that had already risen earlier for the new day, or hadn't gone to bed in the case of the majority of the undead heroes and shopkeepers that were in the city. Several of the heroes stopped her and chatted with her for a few seconds, where she learned that every other Order Hall had been busy putting the finishing touches on their own problems and had also dealt blows against the Legion's operations. She knew why the Legion had targeted each Order as a whole instead of the two factions that controlled the majority of the world, as they figured that it would be easier for them to succeed in weakening the forces of Azeroth... but in the long run the Legion had given them the drive to push them back to the Twisting Nether and defeat their foul master.
Lyra wished that she still had some of the innocence that the other heroes had, as she had seen what Sargeras truly looked like and knew that one wrong move could easily spell disaster for the entirety of Azeroth... and when she died the Dark Titan would fulfill his promise to her and twist her into a monster, which would be how he found and destroyed Equus. That was a future that she wanted to avoid with all of her being, to which she focused her mind on the task that she and Trixie would be attempting to complete in the next few hours. She had no idea where Gul'dan was hiding, and could only guess what he was planning with Lord Illidan's body, but the two of them needed to find Thalyssra and aid her in any way that they could.
She had never thought, even for a second, that they would actually be planning an invasion of Suramar city, especially since it was so big and there had to be a fair number of Nightborne that wanted them dead, but now that it was a reality she only hoped that Thalyssra had a plan and didn't waste time that they didn't have.
The rest of the night quickly passed for Lyra, despite the fact that all she really did was walk around the city, listen to the exploits of the other Order Halls and the heroes that had gathered the other two Pillars of Creation, before the sun had started to show itself once more. The instant that happened she retired to the citadel and waited for Trixie to show up, where she got a small lecture from Khadgar about improperly using her time, as she should have been resting instead of wandering the city, but she gave up trying to explain why she had done what she had done. After missing three whole days she knew that the last thing she needed was more rest, though she paid Khadgar no mind while she waited for Trixie to reveal herself... and watch as she said fair well to Azuregos, who might be watching over everything in the Hall of the Guardian while she was off adventuring in Suramar.
A few moments later the two of them were standing in front of Khadgar, who was now holding a wand in his spare hand, something that Lyra had to assume was important to the first part of their mission in Suramar, which was them trying to find where Thalyssra was hiding.
"The Nightborne could prove powerful allies against the Legion." Khadgar commented, to which both Trixie and Lyra nodded their heads in understanding, as they both figured that an invasion meant removing whoever was leading the city at the moment, "We must aid this Thalyssra if we can. We should be able to find her by tracking her magical echoes, the same way I found her distress call. I can teleport you near the location where she recorded that message. From there, you must search for ripples in the very fabric of the arcane itself. This wand should do the trick, just follow the sparks that it creates... they should lead you to places where Thalyssra used her magic, and eventually to wherever she's hiding."
"And likely to whoever is no doubt hunting her," Lyra added, knowing that there had to be someone who wanted Thalyssra dead, especially since she went through the effort to get a message to someone that wasn't inside the actual city or in the land around the city, "After spending three days in an unconscious state it will be good to fight again, even if that means killing some hostile Nightborne soldiers."
"Nonetheless the two of you should be careful," Khadgar replied, to which he handed the wand to Trixie, who carefully stored it inside her bag and faced her mentor, before he stepped back and snapped open a portal to the place where the message was recorded, "the land of Suramar has been wild for the last ten thousand years... and there is no telling what sort of dangers await you down there."
Trixie and Lyra shared a glance for a few seconds before they passed through the portal, leaving behind Dalaran and heading into hostile territory, though a few moments later Lyra found that the two of them were standing some distance from a massive magical barrier that looked like it didn't have a lot of power backing it... and stared at the massive city that she and Trixie could only see a small fraction of. It appeared that the two of them were in some sort of wilderness area, though before they could take in the entirety of the area around them they both spotted a pair of Nightborne soldiers standing near something. That made Lyra wonder what they were staring at, to which she nodded to Trixie, who pulled out the wand and waved it for a few seconds, though that was followed by a small magical trail appearing on the ground and making its way towards where the soldiers were standing.
Fate seemed to be offering Lyra exactly what she wanted, to which she grinned as she pulled out her empowered warglaives and prepared herself, as this was going to be an interesting battle for the two of them, considering that neither of them had actually fought a full powered Nightborne soldier before. The only Nightborne they had fought had been the withered forces in Azsuna and those guys had been weakened versions of what they might be fighting, to which Lyra held up one of the Twinblades and threw it through the air. It immediately collided with the enemy on the right, cutting into his left arm, before it returned to her as their enemies became aware of their presence, though as they turned around Trixie cast a spell and knocked her target backwards.
Lyra took the opportunity that presented itself and charged at their enemies, ducking under the attack that came her way before springing up and slashing at her target's chest, though as she landed behind the Nightborne she cut him down and turned towards the other one... where she watched as Trixie blasted him into the nearby rock, killing him instantly. The two of them shared a glance with each other as Trixie used the wand again, to which the image of Thalyssra appeared before them and started moving, straight towards another group of enemies that happened to be in their way, to which they engaged their enemies. At first it was only the Nightborne they had to worry about, but after a few more minutes of following Thalyssra's trail they discovered hostile withered wanting them, especially Trixie, dead... to which Lyra assumed that they were trying to get at the arcane energy that was inside Trixie's body.
It was one of those brief moments where Lyra wondered if she should blame the fact that Trixie was a mage or the fact that she had been nearly drowned in Leywater back in Azsuna, but before she could decide which to blame they came to a ruin where an elf was floating in the air... and was apparently suspended in time. Even the image of Thalyssra showed her locking her opponent in a stasis like prison, only to be unlocked when someone came looking for the Nightborne in question, though that also meant that their arrival undid the seal that had been placed on Erasmus.
"Gah, a time stop spell..." Erasmus said, hitting the ground the moment the seal had been broken, to which he glared up at the two of them and gripped his weapon, "...she will pay for that... and you, outlanders, will suffer as well!"
Since Erasmus was wielding a sword, and it only hand one blade, Lyra stepped forward and met him in battle, parrying his attacks and cutting into him when he spotted an opening, though at the same time Trixie stood back and used her magic to damage their opponent. At the same time, however, Trixie also used another spell to prevent their opponent from casting whatever spell he was attempting to use, increasing Lyra's chances of dealing damage to the Nightborne, who was growing increasingly irritated with how the battle was going. As the battle progressed Lyra noticed that being trapped in time must have affected Erasmus more than they realized, as his reactions were slower than what he thought they were and she was able to gain the advantage after a few minutes... to which she cut the elf down, where he openly wondered who they were before he died.
"So, the Nightborne can use time magic..." Lyra commented, though at the same time she stared at the corpse that was in front of them, while noticing that Trixie was trying to find the next image of Thalyssra, "I'm not entirely sure what to make of this situation..."
"After everything I've seen, this isn't the strangest thing I've encountered," Trixie said, to which she smiled at Lyra and beckoned for her to follow, "Come on, Thalyssra went this way."
Sure enough they followed the path that was to the right of where they entered the ruins and found Thalyssra channeling her magicka into a barrier that was keeping her safe from the withered, though when she turned her head back she spotted them and dispelled the barrier, killing all of the withered in an instant.
"Outlanders..." Thalyssra said, though both Lyra and Trixie could tell that she was winded, meaning that there was some strain involved with what she had been doing with the barrier, "You received my message?"
"Yes, we did," Trixie replied, though she knew that Thalyssra meant nothing by 'outlanders', as it had to be the term that the elves of Suramar came up with for everyone that wasn't born on the Broken Isles, while at the same time she noticed that Lyra was keeping an eye out for enemies, "What exactly came we help you with?"
"I have much to tell the two of you, but it is not safe to speak here." Thalyssra said, indicating to the withered for a moment, though that was before she lifted a delicate flask to her lips, where her eyes shimmered for a second, "If we push through, we may find shelter up ahead."
Lyra and Trixie nodded, because by helping Thalyssra they would be able to find the Eye of Amun'thul, the fifth and final Pillar of Creation, locate Gul'dan, the enemy of Azeroth, and retrieve Illidan's body... all while trying to prevent Sargeras from entering this world and cleaving it in half. Lyra sighed, as she had the feeling that their visit to Suramar was going to be quite the long one, and they had barely started helping Thalyssra out in her quest to save the Nightborne.
The moment Thalyssra dispelled the barrier, and beckoned for Trixie and Lyra to follow her, the three of them followed the path that was directly in front of them, while at the same time Lyra kept her eyes on the area around them and silently dared the withered to come and attack them. She disliked how the withered were looking at her friends, meaning that they were likely looking for mana, but she held her warglaives at the ready, in case they were attacked. Trixie clearly trusted her, thanks to everything that she knew about Lyra's training, though Thalyssra clearly hesitated in the same thing, no doubt because of what happened in her city... before she was forced to flee from the city, come out here, and send the message that Khadgar would find.
"We must take care." Thalyssra commented, though at the same time her head moved to the right and the left, as if she was studying the withered that were wandering the area near where they were walking, while also keeping her magic at the ready, "The withered ones prowl this area, ravenous in their hunger for magic and flesh alike. Such is the fate of the Nightborne who cannot drink of the Nightwell. This is my fate as well... unless... LOOK OUT!"
Whatever Thalyssra was actually going to say, about the situation, was cut off as the withered came into the area around them and started to attack them, to which she raised a shield and protected herself while Trixie and Lyra focused their energies on protecting her. That meant that Trixie stood beside Thalyssra and focused her magic on blasting the withered that were trying to drain the barrier, while Lyra moved around the area and used the Twinblades to cut down the enemies that chose to come after her. It took them a few moments for them to actually defeat the withered that were coming after them, and make sure that they weren't coming back at them, before they started moving again... though Thalyssra continued to power her shield while they moved.
When they neared the small bridge in front of them, however, Thalyssra coughed for a few seconds, though before either Trixie or Lyra could voice some concern she shook her head and continued moving.
"My strength is fading... we must find shelter soon..." Thalyssra stated, which was something that both the Equestrians agreed on when they considered how many enemies were around them, and they also had no idea how many eyes were staring at them at that exact moment.
The moment they reached the other side of the bridge, and stopped in the middle of the ruined area that was in front of them, a large group of withered emerged from their hiding places and attacked the three of them, though their numbers immediately told Lyra that they were prepared to kill all three of them. Trixie, seeing the large number of foes that were approaching them, pulled her power in and stepped away from Lyra and Thalyssra, where she transformed into her blue dragon form and crushed several withered that tried to hit her in the process. Once she was in her other form she roared and roasted a few more of the enemies that were coming from the open area that they had been walking towards, while Lyra stood her ground near the small bridge.
Despite their abilities and powers, however, Lyra and Trixie knew that the two of them could only handle so many withered on their own, so when Thalyssra started moving backwards, towards a nearby cave that happened to be near the ruined village... one that the withered clearly didn't like, as they backed away as Lyra escorted Thalyssra to the entrance and Trixie guarded them by trying to intimidate the withered. Once the withered were gone, and they were sure of that, Trixie rapidly returned to her hybrid form and moved into the cave, following after her companions and finding that Thalyssra was leaning against the wall while Lyra stood next to her.
"The two of you fight well." Thalyssra commented, though at the same time she coughed again, indicating that she was likely running low on energy, since she couldn't drink from the mysterious Nightwell that she had mentioned just a few minutes ago, "Perhaps it is time for a proper introduction... however, I can ignore this wound no longer. Help me patch this up. I will explain everything."
As Trixie and Lyra tended to her wounds, with what little supplies they had, Thalyssra explained that Suramar had been a prosperous city ten thousand years ago, which Lyra knew was right before the destruction of the Well of Eternity and the cataclysm that created the continents that existed on Azeroth at the moment. Then Queen Azshara betrayed them all, as she had been tempted by the fel power that was offered to her, which caused the people of Suramar to erect the barrier that had protected their city. Of course that cut them off from both the sunlight and the moonlight, causing them to rely on the Nightwell that rested in the middle of the city, which changed them and drew the Legion to their city once the latest invasion started.
From what they were told the elders that controlled the city planned on surrendering to the Legion, no doubt after Gul'dan threatened to destroy all of them, and Thalyssra had started a small rebellion to take the city back. Ultimately she failed and was tossed out like trash, but based on what the one elf they had encountered earlier said they were still hunting for me, meaning that they believed that Thalyssra was still alive. The Legion essentially had a second source of power on the Broken Isles, the Nightwell, and that meant that they were likely looking at a long siege if they wanted to take the city back and overthrow their enemies.
"My people have subsisted on the Nightwell for millennia." Thalyssra explained, to which she gently shook the flask that she had been carrying the entire time, something that they hadn't really noticed thanks to the events that had been happening around them, "Ancient Mana is our lifeblood, without it we become... well, you saw them out there. I'm afraid I have been rather reckless today, and I can already feel my senses dulling. Without magic to feed upon, I will turn. Please... find me something to feed upon... anything..."
Lyra and Trixie looked at each other before they nodded, to which they walked down the passage that was in front of them and started to explore the cave that they had discovered, though it took them a few seconds to realize that it wasn't a cave, but rather a dark ruin that looked like it hadn't been used since the barrier went up around the city. From what they could tell there were two floors to this ruin, the one they were walking on and the one below them that they could access by two sets of stairs, while there was something on the other side of the entrance they had walked through. In the middle of the room rested some sort of pillar, which was broken in half, that had a few purple colored crystals that Trixie identified as mana crystals... which might be what they were searching for.
When they approached the crystals, however, a banshee appeared in the air above the broken pillar and wailed, to which two portals opened up on the walkway they had walked on and started moving around the chamber, while at the same time more spirits started pouring into the area. Trixie, knowing more about what was going on than Lyra did, separated from her friend and focused on the portals, leaving Lyra to attack the banshee and demand its attention, so it didn't summon any additional portals. Trixie moved out onto the walkway and started blasting the spirits that were in front of her, taking a moment to focus her energies on disrupting the first portal, before repeating the process with the second portal.
Once the two portals were taken care of, and no more had opened while she was busy, Trixie returned to Lyra's side and together they combined their powers, defeating the seemingly weakened banshee... though once the banshee was dead, and the pillar had fallen apart, they carefully collected the six crystals and returned to where Thalyssra was resting. When they returned to Thalyssra's side Trixie took the crystals from Lyra and handed all six of them to the weakened elf, to which the two of them watched as she carefully consumed the mana inside the crystals, to which she let out a sigh of relief as her energy returned to her. A few seconds later Thalyssra pulled herself back onto her feet and gripped her staff, to which she faced her companions and looked at them, while offering them a small smile.
"The chamber that the two of you explored might be the perfect hiding spot, how that its guardian had been taken care of." Thalyssra said, knowing that the two of them had explored the area to their left, something that she intended to explore now that her energy had been restored to a more reasonable level and she wasn't in a weakened state, "Come, let us explore this place, Shal'Aran, together."
Lyra and Trixie knew that Thalyssra would know about the various locations that dotted Suramar, considering that this was her homeland and she had spent thousands of years living here, though they were also glad to have a name for this area, especially since they would likely be using this place a lot in the near future. Thalyssra started walking a few seconds later, to which the three of them walked down towards the area where a set of stairs was located, though it was clear that Thalyssra was more interested in the upper level than the lower level.
"What exactly is this place?" Thalyssra asked, though when she looked at Trixie and Lyra, for a few seconds anyway, they both shrugged, causing her to turn back towards the area she had chosen to explore, "This chamber... I have never seen anything like it before."
As they walked to their left, and entered a side area with a large number of strange circular indents on the floor, Thalyssra made a comment on how dark it was and said 'In'alah', which apparently was a word of power that she said when she was channeling her magic, as a circular light ignited a few seconds later. As one of the lights came on they continued walking along the edge of the area, where Thalyssra commented that the strange indents were actually old teleporters that were inactive. That told Trixie and Lyra that they were important to some degree, to which they filed the information away and followed their new friend as she continued making notes on Shal'Aran.
When they reached the other side of the upper floor, from where the entrance rested, they found another set of stairs that circled down to the lower level, to which Thalyssra declared that they were going down there and that they should watch their step. As they reached the lower level, and a light had been lit so they could see what they were staring at, they discovered something that Thalyssra called a map, which happened to rest around a strange hole in the center of the floor. A few seconds passed before they started moving again, though at the same time Thalyssra commented that Shal'Aran rested at the middle of the map and that leyline energy was being fed into this place from somewhere else... though she openly wondered if this place had been used like a weapon or to do something else.
The moment they returned to the upper level, and stopped before the entrance of Shal'Aran, Thalyssra said that this was the perfect refuge and that it was the best temporary home until she could return to Suramar, which meant that they needed specific items before they started planning their assault on the city.
"We are going to need some allies before we start planning anything," Thalyssra said, though her tone suggested that she had a few names and faces that might be able to help them in the future, which meant that Lyra and Trixie would be hunting for them since she was a high priority target.
"I agree with you... and there are a few more heroes that we should call in," Trixie commented, to which Lyra raised an eyebrow as she looked at her friend, who smiled at both her and Thalyssra for a few seconds, "Don't worry, I'll only call a few heroes to Suramar, that way we have an extra pair of hands for the future."
Lyra nodded her understanding, because some of the heroes she had encountered so far, such as the four druids and Kurost, she would be willing to travel with again... though she was more interested in finding and killing Gul'dan, and that meant helping Thalyssra in her quest. She knew that, once this rebellion of Thalyssra's was finished, they would be one step closer to saving Azeroth... and then the true battle for the fate of Azeroth would begin.
Once she was sure that Thalyssra was okay, and that Lyra would be enough to defend her for at an hour at least, Trixie weaved her magic in the air around her and teleported back to Dalaran, where she would be able to find the heroes that would help them with turning this place into a proper hideout for them and their new allies. While they waited for Trixie to return with her chosen heroes, and whatever supplies they were planning on bringing at the moment, Thalyssra continued to explore Shal'Aran for a few more minutes. As that happened, however, Lyra knew that the elf was curious as to what she was looking at and what she had seen while she was being defended by the two of them, as she had witnessed Trixie's transformation into a blue dragon... something that was likely confusing her.
"So... what exactly are the two of you?" Thalyssra asked, though at the same time she tapped her staff against the ground, but instead of it being in an annoying tone she was merely walking around and it was to gain Lyra's attention.
"We're Equestrians, from the world of Equus," Lyra explained, to which she held up a hand to stop Thalyssra from asking her another question, as she knew exactly what to say thanks to the other times she answered this question, "We were both torn from our home planet some time ago, though while Trixie was deposited on Azeroth, in one of the Alliance villages, I was dropped off on the ruined world of Draenor, where I joined the Illidari and became part demon for the sake of defending this world from the Burning Legion. Unfortunately my forces and I were captured after assaulting Mardum, by the Wardens no less, and we spent seven years in crystal prisons before finally being released... only to find that Azeroth was under attack by our enemies once more.
Trixie, on the other hand, spent the last seven years being a hero to Azeroth, killing massive Elemental Lords, destroying corrupted Dragon Aspects, defeating a person that used a cursed runeblade to raise the dead, defeating the forces of three Old Gods, and the Old Gods themselves, and killed Archimode the Defiler, one of Sargeras' greatest soldiers, with a large number of allies helping her. With her, and the forces of Dalaran at our disposal, we should be able to plan the assault on Suramar, in whatever manner you desire, and kill whoever needs to die so we can get at Gul'dan and stop whatever horrible plan he's trying to complete."
"And you aren't worried that you'll die and serve the Legion in death?" Thalyssra inquired, because while she was pleased to have such powerful allies at her disposal, to save her city, having a demon hunter sort of worried her.
"Oh, I am worried about that," Lyra replied, though her conviction was much stronger than it usually was, especially because of what Xe'ra had shown her three days ago, "especially since I could easily bring Sargeras to my home world and let him cleave it in half... but I will fight and ensure that such a thing never comes to pass."
"I see." Thalyssra said, to which she raised a hand to her chin, as she was wondering something else, which was followed by her turning back to Lyra, "What sort of allies should we be expecting?"
"Honestly, I have no idea." Lyra answered, as she knew a few members of the Alliance and Horde, but not enough to give Thalyssra any sort of idea what they were expecting, "I'm sure that there will be a warrior or two coming our way, though we'll have to see who Trixie brings with her... and hope that she manages to avoid bringing people that hate each other to this area."
Thalyssra, who had no knowledge of the tensions between the Alliance and the Horde, simply shook her head and turned to one of the walls, allowing Lyra to return to her task at making sure that none of the withered, or the Nightborne, discovered where they were resting. Time slowly passed for them and Lyra discovered that, despite the death of Shal'Aran's guardians, the withered didn't come anywhere near the ruins, as if they knew that something even greater rested inside this area. When Trixie did return, however, Lyra was more than happy to see that Kurost was with her, as he would be a valuable ally to have around, and that Maraa was behind them as well... though there were some new additions to their small hideout. Trixie had gone through the effort to recruit one of each class, save for the mages and the demon hunters, and brought them all to Shal'Aran, drastically increasing their potential before they even started the assault on the city.
Many of the heroes already knew their roles, though Lyra was interested in the fact that the male blood elf hunter, Taneil Starblade, was skilled in finding the specific crystals that they needed in order to keep Thalyssra, and any other Nightborne that joined them here, well fed enough so they didn't wither... though once the heroes started moving around the hideout the two Equestrians joined Thalyssra, as their task was going to be much greater than what the others were tasked with doing.
"I was on my way to Ambervale in hopes of finding an old colleague, Arcanist Kel'danath," Thalyssra explained, informing them as to the reason why she had tried cutting through this area, something that Lyra and Trixie weren't expecting to hear at all, "Kel'danath was fascinated by the withered, so much so that he studied them for years with the hopes of calming their feral nature or even curing them. When one of his subjects escaped and ran amok in the royal gardens, however, Kel'danath was ordered to cease his research and kill all withered in his possession. He refused, and was exiled. If Kel'danath lives, he is near withered. And withered are drawn to old settlements like Ambervale... which I will mark on your maps and give you directions to."
Lyra and Trixie assumed that Kel'danath was important to whatever Thalyssra was planning, to which they simply nodded their heads and walked out their hideout, where they were greeted by some of the other heroes before they ventured out into the ruins. Based on Thalyssra's directions, and what their map told them, Ambervale was literally right next door to where their new hideout was located, to which they didn't bother calling their mounts and started walking towards the ruins. Lyra had to correct her thinking, as Trixie no longer needed a mount thanks to the fact that she was a dragon herself, before seeing the entirety of the ruins resting some distance in front of them... and discovering that the ruins were quite large, at least three to four times as large as the entirety of Shal'Aran.
As they approached the ruins, however, Trixie felt something in the air and beckoned for Lyra to follow her, to which they headed towards what appeared to be a ruined tower, though they avoided the withered that were running around the area and entered the building... where they found a floating scroll that even Lyra could tell had some magic to it.
"Somebody has been living here recently." Trixie commented, though her attention was on the scroll that was resting in front of them, something that she was interested in learning about, "This scroll bears some strange lettering, likely the Nightborne language or alphabet, that's beckoning for me to touch it..."
"Then touch it and see what it has to tell you," Lyra replied, to which she pulled out the Twinblades and stood in the doorway they had walked through, as she was sure that more enemies would be coming after them at some point in the near future, "I'm sure that the withered will be coming after us once they realize that you're in the ruins."
Trixie nodded and ran her fingers over the elegant symbols that rested on the page, almost as if she was tracing them, before she heard a voice in her head, one that was dictating the words into her mind. That immediately told her that the Nightborne had some method that elevated even simple note-taking to a sorcerous art, something that would impress her mentor when she showed him what she discovered. Based on this information she could tell that Arcanist Kel'danath was definitely working in this area, which meant that there had to be more of his notes scattered around the ruins, which, if gathered together, would likely tell them where Kel'danath wandered off to.
"Let's see here; 'Day 5'," Trixie said, reciting the words that came into her mind, allowing Lyra to hear what she was being told, by simply tracing the elegant symbols and letters, "'Wards prove effective at deterring the withered, but do nothing for the cacophony of critters and beasts outside. The nights are so loud out here. I relish what little sleep I can manage. Tomorrow I begin looking for subjects.' I guess that means we're on the right track."
"Good, then let's go find some more notes and learn what the Arcanist was doing here," Lyra replied, to which she jumped forward and carved up the withered that was reaching for her, while at the same time giving Trixie some time to feel the new magic and point them in the right direction.
As the two of them left the tower behind, however, Trixie paused for a moment to activate one of Kel'danath's arcane wards, which would allow them to scare off the withered in the area and give them some time to figure out where Thalyssra's friend had wandered off to. Trixie led the way towards the actual entrance of Ambervale and wandered off to the building on the left, though when they climbed through the back entrance of the building they discovered a scroll that was being guarded by another withered. Lyra, seeing the withered elf, charged forward and knocked her target backwards, allowing Trixie to walk forward and see what Kel'danath wrote this time around, about his own activities and the withered that lived in Ambervale.
Day 9: Still no luck communicating with the withered. Trixie heard in her mind, while at the same time repeated it so Lyra could hear her, I must regard this failure not as a measure of ability, but a measure of progress.
Since there wasn't much for the ninth day, which meant that Kel'danath was severely disappointed in what was happening around him, Trixie refocused on the task at hand as Lyra joined her, to which they walked out of the building and followed the trail to the next building. Since Trixie was the one that knew where the scrolls were located, by feeling their magical signature, Lyra followed her without question, even though they fought their way towards a building that was near the tower that the first scroll was located in. The withered clearly wanted to get at Trixie thanks to the mana in her body, to which Lyra cut them down and let her friend do what was necessary... even though some of the withered refused to leave despite the wards that they had activated.
Day 14: The new subject, number 16, is special. Trixie heard, though she automatically knew that this one had to be somewhat special, especially since the jump in days since the last entry, His arcane essence is touched by some mysterious power. I have named him Theryn.
It took them some time to search the rest of Ambervale, though they discovered that the next note informed them that Kel'danath used Theryn's essence as the base for some sort of spell, one that sometimes calms the withered and makes them more receptive to what he was doing with his experiments. The note following that revealed that, after some time, a new elf made his appearance and inquired as to what he was going with with the withered, where Kel'danath stated that he was searching for a cure to their condition. Based on the fact that Trixie could tell that there were more notes meant that the elf had spared the Arcanist, though the next one revealed that Kel'danath was running low on arc-wine, which had to be a more potent version than the crystals they had given Thalyssra.
That same note revealed that Theryn was making excellent progress while Shal'an, another withered that had to be reacting the same way as Theryn, remained stubborn and that crystals, the ones they gave their friend, becoming harder for him to find. Some time after that a massive ettin, which Trixie explained was like a giant, trampled through Kel'danath's workshop at Koralune Manor, though he managed to scare the ettin away with his magic and noted that he had a feeling that the would be back at some point in the future. Trixie revealed that this had to be the downfall of everything he had been attempting to do, which meant that he was either dead at this point, had withered, or was on the verge of withering.
The last note that they found, which was the fiftieth page, was all about the sky turning black as demons started to appear everywhere, with several mentions of the endless hunger that Thalyssra had briefly mentioned while they were walking to Shal'Aran. After that he stated that he released his subjects, as he could no longer protect them, and wrote that whoever found all of this collected his spellstone and continue the work that he had been working on before his fate had seized him and his life.
"Lyra, let's go find that spellstone and give Thalyssra everything that Kel'danath left behind." Trixie said, because at this point she was sure that the Arcanist was either dead or withered.
Lyra nodded her understanding, because she was beginning to suspected that this research might have been geared towards curing the withered, but she knew that it could easily be changed into making them into an army once they were trained... and something told her that her thoughts might actually be what Thalyssra was planning on using the withered for once they got back to Shal'Aran. All they needed to do was recover the spellstone and they would know what the elf was planning... and what else they could do to bring down whoever commanded the entirety of Suramar city.
Trixie spent a few moments bundling the notes they had discovered so far, from all around Ambervale, and carefully stored them away in her pack, where they would be kept safe until they returned to Thalyssra with news on what happened to her friend. She and Lyra knew that, according to the final journal entry that they had discovered, Kel'danath used something that he called a 'spellstone' in his experiments, which was likely a Nightborne creation of some kind. From what she could tell the spellstone, if not the Arcanist himself, must be resting nearby, to which she and Lyra agreed that they needed to act fast before he became one of the withered that roamed the area around them... and they were sure that the manor in question was directly to the south of where they were standing.
That was mostly because of one of the large ettins was still trashing one of the buildings near the actual manor, to which they both agreed that this wasn't the time to engage such a creature, even if they were a dangerous pair... to which they walked over towards the road on their left and decided to use it to get around to the other entrance of the manor.
The manor was, of course, being patrolled by some of the withered, which Lyra and Trixie had to deal with thanks to the fact that the poor elves were trying to get at Trixie's mana, but at the same time they were somewhat glad to release them from the fate that had been forced upon them. While they fought their way through the small group of withered that were in front of them, however, they noticed that the ettin they had noticed earlier was moving towards the part of Ambervale they had been in earlier. That meant that they would be able to fully explore Koralune Manor and see if they could find Arcanist Kel'danath, or at least the spellstone that he had created while he was trying to cure the withered.
When they walked into the manor, however, they found an elf, wearing what appeared to be the ragged remains of a set of robes, huddled over in the middle of the building, though when Trixie got close the withered elf turned towards them and immediately attacked them. Lyra quickly stepped between the withered elf and Trixie, to which she used one of her warglaives to block the attack that was coming towards her friend and allowing her to back up, though when Trixie reached a good distance she started throwing arcane blasts at the fallen elf. The withered elf, who was no doubt Arcanist Kel'danath, growled as Trixie was placed further out of his grasp, to which he rapidly swung his hands at Lyra in an attempt to get her out of the way, so he could tear Trixie apart and get at the mana that was inside her veins.
Since Kel'danath was more focused on getting at Trixie, and wasn't really paying attention to the person that was standing in front of him, Lyra was free to step up the pace and used her own speed to overcome the withered elf's attacks and defenses... where she drove the tip of one of the Twinblades into the elf's chest and ended his miserable existence.
"So, this is what befell Kel'danath," Trixie commented, though at the same time she spotted some sort of wand that was resting on the withered elf's belt, so when Lyra gently laid the elf on the floor she pulled the wand off the belt, "well, Thalyssra will be happy to hear that we gave him some peace, especially since he had withered in the end... and I'm sure that she'll be interested in having this spellstone. Maybe she'll continue his experiments and, hopefully, discover a cure to rid all of these unfortunate elves of the fate that has befallen them."
"Well, we won't know until we we return to Shal'Aran," Lyra replied, though as she walked outside, with Trixie following right behind her, they were approached by yet another withered, but this time around Trixie stopped her from raising her weapons.
When she turned to ask what Trixie was doing, since they were being approached by an enemy, she noticed a small tag that was hanging from the withered's sleeve, one that read '16 - Theryn', indicating that this was the promising subject that Kel'danath had been experimenting on in the notes they had read. Lyra was lucky that she didn't cut off one of Theryn's arms or put a warglaive in his chest, because he was a vital piece of the puzzle that Kel'danath had been working on and killing him would have set Thalyssra behind.
"It appears that Theryn is still under the Arcanist's spell." Trixie commented, noticing that Theryn seemed interested in the spellstone, which made sense considering what they had discovered in the various notes they had recovered, "In the absence of Kel'danath himself, who deserved more than what fate gave him, a live subject could be useful in helping Thalyssra unravel his research."
Lyra nodded and beckoned for Trixie to follow her, though as they walked away from Koralune Manor she noticed that Theryn followed after Trixie, which made sense considering that she was the one carrying the spellstone, something he had to feel the presence of. Together the three of them made their way back to Shal'Aran, following the road that they had taken to get around the ettin, where Lyra noticed that none of the nearby creatures wanted to do anything to them and stayed out of their way. She had no idea if the animals of Suramar knew better than to mess with people like the three of them or if they didn't want to mess with one of the withered, though she was didn't question what was happening as they entered the ruins that protected the hidden cave they had discovered.
When they entered Shal'Aran, and made their way to the middle of the hidden ruins, they found Thalyssra standing on the floor below them, to which they walked down to where their new ally was standing, where Theryn simply walked up towards her and stood near their friend. Thalyssra seemed ready to strike Theryn down, especially since she had no idea what he was, to which Trixie moved forward and explained the situation to her, where she pulled out the notes and handed them to Thalyssra, along with the spellstone. It took the elf a few minutes to look through the notes that they had recovered, or at least skim through them to understand the basics of the information that she had been handed, before letting out a sigh as Lyra told her that Arcanist Kel'danath had turned and that they had been forced to kill him.
For a moment Thalyssra looked sad, which made sense considering that she said that they had needed Kel'danath's assistance for some reason, before she let out a sigh and turned to face them.
"So, Kel'danath turned in the end..." Thalyssra said, clearly indicating that she was sad about what happened to her friend, while at the same time she simply stared at the two Equestrians, "He deserved better. Thank you for giving him peace in the end."
"Its sad that he ended up turning into one of the withered," Trixie replied, to which Thalyssra nodded her agreement to that statement, before she waved a hand towards Theryn for a few seconds, "especially because he seemed to be on the trail of something important."
"Actually, Kel'danath discovered something incredible," Thalyssra stated, to which she held up the spellstone for a moment, indicating that she must have noticed something in the notes that neither Trixie or Lyra had spotted, which made sense considering that she knew the Arcanist better than they did, "the power to subdue and even control the withered. I will pick up where my old friend left off and see to it that he did not die in vain. Perhaps in the end we can even find peace for the wretches who have been left to a fate worse than death, though I will need more subjects in order to make that a reality. Take Kel'danath's spellstone and use it to subdue more withered."
Lyra honestly didn't want to put Trixie in further danger, especially since the withered liked to hunt for her, but it appeared that the best way to draw some of them withered out of hiding would be to have Trixie either stand in one spot or simply transform and have that attract their targets. Trixie, on the other hand, seemed pleased to have discovered an alternative method to dealing with the withered, especially after what happened in Azsuna and what was happening inside Thalyssra's city. Trixie took the spellstone and headed outside, though as Lyra followed after her she heard Thalyssra mention something about a holding cell for the withered that they collected, indicating that she definitely intended to experiment on them when she had the time.
When they reached the ruins outside the cave Trixie handed Lyra the spellstone before transforming into her dragon form, to which Lyra noticed that some withered immediately came out of the nearby area to investigate the increase in magical energy that was around them. Lyra focused on one of the withered and pointed the spellstone at her target, where she prayed that this worked, to which she watched as a small stream of magic at the withered, though as it approached her it seemed to reconsider its actions and stopped moving. That was followed by her target walking towards the entrance of Shal'Aran and wandered inside, to which Lyra smiled and turned the spellstone towards the next target and made sure that the spell went off without a problem.
Lyra and Trixie spent a few more minutes drawing in more withered, who were seeking the mana that was inside Trixie, before using the spellstone to change their minds, where they marched into Shal'Aran... though Lyra had to smile when she noticed some of the other heroes watching what they were doing and helped the withered walk towards where Thalyssra was waiting. When the withered stopped coming, whether they knew that something was stealing their numbers or that there weren't anymore of them in the immediate area, Trixie transformed back into her hybrid form before she and Lyra walked back into Shal'Aran. They found Thalyssra escorting the last withered into the cells that they would be resting in while she conducted her experiments, before she turned towards them and offered the two of them a brief smile for their efforts.
"Fascinating." Thalyssra commented, indicating that she was pleased by their efforts, as Lyra and Trixie had used the spellstone on ten to fifteen withered before they stopped coming, "Let us hope the spell holds."
"Considering how long Theryn has been under Kel'danath's spell, I'm sure that the spell will hold for quite a long time," Trixie replied, to which she and Lyra turned their full attention to their new friend, especially since they were curious as to what they should do next, "So, whose the next person that we need to recruit into your army?"
"We need to make contact with Chief Telemancer Oculeth," Thalyssra answered, to which she reached into one of her pockets and fished around for something, to which Trixie and Lyra patiently waited for her to find whatever she was searching for, "the man who developed Suramar's teleportation network. Oculeth had a workshop in old Suramar, from the age before the Sundering, and he may be taking refuge there. If you find him, show him this... hopefully you see him before he sees you..."
Lyra and Trixie looked down at the small coin that Thalyssra had pulled from her pocket, which must have been something important that Oculeth would recognize the moment they pulled it out. While Lyra grabbed the coin Trixie got directions to the workshop, as she had no idea where the workshop was located and wanted to get there before something happened to the elf that Thalyssra wanted them to find. After what happened with Kel'danath they didn't want the same thing to happen to this Oculeth, to which the two of them headed out of the hidden ruins and departed from the area it was resting in.
The moment Lyra and Trixie had the coin that Thalyssra wanted them to show Oculeth, when they discovered where he was hiding and convinced him that they weren't enemies, the duo walked out of Shal'Aran and bid farewell to the rest of the heroes that Trixie had called to their side. Lyra raised an eyebrow when she noticed that one of the druids that had come along was missing, though the other druid simply said that their companion was investigating something they had seen when they were coming to see Shal'Aran. The druid then promised that their friend would be back in the near future with news about what they were doing, though Lyra said that it was fine and followed Trixie out of the ruined area, as they needed to start their next mission and see what happened when they found Oculeth's hiding place.
Instead of heading down the path they took to reach the area outside Shal'Aran, and treading upon familiar territory, the two of them turned to the right of the cave entrance and followed the path back towards Ambervale, though when they reached a certain distance they turned right once more and climbed the hill that was in front of them. From there they walked over to the road that the Nightborne had put into the ground so many years ago and crossed over the bridge that was in front on them. After a few minutes of walking they passed up another ruined part of the area that was around Shal'Aran's cave, though this one was directly above the cave, but neither of them paid to it as they followed the path that was directly in front of them.
From there they continued to approach what was once the main gate of Suramar City, and likely still was to this day, but as they drew closer to the stone gate Trixie stopped them before they got too close and beckoned for Lyra to follow her as they started walking to the left of the gateway. Normally Lyra would have questioned why they weren't sneaking through the barrier and taking a quicker route to Oculeth's workshop, but since the Nightborne seemed to specialize in magic, along with time magic based on what they had seen Thalyssra do to one of the elves that had been following her, heading inside the city sounded like a terrible idea. Besides, she was sure that their enemies night be able to sense anything that passed through the barrier, even if it had weakened since the Legion invaded Azeroth... and she didn't want the leader of the Nightborne to know what they were doing just yet.
Instead of walking on a stone walkway, no doubt carved from the earth itself, Trixie and Lyra made their way up some hills and across a small river before they spotted the building that Thalyssra had told them about, though at the same time Trixie insisted on being the first one to approach the structure while Lyra kept an eye out for any additional enemies. Lyra agreed, because with how close they were to the city she didn't want a patrol to see them and raise the alarm or investigate what they were doing, though she drew her warglaives and readied herself. Trixie let out a sigh as she walked up towards the entrance of the building and stepped into the opening, to which she found herself frozen in a spherical barrier that slowly pulled her into the air.
"That is far enough." a voice said, to which Trixie moved her eyes and watched as a male elf, Nightborne like Thalyssra and the others they had encountered, stepped out of a room to the left of where she was standing and stopped when he was in front of her, "Well, you are not from the palace... and you are clearly not a demon, as I have no idea what you actually are. Identify yourself, before I teleport you to the depths of the Great Sea!"
"I'll tell you what she is," Lyra said, to which she stepped forward and stared at the elf, who was no doubt Oculeth, though at the same time she decided to sheath her weapons as she glanced over at Trixie and remembered what she had told her earlier, "She is Trixie Lulamoon, Archmage of the Tirisgarde, apprentice to Archmage Khadgar, slayer of three Old Gods, at least three Dragon Aspects, the Lich King, and Archimonde, one of Sargeras' greatest warriors. There is something else that you might not have noticed..."
"And what is that?" Oculeth asked, though at the same time he raised an eyebrow, because while he was sure that Trixie's achievements were grand he didn't understand why he needed to be told about them.
That was when he noticed that there were cracks forming on the barrier that he had placed as a trap, something that normally wouldn't be possible, which meant that this Trixie was far more powerful than he was giving her credit for, as he had assumed that the dragon look was a fake to make people more afraid of her. A few seconds later the barrier shattered as Trixie broke out of the trap, though to make it even more dramatic Trixie's dragon wings, sized to the same size that Lyra's were when she glided from one place to another, flared for a moment before she touched the floor and huffed. A moment passed before she stood back up and stared at Oculeth, while at the same time pulling her wings close to her back, like she had seen Lyra do from time to time when she was in her Havoc form... while being annoyed that she had likely ripped two holes into the back of her robe.
"I'm a blue dragon," Trixie replied, though at the same time she smiled for a moment, because Oculeth seemed shocked that she had shattered his prison trap with such ease, before she reached into her pouch and withdrew the coin she had been given, "Here, we were told to give this to you whenever we found you."
"A coin? Why would you need to show me..." Oculeth started to say, though that was before he noticed something interesting about the coin, to which his eyes widened as he understood what was going on now, "The sign of the dusk lily... this is the First Arcanist's seal! Is she alive?!"
"Yes, she gave us that coin and told us to find you." Lyra explained, to which she smiled as she realized that they were finally getting somewhere, though at the same time she was sure that they would need to do something before Oculeth would head to Shal'Aran.
"Then there is still a chance..." Oculeth commented, though that was when he raised a hand and beckoned for the two of them to follow him into the area of the building he had been hiding in all this time, "Come quickly, I need your help with something before we head to Thalyssra's location."
Lyra nodded and stepped forward to follow Oculeth, though before she got too far she pulled back and helped Trixie as she sealed her wings away once more, as she hadn't intended to bring them out when she broke the prison trap, though they had come out on their own. Once the wings were sealed away, back with the rest of her dragon form, the two of them entered the room that the elf had been hiding in, though as they followed him it looked like he was salvaging items and taking them away from the Nightborne that controlled the city.
"I didn't have the time to gather any of my instruments before fleeing the palace, so I came here to salvage some old equipment." Oculeth explained, knowing that they were curious as to what they were seeing, though at the same time he stored some of the pieces in his own pack, "This old workshop is actually several rooms connected by teleporter pads, though all the rooms are scattered along the mountainside. Elisande's goons are already scouring the place looking for me, but from here I can alter the teleporter network and keep them moving in circles. I need the two of you to use the teleporter pads and find two special components that I need for whatever Thalyssra has planned, though at the same time I will monitor your positions and ensure the teleporters work normally for you."
"Sounds easy enough," Lyra replied, as it sounded like what she had done several times after she first formally joined the Illidari, gather specific items and kill whatever enemies were in front of her, though there was something that she needed to ask before they got started, "Where's the teleport pad that we need to use to get this started?"
Instead of answering her question Oculeth beckoned for them to follow once more and led them outside the building they were standing in, to which they headed to the right of the entrance and approached the pad that Trixie and Lyra hadn't seen from the direction they had approached the workshop from. There happened to be a small pedestal near the pad, one that apparently activated the pad itself, to which Trixie reactivated the teleport pad and stepped into the center of the one in front of them, where she disappeared a few seconds later. Lyra immediately followed her companion, to which she appeared on a decent sized cliff, with a small single story building nearly, before noticing that they were higher up than the main body of Oculeth's workshop.
Near them rested three more pedestals, which had to be switches for the various locations that this pad connected to, though Trixie told Lyra that one went to a fountain, the second went to a library, and the third went to a lab, which had to be the one they had just been at, though this was something that she was able to tell by just staring at the pedestals for a few seconds. Trixie decided to try something and activated the pedestal that connected to a lab, though a few seconds later the duo appeared near a small tower which clearly wasn't the building they had encountered Oculeth in, but before they did anything else they noticed some Nightborne already starting to gather the telemancy items that had been stored in this location... to which Lyra pulled her warglaives out and charged at their opponents.
Trixie smiled as she watched Lyra fight, because when she went into battle all of the Nightborne decided to charge her at once and allowed her a chance to investigate the tower for whatever items they had been tasked with finding, while claiming everything that the Nightborne had been attempting to take away from this area. She ended up finding an interesting piece of equipment that was cracked in some manner, though whether it was because of the elves that Lyra was dominating or because of age she had no idea, but she had the feeling that this was one of the pieces that Oculeth wanted them to recover for him. Once she had everything in the area, and she was sure that she wasn't leaving anything that Oculeth could use behind, she walked outside and found Lyra looting the bodies of the dead elves, claiming their gold and anything that might be of use to them in the future.
The moment they were both done they returned to the pad that they had appeared on a few minutes ago and Trixie went to work determining where they needed to go next, as they still needed to find one more item that Oculeth asked them to recover. Since there was only one pedestal they had no choice but to teleport back to the workshop for a few seconds before they teleported back to the cliff area that they had first encountered, where they picked the library and accessed the pad once more. Instead of appearing near their intended destination, however, the two of them appeared in what seemed to be some sort of cave area, where Oculeth spoke to them, through some magical means, and informed them that he had lost them for a few seconds... before pulling them back to the workshop.
Since it appeared that the library wasn't an option, as the pedestal seemed to be broken, Trixie had them teleport to the cliff area before heading to the fountain, where she immediately discovered another pedestal that was labeled as some sort of lab. When the two of them appeared in their new destination they discovered that it was also being sacked by the Nightborne, to which they repeated what they had done when they reached the other lab, Lyra charged forward and Trixie used the distraction to gather everything that had been in the process of being stolen. It didn't take them long to recover everything that the Nightborne had stolen, and find what Oculeth wanted them to recover, to which they accessed the pad and returned to the workshop.
When they returned to the workshop they found Oculeth fixing the other pedestal that had been connected to this teleport pad, which meant that he had a way to get them away from this area without the elves in the city discovering what was going on. He stopped working when the duo approached him, to which he looked at the various items that they had acquired for him, both what he requested and items they had taken from the Nightborne they had encountered.
"These are in rough shape, but they will suffice." Oculeth said, to which he put all of the parts into his pouch, though that was before he tapped the pedestal he had been working on for the last couple of minutes while they had been busy gathering the items, "We must lock down the facility, otherwise my esteemed colleagues from the palace could uncover my secrets, which puts any teleporters I build for you and Thalyssra at risk. This will take us to my secret test chamber beneath the mountain, where we can begin the lockdown sequence and make our escape!"
Lyra and Trixie nodded their heads and Oculeth activated the second pedestal, to which the two of them stepped onto the pad and teleported into an underground workshop of some kind, though it contained the same style that all of the Nightborne buildings possessed. A couple of minutes passed before Oculeth, his task at the workshop complete, joined the duo in what he claimed to be his old sanctuary, to which the three of them continued down the path that was in front of them. As they walked Oculeth noted that his defenses were offline and that intruders had invaded his old sanctuary, though when they reached the device in front of them, an Arcane Coil as Oculeth called it, Trixie overloaded it with arcane energy before the three of them headed down the path on the left... where they found a large group of enemies using four more coils and their leader was floating in the air.
Oculeth noted that the elf in the area was Thwen, an apprentice who had no doubt be raised in the ranks after he fled from the palace, though before he could do anything else Lyra pulled her warglaives out and charged at the Nightborne that were gathered in the area around them. Trixie always found herself amazed when she watched Lyra fight, as her movements reminded her of how Illidan fought when her guild confronted the Betrayer all those years ago, because sometimes it seemed like they were one in the same person, as if Illidan had moved his soul into Lyra's body and was simply lending her his experience. She had to wonder if Lyra even noticed how she fought, as she was vastly different than the other members of the Illidari, but she paid that no mind as she accessed the coils and overloaded them... while weakening whatever Thwen was up to.
When the fourth coil was overcharged, however, Thwen growled and blasted Oculeth in the chest, causing him to stagger backwards for a moment as the arcane blast left a smoldering wound on his chest, causing Lyra and Trixie to turn on her in an instant.
"Face it ,old man," Thwen shouted, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie would tell that she was focused on Oculeth and was completely ignoring their presence, which was a mistake on her part, "with the ability to create a warp field, which warps the space surrounding me to act as a shield, I have surpassed you in every way possible!"
"I will admit, that is an interesting trick," Oculeth commented, to which he coughed up some blood, indicating that the wound was much deeper than they originally thought it was, before he stared up at his former pupil, "but let me ask you something; what if the space around you is already unstable?"
Before anyone had a chance to say anything, however, Oculeth wove his magic into the area and teleported all four of them into the strange area that Trixie and Lyra had accidentally discovered earlier, though that was followed by Oculeth falling to one knee as he coughed up some more of his blood.
"My warp field is not working!" Thwen shouted, to which she turned on the group, where Lyra and Trixie noticed that the field she had been using earlier had ceased to exist, "No matter, I shall simply bend this place to my will and prove that I am stronger than you could every be. An'ratha... an'tal-thandos!"
The trio watched as Thwen started to channel the energy of the unstable area into her body, though after a few seconds her body actually started to shake as the unstable energy coursed through her body, indicating that the power of the area wasn't something that anyone could control. A few moments passed before the energy detonated, tearing Thwen apart from the inside out while vaporizing her entire being, to which Trixie and Lyra focused their attention on Oculeth and his wound. The elf told them to stop worrying about him and gathered his energy once more, where he asked them where Thalyssra was hiding, to which Lyra told him that it was a cave near Ambervale... to which he warped them out of the unstable area and actually reappeared outside the cave in question, where he collapsed in pain.
Trixie and Lyra picked Oculeth up and carried him inside the cave, where they would be able to find a healer and make sure that he didn't die from his wounds... and then, once he had recovered to some degree, they would see what Thalyssra needed them to do next.
"Maraa! Where are you?" Trixie called into the cave, confirming Lyra's suspicions that the draenei priest had been brought to Suramar, as they would likely need her assistance once the plan to take back the city really got started, "We need your assistance with something!"
Maraa came out of where she had been setting up her station, which was in the area to the right of the entrance, and noticed the wounds that were on Oculeth's chest, to which she beckoned them forward and had them lay the wounded elf on the bedding she had prepared. Thalyssra, who heard Trixie shouting, came up from the lower area and noticed what was going on, to which she ran over to Oculeth's side and used some of her own energy to stabilize Oculeth's magic, since he had clearly used too much during the short battle he had been in earlier. While Maraa worked, however, Taniel walked over to them and dropped off some of the mana crystals he had found while he and his mana saber had been hunting around the nearby area... as his job was making sure that the other hunters had enough animals for the eventual attack on the city, as well as gather enough crystals to fed every Nightborne that came to Shal'Aran.
Trixie and Lyra were pleased to find that, between the combined efforts of Thalyssra, Maraa, and Taniel, Oculeth was able to make a speedy recovery, though as he weakly got onto his feet again Maraa insisted that he restrain for burdening himself so he can make a complete recovery.
"Thank you for finding Oculeth and making sure that he reached Shal'Aran." Thalyssra commented, to which Trixie and Lyra nodded their heads, as they were both glad to see that their efforts had benefited them this time around, "He will be an invaluable asset to our cause, in creating a network that will allow us, and our troops, to get around the city without our enemies figuring out where we are."
"Ah, I am feeling much better. Thank you!" Oculeth said, to which he turned towards Maraa for a second, where Trixie and Lyra noticed that a smile appeared on his face, "And thank you for healing my wounds. I have never met someone that has such a talent for the healing arts as you do."
"Think nothing of it," Maraa replied, though that was followed by her returning to her workstation, as she needed to make sure that she had all her tonics and healing items on hand for when the rest of their forces moved into Shal'Aran.
"Now then, let us get to work." Oculeth commented, which was followed by him turning towards Trixie and Lyra, who raised their eyebrows as they wondered what he was going to say, "It is time to establish the first secure connection in our teleportation network. Take this beacon to the Ruins of Elune'eth, which are located above us, and survey the area to find a suitable location. Once your survey is complete, place the beacon and I will anchor a connection to it from here... and by the time your done with that I'm sure Thalyssra will have something else for you to do."
Lyra looked at the beacon that Oculeth was handing them, which looked like the one that Trixie had acquired while she was busy taking out the Nightborne earlier, though at the same time Trixie accepted the device and headed for the ruins. Lyra immediately followed after her, because she wanted to be sure that there weren't any enemies patrolling the roads when Trixie attempted to survey the area for a suitable spot to place the beacon in. The two of them retraced their steps towards the hill that they used to get access to the road, where they made their way around the wildlife and continued towards their intended destination... the ruins they had passed by when they were hunting for where Oculeth was hiding out.
When they reached their destination Trixie immediately stopped in the middle of the ruins and pulled out the beacon once more, to which she connected to the energies around her and allowed the device to search the area around them, while at the same time Lyra drew her warglaives and prepared herself. A few moments passed before anything happened, though that was when a small portal opened and small white arcane creatures, which looked like voidwalkers in Lyra's eyes, surged out to harm them. Lyra, taking a chance to stem the tide, jumped over the white creatures and slammed one of her weapons into the portal, breaking it apart almost instantly, allowing her to turn her attention to the three enemies that had spawned... where she found that they were also easy to tear apart, which made her a little disappointed, though when she had taken them out she beckoned for Trixie to continue.
A few more moments passed before they were interrupted again, though this time around it was a large creature, about half Lyra's height, that had tentacles for legs and a head that was snapping at everything that was around it, which also included Lyra when it charged at her. She had seen these creatures once or twice during her time with the Illidari, back when they were all training in the Black Temple, though she knew that as long as she avoided their mouths she would be able to take them out without suffering too much. Trixie took a break from holding the beacon and blasted the creature in the back a few times, causing it to turn towards her and gave Lyra the opportunity to drive her weapons into its heart area... breaking the entire creature into a thousand arcane fragments that disappeared moments later, allowing Trixie to get back to her main task.
The only other things that interrupted them were another portal for the small creatures, which Lyra closed instantly and killed the enemies, and a small gateway where a tentacle tried to pull them both in and devour them... but Lyra wasn't about to have that and killed the creature before it could do anything to her or Trixie. Once that was done they heard Oculeth speak into their minds, though it was simply a quick message telling them to place the beacon in the circular area they had noticed earlier and activate the first teleport pad. Once the connection had been established, and the two-way portal had phased into existence in front of them, Trixie and Lyra stepped forward and passed through the space between the ruins and Shal'Aran... where they reappeared in the area that Thalyssra had said had been an old teleport station.
The two of them grinned as they made their way over to where Oculeth and Thalyssra were standing, as they were eager to see if Thalyssra had something for them like Oculeth suggested after his wounds had been healed... though as they approached Oculeth handed Trixie the coin she had given him earlier, meaning she and Lyra might need it at some point in the near future.
"The arcways were built to tap into the magical leylines beneath Suramar." Thalyssra explained, because she figured that while Trixie might understand what she was talking about, being a Blue Dragon and a mage, Lyra likely had no idea and would be lost, "As we learned to subsist on the Nightwell, the old facilities fell out of use. This chamber is clearly receiving power from elsewhere, though there is only a trickle of energy coming in now... but if you can direct more leyline energy here it will help to sustain us. I know that the closest source of leyline energy is to the north, near Anora Hollow. I'll mark its location on your map."
Based on the mark that had been placed on their map both Lyra and Trixie could tell that Thalyssra truly didn't know the exact location of Anora Hollow, only that she knew that it was somewhere to the north of where Shal'Aran was located, which actually didn't help them at the moment. Instead of going through the main entrance, like they had been doing so far, the two of them returned to the portal they had just opened and returned to the surface, where they walked to the north and hoped that they located something that stood out. It didn't take them too long to reach a fork in the road, though something told Trixie that Anora Hollow would be on the ground level and moved towards the path on the left, to which Lyra followed after her. From there they walked through the area that was between the road on their right and the large hill on their left, while at the same time staying out of the small bodies of water that were in their way... before they exited the area a few seconds later and found a place that seemed blocked off, while baring Nightborne architecture.
Lyra and Trixie stared at each other for a few seconds, as they were surprised to find that Anora Hollow was this close to Shal'Aran, though as they approached the gated structure the two of them noticed someone else standing in front of the entrance... and she definitely wasn't allied with the city, as she seemed to be lacking the robes and weapons that the other Nightborne carried.
"You there, Outlanders!" the lady said, noticing them within a matter of seconds, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie wondered if she was an ally or an enemy, as Thalyssra had said nothing about meeting someone here, "Would one of you be a dear and step on that other switch?"
It was in that moment that they both noticed that the lady was standing on one of the switches and noticed the second one was parallel with the one she was on, to which Trixie stepped onto the switch and waited for a few seconds, though that was followed by the gate opening before their eyes and allowing them all entrance to Anora Hollow.
"Finally, its open at last!" the lady said, though at the same time she turned back towards the duo and her magical energies surged around her once more, indicating that she was looking for a fight.
Instead of doing anything that would provoke the lady, however, Trixie pulled out the coin Thalyssra had given them, and that Oculeth had returned, before she showed it to the Nightborne that was standing in front of her, as she assumed that this was an ally. The reasoning behind that was that an enemy would have killed them and used their bodies to open the way into Anora Hollow, especially since all of the other elves they had encountered so far, the ones from the city, wanted them both dead on sight. She was willing to take a risk with this elf, because she could accidentally reveal that Thalyssra was alive to their enemies, but the look on the lady's face told her that she might have been correct in her original assumption.
"So, Thalyssra has recruited some Outlanders to our cause," the lady said, to which she shook her head for a few seconds, indicating that she didn't believe what she was seeing, before she stared at the two of them again, "Very well then, I am Valtrois. And just who might the two of you be?"
"I am Trixie Lulamoon, and this is Lyra Heartstrings," Trixie replied, though as she placed the coin back where she kept it she was a little annoyed that Thalyssra didn't warn them that a potential ally was doing the same thing they were doing, but that was if she knew that Valtrois was even outside the city, "We came to investigate Anora Hollow and see what we need to do to activate it... or reasons you'll discover once we leave this area."
"It appears that Thalyssra and I had the same idea," Valtrois commented, to which she beckoned for the two of them to follow her, which was when the three of them entered the station and walked forward, but at the same time Trixie could tell that their new friend was annoyed about something, "This station has fallen into disrepair. The circuit is broken, and to mend it we must recharge the seals in the central chamber. Both a high potency current and low potency current are needed for each seal, so all you need to do is direct the currents to point at the same seal and then engage the seal."
"And what will you be doing?" Lyra asked, because she had the feeling that this elf was going to stop working since she and Trixie were here, bit she wanted to be sure before they left this area.
"Me? I shall supervise." Valtrois said, though at the same time both Trixie and Lyra noticed a faint smile appear on the elf's face for a few seconds, indicating that she enjoyed what was happening at the moment, "You are the help, after all."
Trixie noticed that the coil that Valtrois was standing next to seemed to be firing a beam deeper into the station, where she found four seals on the four points of the room they were in, as well as four additional coils that the beam could bounce off of. There was a lower intensity beam coming from deeper in the station, where she spotted a second coil that was releasing an energy beam as well, though as she studied the chamber she noticed several spheres near the ceilings that had to connect to what Valtrois had told them about. She fiddled with the coil that the higher beam was connected to and found that it connected to the two seals on the left side of the room, which meant if they changed the original coil they could access the two seals on the right side. At the same time she asked Lyra to do the same with the lower beam, where they found that they could activate one of the seals, the one on their immediate left, as the two beams touched it... and soon the seal was activated.
Since Lyra was the faster of the two, thanks to her training, Trixie had her find the lower coil and change its directions so she could understand where the beams went next before doing the same with the higher coil... though once she knew where each of the beams went, depending on the direction it was facing, she had Lyra change them according to what she was thinking. That was followed by the two of them working together and the seals were activated one after the other, though once the four of them were awoken, however, the air seemed to wake up and the entire station woke up, meaning that the leyline energy would be flowing back to Shal'Aran soon enough.
"I must admit, I am impressed that an Outlander like yourself could even figure out how to do this." Valtrois said, to which the duo turned and looked at her for a moment, though at the same time they noticed that there was a light smile on her face, before it disappeared as she beckoned towards them, "The two of you may actually be of some use to us. Now, show me where Thalyssra is hiding and we can start the next stage of our plan."
Lyra and Trixie nodded and started walking out of the station, though at the same time they were glad to hear that they might actually be starting whatever plan Thalyssra had been planning since her exile... though Lyra was more pleased because it brought them one step closer to finding, and killing, Gul'dan.
With Anora Hollow activated, and its connection to Shal'Aran restored to what it had been before the station went dormant all those years ago, Trixie and Lyra led Valtrois towards the area that Thalyssra had set up her camp while she planned out her attack against their enemies. They could tell that the elf that was following them didn't much like them, but was willing to put up with them because they had already proven themselves useful in helping her awaken Anora Hollow from its ancient slumber. The Equestrians, in turn, didn't know what to make of their newest ally just yet, as she appeared to be bossy and had an attitude that neither of them particularly liked, but they both had people they were forced to work with that they didn't like... to which they silently agreed to put up with Valtrois and brought her to Shal'Aran.
When the trio reached Shal'Aran they discovered that Oculeth was already hard at work trying to create the rest of the teleport portals that came with each activated teleport pad, though something told Trixie and Lyra that they would have to find the other pads, the ones in the city anyway, before such a thing could even happen. Thalyssra, on the other hand, stopped what she was doing and welcomed Valtrois to their hideout, where she gave her comrade a quick tour of Shal'Aran before leaving her to her own devices for the moment. That was quickly followed by her approaching Trixie and Lyra, meaning that there was either another ally they needed to save or it was time to set their plan in motion.
"Elisande's decision to welcome the Legion into Suramar earned her plenty of enemies, though only some of us were bold enough to openly defy her." Thalyssra explained, though the way she was speaking told Trixie and Lyra that the time had come to start whatever plan she had been putting together since her exile, "We have allies in the city... we just don't know how many. I need the two of you to make contact with a spell-fencer by the name of Silgryn, as he is loyal to our cause and has been lying in wait since our failed coup. You'll find him patrolling the western edge of the city, where you'll have a better chance of not being discovered immediately. Address him by name and tell him our cause is not lost!"
Trixie and Lyra nodded before they headed outside the cave and made their way towards the main gate of Suramar City, though when they arrived they turned to the right instead of the left, as that was where they had been directed towards. While the two of them walked, however, they made sure to avoid the withered that were trying to attack the barrier that surrounded the city, where they noticed that the barrier was designed to push them backwards before they collapsed on the ground. From there they continued towards Felsoul Hold, where Lyra had claimed the Twinblades from Varedis, but she paid it no mind as she followed Trixie towards the area that Thalyssra said that Silgryn should be patrolling in... where they spotted a lone elf walking down the street on the other side of the barrier.
Since it appeared that there was no one else in the immediate area, and that meant that the elf was alone at the moment, the two of them quickly breached the barrier, finding it odd that they could do so when the withered couldn't, before they approached the elf.
"Excuse me, are you Silgryn?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she reached into her robe and withdrew the coin once more, just in the off chance that saying the elf's name didn't do what Thalyssra said it would do.
"Thalyssra lives!?" the elf said, though as Trixie and Lyra nodded their heads slightly the elf looked around him to be sure that they were alone, before beckoning for them to follow him for a moment, "Come, let us talk in private."
Silgryn led them down the hill that was behind him, allowing them to drop down into an area behind a building, though Trixie and Lyra assumed that whoever owned the building was either out or an owner didn't exist, but they kept their guard up just in case something happened and they were forced to leave the city rather suddenly.
"We should be safe to speak here for a moment." Silgryn said, to which he turned towards Trixie and Lyra for, who were clearly eager to see what their first step towards taking down Elisande would be, "Many Nightborne had pinned their hopes on Thalyssra deposing the Grand Magistrix. Since she disappeared, dissenting voices have grown silent. We must spread the word, discreetly, among the populace. Ly'leth Lunastre will be a perfect ally in this. She is a socialite with many connections, and she is no friend of the Legion. Ly'leth hosts a masquerade party at her estate where rumors are traded like coin... and brandished like daggers. Let us invite ourselves in."
Trixie and Lyra nodded their understanding, as they were now aware of the fact that the first stages of the operation were starting, and followed Silgryn up to a nearby table that they happened to be standing near, where they found a number of party masks that looked completely different from what Trixie had seen so far. Silgryn explained that these were enchanted masks and that, when they were worn, they would envelope the wearer in a special costume that would essentially hide who they were until the mask was either removed or they were spotted by the guards, who could see through the magical material. Silgryn donned one of the masks as was immediately enveloped by the magic, where Trixie and Lyra noticed that he appeared to be covered by a large moth, though as he walked away he suggested that they don the masks and mingle with the other guests until he found Ly'leth.
When Lyra donned one of the masks she found that the costume that surrounded her appeared to be some sort of air elemental creature, one that matched what Trixie had told her about when she was recounting her adventures, though Trixie's costume was a blue dragon, scaled down to fit in the area around them... which worried Trixie a tiny bit.
With their costumes in place Trixie decided to let Lyra led the way this time around, as she was more used to surveying the entire area around them and could easily spot the guards that could tear their illusions away from them if they weren't careful. Lyra made sure that they could reach some of the other guests and speak to them without the guards getting in their way, where Trixie could speak with them while she kept her eyes on the guards. Trixie used the opportunity presented that they were given and made several comments about the demons that were in the city, though at the same time she knew that she could easily blow their cover as she had no idea where all the demons were to begin with. To her surprise several of the guests seemed to have no idea what she was talking about, others were asking what they were doing in this party, and the rest seemed to agree with what Trixie had mentioned.
Based on the number of people that agreed with her statement, however, Trixie was able to come to the conclusion that Ly'leth was definitely gathering the people that agreed with her to her side, as silently as she could anyway, as if she believed that Thalyssra was alive and was preparing for something... to which she mentally smiled as Lyra brought them to the area that one of the other guests told quietly them to head to a few seconds ago.
"This is not up for debate, Anarys." they heard a female voice say, though at the same time the tone indicated that the speaker was someone that definitely had some influence, which meant that the speaker had to be Ly'leth, "You are either with us, or against us. Choose wisely."
Trixie and Lyra turned the corner and found a few elves standing near each other, though the one with the noble looking robes, who was staring at the female elf in front of her, had to be Ly'leth, which meant that the one in front of her had to be Anarys. Silgryn was standing next to Anarys, though at the same time Trixie and Lyra could tell that he was slightly worried about something, which meant that someone might be planning on not joining them and their new rebellion... and might possibly rat them out when the opportunity presented itself.
"I will hear no more of your scheming!" Anarys declared, which meant that not only did she know what Ly'leth was up to, but she wanted nothing to do with whatever she had planned, while at the same time angrily pointing a finger in Ly'leth's direction, "You endanger everything that our father worked for!"
"Dear child..." Ly'leth said, though at the same time she let out a sigh as her sister walked away from the area they were standing in, where she sounded disappointed in what her sibling was doing at the moment, "do you not realize what he died for?"
"Um, are we interrupting something?" Lyra asked, to which Ly'leth turned and looked at her and Trixie, as if she knew that they were the ones that Silgryn had told her about earlier.
"Not really... though you'll be surprised to hear that your masks suit the both of you." Ly'leth commented, to which she gave Trixie and Lyra her full attention, though they suspected that she was still thinking about her sibling, "In Suramar, it can be quite advantageous to be someone else for a time..."
"With what has been going on lately, I would say that such an advantage is good to have on our side," Trixie said, as she was already liking the strange mask that she was wearing over her face, despite the fact that her disguise reflected a part of her true nature.
"As my darling sister has demonstrated, Elisande's decision to bring down the shield has sown unrest among the Nightborne." Ly'leth said, to which she waved a hand towards where her sister gad run off to, where Trixie and Lyra noticed Anarys kneeling beside a tombstone of some kind, "Loyalists and demons march together in the streets, fear and distrust grip our hearts, and family turns against family. Don't worry, I will help Thalyssra stir a new rebellion, but first we must deal with Anarys. However, I do not wish to spill the blood of my blood... only to help her see reason. As you can see Anarys is brooding over our father's memorial... bring her to me alive."
Lyra nodded and walked over to the shrine that Anarys had wandered off to, though as she and Trixie approached the brooding elf she suddenly turned around and lashed out at them with a Nightborne sword, to which Lyra raised one of her Twinblades and blocked the attack that was coming her way. Lyra then delivered two light cuts into Anarys' chest, as she didn't want to kill Ly'leth's sister on accident, while at the same time Trixie delivered a few low powered arcane blasts to her chest as well. Since Anarys was only focusing on Lyra, and was completely ignoring Trixie, the two of them were able to deal some powerful blows to their opponent and knocked her to the ground... though Lyra then sheathed her Twinblades, pulled Anarys onto her feet, and walked over to where Ly'leth was standing.
When they returned to Ly'leth, and Anarys stopped in front of her sister, Ly'leth snapped out a word and froze part of her sister's body where she was standing... to which they had a brief discussion about Anarys having to be seen before someone came looking for her, though it appeared that Ly'leth was prepared for that as well.
"Thank you. Now our work can begin." Ly'leth said, to which she pulled out another pair of masks, though this time around Lyra could tell that these were different than the ones that she and Trixie had been wearing while they were mingling among the guests, "Our family commands great respect in this city, thanks to my father. Through my network of contacts, we can organize the citizens to prepare Suramar for Thalyssra's return. The two of you must walk among the Nightborne, earning the trust of our friends and foes alike. You must become someone else... put this on Anarys. My little sister is about to turn over a new leaf, whether he likes it or not."
Lyra looked at the shimmering mask that Ly'leth handed her for a few seconds, marveling at the power that such a simple thing could contain, before she turned towards Anarys and slipped the mask over her face, which was actually much easier than she originally suspected it would be. Once that task was completed Ly'leth handed her the second mask and said that this was the mirror of the one that was now on her sister's face, to which she prompted Lyra to put it on and see what happened. Lyra gently pulled off the mask that she was wearing, dispelling the illusion in the process, before she slipped the mask over her face and felt the arcane energy wash over her body... though when she looked down at herself she noticed that her body now looked like Anarys' body, while noticing that her clothing matched as well.
It was then that Lyra realized that the mask allowed her to take on the appearance of Anarys Lunastre, sister of Ly'leth Lunastre, and that everyone they came across was likely going to assume that she was who she appeared to be and not someone that wasn't from Suramar City. A few seconds later Ly'leth gave Trixie a different mask, one that allowed her to take on the appearance of one of the mage guards they had seen while they were wandering around the party grounds, meaning that they could both move through the city with these masks on.
"Now, I believe that it is time to put your new disguises to the test." Ly'leth commented, to which both Lyra and Trixie turned towards her for a moment, as they were definitely interested in getting this operation underway and preparing the way for whatever Thalyssra had planned next, "Your first contact is Vanthir, a merchant from the common district. He is in the Grand Promenade today visiting one of his suppliers. Tell Vanthir to pay me a visit regarding a shipment of dusk lily bulbs. He will understand. Beyond that, we will need time to prepare. You should return to Thalyssra after making contact with Vanthir."
Once Ly'leth said that she pulled out a corked bottle that contained a faintly glowing fluid, one that seemed to be the same type of liquid they had seen during the party and had taken none of while they walked, as they had no idea what it was and didn't want to do something stupid.
"Give her this, with my regards." Ly'leth said, to which Trixie nodded and claimed the bottle, as she was sure that if they got into a fight Lyra would be able to hold the attention of their enemies, so she didn't have to worry about it breaking before they got back to Shal'Aran, "We will call upon you soon."
Before they left the area that Ly'leth was standing in, however, Trixie noticed a place where they could activate another teleport pad, to which she walked over towards the pad and wove her magic through the air for a few seconds, which was followed by the portal snapping open before her eyes. The reason she activated the portal now was because it provided them with an easy escape route back to Shal'Aran and she was sure that Ly'leth and her allies could keep this a secret from their enemies. From there she returned to Lyra's side, to which they walked forward and departed from the party grounds as they started the search for Vanthir, where they wished that they got a brief description of him before they left Ly'leth's side.
Fortunately it was easy for them to find the area that Vanthir was supposed to be meeting one of his suppliers in, while at the same time finding some additional fortune in the fact that Lyra was able to move them around their enemies without blowing their cover... and it was rather easy to find their target, as Vanthir was glaring at Lyra, indicating that he only saw the disguise and believed that she really was Anarys.
"Anarys, what do you want?" Vanthir asked, though at the same time his supplier turned his attention to another customer, knowing that this was on conversation he didn't want to be apart of until one of them left his area, "Are there no more demon boots left for you to lick?"
"Ly'leth would like you to visit her regarding a shipment of dusk lily bulbs." Lyra replied, finding that even her voice had been twisted to match Anarys' voice, telling her that the Nightborne were definitely worthy allies if they had control over time magic and the ability to do this to someone's body.
"Dusk lily pods? I see..." Vanthir said, as his eyes seemed to light up as he realized what she was talking about, but then changed the look on his face to ensure that no one knew that something was up, before he turned towards his supplier fora few seconds, "Please excuse me, I must address this immediately."
As the supplier nodded, understanding that he had to be busy and would be back later, Vanthir walked away from where the elf was standing and headed towards Ly'leth's location, though at the same time Trixie and Lyra decided that they had best head back to Thalyssra. Their friend was going to be happy when she learned that they had taken the first step in her plans to start a new rebellion, though that just meant that they could begin the next phase in her plans and start undermining Elisande's forces. Then, once the city had been retaken, Lyra was sure that they would be able to find Gul'dan's hiding spot... and then she would gladly end his life and stop whatever he was planning.
Then, once Gul'dan was dead and the final Pillar had been claimed, they could turn their sights towards the Broken Shore and the Tomb of Sargeras... and save Azeroth from the evil that was closing in on this world.
Lyra and Trixie, still wearing the magical masks that Ly'leth had given them, took a different route to reach the party area that their newest ally had been hosting, though once they returned to the area they approached the portal that they had opened earlier and slipped through it. When the two of them arrived in Shal'Aran, however, they paused for a few seconds before the illusions they had been wearing faded away, informing them that the masks only functioned inside the city, to which they pulled them off their faces and stored them inside their packs. The moment that was taken care of the two of them walked around Shal'Aran and found Thalyssra standing near Theryn, on the lower level of their new hideout, though when they approached her she pulled herself away from the withered elf and stopped in front of them.
The look on Thalyssra's face told them that she was hoping that they had good news, so they could get to the next stage of the rebellion that she had in her head and work with their new allies to undermine Elisande's authority.
"Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon," Thalyssra said, though at the same time they could tell that a question that was forming on her lips, one that they were both prepared to answer the moment it was asked, "were the two of you able to make contact with our sympathizers?"
"Indeed we were," Trixie replied, though as she replied to the question Lyra pulled out the bottle of wine they had been given, before she handed it over to the elf, "Ly'leth Lunastre sends this with her regards."
"The Lunastre family is well connected." Thalyssra stated, though at the same time she accepted the bottle of wine with a smile on her face, telling Trixie and Lyra that it was something that she recognized and that they could relax, "They will be of great help when the time comes for the rebellion to start."
"I'm eager to take down Elisande and find Gul'dan," Lyra said, to which Trixie nodded her head, as that was one of the big reasons as to why they had come to Suramar, but the other reason was because of what was happening in the city at the moment, "So, how are the experiments going?"
"All of Kel'danath's experiments to connect with the withered failed, and some of them even made them more dangerous." Thalyssra answered, to which she turned towards Theryn and waved a hand to him, though the poor elf simply stood there and ignored her, "Until he found Theryn. His arcane essence, the very soul of the shal'dorei, had been touched by something special. But what? By weaving my arcane essence together with Theryn's, I can create an empathic bond. This communion will bare his soul to us all... or what's left of it. We need only to feed him mana, and lots of it, in order to begin."
Trixie and Lyra opened their mouths to say something, as they honestly had no idea where to find the necessary amount that Thalyssra would need for such an undertaking, but before they could say anything Thalyssra smiled as Taniel approached them and gave them a basket that contained several small mana crystals and three larger ones.
"This should be more than enough for what you are talking about," Taniel said, though at the same time he also smiled as the basket was accepted, before he bowed his head and departed from the area, leaving the three of them to their own devices.
"Thalyssra, you cannot be serious!" Valtrois commented, to which she tore her gaze away from the strange center of Shal'Aran and turned towards the group, while at the same time glaring at Theryn, "I cannot believe that you are even considering wasting your time on this... creature! We should be planning our attack on the city."
"That is precisely what I am doing." Thalyssra replied, though her response seemed to catch Valtrois off guard, while at the same time Lyra and Trixie patiently waited for some sort of explanation for what she meant, before she turned towards Theryn and fed him the mana crystals she had been given, "Once he has had his fill we should be able to attempt to see what makes him so unique among the withered."
"Thalyssra, what exactly are we doing?" Trixie asked, because she was interested in what the First Arcanist was doing, while at the same time remembering what she had gone through with her own training when she first landed in Azeroth all those years ago.
"Theryn is at the mercy of his own mind." Thalyssra answered, though at the same time Lyra suspected that there was more to what they were doing, as Valtrois was walking away from where they were standing, "Whatever we find in there, it may be difficult to control. I will need your help to sort through the visions, so be ready for anything. With any luck, we will discover what makes Theryn special. And... whether there is anything left of who he used to be."
Trixie and Lyra glanced at each other, as Trixie had explained what she had been through and that she had even fought inside old memories at one point in time, to which the two of them drew their weapons and prepared for whatever was inside Theryn's mind. Thalyssra brought them to the area near the stairs and started channeling her magic towards the withered elf, where a few moments later she said that she could feel Theryn's memories, starting with the day he was exiled. As the echoes of the memories started to form around them, and Thalyssra beckoned for them to dispel the echoes so they could move on, Lyra stood near Trixie as she wove her magic into the air and dismissed them entirely... before Thalyssra continued with her work.
That was before the maelstrom of emotions inside Theryn's mind, from all of the experiences he had faced since his exile and coming to the day he finally withered to his new form, caused dozens of echoes to appear all around them and threatened to overwhelm Thalyssra... until Trixie wove her magic through the air and tore the connection apart. She told Valtrois that she was fine when the elf came over to check up on her, as Thalyssra had fallen to one knee while they were checking Theryn's memories. As they all walked towards the middle of the area they were in, however, Thalyssra told them that she had found something interesting... which would give them some peace that they desperately needed right now.
"The withered... Not only do they suffer a burning thirst for the Nightwell, but their own memories torture them as well." Thalyssra commented, though at the same time Valtrois nodded her agreement, as she had been watching their experiment with some interest, despite her earlier words against such a thing, and now knew how terrifying the withered transformation was, "Truly a fate worse than death..."
"Thalyssra, what did you see in Theryn's memories?" Trixie asked, because she was positive that the elf had seen something interesting while she was looking through the various memories earlier, something that she and Lyra needed to know about if they were going to be able to help her and the others in the future.
"I do not know what Theryn found, but I know where he found it." Thalyssra answered, though at the same time Lyra pulled out the map that she and Trixie carried with them, where she made a brief arcane mark on the map, "Moonshade Sanctum, to the west. Beyond the Temple of Fal'adora. Whatever power altered Theryn's arcane essence... Whatever power allowed Kel'danath to create a spell to soothe the withered... Its source rests there. I know this as surely as if I had been there myself."
Before Trixie and Lyra departed from Shal'Aran, and headed back towards Ambervale, Thalyssra called for someone to hand her a piece of paper and drew a quick sketch of the artifact she had seen in Theryn's memories, which she handed over to them. With the sketch in hand the Equestrians headed outside the hideout and headed to the west, where they carefully walked over towards the location that Kel'danath had called home, as that was the best place to start considering what the elf had been doing before he had withered. Once they arrived at the tower the elf had been living in, and noticed that the withered were staying away from the wards they had activated, the two of them searched the nearby area for anything that matched the sketch that Thalyssra had given them... or anything that looked like a Nightborne temple, whatever that actually looked like.
After a few minutes of searching the parts of Ambervale that they had been through earlier, where the withered avoided them despite the fact that they didn't stay near the other wards, Trixie spotted a bridge that would allow them to cross over to a new area... one that appeared to have the structure that they were searching for. As they walked towards the sanctum that the relic was supposed to be housed in, however, they both noticed that there were a large amount of webs scattered all over the walkways and the trees around them. That made Trixie wonder what sort of spider based enemy called this place home, because she was sure that once they touched the relic that they were after the enemies would come out and attack them.
As they walked forward Trixie and Lyra heard Thalyssra speak to them in their minds, something that was formed when they performed what she called 'Arcane Communion' and could transcend space itself, though at the same time she could tell that there were some seals that were blocking them from taking the seed like relic they had come for.
Trixie stared at the two coils that were sitting around the relic, finding that the one on their right was shooting a beam of energy at a mirror that reflected it back at the seal that rested behind the relic, while the coil on the left was releasing a beam at the seal on the left of the relic. She beckoned to the coil on the right and Lyra changed it, where the beam changed to firing at the seal on the right of the relic, before she nodded to the other one for a few seconds and watched as it was redirected towards the same one that the first one was being fired at. Once the two beams were in place she approached the seal and activated it, though as she turned to Lyra, to have her chance one of the coils, she found that her friend was fighting a large spider creature that looked like it was partly made out of crystal.
As the crystal spider fell to the ground, however, Lyra could hear more of them coming towards them, to which she called for Trixie to finish the puzzle and claim the relic, while at the same time she held the warglaives out and hacked at the second spider that was coming towards the entrance.
Trixie moved quickly, finding that the reflective mirrors could also be changed, to which she made sure that the two coils were pointing towards the seal on the opposite side of the entrance and activated it, though that also made more spider creatures charge at the entrance. She carefully undid the third seal as well and watched as the barrier surrounding the relic came apart, though at the same time she heard the sound of a larger force of enemies approaching the temple she and Lyra were standing in... to which she walked towards the entrance and found a large force of spider creatures standing in front of the entrance.
"Okay, I think that this might be too much for you," Trixie commented, though she meant alone, as she knew that Lyra could take on a lot of demons on her own and likely could do this if she wanted, but with the two of them they could defend the relic until they found an opening.
A few seconds later a lone spider flung itself over their heads, from a direction they couldn't see until it was too late, and landed on the seed shaped relic, before pulling itself into the ceiling and pulled the relic away from them... to which they watched as the spiders headed back into the hole they came from, along with a furious looking night elf male approaching them.
"Do the two of you have any idea what you have just done?!" the elf shouted at them, though at the same time Trixie and Lyra realized that they might have just made a critical error, one that might cost them everything if they didn't correct what had just happened.
At the same time, however, Lyra growled as she stared out at the hole the spiders had crawled out of, because they had waited for who knew how long until some brave adventurer broke the seals that were protecting the obviously important relic... and now it was in their claws, which meant that they had to recover the relic, before something terrible happened to it, and figure out why it was so important. Things appeared to be getting slightly worse this time around, but she was determined to correct what was wrong and make things right... even if she and Trixie had to leave a trail of bodies in their wake when they went to recover the relic.
"I have protected that seed for ten thousand years, yet you let it fall into the hands of the fal'dorei." the male night elf said, though he made no attempt to hide his anger, but Lyra understood that he had to be angry thanks to the amount of time he had spent in this one area thanks to what her mentor had told her, "I should kill the two of you, right here and now, but I suspect that it would be a long battle and we might all die in the process, so instead I have a proposition. Repay your debt by helping me get the seed back."
"Personally, I'd like to see you try to kill even one of us," Lyra replied, though at the same time she turned towards the door and walked outside, to which she stopped when she was in front of the temple and glanced back at the elf, "Since you have been guarding that relic, the seed you mentioned, I'm pretty sure that you know where these fal'dorei are hiding and where they might have taken it. So show us the way and we'll recover the seed before anything happens to it."
"Very well then," the elf said, to which he walked out to where Lyra was standing, where Trixie joined them, before waving his hand towards the two of them, "The fal'dorei make their home in the ruins below... and I know where the entrance is. Oh, and you can call me Valewalker Farodin."
Trixie and Lyra followed Farodin to the right of the entrance they had just walked out of, where they followed the faded pathway towards what appeared to be a large channel in the ground that separated the temple from another part of Ambervale. When they neared the channel they discovered that there was a small stream running though it, to which Farodin beckoned for them to follow and the three of them followed the stream towards the area that rested between the rest of the ruined city and the temple they had just departed from. As the three of them walked, however, they noticed some of the fal'dorei moving towards the entrance that Farodin was taking them to, but at the same time that made Lyra worry that they could potentially be walking into a trap.
Instead of heading to the right when they reached the fork in the path, where the fal'dorei had gone, Farodin turned to the left and walked forward, where Trixie and Lyra gazed down at the massive hole in the ground that apparently led to an underground ruin of some sort... one that looked like the rest of Ambervale, the temple, and all of the other Nightborne buildings they had seen so far.
"We go down here," Farodin commented, though he stopped for a few seconds when he reached the end of the earth they had been walking on, before he pointed down at the small pool of water that was resting in the ruins below, "Just follow the river."
Trixie and Lyra watched as Farodin jumped forward and descended into the ruins below them, where they waited for a few seconds before they heard the sound of him connecting with the water, to which they poked their heads out from their hiding spot and noticed that he had suffered no inquiries in the process of his jump. A few seconds later Lyra unfurled her wings and grabbed onto Trixie, where she then jumped into the air and gracefully glided down towards the pool that Farodin had jumped into, though at the same time she could see a hint of annoyance on the elf's face. From what she could determine Farodin now wished that he had known about her glide ability, as it would have allowed him to remain dry in enemy territory, but that was before he shook his head as they landed near her.
As Lyra pulled her wings back into her body, or more accurately the tattoos that had been etched onto her back thanks to the Illidari ritual, she noticed that none of the fal'dorei had noticed them, which meant that they were either blind or they were terrible at detecting where enemies were.
"We must move swiftly." Farodin said, though at the same time he was clearly looking at all of the enemies that were ignoring them at the moment, while Lyra and Trixie realized that the fal'dorei were all spider creatures they had encountered before, only this time they had a crystalline look to them, "Orathiss has underestimated the seed. It is sapping her power, thus substantially slowing her down. We must catch her and get the seed to safety!"
Lyra and Trixie nodded as they walked forward, where Farodin followed after them, before they noticed that several of their enemies discovered that they were walking through their territory and were already coming towards them, but this was something that Lyra was used to. Lyra pulled her Twinblades out and threw one through the air, where it spun around a few times before it struck her target by slicing off one of its legs, before she collected it and stood at the bottom of the stairs that they had discovered. Trixie already knew what her friend was doing, as she was willing to fight off all of the fal'dorei spiders that were coming towards them while she and Farodin searched for this Orathiss, who happened to be standing at the top of the stairs... and that it was a cross between a four legged spider and an elf, who had been twisted by some sort of energy.
Trixie honestly had no idea how such a thing had happened to the former elf, and she was sure that Farodin could explain if she asked him, but right now she had to focus on getting the seed back... while Lyra cut down all of the fal'dorei that were coming towards her.
"Foolish surface-dwellers." Orathiss snapped, though at the same time she, and Trixie was sure it was a female based on the voice that the creature used, held the seed like it was a treasured family relic of some kind, "You will suffer for trespassing in my kingdom. Come my children! Feast on their bones!"
Instead of allowing Orathiss to leave the area that they were in, and take the seed somewhere else, Trixie called upon her magic and tried to freeze the ground around the creature's feet, though that was quickly followed by the creature rapidly escaping her grasp and continued up the other path that was in front of her. Lyra, upon hearing that their target was moving, rushed to Trixie's side as she moved forward, though she stayed at the back of the pack and kept the other fal'dorei from slowing them down. At the same time Trixie used her powers to blast the fal'dorei that were in front of her, where Farodin helped her by either using magic or swinging his sickle looking staff around, before they reached the end of the passage they were following.
That was moments before Trixie noticed Orathiss standing to the right of them, in another passage that appeared to head under the earth, though at the same time she rushed towards her target so she could prevent the seed from being opened... and doing whatever Farodin was worried about.
"Persistent vermin..." Orathiss growled, though at the same time she turned towards the opposite side of the tunnel she had entered and charged forward, forcing Trixie to pick up the pace as Farodin and Lyra followed after her.
Orathiss brought them to an area that Trixie and Lyra recognized as the same area that Shal'Aran looked like, as if multiple places had been made in the same image, though this place had some sort of crystalline tree, with branches heading in every direction in the air, in the middle of the chamber where their target was standing. Since Orathiss wasn't calling for allies this time around, like she had done earlier, Trixie and Lyra stood side by side this time around, while at the same time their opponent growled once more.
"The Arcan'dor will live again!" Orathiss declared, though at the same time she prepared herself for battle, meaning that she was prepared to die before she handed over the seed that she had stolen from its resting place, "With its power, we shall return to the surface... and you cannot stop us now!"
Trixie and Lyra charged forward and engaged their enemy in battle, though while they were expecting Orathiss to have some sort of great power, or something unique to herself, they were disappointed to find that she had the same abilities as some of the Nightborne they had fought when they were helping Oculeth out earlier. That only confirmed that the fal'dorei had to be shal'dorei that had been corrupted in some manner, but that really didn't mean anything since they all appeared to be insane to some degree. Since they already knew the tactics that Orathiss was using, and she didn't seem to have anything else to take them by surprise, it was rather easy for them to cut the creature down... where she moaned that her pride grew heavy before she collapsed on the floor and died.
Neither of them knew why she had mentioned such a thing, but they paid it no mind as they approached the glowing seed, where they wondered what they were going to do with it once they claimed it... provided that Farodin didn't want to take it back to the area it had been sealed in. At the same time Trixie could feel the energy pulsing around the ancient seed, which meant that something was happening and she, along with Lyra, turned towards Farodin for some sort of explanation as to what was going on.
"The seed is awakening." Farodin stated, to which Trixie and Lyra prepared themselves, as they knew that there was something important they needed to know about the seed, "Without power it will quickly wither and die. We must carry the seed out of here and plant it somewhere safe, though I am not strong enough to bear this burden. But you... the two of you are brimming with power. I sensed your powers the moment I first met you. Please take the seed."
Trixie nodded and gently picked up the seed from where Orathiss had set it down, though once she was carrying it Farodin beckoned for them to follow him as they moved around the tree that was in front of them and headed towards a passage that should take them out of the area that they had found themselves in. They quickly found themselves inside a temple of some time, one that actually reminded Trixie of the Nar'thalas Academy in terms of design, but before they went too far she turned her head to the left and noticed a teleport pad with a beacon resting on top of it. She then pointed it out to Lyra and Farodin, where one understood what she was talking about and the other seemed shocked to find one in this location, before the three of them approached the device she had spotted.
It was then that Trixie and Lyra discovered that Farodin already knew about Thalyssra, Oculeth, their rebellion, and the teleportation network they were piecing back together, but he promised that he was on their side and even called the people they were helping friends.
Ah, the Temple of Fa'adora. Oculeth spoke in their minds, reminding Trixie and Lyra that they needed to learn how to properly talk along these mental pathways that Oculeth and Thalyssra were using when they were out in the field, Those halls once glowed with prayers to Elune, though now I imagine that it is less hospitable now. Hold still, I will get all of you out of there.
A few seconds passed before Trixie, Lyra, and Farodin felt Oculeth's energy wrap around them for a few moments, though that was before they were teleported out of the temple they had been walking through and reappeared in the teleportation station that Oculeth was in the process of restoring... before they found that they were being beckoned to the area where the one spirit had been standing guard when they first discovered Shal'Aran.
"Place it here," Thalyssra said, pointing at the strange pedestal that had been guarded by the spirit, which Thalyssra and the others must have examined while they were absent, "let the seed drink from the leyline energies that flow throughout Shal'Aran."
Trixie and Lyra approached the stand that Thalyssra was beckoning to as she, along with everyone else, gathered around the area to see what was about to happen, where Trixie set the seed down on the stand, where she discovered that it sat perfectly atop the stand and sunk into it with a satisfying click. A few seconds passed before the seed started to open before their eyes, to which the exterior of the seed broke into four equal sized pieces and lowered themselves until they were parallel with the floor, while also revealing the inner part of the seed. That was followed by several small vines, and one larger one, erupting from the seed and moved towards the ceiling of Shal'Aran, though it only went a few inches above where the top of the seed was... telling Trixie that the seed was still awakening and that it would likely take more power for it to bloom into whatever tree it was supposed to create.
"The seed is safe and we have a new ally joining our ranks," Thalyssra commented, to which Trixie and Lyra nodded, as they were sure that Farodin would now protect Shal'Aran until the tree was fully grown and would also check up on it to be sure that it was growing just fine, "Though I'm afraid that there is little time for celebration, as there is business we need to take care of inside the city. Our friend Ly'leth contacted me some time ago, after the two of you went off to find the seed that Theryn had seen. She requested that the two of you meet her atop the Grand Promenade, as it overlooks the city. Have your disguises ready just in case... and please be careful."
Trixie and Lyra thanked her for the information, but instead of heading out immediately they both knew that they needed at least an hour of rest before they even went back into the city... and they were positive that Ly'leth would understand why they had made this decision when they saw her later on. For now they needed to get their energy back, have a light snack or something to eat, and maybe a quick nap before they went back into the field... because they were sure that they were going to need all of their energy once they heard what Ly'leth needed them to do.
Trixie and Lyra spent half an hour resting from all of the tasks they had gone through since their arrival in Suramar, though at the same time they knew that they were far from done, because an ally to their cause was waiting for them in the Grand Promenade area of the city. That meant that they would beginning their invasion of the city, where they would be going through the effort to gain additional allies and undermine the efforts of their enemies, while at the same time looking out for any signs of Gul'dan and his demonic supporters. Thalyssra and Farodin exchanged words with each other, about the mysterious Arcan'dor that they had brought to Shal'Aran, before Trixie determined that it was time for her and Lyra to depart from their resting place. Instead of leaving the cave through the normal means, and heading through a withered infested area if they were unlucky, they approached the portal that would take them to Ly'leth's party area and teleported to a safe haven, as the shal'dorei that served Ly'leth knew that they were allies to the cause and wouldn't mind their arrival.
When they arrived at their destination, and stepped back into the city, the two Equestrians pulled out their masks for a few seconds before they slipped them on, to which Trixie assumed the form of a mage guard once more while Lyra took on the face and form of Anarys Lunastre again.
Once that was done, however, Trixie approached one of Ly'leth's guards and asked him where the Grand Promenade was located, to which the elf quickly marked the area with a glowing rune and said nothing, as they didn't want people to know that Anarys, who lived in this city all her life, suddenly didn't know where parts of the city were. With the information in hand the two of them walked out of the party area and advanced into the city, where they walked as if they belonged and made no movements to engage anyone at the moment. The last thing Lyra wanted to do was make people think that she wasn't the person she was claiming to be by speaking wrong or something like that, while at the same time still thinking that Trixie would have been better to be Anarys instead of her... but she would deal with what fate was throwing at her once more.
The only good thing about her being at the front meant that she could see where the enemies were that had the power to tear their disguises apart with a single spell, to which they carefully made their way along the path that the guard had shown them before they finally reached the area that they were supposed to meet Ly'leth in... and found her standing with some of her guards standing nearby.
"Sister," Lyra said, allowing the magic of the mask to distort her voice into that of Anarys Lunastre again, though at the same time she stopped beside Ly'leth and stared out at the city, while Trixie stood beside her, "You wanted to see me?"
"Behold Suramar; our haven, our sanctuary... our prison." Ly'leth replied, though she did her absolute best to sound like she was having a peaceful conversation with her sister, while Lyra could detect that she was sore over the prison part of her statement, "Elisande and the Legion seek to bring us to heel, though both fear and hunger. The flame of the shal'dorei, of our people, flickers... we must re-ignite it. We must stir the noble hearts of our people... and show them that Azeroth has not forsaken them. Sister, I hope you and your guard have prepared yourselves to enter the city."
"We have sister," Lyra answered, though at the same time Trixie nodded her head, to which they knew that anyone that was watching them would believe that Ly'leth was actually talking to Anarys and her guard, and not some outlanders wearing some disguises, "What would you have us do first?"
"I am sending you to my loyal friend Vanthir." Ly'leth said, though she did so in a manner that suggested that this was something more than one sister asking the other for a favor, which was what they wanted everyone else to think, "I do hope you remember him... I can guarantee that he remembers you. I will not be able to accompany the two of you, but I must stress that you get to him with haste and complete the task he has for you. Tread carefully, dear sister, and avoid those who stare too long. I'll find you and your guard when I am able."
Lyra nodded and watched as Ly'leth walked away from where they were standing, though her servant stayed near them for a few seconds to hand them a page before following after her mistress, where she and Trixie found that the page revealed the location of Vanthir and that the magical rune on their map change to reveal the new information. It still amazed Lyra that the Nightborne were so skilled at manipulating certain aspects, like time magic and modifying masks to make one person look like someone else, but then shook her head. There was a time and place for them to consider the power that the Nightborne possessed, in great detail anyway, though since Trixie shared her thoughts they walked down the nearby set of stairs and descended into the part of the city known as the Waning Crescent.
As they followed the map, and avoided the enemies that could see through their disguises, Lyra nodded to the elves that called out to her and waved at some of them, indicating that some of them recognized her as Anarys, but she was fortunate that they weren't being stopped... otherwise their cover would have been blown and they would be fighting their way out of this area, while leaving a number of corpses behind. It took them some time before they arrived at the area that Vanthir was supposed to be located in, though when they arrived they noticed that he and Silgryn were talking to each other... and it appeared that they arrived at the end of the conversation.
"Do you think you'll have enough?" Silgryn asked, though at the same time his eyes were clearly moving around, studying the faces of those that were around him, as if he was looking for spies.
"Enough for those most in need. The rest... Ah, welcome Anarys," Vanthir replied, though his tone changed the moment he noticed Lyra and Trixie coming, where they knew he recognized their disguises, before he beckoned them to join him and Silgryn, "I'm glad that you and your guard could make it. Your help is sorely needed here."
"We're glad to be here," Lyra said, though at the same time she glanced around the area, where she noticed several Nightborne that looked like they were about to collapse due to their hunger, "What can we do to help?"
"There is much you need to learn about our city. First and foremost, Arcwine." Vanthir stated, though at the same time he held up a flask, one that looked like what Lyra and Trixie had seen several of the Nightborne carrying, "It is the vehicle by which we imbibe the Nightwell's energies. Without it, we wither and die. Palace lackeys have seen fit to ration it, thinking this will control us. Keep us quiet, complacent. I would like you to look for those in need near the tavern. You will find many, but those most desperately afflicted by this rationing will be obvious. Take this flask, revive them, and tend to their suffering."
Lyra nodded and walked away from where Vanthir was standing, where she and Trixie kept their eyes open for the Nightborne that desperately needed to have some Arcwine, which she assumed was what Ly'leth had been serving at her party earlier. She wasn't sure what the liquid tasted like, but she knew that it was best if they focused on their mission and didn't do anything that would make the elves they were trying to help become angry with them, though their first target was a young adult male elf that was clearly experiencing the pains of withdrawal. His family had sacrificed what meager provisions they already had in an attempt to help him, considering that they were healthier than he was, but even with their assistance he hadn't improved. Trixie nodded and Lyra stepped forward, to which she let the elf drink from the flask that she was carrying, where she watched the color return and the symptoms disappeared... though as he got back up Lyra headed out to find the next poor elf that was in need.
The second elf that required some assistance was a young adult female that was resting on the side of the street, with either a family member or significant other standing nearby, and she expressed her gratitude once Lyra finished giving her some of the Arcwine that she was carrying. The next elf they found was being watched over by his brother, who insisted that his brother drink now considering that he was in more need than he was and thanked Lyra and Trixie for their deed, even though he called her 'Anarys'. Lyra still didn't like the fact that she had pretty much stolen the life of Ly'leth's sister, but since Anarys had been supporting the Legion's allies she guessed that she could make an exception this time around, as long as she didn't have to do it again in the future. They found the last elf in desperate need resting near an area that let him look out over the water, though his significant other told him to relax and asked them to thank Vanthir on their behalf... to which they retraced their steps and headed towards the area that the merchant was standing in.
When they arrived, however, Vanthir smiled at them, because now they had seen the effects of the Nightborne not partaking of the Nightwell, and the energies that came from it, and knew what was happening to those that Elisande wanted to break. At the same time they noticed Silgryn talking with a worried elf, which meant that either something had happened or they had seen something important and came to tell him about it.
"Your eyes are opening to our reality." Vanthir commented, to which Trixie and Lyra nodded their heads, as they disliked what they had seen while they were walking around the Waning Crescent, "I can see it in your expressions. Good."
"We're happy to help you and the other Nightborne," Trixie said, taking the opportunity to talk for once, especially since the last few times they had been in areas where the guards of certain people, like Ly'leth and 'Anarys', didn't talk unless they were directly talked to, "What else can we help you with?"
"The wine the two of you so graciously distributed to the needy was the last of my reserves." Vanthir explained, though at the same time they knew that he was only telling him because none of the other Nightborne were near them, as he likely didn't want anyone else to know that fact, "Without more, these people here will risk succumbing to their thirst, and eventually becoming withered. I am dedicated to preventing this for as long as possible. There is a woman by the name of Deline who owns and operates a small delivery service out of her gondola. Find her, identify yourself as my messenger, and offer your aid in acquiring the next shipment. And, while your at it, Silgryn also has something for you to do while the two of you are out and about."
"Is that so?" Lyra asked, to which she turned towards the captain for a moment, who had finished talking with the concerned elf and turned towards them, "What can we do for you?"
"Verene's child has gone missing." Silgryn replied, beckoning to the elf he had been talking to earlier, who nodded his head for a moment as he wiped a tear from his cheek, "I can guess what happened, but I need to be absolutely sure. Most guardsmen use couriers to relay delicate information. In this, magic is strictly the province of high ranking officials. Take this blade with you, but do not touch the cutting edge. Use it to silently waylay the couriers that you encounter and collect any correspondence they carry. With any luck, the missives will tell us exactly where to find Verene's child. We guards know everything, after all."
Lyra stared at the spellblade for a few seconds, knowing that since the couriers were working for the enemy Vanthir and Silgryn were essentially asking her and Trixie to kill a few of them to find out where people were being kept against their wills, if she was understanding the situation correctly. Once they knew what to do she and Trixie followed the map marker that had appeared on their map, telling her that Ly'leth and their allies didn't want them getting lost and that it would change when they were heading someplace new. They retraced their steps towards the center of the area they had walked through and crossed over the bridge that was near them, to which they walked up some stairs and made their way into what appeared to be the bazaar area of the Waning Crescent. Lyra, once again, made sure that they avoided the few guards that were watching for people wearing disguises, which was followed by them making their way through the bazaar and found a lady standing near a gondola... and that she was standing some distance away from the guards.
Deline definitely noticed Lyra and Trixie approaching her, or at least noticed the people that they were disguised as, though she made no movement towards them until they were almost in front of her.
"Need a ride, strangers?" Deline asked, though at the same time Lyra detected that she either didn't know about the disguises or if she did she was acting like everyone else, but she was willing to put some money on the acting option.
"We have some... business... to discuss with you." Lyra said, though at the same time Trixie carefully produced the coin that Thalyssra had given them, as she didn't want their enemies to see it and expose their entire operation.
"I see. So it was the two of you I was waiting for." Deline replied, once more acting as if they were complete strangers, which confirmed Lyra's suspicions that more people knew that Anarys had been replaced, "All I need is a full boat and I'll be on my way."
"Just tell us what is needed and we'll see that its done," Lyra said, knowing that the less she said the less likely someone that knew Anarys would come by and notice that she wasn't acting like the elf normally would.
"I would imagine you thought I would simply have wine to deliver." Deline stated, though she chuckled for a few seconds, indicating that she found something to be funny, before growing serious once more, "If it were that easy, his people would not be starving. These... loyalists, shall we say, enjoy abundance. They dance to the Magistrix's whims and so they have all that they need. There is no Arcwine shortage. The Magistrix created one to keep us in line. They will not miss a few bottles, as they have plenty to go around. Search the square and bring as much as you can carry back."
"That's doable," Trixie said, though she kept her voice low, again to prevent someone from finding out that she wasn't sticking to the script as well, but fate seemed to be on their side as the only guard nearby seemed to be ignoring them and their entire conversation, "but I'm sensing that there is something else you need us to do."
"Yes, I've noticed some wandering eyes lately." Deline said, though at the same time she glanced at one of the guards that were standing at the other side of the bridge Lyra and Trixie had walked over, who seemed to be staring at them before continuing on his way, "I am more than happy to continue delivering the goods to Vanthir, but it is getting increasingly dangerous to do so. The Duskwatch that walk the bazaar are by far the most observant. Find and slay the Orbitists so that I may deliver the goods safely. I will follow behind with the shipment."
"Slay the Orbitists, obtain as much Arcwine as we can carry, and get some courier letters for Silgryn," Lyra stated, to which she smiled as she looked at the bazaar, as she could already imagine the chaos that would erupt if someone were to notice what they were planning on doing, "Oh, this is going to be interesting."
She was sure that Trixie would disagree with her statement, but at the same time this would help them unite the Nightborne that didn't like Elisande... and eventually they would knock down her doors and sever the Legion's control over this entire city. Then they would be one step closer to stopping Sargeras from claiming Azeroth and dooming everyone that called this planet home.
Once Lyra and Trixie knew what Deline wanted them to do, and understood all of the instructions they had been given so far, the two of them walked across the bridge that was in front of them and headed back into the bazaar that they had passed through not a few minutes ago. This was all part of Trixie's usual planning, as whenever she was given the time to study an area she would be working in she preferred to study all of her enemies and their habits before making her move, though this time around they would only be able to do it for a few minutes before they started lifting bottles of Arcwine. From what they were able to discover some of the stand owners that they passed by nodded to them, in a way that suggested that they were apart of the rebellion, meaning that all they needed was some sort of distraction or something so they could move some bottles to an area that would make it harder for the guards to determine what was going on.
Since several guards were still observing the area, the Orbitists that Deline had told them about, there was only one thing that Lyra could think of that would let them get away with this... to which she ducked behind some cover when no one was looking, removed the mask and its illusion, and jumped out of her hiding spot when an Orbitist passed by her. As she attacked the guard, and several others that were coming towards her, Trixie, who was still wearing her disguise at the moment, took the opportunity that was presented to her to quickly fill her bags with at least bottles of Arcwine. She then went one step further and made sure to grab one of the casks that had even more of the wine inside it, though she waited for an opening and carefully slipped away so Lyra could continue fighting.
Fortunately for them the majority of the enemies that had decided to attack Lyra, after she emerged from her hiding spot, were all Orbitists, meaning that she cut down the required number of enemies that had been asked of her and also made sure to take a few more off the top and weaken the entire area for future operations. The moment she noticed that Trixie was done loading up the gondola with the Arcwine they had taken, and was walking away from the lady as if nothing had happened, Lyra engaged the retreat skill she had picked up in the Vault of the Wardens and jumped away from the elves in front of her. Since she ended up landing in the water she patiently waited for her pursuers to stop searching for her before she put the disguise back on, though she breathed a sigh of relief as no one seemed to notice 'Anarys' climbing out of the large body of water that rested near the bazaar... to which she and Trixie regrouped near Deline.
"There, we have killed a decent amount of Orbitists and gathered enough bottles," Trixie said, once more keeping her voice low to avoid being overheard, while at the same time she could tell that Lyra was searching for the couriers that they needed to take out.
"I will see that this gets back to our friend safely. Good work." Deline replied, though as she climbed onto her gondola, so she could head away from the bazaar and not appear suspicious at all, she turned and looked at the pair for a few seconds, "Couriers can sometimes run along the smaller walkways of Suramar, so you might need to search a bit before you find one of them."
Lyra nodded her thanks and walked away from where the gondola was resting, to which Trixie followed after her as they began the epic search for some of the couriers that they had been sent out to find, stab with a enchanted dagger of some kind, and recover the letters from. Since the majority of the Nightborne seemed to be walking around the area, and sometimes even standing still to talk with someone else, Lyra and Trixie found that it was actually much harder to find a courier than they originally believed. Fate seemed to smile on them for a moment, as Lyra was able to locate one, slash at his neck with the dagger, and collect the papers he was carrying without anyone noticing anything, which seemed wrong at first, but then she simply shrugged and continued on until they found another courier.
It took them another ten minutes to locate two more couriers and collect their papers, though once they had three sets of documents they decided that, since there was a low number of couriers to begin with, that this had to be enough and returned to where Silgryn was waiting for them... where they discovered that Vanthir had already moved onto another area so he could help more of his people out.
"Fine work." Silgryn said, though at the same time he accepted the documents he was being handed and smiled at the duo, indicating that he was pleased with what they were doing for the war effort, "I will read these over and call you over once I have an idea of what to do next."
Since they had nothing better to do Lyra and Trixie continued exploring the rest of the Waning Crescent, the areas that they could get into before being told to back away, meaning that Lyra's disguise might not get them everywhere at the moment. Lyra, once again, noticed that several of the Nightborne waved at her and called out Anarys' name, to which she simply waved to them and called out that she was running an errand for her sister, which was partly true, though that caused the other elves to nod and wish her well. She had no idea how close Ly'leth and Anarys had been, before the demons arrived anyway, but she was beginning to suspect that some of the Nightborne were being stupid towards her, as there was no way that Anarys would ever do something like this... but, as strange as it was, it seemed to be working in her favor and she wasn't about to question her luck at the moment.
After twenty minutes of walking around the parts of the Waning Crescent that they were allowed to walk through, and getting tired of walking, the two of them returned to where Silgryn was waiting for them... though this time around it appeared that he had an idea that would allow them to see what happened to Verene's missing daughter.
"This is as good a chance as we are going to get to rescue Verene's daughter." Silgryn told them, confirming their suspicions about what was going on, meaning that someone had actually abducted the poor girl and left her father in such a position, though at the same time he beckoned to a point on their map, "Here is how this is going to work; the two of you are going to wait here for the guard to pass by on their way to their guard shift, though you should either act like you belong there or look for something to hide in. You will know the guard by their bright red armor. Follow closely, but not so closely that you are seen. It may be necessary to kill the guard when you reach your destination, so be prepared for a fight when you come to a stop. The child's name is Korine. Good luck."
Lyra and Trixie nodded before they departed from the area that Silgryn was standing in, though as they left that area of the Waning Crescent they headed towards the Artisan's Gallery, where they both agreed that it was an odd name for a district in a city. Trixie then said that some of the district names, for all of the cities she's been in since her arrival in Azeroth, were sometimes odd while the majority of the time they made sense, but then she had to remain quiet as they entered the area they needed to find the guard in. Lyra silently remarked at how easy it was for Trixie to stop talking like this, which meant that she must have learned a lot more over the years than what she knew... as she was sure that there were parts of her adventure that she still hadn't revealed to her.
When they arrived in the Artisan's Gallery area of the city the two of them moved passed the basket that Silgryn likely wanted them to hide in, to which Lyra stopped some distance away from it and pretended to be staring at some paintings while Trixie stood at an angle that allowed her to observe the area around the basket.
Fortunately it didn't take the guard they were waiting for long to show up, as she walked out the building that the basket was resting in front of and started walking away from the bridge Lyra and Trixie had walked over a few minutes ago, which meant she was heading deeper into the Artisan's Gallery. Since the people they were disguised as were supposed to be a noble and her guard, Lyra and Trixie kept a safe distance from the guard while at the same time pretending to actually be who they were disguised as. The first thing the guard did was approach a pair of civilians and talk with them for a few seconds, no doubt telling them to be aware of anything that was out of the ordinary, before she continued along the route she was supposed to be taking.
They followed the guard through the Artisan's Gallery, pausing to take up positions as a noble asking her guard about what else they needed to do while the guard spoke to several elves listening to someone preach to them, before they moved when she headed away once more. They then followed her out of the gallery district of the city and came to what appeared to be a small garden area, though it was here that the guard finally said something that they were able to catch as she entered the building on the left.
"Keep it down brats," the guard said, to which both Lyra and Trixie growled for a moment, as this just confirmed what Silgryn told them and made them angry at the same time, "You'll be joining the others soon enough."
Lyra walked into the building, made sure that the guard had no idea that she was even there, before she removed the mask and assumed her true form, to which she pulled out the Twinblades and cut at the guard's back, causing her to stumble forward and call for assistance once she realized that someone had followed her. Fortunately there was only one guard outside the building, as the other one apparently went on patrol before their arrival, so Trixie was more than able to freeze the guard, as he had paid no attention to her at all. Lyra engaged in a one on one fight with the guard, but since the guard couldn't keep up with her enhanced speed or strikes the battle was over before it really began.
With the guard dead, and the control orb in hand, Lyra and Trixie quickly donned their masks and assumed their disguises once more, to which Lyra opened the magical cage that was in front of her and let seven of the eight children out, though one of them insisted on staying put.
"I-I thought... they were gonna..." the little girl, who had to be Korine, said, though at the same time she sniffed, indicating that she hadn't been expecting a rescue and was happy, though at the same time Lyra detected that she was also sad about something.
"Korine, we have to get moving before more guards show up," Lyra stated, knowing that there had to be more coming, but at the same time she suspected that this wasn't going to be easy for both her and Trixie.
"No! They put my friends in cages!" Korine replied, though at the same time she gestured towards the door, where Trixie glanced at the other entrance to this area and spotted some magical cages in the distance, "Make the bad men stop hurting them! They take them out the garden and they never come back! I am not going home until they do!"
Since Korine was willing to be stubborn, and didn't want to leave without her friends, Lyra and Trixie decided to investigate the area she was referring to and walked towards the other entrance of the garden, where they came to an area where Nightborne citizens were being kept in cages, as if they were criminals. Before they did anything they carefully walked into the holding area and investigated all of the elves that were being kept here against their will, where they found signs of withering and not much else. It appeared that the poor elves were being imprisoned because of what Elisande was doing to this entire district, or they were being imprisoned because they spoke against their ruler... but whatever the reason was it was pretty clear that the guards were going to pay for mistreating the people they were supposed to protect.
Trixie found them a suitable area where they could remove their masks without someone seeing them, though once they were back in their normal forms the two of them walked out from their hiding spot and charged at the guards that were patrolling the cages. Lyra also spotted an Inquisitor demon floating nearly, so she took a few moments to tear it into a thousand pieces before she joined Trixie, which involved attacking a guard from behind, disarming the same guard, and finally ending the guard's life. While Lyra went to town on the guards, once again revealing that her training allowed her to stand up to decent sized groups without falling, Trixie gathered some of the control orbs that were lying on the ground, as she had seen Lyra use one on the earlier cage and knew what to do with them.
Since all of the guards were either dead, or were in the process of dying at Lyra's hand, the innocent prisoners thanked Trixie for saving them before they ran away from the area, though something told her that many of them would be forced to flee from the city... until it was in Thalyssra's hands anyway. Once the last cage had been opened, and the last guard had been dealt with, Lyra and Trixie fled from the area and retraced their steps towards where Korine was waiting, though at the same time they found a suitable location to don their disguises before moving forward. When they returned to the building that Korine had been locked away in, however, they could both tell that the child was happy about what they had done.
"You let them go? I'm glad. I didn't like being in a cage either..." Korine said, though that was before she looked up at the two of them and smiled, as if she knew that she would be safe with the two of them, "I'm ready to go home now, but there are still scary men outside... Will you stay with me? Make sure they don't take me away? I don't want to go back in the cage..."
Normally Lyra would have been upset about this sort of thing, having to escort someone to some location, but this was a lost child that needed to be back with her father, to which she smiled and held onto the girl's hand as the three of them walked out of the building and headed back towards the Waning Crescent. Along the way they were stopped by a guard who simply teleported in front of their path and demanded that they give him the child, to which Lyra decided to play the noble card and declared who she was. Suddenly two more guards approached the first one and pulled him to the side, where he was pretty much threatened by the same fate that had nearly befallen the innocent prisoners Lyra and Trixie had saved moments ago... while at the same time Lyra was ushered to continue on her merry way.
As much as she might have disliked being Anarys Lunastre, she had to admit that simply stating who she was pretending to be had some more pull than she originally realized... and that was what allowed them to get back to the Waning Crescent without having to draw their weapons again. It was worth it to see the look on both Korine and Verene's faces when they were reunited with each other, something that made Lyra extremely happy when she looked at the two of them for a few moments.
"Oh my sweet little Korine!" Verene said, though at the same time she cried as she glanced up at Lyra and Trixie, where the look on her face said that she was happy that they were on their side, "Thank you, thank you!"
"You have done well for us here, but it is time for you to return to Thalyssra." Vanthir said, though at the same time he produced another bottle of Arcwine, which had a bow attached to it, "There is a teleport pad nearby that has gone unused in recent years. See if you can reroute it and return to her that way. Oh, and before you go, take this to her and give her my thanks for sending you. Let her know that your efforts helped replenish our Arcwine supplies and reunited a mother and child. We are grateful beyond measure. Farewell for now."
Lyra and Trixie nodded as they accepted the bottle that was being offered to them and quickly made their way to the area that Vanthir had pointed out, where they spotted the teleport pad he had been referring to. Trixie glanced around for a few seconds, where she noticed that the resistance were distracting all of the guards for the moment, before she waved her hand and the pad reacted to her magic. Once the teleport pad had awoken from its slumber, and Oculeth told them so, the two of them teleported back to Shal'Aran and left the Waning Crescent behind... though when they arrived at their destination they removed their masks and approached Thalyssra.
"Vanthir is a very pleasant fellow." Thalyssra commented, though she smiled after hearing what Lyra and Trixie had accomplished while they were inside the city, while at the same time she glanced down at the bottle for a few seconds, "I sent a few of your allies to my old abode, to gather some items that will prove to be useful in my research... as well as some personal items that I shouldn't have left behind. For now the two of you should rest until your needed again."
Lyra had no idea what their enemies were doing at the moment, but she knew that she and Trixie would be waiting for them to make their move... because sooner or later Elisande was bound to screw up and open a weakness, and then they would be one step closer to Gul'dan, Illidan's body, and stopping the Legion once and for all.
After their venture into the Waning Crescent, where they assisted Vanthir, Silgryn, Deline, and the fine people that were being tortured by Elisande's decree about the Arcwine shortage, Thalyssra had Lyra and Trixie spent the rest of the day, as well as the following day, resting from all of the activities they had gone through so far. During their break the two of them watched as the Arcan'dor started to grow in the middle of Shal'Aran, while at the same time the druid that came with Trixie's chosen heroes reported that she had spent some time quelling the infection of the corrupted World Tree that was trying to break into Suramar. The other heroes reported that they had been hard at work as well, apparently dealing with the Nightborne that had assaulted Moon Guard Stronghold, dealt with some spiritual business in Tel'Anor, brought peace to Jandvik, and, to Lyra's amazement, had another demon hunter braving Felsoul Hold once more.
The only benefit Lyra and Trixie were seeing, besides the fact that their fellow heroes were helping the other races that called Suramar home, was that the Nightborne and their demonic allies were being stopped at every turn, meaning that they could focus their attention on their true enemy... though they had to stop what they were doing at one point as Farodin approached them, which was a day and a half after their visit to the Waning Crescent.
"No doubt the two of you have noticed our guests." Farodin commented, to which he waved a hand and gestured to the moths that were flying around the chamber now, though both Lyra and Trixie had seen them and had said nothing because the moths didn't seem all that important, "I have watched them for a time and seen how they are attracted to the tree. I do not know if they are harmful to our sapling, but we cannot take that chance. Collect a handful of the insects and bring them to me. I will examine them and determine if they are to be left alone."
Lyra and Trixie looked at each other for a few seconds, as they weren't sure if this was something they needed to worry about, but since Farodin had been annoyed with them releasing the Acan'dor and worried about the seed at the same time they guessed that they might as well humor the elf. There were plenty of moths flying around Shal'Aran at the moment, so the two of them simply walked around their hideout and carefully picked some of them out of the air, while at the same time earning some glances from their allies. All they did was shrug in response to the stares, as they were sure that this was somewhat important and figured that since Thalyssra didn't have a mission for them they could afford to spend some time messing with the moths.
Once the two of them had four moths, totaling in eight months altogether, they returned to where Farodin was standing, while at the same time noticing that the amount of moths hadn't really gone down since they started gathering the ones they had picked.
"Hmm, yes. It is as I suspected." Farodin stated, though at the same time he earned Lyra's annoyance when he said nothing more and beckoned for them to speak to Thalyssra, meaning that he had spoken to the leader of their rebellion before coming to them and that it was time to see what they had been talking about earlier.
The two Equestrians let out a sigh as they walked over to where Thalyssra was standing, though she stopped what she was doing and turned to look at them, meaning that she had been expecting their arrival and likely had something for them to do, as they were growing tired of sitting around when their enemies were ruling the city.
"I need the two of you to infiltrate the Twilight Vineyards and bring back something to deal with these insects." Thalyssra told them, meaning that they might have underestimated the threat that the moths posed to the Acan'dor, to which they carefully listened to their orders, "To do that, you will need a way to bypass the guards that keep the orchards secure. Ly'leth will be able to help us there. I will arrange to have her meet you near the entrance. Go quickly!"
As Trixie nodded Thalyssra beckoned to the map, where the two of them noticed that the marker had changed so they would know where to go, to which the two of them walked over to the portal that would take them to Ly'leth's property and teleported to the small sanctuary. Once they arrived at their destination the two of them donned their masks and assumed their disguises once more, to which 'Anarys' and her 'guard' walked out into the party area, which seemed to have a new one going on, before venturing out into the city once more. From that point forward they carefully made their way towards the part of the city that Ly'leth happened to be waiting for them in, which appeared to be some walkways connecting the various parts of the city... and allowed them to look down into what happened to be a zoo of some kind, with animals that looked like they hated their lives.
It didn't take them long to find out where Ly'leth was standing, as she and her constant servant companion were standing next to what appeared to be some sort of personal carriage of some kind, one that was unlike anything they had seen in this world so far.
"Sister, it is good to see that you are feeling well," Ly'leth said, indicating that the cover story for her 'absence' from the city was likely due to her feeling sick, though Lyra had no idea if that was possible or not, but considering why they were here she didn't question the statement.
"Thank you, my beloved sister," Lyra replied, once more thinking that Trixie would have been a better actor than she was, but since no one had challenged her yet she guessed that she was doing a decent job of pretending to be someone that she wasn't, "A 'friend' of ours told me that you had something planned for me and my guard... something about the Twilight Vineyards if memory serves."
"Yes, and I even procured a palanquin for the two of you," Ly'leth said, to which she gestured to the floating circular vehicle that was to their right, or Ly'leth's left, for a few seconds, indicating that this was how they got into their destination, "Oh, and try to look imperious while you ride in the palanquin... it will help with the illusion. Now then, the woman you are looking for is named Margaux, and she has shown a positive interest in our cause."
Lyra had no idea why Ly'leth wanted her to wear an arrogant expression while she and Trixie rode the palanquin to the entrance of the Twilight Vineyards, and she wasn't exactly sure that she could pull that off, but she guessed that she was going to have to try. Once the two of them knew exactly what they were doing, however, Trixie stood like a guard as Lyra climbed into the magical vehicle before following after her, though the moment the two of them were inside the palanquin it started moving on its own. They remained silent as they rode towards the entrance of the Twilight Vineyards, where Lyra noticed a fair number of guards that could have torn through their disguises if they had walked towards the entrance... to which she silently thanked Thalyssra and Ly'leth for thinking of this alternative.
A minute or two passed before the palanquin stopped in front of the entrance that they had been heading towards, where it pulled up alongside the stairs and stopped, allowing Trixie to climb out and act like a guard again before Lyra stepped out like Anarys would. Once the two of them had climbed out of the palanquin, however, it started moving away from where they were standing and headed back towards Ly'leth's previous location, to which Lyra and Trixie steeled themselves before they walked up the stairs they had been brought to. Fortunately it was rather easy to find where Margaux was standing, as she stood near the main path that went into the vineyards and seemed to be waiting for someone... which happened to be them.
As they approached Margaux, who eyed them for a few seconds, Trixie carefully revealed the coin that Thalyssra had given her for a few seconds before stashing it away, though she could tell she was successful, as the look in Margaux's eyes told them that she knew they were the people she had been waiting for.
"Ah, Anarys Lunastre, I have been awaiting your arrival," Margaux said, though at the same time she glanced around her for a few moments, indicating that the guards were looking for any suspicious behavior, before smiling at them once more, "Let me show the two of you around the vineyards."
"That would be nice," Lyra replied, though at the same time Trixie nodded her head a little bit, not enough for the guards to notice that she was moving her head, but just enough for Margaux to see that she agreed with the plan.
"It is my job to maintain appearances here." Margaux said, though as they started to move away from where she had been standing she smiled at them, in a apologetic manner, while also keeping her voice lower, "You will have to endure a little showmanship while I walk with you two through the vineyard. It is the only way to avoid suspicion. I will try to help you as I can, but only when it is safe to do so. Come with me... our first stop is the tasting pavilion. There you can sample some of our work."
As they walked forward Margaux told them that they had been in what was the courtyard that was open to visitors, and that to move into the actual vineyards they had to be accompanied by one of the staff members, to which Lyra and Trixie silently agreed that they were fortunate to have her lead them through the area. She also mentioned that they could purchase souvenirs from her assistant on their way out, making it seem like they would come out the normal way, once more making it appear that they were an ordinary group to whoever was watching them. The first building they came to was the testing pavilion, where three samples had already been prepared for them before their arrival, making Lyra and Trixie chuckle at how quickly the elf had prepared for their arrival.
When they arrived at the pavilion, however, Lyra learned that she would be the one to actually taste the three samples, as she was the one everything had been set up for, to which she mentally sighed and got to work at lifting the three cups and tasting all three of their contents. Since she never bothered to taste wine before she had no idea what to expect, so she picked up the middle sample and downed it in a matter of seconds, where she felt like she was floating for a few seconds before she returned to the ground. The one on the right seemed much stronger than anything she tasted before, as she only took a few sips and felt dizzy for a few seconds, where she wondered why someone would want to make something like this. The final sample, the one on the left, brought out some happiness inside Lyra for a few moments, something that she felt was desperately needed in this day and age... to which she wondered if it was possible to get more so she could share it with the other Illidari.
Once the side effects of the samples wore off, and she felt like her normal self once more, she turned her head back towards Margaux, while at the same time ignoring the small smirk that was on Trixie's, which was something that only she had seen for a few seconds.
"You may want to cleanse your palate... we craft some strong flavors here!" Margaux stated, though Lyra nodded her head towards that statement, as she liked one of them for sure and the other two she didn't really like all that much, to which the elf beckoned to her for a moment, "Shall we press on?"
Lyra nodded her agreement and followed the elf away from the tasting pavilion, which meant that she and Trixie moved deeper into the Twilight Vineyards, though while they walked the two of them noticed that the guards weren't exactly kind to the people who worked here. One other thing that happened while they walked was the fact that Margaux continued to act like the tour guide she was supposed to be, while occasionally asking questions in a lowered voice so no one heard what she was trying to say. Trixie was the one that answered the questions, telling her what little she could of the rebellion without revealing too much, as once again they had no idea who was listening in on their conversation or who was spying on them.
Lyra could easily determine that Margaux wanted to fight alongside Thalyssra and her new rebellion, in her own way anyway, and that she was definitely passionate about what she believed in... though at the same time she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen before the end of their tour.
After a few more minutes of walking Margaux brought them to Sylverin, where she told them that this was where she would leave them for now and that Sylverin would be able to show them the infusion process for making Arcwine, which actually caught both Lyra and Trixie by surprise. This was either because of the fact that one of them, or potentially both of them, knew that they weren't who they said they were and were secretly supporters of Thalyssra's rebellion, or this was a part of the tour and neither of them had been told about it. The moment they were transferred into Sylverin's hands, however, Margaux excused herself and headed off towards another building, meaning that she had something else she needed to attend to before they finished their business with each other.
The moment Margaux was gone, and the guards moved elsewhere, Sylverin turned towards them and smiled, to which they replicated the gesture, as he was likely going to assist them in the rest of their operation.
"Welcome," Sylverin said, though his tone indicated that he might be acting, which Lyra was beginning to suspect a lot of the Nightborne in the city, at least those supporting Thalyssra, did all the time when enemies were near them, "I take it that the two of you are enjoying your tour?"
"Very much so," Lyra replied, to which Trixie nodded her head in agreement, before she looked out at the area that they had been brought to and took in the fact that bits of energy were being flung into the air before touching the water around them, or caught by the elves that were working, "So, what's the next activity that you have planned for us?"
"This is a rare treat, I hope you know. Not just anyone is allowed to stand on this hallowed ground." Sylverin said, though at the same time he adjusted his cuffs in a dignified fashion, which confirmed that he had to be acting for the guards that were standing in the area around them, "To participate in the demonstration, simply take up an energy vessel and wade into the pool beside us. Catch the delicate dewdrops of Nightwell energy in the bowl as they fall... this is the only way one can safely manage its essence. Once your vessel is full, proceed to our demonstration cask and gently pour the amalgamation into it. Enjoy!"
Lyra spotted the vessel that was resting behind Sylverin and knew that it was what she was supposed to be looking for, to which she walked around the elf and gently picked up the vessel, as she didn't want to damage it in some manner and piss someone off. From there she walked out of the pavilion and stepped into the shallow water that rested around them, where she was able to see the angles that the dewdrops of the Nightwell energy were taking and made sure to move to where they were landing. She then carefully held the vessel up when she reached where the dewdrops were going to land and started gathering them, though while she did that she noticed that the elves around her were nodding their heads, indicating that she understood what to do.
A few minutes passed before she noticed Sylverin beckoning to her, to which she carefully carried the vessel over to him and handed it over to the elf, as she was sure that there was another step the dewdrops needed to go through and he knew exactly what to do with the vessel.
"Simple, no?" Sylverin asked, though at the same time Lyra noticed a small smile on the elf's face, indicating that he was pleased that Lyra had understood what she needed to do and had performed the task as she was supposed to.
"Deceptively so," Lyra replied, as she had honestly expected there to be some secret method to collecting the dewdrops, but all she had to do was carry the vessel around and let the dewdrops fall into the vessel, "So, what's the next stop on the tour?"
"While you were experiencing the raw majesty that is Nightwell Infusion, Margaux was busy preparing another demonstration for you." Sylverin said, to which he turned a little bit and beckoned to one of the nearby bridges, while at the same time silently indicating that he wouldn't be coming with them just yet, "Head across the bridge and to the left, then again across a bridge and to your right. You will find her on the juicing veranda. Enjoy the remainder of your tour!"
In order to maintain their disguises Lyra and Trixie walked along the path that Sylverin told them about, where they walked on the walkways and the bridges that were in front of them, while at the same time nodding to the guards that happened to be in their way. Lyra was still amazed that no one had figured out that she actually wasn't Anarys, but at the same time she was thankful for that, because the moment someone figured that out her disguise would be completely useless and she would have to get a new one. It really didn't take them long to reach the juicing veranda, as it was close to where Sylverin was standing, though when they approached the open building Margaux beckoned them over and asked if they were ready to experience the art of actually making Arcwine.
Lyra paid close attention to what the assistant was saying, as when she was told to add something floral she added some silver jasmine to the wine container, when a little moisture was needed she added some purified water, she jumped into the vat twice to squish the mixture around, and when something sour was necessary she tossed in some shadefruit to add to the mixture. She continued the pattern for a few minutes, following the commands that Margaux was giving her, before the elf called for them to stop and praised Lyra at being a natural wine mixer, to which Lyra rubbed the back of her head for a few seconds.
"I will be certain to have a bottle of your Arcwine prepared for you before you leave." Margaux said, though since she knew that neither Lyra or Trixie really drank this special drink she already knew that it would go to Thalyssra and the elves that had already flocked to her side, "Our tour is just about over. I will let you loose to 'walk the orchard', as is proper at this stage. While you are there, you will notice a large number of mana wyrms floating about. I am certain the vineyard would not miss a handful of them. Good luck with your insect problem, friend."
Lyra was slightly surprised that this was something that happened when a tour was being conducted in the vineyards, but at the same time she knew that this happened to be what they needed, as they apparently needed some mana wyrms to keep the Acan'dor healthy, something that she had overlooked when they were in Shal'Aran. Apparently someone had told Trixie and Ly'leth, though now that she knew the reason behind the tour she turned her eyes towards the number of mana wyrms that were flying around the air in front of them. Lyra also noticed a large number of moths that were flying around the area as well, though they were as large as the mana wyrms and seemed aggressive, which meant that they would likely need to kill some of them as they walked through the orchard.
As the two of them moved towards the orchard, however, they noticed Sylverin standing near the bridge that would take them to the orchard, though the look on his face told them that he was worried about something... to which they approached him and asked him what was going on.
"Moths. Who ever heard of something so... barbaric!" Sylverin replied, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie shared a look with each other, as they both had encountered more dangerous beings that could be described as 'barbaric', "They are eating our crop and the mana wyrms do nothing to deter them. The two of you seem capable. Deter these creatures so we can complete our harvest on schedule. Ahem. Please."
Now that they had their tasks, and could complete the two of them at the same time, Lyra and Trixie walked out into the orchard and started collecting some of the mana wyrms that were flying around them, or more like Lyra attacked the aggressive moths that wanted them dead while Trixie carefully gathered the mana wyrms. What shocked Lyra a little bit wasn't the fact that their disguises dropped when they started fighting, but rather none of the nearby guards bothered to attack them, making her wonder if some of them were on Thalyssra's side or if they were unobservant. It really didn't matter which option it was, because the two of them were able to make their way through the orchard, killing aggressive moths and collecting a decent number of mana wyrms, before they came to an area at the end of the orchard that had another portal to Shal'Aran.
Since no one was around at the moment Trixie wove her magic into the beacon and activated the portal, though that was followed by them donning their masks, assuming their disguises once more, and made their way back towards where Sylverin was waiting for them... inside a building that was near where he had been standing a few minutes ago.
"I will have these... ah... souvenirs... boxed for you." Sylverin said, to which he accepted the mana wyrms that Trixie had grabbed while they were inside the orchard, before he nodded his head and stared at the two of them for a few seconds, "And the two of you have my thanks in taking care of our moth problem."
"You and Margaux have risked much to help us protect the Acan'dor," Trixie replied, though at the same time she and Lyra smiled, as they were more than happy to assist the Nightborne that were helping them and Thalyssra, "so it is only natural for us to return the favor."
"Speaking of my mistress, I was meant to meet the two of you and Margaux here so I could escort you from the Vineyard." Sylverin commented, though at the same time his tone told Lyra and Trixie that something terrible might have happened, despite the fact that their friend was pacing for a few seconds, "My mistress Margaux is never late. I fear that something terrible may have happened. Please find her and make sure she is well."
"It will be done," Lyra said, to which the two of them walked back out of the building they were in and started looking for signs of where Margaux could have wandered off to, because now it appeared that they wouldn't be able to leave the Twilight Vineyard until they found Sylverin's mistress.
As they walked outside, however, they heard an elf that had some authority shout out to his soldiers to 'seize her', to which they turned to the right and noticed a barrier sprung up around a number of armed soldiers, an elf they assumed was an overseer, and a terrified Marguax. Lyra and Trixie got as close as they dared so they could listen in on what was being said, though they both had the feeling that something terrible was going to befall the mistress of the Vineyards, and directly affect everyone else in the area.
"By order of the Grand Magistrix, you are hereby charged with sedition." the overseer said, though at the same time he stared at Margaux, as if he was above the law and could do whatever he wanted without consequence, which annoyed both Lyra and Trixie, "You undermine my authority and must pay the price."
"I did what I thought was..." Margaux started to say, but before she could finish her statement the overseer pointed at her and she immediately stopped talking, which meant that something terrible was coming.
"I will hear no more." the overseer snapped, to which his guards tensed for a few seconds, confirming Lyra's suspicions that they were eager to do whatever their master told them to do, "The sentence is death. Proceed."
The mages that were standing around the overseer held their hands up for a few seconds and blasted Margaux at the same time, though the amount of pain they inflicted on the poor mistress of the Twilight Vineyards caused her to collapse on the ground in a heap... one that Lyra could tell meant that she was dead.
"Bring the Vineyards to heel!" the overseer ordered, to which the soldiers that were around him saluted him for a few seconds, though not once did he look at the corpse that had been Margaux, "I will tolerate no more insubordination."
As the overseer walked away from the area he had been standing in, where the barrier came down the instant Margaux was dead, Lyra and Trixie returned to the building that Sylverin was standing in and gave him the bad news, while at the same time trying to contain their anger.
"Margaux... no!" Sylverin said, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie could tell that his face was full of rage, as they were feeling the same thing at the moment, "How could they? Margaux did everything they asked of her and more! The Arcwine never stopped flowing despite everything they did to us! To her! Such injustice cannot stand. We must take vengeance for Margaux."
"Oh, I fully intent to avenge Margaux..." Lyra commented, though at the same time she pulled her mask off and dispelled her disguise, before she closed her eyes and focused on the power that she had buried since her battle with Maiev a week ago.
Trixie watched as Lyra's eyes were consumed by the dark mist that came with someone using Dark Magic, something that Lyra seemed to be well versed in despite the fact that she couldn't have known about that type of foul magic, but this time she was willing to let this action slide. Lyra then walked outside the building and found that the soldiers that had been involved with Margaux's death were still gathered around her body, no doubt dividing up who was taking which part of the Vineyards, to which she growled and approached them. As they shouted out that an intruder was in the area Lyra charged at them and cut into one of the soldiers, though at the same time the Dark Magic wrapped around where the soldiers were standing and prevented them from getting too far from where Lyra was standing.
After Lyra engaged the soldiers Trixie watched as her companion became a rage fueled beast, as she hacked, slashed, and blasted her enemies with everything in her arsenal, displaying the amount of pure rage that she was feeling over the death of someone that was allied with them. Even Sylverin watched the one sided fight with some interest, as he had never seen Dark Magic in use before, and knew nothing about it, but his interest was peaked when Lyra tossed the warglaive in her right hand into the air and slammed her hand on the ground. That was followed by small crystal spires erupting from the earth and penetrated each and every enemy that was around her, to which she collected her weapon as it came back down towards her.
Trixie waited for Lyra to calm down, which took some time considering that the overseer must have heard the noise and sent more soldiers, or maybe they came on their own, but after ten minutes of cutting down the soldiers that were coming at her Lyra finally relaxed and staggered as she sent the Dark Magic away... confirming Trixie's suspicions that being a novice to that type of magic left one weak after using it. Once Lyra returned to her side, and Trixie was sure that the soldiers had been routed, the two of them headed back to the portal she opened a few minutes and and teleported back to Shal'Aran, where they made their way to Thalyssra to give her the bad news... and drop of the mana wyrms that Farodin apparently needed for the Arcan'dor.
Thalyssra, as well as everyone else that stood around them at the moment, were speechless as Lyra and Trixie recounted what happened at the Twilight Vineyards... though at the same time the duo noticed that the First Arcanist knew exactly who the vile overseer was.
"This is just... unspeakable." Thalyssra said, though at the same time she growled as the heroes that stood around them nodded their heads in agreement, telling Lyra that while the Alliance and the Horde might not like each other there were some bits of common ground that they both agreed on, "Margaux risked everything to get these mana wyrms to us. I cannot let it end this way. I need you to find someone who can make this right. Someone who will do whatever it takes to see Overseer Durant slain. Speak with Vanthir. I am certain he will know exactly who we need."
Lyra grinned at the thought of seeing Overseer Durant lying dead on the ground, as she would make sure that he paid for what he had done this day... and she was sure that whoever joined them would feel the same way once they told them what happened in the Twilight Vineyards.
Lyra and Trixie spent a few minutes relaxing in Shal'Aran, trying to cool their emotions after having watched Margaux be executed by Overseer Durant and his thugs, while at the same time knowing that their allies inside the city would have a way or two to find where the elf was located. Trixie was still concerned for Lyra's sake, because while the use of Dark Magic didn't seem to have any negative effects on her, which might be because of her skill in keeping her demonic energies under control, she still worried about her. Sure, Lyra had never fought anything that was on the scale of what she had fought over the years and hadn't learned to truly master her being, but at the same time Lyra showed that she was strong and that her will was not so easily broken... though there were times where she cracked and started slaughtering her enemies, like back at the Vineyards.
When something like that happened Trixie didn't know if it was her friend fighting the group of enemies that wanted them dead, or if it was the darker side of Lyra that wanted to burn everything to the ground... which was why she insisted on keeping an eye on her, because she didn't want anything bad to happen to Lyra while they were trying to save Azeroth from the Legion.
Eventually Lyra grew tired of waiting and headed back over to the portal chamber, where she and Trixie teleported back to the Waning Crescent and donned their masks before anyone noticed the difference, before they walked away from where the portal to Shal'Aran was located and acted like they belonged in the city once more. It didn't take them long to find Vanthir standing in the same area that he had been in when they first visited the Waning Crescent, though at the same time the elf made sure that they were in a safe area to talk before he started speaking.
"The two of you need to steel yourselves." Vanthir said, though while he currently sounded indifferent to what they, and some of their allies back in Shal'Aran, were feeling, Lyra and Trixie knew that he had something of importance to tell them, "Margaux's loss is regrettable, but not likely to be the last in this effort. Far from it, I fear."
"Then tell us what we need to do in order to avenge her death," Trixie replied, because at the moment Lyra was more annoyed and was currently looking out for enemies that might be looking to kill someone in the Waning Crescent.
"I was fond of Margaux. News of her death weighs heavily on many of us." Vanthir stated, though that was followed by him shaking his head sadly for a few seconds, before he stopped and looked at the two of them, "If we are to carry on, we need to send a strong message. We need those like Durant to know that we are watching, and we will hold them accountable. I know someone who could help us. His name is Arluin. To call him a reluctant ally would be generously overstating it. He is cautious, and will not risk himself without compensation. You can find him in the alleys north of the Evermoon Bazaar."
Once the area that Arluin was located in was marked on their map, and Vanthir went back to his normal business like they had never been there, Lyra and Trixie followed the map as they made their way through the city, while at the same time avoiding the guards like they usually did. They eventually found the elf that they were looking for, who looked like the Nightborne version of a rogue, standing outside one of the buildings and was intentionally keeping himself away from prying eyes and eavesdroppers. When the two of them approached him, however, they already knew that they were going to have a hard time getting his help in avenging Margaux, but there was something and the only way they were going to find that would was if they walked with him.
"Mind your wandering eyes, strangers." Arluin said, though at the same time he kept his voice low, which allowed the two of them to hear him while keeping it soft enough to avoid someone from hearing something that they shouldn't, but he simply raised an eyebrow as Trixie started to pull out the coin once more, which he carefully motioned for her to put it away, "Cute. Are you trying to get all three of us killed?"
"No, though it worked well enough in the past," Trixie admitted, though while she and Lyra drew closer to the elf they knew that they had to be quick about this, "and now we have learned our lesson... besides, we need your help in aveng..."
"I will help you," Arluin stated, cutting Trixie off before she could even finish speaking, which meant that he was still trying to protect himself at the moment, "but first I need you to do something for me."
"Very well, name your price," Lyra stated, as she was more used to offering something for something else, though at the same time they had to be careful that he didn't ask for something that was beyond what they could give him.
"Unless you have something worth risking my life for, I will not budge." Arluin commented, though his tone suggested that he was only in this for himself, which meant that if he asked for a lot of Arcwine or mana crystals he'd keep all of them and share them with no one else, "Vanthir must have told you that my services do not come cheap. Let's say... enough mana to sustain me for a month."
Lyra absolutely hated the fact that Arluin dared to wear a smug expression on his face, as if he believed that neither of them would agree to his request, but in the end Trixie surprised him a tiny bit by saying that it should be easy to get that sort of payment arranged. She then departed for Shal'Aran, as she knew that their comrades inside the hidden cave would have found a decent enough supply of mana crystals, so much so that a month's supply of mana wouldn't even put a dent in their reserves. Lyra remained behind and kept an eye on Arluin, because she didn't want him disappearing on them when they had need of his services, though the elf didn't appear to be in a rush to leave... rather he appeared to be waiting so he could see whether or not Trixie could even come up with the amount of mana he demanded.
If it wasn't for the fact that this guy was supposed to be on their side, and that they actually needed his assistance in finding Durant so they could kill him, Lyra would have gladly gutted the selfish elf herself and made sure he died a painful death on the streets... but she remained silent as Trixie came back and deposited a crate to Arluin's right.
"Glad to know you understand the value of my services, partner." Arluin stated, though if he was surprised by what he saw he wasn't showing it, to which he turned his attention towards the duo again and continued speaking, "I'm not rich in anything but information, but maybe that can be of use to someone with your skills. You helped me, now you can help yourself. The Magistrix receives a daily shipment of Arcwine, which travels to the palace with a heavy escort. I can share the location, provided you leave me a cut of the goods. One of my men has infiltrated the group and will hold up the delivery long enough for you to strike."
"Okay, that doesn't sound too hard," Lyra said, though she was already growing sick and tired of this elf, because he was making demands without giving her and Trixie anything to go on for Durant, which was the main reason they came to him in the first place, "though I take it that there's a second task you would like us to do at the same time?"
"With the demons and guards so agitated, I'm running out of safe places to store contraband." Arluin admitted, though he didn't sound like he was worried, which told Lyra and Trixie that he had a lot of safe places and was working them for all they were worth before giving them what they wanted, "The guards have caught on to one of my favorite havens and will be making off with my goods any minute now. Head to my stash and discourage their curiosity. You will need to use a grappling hook to access it... just look for something to latch onto along the ledge. I will make sure there is something in it for you when you are done."
Lyra had absolutely no idea where she and Trixie were going to find a grappling hook in Suramar City, as sure was sure that something like that would have the guards running around in an attempt to arrest or execute whoever was using the device. Instead of worrying about that the duo returned to the Waning Crescent and used the portal to access the one that was in Ly'leth's place, where they began the journey back towards the Twilight Vineyards, as they were sure that the other side would be a death trap waiting to happen. When they finally found the Arcwine carriers they discovered which of the four workers was Arluin's plant while the other three were worried for their lives, as one of the three guards was threatening to kill all of them because of an accident that occurred earlier.
Thanks to the fact that the group was a far enough distance from where the entrance of the Vineyards was located, Lyra and Trixie were able to remove their disguises and attack them without additional guards coming to attack them, while in the process scaring off the workers and claiming all of the casks. They all bared the markings of a thousand year old wine, which meant that it had to really be good if Elisande wanted it daily, though since Arluin appeared to only want one of them they both decided to give him just one cask... leaving the other six for Thalyssra and the other elves that called Shal'Aran home at the moment. The two of them headed back towards Ly'leth's place and used the portal to head back to their base, where they dropped off the casks in question, before returning to the city and began to wonder how they were going to get down to where Arluin's hiding place was... though that was before Lyra flexed her demon wings out of their hiding spot and grinned.
Trixie smiled as she did the same thing, to which the two of them jumped off the edge that was near Ly'leth's place and glided down to the area that Arluin had put on their map, where his hiding place was supposed to be... which happened to be near the area where they saved all those children a few days ago, though now an Auditor and her guards were up on the roof, tearing Arluin's stash apart.
Lyra took the fun route and glided right into the opening in front of her, where she slammed the base of one of her Twinblades into the face of the female Auditor and knocked her to the floor, though while her guards turned towards where she was standing Trixie landed behind them and started throwing spells at their backsides. Lyra had to admit that it was great to fight along side someone that could glide with a pair of wings as well, as before hand they had no idea Trixie could even do this and she was learning more about her new form with every passing day. Once the deed was done, and the Auditor and her guards had been taken care of, the two of them donned their masks and put on the illusions once more, to which they moved out and headed back towards where they had seen Arluin last.
Sure enough the elf was still standing in the same area that he had been in when they first found him, though this time around they wondered if he knew that they were going to succeed in their missions thanks to the fact that Trixie brought him what he asked for... and this time they had good news to bring him, as well as a gift.
"The two of you are becoming quite useful to me." Arluin stated, though while it was clear that his tone remained neutral they had to wonder if he was actually happy or if he was still playing them, "While you were out, I asked around. You are looking for Overseer Durant. Turns out he lives near the Shimmershade Garden. I can help you confront him, but you will need help. There are three individuals with the necessary skills, and they serve our cause. Tell Cyrille that the owl hoots at dusk. Inform Lorin that the saber prowls the plaza. Mention to Sylessa that the cruel caskmaster has breathed his last. They will know what to do. Speak to Vanthir when the deed is done."
As it turned out all they had to do was head north a little more to find where Lorin was standing, though since he happened to have a few guards standing near him that meant that Lyra and Trixie were in for a fight just so they could talk with him for a few seconds. Fortunately the duo proved to be more than the Nightborne guards could handle and they were able to talk with Lorin in no time, where he immediately understood the phrase Trixie told him before he walked away from the area he had been in. From there the duo turned back towards the bazaar area and found Syleesa sitting near the canal that separated the bazaar from the Waning Crescent, though she also understood the statement that they were supposed to tell her. Even Cyrille, who was only a minute or two from where Syleesa was sitting, understood and departed from where she was standing... to which Lyra and Trixie made their way towards Shimmershade Garden, where they would find Durant and bring an end to his life.
When they returned to the garden area, which they passed through earlier, they found the house that Durant was standing in, completely minding his own business, to which the two of them removed their masks as they crossed the threshold of the building and assaulted him. As the battle started, however, the three elves that they had been told to seek out invaded the house as well and attacked the horrible overseer as well, declaring that since he sealed the fate of Margaux he had also sealed his own fate. Lyra was pleased to have allies inside the city, ones that were willing to avenge injustices like this, though as they cut him down, and he declared the three elves traitors, two things happened; Lyra condemned Durant's soul to the Twinblades and Cyrille placed a Dusk Lily on the elf's body... which would tell everyone that someone was watching and waiting to dispense justice.
With the deed done the trio of elves departed from the house and headed in different directions, before Lyra and Trixie donned their masks and headed back towards Vanthir's location, as he would want to know the news before they started planning the next part of their rebellion.
"They will not so easily dismiss the Dusk Lily now. Well done." Vanthir said, to which a smile appeared on his face for a few moments, as if he was actually pleased with what they had done, before he became that much more serious, "There will be consequences for what has transpired this day. For now, you should return to Thalyssra. Tell her that we have avenged Margaux and that the Dusk Lily has announced itself to all of Suramar. There will be many more deaths before this is over, rest assured, but this is a death that will teach others like Durant to tread more carefully in the future."
Lyra and Trixie nodded, as they were pleased with their progress and could rest with some ease, before they headed back to the portal that was waiting nearby and teleported back to Shal'Aran, where the heroes that were there welcomed them back as they walked over to Thalyssra and told her the good news.
"It is a relief, if a small one." Thalyssra said, to which she let out a sigh of relief, which was echoed by all of their allies that heard the news, "You both have done well... though you should rest for now, because I'm afraid that the next time you are called upon will be even rougher than what you just went through."
Lyra hoped that the next thing she and Trixie had to do was break into a dungeon and assault Elisande, or do something besides run around the city and cause minor chaos... otherwise this rebellion was going to take a long time and Gul'dan was going to get away with whatever he was planning. She guessed only time would tell what Thalyssra needed them to do next, though it would give them time to see what their enemy's retaliation to Durant's death was.
A few days passed since Lyra and Trixie visited the Twilight Vineyards, claimed several mana wyrms to help protect their Arcan'dor, and avenged the death of Margaux by tracking down and killing Overseer Durant, thanks to the help of Arluin and his associates. Since then the Arcan'dor had grown some more, which Farodin was pleased with while at the same time being worried about something that he refused to tell anyone else about until his suspicions were proven to be correct, to which the duo simply waited for him to speak. At the same time the other heroes came and went on their own business, where they were all preparing for the eventual attack on the city and the Nightborne that opposed them, but at the same time some of the veteran heroes knew that something else was coming.
It wasn't until the third day since Margaux had been avenged that Thalyssra approached Lyra and Trixie, indicating that whatever she had in mind this time around was something that only they could help her with, or maybe she was going to ask them her opinion on something... though the two of them stood up and faced the approaching elf.
"I have heard whispers from Suramar City." Thalyssra said, though her words caused Lyra and Trixie to smile, as this was what they were waiting for since they returned from avenging Margaux, "Recent unrest in the city has prompted the nobles to seek another advisor to fill Elisande's council. Such positions are rarely offered and hotly contested. This is the perfect opportunity and Ly'leth is the perfect candidate. Fate smiles upon our cause! I know she has historically chosen to avoid such politics and maneuvering, but we must now ask her to join the fray. Seek her out at the Waning Crescent and ensure her victory."
The two Equestrians nodded their understanding and headed towards the portal station that they have grown used to using since their arrival in Suramar, where they carefully moved themselves over to the Waning Crescent and donned their masks while no one was looking. Considering that they had few allies in this part of the city, however, they only had one place where they could safely search for Ly'leth, to which they started walking down the street and made their way to where they first met Vanthir. It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination, where they found Vanthir already speaking with Ly'leth about something, though the two of them maintained their distance and let the two of them speak, as they were inside the building and not out in the streets... meaning that this was important and Ly'leth didn't anyone to find out what she was talking about.
A few moments passed before Ly'leth noticed that they had arrived and stopped talking with Vanthir, to which Lyra and Trixie entered the building so they could see if their ally would be willing to join the fray and take the new opening on Elisande's council before someone else did.
"Ahh, my dear sister has arrived." Ly'leth said, to which she embraced Lyra for a few seconds, once more putting on a show for any potential enemies that might be watching them, before she faced the duo, "So good to see you once again. I trust that you and your guard are ready to assist me with my campaign?"
"We are indeed." Lyra replied, though she was thankful to hear that Ly'leth was more than willing to go through this process and try to land herself a position on Elisande's council.
"Thalyssra asks much of me, but our cause is worth the risks." Ly'leth stated, to which the duo nodded, as they had already lost one of their members thanks to the attack on the Twilight Vineyard, but they didn't let that cloud their minds as they waited for her to continue speaking, "The title of advisor would grant us enormous influence. Information. Access. I could change this rebellion. I could save so many lives. I will need strong endorsement to ascend, though. There are many houses who stand with me by virtue of my family's name. Some are more hesitant. Lady Aurore of House Astravar is the most prominent of these. Seek her out. Offer your aid in my stead. Earn her trust and the rest will follow."
As it turned out the location they were supposed to find Aurore in was on the other side of the city, which took some time to get to considering that they were still new to the layout of Suramar City, though when they reached the location Lyra discovered that there were a large number of lookouts that were patrolling the area. To her lookouts were people who patrolled a city or area, just like what everyone else thought when they heard the term, but at the same time she was also referring to the number of Nightborne that could see through illusions. Based on what she was seeing she knew that they had to be careful, as one wrong move meant that she and Trixie would be found out by the guards, their illusions would be broken, and they would likely be killed before they escaped the area... and the last thing Lyra wanted was to be killed, as every demon she had encountered so far promised her that the moment she died she would be claimed by the Legion and tortured until she changed sides.
Lyra carefully led the way passed the watchful guards, picking and choosing a path that would allow them to reach their destination, before the two of them climbed some stairs and stopped in front of where Aurore was standing... who seemed to know why they had come to her, which meant that Ly'leth had mentioned 'Anarys' visiting her soon.
"I love Lady Lunastre like a sister, but I am afraid my hands are tied." Aurore said, confirming Lyra's suspicions about Ly'leth telling her friend that Lyra and Trixie, or rather 'Anarys' and her 'guard', would be stopping by to see her.
"Then tell us what we have to do to untie your hands," Trixie quietly said, loud enough for Aurore to hear her while also soft enough so that no guards overheard what they were talking about, though Lyra was pleased to see that Aurore was happy to hear that they were willing to help her out.
"How could I let this happen?" Aurore commented, though this was where Lyra and Trixie knew that they would find the reason behind why Aurore wasn't supporting Ly'leth, which was why they were here, "Yesterday Coryn Stelleris approached me about the appointment. He sought my support, but I did not offer it. He said my son's life would continue as normal... if I gave him my vote. This morning my son was gone. I can only think of the terrible things he may be suffering. You don't know what this family is capable of! You want my support, but I can do nothing while my son is in danger. Nothing. Please... save him!"
Trixie, deciding to save some time since they didn't want to search the entirety of Suramar City looking for Aurore's son, asked if Aurore had anything that her son might have worn before his kidnapping, to which Aurore confirmed that she did and pulled out a locket that her son usually wore. Trixie smiled and gently took the locket for a few seconds, to which she carefully wove her magic into the air around them and closed her eyes, where Lyra discovered that Trixie was intending to see where Coryn was hiding Aurore's son by a magical trace. A few moments later Trixie opened her eyes and returned the locket, to which she told Lyra that their target was being held on a ship that was in the harbor... and that she had the perfect way to get to where he was being held.
Lyra soon discovered that Trixie had one other mount that she generally didn't use all the time, since she had long since mastered the art of flying in the air in the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, Northrend, and even Pandaria, as when they returned to the canals Lyra found that the mount was some sort of water bug... which could run on top of the water's surface and aid them in their quest. The two of them climbed onto the bug's saddle, on its back no less, and rode across the water, where they discovered that riding a mount didn't knock off their disguises, though at the same time they remained on their guard as they approached the ship that Trixie had seen in her vision.
When they arrived at their destination, where Trixie brought them up to the back of the ship so that none of the Nightborne saw them coming, Lyra climbed up onto the deck and surprised the deckhands that were making sure that Aurore's son was bound to his cage. She scared them away and smashed the lock, though while Aurore's son climbed onto Trixie's mount, however, Lyra mentally reflected on how stupid some of these guards were, as she had busted open the cage and none of them had come running, to which she sighed and jumped back onto the water bug. Once they were back on land they carefully escorted the young Astrovar back to his mother, who was very happy to see the three of them walk up to where she was standing.
"He is unharmed!" Aurore declared, to which she wrapped her arms around her son for a few seconds, though when she looked back at Lyra and Trixie they could see the tears in her eyes, silently telling them that she was grateful for what they had just done, "I owe the two of you... and Ly'leth... a great debt. I will endeavor to protect my son until the votes are cast. Coryn Stelleris is a predator even among the nobility. It does not surprise me that he should stoop to such depths to ensure his own success. Tell Ly'leth that she has my support. Unequivocally. You may also choose to tell her that Coryn Stelleris will hurt her, if she gives him a chance. Be careful."
Lyra and Trixie nodded before they made their way out of the area of the city that they were in, to which they carefully made their way back towards the Waning Crescent, or more accurately the location of Vanthir's shop, and told Ly'leth that Aurore would be lending her the aid that she wanted... and how they managed to reach such an agreement.
"I know of Coryn. We will not underestimate his venom, rest assured." Ly'leth said, though at the same time a light smile appeared on her face, as she was proud of what the two of them had done, as they not only helped a friend but they also did so in a manner that didn't come with death, "Thank you for helping Aurore. She is a dear friend of mine."
"We're just happy to help in any way that we can," Trixie replied, though before she and Lyra could leave the building, however, Vanthir stopped them and said that he wanted a word with the two of them, to which they turned towards the elf as Ly'leth went about her own business.
"If Ly'leth is to achieve the role of advisor to the Grand Magistrix we will need to open a path for her." Vanthir said, to which Lyra and Trixie shared a look before nodding, as this wasn't something they had seen coming and were willing to do what needed to be done for the cause they were supporting, "It is true she will have some supporters but they alone cannot grant her the title. There are other houses that Ly'leth must contend with. Fear and coercion are their tools. None dare stand against them openly, and we cannot win them over with favors and oaths. Seek out Arluin. I trust he will have some ideas of how to proceed."
Lyra honestly didn't like Arluin all that much, as he was the type of person that seemed like the type to betray someone at some point in time, but since everyone else seemed to trust him she guessed that she could go along with that for now. They found Arluin standing by the same house that they found him near a few days ago, though when they told him why they were seeking him out now he simply chuckled at the idea of Ly'leth running for the advisor role and called her brave for doing so. In order to enlist his help Trixie, once again, had to resort to gathering a few more of the shards from the stash that their allies were building in Shal'Aran, who actually weren't annoyed that the crystals were being used in such a manner, before handing them over to Arluin... where Lyra was sure that she saw a smile creep onto the elf's face for a few seconds, before it disappeared entirely.
"Very well. Let us talk strategy." Arluin said, though before he did anything else he made sure that his payment was hidden somewhere safe, no doubt so he could take it to a secure location before storing it away once he was done talking with Lyra and Trixie, "There are two houses that pose a threat to Ly'leth's rise, but we concern ourselves with only one of them now. House Duskmere commands respect through fear and that fear is not unfounded. Few can boast of magical talent equal to that of Ruven Duskmere. Without this charming specimen, however, their house is nothing. I know you may find my methods distasteful. Know that there were demons in Suramar long before the Legion. This one has lived long enough."
Arluin even gave them the exact location that Ruven was supposed to he in today, where they found the elf standing near one of the canals in the area of the city where they saved Aurore's son... though one look at him was enough to make Lyra want to kill him, because he had Fel energy flowing off of his body, his arms, and his head, indicating which side of the war he really belonged to.
Lyra growled as she charged into the area that Ruven was standing in and threw one of the Twinblades at him, cutting his cheek in the process, but as the fel-tainted elf turned towards her Lyra went on the offensive immediately as she caught her weapon. She parried every blade attack that Ruven could send her way, cancelled his fel magic when he tried to cast it on her, and delivered a numerous amount of cuts to her opponent's body without him being about to hurt her in return, though at the same time Ruven was still smug about his power and what the Legion promised him. Thanks to all of her training to become one of the Illidari Lyra knew how the Legion seduced people into damning themselves over the promise of power... but it made her feel so much better about herself when she cut Ruven's heart from his body and fed his tainted soul to the Twinblades, where it would join the other agents of the Legion that she had killed so far.
Once the deed was done, however, she and Trixie found Arluin kneeling on one of the pedestals that were near them, though he actually seemed pleased by their progress... and beckoned them over so he could talk to them about something for a few seconds.
"It seemed as though you had that well in hand. I did not want to... interrupt." Arluin said, though Lyra was correct in her assumptions when she heard a hint of joy in the elf's voice, indicating that he had no love for those that joined the demons of the Legion, "That is one less power hoarding noble to worry about."
"Another will rise to take his place... they always seem to," Lyra commented, as she had seen the same thing happen within the Legion's ranks, take out one lesser commander and another rises to take the vacant space, before she shook her head and turned towards the elf again, "So, what do we do next?"
"Coryn Stelleris and Ruven Duskmere were close friends, but one always overshadowed the other." Arluin stated, though it was as if he was actually talking to Anarys and reminding her of something that she should know, to which Lyra merely nodded her head as she listened to the elf, "Now the Stelleris family stands to gain from Lord Ruven's death. Handsomely. House Duskmere will soon learn of their loss. I want you to be the one to redirect their anger and grief. A handful of well placed rumors should do the trick. I won't be lingering in this part of the city for long, and Ly'leth will want to know of your efforts. Return to her when you are finished."
As it turned out they only had to speak to three key people in order to set of a chain reaction that would achieve what Arluin wanted to achieve, though the first person they had to speak with was being guarded by an Inquisitor demon and wasn't looking at the doorway when they entered. Lyra and Trixie quickly banished the demon, by killing it and letting the Twinblades consume its soul, before they donned their disguises and made a commented about a silver crescent necklace near Ruven's body, causing the lady to immediately suspect Coryn. The second person, an attendant that appeared to be from the Duskmere House, seemed absolutely annoyed when they said that Coryn might be buying the rest of Duskmere's attendants and questioned whether or not the elf had any honor at all. The final person they had to talk to was being guarded by two guards, which Lyra and Trixie easily took out on their own, before they approached him... where they mentioned a crude joke at Ruven's expense while visiting Coryn's family, where the elf proclaimed Coryn to be a madman before turning away with a huff.
With their task completed, and the sounds of their rumors already starting to circulate around the area, Lyra and Trixie departed from where they were and headed back to the Waning Crescent, where they were welcomed with open arms the moment they returned.
"The city is buzzing with very interesting gossip, dear sister." Ly'leth commented, though the smile on her face, which was for them and Vanthir to see, meant that she was extremely pleased with what they were able to do in such a very short amount of time, "Victory is that much closer."
"I have heard some interesting gossip as well," Lyra said, once more slipping into the role of Anarys, who was starting to feel like a second identity, which would have originally scared her but now she was getting the hang of it, "So, what comes next sister?"
"Already the city is abuzz with outrage." Ly'leth stated, which concerned Trixie, as it had only taken them maybe ten to twenty minutes to get back here, but she kept her mouth shut and listened to what was going on, "I will not lie to either of you... it pleases me greatly that one such as Coryn is made a fool. The other houses have sent their endorsements. It is done, and nothing remains but a formal ceremony to grant me the title of advisor. I would like for the two of you to follow me to the ceremony... you deserve to share in this success as well."
Lyra knew that Ly'leth was still making sure that people believed that she and Anarys were talking, and not doing anything dangerous, to which Lyra voiced her agreement and followed Ly'leth out of Vanthir's shop, where Trixie carefully followed them as they made their way to the Sanctum of Order. When they arrived Ly'leth showed them the way down to where they were supposed to be gathering for the ceremony, which was basically her standing in the middle of the chamber, with one way to get onto the pedestal, while she thanked everyone for supporting her and choosing her. Of course Coryn, who happened to be in attendance, teleported in front of her and started accusing her of impinging on his honor and throwing baseless accusations at him... where Ly'leth worried that Coryn was looking his mind over the fact that he wasn't chosen for this position.
When Coryn stated that he would regain his honor, through the ancient rite of Tal'ashar, Ly'leth glanced up at Lyra and gently nodded with her head, silently telling her to come over to her while at the same time accepting Coryn's challenge... even though the elf was already mad in the first place.
"Tal'ashar is an honor duel. If I lose, then I must forfeit my title to Coryn Stelleris." Ly'leth said, though at the same time she gently smiled as she faced Lyra, who already understood that she was lightly going to fight whoever Coryn chose as his champion, "That is why you are going to fight for me. I will grant you a more powerful disguise for this task, and together we will put Coryn in his place. Are you ready?"
"Yes, let's do this." Lyra replied, to which she felt the magic take hold of her mask for a few seconds, merely giving her a second enchantment that was more powerful than the one that made her look like Anarys, before she and Ly'leth were teleported to the top of a spire... where Coryn stood, as he had chosen to fight for his honor on his own, instead of choosing a champion like Ly'leth did.
It was at that point that Lyra discovered that her powers had been modified as well, because now she could fight like one of the Nightborne guards that she and Trixie had fought several times so far, but this time she had her training as a demon hunter to back her up. Coryn appeared to be a mage, as he carried no weapon and seemed to focus on using his magic to hurt her, though thanks to her training she was much faster than what he was expecting and could easily dodge his attacks with ease. Instead of outright overpowering him, and annoying him even more, she purposely took a few spells to the chest and made him feel better, which left him open to her devastating attacks as she used her weapon, a warglaive in the style of the Nightborne, to cut through Coryn's robes multiple times and draw his blood in the process.
Thanks to the combination of her training, her familiarity with the warglaive, and her opponent's anger, she was able to take out Coryn within a few minutes of their battle starting, to which Coryn insisted, to his dying breath, that he was framed before he collapsed. Lyra and Ly'leth returned to the Sanctum of Order and the elves cheered at Ly'leth's victory over Coryn, to which she teleported Trixie and Lyra back to the tavern so they could report to Thalyssra with the news of their success. As the two of them returned to Shal'Aran, however, they did so with their heads held high, because now the rebellion really stood a chance to topple Elisande and her demonic allies... and then they would be able to turn their attention to the Broken Shore and the Tomb of Sargeras, where they could finally save Azeroth from the Legion.
A week had passed since Lyra and Trixie helped Ly'leth conquer her opposing houses and take the advisor position that had appeared in Elisande's council, giving Thalyssra's rebellion the ability to gain more information than they would have if they let the position pass them by. After returning to Shal'Aran, and giving Thalyssra the good news, the duo was basically given some time off so they could relax and do whatever they wanted, where Trixie continued to study the various magical spells that the Nightborne used. Lyra, on the other hand, took to patrolling the area around the entrance of Shal'Aran and cut down the enemy patrols that happened to in the area of their hideout, knowing that sooner or later one of them would bypass her searches and find what they were looking for.
The week off basically gave Lyra the time to really think about what they had been doing since they arrived in Suramar and brought her to one conclusion; while they were going good deeds in helping Thalyssra and her rebellion, by saving the poor civilians that were suffering, they weren't getting closer to Gul'dan, who was getting ever so closer to completing whatever foul plan he had set in motion.
As the days passed Lyra noticed something interesting, more refugees moved into Shal'Aran so they could escape the tyranny of Elisande's forces, but what really caught her attention was that the Arcan'dor was growing larger and was looking more like an actual tree. Since it was connected to the leylines, where Lyra discovered that the other heroes had activated all of the other waystations that fed power into Shal'Aran, something terrible started to happen while she and Trixie were waiting in the area; arcane lightning started to branch off of the Arcan'dor, but fortunately nothing happened to anyone that was in this area. Even though Lyra wasn't a mage, and was used to the way the arcane magics worked, she knew that the Arcan'dor looked like it was in the early stages of detonating in a large explosion that could destroy the entirety of the rebellion's leadership... to which she and Trixie walked up to Farodin, as he was the only one with the answers to their questions.
Lyra silently swore that if this arcane tree, which was supposed to be good for everyone, was in the process of getting ready to kill everyone she was going to force Farodin to fix his mistake... before she bashed him for making such a stupid mistake and endangering so many people in the process.
"I see that you have seen the signs... the Arcan'dor is failing." Farodin stated, though at the same time Lyra growled as she stared at the elf, because she seriously hoped that he wasn't about to say what she was thinking about, "This energy was once bound in its boughs and fueled its growth. There was balance, between life and arcane. Now that energy is breaking free. When the heart can no longer hold it, this tree will kill every living thing in this hall. I have seen this happen before and I must find a way to stop it from happening again. We must go to the tree that came before. Its bones can guide us. Meet me at the temple of Fal'adora. We will descend together."
Before Lyra could say anything, and declare that literally everyone on Azeroth seemed to be insane in one way or another, Farodin excused himself and walked over to the teleport station, where he returned to the temple they had found earlier, when they were saving the seed that became the Arcan'dor.
"I'm getting sick and tired of this," Lyra said, to which she noticed Trixie turn her attention towards her, where she beckoned to the Arcan'dor for a few seconds with a frown on her face, "He told us to plant that seed in Shal'Aran, knowing full well that when it reached a certain point of maturity that it was going to kill everyone in this hall once it's heart can no longer hold the energy that's around us. I am getting tired of hearing that people knew something was going to happen ahead of time and do nothing to try and prevent the future from happening... this is just a repeat of Ysera's mistakes."
Trixie knew that Lyra hated people like Ysera and Farodin, who knew that something terrible was going to happen and didn't warn anyone about it, but she had her fair share of people like that in the past and had grown used to them. All she could really do at the moment was make sure that Lyra didn't do anything stupid when they met up with Farodin, because the last thing they needed was the death of the one person that could help them stop this madness. A few moments later the two of them walked over to where the portals were resting and found the one that would take them back to the temple of Fal'adora... where they walked through it and found Farodin standing off to their left, though he appeared to be staring at the wall they had walked through after claiming the seed some time ago.
"I must find a way..." Farodin commented, though at the same time Trixie detected that he seemed distracted, as if he was remembering what had happened the first time an Arcan'dor failed and was trying to figure it out without stepping foot in the ruins of the first arcane tree.
"Farodin, just tell us what we need to do to make sure that the Arcan'dor becomes stable once more," Trixie said, though she only hoped that Farodin actually had a plan, otherwise she was sure that Lyra was going to beat the elf up until he gave her something to work with.
"In the hall beyond rests the bones of the failed Arcan'dor." Farodin stated, as if he was remembering that they were there, to which he let out a sigh as he stared at the area in front of them and focused on the hole they would be walking through in the next few seconds, "I will take fragments of the crystallized tree and attempt to read them. We must discover the root cause of this destruction. Only then do we have any hope of preventing this disaster from repeating itself."
"That makes sense," Lyra said, as she was certain that reading the fragments of the first tree would give them some insight as to how to prevent it from happening a second time, though that was when something else came to mind, "What should we do about the creatures that are guarding the failed Arcan'dor? I'm assuming you want us to clear some of them out while we're in there?"
"Long have I walked this land and I have seen many forms of corruption." Farodin replied, though Lyra wasn't exactly how many types of corruption there actually were in this world, as she had encountered a few over the years and knew that she likely hadn't seem them all yet, "The creatures that wander this hall are twisted by the magics unleashed by the failed Arcan'dor. These dryads have lost their way, and cannot be saved. You must destroy them. End their suffering."
Lyra nodded and walked forward with Trixie, though they soon discovered that Farodin clearly didn't want to see what he had seen the last time they had been in this place, to which they decided to leave him behind at the portal and told him that they would be back once his objectives had been taken care of. The two of them entered the tunnel they had walked through earlier, back when they were securing the seed that would become the Arcan'dor, and only came to a stop when they had a clear view of their enemies and the crystallized fragments that they needed to collect.
"So, how many fragments should we collect?" Lyra asked, though at the same time she pulled out the Twinblades and prepared herself, because she knew that the moment they started collecting the items they needed the corrupted dryads would converge on where they were standing.
"I'm thinking between five to ten good fragments," Trixie replied, though she was thankful that Lyra hadn't tried to kill Farodin yet, because they truly needed his experience at this point in time, but she said nothing about that and watched as Lyra nodded her head in understanding.
As Trixie started collecting the best crystalline fragments that she could find, where she was pleased to discover that there was a decent assortment of sizes and thicknesses scattered everywhere, the corrupted dryads came for her so they could stop her from taking what they had been guarding. Fortunately it appeared that they weren't paying too much attention to who was around them, as Lyra surprised them and started hacking them apart, where she avoided incoming attacks and dealt her own in hind, so she could stem the tide of foes. Trixie, seeing enemies coming at her from the front, did what any mage would do in this situation, she snapped her fingers and encased her foes in ice, where she either attacked them with the arcane and killed them, or simply left them there so Lyra could finish them off when she was free to do so.
Fortunately it didn't take them a long time to find the necessary amount of fragments that would allow Farodin to determine what they needed to do next, nor did it take a long time to cut down all of the corrupted dryads that were in the area, since they were coming at the duo for taking even a single crystalline fragment... but eventually their enemies stopped coming and they were allowed to return to where Farodin was standing.
"We collected enough fragments, so you'll be busy for the next few hours at least," Trixie said, to which she pulled out the package of crystalline fragments she and Lyra and been collecting, before she offered them to Farodin with a soft smile on her face, "we also took care of the dryads, so you won't have to worry about them anymore."
"I will study these carefully. If we are fortunate, there will be answers." Farodin replied, to which he took the package of fragments and stared at them, where Lyra and Trixie could tell that he wasn't sure if he could find the answers, before he remembered what else Trixie had told him, "And thank you. This place will never recover, but their madness need not harm others. I hope you two have a better understanding of what is at stake. Come. There is no more for us to do here. Meet me in Shal'aran and we will discuss what steps we may take next."
Lyra and Trixie stared at each other as they teleported back to Shal'Aran, where they simply stared at the magic that was gathered around the Arcan'dor and knew that if they didn't stabilize it soon it would detonate, twisting everyone in some manner that would drive them to a new level of madness... and leave Suramar in the Legion's hands.
Since they had only just returned they knew that it was impossible for Farodin to know anything, or even have a vague idea on how to save the Arcan'dor and their rebellion, Lyra and Trixie were forced to wait for something to happen while Farodin did his research on the fragments they collected. While they were waiting Thalyssra approached them with what appeared to be one of the branches that came from the Arcan'dor, though it looked like it naturally fell off instead of someone breaking it off.
"You, and your allies, have used the spellstone of Kel'danath to soothe countless withered." Thalyssra said, though while this was the first that Lyra and Trixie had heard of someone else using the spellstone, to soothe more of the withered, neither of them said anything as Thalyssra spoke, "Yet it contains merely a shade of the Arcan'dor's power, drawn from it's slumbering seed. This fell from the tree. Though it is severed, it is not dead - invisible threads of magic bind all pieces of the Arcan'dor together. I have enchanted this branch with a new iteration of Kel'danath's charm spell. With it, you and your allies can mend the arcane essence of even more withered. Use it well."
Trixie stared at the white branch, with the spellstone at the top, for a few seconds before she decided to test it out, to which she and some of the other heroes headed towards Ambervale, as the heroes had some decent areas where they could hit multiple withered at the same time. Fortunately there was a group of withered that happened to be gathering around a poor fox that was empowered by the mana energy that the withered, and the Nightborne, fed off of, where Trixie noticed that the withered were feasting on the fox's body. Since they were distracted Trixie held the Arcan'dor branch out and channeled the new power that it contained, though once a few seconds passed she waved her arm and the magic enveloped the group of withered... calming them down and causing them to make their way back to Shal'Aran, where they would join the rest of the other withered that had been rescued so far.
With the deed done, and the new abilities of the Arcan'dor branch tested, Trixie and her fellow heroes returned to Shal'Aran with all the haste that they could, because it was unwise to remain out in the open when they were enemies of Elisande... though when they arrived Trixie noticed that Farodin had, against all odds, already discovered something that might help them save the Arcan'dor, along with their allies.
"This Arcan'dor is one of an ancient species." Farodin said, waving a hand towards the arcane tree, while at the same time avoiding the magical lightning that was still emitting from it, "They were not bred, but created. In them the arcane and primitive druidic magics merged into something greater than both. The arcane will soon devour it whole. We can restore balance, but it will require wild magic. Magic trapped in another realm. You must enter the Emerald Dream... the pure, unsullied vision of Azeroth... and bring back the essence of life itself. Only then can the Arcan'dor find stability and begin to thrive once more."
"But the Emerald Dream has been transformed into the Emerald Nightmare!" one of the druids said, as Bloodclaw had seen what Xavius had done to the great tree that rested in Val'sharah and knew that the Dream was sullied by his mere presence, "It will be impossible to get something like that..."
"No, it's not impossible." Lyra declared, though at the same time she chuckled as she turned towards the assembled heroes, who were looking at her like she had lost her mind, "The greatest heroes, of both the Horde and the Alliance, have taken on the might of multiple Elemental Lords, dethroned the Lich King, destroyed Deathwing, stopped the near destruction of Pandaria by killing the seven Sha, took out three Old Gods, and killed Archimonde the Defiler. Sure, Xavius has a host of corrupted druids and at least two demigods backing him, but all of you have overcome threats that have been worse than him in the past.
Trixie, sound the drums of war and sent word to the rest of the heroes, and I mean all of them, to meet us in Val'sharah with all the haste they can muster... we've got a Nightmare Lord to kill!"
Lyra, as well as the other heroes that had been helping Thalyssra in Suramar for the last two weeks, stood in the center of Lorlathil as the remaining heroes of both the Alliance and the Horde, all of them Lyra mentally reflected, flew in on every mount that the Dalaran flightmaster could provide them with. Lyra was pleased to see that everyone was coming, because the threat this time around was the Nightmare Lord known as Xavius, who was no doubt serving the fourth Old God, N'Zoth from what she heard. She honestly wasn't surprised to hear that there was a fourth Old God, especially since Trixie mentioned the other three she had fought, but with this force of heroes gathering around them, preparing for total war with the forces of the Emerald Nightmare, she couldn't help but smile.
She already knew that Xavius was going to fall and that there was nothing he could do to stop their army from laying waste to his forces, though they only had to wait for the rest of the heroes to arrive before they departed for the entrance of the Emerald Nightmare, which the druids had found some time ago... though they had to thank Malfurion, who had been rescued while Lyra and Trixie were hunting for Maiev, for helping them find the entrance in the end.
Since they were using Lorlathil as their base for the moment, to make sure everyone had enough supplies, potions, and all the essentials necessary for such a large fight, she had seen Lord Illidan's brother walk around with a serious look on his face. She could tell that he might not approve of the fact that a small army was gathering in what might actually be the place of his birth, but at the same time it was the closest place for them to gather without Xavius' forces knowing that they were even gathering their strength. At the same time, however, Malfurion shot her several disapproving glances, indicating that he didn't trust her as much as his 'corrupted' brother did... which only reminded Lyra of Malfurion's wife, the priestess Tyrande, and her attitude towards Lyra when she was only trying to help.
As far as Lyra cared Malfurion and Tyrande were a perfect match for each other and clearly didn't care for people like her, along with the other Illidari, and only tolerated her presence because she might be useful... or, as Tyrande believed, she was Trixie's familiar and would do what the dragon hybrid Equestrian would asked her to do.
Lyra heard the sounds of wings flapping and turned towards the sky, where she saw a blue dragon fly towards the village and landed nearby, where a male blood elf and a female troll climbed off the dragon and walked in the direction of the other heroes. Lyra stared at the dragon for a few minutes and raised an eyebrow, where the dragon smiled and was surrounded by arcane energy, to which Trixie, in all her hybrid glory, replaced the dragon and walked forward as her staff reappeared in her hand once more. Lyra had to admit that Trixie's hybrid form made her that much more intimidating than what she already was, because the power boost the transformation gave her made her one of the strongest mages in all of Azeroth... putting her in the leagues of Khadgar, her mentor, and even the great Medivh according to some of the other mages she had overheard earlier.
In Equus, however, Lyra knew that she and Trixie had the power to challenge Princess Celestia and Princess Luna if they so desired, as that was the level of their power now, but at the same time they had no desire for conquest... they only cared about saving Azeroth from Sargeras and his terrible Burning Legion.
"So, did everyone else arrive while I was gone?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she was pleased to find so many of her guild mates standing nearby, because this was going to be like old times and she knew that they needed the help of the Celestial Dragons in order to defeat everything that Xavius threw at them... as well as the aid of the heroes from the Horde, considering that they were fighting a minion of an Old God.
"Yeah, they all arrived when they said they would," Lyra said, though at the same time she jerked her thumb towards the entrance of the inn for a moment, indicating that there was something that Trixie needed to see, "and, as an added bonus, a friend of ours is coming to help us."
Trixie turned towards the inn's entrance and watched as Azuregos, who she could have sworn went back to the Nexus Vault to be sure that the relics were secure, but at the same time she was glad to see that the disguised dragon had come to lend them his aid, especially since he had fought Xavius' forces the last time they all visited Val'sharah. Azuregos might not carry an artifact of power, like all of the other heroes, but he was one of the strongest living blue dragons in the entirety of Azeroth. Trixie would have been a fool to refuse his aid, to which she smiled at her old friend, who returned the smile and walked up to her, where they stood together and stared at the rest of their forces, because there would be time for them to catch up once Xavius was dead and the Arcan'dor was saved.
Lyra mentally chuckled to herself for a few more seconds, because she always believed that Trixie and Azuregos looked cute together, before Landan Nash, the leader of the Celestia Dragons and one of the strongest Paladins around since the passing of Tirion Fordring perished, stepped forward and called for everyone's attention. What followed next was a short speech about how they had gathered together, while putting aside their differences for the moment, to combat an enemy that had been causing havoc since he revealed himself and would continue to be a thorn in their side if they chose to focus their attention on fighting the Legion. He said that they would follow Malfurion to the entrance of the Emerald Nightmare, where they would do battle with the forces that Xavius put in place to be sure that he was undisturbed while he attempted to take over all of Azeroth from within the Emerald Dream.
Once Landan finished his speech, however, everyone called for their mounts and followed after Malfurion, who told them earlier that they would have to go through the ruined village of Shala'nir before they would arrive at the entrance of the Emerald Nightmare... where they rode up the path, passed by the Temple of Elune, and used the path that Tyrande had used to leave Shala'nir to arrive at the entrance. The instant they arrived the heroes dismounted and made sure that their mounts would be waiting for them when they returned, to which they all carefully drew their weapons and entered the swirling magical portal that would take them to the first guardian of the Emerald Nightmare. When they appeared on the other side of the portal, however, they found themselves in what appeared to be the base of the corrupted World Tree... and, after ascending the path in front of them, they found the first guardian that stood between them and their target.
Lyra gazed at the large dragon that was sleeping in front of them, one that appeared to be as large as Trixie was when she transformed, though this particular dragon appeared to have been corrupted by the Nightmare, as it looked sick and twisted, which meant that it's powers must have been twisted as well. Malfurion let out a sigh as he gazed upon the dragon, indicating that he knew it somewhat, and said that the dragon was called Nythendra, before saying that he had to press on without them so he could focus his efforts on something else. He then turned into a bird and flew to the top of the tree, where Lyra and the others had to simply fight their way through this area, because if they asked Trixie and Azuregos to do it the task would take too long.
The decaying globs that happened to be resting in front of Nythendra were relatively easy to get rid of, as long as they focused on one of them at a time instead of fighting multiple globs, but the moment the last glob was slain Nythendra awoke from her slumber and attacked them.
The tanks of the group, with Allvar and Monoskah, led the charge and took up the majority of Nythendra's attention, while the other tank level heroes made sure that they did nothing to change who her target was unless they were told to do so by someone else. Maraa and the other healers spread out and made absolutely sure that everyone received some healing when they needed it, while Lyra and the other damage dealers also spread out to avoid damaging others when an attack was directed at them. For the most part Nythendra's first set of attacks seemed to be her raking her claws at whoever was closest to her, namely the tanks, while at the same time spitting small poisonous globs at the damage dealers that made the healers take care of them... while also adding in a rotting attack that made those afflicted by it run to the outskirts of the arena to dispose of the rot where no one would be hurt.
As Lyra hacked and slashed into Nythendra's leg, and occasionally used her Eye Beam to deal additional damage, she also noticed that the dragon would occasionally target someone that wasn't any of the tanks and breathed a rotting breath attack in the direction she was facing, forcing everyone to move so they could avoid it.
Nythendra seemed to move through the same movements for the next minute or two, where she tried to kill them by clawing at them or poisoning them or infecting them with rot that they needed to drop, and the heroes kept their guards up for any surprise attacks while they continued to deal damage to their opponent. After a minute had passed Nythendra collapsed on the ground for a moment, acting like she had gone still, but that was followed by disease carrying insects appearing around the arena. The heroes divided themselves and focused their individual group efforts on taking out the various insects that Nythendra apparently summoned, as when the last one fell to the ground she called the infected arenas back into her body, cleaning the ground while pulling herself back up, and continued the fight as if nothing had actually happened.
From there it really became a repetition of Nythendra's abilities, as she constantly reused the same attacks that everyone was starting to learn how to avoid, people were disposing of the infection before it could actually hurt anyone, and the breath attack just missed everyone as they moved out of the way. Even the insect summoning trick she did had absolutely no effect on all of them, as they simply repeated what they did the first time around and defeated them all with the same level of ease... before they truly toppled Nythendra and caused her to fall to the ground, where she stopped moving and passed on, allowing her spirit to be free from the Nightmare while her body rotted away. Despite the fact that the battle seemed easy, and in a sense it really was considering that Xavius put a weak guardian to defend the front gate of his lair, Lyra and the other heroes took a few moments to catch their breath and get some energy back before they bothered to ascend the pathway that rested behind Nythendra's corpse.
As they walked up the path that they had discovered they encountered corrupt druids, corrupt dryads, vile swamp creatures, and even creatures that lurked in the shadows, only to pop out when someone entered the mist that they happened to be hiding in. The battle to the summit of the World Tree, where Malfurion was waiting for them, was a long one, because Xavius put a good amount of pawns in their way, meaning that when they eventually reached the summit they would have to pause for another break before they picked the path that would take them to their next opponent. Lyra remembered what Trixie had told her after they first reunited with each other, about these 'raid' like areas where their skills were tested and that they had to take breaks to avoid being wiped out, though she was getting her first taste of what her friend had been going through for the last couple of years.
When they finally reached the top they found Malfurion trying to open the way to Moonglade, but first he told them that they would have to break the powers that were arrayed against him and that the large group would have to deal with the four creatures that were behind the four portals around them. Lyra found that, while the group rested and regained their energy, that the druids could tell which portal led to which location, where they insisted on heading through the portal on their immediate right so they could head to the Un'Goro Crater, because something sinister resided in that area and they would feel better if they removed it first. The tanks conversed for a few moments, determining the threat level behind every portal and how best to tackle the situation, before they agreed that Un'Goro Crater would be the idea choice... though once everyone had their energy back they got onto their feet and headed into the portal.
When Lyra stepped out on the other side of the portal, however, she found herself standing in what had to be some sort of forest or jungle like area, though at the same time she could see the signs of corruption due to the massive vines that rested everywhere... as well as the nightmarish looking tree that was in the middle of the area they were in, where several members of their group whispered something about the Old Gods.
Lyra had no idea what was going on, but instead of playing around she and the rest of the group headed down the path that was in front of them, fought off the corrupted dinosaurs that were all around them, and came to a stop in front of the tree, where they found an eyeball staring at them while two sinister tentacles, small ones, rested near it. Malfurion's voice whispered to them that this was Il'gynoth, a manifestation of the horrors that rested in the heart of the Nightmare, and that they should dispose of it quickly. Lyra had the feeling that, since Xavius was linked to an Old God and he was corrupting the Emerald Dream into the Emerald Nightmare, that Il'gynoth was also a small manifestation of the monster that Xavius actually served.
As the tanks started the battle, causing Il'gynoth to summon vines to prevent them from leaving the arena they were in, Lyra discovered that actually hitting the eye that was staring at them did absolutely nothing, to which she and the majority of her group turned towards the tentacles. When the tentacles were killed, however, they spawned some dangerous looking globs that targeted a single person, who seemed to know that they were being targeted and moved away from them, though that was when Lyra got the idea to use the dangerous, and explosive, globs on the eye. As it turned out the eye, and the vines surrounding it, withered in agony when such a thing happened, though the creature also summoned more tentacles to deal with them, as well as a swamp creature as well... though when that was cut down several globs dropped into the arena and hunted down their targets.
While Lyra was pleased that she and the others had to think about this fight, as damaging the globs was what made them explode and damaging them too much, before they were in place, hurt their group, the fight was extremely slow because Il'gynoth appeared to be able to take a great deal of damage before something else happened... while at the same time Lyra, and some of the other heroes, heard Il'gynoth whisper nonsense to them, which was it's attempt to corrupt them before they ended the corruption's existence.
It took some time, effort, and a lot of dead explosive globs, but eventually something good happened for the group, as when the eye appeared to take too much damage it withered away and revealed the heart of the corruption, to which everyone charged into the hollowed core and started using all of their best moves on the strange shaped heart. After a few moments the hollowed core vibrated, causing them all to run out of the area before something happened, to which the eye reformed after the last person left the core and prevented them from hurting the heart again. From there the group had to play the same game again, killing the tentacles and swamp monsters when they showed up, bringing the globs towards the eye so they could damage it when they exploded, and avoiding the attacks that the eye loosed at them every now and then... before they exposed the heart again and charged into the hollowed core once more.
This time around they dealt enough damage to the heart that it withered and died on them, to which the heroes cheered for a few seconds before they retraced their steps to the portal they walked through and returned to the summit of the World Tree... where they found Malfurion hard at work still, though this time around it appeared that his task was slightly easier, indicating that removing the foes that were arrayed against him was the right thing to do at the moment.
After the group spent a few more minutes resting from their ordeal, and the healers made sure that everyone was fully healed from fighting Il'gynoth, the entire group got back on their feet and headed towards the next portal that the tanks had decided on going through... where they stepped out into an area that Lyra knew as Mulgore, as Trixie had told her about this place. They carefully followed the path in front of them and dealt with the enemies that were in front of them, which ended up being spider that had been corrupted by the Nightmare and transformed into more sinister looking versions of what they had been earlier. Of course since Xavius was in control of this entire place there were quite a fair amount of the corrupted spiders that they had to take care of before the boss of this area engaged them, which Malfurion explained was the spirit of a dead druid called Elerethe.
When they finally killed the last of the spiders, however, a much larger corrupted spider, which appeared to be slightly human like in some manner, dropped down and attacked them, which meant that this had to be Elerethe and that this was an unnatural form Xavius had forced upon her spirit.
As the battle started Elerethe called upon more of the spiders that were hanging in the webs above them, meaning that she was calling upon reinforcements despite the fact that the battle had literally just started, while at the same time forcing some of the tanks and damage dealers to focus on them while the majority focused on Elerethe. As people moved around the area, however, some of them were targeted with poison, where they had to run a little further and drop the poison in an area where no one was, thus preventing their allies from being hurt. After a few moments of the group fighting the spiders Elerethe fled back towards the roof of the area and patiently waited for all of the spiders to be defeated, though when that happened she returned to the area and attacked them with a vengeance.
At one point Elerethe shifted her form and took on the appearance of a large bird that could walk on two legs while using it's wings and beak to attack them, but instead of doing that immediately she spread her wings and flew to another part of the area, forcing the group to follow after her.
When Elerethe landed she started attacking the first people that approached her, which happened to be the tanks, while at the same time everyone else approached her from behind and continued their assault, where they noticed that she was summoning purple gusts of wind around all three parts of the area in an attempt to hurt them all. Elerethe also swung her wings and threw painful feathers at the assembled group, though while the majority of the heroes dodged the attack some got hit, forcing the healers to turn towards them and heal their wounds before they resumed the fight. From that point forward Elerethe continued to attack in the same manner, where she used her wings and beak to attack them for the most part and occasionally used the painful feathers when she determined that the tanks weren't paying attention to what she was doing.
After a point, where it was clear that Elerethe was drawing close to being defeat, she shifted back to her spider form and tried to kill them all again, but in the end her repeated attacks were easy to read and the group toppled her to the ground... winning the fight while at the same time hopefully setting the remains of her spirit free. As they walked back towards the portal that would take them to the summit Lyra knew that she and the others were going to punish Xavius for what he had done... they only needed to get passed three more creatures before they reached his lair, and then they would take care of the Nightmare Lord.
Lyra, Trixie, and the rest of their band of heroes sat around Malfurion, resting from their fight with Elerethe and the other guardians they had taken out so far, because they knew that the remaining guardians were waiting for them and that they would need their full power to deal with them. As they rested their ally told them the names of the remaining guardians, as they were Ursoc, the Bear God, the four Dragons of Nightmare, so named Ysondre, Emeriss, Lethon, and Taerer, and finally Cenarius, who had been taken by Xavius while Lyra and Trixie were trying to recover the Tears of Elune. Lyra knew that they might be in trouble, since they would be fighting a demigod, four of the strongest dragons to ever guard the Emerald Dream, and the father of all druids... and that was what was standing between them and the Nightmare Lord himself.
It was in that moment that Lyra truly understood what Trixie had been going through since she had arrived on Azeroth, because she had gone through her fair share of dungeon and raid areas and had taken out a good majority of the enemies that could have brought ruin to this world.
"So, who do we take out first?" Lyra asked, because she knew that Trixie and the others were more experienced at this sort of thing than she was, which meant that she needed their guidance to be sure that they were on the right track.
"Well, since I'm sure that the portal to Cenarius is what Malfurion is trying to unlock, we only have two options left to choose from," Trixie replied, to which she waved a hand towards the two remaining portals that they hadn't gone through yet, knowing that they were tired to important places for the druids, "Personally I would pick Ursoc, to get the most challenging of the two out of the way, while others would suggest taking the Dragons of Nightmare out, as it should be somewhat easy to separate into four evenly numbered groups to take the four corrupted dragons out. You'll just have to wait and see what the commanders of this group decide on... once they have recovered their energy anyway."
Lyra nodded her head and noticed that the leaders of the group had finished deciding which of the two remaining portals they should enter first, to which they called for everyone to get up and started towards the portal that brought them to a place called Grizzly Hills. From what Lyra knew this place was located in Northrend, the northern continent of the world, but at the same time the Emerald Nightmare version was apparently different from the real world version, at least according to Trixie it was. It appeared that their opponents this time around, the lesser ones that needed to be removed before they reached their target, were bear like creatures that could stand on two legs, corrupted totems, Nightmare tentacles, and angry eagles that had to be under Xavius' control. Instead of going overboard and pulling two groups at the same time, which might kill some of them, the tanks targeted one group of enemies and focused on them until they were wiped out, before they moved onto the next batch of foes.
The tanks took their time in making sure that they took out all of the corrupted enemies that were in front of them, because they could easily pull a group that they left behind if they weren't careful, to which Lyra and Trixie helped them fight their way up the hill in front of them and then back down it... where they entered an opening on their left and came to a large nest for a large Nightmare corrupted bear, who had to be Ursoc if the looks on the druids' faces was anything to go by.
"You should have fled," Ursoc growled, surprising Lyra by the fact that he was actually talking while under the effects of the Nightmare, but that meant that they were in for one heck of a fight, "Now I'll feed your bones to the storm crows!"
When the battle started the tanks stood the closest to Ursoc, so they could take the majority of his attacks, while the melee damage dealers stood near him and made sure to do everything in their power to hurt the massive bear before he could really hurt someone. Trixie and the other ranged damage dealers, as well as the healers, stood further away and spread out, because in the off chance that Ursoc charged at them he would only hurt one or two of them and not severely hurt some of them. Not a few seconds later the bear seemed to target someone, one of the hunters that were standing away from everyone else and was firing bullets from his gun, as Ursoc charged forward and slammed into the hunter, knocking him to the ground, before returning to where he had been standing earlier. Once that was done Ursoc went back to clawing at the targets that were around him, though one thing Lyra noticed was that one of the tanks purposely allowed Ursoc to shatter their defenses while another took the damage from Ursoc's claws.
As they fought Lyra noticed that Ursoc had the exact same attack patterns, as he would target someone and barrel into them, where if more people actually stood in front of the attack they all sustained less damage than if someone took the full attack, and he constantly switched between tanks with his damaging attacks. It was, in her mind, deceptively easy and that made her wonder if she and the others were overlooking something important, as it shouldn't be this easy to battle and take down a powerful demigod, especially when he was empowered by the Nightmare. Her thoughts were proven right when Ursoc charged forward and an unsuspecting rogue and flattered the female blood elf against the ground, where she stopped moving and expired... causing Lyra to understand that they were still fighting for their lives, because one wrong move meant that they were dead, which only aided the Legion.
It took them a few minutes to get the rotation of Ursoc's attacks down, where he severely hurt several of their group members, but in the end the raid group toppled the Bear God and caused him to fall to the floor... where he eventually stopped moving. Lyra, according to what she knew from the druids, knew that it was really hard to kill a demigod, as killing their body made their spirit reform somewhere, which meant that Ursoc would reform somewhere, meaning that they needed to kill Xavius before that happened. At the same time, however, she saw a few of the healers gathering around the wounded and mending their wounds, while Maraa, on the other hand, walked over to where the dead rogue was and surrounded her body with her healing light. Lyra wanted to take a step forward and tell the draenei that it was hopeless, as dead was dead, but Trixie rested a hand on her shoulder and shook her head, indicating that this was something that she needed to see with her own eyes... where she watched as Maraa waved her staff, cast the spell she was forming, and let the light gather around the corpse.
A few seconds later, however, Lyra watched as the rogue carefully got up and thanked Maraa as she stretched her arms, as being dead made her joints lock up for a few seconds... though before Lyra would ask what was going on Lyra told her that it was possible for healers to resurrect someone in such a manner and then told her that she didn't need to worry about it.
Once everyone was rested, and Lyra had gotten over the fact that there were people with the power to bring back the dead until they were truly supposed to die, the raid group retraced their steps towards the portal and returned to Malfurion, where they headed through the final portal that they needed to access. Lyra had to wonder what the Dragons of Nightmare would do, since they were the powerful guardians of the Emerald Dream, but at the same time she was pleased to find that their hard work was paying off, as the shield that Malfurion was fighting against was nearly broken. When they stepped through the portal, however, she found that the creatures standing in front of where the dragons were waiting was a large group of corrupted dryads, which would be easy to deal with considering that they had fought some on their way to this point... though when their enemies were taken care of they entered a large area and engaged a small corrupted dragon for a few seconds, but it fell under the intensity of their power.
As the lot of them spread out, so they could survey their opponents Azuregos noticed which of the two dragons were on the ground, as the main fights, and which two were in the air, as support for the first pair, though at the same time he smiled as Trixie nodded her understanding.
"It appears that Ysondre and Taerer intend to stay on the ground and fight us here," Trixie said, to which she started to undo the bindings on her true form, though as her right arm shifted into a dragon's arm everyone backed away and gave her, and Azuregos, some space, "Azuregos and I will make sure that Emeriss and Lethon are preoccupied, so that don't interfere with your fight... though something tells me that they won't be expecting this."
Before Lyra could say anything the two transformed into their blue dragon forms and took to the sky, where they separated from each other and barreled into their chosen targets, creating an aerial dragon battle in the air above where the remaining two Dragons of Nightmare were standing. Once the sky battle started half of the tanks rushed over to where Ysondre was standing and claimed her attention while the remaining half forced Taerer to target them, effectively forcing the two dragons apart from each other while the damage dealers and healers did the same thing. Lyra, on the other hand, decided to help take out Ysondre, as in her eyes that dragon was more deadly than the other one, while at the same time she hoped that these dragons put up more of a fight than Nythandra did.
One thing that Lyra noticed right off the back was that Ysondre, as well as Taerer, had an ability that made Lyra and the others manifest markings of some kind on the backs of their gloves, though something told her that allowing them to accumulate was a bad idea. The tanks seemed aware of this and focused on the dragons in front of them, leaving her to wonder if the sky dragons had the same ability as well, before she turned back to Ysondre and continued slashing into the dragon's side. As the battle progressed both Ysondre and Taerer called forth corrupted treants to battle their enemies while at the same time breathing their corrupted breath on their targets, forcing some of the damage dealers to change who their target was and deal with the treants before turning back towards their dragon. When the number of markings on her glove reached six, which she assumed everyone else had, the tanks called for a switch, to which the entire group that was fighting Ysondre charged at Taerer and the group that was fighting Taerer charged at Ysondre... even Trixie and Azuregos exchanged opponents as well.
Lyra noticed that the mark that Ysondre had given her group had been exchanged with Taerer's mark, though it started at one and didn't build on the six that she originally had, which had disappeared the moment her group changed which dragon they were fighting.
The rest of the battle proceeded in a similar fashion, where the tanks carefully counted the number of marks they had on their gloves as the battles progressed, as the number was the same between the two groups, while at the same time dodging attacks and dealing damage in kind. When they reached the same number of markings, sometimes even allowing the number to reach eight at times, the two groups would switch dragons and continue the battle, while at the same time Trixie and Azuregos would do the same in the air. While she fought whatever dragon she was supposed to be fighting Lyra couldn't help but notice that Trixie was doing a good job of avoiding attacks, raking her claws into her opponent's back or chest, and loosing blasts that damaged whoever she was fighting... almost as if she had been put in the wrong body when she had been born back on Equus, or, as she thought about it, maybe the dragon essence that had changed her was aiding her in ways they didn't even know about.
Eventually the ground battle came to an end as both groups toppled Ysondre and Taerer, though that was followed by Trixie crushing one of the air dragons, Emeriss if Lyra was right, into the ground before blasting the dragon with an intense blast of energy while Azuregos did the same to Lethon... before the two of them landed, reverted back to their normal forms, and rejoined the group.
"Remind me never to piss you off," Lyra commented, because while she was the more terrifying one, being able to transform into a demon and empower herself with Dark Magic, Trixie's sheer magical power was on the same level as her best abilities, maybe even a tiny bit greater.
Trixie, on the other hand, simply smiled as she and Azuregos followed the group back to the summit of the World Tree, where they found that Malfurion had finally broken through the barrier and opened the portal to the Emerald Dream's version of Moonglade... where Cenarius, and something called the Rift of Aln, waited for them.
The Moonglade they came to seemed to be the least corrupted out of all the regions they had encountered so far, or at least it appeared to be that way to the druids, but at the same time Lyra spotted a mass of corrupted vines gathering around a lake, where she felt something that made her heart beat a tad bit faster. Even from where they were standing she could see Cenarius, corrupted by the Nightmare, either empowering the Rift of Aln or trying to open it in some manner that would make Xavius even more powerful than he already was. The enemies guardian Cenarius were all corrupted druids, which the tanks gathered together and started smashing the moment they realized what was going on, while at the same time Lyra's attention remained on Cenarius. For a moment Lyra wondered if the sinister feeling that was coming from the Rift of Aln was actually Xavius or his even fouler master, the Old God known as N'Zoth... though she had no idea if they could defeat such a creature, since it appeared to be the last of the terrifying Old Gods that had been locked away by the now dead Titans.
It didn't take them long to reach the corrupted land that Cenarius was standing on, though when he realized that he had guests he stopped what he was doing and turned to face them all... to which the raid group, backed by Malfurion, charged into battle as Cenarius did the same.
The instant the battle started Cenarius weaved his energy into the surrounding area and started calling forth creatures that were corrupted by the Nightmare, which included the soul like wisps of the night elves, more treants, and a few small drakes. While this happened Malfurion used his own power to summon a zone of energy that would protect the raid group from the corruption, though they had to enter the area to receive this blessing, though some of the group immediately broke away to deal with the creatures that were entering the area. Cenarius also eventually threw some sort of curse upon a select number of heroes, who had to retreat to the safe area that Malfurion created to heal themselves, while at the same time decreasing the size of the healing zone until it was completely used up... forcing Malfurion to create another one while the heroes fought Cenarius.
As the battle repeated in a familiar cycle, something that Lyra was beginning to notice that each raid level boss went through, Cenarius continued to expand energy calling in more reinforcement, forcing some of the heroes to kill the corrupted enemies before they fully joined the fight and caused havoc on their forces. Malfurion constantly summoned near areas for them to purge themselves of whatever curse was thrown at them while at the same time calling forth his own treants to battle some of the creatures that his mentor summoned. Cenarius also called forth moving shrubs of thorns that trapped people and hurt them at the same time, causing the healers to make sure that their friends were healed back to health as the battle wore on. To Lyra it was like two primal forces, that of Cenarius and Malfurion, were the real opponents of this match, pitting the purity of Nature against the corrupted Nightmare... while she and her friends did damage in whatever way they could, and she even busted out her demonic form, empowered by the Fel energies inside her, to help Malfurion win this fight.
Sure, she didn't much like Tyrande for treating her like Trixie's pet demon, but so far her only problem was Malfurion was that he blinded himself with rage and got himself captured... but at least the druids and their allies were able to save him before he became corrupted as well.
When at last they finally toppled the great Cenarius he fell to the floor and seemed to stop moving, but unlike the other enemies they had encountered he was still breathing, at least according to Malfurion anyway, who seemed pleased that they had stopped his mentor from doing anything reckless in his corrupted state. As the healers revived those that were killed during the fight, and healed the wounds of everyone else, Malfurion told the group that he would begin work on cleansing Cenarius' body of the corruption, how he did not specify. To Lyra, however, that meant that she and her companions would be fighting the Nightmare Lord without someone like Malfurion or Cenarius to back them... though as she thought about it she realized that they had to be playing into Xavius' hand again. Xavius had orchestrated the entirety of the events that plagued Val'sharah, corrupted enough people to make the army she and her companions had toppled, and had taken over some of the strongest protectors of the Dream to ever exist... which meant that he was still looking for something specific at this point in time.
Lyra really hoped that they weren't about to accidentally unleash the fourth Old God into the world, especially since the Legion was still a problem, but all they could do was hope that she was wrong... otherwise things were going to go from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.
While the raid rested from their ordeal of having to fight Cenarius, who was far stronger than some of them thought he would have been in his corrupted state, Lyra stood away from the others and stared at the portal she and her friends would be traveling through in the near future. The Rift of Aln stared back at her, reminding her that Xavius was lord of the Emerald Nightmare and that he served one of the four Old Gods that called Azeroth home, though each of them had attempted a takeover of the planet and had failed so far. N'Zoth, the last remaining Old God, hadn't revealed himself yet during the course of their invasion of the Emerald Nightmare, but that didn't mean that he wasn't there somewhere, waiting for them to mess up so he could begin his war with the Legion and the remaining heroes of Azeroth. She had no idea if Trixie was thinking the same thing that she was thinking, that this might be a trap they were walking into, but all they had to do was wait and see what happened when they engaged their opponent.
At the same time she could have sworn that she felt a familiar presence trying to get in touch with her for a few moments, a presence that reminded her of Ysera, to which she promptly ignored the feeling, because the last thing she needed was to be pissed off when she started the battle with Xavius.
When the raid was ready, and they were as prepared as they could be for the coming battle, the group gathered around the Rift of Aln and started jumping into the swirling portal, where Lyra and Trixie watched them for a few seconds before they joined them. What they discovered, however, was that their reality shifted on them almost immediately, because one second they were in the twisted Dream version of Moonglade and the next they were in a terrifying area that was dark and had some fog surrounding the area they landed in. Lyra already knew that enemies were lurking in the fog, as she could see their outlines, but at the same time she and the raid waited for everyone to show up, and make sure they were accounted for, before they did anything else. The moment they were ready Allvar charged into the fog and got the attention of one of the creatures that were lurking in the fog, where Lyra discovered that the first wave of enemies were the Faceless enemies Trixie had encountered in the past... only these three were twisted by the Nightmare and they summoned allies, twisted Nightmare globs with claws, to help them out.
The tanks gathered all of their enemies into one area before the raid focused on them, where Lyra found that while the Faceless were tougher than most of the enemies she had fought so far, save the demons of the Burning Legions, they were still susceptible to being cut apart and being hurt by the various fel attacks that she had. The Nightare globs were rather easy to take care of, as they got torn apart within a few seconds of the fight starting, though when the first Faceless fell to the ground and broke apart the ones that killed it turned towards the other two. That was rapidly followed by the remaining two Faceless joining their companion and their bodies disappeared, though at the same time Lyra knew that this was just Xavius wasting their energy in an attempt to make them even easier to take out, something that Trixie and the others agreed with.
Lyra gripped her warglaives as she prepared herself, because she was expecting a legion of corrupted enemies to come charging out at them, but she would gladly take out whatever came out of the fog and charged at them... though that was before three large creatures, made out of of the Nightmare itself, floated out and raced towards them.
As they fought these enemies, and the smaller globs that they summoned for allies, Lyra recalled that Trixie had told her about the various elemental Amalgamations she had fought over the years and knew that these could be dangerous in their own right, to which she kept her guard up as they fought their enemies. The Amalgamations clawed at whoever was in front of them and loosed small waves of Nightmare energy to deal damage to their targets, which were tactics Lyra, Trixie, and the others had to get used to before they started ripping their monstrous targets apart. Fortunately while the Amalgamations were strong they didn't actually kill anyone, once more confirming that Xavius was trying to tire them out before their fight, before the third wave of enemies, two Amalgamations and a Faceless, emerged from the fog and started the battle once more... where they were joined by an army of Nightmare globs and a few Nightmare tentacles.
Lyra growled as she, Trixie, Azuregos, and the others survived the onslaught of enemies that had been coming at them, though when the last one fell and crumpled into dust Lyra heard the sound of something larger coming and turned to face it... but she was not expecting to see a large monstrous version of Xavius walking towards them. Xavius appeared to be a giant satyr this time around, but this time he was bulkier than he had been earlier, his claws were larger, and he seemed to have a pained expression on his face, or what Lyra assumed was a pained expression.
"The Nightmare has corrupted dragons, gods, and legends," Xavius declared, telling the group that he fully believed in the power that his master had bestowed upon him and his forces, which they had crushed on their way to this location, before he prepared himself, "Your downfall will be simple and swift!"
It was in that moment that Xavius charged forward and collided with the tanks, who appeared to be his main target at the moment, but at the same time Lyra knew that he was coming for her and Trixie, as they had helped defeat part of his plans in Val'sharah and he was likely still sore over that fact. At the same time Lyra could feel the presence she had felt earlier return, meaning that if it was Ysera she was trying to help them combat the power that Xavius was using against them, meaning that the Nightmare Lord was actually trying to exhaust them to the point where they gave into the corruption in the air and joined his side, either corrupting the others or killing them while their back was turned. Even Xavius announced that Ysera's spirit was there somewhere, as he shouted that she wouldn't be allowed to aid Lyra and her friends in this battle... and it appeared that the dragon was ignoring the Nightmare Lord, if the green aura around half the group was anything to go by.
Lyra, on the other hand, found a red aura lingering around her, indicating that Xavius was purposely aiming at her and wasn't letting Ysera get to her, though at the same time Lyra transformed into her demonic state and stared hacking at Xavius the moment she landed beside him.
Lyra also found more evidence suggesting that the Nightmare Lord was trying to take her out first, because when he summoned creatures to aid him they all targeted her, where some of the heroes branched off and helped her fight them off before they could do some serious damage to her. Xavius also threw sharp Nightmare empowered blades and hurt her in the process, though while it was light she could already tell that he was going for corruption, as she was starting to see some of the hallucinations that she knew the other corrupted druids and forest creatures saw when the Nightmare was cast upon them. Since this was going to ruin the battle Lyra focused on taking out anything and everything that might empower the corruption in those that weren't being aided by Ysera, who seemed to be ignoring Lyra the entire time, as if she didn't remember the end of their battle... which caused Lyra to sigh as she focused on her work.
After some point she started seeing massive Faceless Ones standing on the edge of the fighting area, or more like the upper parts of their body, and they slammed their fists into the ground every now and then, though she and the others could only move to the edge of each area the giants were attacking to take the least amount of damage possible. After some point Xavius, apparently not in pain from all the attacks he was taking, moved towards Lyra and struck her, seeing her flying into the darkness where the hallucinations struck her as well while Xavius swung at the heroes gathering around him again. Lyra, on the other hand, growled as she picked herself up off the ground and stared at her opponent, where she called her warglaives back to her with her magic and rejoined the fight... even though she knew that Xavius was trying to eliminate her first.
Despite her best efforts she and her companions were having a hard time beating Xavius, which made sense considering who was backing him, and eventually Xavius knocked her back into the darkness... though this time around she simply laid there as pain coursed throughout her body.
Lyra Heartstrings... never have I seen you like this before. a voice said, to which Lyra weakly looked to her right and found the spiritual form of Ysera floating beside her, while at the same time she sort of heard the sound of the battle raging in front of her, You are stronger than this... fight Xavius and save the world, just like you and Trixie promised yourselves when you first discovered what was trying to destroy this world.
I'm surprised that you even have any faith in me, Lyra commented in her mind, because she found it humorous that the spirit of Ysera, if it was really her and not a hallucination brought on my the corruption, was trying to get her to fight Xavius, but he's proven that he's stronger than me...
Do not doubt your power just yet. another voice said, to which Lyra slowly turned her head to the left and spotted the spirit of Lord Illidan standing over her, while at the same time draping a wing over her fallen form, I know that you are much stronger than this, if what you did to save Val'sharah is any indication. Stand up, Lyra Heartstrings, and call upon the power that you used to destroy several demons and stop the destruction of Elune's temple.
Lyra, not really sure whether or not she was actually talking with her mentor, groaned as she picked herself off the ground and faced where Xavius was standing, though this time around she left her warglaives behind as she focused on what she was about to do. She knew that Xavius had beaten her body, to prevent her from using her combination attack against him since it utterly ruined Ysera in their fight, but at the same time it appeared that she was going to have to risk even further damage this time around. She groaned as both the fel energy and the dark energy inside her woke up once more, though this time she was going to take this one step further and had her horn light up, as she intended to add her arcane energy to the mix. Trixie, the only person that could feel her usage of this technique, noticed what was she was doing and started calling people to abandon the fight, where several raid members pulled away so they didn't get caught in what she was about to do... where she also noticed that Ysera had thrown up a barrier to prevent the others from taking serious damage when this was over.
"In my right hand, I hold the power of the Legion's Fel energy," Lyra commented, to which she held her right hand to the side and a sphere of pure Fel energy appeared above her palm, while at the same time she pushed herself to stand despite what was happening, before extending her left hand out and a sphere of darkness appeared as well, "while in my left hand I hold the power of King Sombra's Dark Magic... and together they are merged together by my own magical energies, to spell your demise."
Xavius turned towards Lyra as the rest of her allies retreated to the barrier Ysera had created, though at the same time Lyra brought her hands together in front of her and combined the energies into a single sphere, where the ground shook in response to the energy she was generating. Lyra let the energy expand into a larger mass in front of her until a large sphere formed in front of her, while at the same time noticing that Xavius had called the Nightmare energy to be a barrier around him for when the attack came at him. She struggled to keep herself standing for a few more seconds before loosing the destructive sphere through the air, where it raced towards where Xavius was standing and collided with his barrier... though Lyra grinned as her attack consumed Xavius and his barrier, to which she lifted her hands into the air and sent her opponent heading towards the ceiling.
Moments later, when she felt the barrier shatter under the intensity of her attack, Lyra let the energy go and it detonated with enough force to rock the entire area around them... though Lyra remained standing long enough to see that Xaviux had been completely erased by the attack, before she collapsed on the ground and let the exhaustion claim her once more.
Lyra moaned as she finally regained consciousness, but when that happened she discovered that her body was definitely in pain and it made it nearly impossible for her to do anything, so she couldn't open her eyes, couldn't move her arms, couldn't move her legs, and couldn't move the rest of her body. About the only part of her body that wasn't shot and in pain was her brain, allowing her to think and try on focusing on certain sounds around her, but all she could actually hear were the sounds of birds and other animals. Occasionally she heard the sound of adventurers walking through the streets, indicating that she had to be in Dalaran, but no one ever came near her and talked with her, as if she was truly alone... to which she allowed herself to slip back into a dreamless sleep.
She had no idea how much time passed since she first regained consciousness and when she later regained consciousness, but this time around she felt some sort of liquid being carefully pushed into her pained mouth, meaning that whoever was near her wanted her to be hydrated. At the same time she felt demonic and arcane sources nearby, no doubt because whoever was near her wanted her to restore the energy she had spent during the fight with Xavius, but at the moment she was still feeling nothing at the moment, which was likely annoying her nurse. She heard the sounds of claws touching the floor around her, making her think it was Trixie that was in the building, but she couldn't be sure as she drifted back into her sleep and left the waking world behind.
That happened several more times, where she couldn't determine the amount of time between falling back asleep and waking up, though she could feel some slight movement returning to her overtime, but not enough for her to really do anything substantial... until she finally received a burst of energy that allowed her to move.
When she finally opened her eyes she found herself resting in the Dalaran clinic, where she had found herself after Xe'ra's vision of Azeroth and Equus dying at Sargeras' hands, though as she carefully looked around the clinic she discovered a few arcane artifacts resting around her bed. She could tell that several of the artifacts were from some of the more magical races of the Alliance, and none from the Horde, while at the same time some seemed to be from the Nightborne. She guessed that the few shal'dorei artifacts were gifts from either Thalyssra or Ly'leth, or possibly both of them, wishing for her to get better from whatever she had experienced. At the same time she found a few fel artifacts, no doubt ripped from the hands of the demons that had held them and given to her so she could recover as well... though she carefully pulled herself up and noticed that she was alone again.
Or, as she soon discovered, she had company and was only regaining her senses, as she couldn't believed that she missed seeing someone to her immediate left... someone that was very happy to see her.
"Lyra!" a voice said, to which she felt Trixie's arms wrap around her neck, which brought a smile to her face despite the fact that she was still in pain, before a hand slapped her across the face and sent her back into the bed that she had been sleeping in, "Don't you ever do that to us again!"
"You should be more gentle with me," Lyra replied, to which she coughed for a moment, because her throat was still dry from not drinking too much liquid, before she was handed a cup and greedily drank from it, "Now then, what shouldn't I do again?"
"I told you, back in Val'sharah, to stop harnessing the power of the Fel energy and the Dark Magic together," Trixie stated, though that was when she sat down and stared at her fellow Equestrian, as if she was studying for any further signs of corruption, "Lyra, when you combined the two energies in the Rift of Aln, in the fight against Xavius, you poured all of your power into the attack and utterly obliterated him. And when I mean you poured everything into your attack I mean you delved into the depths of your being and pulled every last drop of power out of your body... before you collapsed and refused to get back up."
"How long?" Lyra asked, to which she coughed a few more times before getting it under control, as the last time something like this had happened she missed three days of events, "How long was I out."
"Two weeks." Trixie answered, though at the same time she crossed her arms and frowned, because she was worried about her friend and didn't want to see her like this all the time.
"T... Two weeks?!" Lyra repeated, though this time around she dropped the cup that she had been holding, which Trixie caught with her magic before it hit the floor and returned it to where she had been keeping it the entire time, "You mean to tell me that I've been unconscious for TWO WEEKS?!"
"That's what happens when you push yourself to the limits and use all of your energy like that," Trixie said, as she had been expecting Lyra to be like this when she discovered how much time she had missed due to her actions in the Emerald Nightmare, even if it helped her and the others out in the end, "Would you like to hear what you missed?"
Lyra was shaken by how much time she had missed, but she still believed that it had been the right move to listen to the spirit of Ysera and her master, Lord Illidan, to which she simply leaned back on her bed and nodded her head, where Trixie offered her some small food items to eat while she recapped what she had missed.
"Let's see, we got the essence of life necessary to save Shal'Aran and the Arcan'dor," Trixie stated, recalling everything that happened since Lyra terminated Xavius and purged his influence from the Emerald Dream, save for the small fragments of N'Zoth's power that was lurking beyond their reach, "The Arcan'dor, in it's new tree form, has begun to bear fruit that eliminate the thirst in the Nightborne, though it's an extremely slow rate and will take time before everyone of them is free from the Nightwell. Thalyssra has also called for the other leaders of the elven races, Tyrande for the Night Elves and Lady Liadrin for the Blood Elves, to assist her in planning the siege of the Nighthold... despite the fact that they already started the invasion of the city and are pressing forward."
"You mean Thalyssra is advancing without us?" Lyra asked, because she would have thought that their friend would have waited before going to war, especially after all the effort she, Trixie, and the other heroes went through to get the essence of life for her.
"Yes, because now is the best time to do so," Trixie said, though she let out a sigh, as she and the other heroes were bracing themselves for the eventual invasion of the Nighthold, where Gul'dan and Elisande were waiting for them, "Your forces have been telling Khadgar some news that might not be the best... they say that there is a very slim possibility that Kil'jaeden might be making his move soon."
"The Deceiver... coming to wage war with us while we're fighting in the Nighthold," Lyra said, as she could already imagine the powerful Demon Lord doing some serious damage while she and the others were focused on something else that wasn't him, "then what are we waiting for? We need to get moving before something terrible happens."
"You aren't going anywhere yet," Trixie stated, to which she rested a hand on Lyra's shoulder to stop her from going anywhere, as she knew more about what was happening than Lyra did, "Thalyssra hasn't said that she's secured the other way into the Nighthold, which we could use while the others are busy, so you have to wait and rest before we launch our invasion... though, if it makes you feel any better, Discord's appeared by that small pond again. If you're up for an incredibly small outing, I can fly you over to where the Spirit is resting and see what he wants, provided he stays in the area this time around."
Lyra stared at her friend for a moment, wondering what Discord might want while at the same time knowing that Trixie had stopped by to check on her once she heard the the Spirit was here, before she nodded and carefully pulled herself from the bed she had been sleeping in. She spotted her warglaives resting near the door of the clinic, where Trixie informed her that they hadn't been touched since they brought them back and the keepers of this building would make sure that they were held safe while they were gone. Trixie helped Lyra onto her hooves and aided her in walking to an area where she could safely transform into her blue dragon form, where Lyra climbed onto her companion's back and Trixie took off... to which she turned towards the small island that had the small pond they had seen Discord fishing at some time ago.
Sure enough Discord seemed to be minding his own business when Trixie got close to him, but this time around he didn't wave and disappear, meaning that he likely wanted to converse with them about something before he left them to their devices again.
"Ah, I see my guests have arrived," Discord commented, to which he dropped his fishing pole, which remained floating where he had been holding it, and turned towards the duo, all while raising an eyebrow as Lyra climbed of Trixie, who reverted back to her hybrid form, "I hope the two of you had your fill of excitement, adventure, and fun."
"I wouldn't call everything I've been through any of those words," Lyra replied, as she had joined the Illidari with one goal in mind, the complete and utter destruction of the Burning Legion, which she and the others were getting one step closer to completing now that Archimonde was already dead, "Speak your piece Discord, because I'm still recovering from an intense fight and I don't have the energy to waste on taking with you."
"I see... then I shall get to my point," Discord said, to which he snapped his talons and a portal appeared beside him, one that connected to a very familiar place that both Trixie and Lyra recognized, "You two aren't the first displaced ponies that I've been able to find, but thanks to the fact that I removed the nasty effects from my spell you are the first two that I can recall without causing serious damage to the two of you. Come along, Equus and all the other ponies are waiting for you two to come back."
"You came all this way, across the vastness of the universe, to take us home?" Trixie asked, though while her voice said that she found something like this hard to believe, which Lyra was feeling as well, her tone said something completely different, "Sorry, but we're going to have to deny you at the moment."
"Come again?" Discord inquired, because this was not how this meeting was supposed to go, as he was supposed to grab the two of them and leave before a certain someone noticed that the portal was even open.
"We have a war to win and a Legion to stop," Lyra stated, though this time around she growled as a dark green aura, complete with a black outline, appeared around her body as she faced the Spirit of Disharmony, "Trixie and I are important to the downfall of the Burning Legion, who could potentially raze this world and destroy it... and Equus in the process should Sargeras discover where it's located. We can't just leave our friends to face the last remaining Titan, who defeated his brothers and sister, to do as he pleases while an opening is being created... so you had best leave before I'm forced to put you in the group, just like I did with Xavius."
"Please, even with the power boost you got from being displaced by the mirror you wouldn't stand a chance against someone like me," Discord replied, though it was in that moment that he decided that grabbing them and making a run for it was the best course of action.
Lyra growled as she held her hands out, just like she had done in the battle with Xavius, and called upon a small fragment of her power, to which the two different colored spheres above her hands, Fel energy in her right hand and Dark Magic in her left hand. When she lived in Equestria, where she didn't have powers that could easily rival Twilight as a unicorn, or even an alicorn if she was lucky, she never dreamed of pitting herself against the Spirit of Disharmony, but now that she had something to fight for she wasn't going to abandon her friends in their hour of need. In her weakened state she knew that she wouldn't win this fight, if one were to break out, but for now it appeared that their desire to stay had caused Discord to stop moving... or maybe he could actually feel the power behind her spheres and was getting ready to call her bluff.
"Fine. I'll let the two of you stay here until you're ready to leave," Discord said, to which he gripped the portal he had created and moved it under his feet, like it was a rug, before he started to sink into it, "but know this; Sunset Shimmer is interested in this planet and the creature that seeks to destroy it. We'll be keeping our eyes on you and the moment you fail in this 'mission' of yours, and admit defeat, we'll call you both back to Equus."
Lyra stared at Discord until the Spirit was gone and the portal was closed, to which she sighed and canceled the spheres she had created, to which she swayed into Trixie's arms and remained there for a few minutes. The two of them now knew that Discord was actually watching over them and was waiting for them to admit that they had bitten off more than they could chew before pulling them back to Equus. The fact that they could go home didn't appeal to them at the moment, not when they had to find and defeal Gul'dan, recover Illidan's corpse and the Eye of Amun'thul, close the Tomb of Sargeras and likely kill Kil'jaeden. They were going to be busy for the next couple of weeks or months, but at the same time it raised a question in both their minds that couldn't be answered until the next time they were visited by Discord; why did the Spirit speak Sunset's name like he was afraid of her?
All Lyra knew was that something serious was happening back on their home world, something that she and Trixie would find out when they got back home, but for now they had to focus their attention of Suramar once more... and stop whatever foul plans Gul'dan was trying to put into motion.
After their run in with Discord, and learning that he had absolutely no faith in their abilities to defend this world or defeat Sargeras, it took Lyra another two weeks to fully recover from her ordeal and return to how she had been before the attack on the Emerald Nightmare. Lyra was not pleased with having to be out of the fight for a month, which might have given Gul'dan the time he needed to do whatever he wanted with Lord Illidan's body, but Trixie calmed her down and said that if anything like that happened the Illidari would know about it. Since Lyndraxa, the current leader since Lyra was in the clinic, was sending her regular reports about their progress she knew that nothing terrible had happened, which meant that either their enemy was having a hard time completing his task or was simply waiting for an audience to arrive. Lyra didn't like the fact that Gul'dan might be waiting for an audience, because that meant he could easily do what he wanted and was waiting for her and the other heroes to arrive.
It was also during those two weeks that Lyra, while she was sleeping, saw flashes of Lord Illidan's life flash through her dreams, where at times she was reenacting parts of history as her mentor and learned of his sacrifices... something that was reported to be Xe'ra's doing, with some help from some of the other heroes. She learned that the Prime Naaru tasked the heroes of Azeroth with finding, retrieving, and ensuring the safety of Lord Illidan's soul, which involved keeping it safe inside Light's Heart, Xe'ra's core, until the right moment. Lyra knew that Xe'ra blamed the heroes of Azeroth for killing the child of prophecy, her mentor, and were forcing them to atone for their sins, but at the same time she wondered if it was possible for Lord Illidan to return to life... and decided that she would figure out the truth of the matter in time, just like everyone else would when they invaded the Nighthold.
Once Lyra was able to walk without Trixie's help, which was the first day of her third week in the clinic, she gathered her warglaives and headed back to the Fel Hammer, where she quickly retrained her senses to be what they had been before the Emerald Nightmare. Trixie was, of course, against the very idea of this happening and the other heroes that had helped Lyra along hated to see their hard work undone, but she proved them all wrong and only got stronger as she trained with the other Illidari for the next week. She understood that she had a weakness, just like everyone else, and she needed to conquer it before something like what happened with Xavius happened again, but she needed to uncover what that weakness was before she could conquer it... which she would do after they invaded the Nighthold.
At the same time Lyra and Trixie received news about the invasion of Suramar, as Thalyssra was happy to report that they had access to the main gate of the Nighthold, but that turned sour as she mentioned that they had activated one of Elisande's traps and froze a good portion of their forces in time. Apparently the only way to save them was to invade a lower section of the Nighthold, where security was barely present, and attack whoever or whatever was in control of the time control spell. Since they would already be inside the Nighthold at that point in time Thalyssra also noted that if their attack was successful they could pull their army back to a safe spot and let the heroes continue with their invasion, where they could rip through Elisande's defenses and her allies... before finding her and ending her reign, allowing them access to Gul'dan and the final Pillar of Creation.
Once Lyra was given the clean bill of health, by every hero that was a healer and some of the Illidari to be sure that she hadn't taken in more demonic energy and was starting to lose her mind, she, Trixie, and the other heroes flew out of Dalaran and headed back towards Shal'Aran... where they marched upon the war infected city that was Suramar City as they searched for Thalyssra, who was waiting for them in the Sanctum of Order. As she lead the group towards the entrance of the Aqueducts, while also being accompanied by her personal guards, Thalyssra explained that they would be the first outlanders to step foot in the Nighthold in a long time, while at the same time warning them that they might face heavy resistance later on. Lyra already knew that she and the others would face heavy resistance, because Xavius had an army at his command and she was sure that Elisande was the same way, which meant that they were going to have to slaughter her entire army, or the vast majority of them, in order to stop this madness.
Lyra sighed as she walked with the others, because it appeared that too many people were going to be lost in this war, between the Alliance, the Horde, the Emerald Nightmare, and the Legion, though she hoped that the commanders of the two factions at least celebrated the lost as they should be once this was all over.
When they reached the part of the Sanctum of Order that Thalyssra was taking them to, and walked down the stairs that were in front of them, the adventurers arrived at the entrance that would take them to the basement level of the Nighthold. Once all of them had the necessary supplies that they needed for this sort of venture, which they had done back in the Emerald Nightmare, the heroes walked into the magical portal and let it take them towards their destination, where they found a group of withered waiting for them. The aggressive withered appeared to be feeding on a couple of dead scorpions that happened to have several parts of their bodies made out of crystal, though while they were distracted the heroes charged forward and engaged the withered in battle. Several of the withered teleported behind them and attempted to attack them from behind, forcing some of the heroes to turn around and engage them, while at the same time Lyra took great pleasure in cutting them apart with her warglaives.
As some of the members of the withered started to fall the group of withered ahead of them, who had been ignoring them the entire time, turned towards them and joined their friends in the attack with the intent on killing them and devouring their various magical energies.
Once the withered were dead, and they were sure that none of them were getting back up, the group moved forward and headed down the stairs in front of them, where they found some crystalline scorpions moving about the area that they needed to pass through. Lyra noticed that some of them were red colored, some of them were blue colored, and one of them was green colored, though it appeared that the red one's had flaming chitin, the blue's loosed charges of magic at their targets, and the green's spat acid. She was sure that this was a result of the scorpions living and devouring the magicka in the air, but she disliked the idea of creature's gaining skills in such a manner and aided her friends in taking out the enemies that were in front of them. In fact killing the red and blue scorpions didn't do anything besides clearing the area of enemies, while killing the green ones dropped a pool of acid that they had to avoid as they moved forward when the last scorpion fell.
The chamber ahead of them, and the hallway ahead of that, were filled by more scorpions that really wanted them dead, to which the group carefully dealt with them and their various abilities... though once the enemies were dead, and they moved forward, they discovered a massive armed scorpion blocking their way, and seemed ready for battle.
As the battle started Lyra noticed something right off the back, as her attacks seemed to have little to no effect on Skorpyron, a name that came to mind all of a sudden and seemed to fit the monster in front of them, while at the same time more blue scorpions invaded the area to do battle with them as well. As such the mages and other ranged damage dealers focused on the smaller enemies for a few moments while they avoided the large chunks of crystal that Skorpyron threw at them. Another thing the massive scorpion did was loose magical blasts at specific targets, in an attempt to blow them all to pieces, while at the same time the group moved around and did their best to avoid the attacks that were coming at them, while trying to figure out the weakness of the scorpion.
For a moment Lyra wondered if it would be in her best interest to harness the combination powers inside of her, to a smaller extent to empower her warglaives and open gashes in Skorpyron's defenses, but she then decided to keep it in reserve for the eventual fight with Gul'dan.
After a few moments of fighting Skorpyron loosed a shockwave that knocked everyone backwards and shattered the crystals he had thrown into the ground, though at the same time it blew apart his own defenses, which was when the group of heroes unleashed their power and started using their more powerful attacks. During that moment Lyra and Lyndraxa transformed and crashed into their target, where they used the powers of their demonic forms to deal brutal attacks to Skorpyron's defenseless body. Lyra wished it could have lasted longer, but after a few moments Skorpyron regained his armor and continued his attack, repeating the same movements he had been doing so far, which involved summoning more scorpions to the fight while also throwing more crystals into the ground. Based on what Lyra knew about these boss level enemies, from her experience in the Emerald Nightmare, each boss repeated the same attack pattern three times in a row before they fell... and she suspected that Skorpyron would follow the same pattern.
A few more minutes passed before the group of heroes toppled the mighty Skorpyron and caused the remainder of his swarm to depart, fearing that they would die as well, though as they caught their breath Thalyssra and Khadgar came up the hallway they had walked through earlier and beckoned for the heroes to continue.
When the heroes walked up the hallway in front of them they encountered a trio of voidwalker like enemies, but these ones were made out of magicka and seemed to have different abilities, as one of them had the power to summon a shield behind it that made the group attack it from the front, which seemed odd to Lyra. The instant the enemies were taken care of they crossed the bridge in front of them and engaged the enemies that were waiting, where they discovered a more monstrous magicka creature that definitely wanted them dead. It took a few moments to actually take out the larger creature, but when they finally took out the larger enemy they walked to the other side of the bridge and engaged a slightly larger group of arcane enemies. Of course Lyra noticed that Trixie and the mages were fascinated by what they were seeing, since this wasn't something they saw everyday, before the group toppled the enemies in front of them and approached the large door that was in their path... where Thalyssra caught up with them and undid the seal on the door, allowing them to progress into the chamber in front of them.
A few seconds later Lyra noticed something alarming, as there was an even larger arcane creature, one vastly different to the ones they had fought so far, tending to a font of magic that rested in front of it... while at the same time potentially sustaining the time lock spell that they had learned about earlier, where Lyra determined that it had to be some sort of Chronomatic Anomaly, which Trixie agreed with. Sitting around the Chronomatic Anomaly were three groups of arcane creatures, to which the group of heroes decided to remove their enemies, all of them, before they engaged their main target... so they spent the next few minutes destroying the other foes before they stopped in front of the creature.
When the battle with the Chronomatic Anomaly started it simply started to punch anyone that was in front of it, which was the tanks of course, though not a few seconds later it started throwing balls of volatile energy at specific enemies, causing them to separate to avoid taking damage. A minute passed before the battle changed again, as a fragment of energy flew out of the Nightwell and formed another arcane creature, causing some of the heroes to diverge and attack it to prevent it from doing anything to them. Moments later two waves of blue energy balls, floating above the floor a tiny bit, surged out of the Nightwall and tried to hurt them, but the heroes were smart and avoided the attack by jumping into the gaps between the spheres... before turning their attention back to the Chronomatic Anomaly as they kept an eye on what it was doing, so they could stop whatever it was planning.
What happened next was something that the group should have seen coming and didn't prepare for accordingly, as the Chronomatic Anomaly slowed the passage of time for Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes, forcing them to move much slower while they fought the creature and attempted to avoid the attacks it sent at them.
Lyra found this to be an interesting challenge, because she had never done something like this and knew that they could potentially be in trouble, but it was more interesting to focus her mind on making sure her attacks connected, avoiding the attacks coming at her, and making sure to attack another fragment of power that erupted from the Nightwell a few moments later. Trixie and the others seemed more concerned because of this development, which spoke volumes about their experience so far, but Lyra truly thought this was an interesting creature because she could follow it's movements without having to result to nearly killing herself in the process. One thing that Lyra noticed was that Trixie wasn't as affected by time being slowed down, which had to be because of either her nature as a blue dragon or the lingering essence of Discord's magic on them.
Some time later the Chronomatic Anomaly shifted time again, where this time it shifted in the group's favor as it moved faster than normal, though this time they unleashed a level of devastation that was unlike what they had done previously... which eventually brought ruin upon the Chronomatic Anomaly as they finished it off, and broke the time spell that their allies on the bridge above ground had been locked in.
Once the Chronomatic Anomaly was destroyed the group took a few moments to heal their wounds and make sure they were prepared for the last enemy of this part of the Nighthold, as Lyra knew that there had to be one more thanks to what she had seen in the Emerald Nightmare. A few moments later, when they were ready, they walked up the stairs in front of them and approached the next set of enemies that were waiting for them, which happened to be globs of sludge that had been given life by the Nightwell. Fortunately these enemies were easy to take care of, and when each one died they simply turned into a small puddle, allowing them to enter a rather large chamber where more of the sludge globs were located... though when the group took them all out they merged together to form a larger glob, which rained down pools of sludge on the ground while it moved around the area.
When the massive glob died, however, it contaminated the entire area around it, causing a four legged construct, which had been hiding in a corridor, to surge out of where it was hiding and started to tidy up the area... though that was before Trilliax engaged them and accused them of being filthy. At the same time Trilliax loosed arcane balls into the air and they fell towards the group, which left arcane pools around the area that didn't seem to annoy the construct, who seemed to be suffering from a split personality disorder, as he had two different voices that spoke from time to time. Trilliax also loosed other items into the area that were designed to harm the group, but they didn't stick around for long and caused his crystals to turn red ad he continued the fight... but the group held their ground and waited for he to do something different.
What that entailed was that at some point Trilliax moved to the middle of the room and slowly turned around in a complete circle, while at the same time loosing a beam of energy from the front and from behind as he tried to kill multiple enemies at the same time.
Fortunately no one was hurt and Trilliax claimed that the beating they were giving him was his 'punishment', though at the same time he fought back and tried to kill them anyway, where he fell into repeating the same attacks from earlier as the arcane pools increased in number and the poison spewing devices were quick to spring up once more. Trilliax also attempted to use mobile bombs against them, which the damage dealers dealt with before they could reach the group as a whole, though that only made him more pissed off. His anger seemed to be his downfall, as his pattern quickly became predictable and they were able to avoid his attacks without sustaining any damage in the process, which really disappointed Lyra as the fight wore on. Trilliax was slightly boring, his pattern was too predictable in regards to the other enemies they had fought so far, and when they finally toppled him, and chopped him into bits, she was slightly happy with the victory.
Lyra sighed as they entered an area that wasn't covered in pools of harmful energy, where the group settled down and took stock of their injuries, where they could rest before they invaded the next part of the Nighthold and fought whatever enemies were waiting for them... to which she set her sights on finding Gul'dan and ending this part of the Legion's attempts to take Azeroth for their foul master.
Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes remained in their chosen resting area for a few minutes, making sure that all of their wounds were taken care of and that they were full of energy before they gathered their gear and walked up the stairs that were behind them. At the same time Thalyssra, Khadgar, and the guards that had been following them caught up with the group as they moved forward, though Lyra took the opportunity to ask who they should be going after next, especially since Elisande had to have several powerful guardians watching over her. Thalyssra explained that the heroes should focus their efforts on three key targets at the moment, as their defeat would partly open the way to their target and rob Elisande of aid at the same time. The three Nightborne she named were Spellblade Aluriel, Star Augur Etraeus, and High Botanist Tel'arn, while also mentioning that in order to find the second and third target they would have to head into the building on the left, after defeating Aluriel.
The only downside to the information they were given was that Thalyssra couldn't actually tell them the abilities of their foes, as they might have changed since the last time she had seen them fight, but the heroes simply said that they would make due with the knowledge she could give them... even if all she could really offer them were the names of their targets.
When the group arrived at the top of the stairs, and entered a circular room that had the exit they were searching for, Allvar and the other tanks moved forward and engaged the group of withered that happened to be standing between them and their first destination. The fight progressed like the one at the very beginning of their invasion, where they dodged the incoming attacks and dealt powerful blows against their foes, until one of the withered ran to the group at the bottom of the stairs and came back with some reinforcements. The best part about that fact, in Lyra's eyes anyway, was that she and the other heroes didn't have to waste time calling the other group of withered over to them, as this allowed them to focus on tearing down two groups of foes instead of focusing on one group and turning their attention to another one that showed up out of nowhere.
Even with the addition of the second group of foes, who fought on the level as the first group, the withered didn't stand much of a chance and ultimately fell to the floor, allowing the heroes to advance up the stairs that they had been guarding and open the metallic gate that separated them from the outside world. Fortunately the gate wasn't locked, or they had already broken the seal that had been placed on it, as the tanks lowered the gate and they started pouring out onto the walkway in front of them. The civilians that were nearby, however, took one good look at them and ran in the opposite direction, calling for the guards to save them as they ran for cover, effectively clearing the entire area that they would be walking through of innocent bystanders... and allowing them to focus solely on the Nightborne guards that were standing in their way.
The Duskwatch, which was the official name for the guards that were blocking the way, appeared to be solely warriors at a glance, but at the same time Trixie and Lyra warned their friends not to lower their guard, because the mages of the Nightborne were powerful and usually traveled in packs with their warrior comrades. Sure enough when the battle with the first group of guards started both of the Equestrians noticed that the enemy mages were sticking to the back of their group, to which Trixie and her fellow ranged attacks focused on them while the warriors and tanks focused on the enemy warriors. Lyra, of course, fought alongside the melee attackers and used her knowledge of how the Nightborne attacked to her advantage, allowing her to parry attacks and deal good damage to her foes before they hit the ground, allowing her to focus on someone else... or wait until the group reached the next group of enemies, since the others had finished their foes off in a timely manner as well.
As the first group of the Duskwatch fell the next moved forward to stop them in their tracks, while at the same time the heroes took a few steps forward so they wouldn't be fighting on the corpses of those they had recently slain, as it would have been disrespectful towards their enemies. Lyra was fine with doing that, as long as she was fighting on the corpses of the dead demons that she had slain, but she followed what the rest of her group did and made sure that she didn't step on the Nightborne that she and the others defeated. The larger area ahead of them provided some challenge, as the multiple groups of the Duskwatch were ready for them and attacked the moment the heroes defeated the second group, forcing them to fight throughout the area that was all around them. This time around some of their enemies scored lucky hits and hurt some of them, where one even managed to cut a gash into Lyra's right arm, which she repaid by removing the limb that held the weapon in question before killing her target... where one of the healers mended her wound and allowed her to jump back into the battle without delay.
The battle took some time for them to resolve, as the Duskwatch had come prepared for an invasion like this and wouldn't go down easily, but as the minutes ticked by the heroes brought them low one at a time, removing foe after foe until only they remained, giving the healers a chance to relax as they caught up with all the wounds that needed tending to and restocking their mana for the coming fights. Lyra, on the other hand, found it to be a shame that the Nightborne had sided with the Legion, as they would have been valuable allies against Sargeras and his allies, but even if they liberated Suramar City they wouldn't be expecting too much aid from Thalyssra, not with how many of her kind had been lost since Elisande signed her pact with Gul'dan. About the only thing that Lyra expected that she and the other heroes would get out of liberating the city, besides stopping Gul'dan's plans, was the Eye of Amun'thul, the final Pillar of Creation... and Lord Illidan's body, in case whatever ritual Khadgar had in mind failed to work as he believed it would.
Lyra knew that the safest place for her mentor's body was the Fel Hammer, where the Illidari would watch over it until they devised a way to bring their master back from the dead... but at the same time she simply sighed as she focused on what she and the others were going to do next.
Once a temporary safe haven for Thalyssra, Khadgar, and their guards had been established, and the dead moved into a pile to block the other path that they hadn't come from, the heroes walked up the stairs in front of them and engaged another group of the Duskwatch, who happened to be waiting for them up there. As they fought the new group Lyra noticed two things about the open courtyard area they would be fighting in next; the first being that their first target, Spellblade Aluriel, was patrolling the grounds while waiting for them to come and fight her, while the other was the number of Nightborne guards that she and the others would have to fight through before they fought their first target. All she knew was that she and the others would have to make sure that they fought all of the Duskwatch groups somewhere safe, where they wouldn't have to worry about pulling Aluriel towards them.
The third thing that Lyra noticed, after observing their target for a few more moments, was that she was slightly taller than every other Nightborne they had fought so far, meaning that something was empowering her and made her body even larger than the others... to which she and the others focused on a plan for the area that they would have to fight Aluriel in, before they could hunt down their next target.
The plan was simple, they would engage a group of enemies and take them out, allowing them to move the corpse back down to the lower level and get them out of the way, before they returned and fought the next group of foes that were blocking the way... where they would go around the entirety of the courtyard and remove all the potential allies that Aluriel might call upon when they started fighting her. The only downside to this plan was that it took them some time to defeat each group and move their corpses to the level below them, where Thalyssra and Khadgar shook their heads at the number of the dead that kept increasing, before they had the open area all to themselves and their target. The moment they were all ready for battle, and were fully healed, Allvar and the tanks struck Aluriel at the same time, though as she started to fight back everyone else rushed in to topple their first target.
"Entire armies have fallen by my sword." Aluriel commented, to which she swung the weapon in question and knocked several people backwards, before getting serious and focused her attention on the tanks, "What chance could you possibly have against me?"
As the battle started Aluriel loosed a series of attacks against her main target, Allvar, as if she was trying to show him who the superior fighter was right off the bat, but at the same time Trixie noticed that there was an ice enchantment on their opponent's weapon, meaning that if she cut them, even a little bit, they would start to slow down until she killed them. While Aluriel attacked them she also cast a spell on some of the ranged fighters, branding them with a mark that appeared to be made out of frost, causing the marked heroes to disperse and walk away from the group before they ended up hurting their friends. Lyra quickly understood why that was, because the marks emitted a force of ice that harmed those that were standing near them, which was the reason behind why they were separating themselves from the rest of the group... which also worked in their favor when Aluriel finally detonated the marks, as the explosions of frost only harmed those that had been marked, thus allowing them to return to the group and heal up without fear of actually hurting anyone.
Lyra had to admit that their current foe was both strong and smart, as Aluriel actually managed to cut her as well before kicking her backwards as she focused on Allvar and the other tanks, to which Lyra simply chuckled as the holy magic of a priest washed over her arm and healed her wound before she jumped back into the battle. Aluriel also used her powers to create pools of frost that several icy voidwalkers emerged from, causing the damage deals to focus on them and cull them before they inflicted heavy damage to the group.
After a few minutes of fighting the enchantment on Aluriel's blade and shield changed all of a sudden, as it shifted from an icy enchantment and transformed into a fiery enchantment, which was when she marked several people at random with a fire mark and summoned pools of fire at the same time. Those that were marked had to separate from the group and, instead of focusing on their true enemy, they had to turn their attention to the fiery voidwalkers that had joined the fight, to avoid making the rest of the group take any damage from their foes. Aluriel also repeated her heavy set of attacks on her target, switching between Allvar and Monoskah every time she used the attack to keep them guessing, in order to take one of them out so she could cause havoc on the other heroes. Eventually she reached the point where she detonated the marks and inflicted fire damage onto those that had been chosen to wear them, before she focused on the enemies that surrounded her... giving the heroes time to heal their wounds before getting serious about the fight again.
Sure enough, like clockwork, Aluriel eventually switched from the fire enchantment she was using and took up the arcane element this time around, which was followed by her marking several different foes this time around while also summoning new arcane voidwalkers to battle the heroes. One thing that Lyra wasn't expecting to happen, since Aluriel had proven that she was a combination of a mage and a warrior, was her sudden usage of Fel abilities that would have weakened their chances of beating her. Instead of letting their foe use this power against them Lyra put aside her weapons on her back and raised her hands until they were level with Aluriel, which was followed by her using the Fel energy inside her to latch onto Aluriel's Fel energy... before tearing all of it out of the Nightborne, weakening her target for a few seconds and allowing the tanks to deal the blow they needed to topple Aluriel to the ground.
Since there was nowhere to actually put the Fel energy, save her warglaives, Lyra simply took the Fel energy into herself and added it to her reserves, increasing the demonic energy inside herself, just like Lord Illidan had done over the years to increase his own power... but at the same time she knew that moderation was needed, otherwise she would end up like the monsters she was trying to stop.
"Lyra, are you sure that you should be doing that?" Trixie asked, though at the same time the other heroes were relaxing a little while the healers tended to the wounded, so that way they could be prepared for the next target and the Nightborne that were guarding him.
"It's better that I claim her Fel energy than letting an enemy come and take it," Lyra replied, though she understood why Trixie was concerned, because she could have perished in the battle against Xavius, but she had come out of that encounter even stronger, "besides, it helps me prepare for the eventual battle with Gul'dan."
Trixie nodded her head for a moment, as while she understood that Lyra had a bone to pick with Gul'dan, for stealing her master's body from the Vault of the Wardens, she still didn't understand why she was trying to be like Illidan, especially with the power that was coursing through her veins at the moment. Trixie knew that she and Lyra had already reached the limits of their power, as they now stood on the level that Twilight had been on when she fought Tirek, but it almost sounded like Lyra wanted more, as if she was preparing herself for a battle with Sargeras himself. She knew that they and the other heroes could overcome the Nighthold and the Tomb of Sargeras, saving Azeroth in the process, but taking on the Titan that had killed the Pantheon so many years ago... that was a battle that none of them were prepared for, especially because Sargeras was supposed to be the strongest Titan of them all.
In the end, however, Trixie simply sighed as she tapped her talons against the stones that she and the others were standing on, as it wasn't worth trying to tell Lyra that she was planning for something that would never happen... while at the same time knowing that they would be moving soon enough.
Once everyone was ready the heroes moved into the building that Thalyssra had told them about, the one that was on the left of the main entrance for this courtyard, where they found more of the Duskwatch standing guard for the next target they needed to take out. Trixie noted that these particular enemies used abilities that appeared to be related to stars, meaning that the building was dedicated to astronomy and that their next foe likely studied the stars, since his title was Star Augur. She quickly advised the tanks to take it nice and easy, so that way they didn't fight too many enemies that had the same power, just in case they had the ability to unleash devastating attacks when three or more of the same enemy type were together, something that the tanks agreed with. Another thing they did was clear out the entire entrance area of the astronomy building, liberating it from their enemies and opening the way for them to cross over to where the High Botanist was waiting for them... but instead of doing that they continued their search of the building as they looked for Etraeus.
The heroes marched up the stairs that were next to the main path they had been following, turned to the left and followed the path that Allvar had chosen, and arrived in a dome shaped room with a single person standing in the middle, though his fine clothing revealed that he was none other than Star Augur Etraeus... to which the tanks waited for everyone to gather inside the room before they engaged their foe, while at the same time sealing the door and preventing them from leaving the chamber.
"If only you knew what lay beyond..." Etraeus said, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear him speak, though at the same time he summoned magic into his hands and started throwing bolts of star energy at whoever he decided to pick at random.
As the fight started, however, both Lyra and Trixie noticed something wrong right off the bat, as Etraeus wasn't doing anything other than throwing star energy at his targets, though while the energy hurt a tiny bit it wasn't enough to actually make anyone surrender or give them serious injuries. As they attacked their opponent, with the full might of the heroes from the Alliance and the Horde, they both knew that something had to be coming up in the next couple of seconds, otherwise this fight would be over in a matter of minutes. Not even a few seconds after that thought crossed their minds, and the minds of the other heroes, Etraeus returned to the middle of the room and started gathering his power, forming a spell that was unlike anything Trixie had seen throughout her journeys so far.
"Such insolence... very well, I shall show you!" Etraeus said, to which he cast his spell and the walls of the domed room pulled away from where they were standing, leaving the heroes in what would have been an empty void, save for the fact that they noticed a planet appear in front of the circular floor they were standing on, a planet that seemed to be frozen over, "See for yourself the cruel, frozen void that lies beyond the margin of Azeroth's skies! The stars have judged you, and found you wanting."
When Etraeus started fighting again both Trixie and Lyra noticed that his magic took on the freezing properties of the planet in the background, as if he was calling upon the power of the frozen planet to aid him in his battle, which meant that they needed to watch out for any tricks he might have up his sleeve. Etraeus had the same type of attack that Aluriel had used against them, targeting a select number of their group with explosive elemental attacks that caused them to run to the outskirts of the large platform they were now standing on, while at the same time targeting one of the tanks with a gravity version of that attack. That meant that the tank that was targeted would have to run away and remain separated from the fight until the attack wore off, which meant suffering through several pieces of debris hitting them before they were allowed to rejoin the fight.
Eventually it appeared that they were doing enough damage for Etraeus to use the spell again, so they could return to the domed environment, except when he cast the spell the walls returned for a brief moment before disappearing again... only for Lyra to gasp as Argus, the Legion's homeworld, appeared where the frozen planet had been located.
"The Burning Legion. Slayers of whole worlds." Etraeus stated, though this time around the fighting literally stopped as everyone took in the ruined planet that he had called upon for them to see, while noticing that only one of them seemed to fully understand what they were looking at, "Could we hope to resist? Can you?!"
"Yes we can!" Lyra replied, though this time she raised her hands and latched her Fel energy onto Etraeus' own Fel energy, because the only way for him to call Argus, Sargeras' base of operations that he kept carefully hidden, to this battle in such a manner was if he had taken some demonic energy into himself as well, likely a 'gift' from Gul'dan, "Azeroth will not become the next Argus, even if you show us our enemy's home and try to make us question our mission."
The instant the last word left her mouth Lyra pulled back hard on her energy and ripped the Fel energy out of Etraeus, which not only caused the image of Argus to fade and the original room to return, but it also allowed the tanks to deal some impressive damage... before Etraeus changed the scene once more, calling in a planet that looked like it was being devoured by a great evil.
"Is that not enough? Must I show you the true horror of our reality?" Etraeus exclaimed, though at the same time Lyra could tell that he was slightly scared, because he had never encountered someone that could rip the Fel energy out of another like she could, before he pointed at the planet he had summoned, "Very well... witness what I have seen and TREMBLE! Avatars of non-existence... knowing nothing but hunger. These are the beings who will devour the future you so futilely fight to protect!"
This time around Etraeus attacked them with powers belonging to the Void, something that was on the level of the Burning Legion, and had minions of the Old Gods attack them, which was mostly a single Faceless One that they had to look away from every now and then to prevent themselves from going mad. From what Lyra could tell her taking of Etraeus' Fel energy severely weakened him, just like what happened with Aluriel, which made her chuckle for a few seconds as she and the other heroes focused on taking out their enemies... until the domed room returned at last as their foe and his minions laid dead at their feet.
"Lyra... that planet..." Maraa stared to ask, where Lyra noticed that the other draenei were looking over at her as well, indicating that they were all curious as to what she had said when the second planet showed up, "W... was that..."
"Yes... that was Argus," Lyra replied, knowing exactly what Maraa was trying to ask her, as she was the only person, in both the Alliance and the Horde, that had actually seen the Legion's homeworld, even if it had been in a vision, before she looked into Maraa's eyes, "I'm sorry for what Sargeras has done to your world, I truly am, but he plans on cleaving all of Azeroth in half if we don't stop Gul'dan and Kil'jaeden from completing their terrible plans."
As the heroes started moving down the stairs, and headed towards the door that would take them to the High Botanist, Trixie recalled that Mardum, the former prison planet that the Illidari now commanded thanks to their conquest seven years ago, had once been an actual planet before it had been shattered. She had assumed that Sargeras did that to all of the planets he conquered, shattered them into fragments and used those fragments for his various bases, but now it appeared that Argus hadn't suffered that fate. Instead Argus appeared to be in the process of being ripped apart by the Fel energy that was pulsing from it's core, while at the same time making it the perfect base of operations for the Legion until it finally exploded. Just seeing the state of the planet filled her with dread for a moment, considering what Lyra had told her and Khadgar earlier, but then she found the determination to continue their mission and prevent that from happening to this world... and possibly Equus as well.
When the heroes walked out onto the bridge that connected the astronomy building to the garden area of the Nighthold, and told Lyra they had no idea why this place had such a location, they engaged the first group of opponents that were standing in their way. This time around the heroes fought one group of enemies and made sure they were down for the count before they moved onto the next one, as it appeared that some of their current enemies wanted to fear someone into the next group in order to kill them all. Fortunately the group was much smarter than that and pulled each group of enemies away from the others, allowing them to take their foes out without having to worry about pulling any unnecessary obstacles along for the ride. The only downside was that minutes were ticking away while they took their time, which was bad since they had no idea what Gul'dan was doing, but it allowed them to properly clear the way to High Botanist Tel'arn... who was tending to his garden when they arrived.
The weirdest thing about Tel'arn, in Lyra's eyes anyway, was that he appeared to be a combination of Nightborne and plant life, meaning that he must have used the Nightwell to achieve this state... and making her wonder if any of the other targets they would have to fight had done the same thing.
"It seems I've a bit of pruning to do!" Tel'arn shouted the instant he noticed that they had invaded his portion of the Nighthold, causing the heroes to attack him as he entered the circular area that they had been standing in.
As the battle started Tel'arn upon the power of the sun itself, or so he claimed, and some of the heroes had to move out of an area to avoid being hit by three bursts of power, starting at the highest power and decreasing until the last one hit the ground, before resuming their attacks. At the same time Tel'arn summoned flower like enemies that targeted a specific individual, to which some of the other heroes struck the creatures down in rapid succession before turning back towards their opponent. He even had an arcane type attack that was definitely an explosive, though whoever he targeted avoided the attack before it could reach them and let it explode where they had been standing before they resumed the fight, but Lyra and Trixie noticed that Tel'arn didn't seem phased by not being able to hit his opponents at all. That fact told them that they had to be careful, because there was no telling what sort of tricks their opponent had up his sleeve, especially after what they had been through earlier.
The trick this time around was when Tel'arn took a certain amount of damage and seemed to lose the ability to use one of his attacks, though that was before he separated into two different Tel'arns, one that was golden colored and used solar type magic while the other was green and used nature based magic.
Botanist Tel'arn seemed to follow the same pattern as before, without the solar ring attack he used earlier, while the Solarist Tel'arn had that ability and a few others, such as summoning three large balls of fire that set the area around them on fire, without touching the 'precious garden' in the process. Trixie, having seen a tactic like this in the past, quickly destroyed the three spheres with some help from the other heroes, before they turned their attention back to the Solarist, letting Lyra and the majority of the others fight the Botanist. From what Lyra discovered it appeared that the Botanist and the Solarist shared health, as that made sense considering that they had been the same person a few moments ago, before she and her team dealt a substantial amount of damage to the Botanist... enough so that he separated into two more entities, a Naturalist and an Arcanist.
The Arcanist followed the same attack pattern as the Naturalist and the Solarist, only his attacks were arcane based instead of solar or nature based, meaning that no one had to chance their attacks or do anything different as a third tank focused on the newest addition... until they dealt enough damage to force Tel'arn back into a single body, where he collapsed on the ground in a heap of his own blood. With the third and final target taken care of, for the moment since Thalyssra likely had another list waiting for them, Lyra, Trixie, and the others headed back to the main courtyard they had found Aluriel in. There they planned on resting for a few moments before they took out the next set of enemies that were on their list, before heading up into the spire and taking out Elisande... and then do the same thing with Gul'dan.
Lyra knew that something interesting was going to happen when they reached Gul'dan, though what that something was she had no idea... but she cared more about killing the vile orc warlock before he did anything else that helped the Legion complete their foul plans.
"Thalyssra, do you have any idea what sort of enemies we'll have to fight before Elisande?" Lyra asked, as while the other heroes were resting, and recovering from their fight with Tel'arn, she wanted to see if there was any information to be gleamed from their ally.
"If we had done this invasion before the Legion showed up, you'd be heading to Elisande next," Thalyssra replied, as she knew that someone was eager to get this invasion over with, especially since there was something special at the end for her, if she believed what Khadgar had told her, "but, since the Legion is here, there are two enemies for you to fight before you can access Elisande; a Dreadlord by the name of Tichondrius, and an abomination that goes by the name Krosus."
"Krosus... the demon that seemingly killed Tirion Fordring during our assault on the Broken Shore," one of the paladins commented, though his tone indicated that he and the other paladins disliked this particular demon, which was just fine in Lyra's eyes since she disliked all demons in general, save for those that were allied with the Illidari, "Finally, some payback for the greatest paladin to ever grace Azeroth."
"And Tichondrius, a Dreadlord that worked with the Scourge in the past," Trixie added, knowing that the group was facing some decent demons this time around, but at the same time she realized exactly who they were going to go for first, since the two demons stood between them and Elisande, "So, whose ready to take on one of the strongest Dreadlords to ever grace the Burning Legion?"
The heroes thought about the two demons that they would be fighting soon enough, recalling everything they knew about Tichondrius and Krosus, before they voiced their agreement to what Trixie was saying, telling Lyra that all of the heroes wanted to end Tichondrius for everything he had done to Azeroth over the years. Once they were all in agreement the heroes pulled themselves to their feet and headed towards the building on the right of the courtyard's entrance, where they engaged the Duskwatch that were guarding the entrance. Fortunately Lyra, Trixie, and the heroes had some experience in dealing with these enemies and pulled another group before they were even done with the first one, while at the same time seeing that there were two paths for them to choose from. As Lyra cut down one of the Duskwatch she noticed that the tanks were already moving forward, to which she followed after them as they entered the building itself and used the stairs to advance upwards.
Before they entered the room where Tichondrius was located, as it was rather easy to see the Dreadlord standing still while he waited for something to happen, the tanks pulled out every demon that was in the room before they entered it, allowing the group to kill dreadguards, beholders, and the Felsworn Nightborne that rested in the area. It didn't take them long to actually clear up their enemies, since they were using their experience to their advantage, before the only people in this area were them and their target.
"You think getting past a few power-addled elves means you can stand against a true son of the Legion?" Tichondrius asked, though that was followed by the demon chucking for a moment, indicating that he found their stance on this issue to be humorous, "Never trust a mortal to do a demon's work!"
Tichondrius charged at them the moment the heroes were ready, targeting the tanks immediately while the healers and ranged damage dealers pull away so they could do their tasks from a safe distance, while Lyra cut small gashes into the demon's skin. The first thing that Tichondrius did, after spending a few seconds simply swinging his clawed hands at whichever tank he happened to be targeting at the moment, was mark one of the heroes with some sort of mark that summoned three blood colored globs into the area, which moved towards the marked individual. Some of the ranged fighters turned towards the trio of blood globs and used their powers to defeat them, as they all suspected that if the globs touched their target the individual would be seriously harmed. Normally Lyra would have thought that people were acting a little crazy, but after hearing everything that this one demon was responsible for, long before she and Trixie had arrived in this world, she knew that they weren't exaggerating... and that only made her want to kill Tichondrius even more than she already did.
While they were doing that Tichondrius grinned and inflicted another curse on several more heroes, which was followed by a swarm of fly like creatures trying to hit the now inflicted targets, to which some of them suffered some damage because they were close to the Dreadlord while the others were safe from harm. Lyra could tell that he followed that up with more blood globs going another another hero, displaying how skilled the Dreadlord was at adapting to the situation, before the demon tore open a small opening to the void and four fel spikes erupted from the floor around them. Lyra, immediately understanding what was happening, ducked behind the closest fel spike as the other heroes did the same thing, to which the energy that Tichondrius sent at them shattered the fel spikes while not hurting any of them in the process... though Lyra knew that if they weren't careful they could be seriously hurt by that attack, something that everyone seemed to understand as they continued the fight.
Tichondrius repeated the same attacks for the next few minutes, where he actually took some of the heroes out because they were distracted by one of the other attacks he had used, before he changed up his attack pattern... to which he faded out of existence and trapped the remaining heroes in a shadowy void like area. That was followed by some bats, those that appeared to be like an illusion instead of a real manifestation, started to appear in the area and charged at the heroes that were in front of them. While the heroes fought off the bats, and dropped what appeared to be globs of Nightwell energy or something similar, Tichondrius appeared as a fel colored spirit and loosed beams of energy at them for a few seconds, forcing them to dodge before his spirit disappeared. The majority of the heroes spent the next minute or two killing bats and collecting the globs of energy, though when they finally returned to the real world they noticed that the unfortunate hunter that hadn't gotten a glob grabbed his chest before collapsing on the floor... indicating that if this happened a second time they wanted to make sure that they all grabbed a glob to prevent themselves from dying.
When Tichondrius reappeared in front of them, and started attacking them with the same attacks he had been using earlier, he called for the 'pitiful' Nightborne to assist him, where the Felsworn Nightborne entered the chamber and rushed to his assistance. Lyra, seeing their enemies enter the area, broke off from the main fight with some of the heroes and engaged the reinforcements, taking out any of the Felsworn that were clearly healers before going after the fighters, since it was better to remove the healers before hand. Since only a few Felsworn entered the area it didn't take the small group long to take care of the enemies that Tichondrius had called upon, before they turned back towards their main target and continued their assault.
Eventually Tichondrius shifted back into the shadowy realm with them, forcing the heroes to repeat what they had done earlier, but this time around everyone was sure to grab one of the globs before they were pulled back to reality... where their opponent called some demons in to assist him. Fortunately at that point in time the surviving heroes knew what to do with each attack that Tichondrius used against them, to which they countered his attacks and his allies, before dealing enough damage to him where he staggered backwards and fell to one knee... where he breathed heavily and glared up at them with a look of rage in his eyes.
"Impossible!" Tichondrius exclaimed, though his tone told the heroes that he wasn't about to accept the outcome of this fight, especially when they took his prior ones into consideration, "You are... inferior..."
"You demons should really stop underestimating the power of Azeroth's champions," Lyra replied, though at the same time she stepped forward and grinned as she held her warglaives out, because this time around she wasn't going to let someone as powerful as Tichondrius return to his master's side, "too bad that this time around you'll lose more than the body you painstakingly created for this invasion."
Before Tichondrius could react, and before the other heroes could stop her, Lyra plunged the warglaives into the demon's heart and destroyed it, though that was followed by her smiling as the demon's body broke apart and his soul was sucked into the warglaives, damning him to an eternity of imprisonment in the one place he couldn't escape from. With the Dreadlord dead, and no longer having the opportunity to return to Sargeras, Lyra relaxed a little as the healers tended to the wounded and raised the defeated heroes from where they had died, allowing them a chance to know what had happened to their opponent before they were healed as well. Lyra knew that Lord Illidan had battled with Tichondrius in the past, during the Third War if she remembered the story correctly, and knew that he would be happy to see that she repeated what he had done... though this time around she trapped the demon's soul within the warglaives, strengthening it while also keeping it contained with all the other demons that had been killed over the years.
For a few seconds she actually wondered how many souls were trapped within the Twinblades of the Deceiver, since they had once belonged to the Legion, but she decided that she was better off not knowing that fact and faced her friends once more... to which they returned to the courtyard and started moving around the large circular building that was the Nightspire, where Elisande was waiting for them.
Since the Nightspire was still locked to them, revealing that the targets they had been taking out contained the keys to open the way to their target, the heroes moved to the right of the Nightspire's main entrance and followed the path to the back of the building. Along the way they had to contend with more members of the Duskwatch, along with some beholder and dreadguard demons, but for the most part it wasn't anything they hadn't encountered before and they already knew how to deal with these types of enemies, to which they carefully made their way towards their true destination. Despite the fact that it took them a few minutes, to clear out the enemies that were between them and the stairs they needed to walk down, they managed to reach the stairs and descended to the level below them... where they fought the remaining guards before reaching the ruined bridge that rested between them and the Broken Shore, where the Tomb of Sargeras was waiting for them.
That also meant that they had to contend with a rather large infernal that was waiting for them, but despite it's size and power Lyra, Trixie, and the others were able to deal some great damage to it before it collapsed on itself, allowing the group to continue forward. They then had to carefully climb down the ruined sections of the bridge, which must have been grand looking before it's destruction, before finding that there were three eredar pouring their fel energy into something, which had to be the sleeping demon they had come to destroy. The eredar, seeing that the heroes had arrived, stopped what they were doing and charged at them, using their spells and magic to fight the large group, but Lyra found that these eredar were weaker than the Nightborne, meaning that she and her friends could kill them rather easily... though once they all fell to the group, however, Krosus, the demonic monstrosity that had been sleeping in the water at the end of the ruined bridge, burst out of where he had been resting and stared down at the group.
Lyra quickly discovered that, due to the creature's immense size, that she and her friends would be fighting Krosus from his waist up, but she and the others were prepared as they held their weapons at the ready, before the tanks moved forward and started the battle.
"Come then!" Krosus growled, though at the same time he used his hands to attack whoever was in front of him, be that the tanks or the melee damage dealers that were assisting the tanks, "Meet your end!"
The instant the battle started Krosus pulled one of his hands back and gathered some Fel energy above his palm, though before he released it everyone moved to the opposite side of his body, allowing the beam of energy to hit the water behind them before continuing the fight. He was also a fan of marking individuals in some manner, as those affected by his 'brand' were forced to slowly burn over the course of the battle, meaning that the only way to remove the mark was to defeat Krosus. The demon also used the beam attack a few more times, though every odd count was with his right hand while every even count was with his left hand, something that the demon seemed to be keeping track of while they fought. At one point he slammed his fists into the structure of the bridge and started spewing blasts of molten lava from his fel infected shoulders, though some of the heroes sacrificed their own health to prevent the others from taking damage... or from allowing something even worse to happen if the blasts touched the bridge.
Eventually Krosus displayed two interesting abilities; the first being that he randomly picked someone to throw a massive orb of Fel energy at, causing them to fall back to the ruined part of the bridge to avoid making the rest of the group suffer once the attack hit it's target. The second one was where Krosus slammed his fists into the section of the bridge in front of him, causing everyone to fall back for a moment, before he shattered the part of the bridge they had been fighting on and marched towards them.
After that happened Krosus went back to using the same attacks he had been using previously, loosing beams of Fel energy from both his right and left hands in the same pattern as before, loosing molten globs that required someone to hurt themselves, threw orbs of Fel energy, and he continued marking individuals with his brand. Since they knew his attacks the group kept their eyes open for new ones that the demon might incorporate into his routine in order to surprise them, but, oddly enough, it was the same attacks and nothing changed. After some time he smashed through the spot where everyone had been standing, as they cleared out when they noticed that it was starting to crack as well, before they continued the fight near the end of this part of the bridge. That meant that if they didn't kill him soon he would drop them all into the sea and slaughter them before they had a chance to fight back, but fortune seemed to smile on them as Lyra empowered both of her warglaives with the Fel aura and the Dark Magic aura... where she hurled them towards her target and cut a gash into his chest that allowed the other heroes to deal the finishing blow, toppling the creature and causing him to collapse on the section of the bridge in front of them.
"That was for Tirion Fordring, monster!" the paladins exclaimed, though as they cheered for their victory over the creature, like everyone else was doing, Lyra made sure to imprison Krosus' soul inside the Twinblades as well, that way he could never come back to haunt the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde.
With Krosus defeated an image of Khadgar appeared behind them and offered them help in getting back up to the top of the ruined bridge, where everyone accepted and transformed into balls of arcane energy, which raced towards their destination before transforming back into who they had been. The only one not affected by that spell was Trixie, to which she simply sighed and reverted back to her dragon form, where she flew up to where her companions were waiting for her and landed behind them. From there she changed back into her hybrid state and caught up with Lyra, though at the same time the heroes retraced their steps towards one of the two towers that were connected to the sides of the Nightspire, where they walked up the stairs that were in front of them and accessed the teleporter that they discovered... which took them up to the level that connected to the chamber where Elisande was waiting for their arrival.
What made Lyra snap to attention was the fact that there weren't any guards protecting the Grand Magistrix, though she wasn't the only one that noticed this and all of the heroes carefully held their weapons at the ready as Elisande merely glanced at them... while at the same time continuing whatever spell she had been working on since they started their invasion of the Nighthold.
"I foresaw your coming, of course. The threads of fate that led you to this place. Your desperate attempt to stop the Legion." Elisande commented, revealing that not only did she have control over the Nightwell, enough to create a creature to keep the Time Lock spell in place on the bridge until said creature was destroyed, but that she also had the power to see into the possible futures that existed for her, "My people face a similar dilemma. I peered into all possible futures in search for an answer... and found only one. The Legion's victory is inevitable. Every time stream shows it to be so. Had we resisted, they would have taken the Nightwell by force and left us bereft of it. I could not allow my people starve, to waste away without its energy sustaining us. So a bargain was struck. Now I see a future where the Legion is victorious and my people endure. This is the thread that must be preserved. I will do everything in my power to make it so! Your deaths ensure the future of the Nightborne. Come forward, then. Let us speed you toward your fate."
The moment Elisande was done talking she teleported out of the Nightwell and appeared in front of the tanks, though as she started fighting she also summoned time elemental creatures that needed to be dealt with immediately, as Lyra feared that the Grand Magistrix might be able to make more of the Chronomatic Anomaly if they existed for a good period of time. As such several of the heroes diverged from their main target and took out the elemental before it could do too much damage, though in the process of it dying it created a zone where time was slower than what was around it, meaning that they wanted to stay away from that. While they were doing that Elisande also ripped several holes in time beneath the feet of several heroes, though it appeared that they weren't the portal type since no one fell through them, save for the fact that if they stayed on them Elisande inflicted massive damage on whoever remained standing on top of one of the holes... which one of the mages did, just to see if they were harmless or not, to which he confirmed that they were harmful and had a healer mend his wounds before he rejoined the battle.
Elisande also called a ring of arcane orbs into the area and pulled them towards the Nightwell, though since there was a place of slowed time the group moved close to the location and let the majority of the arcane orbs pass them by, before moving out and continuing their attack.
After some time Elisande summoned a pair of time elementals, one that was colored like the first one they took out while the second was a different color, so when the first one died a new location of slowed time formed around it's corpse, though when the new one died a place of fast moving time appeared. That was a location that the group used to their advantage, as they dipped into the location for a few seconds and then emerged from it, allowing their attacks and spells to hit their target much faster, thus allowing them to deal more damage over a shorter period of time. Even the arcane ring was affected, as the orbs that hit the faster moving area rushed into the Nightwell and disappeared, thus lowering the number of orbs that the group had to dodge when Elisande used that particular tactic on them. She repeated that sequence of attacks a few more times, still hurting several of the heroes in the process, before she snapped her fingers and everyone froze for a few seconds.
"You exist in but a single moment." Elisande said, though that was before the heroes returned to the positions they had been in before the battle started, while at the same time she returned to the Nightwell, "I am far less limited!"
Lyra and the others looked around in confusion, because it appeared that they had literally gone back in time to when the battle started, though at the same time it appeared that while their injuries remained Elisande was at full power once more as she exited the Nightwell, to resume her attack. This time around, in addition to the powers she had displayed against them in the first round of the battle, Elisande had some additional tricks up her sleeve, as while she summoned time elementals and threw balls of energy at her targets she also summoned larger spheres of volatile energy that needed to be juggled by a few heroes before they would disappear. Another new tactic she used was when she faced whoever she was targeting and loosed a beam of concentrated energy at them, to which they either avoided the attack or were struck by it, which severely hurt them in the process. She also had a power that forced people to move away from the rest of the pack to avoid hurting everyone else, which seemed to be another favorite ability of the people that ruled over the Nighthold... but the heroes rolled with the punches and did their best to avoid hurting the others, especially when Elisande added the arcane ring to the mix once more.
Elisande repeated the new and old sets of attacks a few more times, while Lyra, Trixie, and the others did their best to avoid taking damage, defeating all the time elementals when they showed up, prevented the orbs from hitting the ground, and everything else they had done so far... up until their foe snapped her fingers again and disappeared.
"Time shifts again, and your doom draws near!" Elisande declared, while at the same time the heroes reverted back to where they had been when the battle first started, which was starting to annoy some of them with how often she was resetting the battle between them.
When Elisande started the fight this time around she immediately marked several of the heroes with her own mark that inflicted heavy damage on them over the course of a few second, much to the dismay of the healers, while at the same time forcing multiple strands of time to converge on multiple targets for additional damage. Of course she still used all of her old abilities in addition to these new ones, to which the group faced their greatest challenge yet, because since Elisande had control over time she was infinitely stronger than they could hope to be. Instead of giving into despair and letting the end come for her, like others would have, Lyra allowed her innate energy to awaken once more, to which both the Fel energy and the Dark Magic energy wrapped around her being... while at the same time making her allies realize that they had a chance thanks to their most powerful weapon, even if it was taking on her body.
Lyra, who was always throwing caution to the wind these days, rushed forward and slammed a fist into Elisande's chest, knocking her backwards and caused her to cough as she realized something very important... something that she refused to believe, despite what was happening in front of her eyes.
"Time is... slipping away!" Elisande exclaimed, though at the same time she growled, indicating that she believed in preserving the future she had seen, even though it now appeared to be slipping away from her grasp, "How can it be so?"
Now that the heroes knew that all was not lost, even in the face of someone that had control over time itself, they renewed their attacks and continued cutting down the time elementals that Elisande tried to summon into the area, dropping more of the altered time areas onto the ground. Elisande growled as she continued to fight with the group, mostly Lyra since she was being a pest, and loosed every ability that she had demonstrated over the course of their battle, though this time around the heroes knew how to overcome the damage she was dealing and mended their wounds seconds after the damage was done. Trixie, deciding that Lyra shouldn't have all the fun, let her wings unfurl from her back and raced towards Elisande, where she and Lyra went on the assault, keeping Elisande focused on them and them alone... until she and Lyra nodded their heads and pulled away from their target.
Not seconds later the two Equestrians landed near each other and held a hand out, where they combined their different energies into a single attack and rushed forward, to which they slammed it right into Elisande's chest... and blasted her right into the side of the room they were fighting in, where she remained for a few seconds before managing to pull herself off the wall.
"It's... not possible!" Elisande shouted, though at the same time she snapped her fingers, but this time around the heroes smiled as they realized that she didn't have the energy to control time anymore, where despair finally grabbed hold of the Grand Magistrix, "I... I was destined to win..."
The heroes watched as Elisande staggered for a few seconds before finally collapsing on the ground in front of them, to which they all relaxed a little as Thalyssra and Khadgar warped into the chamber, ready to congratulate them on a job well done in dealing with their foe... though that was before the Nightwell pulsed for a moment and a spectral version of Elisande appeared before them all.
"In all possible futures I scryed, I did not foresee one in which you were victorious." Elisande's echo said, making the group wonder if she had recorded this or is this was simply another version of Elisande that was speaking to them, from a timeline that no longer existed, "I wonder... Will you defeat the Legion? Will you fail? Time eddies about you fits and starts. Nothing is certain! Perhaps you will win. And in saving your world, my people would be freed from the terrible bargain we were forced to make."
"Elisande, we may have been enemies, but I can tell you one thing," Lyra said, to which she and Trixie smiled, because they knew what they and the heroes were capable of, especially after everything they had been through so far, "We'll defeat the Legion and banish them from this world."
Lyra, Trixie, the rest of the heroes, Khadgar, and Thalyssra waited for a few seconds, as they all stared at the echo of Elisande as they waited to hear what she had to say on this matter, before the echo let out a sigh and waved a hand towards them, where those that had died were brought back to life and everyone's energy was restored to what it had been before they started the fight with Elisande.
"Fates be damned! I cast my lot in with yours, champions." the echo stated, surprising the group by the sudden declaration that it made, though at the same time it snapped it's fingers and a portal opened near where they were gathered together, "Go now, face Gul'dan. I will aid you as best I can, and perhaps together we can save us all."
Lyra, Trixie, and the rest of the heroes smiled, because now they had the way to their true target, though hopefully they could stop Gul'dan from completing whatever foul plan he was trying to complete... to which they all stepped through the portal and headed towards the top of the Nightspire. They were going to give Gul'dan the fight of their lives and do everything in their power to stop him, even if Lyra had to do what she did to Xavius to stop the insane orc warlock, but they knew that time would tell the outcome of their fight.
When Lyra, Trixie, and the rest of the heroes stepped through the other side of the portal, provided by the echo of Elisande, they found themselves at the top of the Nighthold, no doubt where the Eye of Amun'thul was located, and found the old orc warlock, Gul'dan himself, standing in the center of the Titan artifact. This was the first time that Lyra was laying eyes on the infamous orc, the one that Khadgar and a vast number of heroes despised with a burning passion, where she discovered that he was hunched over a tiny bit, while six spikes grew out of his back. Lyra discovered that Gul'dan was wearing a robe that revealed his chest, as if he didn't care about that glaring weakness, while there were a few skulls scattered across his attire. She could also tell that he possessed an incredible amount of Fel energy in his body, which made sense considering that his master was Sargeras, though that meant that this fight was going to be much harder than what she originally thought it would be.
Before they could even make a plan of attack this time around, or even study the statues and structure that was around them, they all heard the sound of someone chuckling, to which they all turned their attention towards Gul'dan as he looked at them all.
"Ah, yes... the heroes have arrived." Gul'dan said, though his voice was filled with confidence, meaning that he fully believed that he was going to overcome them and the weapons that they were carrying, "So persistent, so confident... but your arrogance will be your undoing. Heroes of the Alliance, have you forgotten your humiliation on the Broken Shore? How your precious High King was bent and broken before me? Will you beg for your lives as he did, whimpering like some worthless dog? Your pathetic Alliance will fall to dust. Your new boy King will bow down and serve me, as will all of you!"
The heroes that served the Alliance and the various rulers, including the new High King, Anduin Wyrnn, growled as they stared at Gul'dan, though this only told Lyra that their foe was taunting them and trying to provoke them into ruining themselves before the battle even started... while at the same time the more friendly members of the Horde rested a hand on the shoulders of the Alliance heroes to calm them down.
"And what about you, heroes of the Horde?" Gul'dan inquired, causing the Horde heroes to snap their heads towards him, while at the same time grinning at the hatred that he saw in their eyes, "Have you forgotten your humiliation on the Broken Shore? How your mighty Warchief was stuck in the belly like a helpless piglet? Will you die slowly as he did, consumed by fel corruption and squealing for a merciful end? Your pathetic Horde will fall to dust. In the end, death will inherit this world... and she will be waiting."
Trixie knew that both the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde wanted nothing more than to jump forward and rip Gul'dan apart, and she could feel her own rage building as her fingers shifted into sharpened talons for a moment, but none of them made a move, since that would be falling into Gul'dan's plan... though at the same time the orc focused on more more target, one that everyone had seen coming since they started this invasion.
"And you, Lyra Heartstrings, what will you do?" Gul'dan asked, though this time around he chuckled as Trixie grabbed onto Lyra before she could fly into battle, as he was enjoying himself way too much at this point in time, "The husk of your master, the great Illidan Stormrage, has proven to be the most ideal vessel for my master's glory. Sargeras will rise, and together, we will watch this world burn. The question is whether you're willing to join the winning side and hand over the remaining Pillars of Creation, or stay with the losing side and be tortured until you become a broken piece for the master to use against the remaining worlds in this universe."
"I'm not about to join forces with the very creatures I am sworn to destroy," Lyra replied, though at the same time she pulled the Twinblades out and prepared herself, because this fight was going to be a long and intense one for all of them, in comparison to the other fights so far.
Gul'dan chuckled once more as his magic flared for a moment, to which he pointed at Lyra for a few seconds and then tightened his hand into a fist, causing the heroes to wonder what he had done as they prepared themselves for the battle that was to come. That was followed by Lyra collapsing to her knees as she dropped the Twinblades, as her hand was now gripping the area above her heart, as if Gul'dan was going to destroy her heart before she even had a chance to fight back and prove that he was wrong. Trixie, on the other hand, noticed something odd happen to Lyra's fel energy as she stared at her friend, the fel energy that had been inside her decreased in size until it disappeared completely... as if Gul'dan had smothered Lyra's inner fire, effectively killing her abilities for who knew how long.
"What... what did you... do to me?" Lyra asked, though at the same time she stared at the warlock with a look of pure hate, as while she could guess what happened, since the reaction her body had gone through, she wanted to see if she was right or absolutely wrong.
"I have placed a mark on you that will prevent you from using your fel powers," Gul'dan replied, though at the same time he continued to chuckle as he noticed some looks of horror appear on the various faces that stood in front of him, while Lyra was completely devastated, "I felt your power when you used it in the Emerald Nightmare, when you combined two volatile elements together and utterly obliterated your opponent. Due to the delicate nature of the ritual, I cannot allow you to use something so destructive in such a close proximity, so your fel powers have been sealed until either you die, or until you and your friends somehow kill me."
The tanks, taking Gul'dan's sealing of Lyra's powers as an attack, loosed a mighty war cry as they charged at their target, who simply stood in the center of the Eye and grinned, because before they could even reach him a Fel Lord, an Inquisitor, and a Jailer demon stepped out of three different portals and attacked the group of heroes. Even though her power was repressed at the moment, and couldn't access any of her fel attacks, Lyra could tell that all three of the demons were extremely powerful in their own right, meaning that they were already in trouble. Gul'dan, for the most part, stated that the vessel needed to be made ready and sealed himself inside a magical barrier that was created by the Eye, which had two rings spinning around him at the moment... while at the same time telling the heroes that they weren't even worth him personally fighting, which annoyed Lyra more than she was willing to admit.
After all that taunting and sealing her powers away, earning him the rage of the heroes and herself, she couldn't believe that Gul'dan would do something like this... to which she growled as she literally climbed up onto the back of the Fel Lord and started cutting into his neck.
Fortunately, despite the fact that she couldn't use her fel powers, the heroes understood that she knew who was the best demon to take out first, as they combined their powers and forced the Fel Lord to his knees within the first minute of him and his allies appearing. When the time was right Lyra beckoned to the Inquisitor, to which the heroes changed targets as she severed the Fel Lord's head, allowing his essence to be absorbed into the Twinblades with all the other demon souls she had claimed since acquiring the weapons. The assembled group repeated the process with the Inquisitor, where some of them helped throw Lyra onto the demon's back, before they crashed the demon into the floor and ended it's life as well. After another minute the group of heroes accomplished the same thing with the final demon, the seemingly powerful Jailer, before they all gathered around the Eye and waited for Gul'dan to do something, as they couldn't penetrate the Eye while he was inside it.
"You failed, heroes!" Gul'dan declared, though at the same time Lyra had no idea how he could have completed any steps of his ritual in the three minutes it took her and the other heroes to smash the demons he summoned, "The ritual is upon us! But first, I'll indulge myself a bit... and finish you!"
That was followed by a wave of fel energy rushing outwards from where Gul'dan was standing, which also shattered the building structure around them, though Lyra watched as the orc went through his own transformation, as fel flames appeared on his back and his hands appeared to be doing the same thing, while she could tell that his power he increased as well. As Gul'dan stepped out of the protective barrier that the Eye provided, which powered down now that he wasn't in it, the group discovered that the frailness of his body seemed to have disappeared as well. Their foe's first attack was to randomly pick several people and wrap fel chains around them, forcing them to remain in one place for a time while inflicting damage on them at the same time, allowing him to focus on whoever his target was. When he swung his hands at his target, however, it almost looked like he and two echoes of himself were attacking at the same time, generally forcing some of the tanks to block the attacks while the others assaulted their foe.
Moments later Gul'dan summoned eyes from the energy around them, which targeted the heroes and channeled shadowy power at whoever they were aiming at, though Lyra discovered that she and the others could destroy the eyes, as she cut one apart and showed the others what they were missing. If they didn't take out an eye quick enough it duplicated itself and increased the number of enemies that they had to take care of, though as the last one fell Gul'dan simply chuckled as he continued the fight, while at the same time throwing a orb of fel energy at some of the heroes and damaged them with his attack. After displaying those attacks Gul'dan did the same thing as all of the other enemies they had fought so far, he repeated his attacks on them, but instead of following the same pattern he randomized which attack he was going to use and constantly changed who he was attacking.
He did, however, constantly attack Lyra now that she didn't have access to her fel powers, but he actually did so in a manner that would prevent her from breaking his mark, if such a thing was possible, thus insuring that she didn't get her powers back until completing one of the objectives Gul'dan told them about.
After a few minutes of following this attack pattern, and both dealing damage to the group while taking some in return, Gul'dan let his power surge again as his body changed once more, as he seemed slightly larger than before and his spikes seemed even deadlier. His robes seemed to disappear as smaller spikes erupted from his shoulders and some even came out of the back of his hands, though what annoyed Lyra was that a pair of horns that mimicked Lord Illidan's horns appeared in the same position on Gul'dan's head. When Gul'dan resumed his assault, and smacked Lyra backwards, she discovered that their opponent's power had increased, as the orc started using empowered versions of his attacks that hurt them even more than they had before his second transformation, while at the same time the eyes took a slightly longer time to die this time around.
The only difference was that his now empowered attacks did things differently, as the fel orbs left fel pools behind where they struck, the fel bonds knocked their target onto their back while inflicted a greater amount of damage, and the eyes loosed beams of fiery energy. In addition to all of those attacks, which the group was getting used to, Gul'dan also called forth some new attacks, as he called forth demonic meteors from the sky and loosed devastating beams of fel energy from his eyes. Lyra thought that this was ridiculous, as Gul'dan seemed to have a fair amount of abilities and those increased in power and devastation when he transformed, though she knew that she couldn't help out too much since her power had been sealed away. Trixie, on the other hand, was starting to pull in her arcane power and was mimicking what Lyra was doing earlier, but not on the same level that Lyra did, though at the same time Gul'dan didn't seem to care about her arcane power and simply ignored it, despite the fact that she was one of the greatest mages in the entire world.
Not even a minute later it appeared that Gul'dan was growing tired of this game, as he teleported back into the area above the Eye and it started spinning again... though a few moments later the Eye stopped moving as Gul'dan grew in size when a beam of fel energy surged into him, but this time around his flames turned red. All of his spikes increased in size as well, revealing that he was using more power than he was using since the battle started, while his eyes radiated power at the same time. That was followed by him tearing open a gaping hole in reality that showed Argus in the distance, indicating that he was trying to summon Sargeras into Illidan's body, though this time around the group discovered that in addition to his old attacks, where were empowered to the maximum this time, Gul'dan gained even more powers to use against all of them; a well of souls that damaged whoever it wanted, of the heroes anyway, and a storm that pushed them around like they were nothing.
As all of this happened Khadgar teleported into the area and summoned himself in a barrier, though as he did that he focused his efforts on Light's Heart, revealing that he was intending to return Illidan's soul to his body, which was apparently suspended in the air above the battle, thanks to the four statues that still stood around them.
This proved to be one of the more dangerous parts of the fight, as his prior attacks were stronger than they had been at the start of the battle and his new attacks forced the group to change their tactics to avoid perishing, meaning that their damage was even less than it had been since they started the battle. What Lyra was pleased with was that there was a third path that Gul'dan had neglected to mention, as since his attention was on calling Sargeras' soul, spirit, or whatever into this world, and was also on stopping them from preventing his plan from working, his attention on the mark on her body was slipping. She could feel her powers fighting back, trying to slip through the small cracks that were already forming, but she kept that to herself as she tried to fight without her powers, because if she revealed her hand now she'd likely never get her fel powers back.
The next few minutes passed rather slowly as they attempted to overcome Gul'dan's attacks and stop his plan from becoming a reality, though that was before the area above the Eye was surrounded by a dark aura for a few moments, to which another grin graced Gul'dan's face for a few seconds.
"You topple a pawn and presume to challenge its master? Such arrogance!" a voice said, though it was so familiar to Lyra that she faltered for a moment, causing her to stare at the dark mist as a shadowy version of Lord Illidan stepped forward and stared at them, "Behold the shadow of what is to come, the endless darkness that shall consume your world. You are not prepared!"
That was the last straw for Lyra, as she would not stand to see her master's body tainted and befouled by Sargeras, to which her rage surged forward and the mark that Gul'dan had placed upon her shattered into a thousand pieces, where she allowed her body to transform into her Havoc form before she tacked the shade of her mentor away from her friends and allies. Gul'dan seemed surprise by this turn of events, as he clearly hadn't suspected her to suddenly get the power to overcome his mark, but that was because he was underestimating the power that she and Trixie possessed, something that Lyra was willing to show off as she slammed the shade into the ground and jumped off of it, before descending and using her warglaives to cut some slight gashes into it's chest. Trixie and the other heroes, on the other hand, focused their attention on fighting Gul'dan, meaning dodging his attacks and delivering their own to him in the process, because if they killed him the shade might disappear... and his plan would fall apart.
Lyra had actually never told anyone this fact, save for the Illidari, but she had sparred with Lord Illidan several times since she took the first step to being a demon hunter, so he could see her power for himself, to which she recognized her mentor's shadow arc attacks that came from his warglaives, his attack that involved jumping into the air and crashing into the ground around her, and two shadowy attacks that didn't belong to her mentor. Those two attacks she dealt with before they could manifest, because they didn't belong to her mentor at all, and kept the fight fair for the two of them, though she suffered through the pain of her injuries and kept the shade at bay. The shade was stronger than anything she could have expected, since Lord Illidan had always been holding back when they sparred, but she kept pace with it and made sure that it's focus was on her and her alone.
That was, however, until the heroes struck the final blow against Gul'dan and sent him spiraling towards the gap in reality he had created, though as the shade shattered into a thousand pieces, and Lyra reverted back to normal, the group watched as Gul'dan's power expired and he turned back into his frail self. A few moments later a powerful shockwave of energy rippled out of the gap in reality as Argus disappeared, though at the same time Illidan's crystal flew backwards after being struck, smashing into one of the statues and shattering as the top of the statue fell to the ground. Lyra and the heroes noticed that a large amount of fel fire appeared between the statue and Gul'dan, who was focused on the portal he had created, before they stepped back to avoid taking damage.
"No... NO!!!" Gul'dan shouted, though at the same time he raised his left hand out and reached towards the portal, as if he was trying to stop the portal from closing, "This... cannot... be..."
A few moments later the portal finally closed, leaving Gul'dan to fall to his knees as he realized that he was not only alone, but he was also battered from his fight with the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde, all of whom had a bone to pick with him because of the loved ones that had been lost in the attack on the Broken Shore. Before anyone could do anything a pair of shadowed wings unfurled in the felfire, a pair of wings that many of the heroes recognized, though at the same time Lyra smiled as she recognized the wings. Gul'dan, feeling the wings unfurl behind him, glanced back for a few seconds as Illidan Stormrage, with the shadows disappearing from his body as it returned to how it had been when he was alive, grabbed the orc by the neck and lifted him off the ground. Literally a second passed before Illidan started channeling fel energy into Gul'dan's body, causing the orc warlock to scream in pain for another second, before Illidan closed his wings on Gul'dan, who exploded in a flash of light.
When the light faded, and the heroes were able to see again, they found Illidan standing in the same place he had been a few seconds ago, though this time around he appeared to be triumphant, as he was now holding the still smoldering skull of Gul'dan in his left hand... which he crushed a few seconds later, before he turned towards the group of heroes and smiled at them.
"You have seen what I have seen." Illidan said, referring to Argus and everything else they had seen since they started the invasion on the Nighthold, though at the same time Lyra smiled as she stood at attention in front of her mentor, who, despite not being able to see her since his eyes had been burned out thousands of years ago, nodded towards her, "You know what we face. Now, heroes, follow me... into the abyss!"
Trixie couldn't help but smile as well, because not only had they recovered the Nightwell for Thalyssra, saved the Eye of Amun'thul from being used by the Legion, and stopped Gul'dan's plans from being fulfilled, they had also gotten an ally that none of them had actually expected to be allied with... but she was willing to overlook the past, since Lyra had faith in her mentor, and knew that this time the Legion was going to fall.
"He's finally gone." Trixie spoke up, though as she did so she looked at the other heroes who had fought alongside her on the Broken Shore, where they all suffered a painful defeat and lost some loved ones, and smiled when she saw that they were all pleased with what had happened, "We're finally rid of Gul'dan and his foul plans."
"Yes... and this was a most fitting end for him," Khadgar added, though at the same time one of the paladins walked over and took Light's Heart from him, because now that it had served it's secondary purpose as the vessel for Illidan's soul it was time to take it back to Dalaran, "The battle is won, but the war is far from over. In order to stem the tide of demons flooding into Azeroth, we must use the Pillars of Creation to seal the Tomb of Sargeras. The Eye... might be difficult to carry. Perhaps I can use the power of the Eye itself to teleport it to Dalaran. I suppose there is only one way to find out!"
"Are you sure that Thalyssra is okay with us just taking the Eye of Aman'thul?" Lyra asked, because while she knew that this was part of the reason why they had invaded the Nighthold, and battled the Lord of the Shadow Council for Lord Illidan's body, she didn't know if the Nightborne would be okay with them taking the Eye like this.
"Yes, she is perfectly fine with us taking possession of the Eye," Khadgar said, though he couldn't fault Lyra for asking the question, since it was actually never openly discussed with her while she was recovering from her ordeal in the Emerald Nightmare, "I am perfectly aware that taking the Eye might have some serious side effects for the Nightborne and the entirety of Suramar City, something that Thalyssra agrees with, but with Shal'Aran producing fruit that will free the Nightborne from constantly needing mana, they won't need the Nightwell in the future."
"Good." Lyra replied, as she honestly didn't want to hurt the Nightborne by taking the Eye, but since it appeared that this had been thought out while she was recovering she could accept it, though at the same time she stood beside her mentor and smiled, "Lord Illidan... it's good to have you back."
Illidan turned towards her and remained silent for a few moments, to which the other heroes stopped what they were doing and watched, as they knew Lyra's story, thanks to what Trixie had told them, and knew that she had been purposely handpicked by Illidan to be his successor, something that had surprised her when she learned about it... though that was before the legendary demon hunter smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder.
"It's good to be back, and to see you again," Illidan said, though even as he said that he noticed that something was missing, as his spare hand went to his horns for a few seconds, before he turned towards the assembled heroes, "So, how many of you were in the group that toppled me in the Black Temple?"
Three fourths of the assembled heroes raised their hands, because they knew that it was best if they didn't upset the newly resurrected Illidan, especially since he had owned Gul'dan without his mighty warglaives, though they all suspected that there was a specific reason behind why he had asked this question.
"Yes... I recognize some of you now," Illidan continued, though the smile didn't fade from his face, making some of them worry for a few seconds, but Lyra's smile caused the heroes to hold their ground, "I'm sure that one of you, or one of the other heroes that were at the Black Temple that day, took the Warglaives of Azzinoth into your possession once I was defeated. I would like my weapons returned to me before I start my hunt... if you wouldn't mind."
Lyra found it amusing that the heroes that had toppled three Old Gods, several powerful dragon Aspects, and even Archimonde himself, were terrified of Lord Illidan, but her mentor did make a valid point; he was going to continue his war with the Legion and he needed his weapons back, though she was sure that the Illidari would have a way to upgrade them to the level of her own Twinblades. A few seconds later, however, Khadgar coughed and brought the attention of the group back to him as he approached the Eye of Aman'thul, which was simply resting in the floor, waiting for something to happen or someone to use it. Khadgar stepped into the center of the Eye and started channeling the spell that would allow him to take the Eye back to Dalaran, to which Trixie and the other mages joined their magic with his, where the arcane energies wrapped around the Titan artifact for a few seconds, causing the rings to move once more.
A few moments later Khadgar and the Eye vanished, though that was followed by Trixie and the other mages opening portals back to Dalaran, allowing the other heroes to step through and head back to an area that would allow them to rest after such a long series of fights. Trixie, on the other hand, personally opened the portal for Lyra and Illidan to step out onto the island that would allow them to access the Fel Hammer, to which Lyra smiled as she and her mentor walked through it. Sure enough they appeared on the floating island that rested near Dalaran, though the two Illidari that guarded the portal took a moment to stare at Illidan, to be sure that they were seeing his familiar fel energy, before they saluted their master. Lyra smiled as she led Lord Illidan into the portal and reappeared on the landing of the Fel Hammer that the other side of the portal was on, where the Shivarra that were powering the portal stared at the duo in pure shock, before Lyra proudly walked forward and stopped in front of the control terminal.
"ILLIDARI!" Lyra shouted, causing the assembled mass of demon hunters, both elves and demons alike, to turn towards her in surprise, as they weren't expecting her to return from the Nighthold so soon, "BEHOLD, LORD ILLIDAN HAS RETURNED TO US!"
Illidan stepped out into the light and stared down at the assembled members of the Illidari, where he smiled at them and raised a hand into the air, to which they stared cheering as they realized that Lyra was not joking, that their master was actually standing in front of them once more. From that moment onward the Illidari made sure that Illidan was welcomed back into the fold of his army, since they were used to Lyra being their commander in his stead, though not five minutes later one of the guardians of the portal returned to their base and presented a package to Illidan. That particular package came from the rogue that had walked off with the Warglaives of Azzinoth seven years ago, keeping them as trophies to remember the battle of the Black Temple, though Illidan was happy to see his old weapons... even though they were in desperate need of some fixing since they had been out of use for seven long years.
Fortunately there were enough supplies in the area where the forge was located for Illidan to restore the weapons to their former glory, and potentially even make them stronger in the process, though Lyra went down there with him, in the off chance that he needed help with the forge... and she needed to use the demon souls she had acquired to empower her Twinblades even further.
"I see that you have found the other Equestrian that came to Azeroth," Illidan commented, as he hadn't said anything about Trixie while he was getting used to the feeling of being alive again, though now that the two of them were together, with some of the Illidari nearby to fetch him anything he might need, he felt like talking, "I am, however, surprised to see that she's part dragon as well. Surely there is a story behind that?"
Lyra nodded and started explaining how Trixie had gone from being a simple unicorn, who had originally had the same form that Lyra had before she became a demon hunter, and became a powerful dragon hybrid that could change between her forms at will. Trixie had received a special necklace from the Nexus Vault, from a blue dragon, who was called Azuregos, that happened to be guarding that vault when she went looking for her artifact weapon, Aluneth, though she returned to Dalaran with a new weapon and a new ally. Lyra then went on to say that the two of them, accompanied by a curious Azuregos, traveled to Azsuna to search for the first Pillar of Creation, the Tidestone of Golganneth, where they eventually had to deal with an upstart Nightborne 'prince' that used his arcane construct to hit Trixie into the large mana pool that had been near them at the time.
That was, of course, followed by Trixie merging with the dragon essence that had been housed in the necklace she had been wearing, transforming her into a blue dragon in the process and gave her the strength to smash the prince, before she succumbed to her injuries... only for her to accept her new form when she woke up, which was why she always wore her hybrid form, instead of reverting to a pure mortal form.
While Lyra talked Illidan nodded every now and then as he worked, strengthening his weapon, sharpening them to the point they had been seven years ago before his defeat, and infused them with the demon blood that the Illidari had on hand, awakening the ancient power that was sleeping at the moment. Illidan was interested in what Trixie was able to do over the years, as she and her allies had gone on to defeat the Lich King, an evil dragon Aspect called Deathwing, three Old Gods, and Archimode himself. He was pleased that the heroes of Azeroth had grown stronger since his battle with them, even those that he distinctly remembered killing, which meant that they would be ready for the incoming battle on the Broken Shore, which would be coming much sooner than everyone thought it would be. He also listened to Lyra as she explained that she and Trixie had personally collected two of the Pillars of Creation, stood up to Queen Azshara's forces, were outwitted by Xavius, and saved Maiev... before heading into the Emerald Nightmare to destroy Xavius, which he seemed to recall seeing part of since his soul had been sticking close to Lyra.
During the course of their conversation Illidan noticed that the blades of his warglaives had transformed from their original forms and morphed into living flames, representing the inner fire that was inside them, though it actually looked more like two blades that had been forged from the felfire... and they stayed in the shape they had been before the transformation, to which he imagined the damage they would do against the demons in the future.
Before they could get into discussing their next plan of attack, so they could bring about the end of the Legion, Kor'vas walked into the forge area and stated that Khadgar was calling the chosen leaders of the Class Halls, such as Lyra and Trixie, as well as their representatives, like Kor'vas had been for the Illidari and Meryl for the mages, to gather on Krasus' Landing in the next few minutes. Lyra sighed and would have followed Kor'vas out immediately, though she insisted that Lord Illidan came with them, since he was still the true leader of the demon hunters, to which Illidan nodded and sheathed his warglaives, by magically storing them inside his large horns. Lyra had never figured out her mentor's trick, where he was able to hide his weapons inside his horns, but seeing that action again made her smile as the duo followed Kor'vas back to the portal, before heading back to Dalaran.
When they arrived at Krasus' Landing, however, Lyra wasn't surprised to see Trixie and Meryl already standing nearby, though it appeared that they were the last to arrive by the looks of the assembled group in front of them. Maraa and Alonsus Faol, the priest representative, stood to Khadgar's left, followed by Taneil Starblade and Emmarel Shadewarden for the hunters. Beside them stood Tulredal Starbane and Risstyn Flamecowl, standing for the warlocks, Kurost Skullcleaver and Havi for the warriors, and Xinyi Windfall and Iron-Body Ponshu for the monks. There was an empty spot between where the monks were standing and where Valen, who was standing opposite of Khadgar's position, was standing, to which Lyra nodded and walked forward, where she, Kor'vas, and Lord Illidan took their position.
Before the meeting got started Lyra took stock of the remaining leaders of the Class Halls that rested to the right of where Khadgar was standing, though she was still surprised that it wasn't Trixie and Meryl standing there, but fortunately it appeared that Trixie wasn't upset by the arrangement. To Khadgar's immediate right was Arnold Pinkerson and Jorach Ravenholdt, standing for the rogues, followed by Monoskah Windhorn and Rensar Greathoof for the druids, along with Angan Sternheart and Duke Lankral, the death knights. They were followed by Trixie and Meryl for the mages, though next to them stood Volza and Farseer Nobundo for the shamans, and bringing up the rear were Landan Nash and Maxwell Tyrosus for the paladins.
This was likely one of the greatest gathering of heroes that Lyra had seen since we joined the Alliance and the Horde in their battle against the Legion, but at the same time Khadgar tapped his staff on the ground and five arcane images appeared in the middle of the area between the various classes... images that Lyra immediately recognized as the Pillars of Creation that they had painstakingly recovered over the last month and a half.
"Champions, your victory at the Nighthold has granted us the key to ending this war." Khadgar said, though there was a smile on his face as the heroes and their representatives cheered for a moment, even though Valen and Illidan remained silent for the moment, "With the Pillars of Creation assembled, we finally have the power to cut the demons off from our world. Gul'dan failed, and so shall the Legion!"
"Gul'dan... was merely their pawn," Valen stated, though he tapped his staff on the ground as well and cut the cheering off, while at the same time the image of the Pillars disappeared as quickly as they were made, "Until victory is assured, we must remain vigilant... for the Legion's true masters have yet to reveal themselves. Among them... the monster that hunted my people across the stars... Kil'jaeden!"
Before anyone else could say anything, however, Lyra felt a spike in fel energy and turned around so she could face the Tomb of Sargeras, where several Legion ships were warping into the area above the Broken Shore, causing the other heroes and representatives to turn towards it as well. Lyra would have been shocked that Kil'jaeden was starting his invasion already, but it made sense to attack them while they were still recovering from their fight in the Nighthold, even if their foe wasn't firing at them yet. She knew that sooner or later the Deceiver would issue the attack order and the ships would move out towards their target, though that meant that they had to act fast before their true foe came to claim the prize his Legion was fighting for.
"So, Kil'jaeden is making his move," Illidan commented, though at the same time he grinned, as he was eager to fight some demons after seven years of his body being trapped inside a crystal prison, and his soul wandering the Twisting Nether while escaping from the demons.
"It's sooner than I would have liked," Khadgar said, staring at the ships for a few seconds, though he remained calm as he turned towards Trixie and the other heroes, who turned and looked at him as well, "Champions, the time has come for us to act. Assemble the Armies of Legionsfall... it's time for us to assault the Broken Shore once more."
Lyra felt that the name for the combined army of the twelve Order Halls was retarded, and the look on Trixie's face indicated that she didn't like it either, but the name didn't honestly matter in the long run, not when their enemy had made their first move and was preparing their next attack. They may not have had a lot of time to relax and recover from their attack on the Nighthold, but now that Lord Illidan was back in the game, and the five Pillars of Creation were in their possession at long last, she knew that they would be able to stand against the Legion... and, eventually, bring Kil'jaeden down and seal the Tomb of Sargeras once more.
Dalaran became a place of activity once Khadgar issued the order for the various champions to call forth their Order Halls, essentially their individual armies, and assemble the other champions on Krasus' Landing, where he intended to launch the assault on the Broken Shore. Trixie, Lyra, and Illidan stood nearby, as two of them were expected to head into the fire the moment the invasion was ready to go, while one of them was merely itching to get back in the action, especially since he had spent years being nothing more than a soul. Trixie was still shocked to discover that Kil'jaeden was launching his assault already, so soon after the Nighthold and the Eye of Aman'thul were taken from the Legion, but she simply watched the troops move and hoped that this time they were ready for everything the Legion threw at them. Lyra, however, smiled as she watched the warriors from the twelve Order Halls prepare themselves, because it was high time they united into a single unit and claimed the Broken Shore... though secretly a part of her wished that they could go to Argus, but that would only put Azeroth at risk as well.
Lyra knew that the Alliance and the Horde had been beaten when they tried to act alone, and that cost them some of their leaders and heroes in the process, but now, with them separated into the twelve orders and combined into the Armies of Legionsfall, they stood a better chance of beating their terrible foe... and, unlike the last time they invaded the Broken Shore, the Illidari and their master were here to lend them some assistance.
"Champions," Khadgar stated, referring to the large number of heroes, those who wielded the powerful artifact weapons that had toppled Gul'dan and recovered the Pillars of Creation, that were standing around him, "Thanks to your leadership, the twelve orders have grown even mightier than I had dared hope.... we now have a fighting force that's capable of driving the Burning Legion from our world. It's time to end this invasion! Using the Pillars of Creation, we will dissipate the Felstorm and seal the Tomb of Sargeras."
"I've been itching to get back to the Broken Shore since our defeat," Kurost said, though at the same time the other heroes either nodded or spoke their agreement to his words, to which he turned towards Khadgar, "So, whose leading the second invasion on the Broken Shore?"
"I would ask that Lyra Heartstrings, her mentor Illidan Stormrage, and Trixie Lulamoon start the assault," Khadgar replied, to which several of the heroes turned towards the Equestrians, though they weren't upset over the decision, because they had seen what Lyra was capable of when she was backed into a corner and knew that Trixie was powerful in her own right, "Once the three of them land on the Broken Shore I, and the other mages, will begin teleporting troops into the battlefield around them, along with some of you to start with. The majority of you won't be near the beginning of the assault, rather you will be working on another part of our enemy's forces, weakening them or outright annihilating them before their force catches up with you."
"And what of the Wardens?" Illidan asked, because he was curious as to whether Maiev was sneaking around somewhere or if she outright hated him and preferred to stay away from him, "Am I right in assuming that Maiev and the other Wardens will be joining us in our invasion?"
"Yes, the Wardens have agreed to help us in this battle," Khadgar answered, though he couldn't fault Illidan for asking, as he was sure that Maiev was a sore subject for him, since the head Warden had been responsible for the heroes breaking into the Black Temple and eventually toppling him like they did, "Kurost, you will ride one of the spellwings to the front lines with a few of the other heroes, showing Trixie the way to the area we want to start the assault in, before you join them in the initial assault."
Lyra had to resist the urge to chuckle as she saw a grin appear on Kurost's face, as she knew that the orc hated demons and had been eager to attack them, though now he was getting his wish to be in the first wave of the attack. She also realized that Khadgar never said what sort of creature she and her mentor would be riding to the Broken Shore, but she could guess she knew the answer before she even bothered to ask the question. Trixie grinned as she released the spell that had bound her to her hybrid form, to which her body shifted and cracked as the bones changed and her form gave way for her blue dragon form. The heroes that hadn't seen this transformation before backed away for a few seconds, giving her room to complete the change, before Trixie's claws touched the landing around her and she stood at her full height in this form... before loosing a small gout of flames into the air.
"So, this is the form you have been blessed with," Illidan commented, though he smiled for a moment as he touched one of Trixie's legs for a few seconds, feeling that this wasn't some illusion that she was playing around with, "I would think that the Legion would fear someone like you, and if they do not then they will learn to do so soon enough."
"Thank you," Trixie said, as she realized that this was about as close as she was going to get to a compliment from Lyra's master, though at the same time she was thankful that he was so calm about this, which made sense when she remembered what Malfurion looked like, before she looked at her own mentor, "Shall we get the party started, or do we need to wait for something else to happen before we start the assault?"
"I had hoped that all of you would have been given enough time to rest before this happened, but I can see that I was wrong in that regard," Khadgar replied, to which he chuckled for a moment, because there were times where the Legion outmaneuvered him and times where he did the same with their enemies, before he looked at the heroes, "Now is the time for action. Trixie, you will follow Kurost to the destination we have picked out for our invasion, while at the same time carrying both Lyra and Illidan down to the Broken Shore. From there you will fight your way through the demons guarding the path to Deliverance Point, where we intend to sent up our permanent base of operations on the Broken Shore. You will likely encounter resistance, maybe even a few of the Legion's commanders, but I know that you will overcome whatever they throw at you... and I have a surprise that they won't even seen coming."
Trixie nodded her head, something that a lot of people didn't get to see happen since she was in her dragon form at the moment, before turning towards the large missing chunk of the wall that was behind her, where she waited for both Lyra and Illidan to climb onto her back. Lyra, knowing that was coming, jumped onto her friend's back and sat in the area where she usually sat, where she once again wondered if she might convince Trixie to get a magical saddle for this form at some point in the future, before turning towards her master. Illidan, despite his blindness and his reliance on feeling the energies around him, carefully climbed up and sat behind Lyra, who nodded to Khadgar as they prepared themselves to depart from Dalaran. A moment later Khadgar called for Kurost to mount up, where the orc warrior climbed up onto what appeared to be a large hawk that was made out of arcane energy, before he and some of the other heroes took off on their borrowed mounts... to which they flew over Trixie's head and headed towards the Broken Shore.
Not a few seconds later Trixie, seeing Kurost and the others creating the path for her to take, spread her wings and took off, where she followed after them as they headed down to the Broken Shore, though as they departed from the city the group heard Khadgar opening new portals for the others to take... indicating that the battle was already underway.
When they landed on the area that Khadgar wanted them to start at, which was the same area that the first assault had started on thanks to Trixie telling Lyra and Illidan about the area, they found several demons already wandering the area, though they were also being attacked by druids, warriors, mages, and other troops from the Order Halls. Once Lyra and Illidan climbed off Trixie's back, and pulled out their warglaives, Trixie reverted back to her hybrid form and started walking forward, where she started throwing spells at the distracted demons. The two demon hunters said nothing as they joined her, their weapons causing greater wounds to their opponents in the process, while they all noticed that there was a large number of demons between them and the ramp like path that would take them to the ruins that Khadgar had called Deliverance Point.
Lyra found that simply killing demons again, without running through someplace like the Emerald Nightmare or the Nighthold, was much better than fighting people like Xavius and Gul'dan, but she planned on enjoying the time that she had in this state before they had to march on the Tomb itself... though that didn't stop her from smiling as her master hacked an unfortunate demon apart and continued moving, revealing that his abilities hadn't dulled over the last seven years. She also found out that the Legion was definitely trying to stop them from claiming a foothold on the Broken Shore, as she and the others fought overlords, eredar, wrathguards, and several smaller demons, like imps, felhunters, and the demonic bats that the Illidari used as mounts when they flew from one place to another. With each demon they toppled the troops that had been fighting them cheered before turning their attention to their next target, before a large group of troops, lead by Kurost, started cutting down the demons that stood between them and the path they were heading towards.
Eventually the group of troops grew so large that Lyra, Trixie, and Illidan stopped fighting and watched the battle unfold in front of their eyes, where Trixie took a moment to explain to Illidan that Kurost was known for slaying a thousand demons across multiple lands and planets... though they were distracted when one of the Legion ships suddenly exploded, but Trixie knew that her mentor was using the magical power inside Dalaran to obliterate the majority of the ships that their foe had summoned to the Broken Shore.
Once the light died down the trio followed after the troops and Kurost, where they walked up the path that they had set their eyes on the entire time they had been fighting, before they came to a stop near what appeared to be a small well of arcane energy... where a large eredar, one of the 'lords' as Lyra recalled, stood in their way.
"You think a few mortals with some gaudy weapons can stop us?" the eredar asked, though at the same time he turned around and faced the group that had come to a stop in front of him, while also pulling out his own weapons, a pair of sinister looking blades, "Such arrogance. You shall pay dearly for the trouble you have caused to the Legion."
"It's not arrogance if we know that our weapons can turn the tide against you," Lyra said, though at the same time she and Illidan held their warglaives out as Trixie tapped her staff against the ground, while Kurost and the troops behind him cheered, indicating that they were all ready for a fight, "but come then, eredar, and we'll show you just how wrong you are."
"Foolish mortal, I am Lord Kalgorath!" the eredar shouted, revealing that he was annoyed what Lyra thought that she and the others could take him on, to which he charged at the group as they charged at him.
Lyra remembered the last few eredar lords she had taken out over the years, as all of them seemed to think highly of themselves and believed that they were the true masters of the Legion, since a vast majority of the demons listened to their every order without any questions. As the fight started Illidan dominated Kalgorath's attention while Trixie stayed at the back and fired spells at the demon's chest, though Lyra, on the other hand, danced around her target and cut into him while he was focused on someone else. After a few seconds Kalgorath got annoyed and started summoning a large number of dark energy blades from the sky, which rained down on the group in selected spots that were painfully easy for everyone to avoid, meaning that he ended up missing all of them. Unfortunately it appeared that the rain of dark energy blades was Kalgorath's only good move that he could use against them, once more confirming to Lyra that the lesser eredar were full of themselves since Archimonde and Kil'jaeden were Sargeras' right and left hands... and she simply sighed as she and the others took him down as well.
With the way clear the large group made their way up the stone stairs and entered the ruins that would become the base of operations for the Armies of Legionsfall, the place called Deliverance Point, but instead of stopping they continued down the path on the opposite side of the one they climbed up and descended into the next part of the Broken Shore.
"The Wardens are with you, Lyra Heartstrings," a familiar voice said, to which Lyra and Illidan turned to their left for a moment and found Maiev, with some of her Wardens, standing ready in front of the area that Trixie had called the 'Black City' back during the first invasion, though it was void of whatever had earned it that name.
"Maiev," Lyra said, though she couldn't stop the hate from filling her voice, as she still hated this one Warden with every fiber of her being, even though she was supposed to be an ally, but she decided to be civil this time around, "I appreciate you even offering us the aid of your Wardens."
"Just know that when this is over I am chaining you and Illidan like the beasts you are," Maiev replied, though with that said she turned towards the enemies that were in front of her and charged forward, to which her Wardens and Kurost's group followed after her.
"Charming." Illidan remarked, though at the same time he chuckled for a moment, because he remembered how Maiev had acted back when she was aiding the heroes that fought him all those years ago, "I see that she hasn't changed since she and her chosen heroes toppled me seven years ago, at the summit of the Black Temple."
"I hate her and she hates me," Lyra stated, as that pretty much summed up her relationship with the leader of the Wardens, where she wondered, once again, why Khadgar even put up with her like he did, as she would have gotten rid of her if she and the others didn't need the Wardens to help them keep the Broken Isles safe from the Legion, "Come on, let's follow her and make sure she doesn't steal all the fun."
With that said Lyra and Illidan followed the Wardens and Kurost's group into the area in front of them, leaving Trixie to chuckle about how quickly her friend had forgotten her anger towards Maiev for the moment, thanks to her mentor being there, before following after them. This time around the group found that the demons were constantly summoning in more reinforcements, whether it was from the Legion ship that was still hanging over the Broken Shore or from another Legion world none of them knew the answer to, but that didn't stop the group of assembled heroes from separating into smaller groups to tackle their foes before they called in the big guns. Since there were portals resting around the area Lyra told the others to take out the portals, something that they clearly knew given their vast experience in dealing with the Legion, but she felt like reminding them anyway... something that they thanked her for before they truly separated into smaller groups that headed for the various portals.
Lyra really had no idea why the heroes of the Alliance and Horde trusted her so completely, even if she took into account how she ruined Xavius, though she decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth and followed her master to the portal of his choosing.
Over the next few minutes the only sounds that could be heard, over the sounds of the battle that was raging at the moment, was the sounds of portals forcefully being closed and the sounds of demons breathing their last before they collapsed on the ground. When the last demon was dead, and the last portal had been closed, the Legion ship shimmered for a second before a large doomguard, no doubt the commander of the ground forces, warped into the area with a group of large infernals following him into battle. Arganoth, as the demon called himself, was slightly more powerful than Kalgorath, as he rained felfire down upon his enemies and summoned more infernals when one was taken out, while at the same time he found that both Illidan and Maiev wanted the pleasure of taking him out.
Despite how Lyra felt about Maiev, even she had to admit that it was funny to see her master and the person who jailed his corpse fighting over the same demon, who apparently was having a bad time trying to combat the two fighters that literally brought him to his knees before finishing him off... causing the others to cheer for yet another victory. That was promptly followed by Khadgar calling Trixie, via his crystal ball technique, that the command ship was the only thing left and, if they didn't hurry, the defenses that he was powering would be drained. Fortunately the warlocks of the Black Harvest had created a gateway up to the command ship, how Lyra wasn't about to ask, and revealed that they could sneak aboard and blow the entire thing apart... with some special mana bombs that Khadgar had given them, in case they found something to use them on.
Trixie took the seven mana bombs from the warlocks and used the gateway to travel up to the ship, where Lyra and Illidan followed after her, though as they landed on the ship a demon told them that he could use the entertainment, where they heard Velen name the demon Mephistroth.
Lyra and Illidan spearheaded the attack on the command ship by attacking the Inquisitor that was guarding the portal to the upper deck, giving Trixie time to plant the mana bombs in the locations that she new would tear the entire place apart once they were all activated. Once the demon was taken care of the two demon hunters marched into the portal and started attacking the demons that were on the other side, clearing the way for Trixie whenever she came through the portal, though their foes were unhappy to see that they were being invaded. With them working ahead of Trixie it didn't take her long to put all seven of the mana bombs in places that would blow the command ship to pieces, though once the last one was in place a portal opened up on the highest level of the ship as Mephistroth stepped out of it.
"You wish to challenge me?!" Mephistroth said, though he sounded like he was about ready to laugh, to which the trio simply stared at him for a few seconds before he turned serious, "My time is wasted here. With the power from the tomb, I will destroy all of you!"
As Mephistroth teleported out of the command ship, heading who knew where, Khadgar informed them that he was pulling them out of the ship, to which the three of them were surrounded by a mana sphere, large enough to fix their individual bodies, before they were teleported off the ship. As they landed in Deliverance Point, however, they got to see the command ship tear itself apart as Khadgar activated the mana bombs, before a beam of energy was loosed from the tallest tower of Dalaran. The beam soared towards the Tomb of Sargeras and blew open the door, which had apparently been blocked by someone, thus allowing them to enter the Tomb when they were ready... which would be after they claimed the entirety of the Broken Shore.
"Good work, all of you," Khadgar said, after teleporting into the area near the heroes, who had all gathered in Deliverance Point after the trio went into the command ship, "Mephistroth is on the run, and we have a foothold that will allow us to counter the Legion's next move. A good start, I'd say, though we still have much to do."
"Indeed, there is more work to be done," Illidan stated, though at the same time his eyes remained on the Tomb, where the Pillars of Creation would be used to save this world from their enemy, "Kil'jaeden will not wait long before putting his plan into action, so we must move quickly before he completes whatever he is planning."
Lyra and Trixie nodded, because now that they had their foothold they could rest for a few minutes before they figured out what the next stage of their assault was, though sooner or later they were going to have to head inside the Tomb and deal with whatever was inside it while they sealed the portal... and Lyra hoped that they could fight Kil'jaeden before he fled back to Argus with his tail between his legs.
After assaulting the shoreline of the Broken Shore, killing an eredar lord, capturing the ruins that the eredar had been guarding, and causing Mephistroth to flee before decimating his command ship, things started to get busy around the new base of operations that the combined Order Halls had claimed. Deliverance Point became a place of activity as Khadgar and the portal keepers for the twelve Orders started opening gateways for troops and workers to pour into the ruined area, where the workers got to work repairing the three structures that rested around the ruins. What Lyra learned was that there was something special about the three buildings and Khadgar wanted to know what that something was before they got too far into the invasion of the Broken Shore. At the same time, however, something shocked Lyra as both Lord Illidan and Maiev were actually tolerating each other's presence, though she assumed that there was a specific reason they weren't at each other's throats... but at the moment she paid less attention to that and focused on the demons that needed to be killed in the near future.
Trixie, of course, was standing beside her mentor, opening portals to the areas that he specified, allowing troops to come and go as necessary, leaving Lyra to wait for the next order before they did anything... and, truth be told, Lyra was fine with being back to a normal soldier in the Illidari, now that her master had returned to her and the others.
"Lyra," Trixie said, though at the same time she stopped behind her friend, who was currently sitting on a fallen log that let her stare out at the demon base that was close to Deliverance Point, while waiting for her to turn her head back a tiny bit to acknowledge her presence, "Khadgar told me that it's time for us to get underway... he's finally determined what you and I are going to be doing on the Broken Shore."
"Good." Lyra replied, though as she said that she got back onto her hooves and dusted her armor off, before turning around and followed Trixie through Deliverance Point, noting how the other troops were doing at the moment as they made their way towards the area that Khadgar and the flightmaster was in.
When the duo arrived at the area, and Lyra nodded to her master for a moment, they stopped in front of Khadgar, who was speaking to Commander Chambers, the person that was responsible for overseeing the repairs on the ruins and the three main buildings that rested around them. A few moments later the conversation stopped and Chambers walked over to the table he generally worked at, allowing Khadgar to turn his attention to the two Equestrians, knowing that they would complete their mission with the greatest of ease.
"Lyra, Trixie, I have some interesting news for the two of you," Khadgar said, to which he pulled out an old tome that looked like it had seen some things over the years, though the smile on his face meant this was knowledge based, "During the assault, our forces uncovered an ancient night elf tome. The fact that it survived so long in these harsh lands is quite remarkable. Its enchantments have faded over the ages, but I sense the book is almost... hungry, as if reaching out to places where the night elves practiced magic long ago. Bringing the tome to nearby ruins may reveal secrets that could give us an edge against the Legion. I've included a note about which ruins might be worth investigating, but ultimately I leave the decision of which ruins you want to search up to the two of you."
"New knowledge that will give us an edge," Lyra commented, though at the same moment she grinned for a few seconds, as this was already getting better for the Armies of Legionsfall, "The Legion will regret the day they decided to attack Azeroth again."
"Commander Chambers also has something he needs to tell the two of you," Khadgar said, beckoning towards the man in question, who lifted his head for a moment, to indicate that he had heard them say his name, before returning to his duties, "Once you help him out, and get the knowledge from that tome, we can truly being our attack on the Broken Shore and the Legion's outposts."
Lyra and Trixie glanced at each other as they walked over to where Commander Chambers was standing, though at the same time the duo watched some of the troops move supplies down to the lower part of the camp, before they turned their attention to the man.
"If we don't build up some respectable fortifications, we'll lose our foothold on the Broken Shore." Commander Chambers said, not even bothering to look up at the duo for a moment, since he knew that they were there by seeing Trixie's dragon feet to his left, "That ain't gonna happen on my watch, mate! We started construction on three key structures: the Mage Tower, the Nether Disruptor, and the Command Center. Each will play a key role in helping us pound the tar out of the Burning Legion. To make progress, we need Legionfall War Supplies... and I mean lots of 'em! You bring 'em to me, and I'll handle distribution. Got it?"
"Shouldn't be too hard to get some supplies for you," Trixie replied, because she figured that they could find supplies scattered around the Broken Shore, either in the hands of demons or simply resting on the ground, before noticing that there had to be something else, "Was there anything else you wanted to tell us?"
"Yes; you two wanna hold territory on this chunder puddle of an island, right?" Chambers asked, though this time he actually looked up at the two of them for a moment, to which both Lyra and Trixie nodded their heads, "Right. That means linkin' up with camps on the outskirts, mate. I know this bloke called Heidirk. Scrappy fella, loves to get into the thick of it. Headed out to the eastern coast with those drakes of his. Have a look for him. Remind him he owes me a pint or two!"
With the information given to them, and knowing that a good number of the heroes would be contained to the ruins to ensure that nothing terrible happened, the duo followed the path back to the main camp of the ruins and walked down the path on their right. The two of them walked down the pathway that Trixie had walked down during the first invasion that the Alliance had walked down, as the Horde took a second route, but before they reached the area that contained the portals they turned right again and headed towards the beach. Fortunately, since the combined forces of the Order Halls had marched through this area not too long ago, literally thirty minutes ago, there weren't a lot of demons running around, allowing the duo to approach the water.
Trixie surveyed the area for a few seconds, seeing if there were any enemies that might be waiting for them, before morphing into her dragon form and beckoned Lyra to climb on, where she took to the skies and followed the coastline that had been pointed out to them. It didn't take them too long to find where Commander Chambers had been pointing them to, as they saw a man standing near some drakes, indicating that he must had be the person they were searching for, though as Trixie brought them in for a landing she noticed that the man was a valarjar, one of the troops that served the warrior Order. A few moments later, when they touched the ground, Trixie didn't bother reverting back to normal, as she had seen the ruins on the top of the mountain near them and knew that they had to be what her mentor was talking about before they departed from Deliverance Point.
"Chambers sent you? He can down a tankard with the best of 'em, I'll give him that. But if he says I owe him anything, he's a liar!" Heidirk stated, as the moment he asked the question he determined that they had to have been sent by Commander Chambers, though the valarjar smiled at them, "Don't you two worry, my drakes and I will hold the point here. But more of this shore will need to be secured before your campaign can find victory. On my way here, I ran across a squad of demon hunters headed northwest to Vengeance Point. You can bet the Legion will try to stop them from establishing a forward position. I spoke to an elf named Izal Whitemoon. Not the friendliest sort, but I'm sure she'd be grateful if you lent the Illidari a hand... whether she admits it or not."
"Trust me, if she needed help she'd only ask Lord Illidan or myself," Lyra said, though she chuckled for a moment, as that sounded like the Izal she knew, while at the same time being impressed that three bases had been constructed around the same time as each other.
Once they were finished speaking with Heidirk, and made sure they knew where Aalgen Point was located, Lyra climbed back onto Trixie's back and they headed up towards the first part of the ruins that they had seen, which had demons walking around it, like they were looking for something. Lyra grinned as she saw the demons walking around, as when they drew close enough she gripped her warglaives and jumped off of Trixie's back, where she descended towards the ground and cleaved the eredar sorcerer in half. The other demons, the wrathguards, charged at her while she stood up, though that was when Trixie flew by, grabbed one of them with her talons, and hurled the demon off the cliff before crushing the other one... where she reverted back to her hybrid state.
Lyra smiled at that, because seeing Trixie do something with her dragon form, besides flying around, was always fun to see, though at the same time Trixie pulled out the tome they had been given and channeled some arcane energy into it, allowing the ghosts of the past to appear for a few moments. The collective energy in the entire ruin gathered around Trixie and the tome for a few seconds, pulling in all of the information that had been stored away in this area, before the ghosts started to disappear, one by one. After a few seconds of standing there in silence, and the ghosts of the past disappearing, Trixie finally closed the tome and walked away from the ruin, though this time around Lyra followed after her as she followed the pull to the other two places where the power of the past was calling out to her... to which Trixie left Lyra to cut down the demons that were in front of them while she focused on the power.
The second ruin was on the other side of the mountain, once more surrounded by eredar and demons, though Lyra was more than happy to deal with them and cut down down, allowing Trixie to gather the power of the past into the tome before the ghosts of this ruin were done with their task. From there Trixie and Lyra carefully made their way down the side of the mountain, heading to some ruins that were literally in front of a demon smithy, though since the demons were preoccupied with their work Trixie and Lyra repeated their actions at the third and final ruin. This time around Lyra merely stood guard while Trixie worked, though when the tome was completely energized by the three ruins, however, Trixie put the tome away, reverted to her dragon form, and flew off with Lyra on her back... though not before they purposely stopped by the smithy and burned it with Trixie's fire breath.
As Trixie flew away from the ruins, and ascended quite some distance above the Broken Shore, they got a better look at the demons that were gathering in the various fortresses they had created, though when they found Vengeance Point under attack by demons... or more accurately a large group of felbats and felguards. Since those were the types of demons that were attacking the Illidari's new base, and not something like a pit lord, Lyra simply smiled as she watched the Illidari slaughter demons without needing her assistance. That fact was further proven when several of the Illidari stepped out of the portals that the demons were using and crushed the portal stones that had been keeping the gateways open... causing the rest of their allies to cheer in the process as they finished off the rest of the demons that had been attacking their new base.
Izal glanced up at Lyra and Trixie for a few moments, where she smiled at the duo as she waved, though Lyra repeated the gesture and added another one that indicated that she was pleased with their progress, before she and Trixie returned to Deliverance Point... where they returned to Khadgar with the tome in hand, as well as Trixie reverting back to her hybrid state.
"Master, we have returned," Trixie said, because despite the fact that she and her mentor were technically equals, as they were both archmages at this point, she still called him her master, "and we have the tome."
"This tome is fascinating!" Khadgar stated, taking the tome from Trixie and studied what had happened to it since the duo had taken it to the ruins he had suggested, finding it to be energized by the energy of the past, "It appears to seek out any and all knowledge that it does not already possess. I'd wager an experienced researcher could direct it to locate specific knowledge. Hmm, that gives me an idea..."
"Unfortunately, that will have to wait for later," Maiev commented, causing the duo to turn towards her for a moment, while at the same time wondering what she had seen since the assault on the Broken Shore started, "In our zeal to reclaim the Broken Shore from the Legion, we cannot allow the rest of this land to fall into the demons' foul grip. Kil'jaeden has dispatched his forces across the Broken Isles, threatening the homelands of the allies you and the other heroes have made. You must answer their call in this hour of need. Trixie, Lyra, the two of you should head to one of the regions and assist our allies, as the other heroes will be dispatched to the other regions. The Armies of Legionfall will see that the Broken Shore remains secured."
"Good, it's time we dealt the Legion another crushing defeat," Lyra said, though at the same time she glanced at the map that was unfurled on the table near them, where she pointed at Azsuna for a moment, "Trixie and I will take some champions and assist Azsuna... and then we'll take the fight to the Legion once more."
She was eager for the battle for Azeroth to truly begin, though now that Kil'jaeden had started the assault it was up to them and the other heroes to turn back the tide and seal the Tomb of Sargeras... and then they could rest easy knowing that the Legion would never threaten this world again.
Lyra remained near the command table that Chambers was standing at, waiting for Trixie to return with some of the heroes that she knew would be good in the upcoming war with the Legion, though she smiled when she noticed her friend walking towards her with her chosen allies. Kruost and Maraa were among the heroes that Trixie had picked out for their assault on the points that the Legion had set up on Azsuna, though Lyra wasn't surprised to see that Azuregos had come searching for Trixie and was ready to offer them some assistance as well. Since there happened to be thirty-six different heroes, split evenly between the Alliance and the Horde, Khadgar and the other commanders of the Armies of Legionfall agreed that sending teams of nine to each of the four regions would be best. Lyra knew that she hadn't actually met the other heroes that had been picked for her team, though she knew they were one member stronger thanks to Azuregos coming along with them for the assault.
That was, however, before she noticed that Lyndraxa, the other Illidari that help a powerful pair of warglaives, was walking beside Trixie as well, effectively making their force even stronger than what she was expecting it to be, but that didn't stop Lyra from smiling anyway.
"So, we know that the Legion has dispatched ships to Azsuna, Val'sharah, Highmountain, and Stormheim," Lyra said, drawing the attention of the assembled heroes, while also noticing that the other three groups must have departed for their respective regions already, "but do we actually know what the Legion is doing in Azsuna?"
"We know that they have set up some soul harvesters in the Nor'Danil Wellspring," Lyndraxa replied, though at the same time she unfurled a map and pointed at an area that was dangerously close to where the Azurewing's home was located, before her finger moved to an area near where the Illidari were stationed in Azsuna, "there's also a number of infernals raining down on a shore near our outpost, so much so that the troops still stationed there might be overrun if we leave them along. I have also detected a rather powerful demon, one Felcaller Thalezra, stationed near the outpost as well, though whatever she is planning will never see the light of day."
"There is also the matter of a large group of demons capturing several of the Azurewing's scalewardens and binding them in fel chains," Azuregos added, to which he placed his finger near an area that was on the other side of the Azurewing Repose, though it was closer to the ruins they fought through to get at the Nightborne 'Prince'.
"I see," Lyra commented, taking note of what she had heard and what needed to be done, though it appeared that she and the others would be helping a good number of allies this time around, "Lyndraxa, you should take some of the others and head to our outpost, though I would recommend starting with the area that the infernals are attacking. Trixie and I will take the remaining heroes and attack the demons that are harassing the Azurewing, though once that's done we'll come down and help you take out Thalezra. Hopefully Farondis will have discovered how to end the assault on Azsuna by the time we terminate the Legion's forces, but I'm sure that we can figure that out if he can't."
She knew that Lyndraxa was strong and that their outpost didn't need the two of them there at the same time, but her orders told her companions that she, Trixie, and those that followed them would join up with them once they were done rescuing the Azurewing. After a few seconds Lyndraxa nodded her head and selected the heroes that Lyra knew nothing about, before they walked over to the flightmaster and flew off towards Azsuna, leaving Lyra standing there with Trixie, Azuregos, and Kurost. Trixie and Azuregos chuckled as they moved to a more open area, one that Khadgar has purposely set aside for the two of them, and transformed into their dragon forms, allowing Lyra and Kurost to climb onto their backs before they took off and started their flight towards Azsuna.
As they flew, however, Lyra waved at Lyndraxa and the others, who seemed to have forgotten that Trixie and Azuregos were blue dragons and could transform at will, before the two groups turned in different directions, with Lyra's group heading to the north while Lyndraxa's group headed towards the west.
It didn't take Lyra's group too long before they noticed the Legion structures that had been created since the last time they came to Azsuna, where they found demons patrolling the area and a good number of scalewardens tied up with fel chains wrapped around them. With their targets found Trixie and Azuregos descended towards the ground and landed in a clear part of the area, to which Kurost drew his swords, let out a mighty roar, and charged at the felguard that was walking down the road. The trio watched as he literally hacked and slashed at the demon that he had chosen as his first target, disarming the demon within mere seconds before cutting it apart, allowing him to target another demon and continue the trend. Lyra, deciding not to let him have all the fun, climbed off of Trixie's back and followed after the orc as both Trixie and Azuregos reverted to their hero forms.
As they moved through the area Lyra discovered that the Legion had brought in felguards, fel hounds, felbats, and a fair number of beholders, though as they cut down the demons Lyra took the opportunity to shatter every set of chains that she could find, freeing the scalewardens in the process. Several of the scalewardens actually stuck around and aided the group in dealing with the demons that had chained them and their family to the ground like they were mere beasts, to which they took to the skies and either breathed fire on their targets or clawed them to death. Lyra was very happy to have such aggressive allies on their side, because when it was time to rid Azsuna of the Legion the Azurewing would definitely come in handy, maybe even help them assault the demons of the Broken Shore in the future. When the dragons joined their side the demons definitely took a step back, as they weren't expecting this to happen when they got their orders, though Lyra was more than willing to punish them for their actions.
One other thing Lyra noticed was that Azuregos was happy to see his kind be freed from the chains that the demons had placed on them, to which she smiled as she dodged the attack from a felguard and sliced off the demon's arm, before ending the demon's life... though a few more minutes passed before they destroyed the Legion structure that the demons had been using and freed all the scalewardens that had been captured. As they prepared to move out, and meet up with Lyndraxa's group, Azuregos spent a moment speaking with the Azurewing that they had rescued, who apparently insisted on aiding them and riding the land of the demons that had thought that they were the masters of everyone. Lyra was more than happy to have some additional help, since some of them were bound to stop by Senegos' place and tell them the news... before she and her reinforced group took to the skies, where they started the flight towards the Illidari outpost and the demons that were gathering nearby.
It wasn't long before Lyra noticed that the Illidari were still under attack by the infernals, and the large infernal commander that Lyndraxa was fighting on her own, though since it appeared that they had things under control she had her friends hunt down Thalerza... while at the same time she jumped off Trixie's back and drove one of her warglaives into the back of the larger infernal.
"I wasn't expecting you to come back so quickly commander," Lyndraxa said, though at the same time she avoided the punch that was coming her way and cut a gash into the demon's arm, while Lyra cut a long gash into the infernal's back before landing on the ground.
"The demon's that were imprisoning the scalewardens were weaker than what I was expecting," Lyra replied, to which she threw one of the Twinblades through the air and let it hit the infernal in the face, before catching it and pointing the blades at her foe, "though I think that the dragons understood that we would come the moment we heard that they were under attack and feigned defeat... but even if that's not the case they're angry."
"Good, we can use that against the Legion." Lyndraxa stated, though that was followed by the two of them jumping onto the demon's arms before they pierced the core, to which the infernal crumpled to the ground as Lyndraxa's group finished off the rest of the demons.
From there the two demon hunters lead the way towards the location that Thalerza was supposed to be overseeing, though when they arrived at her location they discovered that she was already under attack by the other heroes, but Lyra found that the eredar was actually being mauled to death by the scalewardens. She honestly just watched the angry demons rip the vile eredar apart, basically meaning that when she reformed in the future Sargeras would definitely punish her for failing in her mission. Once the eredar was dead, and Lyra was sure of it, the scalewardens followed Azuregos towards the Nor'Danil Wellspring, where he lead them in their attack against the demons that were trying to steal the souls of the dead... who definitely were surprised by an invasion of dragons, but it turned the tide of the battle in their favor once more.
Lyra had to chuckle as she and the other heroes watched the rage filled members of the Azurewing ripped their foes apart, allowing her and the others to free the shackled spirits while watching the demon that was leading this particular invasion was being torn to pieces by the enraged dragons... until the heroes finished freeing the spirits and the commander laid dead on the ground.
From there the group waited for Trixie and Azuregos to figure out where Prince Farondis was located, though when they looked at the map Trixie pointed at an area that appeared to be a temple, to which the Azurewing nodded their heads and took off with the entirety of the group on their backs. The group flew over the landscape of Azsuna, where Lyra discovered that the Legion ship had moved over to the Nightborne ruins she and her part of the group had been at moments ago. She knew that the Legion moved fast and had to wonder where the ship had been hiding the entire time they had been flying through the air, but at the same time it didn't matter as they turned towards the large temple that the dragons were taking them towards... one that had fel energy dancing around it, indicating that a commander was lurking somewhere inside the ruins.
A few seconds later the Azurewing brought them to a landing in front of Prince Farondis, though as Lyra and the others touched the ground, however, the members of the Azurewing took to the air and started attacking the flying demons that were in the air around the temple, weakening the demon's forces immediately.
"I'm afraid our fight has only brought us so far." Farondis said, to which he beckoned to the temple that was resting behind him, where there was a large Legion presence that Lyra wanted to take out, "We must press our attack before the Legion advances beyond their stronghold within the Temple of a Thousand Lights! The demons appear to be harnessing an ancient power within the Temple itself. They've managed to twist and corrupt these sacred grounds with fel magic. We must remove the demonic presence before we press our final advance."
Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes nodded as they made their way towards the temple that was in front of them, though as they walked forward the group dealt with the felguards that were guarding the bridge that connected where they were standing to where the temple was located. At the same time Lyra spotted another pair of felguards on the other edge of the bridge and noticed an Inquisitor, a low powered one by the looks of it, standing guard with them, though before she said anything Lyndraxa leapt over to their next group of enemies and started hacking at them with her own warglaives. Lyra chuckled as her fellow demon hunter tore through the demons that were in front of her, because when her group finished they rushed the demons and took them out, allowing them to access the actual temple grounds, where they discovered that the ground was starting to be contaminated by the fel energy... and that the demons guarding the temple grounds had brought in cannons to help them out, in addition to two portals for additional allies.
While Trixie and the others spread out a little, to ensure that they pulled every demon possible in the area in front of them, Lyra brought off from the group and smashed the cannons with her fel energy, shattering them into a thousand pieces, and made sure that she broke all of them in the immediate area before rejoining the group.
As the group continued their attack against the felguards and the inquisitors, since they were the only demons in the area at the moment, a group of whelps, from the Azurewing no less, flew around them and aided them in attacking the demons, though Lyra was happy to see that if they got hurt they would fall back to avoid falling. Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos veered off to the building on the left and took out the group of demons that had started to make their base in that structure, though once the demons were dead they rejoined the group. Kurost and the other heroes that Lyra didn't know did the same thing with the group of demons on the right side of the grounds, slaughtering them within seconds as Lyra smashed the cannons, before they got back together again. That was when Lyra smiled as she noticed several Annihilator class felguards, essentially larger felguards that were much stronger than their smaller counterparts, though she was glad to see that there were only three Annihilators instead of an army... because even she would have trouble with an army of Annihilators, without resorting to her combination attack anyway.
Fighting an Annihilator class felguard was the same as fighting a normal felguard, as their size meant that they could carved up a greater area, but it proved to be ineffective against their group, as Lyra, Trixie, and the others toppled the first one they came across and continued on their way... to which they killed the remaining two Annihilators that were in their way, before engaging the large Inquisitor demon, the portal master, in a battle to the death.
Thanks to their experience in fighting several inquisitor demons in the Nighthold the group was able to take the demon, who called itself V'thaal, and destroyed the portals around him, while at the same time unsealing the doorway that would allow them to access the temple itself. With the way open the group headed into the temple and kept their guard up, where they killed the felguards and eredar that were channeling the temple's energy into keeping the land tied to whatever Legion world these demons had come from. After that they came to a split in the path and discovered that there were no demons on the right path, to which they headed down the path on their left and found a demon that was definitely responsible for what was going on... as there was beholder demon, Zor'thduun as it called itself, waiting for them in the area they were heading towards.
Lyra was severely disappointed in Zor'thduun's ability to fight, as he seemed to be a common beholder that was trying to move up in the world instead of a powerful guardian like she would have expected, though she was happy to see the demon die the death it deserved... before she and the others headed back outside the temple, as they were sure that Prince Farondis was waiting for them. Sure enough they found the Prince waiting near some Azurewing who were eager to get moving, though the look on his face told them that they would be heading into the air next.
"Champions, I'm afraid that our fight doesn't end here." Farondis told them, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie knew that there had been more for them to do, because there was always more to do in regards to the Legion, "One final task remains to sever the Burning Legion's connection to other worlds. The Azurewing have insisted that they provide you with transportation to get you close to the source of power, but you must deliver the final blow to the conduit."
Lyra and the others nodded as they climbed onto the couple of dragons that were in front of them, or transformed in the case of Trixie and Azuregos, before they flew into the air and started to circle around the spire that was near them, where they loosed arcane charges at the point where the Legion was connecting this point with their world... though once that shattered the dragons though them back through the main land and carried them to the Nightborne ruins.
"With the conduit destroyed, now may be our only chance." Farondis told them all, to which the group nodded, as this was what they had been working towards the entire time, though Lyra's eyes were on the ship above them, "The vile demon commanding the assault must be stopped. I can get us close, but once we're there I'll rely on you and your allies to help bring down the demonic forces."
As the group turned around a large force of Azurewing flew into the area, or teleported in if they were the ones that resembled centaurs in a fashion, before they launched their attack on the vile demons that were trying to take over the entirety of Azsuna. Lyra and the others chuckled for a few moments before following the Azurewing into battle, where they assaulted the demons that were the closest to where Prince Farondis had the dragons bring them to and started to overwhelm their foes with their numbers. It was painfully clear that the demons were only expecting heroes to come and fight them, and had sent down a number of demons in according to what they believed, so because they were poorly planning this invasion the group of heroes and the assembled Azurewing fought their way through the host of demons that had infested the ruins... only stopping when the demons that were on the ground had been taken out and they were sure that there weren't any more in the immediate area.
From there the Azurewing beckoned for the heroes to climb on and flew up to the ship that was hanging over their heads, dropping them off on a walkway on the side of the ship that would allow them to take out the commander of the assault... and potentially destroy the ship as well.
The interesting thing was that there were flaming vents on the ramp that they were following, so they waited for the one in front of them to stop spewing fire before moving forward, though they did so in small groups so they could reach the top of the ship. When the first group reached the top of the ramp they attacked the eredar that was commanding the fire stations and battled him for a few moments, before both Lyndraxa and Lyra removed the demon's head and stopped it from hurting their companions. From there they gathered together and stared at the commander, a felguard that definitely radiated power, who immediately attacked them the instant they stared walking towards him... though Lyra was pleased by the power that her foe commanded, because he was as tough as he should have been since he was commanding the Legion invasion of Azsuna.
The large felguard, Xeritas as they soon discovered, hurled it's axe at them and let an area of fel energy that damaged whoever his target was, though at the same time that forced him to charge to where the axe landed and pick it up, allowing the group to attack him in full force before he picked his weapon back up. That actually seemed to be his only powerful attack, save for the ship somehow being able to fire fel shots at them, but the group wasn't too worried about that and moved out of the way of the fel shots as they dealt an impressive amount of damage to their foe. A minute passed before the group toppled Xeritas, causing Lyra to be a little disappointed in the demon, before the Azurewing flew up and let them climb back onto their backs... to which they took off before the Legion ship detonated when they were a safe distance away from the ship.
Lyra smiled as she and her friends were carried back to the Broken Shore, to report their success to Maiev and the others, though at the same time she knew that the instant they returned to Deliverance Point they would be asked to do something else... and this time around she was more than willing to kill more demons, as it would ultimately pave the way for them to invade the Tomb of Sargeras and seal it once more. Then it was only a matter of time until they figured out how to stop the Legion entirely, but she knew that time would reveal all to her and the others.
Khadgar, Maiev, and Illidan were pleased to hear that Lyra, Trixie, Azuregos, and their group had succeeded in stopping the Legion's invasion of Azsuna, though the commanders insisted that the group take a break and relax from their excursion into the areas that the Legion had seized. Since they had time before the other three groups returned from the other three regions, where they would likely begin the next stage of their plan for the Broken Shore, Lyra walked with Illidan and simply stopped at an area where they could spar, as Illidan was interested in seeing how one of his best students fought. Lyra was more than willing to shore her mentor how she had improved since they had last sparred, which had been seven long years ago, and she was sure that the two of them could draw a crowd because of how famous they were, though their fame was for completely different reasons.
Fighting Lord Illidan, even in a sparring match, was even tougher than the shadowy creature that Gul'dan had tried to use before he had been completely obliterated, though the reason behind that was because he had seen what Lyra was capable of and was testing her skill. One thing he tested was her skill with her warglaives, another was how fast she could move over a course he specified, and another had her fight with only her fists, in case she came upon an enemy that made her fight with only her hands and hooves. It was quite the experience, for both her and the people that were watching them, but it gave her some insight into how to better herself, to which her mentor called for a break when the group from Val'sharah returned with news of success. A few more seconds passed before the heroes that traveled to Highmountain came back to Deliverance Point as well, telling the others of their own success, causing everyone to be happy now that they were actually being effective against the Legion.
Another ten minutes passed before the heroes of Stormheim bothered to return to the Broken Shore, where they also revealed their success to the rest of the group... though as the heroes started to truly relax before their next assignment, however, Khadgar approached them and got their attention.
"Heroes, we are ready to begin an assault on the upper area of the Tomb of Sargeras." Khadgar said, though at the same time he pointed at the large structure that everyone knew about, which was their end game goal at the moment, "I studied the writings of Aegwynn, the Guardian who defeated the Dark Titan's avatar. She said that if her wards were compromised, a failsafe could be triggered by placing the Aegis of Aggramar upon an altar in the Cathedral of Eternal Night. Some of you were the ones who acquired the Pillars of Creation, so I would recommend that you get together and determine who should enter the Cathedral. Be warned; Mephistroth will use all his power to stop you from placing the Aegis, but I know you will prevail!"
"Lyra and Trixie should be part of the group, since they recovered two of the Pillars of Creation." Kurost stated, to which the heroes behind him cheered as well, indicating that they agreed with the orc warrior, before he looked over at Allvar for a moment, "I would also suggest that Allvar, one of the heroes that Recovered the Aegis of Aggramar from the Halls of Valor, head into the Cathedral as well, along with Maraa, whose healing skill will come in handy. I would leave the final member of their group up to them, though those of us that aren't chosen can begin attacking the demons and disrupt their operations."
"Landan should come along as well," Trixie said, naming the paladin that had stood near her and Lyra when Kil'jaeden sent his ships to attack Dalaran earlier, though even as she said that the other heroes didn't seem upset, giving her hope that the hate between the Alliance and the Horde might actually die thanks to this invasion.
With the team decided, and the other heroes went off to collect their duties from Commander Chambers, the five heroes gathered what they needed and followed Khadgar, who was being guarded by both Illidan and Maiev, though the heart of the Broken Shore as they approached the Tomb of Sargeras. Along the way Lyra got the chance to see where Lyra and her friends confronted Gul'dan, as well as the exact location that Varian Wyrnn, the former High King of the Alliance and Anduin Wyrnn's father, met his end when Gul'dan forced the fel energy into his body and caused him to explode. After that point was when the group walked up to the main entrance of the Tomb, which would no doubt take them into the depths, but instead of going in their they turned to the left and made their way around to the side entrance... the one that would take them to the upper section of the Tomb, where the Cathedral of Eternal Night rested.
Fortunately the entrance contained a portal, meaning that Aegwynn, who had built the entire tomb, needed portals to help her get around the place, as this one allowed them to travel right to their destination... where the group noticed that there was a lot of demons walking around the first level, though at the same time Khadgar handed Trixie the Aegis, since she and the others needed to find the area it needed to be put into.
Allvar drew his sword and shield as he walked through the entrance in front of him, where Landan did the same with his two-handed sword as the others gripped their weapons, as there were more demons in here than they originally thought. As they walked out of the entrance area, however, Mephistroth appeared before them and declared that the guests of honor had arrived, along with saying that he was going to take great pleasure in tearing Illidan's horns from his head while also calling him by the name lots of people knew him by, the Betrayer. Illidan, of course, stated that the demon wouldn't be able to run from him, since Mephistroth was a coward for running from Lyra and Trixie earlier, only for the dreadlord to flee immediately, causing Illidan to grin as he and Maiev gave chase. Khadgar turned around and used his magic to throw a barrier around the portal they walked through to get here, indicating that he would guard the entrance to the best of his ability before withdrawing... to which Lyra, Trixie, and the others continued forward.
As the commanders left them alone the group charged at the demons that were guarding the path they had to take to reach the other side of the chamber they were in, to which they had to fight some felguards, some eredar, and some fel hunters to do that. In the first few seconds of the fight it became clear that the demons were expecting them, as the were much stronger than what the group was expecting, but that didn't stop them from felling the demons where they stood and progressed to their target destination. As they moved, however, a doomguard and some felbats joined the attack, to which Lyra took great pleasure in bringing down the larger demon while her companions dealt with the foes that were in front of them. With the number of groups in their way it took the group some time before they could reach the stairs that would take them up to the level above them, though they all took some joy in cutting down the demons that stood in front of them... especially since every demon slain here meant one less demon on the Broken Shore, fighting the combined forces of the Armies of Legionfall.
Eventually they reached the stairs and started walking up them, though they had to deal with a pair of eredar and the fel green succubus that was with them, which was much stronger than the type of succubus that warlocks learned how to command during their training, but even with that wildcard the group eventually beat the group and moved forward... though they had to wait while Lyra tore the demonic rune from the succubus' chest, as she was sure that the warlocks and the other Illidari could use this in some manner.
When they reached the second floor of the Citadel, however, the group engaged another fel succubus, who came into battle with her own pet lashers and some fel Nightborne that happened to be stationed here, to which the group had to engage the group of foes. Lyra made sure to kill the succubus first, before she could seduce anyone for a few moments, so she could turn her attention to the other enemies that were around them, which included another fel succubus that was hiding in the corner. She was fortunate to have found three of them so quickly, because that meant that the warlocks and the Illidari wouldn't fight over the new information she was collecting, to which she got a chuckle out of her group when she told them why she was collecting so many of the fel succubus runes. The next area they came to had a pair of fel Nightborne, some lashers, and another fel succubus, causing Lyra to chuckle as she tackled the succubus while her friends dealt with the other foes... though once she had the rune they faced the large fel corrupted treant that was blocking their path forward.
The creature, Agronox, rushed at the group as they uprooted him, where he attempted to smash Allvar with his fists first while at the same time ignoring the rest of the group, allowing Lyra, Trixie, and Landan to use their damaging abilities to wound the ancient creature. Agronox also tried to breath foul poison gas on those that he was targeting, while at the same time calling more lashers into existence so he could take out the group, though Landan slashed the lashers apart before they could even reach the group. There was another type of lasher that Agronox called to battle, but they were broken under the intensity of Landan's blows, though those seemed to be the only real abilities that the ancient creature knew and continued to rely on those powers... until the group brought an end to the ancient's life, freeing the former guardian from the fel curse that was plaguing it's body.
"If I'm going to be honest, I expected more from an ancient guardian," Trixie said, as she expected Agronox to be tougher than he had been, but at the same time she guessed that they might have been much stronger than what she originally believed them to be.
"That just means we might have a tougher enemy later on." Lyra stated, though at the same time she made sure that the fel succubus runes were secure in a small pouch, but at the same time she grinned as she looked at the area they had to pass through next, "Come on, let's catch up with Lord Illidan and Maiev."
As they walked over to the other side of the floor they were on, where the stairs to the upper area were located, the group noticed several more groups of enemies waiting for them, though as they attacked the first group a Nightborne called for more to come to their aid. Lyra spent the next few minutes killing the five fel succubus that came at her group, though while it was odd that all of them were literally targeting her, before she attacked them, she was fine with that and broke them all down. She was also happy to collect the runes they possessed, since it would further improve their understanding of the strange fel succubus they were encountering in this area, before their current group of enemies were completely taken care of. After that they found Maiev fighting some demons, claiming that Illidan left behind a mess, though Lyra suspected that the Warden was only trying to shift blame to her mentor... though they helped her take care of the demons she was fighting before they continued up the stairs.
They traversed the stairs to the upper level, where they found some imps guarding the door to a library, though as they walked forward two things happened; the first being that Maiev chose to stay at the top of the stairs and defend their backs in case demons broke through Khadgar's barrier and were following them. The other thing was that Trixie, upon seeing the treasure trove of knowledge that was stored around them, engaged her magic and took all of the tomes with her magic, moving them into her bag so she could give them to Dalaran later... even snatching the ones that were being tossed around by the imps, who were annoyed by the action until Maiev took them out. From there the group moved into the area and attacked the beholder demon that was in charge of the invading imps, though as the demons fell around them the group moved out of the middle of the room as a large Mo'arg landed in front of them.
The Mo'arg, saying that he was Thrashbite, waved his large weapon in the air for a few seconds before the group engaged him in battle, though as the battle stated he created a circular area around him that he intended to smash, to which the group backed away before the attack happened. Once Thrashbite failed to hit anyone with his attack, which seemed to annoy the demon more than the group originally thought, he lifted his weapon and hurled it through the air, where it landed on the exterior of the area they were fighting in and started spinning around the room in a perfect circle. That effectively forced the group to remain in the middle of the area that they were fighting in, though after a few seconds Thrashbite called his weapon back to him and stared at Trixie with a look of hate in his eyes, to which Lyra flashed beside her friend and moved her behind one of the bookcases... causing the demon to slam into the bookcase and shattered it, before returning to battle once more.
The battle continued like that for a few more minutes, as it appeared that Thrashbite had more health than what the group was used to, before the group managed to topple the Mo'arg, though as the beast fell to the ground the group took a moment to catch their breath before they moved through the other entrance of the library... though as they did that the imps that stood in front of them screamed in terror before they ran up the stairs in fear.
Lyra chuckled as she and the others stared walking up the stairs, as it appears that Thrashbite was supposed to be a big shot and crushing him had scared the imps off, meaning that they didn't have to waste time on them and simply continued up the path in front of them. A few seconds later, when they reached the top of the stairs, they found a group of fel spider demons waiting for them, though as they engaged the demons a few more dropped down from the ceiling and joined their friends, but Lyra and the others were more than happy to slay more demons to get to the area they were heading towards. It honestly didn't take them long to deal with the spiders and the humanoid demon spider that was leading them, though as they killed the last one, and walked forward, the group spotted Illidan and Maiev standing at the bottom of the stairs with some demon corpses resting around them... though as the group arrived the duo charged up the stairs with Illidan going first.
"Did you really think you could elude me, Illidan?" Maiev asked, though at the same time she followed the leader of the Illidari up the stairs, while Lyra and the others followed after her so they could reach their destination, "Run again and I'll shackle you like the beast you are!"
"Posture if you must, Maiev," Illidan replied, though as he spoke his attention was on the stairs and what was waiting at the top of them, where their destination, and his target, was waiting for them, "but for now, do what you do best and follow me."
As they reached the top of the stairs a projection of Khadgar appeared and informed the group that the barrier had been broken, indicating that demons were coming after them, causing Illidan to state that he and Maiev would stand guard in front of the entrance to the alter... protecting the group until they did what they had to do, to which Lyra and the others walked into the area, where a fel lord appeared the moment Trixie slipped the Aegis into the slot.
"Kil'jaeden sends his gratitude for delivering the Aegis into our hands." the fel lord said, to which he actually chuckled for a few seconds, though that only got on the nerves of everyone that was standing in front of him, "I, Domatrax, will kill you and claim the Aegis for the master."
As Allvar started the battle with Domatrax, however, Lyra noticed that a circular barrier appeared around the area that the Aegis was slipped into, which meant that it likely played some part in the battle that was happening now, though at the same time the group made sure that the fel lord wasn't facing the Pillar of Creation. At first it appeared that Domatrax's only attack was the powerful cleave attack that all fel lords knew, though as the battle progressed he started tearing open portals and called in imps, felguards, and even a few shivarra to attack them. Lyra was the one who dealt with the more powerful demons that he called into the fight, cutting them down and making sure that none of them survived, though she was more excited when she received a few cuts in return, indicating that this was a tough fight for everyone. Trixie, of course, was worried about her, but Lyra was more than willing to take out every demon that came out of the portals that Domatrax opened... though when Allvar dealt the finishing blow, however, the fel lord hurled his massive axe and literally knocked the Aegis from where it was resting before he collapsed.
Illidan rushed into the chamber as a group of felbats broke through the glass windows, though as he tore them all to pieces, and impressed Lyra's friends in the process, Mephistroth appeared where Domatrax had first been standing when he entered this area... though it appeared that the dreadlord was ready for a fight, to which Lyra and the others, including Illidan, readied their weapons in response.
Moments later Allvar charged at Mephistroth and the battle started, where the dreadlord started loosing wave of chaotic energy at whoever he wanted to kill first, though at the same time Lyra transformed into her Havoc form to do some additional damage to their foe. He also hurled bolts of painful fel energy at whoever he wanted to target, to which Maraa had to heal the damage before the damage dealer went back to the fight, while at the same time everyone kept their eyes open for any more harmful attacks that he had. He even threw shadow energy at the group, revealing that he commanded three different types of energy, separately Lyra mentally added, but thanks to Maraa's expert healing his damage didn't stick around too long... though since he didn't have any healers, which the group would have taken out anyway, the heroes and Illidan tore through Mephistroth's defenses after some time. It appeared that the battle was going in the favor of the heroes for the moment, though that was before Mephistroth vanished into the shadows, causing them to raise their guards in the process.
As shadowy versions of Mephistroth appeared around them, however, Illidan called for someone to guard him with the Aegis while he prepared his power, to which Trixie rushed to his aid while Lyra and the others did their best to smash all of the constructs that their foe had summoned... though after a few minutes of doing that Illidan loosed a blast of fel energy that tore the constructs to pieces and revealed where Mephistroth was hiding. That action allowed the group to charge at him once more, increasing the amount of damage they were doing so they could avoid him slipping into the shadows again, to which the demon growled as he continued the fight. Mephistroth reverted back to the first set of attacks he used against the group, though they were more than ready for that to happen and repeated the same tactics they used to combat these attacks... before Lyra and Illidan tore the demon's heart from his chest, stunning their foe in the process as he started to fall before their eyes.
"The final... victory... will be ours..." Mephistroth declared, though that was before he fell to the floor and went still, especially after Illidan crushed the demon's heart as Trixie slipped the Aegis back into the slot it was supposed to be resting in.
That was, however, before a surge of energy rushed out of the slot that the artifact was resting in, to which an echo of a powerful person, a lady that seemed to radiate power despite the fact that she was dead, appeared near the Aegis and stared at the group... as well as Maiev, who was late to the party.
"What is this?" Illidan asked, though he wasn't the only one interested in what was happening, as everyone in the group was staring at the echo as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing.
"Can it be?" Maiev said, to which she stared at the echo for a few moments, as if she was trying to see something that none of the others knew about, before she snapped her fingers for a moment, "The Guardian!"
Lyra would have been a fool to ask who the Guardian was, because the most infamous Guardian in history, for all the good reasons, was the Guardian Aegwynn, mother of Medivh, who had taught Khadgar so many years ago, though she also heard Trixie gasp in joy when she realized who was in front of them... even if it was just an echo and would only give them a prerecorded message.
"In ages past, this shield defended the young world soul against madness and corruption." Aegwynn stated, beckoning to the Aegis for a moment, informing them of what the powerful artifact had done before they had been forced to recover it from Highmountain, "Today, it serves those who fight for Azeroth. I am Aegwynn, Guardian of Tirisfal. I left behind this echo of my power as a safeguard in the event that the wards I put in place to protect the tomb failed. Indeed, I sense that the master of the Burning Legion now schemes to claim his prize. Yet there is still hope. By anchoring the Pillars of Creation in the halls below, you will restore my wards and push back against the invaders. Then you must venture into the depths of the tomb and use the Eye of Aman'Thul to eradicate the Felstorm and sever the Legion's link to Azeroth."
Lyra was honestly surprised that an echo of the Guardian was able to determine exactly what was happening to Azeroth at that point in time, especially without anyone saying anything, but before anyone said anything they noticed that Aegwynn had more to say and kept their mouths shut as they listened.
"But the Pillars alone cannot bring victory." Aegwynn continued, telling the group exactly what they had been doing ever since the Legion invaded Azeroth for the third time, though they said nothing as they waited for her to finish, "Only a united army founded on strength and courage can conquer the Legion. When you and your allies are prepared for the final battle, my echo will return to aid you. The fate of Azeroth rests in your hands."
"Khadgar will want to hear of this." Maiev commented, because as soon as the echo stopped speaking Aegwynn vanished completely, leaving the group to their own devices, though at the same time they all knew that the echo would protect the Aegis from the Legion while they prepared for the assault on the Tomb.
"Indeed," Illidan said, though at the same time he smiled as Trixie started to open a portal back to Deliverance Point, as they all knew what they had to do next, "though it seems that some preparations are in order."
Lyra smiled as they walked through the portal and returned to Deliverance Point, as she and the other heroes would need to complete some more tasks before they weakened the Legion enough to start the assault on the Tomb of Sargeras, but she was happy that they were making progress. Sooner or later they would end the invasion and save Azeroth from the vision that Xe'ra had showed her so long ago, and then she and Trixie could finally think about heading home, once they determined that they were no longer needed to save this world from their enemies anyway.
Upon returning to Deliverance Point, after their venture into the Cathedral of Eternal Night, Lyra and Trixie discovered that one hero from each of the Order Halls had been called to action by the people that had recruited them to obtain an artifact weapon so long ago. From what they could gather something was happening, though instead of it being something that was incredibly important, like an invasion by the Legion, they quickly learned that there was a potential new recruit for each Order Hall and that said recruit knew how to obtain a special mount for the heroes that helped them out. Lyra and Trixie, not needing their mounts anymore thanks to Trixie's blue dragon form, were happy to not take part in such a thing and relaxed while they waited for the others to return. That gave Lyra some time to bring a few warlocks and a few demon hunters together, where she gave them the runes she had recovered from the fel succubi she had killed in the Cathedral, since that appeared to be the only place they could find one of them.
The warlocks were happy to have some information on a new type of demon, one that some of them would bind and add to their service, though one of the demon hunters, Khatti Soulblade, took the rune she had been given and absorbed the power inside it, instead of studying the rune like she was supposed to. Lyra knew that Khatti was a recent addition to their forces, as she had been recruited after Lyra and the others had been released from the Vault, but the senior members of the Illidari knew not to absorb the power from a rune. They could use the runes to find the home world that these new succubi came from, sort of like what the warlocks were doing, and figure out if they had any powers that they might want to take for themselves. Sometimes absorbing the essence of a demon artifact, like the Skull of Gul'dan that their mentor had found and tore the power from, changed the demon hunter that took the power, transforming their body into a more demonic form.
Lyra watched, with both the interested warlocks and the worried demon hunters, as Khatti underwent a few changes after taking the power from the fel succubus rune, which would serve as a reminder not to do something like that in the future, when she was allowed another rune anyway. Since he absorbed literally every drop of power from the rune, which normally wasn't a good idea for someone of her level, the group watched as her legs snapped and bent until they resembled the leg's that Lord Illidan had, though they were slender like the succubus the power had come from, and came complete with hooves. Khatti's fair skin took on a light crimson color, a few shades lighter than the succubus Lyra had cut down, and her horns shifted their points towards the sky, while at the same time a slender succubus tail grew out of her spine, making her look like she was an actual succubus.
Lyra also noted that she was sure that Khatti's chest had grown a size or two in the process, but that wasn't her business and went back to waiting for Lord Illidan and the other leaders to return to Deliverance Point... while at the same time seeing Khatti stare out at the Broken Shore with the intent of using her new form to get more information for her and the others.
Eventually Lord Illidan, Khadgar, and Maiev returned to Deliverance Point, as it appeared that they had some business inside the Cathedral to take care of, no doubt making sure that the Aegis wouldn't be taken before the big invasion, before they talked with Chambers for a few minutes. Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes patiently waited for them to stop talking so all of them could figure out what the next mission was before they would be ready to assault the Tomb of Sargeras, where they would smash whatever foul guardians the demons had installed inside the Tomb. During the time they spent waiting some of the warlocks, using the portal they used to send Trixie and Lyra to the Legion ship they had blown up, apparently managed to find the Legion world that the fel succubus came from, where they apparently were using Khatti and some other normal succubus to scout the place out... to which Lyra chuckled at that before Khadgar left the others and beckoned for them to come and speak with him.
"So, Khadgar, what's our next move?" Lyra inquired, because there had to be something they had to do before they were ready for the real invasion, though at the same time she knew that several of her fellow heroes were ready to repay the demons for everything they have done over the years.
"As some of you have surely noticed, a slain demon sometimes leaves behind Nethershards," Khadgar said, to which some of the heroes nodded, as they had looted some of the bodies of the demons they killed during the initial assault on the Broken Shore, "these are solidified residual energy from the Twisting Nether. I require a significant quantity of them for an experiment I'm conducting... two thousand five hundred shards, to be precise."
Lyra and some of the heroes simply stared at Khadgar, as they couldn't believe that he was asking for such a large amount of Nethershards, but at the same time Lyra was sure that she and the others could find enough of them given that there didn't appear to be a time limit for this mission... if it could even be called a mission.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Khadgar asked, looking at the heroes that he had helped in Draenor, who were actually chuckling at his statement, since they knew exactly what he was going to reference next, "We've had this conversation before. I did the math. I need exactly two thousand five hundred shards. Fewer would be inadequate, while more would be absurd. Don't question my methods. Go!"
As Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes started to walk out of Deliverance Point, so they could search for the required Nethershards that Khadgar had asked them for, Lyra decided to ask her friend what her mentor had been talking about, as she was one of the few people that didn't understand the reference.
"While we were in Draenor, trying to stop Garrosh and his Iron Horde, Khadgar asked us to collect a large number of a specific item during that time as well," Trixie replied, to which she fingered the Legendary Ring that resting on her finger, as it was much stronger than some of the rings she had seen her fellow heroes pick up since they started helping the other races of the Broken Shore, "he asked that we acquire four thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight Apexis Crystals. Later we had to acquire a hundred and twenty-five Abrogator Stones, and even later three hundred Elemental Runes to create three powerful Elemental Tablets. We also had to collect thirty-three Tomes of Chaos, but we ended up destroying those so they didn't drive anyone else into a hunger for power... anyway, he's asked for a large number of certain things, so I'm used to it, more than anyone else here anyway."
Lyra nodded her understanding, since Trixie had been Khadgar's apprentice since she and her friends arrived in the Outlands all those years ago, before the two of them made their way down the path that lead out of Deliverance Point and followed it towards the ruined Horde airship that was resting nearby. Trixie's thoughts were that the demons would be attempting to raid the place of any and all remaining loot that they could find, something that she had figured they would have done before the Broken Shore was attacked again, where she figured that they could find some of the Nethershards they had been tasked with recovering. Lyra agreed with the statement, as she knew that the demons would likely possess some of these shards, though when they arrived they found some of the smaller slave demons walking around, carrying crates away, while an eredar oversaw everything.
The demons were clearly too busy with their orders to even acknowledge the presence of the duo, especially when Lyra started cutting them down while Trixie teleported the supplies the demons were stealing back to Deliverance Point, since she knew that their forces could use whatever she recovered. They recovered a handful of shards from the slave demons that finally attacked them, though these foes didn't put up much of a fight as the duo tackled the eredar that was hiding inside the still intact part of the ship. Since he wasn't as powerful as some of the other eredar that Lyra had faced in the past, and was rather easy now that she thought about it, the two of them quickly brought an end to his life and discovered that he had gathered a good supply of shards, a hundred, from the area around him. There were also a few crates resting around them that had a fair number of shards in them, which Trixie teleported out of the area as well, before the duo returned to the beach and made their way to the crashed Alliance ship that was near their location.
What surprised the duo was that there weren't any demons trying to salvage the Alliance airship, though instead they found a large water elemental, who had been sent by Neptulon the Tidehunter, the Elemental Lord of Water, to aid the heroes in dousing the flames of the Legion. As such he allowed one of them to climb onto the watery back of his champion, to which Lyra decided to do so since she knew the Legion better than most did, where she and the elemental charged up the path behind them and entered the demon infested area that was in front of them. From there she targeted the more powerful demons and doused their flames, killing them in the process, while also throwing spheres of water at specific areas to weaken the demons around her and even break some of the shield generators so that someone else could come through later and smash the portals... once they had the keys from the demons that were carrying them, which Lyra didn't see at the moment.
With her task complete Lyra and the water champion returned to the elemental she had discovered and found Trixie waiting for them, though after Lyra climbed off the elemental she had been on the back of she found that she and Trixie were being given a good amount of shards for their deed.
Once they determined that helping the various quest giving people was the quickest way to gather the Nethershards they needed, if this one was anything to go by, they quickly returned to Deliverance Point and looked at Chambers' map, where they found that there were some more in the immediate area. The first thing they did was invade a fel infested cave, which happened to be on the shore they ran through earlier, and killed the demons and their commander, while at the same time freeing the unfortunate soldiers they had captured and recovered the shards they were carrying. The next task was to head to another cave and deal with some eredar that were trying to convert the nearby murlocs into soldiers for the Legion to use, while also killing the fel infused murlocs that happened to be in the area. The third one that they decided to take up was crossing to the small isle that was where another Horde airship had crashed, and an Alliance ship by the looks of it, and attacked the fel infused harpies that were flying around the area, while smashing the fel infested eggs that the harpies had laid.
Lyra and Trixie knew that it was slightly cruel to kill the unborn harpies before they were hatched, but since they had been laid by fel infested harpies, who were now aiding the Legion in their effort to take over Azeroth, it was best that they prevent the birth of an army that would take them by surprise in the future... so much so that Trixie transformed into her dragon form and bathed the entire corrupted isle in flames, to make sure she got everything. Once they were done with the isle, and were sure that everything there was dead and the few shards they were carrying had been acquired, the duo returned to Deliverance Point once more. It was then that the other heroes came back as well, revealing that all of the groups that had departed from their base had acquired a good number of Nethershards between all of them, where Trixie counted them up and determined that they had more than enough for Khadgar's request... to which the group headed up to where he was waiting for them and gave him the good news.
It was during that time that Lyra noticed a look of some sort appear on the Archmage's face for a few seconds, though she had the feeling that she knew what was going on at the moment... especially since she noticed the smile that had graced Trixie's face as well.
"It has been pointed out to me that I can, on occasion, get a bit carried away. This..." Khadgar said, though he took a moment to clear his throat, indicating that he was likely going to admit something that was going to annoy some of the heroes in the process, "might possibly have been one of those times. It appears that a single Nethershard will suffice for my purposes. I'm certain you can put the rest to good use. Let's not speak of this again."
"Though I have something to speak of," Illidan commented, causing Lyra, Trixie, and the others to turn towards the leader of the Illidari, who was currently staring at the Legion ship that was floating above the Broken Shore, as it was the only ship that Kil'jaeden hadn't sent out when the others attacked the other regions, "The Sentinax rains down terror upon the Broken Shore, unleashing hordes of demons that are a menace to our forces. The fiends seek to stop us from taking the Tomb. They will fail. Lure out the strongest among their vile ranks. Slay them and seize the marks they bear. Make the Legion fear our strength!"
Lyra, Trixie, and the others departed from Deliverance Point, where they noticed that the Sentinax was actually hovering in the air nearby, opening a few portals to deploy more demons to that area, to which the group smiled as they crossed over the fel river that was in front of them and invaded the area they were targeting. The eredar that were tending to the portals, getting them ready for the incoming mass of demons that would be coming out of the Sentinax, weren't surprised to see the heroes come at them, in fact they seemed ready for it. Demons started pouring out of the portals, causing the group to break up and split into even sized groups as they each took a portal, where they started assaulting their opponents. What Lyra discovered, after someone found a beacon, was that the eredar carried specific beacons that changed the location that the portals connected to, meaning that they could engage a host of spider demons, the normal demons they generally fought, and other demonic creatures that the Sentinax was carrying.
As they killed the demons that poured out from the portals, however, Lyra noticed that the eredar were trying to close the portals so the horde of heroes didn't slaughter the demons that were aboard the Sentinax, though she killed all the eredar before they could do so, up until someone found a more powerful beacon that cut down the amount of portals but also let more powerful demons come out and attack them. It was an interesting challenge, since the more powerful demons proved to be a decent challenge for all of the heroes, though they kept their guards up since they had no idea if this was going to be the only thing that happened. While they fought Trixie started gathering the marks that Illidan wanted them to acquire, finding that they had more than enough to satisfy the leader of the Illidari, they didn't find many other beacons and decided to save them for the future, in case there was a reason for them to attack the Sentinax once more.
With the marks in hand, and the portals were all shut down, the group returned to Deliverance Point and the majority of them took a break, mostly due to the requests they had done to gather the Nethershards that they didn't need and the fight with the demons earlier, leaving Lyra, Trixie, and some of the others to report their success to Lord Illidan.
"Even the mightiest demons unleashed by the Sentinax have fallen before you." Illidan commented, though at the same time he smiled as he looked at them all, especially pausing on Lyra for a moment before turning to the others that were around her, "Good. The Legion will be driven from our world, no matter what it takes. Velen would like to talk with you for a few seconds before you do anything else."
Lyra and the others glanced at each other for a moment before they walked over to where the prophet was standing, who was currently staring at the Tomb at the moment, as if he was expecting Kil'jaeden to walk out and declare total war on all of them.
"In my life, I have witnessed many visions." Velen told them, as the majority of them knew about his visions and what he had done in accordance to those visions, saving some of his people from the Legion, back when they first found Argus all those years ago, "Some filled me with hope... others, with despair. Victory over Kil'jaeden lies within our grasp. I have foreseen it. But visions only show us where our path might lead. They require effort to become reality. That effort falls upon your shoulders, heroes. You have done much, but more is needed. Fight on the battlefields of the Broken Shore and forge a destiny free from the Legion's grasp!"
That was followed by Velen sighing as he turned his gaze away from the Tomb and stared at the group for once, though Lyra wondered if someone had done something that made him happy, even though he was still frowning as he faced all of them.
"Or, that is what I would request of you, if you hadn't done such a thing while you were helping Khadgar," Velen said, revealing that the missions the group had done, to get the Nethershards that they would find another use for, was more than enough for them to complete his request, "Step by step, we march closer to victory. We must not relent! Only through courage and persistence will we stop the insidious evil that threatens the soul of this world."
In that moment Lyra guessed that she and the others were being allowed to relax before they did anything else, though at the same time she knew that the next set of missions Khadgar and the others sent them on was going to be even tougher than what they had just gone through... but something told her that they were getting close to the invasion of the Tomb of Sargeras, something that everyone was looking for. The battle with Kil'jaeden was fast approaching and she was looking forward to toppling one of Sargeras' strongest commanders... and then they could focus on finding a way to get to Argus and end this war.
After an hour of waiting for Khadgar, Lord Illidan, or even Maiev to give them the next mission they had to take care of, which could have been anything, Lyra found herself growing bored all of a sudden, something that usually didn't happen when she was in an area surrounded by demons. Unfortunately she didn't want to take it out on the demons of the Broken Shore, mostly because they were already fighting a losing battle against the other thirty heroes, and their champions, that were declaring war on them. If she wanted to fight some demons, and she really wanted to do that to get rid of her boredom, she only had two options, either head to Faronaar, which was located near the Illidari stronghold in Azsuna, or fly to Felsoul Hold, which was located in Suramar. Since she was sure that Faronaar wasn't an option, not with the Illidari stationed nearby and likely trying to destroy the stronghold the demons had built there, she guessed that Felsoul Hold was better than nothing.
Once she had finished debating how she was going to go about this, as she planned on using one of the felbats they had tamed to get back to Suramar, she got onto her hooves and made for the flightmaster, though before she could even reach her target Trixie appeared near her and pulled her to the side... or more like down the path back to the beach, so they didn't distract anyone else.
"Lyra, what are you planning?" Trixie asked, because she had been around the demon hunting Equestrian long enough to know what she was thinking by glancing at her eyes, and she knew that Lyra was planning something this time around, though what that something was she had no idea.
"I'm bored and I need something to do," Lyra replied, not even bothering to hide the fact from Trixie, because her friend was good at discovering things, no doubt something else she had gained from her seven long years of working with Khadgar and solving whatever mysteries they discovered, "so I figured that I would just skip over to Suramar and attack Felsoul Hold, cut off the demons there before they could really gather in force and do some damage to our allies."
"You're... bored?" Trixie repeated, as this was the first time that she had ever heard that Lyra was bored about anything, because she figured that with a battle going on all across the Broken Shore, with their friends fighting for their lives against the demons, Lyra would have been the first one to charge into battle.
"Yeah, I got bored and these demons aren't much of a challenge at this point in time," Lyra said, as she was really disappointed in the demons of the Broken Shore, so much so that she was fine with the other heroes taking the fight to the demons while she sought a true challenge, "Like I said, I'm heading over to Felsoul Hold to fight the demons over there, as there's bound to be some decent demons guarding the place since that's where Varedis ruled until I arrived and took the Twinblades from him."
"Well, if you are set on this decision, then I shall make once as well," Trixie replied, to which her magic swirled around her for a few seconds as she morphed into her dragon form, knowing that some of the soldiers would see this and likely tell Khadgar what she and Lyra were doing, "Come on, we might as well depart now before someone tries to stop us."
Lyra stared at Trixie for a few seconds, as she was surprised that her friend wanted to help her relieve her boredom, before she smiled as she climbed onto Trixie's back, where she took to the skies and headed towards the area that Lyra wanted to visit. Since the Broken Shore was close to Suramar, however, it didn't take them long to reach their destination, though as they flew over Felsoul Hold Lyra gripped her warglaives and did something that Trixie wasn't expecting her to do; she jumped into the air and latched onto the first felbat she came across. Trixie, being curious as to what Lyra was planning, flew down to a nearby cliff and shifted back to her hybrid state as she watched Lyra use the felbats, which ended up dead when she was done with them, to slow her descent until she was deep inside Felsoul Hold. Trixie then watched as Lyra started to engage the eredar, felguards, inquisitors, doomguards, and every other type of demon that had been brought to this area when it had been under the Legion's control... and it appeared that Lyra was more than skilled enough to be on her own, if the demonic bodies were anything to go by.
Suffice to say that Trixie was actually amused when she watched Lyra move through the area, cutting down demons that would have taken two or more other heroes to take out, while also climbing up the legs of a massive infernal and carving out it's massive core, toppling the creature and crushing several other demons in the process. As that happened several hostile creatures tried to attack Trixie from behind, though instead of flying off like she normally would she turned around and dodged the stag that was coming at her. An owl and a moth joined the stag, all of them looking like they were annoyed with her for some reason, to which she guessed that they were either going insane due to the magicka that they might have ingested at some point in time... or they had seen her dragon form and were trying to beat a potential predator before she came for them.
It didn't take her long to best the three animals that wanted her dead, though when she finished them off she sighed and pulled out some camping equipment from her bag, remnants from her days with her guild before she met Khadgar in Shattrath City... to which she lit a fire and got to work on the stags body, knowing that Lyra would likely want something to eat when she was done with the demons.
An hour passed before anything else actually happened, though Trixie passed the time by using the parts of the stag that had attacked her, once again reflecting that Fluttershy would be displeased with her, before cooking the majority of the meat that she had gathered. She tossed the unusable parts into Felsoul Hold, where she chuckled as some fel creatures exited their homes to fight over the bits she threw over the edge of the cliff, as it usually ended in Lyra finding out about it and ending both demons in the process. Lyra also glanced up at her every now and then, as if she was keeping track of the food that she was preparing, though Trixie would amaze her a little since she had some cooking skill, another useful skill she had picked up years ago when she first arrived on Azeroth. Just thinking about that made her check the meat once more, before she grinned as she tore a section off for herself and started tearing it apart, knowing that soon Lyra would see what she was doing and get some for herself... when she was done killing demons anyway.
A few moments later, however, she heard the sound of someone teleporting into the area and turned to her right, where her mentor had appeared near the small camp she had set up while she was waiting for Lyra to finish her demon killing spree... where she would promptly tell Lyra to wash her hands of the demon blood that was likely on her hands at that very moment.
"There you are," Khadgar said, sounding a little disappointed in the fact that Trixie and Lyra had left Deliverance Point, while they were in the middle of a war with the Legion, without telling him, Illidan, or even Maiev as to where they were going, "Maiev finally has a new mission for you and Lyra, since you two were the only available heroes left, and then we couldn't find you at all... and yet here you are, camping over Felsoul Hold without a care in the world."
"Actually, Lyra's busy killing demons and I'm acting as transport at the moment," Trixie replied, as she had known that Khadgar would have been upset with her, he was still her mentor after all, though at the same time she beckoned to the meat for a few seconds, "Help yourself, we've still got a few more minutes before Lyra is done killing demons, so you might as well make yourself comfortable."
"I... I see." Khadgar said, though at the same time he decided to take a small part of the meat for himself, since it had been made with Trixie and Lyra in mind and no one else, before he noticed something odd, "Trixie, it seems your control might be slipping, because you seem a bit... bulkier... than you were an hour ago, and you're looking more like a dragon than your usual hybrid form reveals."
Trixie paused for a moment and looked down at herself, as her body was actually slightly taller than her elven form allowed, though at the same time she noticed that by bulkier her mentor was referring to her muscles, which made sense since it had to be her dragon form coming to the surface more than it usually did. She had no idea how she hadn't noticed it, but her hands had actually become more like a dragon's as well, complete with more scales going up her arms, and she was fairly sure that some of her teeth were much sharper now. She let out a sigh as she focused her mind once more, feeling her body revert back to her hybrid state, before finding that it had worked... making her wonder if some of the spices she had used had done something to her while she wasn't aware of it.
"So, what did Maiev want from us?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she took another bite out of the meat that she was eating, once more thinking about how odd it was for her to have adapted to eating this after the last seven years, but then she shrugged and focused on her mentor.
Before Khadgar could do or say anything, however, he noticed a hand appear on the edge of the cliff and watched as Lyra climbed up to the area they were in and dusted off her armor, before eying the meat that had been cooking and grabbed herself some as well, before nodding to Khadgar as she started eating.
"Lyra, Trixie tells me that you have been killing demons for the last hour," Khadgar commented, causing Lyra to glance up from what she was doing, where she nodded her head in confirmation, indicating that she had been busy ending their foes before they could attack their allies, "Tell me, do you have any idea how many demons you killed inside Felsoul Hold? And I mean today, not during the time you came here for the Twinblades."
"Let me think about it," Lyra said, glancing down at the destruction and death she had caused in Felsoul Hold, where she smiled at the number of dead demons that littered the ground, "I'd guess between two hundred and three hundred demons. They weren't happy with my presence and really called in some of their reserve troops, so I don't think we'll be hearing anything from this place for quite some time... though hopefully this tells them that they should depart from Suramar immediately."
"Well, Maiev will be happy." Khadgar said, though he chuckled at the same time, as he wasn't surprised by Lyra slaying so many demons while waiting for him and the others to hand out a new mission, "She told me to tell you that your next mission was to kill a hundred demons, to be done in either Faronaar or Felsoul Hold, so she'll be glad to hear that you did so, even without hearing the mission to begin with."
Lyra chuckled as well, because she was sure that Maiev would be shocked when she heard that news while Lord Illidan was going to be impressed by her kill streak, before the three of them went silent while they dealt with the remainder of the meat that Trixie had cooked. When they were done, however, Trixie reverted back to her dragon form and carried the duo back to Deliverance Point, where she surprised the heroes that were resting as she landed near the main camp. Once they were back in the camp, and Trixie was back in her hybrid form, they approached Maiev, who simply stared at them as they approached, though at the same time Illidan smiled as he sensed what Lyra had done, but he said nothing so he could let them surprise Maiev.
"Maiev, we heard that you wanted us to kill a couple of demons in either Faronaar or Felsoul Hold," Lyra said, though at the same time a light smile appeared on her face, because she was rather impressed by her own skill and power to knock out as many demons as she had, "I killed between two to three hundred of them in Felsoul Hold... while I was waiting for you to hand us a new mission."
"I see," Maiev commented, where at the same time she simply stared at Lyra and Trixie for a moment, no doubt studying Lyra while she was doing so, before shaking her head a little, "Thinning the ranks of demons in locations like Faronaar and Felsoul Hold will cut the legs out from under the Legion... until we topple Kil'jaeden!"
"Oh, we're all looking forward to that," Trixie said, as she knew that some of the heroes wanted to get back at Kil'jaeden for everything he's done to Azeroth over the many years, "We just have to be patient and see what move our opponent's next move is."
"Speaking of which, Khadgar had another mission to give you," Maiev stated, causing the duo to glance over at the Archmage for a moment, who nodded his head in confirmation, before she turned back towards the map that was on the table behind her, revealing that she was done with them.
"Lyra, Trixie, as you know not all demons on this shore stomp around in the open." Khadgar said, referring to their general knowledge of demons that they had gathered over the years, gained in different manners anyway, before he continued speaking, "Some slink about in the shadows, finding more subtle ways to advance the Legion's cause. I have been observing the behavior of smaller demons, these wyrmtongues. They seem to spend considerable time acquiring objects of power. We cannot allow them to use these items against us. The wyrmtongues stash their goods in chests spread around the Broken Shore. I suggest you relieve them of their ill-gotten gain."
Lyra remembered the wyrmtongue that the Illidari had captured in Stormwind City, after the Legion's attempt to kill the Alliance leaders back before they moved Dalaran to the Broken Shore, and the help the demon had given them after it realized that they weren't about to let it go. Fortunately Khadgar had a new spell that would allow Trixie and Lyra to find out where the enemy wyrmtongue were stashing their loot, something that Trixie used immediately before shifting into her dragon form once more. From there the duo took to the skies and sought out the treasure troves that their enemies were trying to hide from them, one of them using the spell to see the demons while the other used her fel sight to spot the demons from where they were flying. The duo quickly discovered a large number of wyrmtongue demons moving about the area, some carrying objects of power in their packs, though those were the ones that Trixie tailed before they were lead right to the locations of their chests.
They then waited for the demons to unlock their chests before Lyra took them out, though as Trixie collected the goods Lyra discovered that the powerful items were merely trinkets that were unassuming, though she remembered the Elements of Harmony, the artifacts and not the Bearers, and knew that Khadgar was right to give them this mission. She didn't want something as powerful as the Elements falling into the hands of the Legion, especially from what she knew about what the Legion did with such artifacts. When the cleared the first chest they took to the skies once more and tracked down the next wyrmtongue demon that was heading to it's chest, where they repeated the process once it revealed where it's loot was hidden. From there they collected the trinkets that it was hoarding and headed back into the air once the chest was cleared out, where they continued their search for any and all remaining powerful trinkets that their enemies were hoarding.
Thirty minutes later, after scouring the entirety of the Broken Shore and looting about thirty chests by the time they were done, the duo returned to Deliverance Point and landed, though as they walked up to where Khadgar was standing they delivered the goods to Chambers, allowing them to be distributed to those that could use them in the war against the Legion's forces.
"Fine work. It's important to keep powerful treasures out of demon hands." Khadgar said, staring at the number of trinkets that they were able to recover, as he hadn't been expecting them to get all of that in the time they had been gone, but he was clearly happy, "There are more ways to undermine the Legion's agenda than simply killing demons... although there's a lot to be said for good old-fashioned violence. And, speaking of violence, Maiev has another mission for the two of you, along with some of your friends."
"The Broken Shore swims with Legion filth, each demon deserving of a swift and merciless end." Maiev stated, not even waiting for Khadgar to stop speaking before she took over the conversation, though the duo stared over at her as some of the other heroes walked up to where they were standing, "But some are more insidious than the rest. Powerful combatants rallying others to their perfidious cause. Strike down these demon champions and you will fill the hearts of their kin with fear and doubt. Break the Legion's spirit and we will break its back."
Fortunately Lyra knew what Maiev was talking about, as when she and Trixie were flying back to Deliverance Point she had spotted a dreadlord issuing orders to the other demons, alarmingly close to their camp anyway, and she also knew where a large doomguard was stationed. According to what some of the other heroes said there was a large wrathguard patrolling the area near the Tomb's entrance, another commander they were sure, and a pit lord was hiding in a cave near that one, giving them four targets to go after. Before Trixie could ask how they found the commander hiding in the cave, however, one of the warlocks pointed to his imp, indicating that the little demon had found it and brought the information to them... causing her to smile as they departed from Deliverance Point once more.
Lyra had been hoping for a better fight with the demon commanders they were taking on, but with so many powerful heroes standing beside them these lesser commanders were easy to take out, meaning that she and the others could literally take out one of the demons without one of them dying in the process. Even if a hero died one of the healers would use their magic to resurrect them, effectively making it impossible for a demon, who was fighting alone, to overpower them. When one commander was dead they moved onward to the next one, repeating the process while allowing the demon's soul to be damned to Lyra's Twinblades, removing another threat from the board at the same time... though, to increase their demoralizing of the Legion's forces, they found and killed the four commanders they knew about, and then hunted down six more demon commanders that patrolled the Broken Shore.
When they finally killed literally every demon commander, and they were positive in that regard, the heroes returned to Deliverance Point and reported their success to Khadgar and Maiev, who wasn't surprised that they had taken out all the demon commanders in less than an hour.
"We must take every opportunity to shatter the will of Kil'jaeden's army." Maiev commented, which was about the only praise that they were going to receive from the Warden, though at this point Lyra and Trixie were used to her uncaring attitude towards everyone, "When they see their mightiest champions crumble to dust, they will realize that the vaunted Legion is doomed to fall."
"For now, you should all rest for a few hours," Khadgar added, though that was when he beckoned towards the Tomb for a moment, where everyone stared at the fel corrupted structure that was the main target of their attack on the Broken Shore, "Tomorrow we'll take the other Pillars of Creation from Aegwynn's Gallery and begin our assault on the Tomb of Sargeras... and finally bring an end to this invasion."
Lyra smiled at that news, because once they stopped Kil'jaeden, and likely killed him in the process, they could seal the Tomb and prevent Sargeras from entering Azeroth... though before they went home they knew that a permanent solution needed to be found, but they were sure that someone would figure something out eventually.
Lyra and Trixie spent the last few hours of the day resting and making sure that their armor and weapons were ready for the attack on the Tomb of Sargeras, as it seemed that they and the other heroes had managed to smash the Legion's forces enough to create the opening that Khadgar had noticed. Since they were venturing into the heart of the temple that served as the portal between Azeroth and Argus, where the Legion's presence was greater than on the Broken Shore, they had to be extremely careful. There was no telling what sort of demons Kil'jaeden had tasked with defending the various positions in the Tomb, nor did they know if there were more enemies in there besides the demons that they had been fighting since the third invasion had started. Khadgar, Illidan, and Maiev were preparing themselves as well, since they were planning on coming into the Tomb as well, to prevent the demons from coming up from behind as well as carrying the Pillars of Creation until they reached the areas they needed to be placed in... and Velen was coming with them, as he had a score to settle with the evil Kil'jaeden.
Trixie and her fellow heroes were slightly excited to be entering the Tomb, since they were planning on severing the connection between their world and Argus, but they also wanted to make Kil'jaeden suffer for his deeds before they took his life, just like they did with Archimonde a few months ago. Lyra, on the other hand, was excited to enter the Tomb and sever the connection as well, but she was also excited about the prospect of fighting one of the most powerful demons in the entirety of the Burning Legion. The only creature that was above Kil'jaeden, in terms of absolute power, was Sargeras, and Lyra already knew that fighting the Dark Titan was basically the same as committing suicide, considering that he was as tall as two Azeroth's and had a blade that could carve a planet in half with a single swing. She and the other heroes would have to figure out another way to defeat Sargeras, that much she knew already, but that required beating Kil'jaeden first, otherwise he would continue to harass them.
Eventually the day turned to night and came back to the morning, since Lyra and the others slept during the night, but as the morning arrived Khadgar made sure that everyone was well prepared for what they were about to do... though once everyone was ready they rode out of Deliverance Point and headed towards the Tomb. Khadgar told them that he had the artifacts on hand, as he promised that he would do before this happened, and was accompanied by Illidan, Maiev, and Velen, exactly like all of them said they would. As they rode out of Deliverance Point Lyra discovered that the champions and soldiers of the various Orders would be holding the fort and keep the demons contained on the Broken Shore, meaning that they wouldn't have to worry about demons attacking the other regions while they were busy. Lyra knew that those that were forced to guard the Broken Shore would do their best to keep the demons contained, since they didn't have the artifact weapons in their possession, though she pushed that to the back of her mind as she and the others reached the Tomb of Sargeras... where they dismounted and headed inside the fel infused temple.
As they walked up the stairs in front of them, and reached the top of them, the group discovered a group of demons that were already waiting for them to arrive, with the Pillars of Creation no less, though as one of the heroes took a step forward a fell meteor flew through the air and collided with the ground on the left side of the room... and killed all of the demons in the area in front of them at the same time.
"Well, that's convenient." Trixie commented, which caused a good number of the heroes to voice their agreement, even though they would have been fine with taking out the demons that had been in front of them, though they weren't about to question their luck.
As the group started to walk down the small set of stairs in front of them three smaller fel meteors descended into the area as well, revealing large infernals that they would likely have to take out before they could tackle the larger demon that was pulling itself out of the fel crater that had formed around where it landed. Lyra noticed that the demon that had pulled itself out of the crater was burning appeared to have the same body type that a pit lord had, since it was walking on four legs and had a long tail that resembled the large demons. The group tackled the first of the three infernals, as they sensed that fighting more than one of them would be dangerous despite the number of members in their group, though as they started engaging the demon Khadgar and the other leaders stood their ground at the top of the stairs, so they could be ready for any demons that might come their way. It didn't take the group long before the first infernal had been taken care of, though as it fell they turned their attention to the second infernal and repeated the process they did with the first one... before felling it and taking the fight to the third and final opponent they had to deal with, where they turned towards the large demon that was waiting for them the instant they finished their third demon off.
"Come, intruders, and face the wrath of Goroth!" the demon declared, naming itself in the process, though at the same time Lyra heard the pain in the demon's voice and realized that Sargeras must have tortured it, in some manner anyway, and cursed it with this new appearance, "Killing you will regain my master's favor!"
The instant the tanks started the fight Goroth targeted three different heroes for a moment and marked them with his fel power, to which they separated from the group before something happened, though not a few seconds later fel spikes erupted out of the floor, where the three heroes were standing to be exact. Lyra was thankful that the spikes didn't instantly kill whoever Goroth was targeting, as that would have easily turned the tide in his favor if the demon kept doing it, but since they simply hurt whoever he was aiming at the healers could reverse the damage and let the heroes resume the fight with the demon. Of course he wasn't done with the fel spikes, as he targeted three more heroes and summoned three more spikes two more times over the next couple of seconds, indicating that he was trying to seriously hurt whoever wasn't paying attention before he loosed whatever his powerful attack was... while at the same time Lyra hacked into the demon's leg and side of hit body, doing her job of dealing damage to their foe like the other heroes were doing.
It wasn't long before Goroth started channeling his fel energy into his body, indicating that he was getting ready for something major, to which the heroes rapidly charged behind the fel spikes that they had, accidentally, placed around the area and let the spikes be their shield... to which they braced themselves as Goroth loosed the energy he had been building, destroying the spikes while not hurting any of his foes.
A few moments later, after Goroth realized that he had failed to kill anyone in that attack, roared in anger and started summoning more pillars, repeating the same process he had used earlier as he continued to swing his claws at the heroes that were standing all around him at the moment. Despite the fact that Goroth's attacks didn't really cause a lot of damage, unless someone was targeted by a fel spike from the ground, his body was naturally resistant to damage thanks to the torture he had suffered so long ago, meaning that the group had to be careful while they fought their foe. Lyra didn't mind that as much as her comrades did, as she had already determined the movements and attack pattern of their foe, something that most of them had likely done on their own, but she continued to gracefully dodge the attacks that were coming her way and dealt damage in return. When Goroth had enough of them he gathered the fel energy into his body once more, allowing the group some time to hide behind the fel spikes, before he expelled the energy and shattered the spikes... repeating the process that they had just gone through and picked it up at the beginning once more, making Lyra wonder if the demon had received some brain damage due to the tortures he had suffered.
Eventually the group toppled Goroth, which they did after they moved him to one of the corners so his body wasn't blocking the path he had apparently opened up in the floor, though as the group relaxed and healed their wounds their leaders joined them... while at the same time the echo of Aegwynn appeared in the middle of the chamber.
"The echo of the Guardian Aegwynn appears, just as she did in the cathedral." Illidan commented, staring at the echo for a moment, while at the same time allowing the heroes that hadn't gone to the cathedral to see what the most famous guardian looked like.
"I sealed each level of this temple so that no invader could descend into its depths." the echo told them, revealing some insight into the Tomb and what they were likely going to need to do before they reached the area that Kil'jaeden was no doubt hiding in, "I never anticipated that the Legion would find another way to breach its dark heart. My protective wards now bar your way. Each seal can only be opened with one of the Pillars of Creation. Be warned: the demons will stop at nothing to prevent your advance. I can sense one of the Legion's masters working to reanimate the Avatar of Sargeras. Should Kil'jaeden infuse that husk with the Dark Titan's power, I do not know whether any force on this world can stop it."
"Then we have no time to lose." Khadgar stated, to which he turned around and stared at the assembled group of heroes, while at the same time beckoning to the three paths that were now open for them to take, the one that Goroth had opened, the one directly in front of them, and the one to their right, "Heroes, the paths are open. I leave the decision of which path to take up to all of you, but we must bypass Aegwynn's wards quickly, before the Legion claims the Avatar."
"Um, not to sound stupid, but what is this Avatar of Sargeras?" Lyra asked, as this was literally the first time she had heard of such a thing, while at the same time she knew that such a thing needed to be destroyed the instant they found wherever it was resting.
"According to legend, it's a physical shell that contains a fragment of Sargeras' soul," Trixie replied, knowing that there was no way for Lyra to know about this, since the Illidari would never have heard about such a thing since they were in the Outlands when the Avatar appeared on Azeroth, "From what we know Aegwynn fought the Avatar eight hundred and twenty-three years before the Dark Portal was even opened, where she beat it after a long and brutal battle... but I think most people assumed that she had destroyed the Avatar, instead of burying it somewhere."
"Then we had better get moving," Lyra said, to which she followed the heroes towards the open hole that Goroth had created, and the path that it contained, while also thinking about the information they had been given, "We have to stop Kil'jaeden before he has a chance to reach the Avatar."
Trixie nodded and turned to her mentor for a moment, who nodded his head and carefully transferred the Pillars of Creation into her bag, or at least the Hammer, the Tears, and the Tidestone, as he couldn't easily hand her the Eye, since that one needed to be teleported directly to the area it was needed in. With the three Pillars in hand Trixie followed after Lyra as they joined the rest of the heroes as they walked the path that lead them beneath the temple, though all of them kept their guards raised since they had no idea what sort of enemies were waiting for them. Both Lyra and Trixie knew that many of them were hoping they found the pedestal the Pillars went to without fighting another foe, but they all knew something like that wasn't going to happen. It didn't take them long before they reached a small pond that contained a few aggressive murlocs inside it, though the creatures barely put up a fight before the group moved to the other side of the area that they were in.
It was there, in the room that they had been heading towards, that the heroes discovered a naga sea witch giving orders to a naga brute, like the ones that Lyra and Trixie had fought back in the Eye of Azshara, though the instant she noticed the heroes she had the brute face them before she slithered out of the area... leaving them to battle with what was clearly either a pet or one of her strongest minions.
A few seconds later the heroes, once they were all assembled, charged forward and engaged Harjatan, as that was the name that the sea witch had called the brute before she disappeared, though they knew that the sea witch was heading towards the area that one of the Pillars went to. The tanks decided to make Harjatan face away from the rest of the group, just in case he had any nasty surprises that they weren't expecting, though the first thing he did was summon some of the murlocs that were watching to come and aid him. That forced some of the heroes to change their targets and focus down the additional enemies that were moving into the area, though since these murlocs weren't anything special the heroes were able to dispatch of them rather easily and return their focus to their true opponent, who was just using his arms to punch his targets or blast them with sand. Harjatan then proceeded to call upon another group of murlocs a few seconds later, repeating the process all over again while keeping some of the heroes distracted, before the naga brute did something besides summon murlocs or swing his fists.
What Harjatan did was call upon the water that he commanded and had some puddles appear below the feet of several of the heroes, though once the puddles were formed he pulled them in, empowering himself in the process before he started the battle once more.
As the battle progressed Harjatan started making sure that puddles of water formed every now and then, keeping the heroes on their toes since the puddles actually make their abilities worse for a few seconds if they stepped into the special water that their foe was using against them. At the same time he made more allies come into the fight and help him, causing a small portion of the group to dedicate themselves to taking out the additional enemies that their foe wanted to use against them. At first it appeared that their foe was actually being smart in how he fought them, but as it turned out empowering himself in such a manner actually decreased the time it took for him to empower himself again, as it took him two minutes before he could even attempt the process a second time... though after they let him succeed in powering up once more they toppled him, opening the way for them to head to where the Tidestone would rest.
The reason the group knew that it was the Tidestone that went down here was because there was a lot of water and the naga were only obsessed with that one artifact, as their queen apparently wanted it more than anything in the entire world... even if that meant destroying Azeroth in the process of stealing it.
With Harjatan defeated the group continued along the path that was in front of them, where they made their way to what appeared to be a forgotten passage that lead them to a winding circular staircase, which allowed them to descend even further down into the depths of the Tomb. When they reached the bottom of the circular staircase they discovered that, just outside the doorway they would have to walk through, rested a group of naga that were no doubt waiting for them, to which the tanks pulled them away from the main walkway and fought they at the bottom of the staircase. As it turned out these naga were definitely stronger than the ones that Lyra and Trixie had faced in the Eye of Azshara, but the combined might of the group were able to overcome their foes, allowing them to move out and deal with the remaining enemies that were blocking the path... which included taking out the group of murlocs that were waiting nearby, as they would have come running at the sound of a battle happening.
Once those groups were taken care of the heroes walked down the path in front of them and attacked the two floating jellyfish that were waiting for them, though at this point Lyra wasn't questioning how such a thing was possible since everything on Azeroth seemed to defy the rules of reality... though after a minute of fighting the jellyfish the heroes walked further down the path and came to the chamber that the sea witch was waiting in.
"Mortals, I am Mistress Sassz'ine," the naga said, patiently waiting for all of the heroes to enter her domain, though once they were all in there the gate closed behind them, trapping them all in her room until either they destroyed her or she destroyed all of them, "The Tidestone belongs to Queen Azshara, which I will be taking back now... with all of you alive as future slaves, or just dead trash."
The tanks engaged her moments later, where she spun her polearm around and attacked whoever she desired, though at the same time several jellyfish started to surface from the water that they were standing on, another thing that Lyra was going to ignore, causing the heroes to move out of where the jellyfish were rising so they didn't get shocked. A few seconds later Sassz'ine targeted several members of the group with her spare hands and inflicted a curse upon them, causing them to take shadow based damage over the next few moments. Sassz'ine also beckoned three hungry looking worm like creatures to the surface so they could join her in attacking the group, though Lyra turned her attention to them and joined the heroes that were taking the additional enemies out before they could hurt anyone. After another few moments of fighting their foe also called in little tornadoes, about twice the size of everyone in the group, to cause havoc on the heroes that she was fighting... though at the same time the group moved and did their best to avoid the attacks she was throwing at them.
While they did so Lyra noted that Sassz'ine was actually pretty powerful for a naga, as she was able to fight her foes with her own weapon and also used her spare pair of hands to weave spells the spells that she was throwing at them, which made this fight all that much harder.
The fight continued like that for a few minutes, where Sassz'ine summoned more of the abyssal worms to the field, caused more jellyfish to rise, cursed those that she deemed worth of being cursed, and also had more tornadoes show up to do damage, while killing the rogue that wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. That was before Sassz'ine started showing what she could really do, which was use her powers over the various sea creatures to summon a trio of larger creatures to the battlefield. The first one was a large squid creature that she called Ossunet, which appeared to spray ink in a variety of places to slow the heroes down, either opening them to dying at the hands of Sassz'ine, who followed that up by calling forth Vellius. It was a large angry and hungry looking fish creature, with some rather large teeth, that erupted out of the water and attempted to eat whoever was in it's path, causing everyone to move from the middle of the room while Vellius was in play. The third creature, Sarukel, they couldn't actually see, but it tried to suck everyone up and swallow them whole, though it was discovered that Ossunet's ink could be sucked off the heroes, causing the creature to retreat after it happening a few times.
Despite that news the three creatures were summoned at random intervals, meaning that they couldn't plan around which creature Sassz'ine was going to summon and ended up losing a few heroes in the process, which the creatures ended up spitting back into the arena to lower the rest of the group's moral. Eventually the heroes managed to overcome the creatures that were being used against them and struck Sassz'ine down, causing her to moan about the indignity of death before she collapsed on the floor. The three creatures, now freed from the naga's control, disappeared moments later, allowing the group to relax as the healers mended the wounds that everyone had sustained during the fight, as well as bringing back the heroes that had been taken out and restoring them to full health. Once everyone was on their feet once more, and they were ready to go, Trixie approached the pedestal that had risen after Sassz'ine's defeat and carefully placed the Tidestone on it... where all of them felt the ancient power awaken as another of Aegwynn's ancient seals was undone completely, putting them one step closer to their goals.
"From this stone flowed rivers and seas, the very lifeblood of Azeroth." they all heard Aegwynn say, even though her echo was back at the beginning of the tomb, where they fought Goroth, but they said nothing as they listened, "Today it washes clean the darkness that scars our world."
Lyra and the other heroes chuckled for a moment as they started the march back to the main hall of the Tomb of Sargeras, as there were two more Pillars they needed to place before they could find the area that they needed to put the Eye of Amun'thul in... and she was sure that the next few fights were going to be even tougher than what all of them had just gone through with Sassz'ine.
After delivering the Tidestone of Golganneth to it's proper place in the Abyssal Throne, the area that the heroes fought and killed Sassz'ine in, the group began the trek back towards the main entrance of the Tomb of Sargeras, knowing that time was of the essence before Kil'jaeden got his hands on the Avatar. Lyra wanted to make sure that the Legion didn't get it's hands on that creation, as she didn't know if there was anyone on Azeroth that had the power to combat the Avatar, should it be awoken and fully empowered with the energies of the Legion once more. She knew that she and Trixie might be able to do something in that regard, thanks to their abilities, but the combination attack seemed to be the best weapon they had in their arsenal to deal with something that dangerous. She and Trixie knew that it was only a matter of time until Kil'jaeden reached his target, meaning that they had to be quick before their foe claimed his prize... which was why they had only rested for a few moments before leaving the Abyssal Throne.
It didn't take them long to reach the area of the Tomb that they had first arrived in, where they found Illidan and Maiev attacking the demons that were trying to come up the stairs that they had used to get to the area they were in, with Khadgar and Velen supporting them with their magic. With the four leaders of Legionfall standing their ground, and preventing their enemies from gaining any ground, the heroes headed to the north of their position and walked up the stairs that were in front of them. When they reached the room that were ahead of them, however, Lyra spotted two demons bickering with each other in front of the pedestal that the third Pillar of Creation needed to be place on, though she recognized the two demons from one of the reports she had received some time ago. The demons were Atrigan and Belac, where Atrigan was a unique Fel Lord among the Legion's ranks, while the same could be said for Belac, who was one of the more stronger Jailer demons... and they were infamous torturers that followed Kil'jaeden's orders, meaning they captured their targets and broke them in whatever manner they desired.
It was possible that she would have been brought before these two if she had died at some point in time, to be broken as all of the Legion's pawns declared whenever they fought her, but before she and the others could fight the two demons they had to content with a succubus, a felguard, and an inquisitor. Fortunately the trio of demons were the weaker variety of their type, as the group was able to slay all three of them within a minute of fighting, making Lyra wonder why the two demons had bothered to bring them in the first place.
"Admit that I am right!" Atrigan shouted, pointing the head of his large axe at his companion, though the group remained still, as they were curious as to whether or not the two demons were going to get into a fight and potentially even kill each other, "Break the body and the spirit follows."
"Physical pain? Bah!" Belac countered, to which he pointed a finger at his own head, which made sense considering that jailer demons enjoyed mentally breaking whoever they captured, which could also be seen as an insult to the more physical fel lord that he was talking to, "Mental anguish is the true weapon. Was it not the key to turning Rakeesh?"
"Bah! It was the suffering I inflicted which... Hold!" Atrigan declared, as that was when he noticed that the group of heroes was watching the two of them, as they were patiently waiting for them to kill each other before they even bothered to do anything, "The mortals come! That fool Goroth has failed again!"
"Sooner than expected, but no matter." Belac stated, to which the two demons turned towards the entrance of the chamber that they were standing in and faced the heroes, indicating that they were going to have to face both demons instead of just one of them, "Our work begins!"
Since there were two targets for them to fight the group was split in half, with one half of the tanks, healers, and damage dealers attacking Atrigan while the remaining half focused their efforts on bringing down Belac, while at the same time making sure that the two demons were stationed on two sides of the room, Atrigan on the left and Belac on the right. As it turned out the two demons had a specific attack that forced everyone to stop attacking them for a few moments, though the only good news was that they never did it together, meaning that one of them used the attack and the heroes broke off to do more damage to the other demon, before returning to their original demon once the attack was over. All of the other abilities and techniques the demons used were designed to inflict torment on whoever they were targeting, but when it reached a certain point several of the heroes were sucked into Belac's cage and stayed inside the pocket dimension that he apparently carried around.
Fortunately they were able to escape without being permanently detained, allowing them to return to the fight as they dodged their opponent's attacks to the best of their ability and used their own technique to inflict as much damage as they could muster.
Lyra and Trixie were caged at least once during the fight, forcing them to attack the aberration that was being held inside Belac's cage, which didn't seem to be taking that much damage but also dropped clusters of energy that allowed them to exit the cage and return to the main fight. Lyra was sure that the aberration had been a construct of Belac's, as it allowed something to leave his cage for additional torture, which only fueled her desire to bring the two demons down and make sure that their souls were damned to the Twinblades, like all of the other demons she had slain so far. Killing these two demons and trapping their souls would make the universe a slightly safer place, since there were likely more of them waiting to replace them, but Lyra and Trixie wanted the two of them dead and that was what was going to happen... especially since they were being aided by the other heroes, who wanted to take the demons out for whatever their own reasons were.
Eventually the heroes toppled Atrigan and Belac, allowing their bodies to fall to the ground as Lyra took their souls into the Twinblades, trapping them in their eternal damnation until someone figured out how to shatter the powerful weapons, though at that point she knew that only a Titan might be able to do that. Trixie, on the other hand, approached the pedestal that the demons had been guarding and studied it for a few moments, before pulling out the Hammer of Khaz'goroth and gently placed the Pillar of Creation in the area that it was supposed to go to.
"This hammer forged ancient wonders and shaped the earth itself." Aegwynn's echo said, her voice coming from the walls around them since her echo was still standing where they had first encountered it in the first chamber, "Today it shatters the bonds of fate that seek to crush us all."
With the third Pillar of Creation placed in it's proper spot, and the third of four seals broken at this point, the heroes returned to the main chamber, since there weren't any other paths for them to use in the chamber, and turned towards the path on the right of the entrance. That brought them to another path that had them descend downwards once more, though this time around their enemies were spectral night elves that wanted all intruders dead, indicating that they must have been corrupted by the fel energy in the air. These night elves, being mages, warriors, and hunters at the very least, were definitely powerful and weren't to be underestimated, which was why the group was careful in how they approached each group of specters that they encountered, since all of them wanted the heroes dead... and that also included the pets that followed the dead hunters into battle again.
They even had to be careful of where they stepped, because some of them triggered traps that froze them in place for a few seconds, allowing the specters further down the path to prepare themselves for their group, though even then Lyra, Trixie, and their friends proved to be more than what their foes could handle.
It wasn't long before they reached an area that radiated with power, one that belonged to a creature that they would have to destroy before they moved on, though before they engaged whatever that creature was they started to clear the area of all the spectral night elves that were around them. It was more for their own safety, in case their next foe called upon the soldiers surrounding the area it ruled to join the battle, but everyone was fine with releasing the long dead specters from their curse. Eventually they discovered that the creature they were prepared to fight was actually three cursed night elves, all female oddly enough, that appeared to have enough power for one of them to manifest at any given time, meaning that they likely shared their health with each other and that the battle would change once they switched positions on the heroes.
When the group engaged the trio of spirits two of them immediately faded away as the huntress materialized before them, swinging her weapon at them while she rode on the saber cat that she happened to be riding, though at the same time the group had to be careful considering that the floor had a moon diagram that was constantly changing. As Lyra, Trixie, and the others soon discovered the diagram was following the phases of the actual moon, though the light purple area made them more susceptible to arcane damage while the darker purple did the same for shadow damage. That was a problem for the heroes that were standing in the shadow area, as the Huntress was fond of throwing a shadow infused glaive at whoever was standing in that area, dealing massive damage to whoever she was aiming at. They also had to be careful of the Captain and the Priestess, because even though they were still spirits they had the power to slightly influence the area around them... making the fight that much harder for all of them.
After a minute of fighting Lyra was wishing that she could kill the Captain and the Priestess, as they were annoying, but then the tanks took enough of the Huntress' life force and made her hold on reality shatter, to which the group waited as she faded into her prior spectral form and the Captain took her spot on the battle field.
The Captain readied her bow and fired arrows at whoever she was targeting, though her signature shadow infused arrows also played to the moving diagram that everyone needed to stand on while they were fighting the specters, but they had learned to move to avoid being weighed down with a curse that might spell their doom. The Captain was also a fan of raising her bow into the air and launched volleys of arrows into the air, where they rained down on whoever she was targeting and inflicted shadow damage as well. When the moon diagram was full, either in the arcane or shadow aura, the Captain loosed an incredibly powerful shot at an area where less than six heroes were standing, causing a major surge of shadow damage as the shot exploded on her targets. Lyra and Trixie found their opponent to be annoying, in terms of abilities, but they enjoyed the challenge that the Captain presented, as they had to be mindful of their surroundings before their foe took them out in some manner.
Even with the Captain's powers the group was able to knock her backwards, causing her to break down into her prior spectral form and allowing the Priestess, the third member of the group, to materialize and challenge them to a fight, which was what the group was now prepared for. The Priestess' first action was to burn her foes with arcane power that one of the night elves in their group claimed was lunar energy, like they were actually fighting someone that was channeling the powers of the moon, and Elune for that matter, to fight against them. She also marked certain heroes with a lunar beacon, which caused them to be targeted by a barrage of lunar energy, though at the same time the heroes noticed that she was purposely targeting those that were affected by the arcane part of the diagram. Both Lyra and Trixie agreed that the Priestess might not be as aggressive as the Captain was, since she had to charge her attacks before firing them, but that didn't make them less painful than their prior opponents.
After another minute of suffering through the damage that the Priestess was dealing to them, and the healers made sure that everyone had enough health to survive, the heroes dealt the finishing blow and toppled the trio of spirits, freeing them from the curse that was keeping them bound to this area... and allowing them to access the pathway that would allow all of them to access the area that the Tears of Elune were supposed to be placed.
This time around the group took a few moments to restore their health and mana, since the Sisters of the Moon, as Lyra and Trixie were going to forever know them as, had dealt some serious damage before their eventual defeat, though the moment everyone was ready they continued along the path that was in front of them and left the room with the moon diagram. As they followed the path that was in front of them they discovered that there were more night elf spirits in their way, to which the group assaulted them with the intention of letting them move on from this cursed existence, as well as allowing them to advance towards the alter where the Tears of Elune needed to be placed. Lyra and Trixie discovered that these particular spirits were actually slightly tougher than the ones they had fought earlier, which made sense that the stronger foes would be guarding the alter, but at the same time they made sure that they carefully fought the spirits and didn't pull too many of them at the same time.
As they progressed through the hall Lyra spotted a night elf statue in front of them, no doubt in the likeness of Elune considering where they were, but at the same time the group reached the end of the hallway and walked up the path on their right, where they headed down the ramp in front of them and found the alter room... though that was when the group noticed that their next foe was a bone wraith, a monstrous construct created by fusing the bones of the undead into a single entity.
The group stood there for a moment, where they discovered that there was a secondary enemy lurking in another reality that was tied to this area, to which a few heroes volunteered to head into the spirit realm and deal with the threat before it could hurt anyone. With the two groups determined they charged forward and engaged the Engine, though Lyra didn't bother questioning the terminology her friends were using as she threw her warglaives into the air and let them cut into the strange foe before she caught them and joined the others as she cut into the creature. The Engine, however, targeted whoever it wanted, which was hard to predict because the thing didn't have any eyes or facial features that they might be able to follow, and launched bone shards at it's targets. The Engine also targeted five heroes at random and blew cones of shadow energy at whoever it was targeting, inflicting a decent amount of damage on the unfortunate hero and those that were standing near them at the time... while also leaving trails of shadow damage on the floor that expired after a few moments.
The Engine also had two more effects that the group wasn't expecting, as it summoned dark fissures in the ground that would damage them if they weren't careful, while also calling unfortunate templars and bonewardens back to battle and sent them after the heroes that it was fighting.
It didn't seem like there was anything special about this creature, save for the fact that it's attacks hurt more than the other foes they had fought and it was constantly summoning more enemies for them to fight in an effort to stay alive, but when it reached a certain point the true foe revealed itself. The true monstrosity of skeletal bones emerged from the Engine, wielding a wicked looking axe that was constructed entirely out of bones and was covered in fel energy, where it roared at them and started swinging it's weapon at whoever it wanted to kill first. The Desolate Host, as their enemies called the monstrosity, proved to be much stronger than what they were expecting it to be, to which those that were in the spirit realm quickly killed the elf that controlling that area and joined the others as they finished off the Engine... allowing them to focus their full attention on the Desolate Host.
With their combined might turned against the Desolate Host they were able to heal the damage that it did to them while dealing massive damage it to it return, before they finished off the unfortunate creature and freed every soul that had been forced into creating the creature. As the others took a break Trixie reached into her pack and withdrew the Tears of Elune, were she gently placed it on the alter and let it activate, breaking the ward that Aegwynn had created and allowing them to delve into whatever area held the Avatar.
"These tears of perfect beauty embody the dream of what our world could be." they heard the echo of the Guardian say, though at the same time everyone merely nodded their heads, as they knew that the harder part of their venture into the Tomb was about to begin, "Today they purify your hearts for the battle to come. Now that the Pillars of Creation are in place, return to the Cathedral and I will reveal the ancient secret this temple holds."
Lyra and the others quickly made their way back towards the entrance hall, where they first found the Echo of Aegwynn and learned about the Tomb, though when they arrived they found that Khadgar and the others were now standing in front of where the stairs to the two torturer demons were standing... and a new staircase, one that went into the depths of the earth. It was the path they needed to take to reach the location of the Avatar, where Kil'jaeden was heading, to which the heroes quickly prepared themselves, as this next fight was going to be even tougher than anything they had fought since they entered the Tomb... and there was a very real chance that they might die in the near future.
Lyra, Trixie, and the heroes carefully made their way down the circular staircase that was in front of them, though they had to do so carefully since there were golden yellow holy spheres and eerie green fel spheres, all about the size of a normal person's chest, moving on the stairs at random intervals. As such they had to take the stairs in an orderly fashion, to avoid all of them setting off the two energies that were around them, as there was no way of telling whether or not they would explode if someone touched them. It was an annoyance, since Kil'jaeden was ahead of them, no doubt trying to awaken the Avatar of Sargeras at that very moment, but the group silently suffered through it as they carefully made their way through the large number of spheres that were in front of them. After everything they had seen in the Tomb, and all the creatures that Kil'jaeden had brought to stop them, Lyra was itching to fight the Deceiver and kill him at last, especially since Trixie and the others had toppled Archimonde, the Defiler, some time ago.
At the bottom of the stairs, when they finally got away from the two types of spheres, the group came to a landing that revealed what their next foe was, which was when Lyra got her first glance of a Titan construct, the intricate human like statues that actually moved with a will of their own and acted on the Titan's orders. The only difference between this Maiden and the ones that Trixie had told her about, as she had fought a few of them in the past, was that this one happened to be half corrupted by the fel energies that were leaking from the Avatar. The left side of it's body was tainted by the fel energy and had fel spikes growing out of her arm and leg, indicating the level of it's corruption, but since it's right side was still pure it appeared that their foe was going to wield both holy energy and fel energy against them, which meant that they could be in trouble with this opponent. Holy energy and Fel energy were volatile and didn't like each other, though if they got really close together they exploded, or at least that's what Trixie had told Lyra the first time she asked about it... and she guessed that this was an opportunity to see if she was correct.
As they entered the circular area in front of them, and found a large hole in the middle of the chamber that no one wanted to fall into, the heroes engaged the globs of fel energy that had been given life and destroyed them, as well as the corrupt watchers on the right and left sides of the room, allowing them to fight the Maiden without having to worry about additional reinforcements that might end this fight early. Once the three groups of enemies had been taken care of, and they all paused for a moment to be sure that more didn't show up, the tanks charged forward and slammed into the Maiden, while everyone else started using their abilities as the melee damage dealers joined them.
"What lies below is not for mortal eyes!" the Maiden cried out, indicating that below them rested the Avatar of Sargeras, the very thing that Lyra wanted to destroy the moment she heard about it, but at the same time the Maiden raised her holy-fel infused hammer at the tanks and started the battle.
The very first thing that the Maiden did, after swinging her hammer a few times, was target three heroes and inflict her own mark on them, causing them to grow to twice their normal height, to which the afflicted heroes stood their ground for a few moments before throwing themselves into the open pit. Lyra started to think they were insane, but the force of the detonation that they suffered was enough to, somehow, propel the three of them back onto the walkway, allowing them to rejoin the fight without delay. It then became apparent that the Maiden loved marking her targets, in some form or another since every time she hit someone hard enough they were marked for a moment, and forcing themselves to jump into the pit, as if she was trying to kill them by forcing them to kill themselves. Lyra guessed that the fel energy had corrupted the Maiden to some extend, because she could easily classify the construct as a demon based on how she acted, but at the same time she focused her attention on bringing the Maiden down before someone actually got killed in this fight.
A few moments later the Maiden cast a spell that infused all of them with energy, though half of them were infused with a small amount of fel energy and the other half was infused with a small amount of holy energy, before she teleported to the other side of the chamber, forcing them to run down the two side of the room to reach her. What they quickly did was sent the fel infused heroes down the side of the room so they could approach the fel side of the Maiden, leaving the holy infused heroes to do the same with the Maiden's holy side. All of them had to be careful, as their foe also sent out waves of fel and holy spheres, because if a fel infused hero touched a holy sphere or if a holy infused hero touched a fel sphere they would be marked with the same mark that the Maiden loved to use. At the same time if an infused hero took their own type of sphere into their body their strength would increase and allowed them to shatter the shield that the Maiden put up around her.
Lyra, however, was one of the unlucky heroes, as she had been infused with holy energy and it tormented her body as she moved around, once more revealing how holy energy and fel energy hated each other, as she could feel the holy energy tearing into the fel that already called her body home. Grabbing a holy sphere only increased the pain she was feeling as it increased her power, which caused her to stay away from both types of spheres in the process since taking a fel sphere would only cause a detonation and the holy ones increased her suffering. Trixie, on the other hand, was lucky that the holy energy didn't conflict with her arcane powers, allowing her to increase her damage without harm at all, while Lyra moaned as she worked. The other thing that the girls knew was that, as Equestrians, being infused with a small percentage of power was a double-edged sword, meaning that while they gained some of the same effects that their friends did they also gained a slight understanding of the holy energy... though Lyra worried that being able to do that might make her a target to forces that sought to purify the universe of the fel power, which she needed for the war with the Burning Legion.
When the holy energy finally faded, and she returned to normal, Lyra resumed fighting will all of her heart, while at the same time praying that when such a thing happened again, as she knew it was bound to happen again during this fight, that she get infused with more fel energy, if only so she wasn't in pain for some time.
For some time the Maiden continued her previous actions, targeting those that she desired with her power and marked them so they would jump into the pit and amuse her, while also inflicting marks at will with her hammer and other attacks. It wasn't long before she started the infusion process again and teleported back to the side of the chamber that she had started on, though unfortunately for Lyra she was, once more, infused with holy energy and had to suffer through the side that she and Trixie ran down. For a moment, while she was dodging holy spheres, Lyra could have sworn that the ends of her demon hunter tattoos turned golden yellow for a moment, though as she turned her full attention to them the change disappeared, as if it had never happened in the first place. Out of curiosity she also pulled out her Dark Magic for a few moments, only to find that the effects of the infusion prevented her from accessing another portion of her power, forcing her to rely on her strength and fel abilities.
The Maiden was able to do the infusion process twice more, where Lyra constantly mentally cursed the construct with the fact that she was constantly being picked for a holy infusion, before the group of heroes toppled the Maiden and sent her crashing against the floor... though at the same time they heard the sound of an platform rising, to which they healed themselves and rested as they waited for something to arrive.
"Lyra, are you okay?" Trixie asked, because she had seen how Lyra had gotten when the holy energy was infused into her body, though even with the fact that it was supposed to dispel she could tell that even a paladin's or priest's healing spells hurt her as well, which was why a druid was tending to her at that moment.
"No... that thing was painful to fight against," Lyra replied, as while the Maiden actually never touched her the infusion process did more damage than their could have ever done, before she stood up the moment the druid was done, "It... it felt like the holy and fel energies were going to rip me apart... so I'm thankful that we only had those abilities for a few seconds, otherwise the Maiden could have killed me."
Trixie understood that Lyra was trying to avoid dying, and she had done a good job so far since she took the fel energy into her body, but she knew that if such a thing were to happen the Legion would gladly take her soul and turn her into a true monster, one that would likely be stronger than Archimonde and Kil'jaeden. It would be the end of both Azeroth and Equus, since Lyra would know where to go to find their home planet, though she really hoped that there was a way for them to extract the fel energy and nullify that, since she didn't want to lose Lyra in such a manner. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted when the lift they were waiting for arrived in the middle of the chamber, to which all of the heroes climbed onto it and let it start it's descent into the depths of the earth, where the Avatar was waiting for their arrival. It wasn't long before they reached the bottom of the shaft that the lift had to travel through, though when it came to a stop the heroes marched forward and ascended the stairs... before they entered the chamber that contained the one thing that no one wanted to see the Legion get their hands on.
Resting in the middle of the chamber was a large creature, or suit of armor since that was what the Avatar really was, that was imposing and looked very dead, though as Lyra looked at it's gray colored skin she realized that the Avatar's horns and wings, which were actually pinned to the wall behind it, resembled Sargeras' horns and wings, which she saw in her vision of the Dark Titan. At the moment two beams of pure energy seemed to be holding the dead Avatar in one position, but Lyra and the others knew that an infusion of fel energy would awaken the Avatar from it's slumber, which would be hard to prevent considering who was standing near it. Lyra stared at the large red skinned eredar, who she recognized from his projection appearing near the Fel Hammer as he told her and the Illidari to join them, which she promptly rejected before declaring war on him. She, and all of the other heroes, knew the demon by many names, but there was one that everyone called him; Kil'jaeden.
"Damnable mortals!" Kil'jaeden stated, turning from the Avatar so he could properly stare at all of them, taking in the force that was arrayed against him and the power they commanded, as well as pausing to look at Lyra once, meaning that he remembered his promise to her, "You scurry through this tomb like vermin, dispatching my underlings and imagining yourselves the equals of the Legion. Heroes... champions... fools! The husk before you was once a vessel for the might of Sargeras. But this temple itself is our prize. The means by which we will reduce your world to cinders! Still... I will not deprive you of this chance to fall before an ancient wonder. Let this avatar be the end of you!"
It was in that couple of seconds that Lyra noticed the fel energy that was resting in Kil'jaeden's right hand, what they had apparently stopped him from using, though before anyone could do anything he turned around and fired a beam of fel energy into the Avatar's chest, before disappearing completely. The Avatar, waking after a long time of being asleep, noticed that the group was standing in front of where it was resting and roared as it became alive in front of their eyes, where it shattered the bonds that were keeping it's arms bound and picked up a massive weapon, which had to be what it used before Aegwynn defeated it. As the Avatar picked up it's weapon, however, Lyra and the others spread out around the part of the chamber they had access to and started throwing everything they had at the Avatar, since fighting even a small fragment of Sargeras' soul was going to be extremely difficult.
As the Avatar swung it's massive sword at the group, it, like all of the other boss level creatures they had fought in the Tomb, marked three heroes with it's own mark and caused them to separate from the heroes that were around them, though after three seconds the areas they previously had been standing on suffered small explosions before they were allowed to stop moving again. After that the Avatar waited a few more seconds before lifting it's hands into the air and unleashed a bolt of dark energy at a few members of the group, which knocked them back a tiny bit, forcing the healers to mend their wounds before they joined the battle once more. The Avatar then followed that up by gathering the fel energy in the air into it's body for a few moments, to which Lyra called for everyone to retreat from their opponent, before it unleashed a wave of fel energy that mostly devastated the area in front of it, though those that were away from the Avatar also suffered a lighter amount of damage before they rushed into battle. As everyone scrambled back into their previous positions the Avatar summoned three shadowy blades that targeted three of the heroes, forcing those three to move to an area where no one else would be hit and took the damage that the blades caused... to which the healers healed them before they jumped back into the battle.
While all of this was happening Lyra noticed that, as the Avatar used it's fel abilities the fel energy inside it seemed to awaken the more it used it's powers, meaning if they didn't destroy the Avatar quickly it would regain it's former power and be a real threat to them and the rest of Azeroth... and whatever world Sargeras sent it to after this one, if all of them were defeated anyway.
From there it was a game of repetition, as the Avatar was constantly targeting some of them with it's unique mark while hurling shadowy blades and bolts of dark energy at whoever it wanted to kill, where some of the heroes were taking quite a bit of damage in the process. Lyra knew that it was because they were fighting a fragment of Sargeras' soul, a piece of the Dark Titan himself, and there was no telling how much of his power was actually bound inside the suit of armor that became known as the Avatar of Sargeras. The problem was the increasing fel energy that was inside the Avatar, as she was sure that something terrible was going to happen, but she kept an eye on it while she and the others fought the Avatar, trying to destroy it before it's full power could be awoken. That was, however, before the Avatar raised it's hands into the air and slammed both of them into the ground in front of it, where the fel energy cracked the floor that they were standing on, before everyone was thrown into the air as the floor shattered and revealed a large hole, with fel liquid around the bottom, waiting for them... and a platform for them to walk on while they finished off their foe, which was now standing at it's full height as it stared down at them.
As the Avatar moved towards the tanks, that were moving it towards a different area of the platform, Lyra and Trixie noticed Kil'jaeden standing beside a portal, though the group focused on their real foe, while they heard the sound of someone familiar entering the area.
"Deceiver!" Velen shouted, to which he, Khadgar, and Illidan descended into the area that the group was fighting in, by magic anyway, though as they drew closer Illidan dropped down near the portal and started dueling with their foe, "We have come to end your invasion of Azeroth! Your master's crusade dies here!"
"Is there no end to your sanctimonious bluster, Velen?" Kil'jaeden demanded, to which he stared up at the person that, according to the stories that Lyra had heard, had once been his friend, before both he and Archimonde had joined Sargeras and his Burning Legion, "You claim the mantle of prophet, yet you always lacked the vision to see the inevitable destiny of our world... of all worlds."
Lyra paid no attention to Kil'jaeden and Velen, as they would deal with them soon enough while the duo argued between themselves, though that was when the Avatar sucked in more fel energy and shattered the ground around it, allowing it to sink into the fel liquid for a moment while the heroes gathered near it and continued to pull it around the area that they were fighting on. Other than that particular attack having a different effect on the area around it, with the shattering ground around them, there was literally nothing different from when they were fighting it on the upper area, much to Lyra's disappointment since she could tell that the Avatar's power was fully awoken. This was the Avatar of Sargeras, the Dark Titan, and yet it's power was absolutely nothing special, though that only made her realize that, after utterly obliterating Xavius in such a manner, she was expecting all her enemies to be ridicously overpowered and required her to do the same... but she guessed that they were fortunate that Kil'jaeden wouldn't be taking this back to his master, otherwise it would be impossible to kill.
A few minutes passed, and some more of the ground around them shattered, before Lyra and the other heroes toppled the Avatar and caused it to fall backwards into the fel liquid behind it, to which they crossed over to where Kil'jaeden was standing and confronted him with Illidan and the others.
"Still you fight us! Still you deny the inevitable!" kil'jaeden stated, though his attention was focused on Velen and no one else, who was standing his ground at the moment and stared up into the Deceiver's eyes, "Your incessant resistance is maddening! Why will you not yield?"
"Have your countless defeats taught you nothing, Deceiver?" Illidan asked, as he was referring to all the times that Kil'jaeden had been bested over the years, something that he had quickly learned about after being revived thanks to Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes.
"The vision Sargeras showed you was a lie, Kil'jaeden." Velen simply said, tapping his staff against the ground that everyone was standing on, while keeping his eyes on the person that had caused him so much pain and suffering since he fled from Argus, "Surrender! Let it end!"
"Never! Our crusade will never yield!" Kil'jaeden shouted, revealing that the many years of pumping his body with the fel energy made it impossible for him to leave behind the power that he had been given, "Savor your shallow victory. We will return again and again, however long it takes, until at last we break you!"
With that said Kil'jaeden turned towards the portal that was resting to his left and charged into it before anyone could stop him, though that was followed by the portal phasing for a moment, which meant that it might be getting ready to close, before they could finish off their foe.
"The portal is closing!" Khadgar said, though there was a hint of joy in his voice, indicating that he was overjoyed that they had bested the Avatar of Sargeras and had sent kil'jaeden running with his tail between his legs, "We can seal the Legion's gateway and end this invasion."
"No!" Velen stated, tapping his staff against the ground once more, though this time Lyra noticed a look of what she assumed was determination appear on the Prophet's face as he stared at the portal in front of them, "No more running! No more hiding! I must finish this!"
It was in that moment that Velen, apparently no longer caring for his own safety and was more focused on the terrible creature his old friend had become, turned towards the portal and followed Kil'jaeden into the magical construct, leaving the group standing there in shock.
"Velen is right, Khadgar." Illidan commented, to which he stepped towards the portal with a smile on his face, though at the same time Lyra and the other heroes stood behind him as they faced what was resting in front of them, "Sealing the portal buys us nothing. Whether it takes a few years or millennia, the Legion will return. Over and over again, until too few of us remain to fight them. It is time to seize our fate. We must use the portal and follow the Deceiver into the abyss. It is the only way!"
Khadgar stood there for a moment, staring at all of the heroes that were going to follow Kil'jaeden, Illidan, and Velen into the portal, though at the same time he locked eyes with Trixie, knowing that his apprentice was thinking the same thing at the moment... before he nodded his head towards the assembled group and joined them.
"Illidan... you're right, this is the only way." Khadgar said, though at the same time he gripped his staff harder than Trixie had ever seen him do in the years that she had known him, while he locked his eyes on the portal that they were all standing in front of, "We have precious little time to save Velen and return before the portal closes... though something tells me that you have a contingency plan, just in case that happens."
"Come." Illidan commanded, flaring his wings for a moment as he smirked, while at the same time turning his full attention to the portal once again, to which the heroes did the same thing, "If we are to die in the Nether, we will take the Deceiver with us!"
Lyra and Trixie smiled as they followed Illidan, Khadgar, and the other heroes into the portal, knowing that the time had come for all of them to finally finish off Kil'jaeden and put a stop to all of his plans... and then, when they returned to Azeroth, they could consider how to stop Sargeras, once and for all.
The moment Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes stepped through the other side of the portal, and found where Velen had been taken to, they stopped the instant they realized where they were, as none of them were actually expecting to find themselves where they were. All around them rested a large number of stars that were resting in a seemingly dark area, as if they were traveling through space itself, but at the same time Trixie and some of the other heroes realized that they were in the Twisting Nether. Lyra had seen this, back during the invasion of Mardum and had seen the Twisting Nether from the top of the Black Temple, but at the same time she knew that Kil'jaeden had to be around here somewhere, before she noticed that all of them were standing on a walkway of a large Legion ship. They were on the exterior of Kil'jaeden's warship, where his soldiers were waiting for combat, though at the same time she noticed some demons waiting in the distance, clearly prepared to deal with any invaders.
"You hunted your own people, chasing us across the stars." they heard Velen shout, though that was when they discovered that he actually wasn't near them and was likely standing near the Deceiver himself, but the anger in his voice was unmistakable, "Never again!"
"It was you who lacked vision!" Kil'jaeden called out in return, though at the same time the group readied themselves, as they were waiting for the conversation to be over before they started attacking the demons in front of them, "Who refused to see the truth of the Legion's inevitable victory!"
"You lost faith in the Light!" Velen declared, calling attention to the fact that Kil'jaeden and Archimonde had turned their backs on what they had believed in, before the Dark Titan came to Argus and corrupted two of them, "Together, we could have resisted Sargeras and saved our world!"
"Did the Light save your son?" Kil'jaeden inquired, to which Lyra and Trixie growled, as they remembered who had attacked the Exodar earlier, when they were seeking Velen's help, and who their attacker actually was, "Was it faith that shone in Rakeesh's eyes as they closed for the final time? Or was it hatred for the father who abandoned him?"
"GRRAAAHHHHH!" Velen screamed in pure anger, as he also recalled that Rakeesh had actually been the son he thought to be long dead and had watched his son die in his arms, causing him a great deal of pain in the process, which had been another part of Kil'jaeden's plan.
"And now your impotent fury has drawn your allies to their doom!" Kil'jaeden declared, though this time around he laughed, as if he actually thought that his soldiers would be able to topple the heroes, who growled as they readied themselves for battle, "Watch as my infinite army slaughters them all!"
"No! You will not divide us, Deceiver." Velen replied, though the group could still hear the anger in his voice, but at the same time they knew that they would fight together, against their foe, "I will fight by their side, and they by mine. Together, we will end your crusade!"
The moment Kil'jaeden said that, and the conversation stopped, Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes charged forward and attacked the felguards and eredar that were in front of them, while at the same time Lyra noticed a larger and more bulky eredar resting at the base of the path they needed to reach. Since these were Kil'jaeden's personal troops they all expected them to be tougher to fight, and to all of their surprise the demons were actually tougher than what they had fought inside the Tomb, but at the same time none of the heroes died in the process. Lyra was happy to remove these demons from existence, as there would be no way for Kil'jaeden to summon reinforcements once they reached him, but at the same time she kept her mind on their target, since they needed Kil'jaeden to die to ensure the safety of Azeroth, before they started planning how they would stop Sargeras.
She still had no idea how they were going to stop the Dark Titan, not when his true form was the size of two Azeroths, but she was sure that they would come up with something, once Kil'jaeden was no longer a threat to the universe and to the rest of the Draenei.
The instant they finished off the last of the soldiers that had been in front of them, and made sure that no more demons were coming to face them, the group climbed up the ramps that would take them to the back section of the Legion ship and found Velen standing near where Kil'jaeden was waiting. When the group arrived, however, Velen turned towards them and stated that he, along with Khadgar and Illidan, would focus their efforts on defending the area from additional demons that Kil'jaeden was bound to call into battle. Lyra would have thought that Velen would have liked to fight Kil'jaeden and get his revenge in his own way, but if that was how he wanted things to go she wasn't going to complain, since she had been waiting for this since she turned down the Deceiver's offer all those weeks ago. Illidan smiled as he and Khadgar took up their defensive positions, indicating that Velen's plan was a good one, though at the same time the heroes stood ready, as they all knew that this was going to be a tough fight... if the battle with Archimonde was anything to go by anyway.
"It is a simple matter to show courage against my minions." Kil'jaeden stated, though at the same time he raised a hand and beckoned the heroes forward, as he was eager to tear them all apart and doom Azeroth at the same time, which they were going to prevent, "Can you face the shadows within your own souls as bravely?"
"Each of us has overcome our weakness, just to reach this point." Lyra stated, to which a familiar shadowy mist started to pour out of her eyes, something that the other heroes recognized from the time when she fought and utterly obliterated Xavius, "And we have overcome a number of hurdles to make sure Azeroth is safe from the likes of you and the demons that you command... so prepare yourself, Kil'jaeden, because today is the day that you DIE!"
The tanks decided that Lyra's declaration that today was the day that Kil'jaeden was going to die was the call to battle that they had been waiting for, because the moment she stopped talking the tanks and melee damage dealers charged forward as they engaged the Deceiver, who used his fists and claws to fight all of them. That was followed by Kil'jaeden launching one of his strong attacks, as he started calling fel meteors into the section of the deck that they were standing on, though the heroes knew that allowing the meteors to hit the deck was a bad thing. As such some of them purposely sacrificed a portion of their own life and allowed themselves to take the meteors that were coming their way, inflicting some fel fire damage to them in the process. Lyra knew that Kil'jaeden was playing with them, since he was one of the strongest demons in Sargeras' army, but she and the others were going to watch out for his true power, as this was nothing like what they were expecting it to be.
While all of this happened Kil'jaeden also called his fel powers into his hands and his claws were sharpened more than they had been seconds ago, indicating that he was going to try and claw his foes to death while channeling his energy through his hands... though the group kept an eye on what he was doing before something else happened.
A minute or two passed, where Kil'jaeden fought them on the deck with his claws and called meteors down on all of them, before the Deceiver spread his wings and took to the skies, which involved him flying to the edge of the ship and started throwing more meteors down at all of them, intending to wipe them all out in the process. At the same time Kil'jaeden targeted several heroes and inflicted what could have been his own mark, as the afflicted heroes separated themselves from the others as a fiery explosion happened around them, which the healers patched up before they continued the fight. Kil'jaeden also flew around the area that the heroes were fighting in and repeated the last few attacks several times as he focused on them, including using his power to focus the fiery explosion on a single target that required other heroes to stand near his target so they could all share the damage, least he actually kill one of them in the process, though he was pleased with the damage he was inflicting at the moment.
Eventually Kil'jaeden grew tired of flying around the area and descended back to the middle of the deck that they were fighting in, though as he started fighting them again he incorporated the new abilities, the flame targeting ones, against the heroes as he also used the older abilities he showed off at the beginning of the fight. As he rejoined the battle he also used another ability that caused three heroes to enlarge for a few seconds before they suffered a powerful blast of fire damage, which would have hit those around them if the heroes hadn't moved out of the way. Kil'jaeden also inflicted three of them with a second type of soul mark that also made them enlarge, though this time around the heroes stacked on top of their foe and allowed the marks to summon a trio of strange reflections that targeted everyone with their spell power. Lyra realized that the more experienced heroes sensed what type of mark their opponent had inflicted upon them and put the reflections on top of where Kil'jaeden was standing, allowing them to deal with the reflections at the same time as they damaged their opponent.
It looked like they were doing a good job at hacking away at Kil'jaeden's life and his defenses, though at the same time Lyra knew there there had to be more to the fight, otherwise he wouldn't have become the terrifying Deceiver that so many people across the universe feared... and, not a few seconds after she completed that thought, Kil'jaeden stopped attacking them and simply stared at the group.
"What is this? Even when your own doubts and fears are made manifest, you will not yield?" Kil'jaeden asked, though at the same time he started charging a spell that seemed to be made out of shadow energy, to which the group gathered together and prepared themselves for what was coming next, "Fall to darkness!"
The instant Kil'jaeden said that the entire area around them was shrouded in pure darkness, limiting the amount of things that Lyra, Trixie, and the others could see at a given moment, though at the same time Lyra saw a shadowy creature firing bursts of energy out into the area around it. Of course before they could do anything the creature disappeared entirely, though Lyra found that her exposure to Dark Magic, along with the fel energy that burned in her body, allowed her to pierce the veil on her own, allowing her to track her targets.
"Find me, champions, and I will grant you sight!" Illidan called out, noticing what Kil'jaeden had done and had moved into the area to aid the heroes, where Lyra noticed that while stepping into the area near Illidan gave the other heroes sight, for some time, it also harmed them in the process.
Lyra nodded her understanding and started targeting the shadowy creatures that were trying to kill the group, as it appeared that they were the key to ending this part of the fight, something that the other heroes understood the moment they spotted her attacking the creatures. Between the damage the shadowy creatures were doing, and the power of the fel energy that was radiating from Illidan, the healers were kept busy trying to mend all the damage that was being inflicted on all of them. The death knights targeted the shadowy creatures that Lyra wasn't targeting and pulled them to where the others were standing, allowing them to inflict massive damage on their foes, while Lyra cut down everything that was in front of her with all of her might. Trixie helped out and used her magic to break the shadowy creatures that the other heroes were bringing towards them, while at the same time they kept their eyes open for Kil'jaeden, since this was the perfect time for their opponent to attack them.
Oddly enough Kil'jaeden never attacked them while they were trapped in the shadows, though the moment they finished off the last of the shadowy creatures, and the veil faded so they could see the area around them again, the group found Kil'jaeden floating in the air... though that was followed by him completing whatever spell he had been channeling while they were busy in the darkness.
"Somehow you survived!" Kil'jaeden said, sounding surprised for a moment, as if he actually expected the veil to kill some of them, before the air around the warship returned to normal and he beckoned to something that was off in the distance, "No matter. Look upon our wonders, you mortals, and despair! Behold the world that shall be your tomb!"
Lyra, Trixie, and the others took a moment to glance in the direction that Kil'jaeden was pointing in, where he actually didn't attack them so they could witness despair, before they found Argus resting nearby, indicating that they had traveled the vastness of space and were now resting above the Legion's prize.
"Argus!" Velen said, his voice pained at the sight of the world that had been his home before Sargeras' corruption of his friends had forced him, and the other Draenei, to flee before being tortured by the soon to be eredar, "My beloved homeworld... what have they done to you?"
Kil'jaeden grinned as his spell went into affect, as he started raining deadly bolts of shadow energy from the sky above the warship, while at the same time he started tearing small rifts into the fabric of reality, which started sucking up the heroes that got too close to them. The odd thing was that the heroes that were near the rifts weren't targeted by the deadly shadow bolts, as the bolts were actually sucked up into the rift, making Lyra wonder why Kil'jaeden thought it was a good idea to use the two attacks at the same time. Kil'jaeden also created demonic crystals, about the size of a person, that floated around the deck they were fighting on and, after a few seconds of staying in one spot, they loosed a surge of fel energy that hurt whoever was in line with the crystal, before it shattered and fell apart. After that point he started repeating the attacks that he had used before creating the veil and added his newest abilities to the mix, inflicting massive damage that actually hurt a good majority of the heroes in the process and annoyed many of them at the same time.
Trixie growled for a moment before she opened herself to her full power and called a small barrier into existence around her, though once it was ready she stashed her staff inside her bag and brought her hands together near the right side of her body, where she started gathering her power together. As she did that Lyra, who was more attuned to the magic of their homeworld, noticed what she was doing and made sure that her own energy prevented Kil'jaeden from noticing what was going on at the moment. As she did strands of lightning, or what she assumed was lightning, branched off of her sphere and she finally lowered the barrier, allowing Kil'jaeden to stop what he was doing as he realized what was going on... and Lyra, on the other hand, used her own fel and shadow energy combination to tear the Deceiver's defenses apart, preventing them from interfering with what was coming.
The moment she was ready, and the other heroes were out of the way, Trixie braced herself and released the energy she had been gathering, to which a surge of azure colored energy raced forward and slammed into Kil'jaeden's chest, while also surging passed him as his own attacks were cancelled out... though a few moments later, when her attack was over, they noticed that the Deceiver's body was smoking from the intensity of the attack, before he fell to his knees.
"Our fates are now one." Kil'jaeden said, his tone having lost his confident edge and now revealed that he was taking on the defeated tone that came when someone admitted defeat, though at the same time the ship shook for a few seconds as he looked off into the distance, "Argus will be your tomb."
That was when the heroes, Velen, Khadgar, and Illidan noticed that the command ship was beginning a rapid descent towards Argus' surface, where the armies of the Burning Legion would be waiting for them the moment they crashed into the fel infested ground beneath them.
"At least we will have died fighting." Khadgar stated, knowing that by taking out Kil'jaeden, and sealing the Tomb of Sargeras, that it would be some time before someone else opened the way for the Legion to attack Azeroth again, while at the same time the heroes prepared themselves for the landing that was approaching them.
"Our war isn't over yet." Illidan said, though that was when he reached into the small bag that he had been carrying the entire time and pulled out something that Lyra wasn't expecting to see again, the Sargerite Keystone, "Not while we hold the key to ALL worlds."
Lyra watched as Illidan charged the Sargerite Keystone for a few seconds before he sent it floating into the Twisting Nether, where the powerful artifact sparked for a few moments before the space around it warped and exploded in a bright light, to which the group watched the Keystone tear a hole in reality... creating an immense rift that allowed them to see Azeroth on the other side.
"Khadgar!" Illidan said, though there was a sense of urgency in his voice, especially since there was no telling how long it would take before they crashed into Argus' surface, "Take us home!"
As Khadgar started to channel a massive teleportation spell, since he had to get the three of them and the entire group of heroes caught in the spell, Lyra and Trixie watched as Velen approached Kil'jaeden, looking down at his former friend as he stopped in front of him.
"I... was always... envious of you." Kil'jaeden said, staring up at Velen for a moment, knowing that he was likely going to die, regardless of what happened next, though at the same time he continued talking to Velen, "Your gift. Your faith. Your vision. I never believed... that Sargeras could be stopped. Perhaps... you will prove me wrong."
"Everyone! Get ready!" Khadgar called out, to which the heroes braced themselves, as this was going to be an interesting experience for all of them, though at the same time the two Equestrians stared at Velen as they waited to see what happened next.
They watched as Velen silently raised a hand and rested it on Kil'jaeden's forehead for a few seconds, where it appeared that a look of relief appeared on the Deceiver's face for a moment, before Khadgar's spell activated and took both him and the rest of the group back to Azeroth. The last thing that Lyra and Trixie saw, before they left the command ship behind, was the fel scars on Kil'jaeden's face enlarging as a bright light began to emit from his body, though Lyra grinned as she realized that the Deceiver had met his end. That was followed by them disappearing from the space above Argus as Kil'jaeden detonated, though the next thing they knew they, and the rest of the heroes, were standing in one of the ruins of Azsuna.
"Is everyone alright?" Khadgar asked, though at the same time he huffed for a few seconds as he turned towards the rest of the group, as using a teleport spell of that level, without any assistance, was exhausting and he would definitely need a break before they did something else.
That was immediately followed by an ominous rumble that sounded like thunder, one that caught the attention of Velen, Illidan, and the rest of the heroes as they looked towards the area the sound came from, to which Khadgar followed their gaze as his expression turned to complete horror. The rift that had been created by the Keystone remained where it had been opened, leaving behind an immense gateway between Azeroth and Argus, effectively linking this world to the Legion's world and nullified their attempts at closing the Tomb of Sargeras. Khadgar, shocked and horrified by this turn of events, turned towards Illidan, whose gaze was locked on the planet that was now hanging in the air above Azeroth, which Lyra and the others were looking at as well.
"What have you done?!" Khadgar demanded, as he couldn't believe that all of their efforts to seal the Tomb of Sargeras, and save Azeroth in the process, had been for nothing thanks to the massive gateway that now connected the two worlds together.
"Sometimes the hand of fate... must be forced." Illidan replied, though at the same time he smiled as he looked up into the sky, as if he knew something that no one else knew and didn't look like he was about to share that information until he was ready to do so.
Lyra and Trixie, however, knew that Illidan meant that it was time for them to do the invading, instead of them being the ones invaded by the Legion, and for them to strike a crippling blow against Sargeras... though they knew that the next few days promised to be some of the most exciting and terrifying they have ever experienced, and Lyra was looking forward to all of it.
Lyra, Trixie, and the heroes remained standing in the ruins that they had found themselves in, where all of them were staring up at Argus as they thought about what they had all gone through to make sure that the Tomb of Sargeras was sealed. Some of them considered Illidan's move to use the Sargerite Keystone to be wrong, as now the Dark Titan could literally come down from his throne and visit them directly, though his time there would be no way to seal the gaping gateway that rested between worlds. At the same time a few of the heroes knew that Illidan's heart was in the right place, as sooner or later they would have found the way to invade Argus without the Keystone, though now they had the best option to deal with the true master of the Burning Legion. The problem that everyone noticed, however, was that the only way for them to get to Argus, at this moment anyway, was the use of the Fel Hammer and only a select number of heroes were openly willing to use a Legion ship to get to Argus.
Lyra and Trixie let the heroes talk about what to do about this development, since there wasn't much for them to say the moment the Fel Hammer had been crossed off the list, to which they simply stared up at Argus... where Lyra recalled the fact that the Army of the Light was supposed to up there, fighting the Legion, and that Sargeras would soon come to claim his prize if they didn't act quickly.
"Velen, surely you have something to add to the conversation?" Khadgar asked, causing the heroes to stop talking, as they knew that the Prophet of the Draenei, who had fled from Argus when his most trusted friends joined with Sargeras and became the Eredar that they all knew, had something to say as he stared up at his homeworld.
"I always knew I would see Argus again. Our homecoming appeared time and again in my visions." Velen stated, though at the same time he definitely sounded sad, revealing that he had hoped to see Argus in a different way when it came time for him and his people to see their homeworld again, "But I never imagined this. There can be no doubt that the fates of my world and yours are intertwined. Can Argus be saved, or must it be sacrificed to stop Sargeras? My visions are clouded, uncertain. It seems we must forge our own destiny... which is why I'm glad that I have the solution to the problem you have been talking about."
"Really?" Trixie inquired, because if Velen was referring to the Exodar she was going to say that something was wrong with him, since she heard that the Draenei capital, which had been the ship they used to reach Azeroth in the first place, had been crippled years ago, "What's the solution?"
"A new dimensional ship, the Vindicaar," Velen replied, causing the few Draenei that were present to listen carefully, as they knew a little more about what the Prophet was talking about than the other heroes, "Since the attack on the Exodar, where Rakeesh and Oros were slain, I had Grand Artificer Romuul begin preparations on a new vessel, one that would allow us to travel back to Argus and wage war on the Legion. Fortunately it was completed before the attack on the Tomb of Sargeras, meaning that we have a way to travel through the space between worlds and met up with the Army of the Light, so that we can begin our final war with the Legion."
"Wait, you mean to tell me that you completed a new ship within a month's time?" Lyra asked, as that was what it appeared that Velen was saying, though in reality she had no idea if she was right or if she was wrong, since she wasn't experienced in this sort of thing.
"We've had many years to gather the necessary components to build a new ship," Velen explained, as he and the rest of the Draenei had been busy gathering the various pieces needed to repair the Exodar, though when it was determined that restoring it was impossible he switched them to building a new ship in secret, waiting for a day like this to reveal itself so he could take the fight to Argus, "Khadgar, Illidan, heroes, I suggest that you all prepare yourselves accordingly and bring some troops with you, because tomorrow morning we're going to launch the Vindicaar and take the fight to Argus... and finally bring an end to the Legion."
With that said Velen pulled out a crystal and focused on it for a moment, to which he and the other Draenei vanished from where they were standing, to which Khadgar sighed and opened his magic once more, only this time Trixie stood beside him and aided him in teleporting the rest of the heroes back to Dalaran. When they arrived Lyra noticed that the people of the city were looking up at the sky with a look of fear in their eyes, meaning that the appearance of Argus in the sky was terrifying to them, since many would consider it the end times. She couldn't blame them for being terrified, because if she had been on Equus, without the power she possessed, and saw a planet like Argus suddenly appear in the sky, she would have been terrified as well... now, however, she felt the desire to save these people reawaken as Illidan headed towards the Fel Hammer's portal, intending to bring the strongest demon hunters with him. Khadgar, Trixie, and the others spread out and returned to their various Order Halls, as they needed time to gather their allies and resources before they left for Azuremyst Isle, where the Exodar was resting.
In the end Lyra followed after Lord Illidan and traveled back to the Fel Hammer, where she happily watched the Illidari prepare themselves for the invasion of Argus, as some of them would be coming along for a ride in the Vindicaar while the others remained here, where they intended to use the warp systems in this ship to attack the Legion as well. At the same time she noticed a grin appear on Illidan's face, meaning that the plan he had constructed all those years ago, back when he determined that the Illidari were necessary for the Legion's downfall, was a reality and he was happy to finally put it into action at last. While that happened she moved down to where the forge was located and simply used the souls she had gathered since the last time she was here to empower her weapon some more, though since that didn't take very long she headed up to where Light's Heart was resting and stood beside it... knowing that, when they came into contact with the Army of the Light, she and the others would return Xe'ra's core to their allies.
She was sure that Xe'ra would be happy to reunite with her companions, though at the same time she was sure that there was something about the Naaru that she didn't trust, especially when she recalled that Xe'ra had been looking for Illidan the entire time... and called him the child of Light and Shadow. She wondered, for a moment anyway, if the Naaru had the power to strip someone of a dark taint, like the fel energy, and if that was the case than this prophecy that Xe'ra spoke of might actually weaken Illidan. She said nothing about her thoughts as she watched the other Illidari work, as she was told to rest before they headed to Argus, to which she simply watched and waited, knowing that the truth would be revealed to her soon enough.
Time seemed to fly by for Lyra, as she got tired of waiting around and helped her fellow Illidari move the crates that they needed to take with them, before it was time for them to depart for Azuremyst Isle, though to get there Khadgar and the other members of the Council of Six gathered their magic together and created a stable gateway for the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde to use so they could reach their destination. The portal was designed to stay open till the moment Velen opened the way to the Vindicaar, giving them time to get their much needed items to the Exodar and have them readied for the last leg of their journey. Of course the Draenei of the Exodar weren't too happy to see that the Horde were being allowed into the crashed ship, since they were on opposite sides, but the fact that they were going to Argus made the guards appear neutral as they helped them get everything they needed into the area where Velen was working. At the same time, however, Illidan and Lyra handed over Light's Heart to the Draenei paladins that served the Prophet, knowing that it was safer in their hands... especially since they would be fighting demons the moment they reached Argus.
At the same time, however, Lyra noticed the hostility in some of the faces around her, meaning that the moment the Legion was taken care of, and the two factions went home with their soldiers, they were likely going to be fighting over Azeroth once more... to which she sighed as she followed the troops down to the area that Velen was standing in.
As they walked Lyra noticed some new faces that she hadn't seen before, heroes that had been helping the Order Halls back when they were gathering the Pillars of Creation, along with some faces that she had seen before today and remembered who they all were. Trixie whispered some of the names to her while they walked, where she discovered that the new people she was meeting were Aethas Sunreaver, Lady Liadrin, Arator the Redeemer, Vindicator Boros, Vereesa Windrunner, and a large number of Light's Chosen Draenei that she didn't bother to remember, as they barely said anything as they stood guard around Velen. There was even a Nightborne hunter and his pet walking along with them, indicating that he was there in representation to the hunters, even though their heroes were standing near him as well... but with all these people standing around her, with all their various powers, Lyra felt door about their chances at beating whatever rested on Argus.
"Fellow Draenei... champions of Azeroth..." Velen said, addressing everyone the moment they were all present, along with the necessary items they were bringing along and allowing the gateway to be closed as Khadgar and the other mages joined them, "the time has come for us to invade Argus. We will save our world and put a stop to the Burning Legion, once and for all."
"The Legion grows desperate," Illidan commented, to which he and the other leaders of this invasion force walked up to where Velen was standing, who was currently pouring some power into a bright yellow crystal for some reason, a reason that they were going to know soon enough, "We should strike now, while their attention is focused on Azeroth."
"You are right, Illidan." Velen stated, surprising a number of those that were present with the fact that he was agreeing with the leader of the Illidari, though that only made Lyra smiled a bit, as it was nice to see people putting some faith in the Illidari and their master, "This may be our best chance to gain the upper hand. Champions, everything is ready for our assault. We need only establish the beacon to transport us to the vessel. Once the beacon arrives, place your hand upon its surface to board the Vindicaar, the instrument of our retribution."
The heroes raised their weapons into the air, knowing that Velen needed a little assistance, and offered him a small fragment of their power, to which the air in front of him shimmered for a moment before a strange golden yellow object appeared in front of him... which had been triangular shaped, before the sides moved until they were touching the floor and revealed a teleport pad of some kind, one that everyone knew the purpose for.
"The way is open!" Velen declared, to which he stopped channeling his power into the crystal, which had disappeared the moment the beacon appeared, and turned towards the people around him, who happened to be focused on both him and the beacon that he had summoned, "Come, children of Argus, allies, champions. The Vindicaar awaits!"
Lyra and Trixie approached the beacon that was resting in front of them and held their hands out towards it, where the energy inside the device weaved itself around them and teleported them to the Vindicaar, which was when they appeared in a chamber that appeared to have some weapons at the ready for troops that needed to be deployed. From there the duo walked forward and took in the interior of the Vindicaar, as it appeared to be a large circular shaped interior with a level directly below them, one that Lyra could see the command terminal from. Further below them had to be the area where all the smiths were waiting, so they could repair damaged armor when it was necessary, but as the duo took all this in they noticed that the Vindicaar was resting near the entrance of the Exodar... making them wonder how they missed it, since they could have seen it from the side entrance they used to reach Velen.
As they stood there, however, the rest of their army teleported aboard the Vindicaar, where the Draenei that had built the large ship helped them store away the gear and other essentials that all the Orders had brought with them, since there was no telling what they were going to need while they were on Argus... while at the same time Illidan stood near them while Velen moved to the command terminal so he could make sure everything was running smoothly.
It took them thirty minutes to get everything aboard the Vindicaar, since there was a fair number of heroes and a decent number of crates that needed to be teleported aboard the dimensional ship, though even then Lyra was a little surprised that the earlier hostility she had seen had disappeared. She guessed that the fact that they were heading to Argus, the place where Velen and the Draenei had come from, and also now being the home of the Burning Legion, had finally clicked with many of them, making them realize that they were actually doing this and making them understand that now wasn't the time for being angry with each other. If war broke out between the Alliance and the Horde, while they were trying to fight the Legion, then Azeroth was destined to die in the vision that Xe'ra had shown Lyra earlier, something that she wanted to prevent with all of her might.
Eventually Romuul stepped out from wherever he had been standing, after teleporting aboard the Vindicaar himself, and approached Velen, who had moved to the middle of the area below Lyra and Trixie, while at the same time staring at something that had been built into the ship.
"All forces are on board and accounted for." Romuul said, though at the exact same moment he stopped beside Velen and faced his Prophet, who turned to look at him while he spoke, which was another reason why Velen was so respected among the Alliance, "The Vindicaar will be ready to depart shortly."
"Good." Velen replied, to which he sighed for a moment, as he and the others knew that this was actually happening and there was no changing what he and the others were about to do, "After we reach Argus we will meet with the Army of the Light and begin our invasion."
Before Romuul could say anything in return they heard the sound of someone walking nearby, to which they turned towards the upper area and watched as Illidan walked down the rampart, while at the same time looking at the two of them for a moment. Velen looked at Illidan for a moment, as if he was thinking about something, before he nodded to Romuul for a moment, to which the Grand Artificer returned to finishing up the last of their preparations.
"Does he understand what you're truly asking of him?" Illidan asked, though at the same time he gestured to where the rest of the heroes were gathering, who were mostly unaware of what was going on at the moment since they were finishing up their preparations, "Do any of them?"
"We follow the path of the Light no matter where it leads." Velen replied, though at the same time he turned towards the glass window that was in front of the command terminal and stared up at Argus.
"Your faith has always been your weakness." Illidan stated, while at the same time he reached the bottom of the rampart and turned towards Velen, who appeared to be in the middle of remembering what had caused him and his people to reach this point, "When your closest allies fell to darkness you didn't stop them. When the Legion swept over your world and took your people... you didn't make a stand. All you did was watch convinced you were following the Light's will. The truth is, you failed your people. Their blood is on your hands."
Illidan stopped talking as Velen tapped the bottom of his staff on the floor for a few moments, though he was pleased to see that his words, despite how harsh they might have sounded, were at least making the Prophet see that there might be some things that he never considered.
"You will never understand what I did to save my people." Velen stated, referring to the sacrifices that he and the others made to leave Argus behind, especially since some of them lost loved ones in the process of fleeing the planet.
"The Light is holding you back." Illidan replied, though at the same time he smirked, because he knew that Velen's statement was about the sacrifices he made for his people, something that he was all too familiar with, "It's time to forge your own path."
It was at that point that Romuul approached Velen again, only this time it appeared that, by the look on his face, that good news was coming and the two decided to be silent, to which Velen nodded towards Romuul, being an unspoken command to give him the report.
"Prophet, we are ready." Romuul said, though the moment Lyra and Trixie heard his words they could see that there were others getting ready for the flight to Argus, to which they walked down to the floor below them so they could get a better view, despite the fact that Khadgar and Illidan had the duo join them by the command terminal.
"Proceed." Velen commanded, to which he joined the other commanders by the command terminal, while at the same time Romuul nodded and carried out the order that had been given to him.
That was followed by the engines coming to life before the Vindicaar started to move away from the Exodar and moved into the air until it was lined up with were their destination was resting, to which another part of the ship activated and they were launched through space as they warped to Argus. A few moments later, when the Vindicaar came to a stop at it's destination, Velen peered into the distance, clearly looking for something that the others were curious about, though at the same time Lyra knew who the Prophet was looking for.
"Where is your Army of the Light?" Illidan asked, because they all knew that the powerful fighting force had to be around here somewhere, since Xe'ra had told Lyra that they were currently battling the Legion.
That was before a large flash of light, almost looking like a sun from where the group was standing, appeared in the distance, though when the light faded Velen smiled as he gazed upon the golden colored dimensional ship that looked like the Exodar, or at least before it had crashed into Azeroth anyway.
"The Xenedar..." Velen started to say, though at the same time he seemed to sense something as the ship moved towards them, which only made him confused as he stared out at the scene before him, "Something is wrong."
That was swiftly followed by Legion cannons, which they hadn't seen when they warped into the area that they were in, firing upon the Xenedar, causing the golden ship to take some critical damage in the process before it crashed onto the mainland... much to the shock of everyone that had witnessed the event unfold.
"The Legion will fire again soon!" Romuul said, knowing that it was only a matter of time until their enemies noticed that they were there and turned whatever they had fired towards them, to which he turned towards his commander, "What are your orders, Prophet?"
For a moment Velen seemed to think about that as he turned his gaze towards Illidan, who nodded his head in return, causing Velen to turn back to the scene before them as he looked down at the damaged ship and knew what they needed to do next.
"We make our stand!" Velen stated, to which he stepped forward and tapped his staff against the ground once more, only this time his action was echoed by the heroes that had joined him and the troops that they had brought with them, indicating that they all agreed with him, "The last battle for Argus... has begun."
Lyra and Trixie stood there for a few moments, staring at the downed dimensional ship that had been the command ship for the Army of the Light, though at the same time Lyra knew that they must have played into the Legion's hands somehow. Their enemies had been carefully waiting for this chance to reveal itself and took full advantage of the fact that they and their allies wanted to meet together, though they were fortunate that the Xenedar had simply crashed into the area it had crashed into and hadn't been destroyed. The reasoning behind that was because Lyra was sure that Xe'ra's main body was somewhere on the ship, which meant it was going to be an objective at some point in the future, but first they had a more immediate concern that they, and the other heroes, had to take care of before they did anything else.
"Champions," Velen said, to which he turned towards the heroes as they turned towards him, though all of them were focused on the task at hand, despite the fact that they didn't know what to do first, "we will suffer the same fate as the Army of the Light if the Legion fires that infernal weapon upon us. We must descend into the siege camp below and destroy it while we still can! Romuul, send our vanguard to establish a front!"
"Of course Prophet," Romuul stated, to which he turned towards the command terminal and moved a few icons around, where he smiled as something happened inside the Vindicaar, "Activating transport array."
The next thing Lyra, Trixie, and the heroes knew the familiar light, the same that brought them aboard the Vindicaar the first time around, wrapped around them and teleported them down to the surface of Argus, where they appeared near a ruined building. Instead of questioning what happened, as none of them had been told there had been a teleport array installed inside the ship they were in, the heroes drew their weapons and followed the path in front of them, allowing them to head right towards the small cliff that overlooked the siege camp. It also gave all of them a chance to see the mutated landscape that was now Argus' default look, which contained an immense amount of felfire and fel spikes that were scattered everywhere. It reminded Lyra of how Mardum looked, only Argus was even more demonic than the prison planet she and the other Illidari had claimed, though she and the others came to a stop at where their allies were standing... to which she and Trixie wondered how Illidan, Khadgar, and Velen got ahead of them, but decided that, since they needed to concentrate on something else, namely the cannon that the demons used to blast the Xenedar.
Lyra didn't see anything that looked like a Legion cannon, based on what she had seen over the course of her encounters with the Legion, but there was one around here somewhere and it was only a matter of time until she and the others found it and destroyed it.
"Welcome to Argus, homeworld of the Burning Legion." Velen told them, sensing that the heroes had arrived at what was going to be their temporary front, where they could coordinate their attack and tackle the demons that were in from of them, and their ammunition caches as well, "The devastators bombarding our forces prevent us from advancing any further. I can only protect us from their blasts for so long. Champions, you must pierce their lines and remove the barriers protecting the devastators. If you can destroy the anchors that maintain the shields, I can cleanse them from afar."
"We will find no sanctuary on this world." Illidan stated, though Lyra found that her mentor was focused on the demons in front of them, though the look on his face said that sooner or later he was going to join the battle and start cutting down the demons that stood against them, "Even now the full might of the Burning Legion rises to defend Argus. The siege camp below overflows with demon filth that stand between us and the weapon trained on the Vindicaar. They must be dealt with before it can fully charge, or Argus will be our grave."
The assembled group of heroes headed down the path in front of them and engaged the demons that were gathering around the devastators that they were preparing for more attacks on the Vindicaar, where Lyra and Trixie noticed that there were three of the weapons in question. As the majority of the force charged forward, however, both of the Equestrians stopped beside a wounded Broken, one that appeared to be native to Argus, and focused their attention on him, while at the same time Maraa joined them. Maraa called upon the power of the Light and mended some of the Broken's wounds, allowing him to stir and gaze at them for a few moments, to be sure that his eyes weren't deceiving him before he did anything else.
"My people... enslaved... Beaten... within death's grasp..." the Broken weakly said, to which he weakly raised his arm, revealing that he was holding a small liquid skin, which he handed to them and gently released it the moment Trixie was holding onto it, "Help... us..."
Lyra noticed that there were a number of Broken area the area, already being liberated by the heroes that were killing the demons around them, to which she and Trixie approached the already freed Broken and used the contents of the liquid skin to heal their wounds. At the same time the Broken that had given the skin to them, after a few moments of healing, got up from where he had been resting, thanked Maraa for her assistance, and departed while saying that he hoped they crossed paths again. While Trixie healed some of the Broken, and aided them in fleeing the area, Lyra cut down the demons that were coming at her, while noticing that the shields surrounding one of the devastators had been smashed, where Velen unleashed a pillar of light that tore the cannons to pieces and left nothing behind. Despite the fact that these demons were types that none of the heroes had ever seen before, indicating that Sargeras kept the strongest demons on Argus until he was ready to use them, the heroes were more than prepared for the demons that they were facing... especially since all of them had prepared for a war with the Burning Legion, even if they hadn't even thought about attacking Argus this time around.
Fortunately the siege camp was smaller than what they were expecting it to be and they had killed all of the demons that had been guarding this area, devastated the devastators, and healed the various Broken prisoners once they had been freed from their enslavement... to which the heroes, along with Velen and Illidan, approached the weapon that had shot the Xenedar out of the sky, while being cautious since the Eredar commanding it was nowhere to be seen.
"The Army of the Light will not have fallen in vain." Illidan said, to which he and the others turned towards the weapon, where it was clear that they were wondering how best to destroy the weapon before it could be used against them in the future, "Our forces will assault the main encampment while we destroy their siege weapon. This will be but the beginning of our vengeance."
That was followed by the siege weapon moving, on it's own, before the upper body of a large demon pulled itself out of the ground in front of them, revealing that the weapon had been mounted on it's back and that it buried itself in the ground to prevent enemies from seeing it's true form. As the heroes prepared themselves the demon also pulled out it's legs and stood over the entire group, to which the heroes started attacking the massive demon as Illidan joined them and Velen used the Light to summon barriers around them from time to time, protecting them from the major attacks the demon had for them. The demon also used an attack that was essentially a number of fel beams being fired at a number of random targets, but since the heroes were used to that, thanks to the various demons that used marks, they adapted to the situation and continued their assault. Lyra, on the other hand, was more than happy to fight alongside her mentor once more, as she and Illidan danced around the demon's feet with their enhanced speed and cut into his legs, while also boosting each other into the air so they could do the same to it's back.
It wasn't long before the demon had collapsed on the ground and stopped moving entirely, to which the group remained on edge, which made since considering that they were on Argus and there was no telling what sort of horrors waited them this time around.
"It seems we underestimated the Legion's cunning." Illidan commented, referring to the cannon that had been mounted on the demon's back, meaning it could be a valuable soldier when the Legion attacked a planet and a weapon to fire at ships from afar, two for the price of one.
"Our forces sustained some losses defending the Vindicaar... we require allies." Velen stated, to which the heroes nodded their heads in agreement, as this wasn't the sort of battle that they could fight on their own, not when they were fighting on Argus itself, "The Army of the Light was known to take in survivors of the Legion's crusade to bolster their ranks. We must do the same. I sense the presence of the Legion slaves you freed nearby. I suspect that they have carved out a resistance against their masters. Lyra, Trixie, I would appreciate your company, as a smaller group is best... and it allows the others to retreat for a time, until they're needed again."
Most of the heroes were in agreement to that statement, as most of them wanted a chance to study the area that they were attacking before they actually did so, though Kurost insisted on accompanying them, to which Lyra and Trixie chuckled, as they both knew that the orc wanted to cut down every demon he came across. The three of them followed Velen out of the ruined settlement that had become the siege camp, while the other heroes and soldiers retreated to the portal Romuul had used to teleport them down into the area in the first place, though at the same time they kept their hands at the ready, in case they needed their weapons. It didn't take them long to reach the entrance of a cave, one that was clearly visible and made for an interesting hideout since there were demons in the various areas all around it, but after some time Velen stepped forward and entered the cave, to which the trio followed after him... and listened to Velen as he mentioned that the Broken were likely watching them.
It took them a few moments to reach the center of the cave, where a fire had been made in the floor, though Lyra and Trixie noticed some areas that looked like small homes and storage areas, which made since considering that the Broken couldn't live comfortably without alerting the Legion to where they were hiding.
"Show yourselves!" Velen said, his voice raised a little bit, though at the same time there was a hint of the leader that he was known as, because Lyra detected a bit of power behind the Prophet's words, meaning that he was encouraging their hosts to reveal themselves... and see if they couldn't come to an agreement.
One by one the Broken that they had saved from the siege camp, and those that had been in hiding the entire time since their arrival, materialized from the shadows and stared at them, though while Kurost gripped his swords Lyra and Trixie merely stood there as they waited for something to happen.
"Velen." a voice said, to which Lyra and Trixie watched as the first Broken they had encountered, the one who had given them the skin with the healing liquid that they gave to the rest of the enslaved Broken, stepped out of the shadows and stared at them, or rather stared at Velen, "At long last, you return to the home you abandoned."
"Hatuun?" Velen replied, though his voice faltered for a moment, meaning that this particular Broken, who had once been a peaceful Eredar before Velen and his 'Draenei' were forced to flee from Argus, had some connection to the Prophet, "How did you survive this hell for so long?"
"We changed, just as Argus did." Hatuun stated, to which Lyra and Trixie nodded their heads in agreement, as they had been forced to adapt and change as they appeared in an entirely new world with a new body that was similar to what they had left behind, while they also noticed a hint of bitterness in Hatuun's voice, which made them worry about a fight breaking out, "We endured... What choice did we have?"
"I have no wish to fight you, Hatuun." Velen said, though he gripped his staff all the same, because he sensed that something was going to change and wanted to be prepared in case that something was the Broken attacking them, "But I cannot allow your bitterness to impede our war against the Legion."
"You turned your back on your people, Prophet. On your world." Hatuun replied, though there a slight emphasis on 'world', meaning that Hatuun was upset that Velen had done nothing and left them all to the mercy of the Legion, even though some of them lived to see another day, "Such betrayal should be answered with death... but your allies have saved many of us from the Legion's grasp. Perhaps you have changed."
"That's enough!" a new voice said, though this time Lyra detected that whoever was speaking was definitely a leader of some kind, as there was a stronger sense of power coming from the new arrival.
Lyra, Trixie, Kurost, and Velen turned their heads to the right and watched as a man emerged from one of the smaller holes in the wall, serving as a small home of sorts, but what caught their attention wasn't the fact that it was a human standing before them, rather the armor that he was wearing. The man was wearing plate armor that made Lyra think of what Draenei paladins, and other paladins, wore all the time, only his armor had sections that seemed to glow with the power of the Light, while at the same time his greatsword seemed to have the same effect. The other thing that she and Trixie focused on was the fact that the man's voice sounded familiar, before they realized that he had been the person who spoke to them when they first recovered Light's Heart; Turalyon.
"Stay your weapons." Turalyon commanded, though while he seemed to be speaking to everyone Lyra and Trixie knew that he was actually speaking to the Broken, since they were able to attack the instant Hatuun gave the command to do so, "The Prophet and his allies are not our enemies. We must stand together, all of us, if we are to have any chance at defeating the Legion."
"High Exarch Turalyon, we meet at last." Velen said, to which he gave Turalyon a respectful bow, something that Lyra, Trixie, and Kurost repeated, since they didn't want the Broken to think any less of them then they already did.
"There is much to be done before this nightmare can end," Turalyon continued, though as he nodded his head, the sign for them to stop bowing apparently, he pulled out what appeared to be a golden crystal, the same one all the heroes empowered to summon the first beacon, and offered them a small smile, "but we need to regroup before we draw more attention from the Legion. I managed to retain a signal crystal during the crash used to call transport beacons from the Xenedar. With luck, we should be able to use it to establish a link between here and your forces as well."
"What happened to the soldiers from the Xenedar?" Lyra asked, as she figured that it was a decent question to ask, since one could assume that since the commander was alive there had to be more soldiers living, especially since all of them followed the Light and it's mysterious powers.
"They hold the ground around the crash site, fighting for their lives." Turalyon replied, which explained why he was the only one here, since he was likely looking for assistance from those that had been on the Vindicaar, to which he handed the crystal over to Velen.
Velen nodded and moved to the area blow them, where he put the crystal down and connected it to the Vindicaar, though a few seconds past before the crystal disappeared and a beacon appeared in it's place, allowing them to use this location as a teleportation point in the future. That was soon followed by Lothraxion, the only Dread Lord to have been infused with the Light and join the side that fought against the Legion, teleporting down to where they were standing and walked up the small path as he stared at Turalyon.
"Turalyon!" Lothraxion said, though the way he said the High Exarch's name made it sound like they were old friends or acquaintances, which could be possible considering how long Turalyon had been missing from Azeroth, "I am pleased that you continue to thwart the Legion's best efforts to kill you. What of Alleria? Is she..."
"The last time I saw her she was on the Xenedar," Turalyon replied, though that was when Lyra noticed a bit of anger in the High Exarch's voice, meaning that something had happened on the Xenedar before Lyra, Trixie, and the others came to Argus, "She was still... under guard. Though I'm sure that she's out there right now, fighting demons as we speak. But thousands of demons stand between us and our allies. We must thin the Legion's ranks to have any hope of reaching the Xenedar alive."
"Then that is exactly what we will do, High Exarch." Lothraxion said, though the smile on his face told Lyra and Trixie that he was most eager for the battle to begin, or at least one of the many battles to come anyway.
Turalyon nodded his head in agreement, something that the trio felt like doing as well, though at the same time he looked at Lyra and Trixie for a few moments, studying their appearances, which made sense considering that he had never seen anyone like the two of them before today. Lyra wondered what he thought of the fact that a demon hunter, who was also part pony in addition to part elf and part demon, was standing next to a mage that was part pony, part elf, and part dragon. Their individual powers were so strong that they could topple some impressive creatures and truly become leaders if they so desired, but Lyra was happy to be a soldier in the war against the Legion, as being a leader had been exhausting and she never wanted to do it again. She also had no idea if Trixie liked being the leader of an Order Hall, her own force of soldiers, because she never said anything about it, but she figured that Trixie enjoyed it since she had seven years of experience backing her every action.
"I will speak with the two of you later, once we have regrouped on the Vindicaar," Turalyon said, beckoning to Lyra and Trixie for a moment, indicating that he was interested in their appearances, since they weren't something that he was used to, despite the fact that he fought demons for a living, "but for now, walk with me as we begin preparations for the next phase of our plan."
Lyra and Trixie followed after him, eager to hear what he had to tell them as Kurost walked beside them, but they knew that there was something even more dangerous about Argus that they hadn't discovered yet... something that would likely rock their worlds once they discovered whatever secret Sargeras had brought to this planet.
Lyra, Trixie, and Kurost walked beside Turalyon as the High Exarch made his way outside the cave that Hatuun and his fellow Broken called home, where Velen and anyone else from the Vindicaar started assisting the people that had survived for so long in this one area without the Legion finding them. That only made the Equestrians wonder how the Broken could have hidden themselves for all these years, since Sargeras and his new allies took over the planet, but since that wasn't important at the moment they didn't voice their desire to know the answer. At the same time all three of them kept their weapons at the ready, since they were still in enemy territory thanks to the demons that were running around the place, trying to either destroy the Vindicaar or deal with Hatuun's people.
"For millennia, the Army of the Light has waged war upon the Burning Legion. Battles. Skirmishes. Sabotage." Turalyon said, revealing part of what he and the other members of his army did against their enemy, which made since considering that they were trying to defeat Sargeras' forces, "We were committed to our cause. Either we would end the Legion's crusade... or they would end ours. When at last our final assault on Argus began, we knew that we might not survive it. And when the Xenedar was hit, it seemed like all hope was lost. But the Light never abandoned us. It called you, and your allies, here and gave us another chance at victory. What we do with that chance... that is up to us."
Lyra wanted to point out that she and the others didn't come because the Light had demanded that they did, or whatever was going through Turalyon's mind at the moment, but she didn't say anything as the High Exarch came to a stop some distance from the entrance of Hatuun's cave and knelt where he was standing. Directly across from where they were standing rested what appeared to be a demon camp, something that they would likely have to destroy before they could get to the Xenedar, but at the same time Trixie had them stand still as a large menacing machine walked down the path that they would have walked by. From determined that it was a guardian of sorts and that if they had moved forward it would have found them almost instantly, to which Lyra was thankful that Trixie had heard the machine walking around and stopped them before something terrible happened. At the same time, however, the three of them gathered around the High Exarch so they could hear what sort of plan he had in mind so they could get to where the Xenedar's forces were fighting for their lives.
It took a few seconds for Turalyon to speak up, which was understandable since this was likely something he hadn't planned when they started their own assault on Argus, but when he started speaking the trio listened to his words and what he wanted them to do.
"Hatuun's people have endured arduous times." Turalyon spoke up, to which he beckoned to the demonic area that was across from where they were standing, revealing that it was to be their target, "Their numbers dwindle as those ripped from beyond the walls of their sanctuary become servants to the annihilan lords in the pits just beyond, sentenced to a life of labor, torture and ultimately, death. Seek out these captives, release them from their bonds and show our allies we stand as one against the Burning Legion."
"I am sensing that there is another task to complete at the same time." Kurost said, though his tone had some joy to it, because if they were going to be freeing prisoners then there was a good chance that they would be fighting demons, which was something that he, along with Lyra, specialized in.
"Hatuun told me, before your arrival, that his village is beset by a demon called Aggonar and his cruel kin." Turalyon explained, though he seemed happy to have such eager help at the moment, especially considering the foe that they were up against this time around, "We need these fiends out of the way before we can seek out Alleria and the others. The chieftain lent us his horn. Use it to call down his people's vengeance upon the demon lieutenants while I carve a path to Aggonar's lair."
"Good." Kurost said, to which he connected the horn to his belt and grinned as he faced the pits that he, Lyra, and Trixie would be venturing into now that they had their tasks, "Let us show these demons what happens when they try to take what isn't their's to take... and show them what happens when they mess with Azeroth!"
The Equestrians nodded as they followed Kurost across the gap that was between them and where Hatuun's village was located, though once they reached the pits he and Lyra moved forward and slammed into the Eredar that happened to be guarding one of the pit's entrances. Trixie, of course, stayed back and used her spells to either assist the duo in taking out the Eredar they were fighting or fried the strange hound like demons that seemed to be prowling the entire area around them. Fortunately there were plenty of demons to kill, as there were a large number of Eredar, the hound like demons, and three Pit Lords stationed around the entire area of the pit that they had entered, though all three of them agreed on the fact that the three Pit Lords had to be the commanders that Turalyon had told them about. Another good thing was that they weren't completely alone in this venture, as a group of five heroes burst into one side of the area and started hacking into the demons as well, revealing that they didn't want Lyra and her group to have all the fun... which, in turn, allowed them to tackle the first Pit Lord, Magraloth.
Since all three of them were familiar with how a Pit Lord conducted battle, from their different experiences with this type of demon, it wasn't long before they brought the mighty Magraloth to the ground and killed him, giving them a moment to free the prisoners from their cages and letting them retreat to safety.
From there they turned to the right and continued cutting, along with blasting, a path through the demonic forces that controlled this area, freeing whatever prisoners they could along the way as the other group of heroes joined up with them, each baring a smile on their faces. Lyra knew that they were happy to be here, on Argus, where the fate of Azeroth and all the worlds in the universe would be decided, because if they, and the Army of the Light, failed in their mission to stop Sargeras then the Dark Titan would burn the universe to cinders with his army. None of them wanted to know what his next step of that plan was, once every planet in the entire universe had been destroyed, but they were determined to stop him before he even got that far... though they pushed those thoughts to the side as they engaged Xeth'tal, the second Pit Lord that commanded this area, and dealt with any additional demons that he might summon to his aid. It was easy to guess that the demon might summon others to it's aid, as a lot of the higher ranking demons did that when they felt that the heroes weren't worth their time... but that arrogance is what felled so many demons over the years.
With eight heroes attacking the Pit Lord, with sharp weapons, spells, and arrows, and accompanied by the demon's own arrogance, it wasn't long before Xeth'tal suffered the same fate as Magraloth, allowing the enlarged group a chance to free the prisoners around them, and made sure that they escaped the area with ease, before they headed up to the left side of the area and found Kar'aaz, the third and final Pit Lord, waiting for them. This time around, while the Pit Lord was distracted by the other seven heroes, Lyra teleported to a rock ledge that was above the demon and jumped onto it's back, which only distracted it further as it tried to reach for her. That allowed the heroes to strike at Kar'aaz without having to worry about the demon attacking them back, and when it did do that Lyra was ready to attack as her Twinblades bit into the Pit Lord's neck and back. Between the eight of them they were able to easily topple the Pit Lord, though once that was done the additional five heroes bid Lyra, Trixie, and Kurost farewell for now and returned to attacking the rest of the area around them, killing more demons and freeing the remaining prisoners... and likely were planning on heading out once the place had been cleared out.
The trio chuckled as they turned to the left and walked up to where Turalyon was standing, though based on what they had seen he must have taken a side path to get up here or something, but instead of questioning it they simply told him that they had completed the tasks that he had given to them... while at the same time staring at the large Pit Lord that was half submerged in a pool of fel lava.
"Now that their lords have been reduced to ash, we may strike at the heart of their power." Turalyon said, beckoning to the demonic beast that was in front of them, though the trio knew that the Pit Lord had to be powerful if he was commanding three more of his kind, "These pits have long been a blight upon the lives of our new allies. The demons hunt them down and torture the poor souls for sport. It is time to make them pay for their cruelty and restore hope to this Light-forsaken place."
As the group of four approached Aggonar, however, the large Pit Lord raised it's weapon and crushed some unfortunate Broken beneath the heavy head of the weapon, indicating that it was something they needed to avoid at all costs, though while Lyra and Kurost joined Turalyon near the front of the beast Trixie stayed near the middle of the area and started casting spells in Aggonar's direction. Everyone was smart enough to avoid the Pit Lord's attempts to smash them with his weapon and avoid the falling bits of fel lava that he threw into the air, so they could land around the ground and burn whoever they touched, while at the same time annoying Aggonar with the fact that he couldn't actually hit any of his targets. After some time Lyra knew that something was wrong, because an incredibly powerful Pit Lord, with three more of his kind acting like servants to his will, would not be so easy for four people to take out, and her suspicious were confirmed when Aggonar waved his weapon and they were all thrown into the same area together... and happened to be bound by powerful fel empowered rocks that trapped their lower bodies and their arms.
"Your people... your worlds... always crumble." Aggonar stated, to which he laughed at all of them, as if he actually believed that he was going to cut them all down and bring about the end of Azeroth, before he summoned a pack of the strange hounds that slowly matched towards the group with the intent of killing and devouring them.
Before the hounds could even reach them, however, a set of arrows flew through the air and pierced the weak points that the hounds had, killing them all in the process, though at the same time it gave Lyra, Trixie, and Kurost an opportunity to see that their savior was a high elf appeared nearby... and happened to be loosing another arrow into Aggonar's body, disrupting his connection to the spell and freeing the heroes at the same time.
"Alleria!" Turalyon said, his tone indicating that he was pleased to see her again, especially since practically everyone on Azeroth knew that the two of them had some sort of connection before they were lost, "Perfect timing, as always."
Alleria made no comment as she focused her fire on her target, which the others were already attacking at the moment, though Turalyon only wanted her to know that he was grateful for her arrival before joining in the assault as they continued attacking Aggonar... before the Pit Lord collapsed on the ground in front of them, quite dead when Lyra went to check and be sure that he wasn't playing them.
"Are you alright, Turalyon?" Alleria asked, though despite the fact that she hadn't said anything before hand she seemed happy that she had been reunited with Turalyon, to which Lyra and Trixie looked at each other for a moment as they recalled the stories that had been told about the duo in front of them.
"I am. In no small part thanks to our friend here. But Alleria... there's something else." Turalyon replied, though a smile appeared on his face, indicating that the next part was something important to the both of them, while also being something that the heroes were curious about, "When the ship from Azeroth arrived, I sensed his presence. I would know it from anywhere, even after all the years we've spent apart."
"Arator!" Alleria exclaimed, referring to one of the champions that had been brought from Azeroth, or rather one of the paladins that had accompanied his superiors to Argus, "He's here!"
"I feel like there's something I'm missing." Lyra commented, as she had no idea who Arator was, besides the fact that he was a paladin, and she had no idea what sort of connection he had to Turalyon and Alleria.
"That Pit Lord won't trouble our new allies any longer." Turalyon said, turning to face the trio of heroes for a moment, while at the same time knowing that they couldn't stay in this area any longer, otherwise more demons would come and attack them while they were distracted, "Until another takes its place, at least. If there's one thing I've learned in our endless war against the Legion, it's to savor victories as you find them. Come, let us take a moment to regroup back at your vessel. Alleria and I have been waiting a long time for a reunion with our son."
As Lyra and Trixie remained stunned by that information, as neither of them had been told that particular piece of information, Turalyon turned to an open area and used his power of the Light to summon a beacon to their position, a temporary one that they could use to get back to the Vindicaar... before ultimately recalling it back to it's resting place.
"Every day for a thousand years, I've thought about what I wanted to say to him." Alleria said, to which she frowned for a moment, revealing that while this was supposed to be a good occasion for her and Turalyon there were some emotions and doubts leftover, "Now, though... words fail me."
"I know, my love. I feel the same." Turalyon replied, where he rested a hand on Alleria's shoulder for a moment, which was followed by the high elf smiling for a few seconds before they turned towards the beacon, "But once we see our son, our hearts will speak for us."
Lyra, Trixie, and Kurost stared at what was happening in front of their eyes and simply sighed as they accessed the beacon, though they waited for a few seconds, giving Turalyon and Alleria the change to do so, before the three of them headed back to the Vindicaar. Upon arriving on the ship once more they discovered that the odd couple was already standing near the command terminal once more, apparently embracing their son for a moment, but they knew that they would be catching up after the Legion was defeated... or maybe before hand, in case they were the ones that suffered the ultimate defeat and not Sargeras.
"But... couldn't you have reached out to us?" Arator asked, though his tone sounded like he was heartbroken, meaning that he missed his parents and that he couldn't understand their decisions, "To your people? To me?"
"Arator... not a day passed that your mother and I didn't..." Turalyon said, but while it seemed like he wanted to say something he couldn't force the words out, though no one laughed at the High Exarch, as it appeared that many would do the same if they had been in his shoes.
"Every choice we made was to keep you safe." Alleria stated, though at the same time she embraced her son once more, revealing that she was happy to see him again, even if she might secretly wish it was under better circumstances that they saw each other again, "It broke our hearts to be apart from you. Come, there is something I want to tell you..."
Lyra and Trixie wondered what was so special about what Alleria had to say as they approached Turalyon, but since it appeared that it might be a family secret or something they decided that now wasn't the time to delve into their past and simply wondered what they were going to do next.
"Our absence has wounded Arator." Turalyon commented, watching his love and his son disappear for a moment while a smile appeared on his face, before he sighed and turned towards the duo as he spotted Kurost observing something that one of the vendors had for sale, "We knew it would. But we had to know that he was safe while we fought the Legion. Now that we are reunited, I will not let us be separated again."
"High Exarch, what's our next move?" Lyra asked, because while she knew that Turalyon longed for more time with his loved ones, as she longed to see Bon Bon and her parents again, her experience told her that now was the time to strike against the Legion, before they had a chance to retaliate.
"We must strike now." Turalyon replied, as he could see some understanding in both Lyra and Trixie's eyes, they had people that they longed to see again and were putting the mission before their own desires, which he had to do as well considering the situation they were in, "The Army of the Light is scattered, but not defeated. Any survivors should have stayed near the crash site of the Xenedar. If there is any hope of victory, we must rally them and rescue Xe'ra. With the Pit Lords dealt with, we should have a safer route to the Xenedar. Meet me in the Krokul Hovel as soon as you can."
It took the Equestrians a moment to realize that Krokul Hovel was Hatuun's village, where they wondered what the Broken would think of his village being called a 'hovel' by the person he had saved, before the two of them teleported down to the village with Turalyon. The basic plan was for someone, namely them, to set up the beacon near their forces so the rest of the heroes could teleport straight to the battlefield and surprise their enemies, of which there would be a score of demons waiting for them near the Xenedar. A few moments later they reappeared inside Hatuun's village and found the Broken chieftain standing near a wall with Turalyon beside him, though the light smile on his face indicated that he must have been pleased with what had happened... or, more accurately, what he and his people discovered a few minutes ago.
"My scouts found the remains of Aggonar." Hatuun stated, confirming what Lyra and Trixie were thinking about, though they kept their mouths shut as they listened to the chieftain speak, "We are in your debt, High Exarch. And yours as well, outlanders."
"The Legion will only fall if we stand together, chieftain." Turalyon said, as everyone on Azeroth had banded together in such a manner because of that very belief, and here they were, fighting on Argus for the fate of the universe, "And right now, we have friends facing grave peril."
"There is a way." Hatuun said, to which he turned towards the wall that was behind him, where he started to gather his magic for a few moments, "We will use what power we have to help you."
Hatuun channeled his powers into the wall that they were standing near, to which Turalyon, Lyra, and Trixie watched as the rubble began to disappear before their very eyes, revealing the hidden secret behind how he and his people had remained hidden since the day the Legion attacked and claimed Argus.
"A tunnel!" Turalyon exclaimed, as now it made so much more sense why Hatuun and his people lived in the areas that they had picked, while also revealing that their connection to their planet was as strong as it had been so many years ago when their leaders betrayed them, "So this is how you have survived..."
"We have hidden. We have adapted." Hatuun replied, though the smile remained on his face, indicating that he might have liked surprising his new allies with his people's secret, since they weren't going to hand it over to the Legion, "In our hour of need, this land still listens to our pleas."
"Lyra, Trixie, I know a path to the Xenedar that is unguarded by the Legion." Turalyon said, surprising the duo once more, before he started heading into the tunnel, causing the two Equestrians to follow after him before they lost him.
The trio quickly emerged on the other side of the tunnel and departed from it, where it appeared that some of Hatuun's people would be guarding it for the foreseeable future, before they headed down the walkway that was in front of them and started making their way to the gleaming golden ship that was the Xenedar. Along the way they all spotted several bodies that belonged to deceased members of the Army of the Light, though when they reached the bridge connecting their area to the one they needed to go to, however, they were stopped by a brutish Eredar blocking the path... which proceeded to stare down at them as it pointed at Turalyon.
"You're not going anywhere, 'champion'." the demon said in a mocking tone, almost as if it couldn't believe that it was this easy to find Turalyon, though at the same time the trio prepared their weapons, "The master has plans for you!"
"Not today, monster!" a voice said, to which a Draenei, whose skin was more akin to the coloration of the Light than what the other Draenei who followed Velen, who possessed blue colored skin, dropped down on the brute's head and killed it with the power of both the Light and a surprise attack, to which she smirked in the process, "The Light prevails!"
"Fareeya!" Turalyon exclaimed, recognizing who the Light-infused Draenei was, which made sense considering that they had been on the same ship the entire time, and because of the fact that neither Lyra or Trixie had seen her before this very moment, "You survived!"
"You know that I refuse to die while the Legion still stands, High Exarch." the Draenei, Fareeya, replied, though that was followed by her beckoning for Turalyon, Lyra, and Trixie to fall in behind her, as she started moving away from the fallen demon not a few seconds later, "Follow me. We've set up a perimeter."
A 'perimeter', as it turned out, was a war camp set up near the location of the Xenedar, where the Light-infused Draenei, equipped with armored machines that neither Lyra or Trixie had ever seen before and various shields in place to defend themselves, either healed their wounded or were sending out soldiers to do certain tasks. It was an impressive sight, that much the duo agreed on, and both of them could tell that by being infused with the Light these Draenei had become even stronger than the Draenei they were familiar with, especially since one of them was more than enough to take out a new type of demon that neither of them had seen before today. The duo wondered, for a moment anyway, what they could do with these Light-infused Draenei, and their machines, on their side, though something told them that they were going to find out soon.
"We've secured a foothold. Good." Turalyon said, to which he channeled his power into a Light-infused crystal and summoned a beacon nearby, one that was more permanent than the one he summoned inside the pits earlier, before he turned towards Lyra and Trixie with a smile on his face, "Now we take the fight to them!"
"So, since we now officially waging war on the Legion's homeworld, what's our first order of business?" Lyra asked, as she was sure that Turalyon and Fareeya had something for her, Trixie, and the other heroes that were slowly teleporting down from the Vindicaar.
"First things first, we must secure what supplies we can from the crash." Fareeya replied, though at the same time Turalyon moved away from them and moved to another part of the war camp, so he could see what the Light-infused Draenei had saved from the crash and what they needed to do to move forward, "Even though we are blessed by the Light, our ships still rely on crystal technology. From powering our defenses to arming our weapons, we will need to collect as much as we can to fight back against the enemy. Venture out into the crash and retrieve what crystals you can. While you two are out there, please keep an eye out for Archmage Y'mera. She was separated from us, and will need help. And, while you are gathering crystals, both Grand Vindicator Sorvos and Grand Lector Enaara has some tasks for you two to complete at the same time."
Neither Lyra or Trixie were surprised by that fact, as when one person gave them a mission another one or two people had something else for them to do at the same time, to which they simply nodded and headed over to where Sorvos was standing, as they knew where the two Light-infused Draenei were standing thanks to Fareeya pointing them out.
"They were waiting for us when we crashed. It was all we could do to establish our small outpost." Sorvos told them, though he politely waited for them to approach him before he started speaking, before beckoning to a familiar machine that Lyra knew from her lessons, "Even now they drain the souls of our fallen to fuel their attacks. Destroy their soul coffers. Free our comrades and let them join the Light. I suspect that you have already been told to find Y'mera, though if you haven't I would ask that you two find her out in the field. She has been sorely missed, but she will not have fallen. Of this I am certain."
Trixie didn't need to be told anything to know that these soul coffers were terrible machines, as she had seen some of them over the years when the Legion was involved, but she nodded her head and walked over to where the final of the three mission givers, Enaara, was standing, to which Lyra joined her so they could see what the third Draenei wanted from the two of them and the rest of the heroes.
"The two of you have brought the High Exarch back to us, thus you are welcome allies indeed." Enaara stated, to which the duo was happy to hear that someone was happy to see that they brought Turalyon back to his forces, who were going to be teleported aboard the Vindicaar once this was all over, "However, more is needed of you two. You see our soldiers out there, fighting against all odds? Defend our soldiers and slay the enemy. Strong words for a priest, perhaps, but every dead Man'ari is one less blade at our throats. Show them that the Light protects its chosen even as it scorches the unfaithful."
"Aren't you going to ask us to find Archmage Y'mera when we're gone?" Lyra asked, that was the only thing that was missing from Enaara's request, but at the same time Trixie turned her head towards them, as she was interested in what the priest said in return.
"No. Captain Fareeya and Grand Vindicator Sorvos have likely asked that of you already," Enaara said, to which she smiled at the duo for a moment, revealing that she didn't fault them for thinking she might ask them to do the same thing that the others did, "As long as you know that she is the next person you need to aid, after completing our three tasks, that is more than enough for me at the moment."
Lyra nodded and headed out of the war camp, though as she did so the rest of the heroes that had teleported down to the area charged forward as well, to which the force of Azeroth's heroes slammed into the side of the demons that were attacking the Army of the Light, where a new war waged all around them. Trixie, instead of following after Lyra this time around, channeled her power into her body until her arms and legs looked more like a dragon's arms and legs instead of what they looked like in her hybrid state, while at the same time letting her wings emerge from her back. Lyra grinned as she watched Trixie take to the skies and crash into the demons that were coming towards the war camp, as the enhanced power of the arcane that was running through Trixie's veins allowed her to blast demons apart as she used her claws to tear her more unfortunate enemies to pieces.
That was quickly followed by the entire area becoming a true war zone, as the forces of Azeroth and the Army of the Light engaged the demons that were trying to overwhelm them, while Trixie constantly switched from tearing demons from the sky and blasting those on the ground to pieces. Lyra, however, restrained herself for the moment and focused on the task at hand, which included finding the three soul coffers that the Legion had set up around the Xenedar and smashing them to pieces, shattering the Legion's portals to cut off additional reinforcements, and gathering as many crystals as she could find. Several heroes fought near her while she did that, giving her the opportunity to cut down some of the demons that were following them, where she also noticed some of the Light-infused Draenei were gathering crystals as well, indicating that the commanders wanted all the resources they could salvage before they moved from this area. That didn't stop Lyra from doing what she needed to do, though she enjoyed fighting the demons that wanted her dead and purposely charged at her, instead of attacking the other heroes that were all around the large battlefield.
One thing that Lyra noticed, as she moved away from the area that the war camp was resting in, was that part of the ground was actually golden colored as well, showing where the Xenedar had moved across when it was blasted out of the sky a n hour ago. Unfortunately that didn't make the ground Light-infused, as the demons would never be able to touch it or even stand on it, but since the demons were walking on top of the golden ground that told her that nothing special had happened as the Xenedar crashed. The good thing was that the demons were apparently expecting a small army to be attacking them, like the Army of the Light and no one else, so she was happy to see that they weren't that prepared for what was essentially double, or even triple, what they were prepared for. Lyra eventually moved out into the golden field and started cutting down demons that were in front of her, weakening the enemy forces even more in the process, before she heard a loud thud behind her... to which she turned around and found Trixie, in her empowered hybrid form, standing on top of a crushed demon that had been trying to assault Lyra from behind.
"It seems that you're getting sloppy." Trixie said, though her tone immediately told Lyra that she was only playing around, especially since she was supposed to be the second most strongest demon hunter in existence, "You should have seen that demon coming from a mile away."
"Oh trust me, I saw him coming," Lyra replied, though she smiled as she hurled one of her warglaives through the air and it spun around as it decapitated several demons in the process, before she caught it when it came back to her and smiled at Trixie, "I was just waiting for him to get closer, so I could deal with him personally. Since you're already here, and I've done what has been asked of us, would you care to join me for meeting Archmage Y'mera?"
"Might as well," Trixie stated, to which she swung her claws and caught another demon before it could hit them, only to obliterate the creature with her arcane breath, before she turned towards Lyra, "I wonder what sort of task she has for us, especially after we tell her you did everything that was asked of us."
Lyra nodded and would have moved forward on her own, but Trixie grabbed onto her before she could say anything and they flew over the rest of the battlefield, watching the heroes slaughter the demons that were trying to overrun the war camp, where she flew over to an area that had what appeared to be cannons of come sort... and a Light-infused Draenei, wearing mage robes, happened to be standing near them.
"Archmage Y'mera?" Lyra asked, though at the same time Trixie dropped her next to the Draenei before landing beside her, to which the duo looked at her while she turned towards them.
"That's correct." the Light-infused Draenei said, though a slight smile appeared on her face, indicating that someone must have informed her that allies were coming, as she didn't seem shocked by the fact that Lyra was a demon hunter and Trixie was a mage-dragon hybrid, "I take it you are my reinforcements?"
"We are," Trixie replied, to which Lyra produced the bag of crystals that she had collected and handed them over, while at the same time she decided to inform her of what happened, in case she wasn't paying attention to the ongoing war that was happening nearby, "We've brought you some crystals to power whatever it is that you need to power with them, destroyed the soul coffers that the Legion set up... and demons are dying in droves, thanks to the combined efforts of the Heroes of Azeroth and the Army of the Light."
"Thank the Light that things are going our way again," Y'mera said, to which she collected the bag that was offered to her, before she passed it to one of the other Light-infused Draenei that was near her, who apparently knew what to do with them and started moving to the other cannons, "Look out there, the wings of the bats fill the sky. We must offer what ranged support we can, and to do that we need to use these artillery batteries to take them out."
"Sounds easy enough," Lyra stated, though at the same time Trixie grinned as she surrounded herself in magic and prevented them from being able to see her for a few seconds, "though we also have an ally that the demons can't counter at the moment."
Y'mera watched as a blue dragon emerged from the energy that had surrounded Trixie, to which she roared and took to the skies, where she started tearing her way through the demonic bats that were in the air and blasted them with her arcane breath. Lyra chuckled for a moment before climbing into one of the unmanned artillery batteries that were near her, to which she opened fire on the demonic bats that weren't near where Trixie was and blasted them out of the sky as her friend did the same thing. As she fired the artillery battery Lyra noticed that some of the demons, having heard Trixie's roar, stopped what they were doing and looked into the sky, which caused their deaths as they realized that a dragon was tearing through their reinforcements. Together the two of them, along with the Draenei that were controlling the other artillery batteries, decimated the army of fel bats that were coming towards the war zone, so much so that the skies were cleared within a few minutes and there weren't any left... to which the duo returned to where Y'mera was standing, who seemed surprised by what they had done.
At the same time Trixie reverted back to her original hybrid form and tapped her staff on the ground, as she figured that now that the combined armies weren't being overwhelmed they didn't need her to take on an empowered form or her dragon form... until she needed it, anyway.
"We may be grounded, but that does not mean they have to rule the skies!" Y'mera cheered, though both Lyra and Trixie knew that she was happy to have them as allies, especially since they had decimated the targets she had given them while using something she didn't know about, "We're going to need a bigger gun if we hope to free Xe'ra. One of the other bunkers crashed closer to the Xenedar. If Baraat was on it, he will have already begun surveying the area. Perhaps he's found the main cannon of the ship. If you head over that way, make sure he hasn't died, will you?"
Lyra and Trixie quickly glanced at each other, because they knew that the main cannon of the Xenedar would definitely be a target that the Legion would want to capture at all costs, so they could attempt to corrupt the Light-infused weapon or siphon it's energies for their own nefarious purposes. Fortunately Y'mera was pointing in the direction that the portion of the ship had crashed into, to which the duo headed along the route that had been carved into the ground and followed it towards their next destination. One good thing they found was that there were a few Light-infused vindicators and a warframe, the walking Light-infused machine that someone could pilot, fighting off a group of Eredar with another Light-infused Draenei, a hunter based on the weapons he carried, ordering the around. The other good thing that worked in their favor was that the vindicators knew that they were allies and let them pass, allowing them to bypass the attacking Eredar and approach the group's commander.
"I assume you're Baraat?" Lyra asked, as she wanted to be sure that she and Trixie had found the exact Draenei that Y'mera had asked them to locate, since this one might be someone completely different and could point them in the right direction if they were wrong.
"I am Baraat the Longshot," the Light-infused hunter confirmed, to which he raised a crystalline gun, of which he had two of, and pointed it at one of the invading Eredar that was coming up the nearby hill, where a well placed shot in the head killed the demon before it reached them, "We're under too much pressure here. And it's so close to us..."
"That's why we're here to help." Trixie said, though she knew that the Draenei likely knew that ahead of time, but at the same time felt that it was best if she repeated herself, in the off chance that he had forgotten since he and his squad had crashed and had started fighting in this one area, "Just tell us what to do and we'll get it done."
"Light's Judgment has a security feature to prevent it from falling into enemy hands." Baraat replied, giving the duo a name to assign to the main cannon of the Xenedar, one that they felt was most fitting because of the fact that it had been the main base for the Army of the Light, "We can trigger its recall mechanism, which will teleport it back to a vessel. With the Xenedar out of commission, the gun should recall to your ship instead. You can make good use of its firepower. The process takes time, though, and will likely attract the Legion's attention. Be on your guard."
With a new objective handed to them both Lyra and Trixie made haste up the rest of the hill, leaving Baraat and his men to cut down and blast the demons that were coming their way, before they found the weapon in question, which was lodged into the side of the rock wall. The moment Trixie touched it they heard Romuul speak to them, indicating that he had their exact coordinates and that he was calibrating the teleportation matrices so he could bring Light's Judgement aboard the Xenedar, while also confirming that it would take a few minutes to do so. The duo turned around and faced the portal that had opened in the area behind them, where a number of wyrmtongue demons walked out and headed towards Light's Judgement, only to face their ultimate fate as Lyra cut them down while Trixie blasted them from afar. When the first group of wyrmtongue fell another took it's place, causing the duo to repeat themselves, though as the second fell a third group appeared from the portal, along with an Eredar engineer that wanted to get his hands on the powerful weapon... but he was ultimately no match for Lyra's power, especially with Trixie backing her like she was.
A few moments later, when the portal was closed and the demons were dead, Romuul had them touch the weapon again before it disappeared, though as they turned and looked in the direction of the Vindicaar they spotted a golden weapon hanging off the bottom of the dimensional ship... indicating that the transfer had been completed without any problems and that it had been installed, meaning that it was now theirs to command.
"Lyra, Trixie, can you hear me?" a voice said, to which they watched as an image of Romuul appeared nearby, though that revealed that there was more to the Vindicaar than either of them realized.
"We hear you Romuul." Trixie replied, though at the same time she and Lyra approached the image, not knowing whether or not they needed to be seen by it, but decided not to take chances this time around.
"Good." the image said, showing the duo that Romuul was happy another part of the Vindicaar was working as it was designed, which was great since they couldn't exactly do repairs on Argus since they were constantly under threat by the demons that were all around them, "Light's Judgment has been installed on the Vindicaar. We should be able to harness its power immediately. We can use it both to clear the rubble blocking the Xenedar as well as destroy our enemies. As with any new piece of technology, we should test it out. Thoroughly. I trust you have plenty of targets down there."
Lyra and Trixie headed down the hill and approached the side of the Xenedar, where some rubble was, true to Romuul's word, blocking the only way into the downed ship, to which Trixie made the mental connection to the ship with her thoughts and projected where she wanted Romuul to fire. A few seconds ticked by before a surge of condensed Light erupted from the new weapon and obliterated the rubble in an instant, causing the duo to wonder what would happen if they fired Light's Judgment at their enemies, but decided to shelve the thought at the moment. As the duo stood there they watched as Turalyon and Alleria joined them, though while one of them was happy the other seemed a little annoyed about something, but Lyra guessed Alleria could be annoyed since her last encounter with Xe'ra wasn't that great.
"We must know for sure whether the Light Mother survived." Turalyon commented, referring to Xe'ra, as she was likely the only thing of importance left on the Xenedar at this point in time, or at least that was what Lyra and Trixie were thinking, "Xe'ra was weakened when she sent her heart to Azeroth, but she is the Prime Naaru. She is the Light, and she cannot fade. Let's head into the Xenedar and look for her. Light willing, she will return to guide us once more."
As the group of four headed into the Xenedar, and traveled towards the heart of the ship, it was revealed that the reason Alleria had been locked in the cell, that Xe'ra had put her in, was because she had been delving into harnessing the powers of the Void so they could have another weapon in the war against the Legion. Both Lyra and Trixie knew that such an action was dangerous, potentially even stupid at this point in time, but Alleria had her reasons and she hadn't been driven mad yet, meaning that there was some validity to her claims. Still, the duo listened and remained silent as they reached the main chamber of the ship, where the seemingly broken body of Xe'ra rested, though Lyra was able to see the exact place where her heart had come from. The moment they were all inside the main chamber Turalyon channeled the power of the Light as Lyra and Trixie set three crystals in a formation that linked up with the High Exarch, creating a diamond shape around Xe'ra's weakened body... before they guided her out of the Xenedar and sent her to the Vindicaar, to which they were also teleported out of the area with the rest of their group.
As Lyra and Trixie returned to the Vindicaar, with Turalyon, Alleria, and the seemingly shattered body of Xe'ra, Romuul reported that the battle for the Xenedar was over, as the surviving demons were retreating and the heroes, from both armies, were now returning to their ship so they could prepare for the next mission. As the heroes from Azeroth and the warriors of the Army of the Light gathered around the top level of the ship they stared down at the area that was in front of them, where Xe'ra rested. Velen stood beside Turalyon, Alleria, and Illidan, while at the same time both Trixie and Lyra stood near them to be sure nothing happened when the ceremony happened, as it was only a matter of time until Light's Heart was returned to the Prime Naaru. At the same time, however, Lyra wonder if this was a good thing, since there had been something about what Xe'ra had said back when she received her visions of Sargeras destroying Azeroth... and that was the fact that a being of the Light called her mentor the child of Light and Shadow, something that was throwing her off at the moment.
Before she could voice her concern, to either Trixie or Lord Illidan, two Light-infused Draenei, who had been patiently waiting for this moment, stepped forward and carried Light's Heart over to Xe'ra's body, before backing away... which was followed by the fragments of the Naaru being lifted into the air as Xe'ra came to life before their eyes, as she now floated in the middle of the ship and radiated power once again.
"We are blessed to be in your presence once more, Xe'ra." Turalyon said, though his voice was full of hope, indicating that his faith in the mighty Naaru wasn't misplaced, especially since she had been guiding him and the others since he and Alleria had disappeared from Azeroth all those years ago.
Turalyon... Xe'ra replied, her voice sounding the same as Lyra remembered, while at the same time being heard by everyone on the ship, even those that were on a different level at that moment, You have found the Chosen One.
If the High Exarch was upset that Xe'ra didn't say anything more to him at the moment, such as praise for overcoming the odds or anything, he didn't show it, rather he stepped to the side and held a hand out towards Illidan, who cautiously stepped forward and stared at the golden Naaru.
Illidan. Xe'ra said, causing those that were watching this to wonder what was going to happen, as very few knew about the prophecy that Lyra had been told, as she didn't want to alarm anyone of the fact that their mission might end in total failure, From birth, the light in your eyes held such promise for the future.
"I sacrificed that birthright long ago." Illidan stated, remembering the day he first took the fel energy into his body, a 'gift' from Sargeras himself that burned out his eyes until they were what they were today, which became the method for how the Illidari took in their first taste of the fel energy into their bodies.
Do you not wish to reclaim what was lost? Xe'ra asked, though there was a slight shift in Xe'ra's tone, one so small that everyone might have missed it, but Lyra heard it and suspected that something bad was definitely going to come of the two figures talking to each other, To be whole again?
"The Legion's end..." Illidan replied, staring at the faces of the assembled heroes that had come to Argus and left Azeroth behind for the moment, knowing that all of them felt the same way that he did, before facing the Prime Naaru once more, "is all I seek."
My child. You've given so much, for so little. Xe'ra said, though that statement definitely raised red flags for Lyra, as it actually sounded like the Prime Naaru was almost insulting the fact that Illidan sacrificed almost everything he had to reach this point in time, Your true potential, your redemption, lies before you. Let go of your shattered form and embrace the Light's power.
It was at that point that particles of the Light moved out from where Xe'ra was floating and started to surround Illidan, though while many thought that Illidan was going to jump for joy and embrace the power that was being offered to him, like the fools they were, Lyra already knew that something fishy was happening and her thoughts were confirmed as Illidan glared at the particles that were around him... and she was sure that he had glanced at her once in the process, to which she readied herself for what was coming next.
"I've traded my freedom for power before." Illidan stated, as he found that Xe'ra's promise of 'power' was just an excuse for her to have a pawn in her war against the Legion, something that he had no interest in becoming.
The prophecy... Xe'ra said, her tone shifting even more than it had before hand, only this time Lyra wasn't the only one that heard it, as both Velen and Alleria seemed a little uneasy by the Naaru's sudden shift in tone, but still Lyra readied herself, must be fulfilled.
It was in that moment that two things happened at the same time; the first being that Lyra, sensing something was going to happen to her mentor, rushed forward and knocked Lord Illidan out of the ring of Light, effectively taking his place, before he could stop her. The second thing that happened was that the Light particles closed around where Illidan had been standing and ensnared Lyra, who instantly held back a yelp as she was pulled into the air while everyone was surprised by what had happened.
What is the meaning of this? Xe'ra asked, as she was surprised that someone had even knocked Illidan out of the Light to begin with, especially since it was the same person that she had spoken to back when her heart had been accessed by the Tears of Elune.
"I... won't let... you harm... Lord Illidan!" Lyra growled, as she could feel the power of the Light pinning her arms to her side and overall preventing her from moving, despite her best efforts to break the hold she was in, while also trying to avoid screaming as the Light tore into the fel energy that she used, "His power... is not your's... to take!"
...Very well... Xe'ra said, though while Illidan and the others were recovering from what happened, and the fact that the Prime Naaru tried to force her prophecy on the leader of the Illidari, the Naaru's body glowed even brighter than before, You shall be an example... and show Illidan his true destiny!
Lyra screamed as the Light invaded her body, as it was even worse than when she and the other heroes were fighting the Maiden of Vigilance in the Tomb of Sargeras, because the power of the Light was reacting to the fel energy that was already inside her body and was tearing into her demonic powers. It was like liquid fire coursing through her veins, tearing apart what she had built and trying to replace it with something entirely different, while at the same time she could feel it traveling all over her body, including her demonic horns and her wings. As this happened Turalyon tried to plead with Xe'ra, saying that she shouldn't harm one of their allies, while Trixie tried in vain to help her out of the mess she had gotten herself into. Even Lord Illidan stepped forward and tried to help her, but that was what Xe'ra wanted as another band of Light particles chained his arms and wings to his body before lifting him up into the air, forcing him to watch as Lyra suffered under the Prime Naaru's power... and the fact that her demonic tattoos were being devoured by the Light, just like the rest of her demonic powers.
A few seconds later, after coming to a decision, Lyra tried a desperate attempt to access her Havoc form and break out of the hold, like she had done against Maiev the first time they fought each other... causing the Light around her to explode as she was thrown backwards, where she hit the ramp behind her and crumbled to the ground.
"LYRA!" Illidan shouted, as he couldn't believe what had happened, though he was fortunate that she was still breathing, before he turned his full attention to the being that was holding onto him at the moment.
Your old life has passed. Xe'ra said, to which she turned towards Illidan for the time being as she ignored Lyra, while at the same time preparing the Light so it could do the same thing to him, something that he was going to avoid at all costs, The Light will forge you a new one.
"It is not yours to take!" Illidan declared, as he had seen the pain that Lyra, the second strongest demon hunter, had been when Xe'ra had her way and knew that he couldn't trust the Prime Naaru, especially when they had no idea what effects her 'gift' had on those she forced it upon.
The Light will heal your scars! Xe'ra stated, to which the Light started pouring into Illidan's body, where the heroes and other observers watched as the Light started to dig into his demonic tattoos.
"We demon hunters. Are. OUR. SCARS!!!" Illidan replied, indicating that there was nothing to be ashamed about by sacrificing something for the greater good, especially when said sacrifices left physical and emotional scars, which he had plenty of.
The Light is your destiny. Xe'ra insisted, only now realizing how resistant Illidan was to change, but that didn't stop her from doing what she had to do so she could fulfill the prophecy.
"MY DESTINY IS MY OWN!" Illidan roared, though that was when he slipped into his true demonic form, shattered the chains of Light that were holding onto him, and released the strongest Eye Beam he had right into Xe'ra's heart... which consumed the two of them in a bright flash of light.
When the light cleared, and the heroes lowered their hands to see what was going on, they watched as Illidan fell to the floor, in the form he was locked into, and coughed as small fragments of what had been Xe'ra fell to the ground all around him and the center of the ship. Some of the heroes were shocked that Illidan had essentially destroyed the weakened Prime Naaru in one attack, especially after all the effort Lyra, Trixie, and the others went through to rescue her from the Xenedar, while the others nodded their heads in agreement to his actions, indicating that Xe'ra had gotten what she deserved for trying to force her power onto those that didn't want it. Turalyon, who had the strongest connection to Xe'ra, out of everyone on the Vindicaar, was outraged by what had happened, to which he growled as he turned his attention to Illidan... and drew his sword in the process.
"You've doomed us all!" Turalyon shouted, marching right up to where Illidan was resting and raised his sword into the air, revealing to the assembled group that he intended to kill Illidan for what he had done, "BETRAYER!!!!"
Before anyone could react, or even attempt to stop him, Turalyon swung his sword at Illidan's neck, who reached up and grabbed onto the blade the moment it neared him, stopping the weapon before it could even get close to his next... though as a trickle of fel blood emerged from where he caught the blade Illidan looked up at Turalyon and stared right into his eyes for a few seconds.
"Your faith has blinded you. There can be no Chosen One." Illidan said, though he followed that up by lightly kicking Turalyon in the chest and knocked him backwards, where Alleria and Velen stopped the High Exarch from doing anything foolish as Illidan stood up, "Only we can save ourselves."
As Turalyon glared at him, with a look of hate in his eyes, Illidan and Trixie rushed over to Lyra's side, though as they reached her they were happy to see that she was still breathing, but that was before noticing that her demonic wings, which had been opened after her torture at Xe'ra's hands, were starting to change color. Trixie watched as Lyra's wings went from full of life and transformed into a set of dull grey wings, before crumbling to dust before their eyes, though they were followed by her demonic horns turning to dust as well. Everyone watched as the fel energy faded from Lyra's body entirely, to which her coloration returned to the light aquamarine that Trixie remembered her having before she found her outside the Warden's vault. Even her tattoos, which had been there for seven long years and had become a permanent part of her body, didn't fare any better than her wings and horns, as the entirety of her tattoos turned grey as well, though the style remained as a reminder of what she had been.
Trixie's eyes widened when she realized what had happened, as Xe'ra's attempt to purge the fel from Lyra's body and turn her into a weapon of the Light had partly worked, the only thing she wasn't expecting was that it tuned Lyra back into a normal human-pony hybrid, like she had been before her transformation into a dragon hybrid. Trixie couldn't detect a trace of the fel energy inside Lyra, and she was sure that Illidan was feeling the same thing, but they had to wait for Lyra to wake up before they could figure out what sort of powers she had left. Trixie only hoped that Xe'ra hadn't crippled her friend, especially when they were attacking Argus at that very moment, otherwise the heroes might have just suffered a terrible blow... one that they wouldn't be able to recover from.
Lyra moaned as she felt pain course through her body, indicating that something terrible had happened to her after her attempt to save Lord Illidan's powers from what Xe'ra was doing, but even then this was different from when she had been asleep for a few days or for a few weeks. This time around she managed to recover from whatever had happened within minutes of the event happening, but at the same time it was still a painful process as she took stock of what her body was feeling. The familiar feeling that came from the fel energy that had been inside her body was missing at the moment, something that worried her already, but she was sure that it came from the Light that had coursed through her veins earlier and that she would figure out what actually happened when she was able to see again. While she was focused on herself she heard the sound of hooves walking near her and felt something embrace her, not physically like she would have expected, and the pain lessened.
"Easy there," a voice said, though Lyra recognized it as Maara's voice, indicating that it was the Light that had helped her in that moment, but that only confused and worried Lyra even more, especially considering her connection to the fel that would have lashed out in some manner, though the priest carefully pulled her into a sitting position, "Lyra, can you open your eyes for me?"
"I... I don't know." Lyra admitted, though even as she said that she focused her attention and slowly forced her eyes open, where the moment she opened them she found that she was resting in the infirmary of the Vindicaar, where she was occupying the only bed at the moment.
"You gave Trixie quite the scare earlier," Maara said, to which Lyra noticed that the Draenei was channeling the power of the Light into Lyra's body, mending the pain that her body was in rather slowly, but Lyra found some comfort in what she was feeling at the moment, "I've never seen anyone stand up to a Naaru like that, though we should have expected it the moment Xe'ra threatened to do something to your mentor... whose currently brooding as he stares down at the ruins of what had once been the Prime Naaru."
"Xe'ra's... dead?" Lyra asked, as that was news to her, because she would have thought that a being known as the Light Mother, among other things, would have been extremely hard to kill, but it appeared that she was wrong in her thinking if Lord Illidan had killed her.
"Yes." a new voice said, to which both Lyra and Maara turned towards the door that was near them, where Lyra felt a smile appear on her face as she found her mentor standing in the doorway, though that was before Illidan walked into the infirmary and came to a stop near her, "Xe'ra tried to force her prophecy upon me and turn me into her pawn, where I struck her down with all the power I could bare in that moment. That was enough to shatter her bonds and attack her heart directly, thus destroying the Prime Naaru... but not before she inflicted some damage to you."
"I've noticed." Lyra stated, as she had known that Xe'ra was responsible for what she was feeling at the moment, though at the same time she was happy to hear that the Prime Naaru had gotten what she deserved, while at the same time noticing the look on her mentor's face, "Lord Illidan, is something wrong?"
"Lyra, when I finished my business with Xe'ra, both Trixie and I rushed over to where you landed," Illidan replied, as he knew that she likely had no idea what had happened after being blasted back into the ramp behind her, but he intended to see if his suspicions were correct, "Your demonic horns and wings turned to dust before our eyes, and your skin returned to the coloration it was when we first found you in Shadowmoon Valley all those years ago. The only thing that remains if your demonic tattoos, but they have lost their inner fire and have turned grey... and neither of us could sense any fel energy coming for you."
Lyra stared at her mentor for a moment, taking in the fact that her other two horns were definitely gone and she couldn't feel her wings in the state they were in whenever she wasn't using them, before she closed her eyes and focused her mind. The only way she would be able to tell if what her mentor had said was true was to test it, and at the moment her Spectral Sight was the best ability she had access to, as it allowed her to see other demon hunters and demons when she had her eyes closed. She waited for a few moments, searching for the ability that she knew she had access to, before coming to the terrible conclusion that Lord Illidan was right, because not only could she not see him, the Illidari that had come with them, and the demons the warlocks had summoned, but she couldn't feel the fel energy that she had gotten used to feeling since she first took it into her body.
Without the fel energy, which had allowed her to fight the demons on even ground and even overpower them, she felt hollow inside, as if something important was missing, yet at the same time there was something else inside her body that had survived whatever Xe'ra had done to her.
"The fel energy... it's gone!" Lyra exclaimed, though at the same time she opened her eyes and looked at Illidan, who seemed saddened to see her so devastated, as the only time she had been this way was when he told her that it was impossible to send her back home, "Xe'ra... she took my powers and left me as a shell of my former self. All the powers and abilities I've gained over the years, they're all gone... I'm back to being the useless girl that Kayn and Kor'vas saved all those years ago."
"Lyra, you are far from useless," Illidan insisted, as he knew that, despite what Xe'ra had done, Lyra still had some power inside her body, power that had resisted the torture that the Prime Naaru had inflicted on her, "we just need to figure out what powers are waiting to be awoken."
Lyra wondered if Lord Illidan could sense the other power that was resting inside her, one that felt like the Dark Magic she had unlocked due to her hatred of some of the people that were supposed to be their allies, before she nodded and carefully got back onto her hooves. As she did that a few extra hands came and helped her, where she found Trixie standing to her right, but while her friend might have remained silent the entire time, no doubt trying to help her in some manner, Lyra was glad that she had been watching over her. Illidan stood on her left and the duo carefully helped Lyra through the doorway, where they headed back to the main area of the Vindicaar, where Xe'ra had been before she met her ultimate fate. When they arrived at their destination Lyra found that there were shining crystal fragments resting around the area where Xe'ra had been placed when they teleported her to the ship, though at the same time Lyra could feel a familiar power coming from them... one that she had only felt when it had been infused into her body for a few seconds back in the Tomb of Sargeras, and again when Xe'ra tormented her body.
While she knew that Xe'ra hadn't touched the Dark Magic that she had unlocked, as she was sure that only Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would be able to purge her of that if they so desired, she knew the Prime Naaru had succeeded in a different sense... she had imparted the power of the Light into her body, purging her of the fel energy, but she wasn't sure if that was a fair trade or not.
"Lyra, it is good to see that you are well," a voice said, to which Lyra turned and watched as Velen approached the trio, though his attention was solely on her at the moment and she could see that his expression was a sad one, "Please, accept my condolences. I know you went through a lot, and sacrificed a good deal, to get the incredible powers that made you a force to be reckoned with. I'm sorry you had to go through all that effort, only to lose it all."
"Thanks..." Lyra replied, though she was happy to see that Velen, as well as the other heroes of Azeroth that were still in attendance and were staring down at the area as they waited for the next stage of their invasion, were feeling sorry for her loss, "Is there anything that Trixie and I can do?"
"Actually, there is something that you two can do for us." Velen stated, though while he seemed reluctant to put Lyra, who was technically recovering at the moment, to work again he decided that if she wanted to continue her war against the Legion he had no right to stop her, "As you both know, our campaign must not lose momentum. Though she has fallen, I still sense Xe'ra's presence all around us. The Light that shone within her heart can yet be a source of strength for our cause. Turalyon has been deeply wounded by the loss of Xe'ra, though I will do what I can to ease his troubled spirit while you gather the vestiges of the Naaru that remain."
Lyra glanced at the various crystalline fragments that rested around the floor, though as Velen moved towards the High Exarch, who wouldn't even look in Lyra's direction, she and Trixie carefully collected the crystals that were around them. Illidan watched over them, as he was still concerned for Lyra's well-being after what she had been through, though as she picked up some of the crystals Lyra noticed the Light that they gave off seemed to wrap around her arm for a moment, as if confirming what she had been thinking earlier. She could feel the power inside each fragment that she picked up, and maybe even the spirit of the Naaru that they had been a part of before Illidan destroyed her, though as she thought about the Prime Naaru the fragment she was holding seemed to change shape before her eyes, transforming from a simple crystal and became what resembled a golden circlet... one that was built for her head, but was only the left half of an actual circlet since it went over her left ear and stopped at the back of her head, while the front did the same where her horn was located.
She stared at the object for a few seconds, wondering why the Light or what remained of Xe'ra would have created such a thing, but she decided not to bother questioning it as she slipped it into place... to which she wondered why it was only half a circlet, but figured she would have to do something to find the other 'half' of it.
"Normally I would question how you do these things," Trixie commented, though at the same time she smiled as she looked at the strange Light-infused fragment that Lyra was now wearing, because it appeared that whatever Lyra had done had stabilized her friend's energy, for the moment anyway, "but I won't this time around. It seems that the Light felt sorry for what Xe'ra did and gave you something to stabilize your connection to your new powers... at least that's my opinion on what just happened."
"As long as I don't become a paladin, I'll be fine," Lyra replied, though while she had respect for the plate wielding warriors of the Light, who served both the Alliance and the Horde before the Legion invaded their world, she didn't want to be like them, "Come on, let's go show Velen what we've collected."
Despite the fact that one of the fragments had transformed into a section Light-infused crown, the duo was able to collect the remainder of the other pieces that were laying around the area, though the moment they were done with their task they walked up to Velen and informed him of their progress... and wondered what he wanted them to do with with what had once been Xe'ra.
"I sense it. The nobility in Xe'ra's heart. Her relentless defiance of the Legion. Let this be her legacy." Velen said, to which both Lyra and Trixie were surprised that he could feel all of that from simply staring at the fragments that they had collected, "In building the Vindicaar, we fashioned the Netherlight Crucible to harness the tremendous powers at play on Argus. I believe Xe'ra's essence is one key to that potential. Yet the Light alone is not enough. Without balance, there can be no harmony, no cohesion. Infuse this essence into the crucible, heroes. It is the first step in unlocking the strength needed to end the Burning Crusade."
Since neither of them knew where this Netherlight Crucible was located Velen leaded them down to the lower level of the ship, though as they walked down the ramp the duo noticed a strange forge that rested in the back, under the area where they teleported to when they boarded the Vindicaar. The Crucible had two slots that powerful pieces could be installed in, though as they stopped in front of the new forge the duo held up the pieces that they had collected and watched as the fragments were consumed by the Crucible. That was swiftly followed by the last of the pieces disappearing from their hands, before a whole fragment of the Light, looking like it came from Xe'ra herself, appeared on the right of where they were standing.
"An important first step, heroes." Velen said, though he smiled as he looked at the Netherlight Crucible, indicating that what remained of Xe'ra was now safe from harm or being stolen by their enemies, before he turned and faced the duo once more, "If we can bring balance to the Netherlight Crucible, I believe it will make the weapons that you, and the rest of the heroes possess, even more powerful."
"Speaking of weapons, whatever happened to my warglaives?" Lyra asked, as this time around she hadn't seen her weapons since she had woken up, but she was sure that someone was holding onto them.
"Illidan moved them to a weapon stand, as they went flying from your body when you hit the ramp earlier," Trixie replied, as that had been something everyone missed when Xe'ra started trying to enforce her will on Illidan, but the weapons seemed to have rejected Lyra the moment the torment was complete, "Lyra... the Twinblades rejected you as their owner when Xe'ra purged your body of the fel energy, so they're worthless to you at the moment."
"And that means I need a new weapon for the foreseeable future." Lyra moaned, because now she was regretting even helping Turalyon bring the Prime Naaru aboard the Vindicaar, because Xe'ra had cost her nearly everything she had worked for since she started training under Lord Illidan.
"That can be arranged," Velen stated, to which he nodded to one of the Light-infused Draenei, who approached the trio and presented a bundle to them, one that was shaped like a weapon, where the Prophet removed the cover and revealed the weapon that had been brought over to them, "Lyra Heartstrings, this weapon should serve you well in the days to come. It has no name, not like Trixie's staff, Aluneth, and the other weapons that the other heroes have collected for this war, but should you feel the need to name it, then by all means do so. It is the least we can offer you, especially after what has transpired since our arrival on Argus."
The weapon in question was a sword, sort of like the one Lyra had seen Allvar use when they were fighting foes together, but even as she thought about that she realized that it was also slightly different, as the guard was wider and there was an area the contained a circular crystal of Light near the handle. Lyra carefully grasped the handle and felt the innate power of the weapon connect with her own energy for a few seconds, though when it was over she felt better, as if the blade had sensed that she wasn't happy about losing her old weapons and had tried to sooth that pain. She was curious as to whether or not the other weapons, the ones like Trixie's that could talk, were like this, but instead of questioning her friend she simply focused on the blade as she pulled it away from the Draenei that was holding the bundle it had been wrapped up in... until she was holding the weapon in her right hand, causing the others to back away from her, as if they were giving her some room.
Lyra sighed as she carefully swung the sword and used her memories of how the warriors used their weapons, finding that her experience in swinging the warglaives, and later the Twinblades, had greatly boosted her abilities in dealing with a weapon, though while she would miss her old weapons she was just fine with a new one... even if it did require forming a new battle style to perfectly use it in a fight.
"Turalyon and I, as well as the other leaders, must go over the next stage of our invasion." Velen said, causing Lyra and Trixie to look at him for a moment, while at the same time he started walking up the nearby ramp and headed back up to the control terminal for the ship, "If you wish to get some real experience with that blade, than you might want to teleport down to the grounds around the Xenedar, as there are more demons gathering around the downed ship. Regardless of what you choose to do, we will inform you of when it is time to make our next move."
Lyra stared at the blade she had been given, which come with it's own sheath that she could attach to her belt, before she sighed and headed up to the command terminal as Trixie followed after her, before the two of them teleported down to the war camp that had been set up near the Xenedar. Sure enough some warriors from the Army of the Light were still fighting the demons that decided to try their hand at taking what wasn't their's, but at least their numbers weren't too terrible. Lyra also noticed that there was a commander type demon, like the Fel Lords she had fought, standing at the back of the pack, which meant she had found her target and walked forward, with her new sword gleaming as she approached the Eredar that were attempting to establish more portals to overrun the defenders. The first one she approached tried to defend herself with a shield of fel energy, but surprisingly Lyra cut through it with her new sword and quickly dispatched her foe before she could retreat... allowing her to spin around and cut through the fel fireball that the other Eredar had thrown at her, where the energy danced around her weapon before she swung the weapon back at her.
Both Lyra and Trixie were slightly shocked by what happened next, as the energy must have been reacting to part of Lyra's thoughts and a golden wave of energy, about the width of a pinkie finger and as tall as they were, erupted from the blade and slammed into the Eredar... effectively cutting the demon in half in a matter of seconds, causing them to look at the sword in shock for a few seconds.
"Lyra, what did you do?" Trixie asked, following the path the wave of energy had carved into the ground and noticed that it went all the way to where Light's Judgment had crashed, as well as killing several demons in the process.
"I have no idea!" Lyra said, though she was happy to have some sort of power now, even one like that, but even as she thought about that she felt something else awaken inside her, something that was familiar to her old fel powers and yet different at the same time, "Now I'm more interesting in seeing what sort of power the Light has given me, to replace the powers that Xe'ra destroyed."
Trixie had to admit that she was interested in these abilities as well, as Lyra had been effective as a demon hunter and was absolutely deadly when she combined elements together, so it only made her wonder what Lyra would be like if she channeled the power of the Light, especially in a manner that was different from paladins and priests. At the same time it made her wonder what had happened to Lyra's shadowy powers, the ones she had gotten from harnessing Dark Magic the few times she had been forced to use it, but she was sure that time would tell what happened to those powers. Still, despite the fact that she didn't know everything about what was going on, Trixie noticed that Lyra released a few blasts of golden energy that mimicked one of her fel attacks that knocked the demons back and damaged them... allowing Lyra to move in for the kill as she continued to test out the abilities that she had access to now.
Khadgar and Illidan remained silent as they, along with Velen, Turalyon, and Alleria stood around the command terminal for the Vindicaar, though as all five of them stood there Romuul stood at the helm of the terminal, so that he could input whatever command was asked of him. Velen hadn't lied when he told Lyra and Trixie that he needed to discuss the next stage of their plans with the other leaders, but they had come to a decision rather quickly, thanks to the experience that he had from when he lived on the planet and the experience that the commanders of the Army of the Light had due to their war against the Legion. They all agreed that they would stop at Antoran Wastes before heading to Mac'Aree, where Velen knew a certain pair of relics had to be resting at that very moment, which they could definitely use in their ongoing war at the moment. The real reason they wanted Lyra and Trixie off the ship wasn't because it would take them hours to determine the next point they wanted to attack, but rather they were all interested in what sort of powers had awoken inside Lyra, as they had all felt something happen inside her and knew that many of the heroes did as well.
"Romuul, show us Lyra and Trixie." Velen said, because if they were going to be discussing the two Equestrians, and he knew they weren't from Azeroth based on his own experience and what Khadgar had told him earlier, they needed to be able to see them.
"Right away Prophet." Romuul replied, to which he tapped several of the commands on the terminal, causing the group to watch as an image of the two girls in question appeared above the center of the terminal, where it appeared that Lyra was currently fighting at that very moment.
"They are an interesting pair." Turalyon commented, though at the same time the group watched as Lyra sent a wave of golden energy at an Eredar and killer her opponent in seconds, before she got excited and continued testing out the new abilities that she had, "What in the name of the Light are they?"
"Equestrians... and not to be mistaken for the horses you ride." Illidan stated, though as he spoke he smiled for a few seconds, because he and Khadgar knew more about Lyra and Trixie than anyone else, since the two of them had trained one of them to this point in time, but he did pause when he saw a fel type attack being used with the energy of the Light, which amused him a tiny bit, "They hail from a world called Equus, where the inhabitants are supposedly peaceful and not drawn to war like the Alliance and the Horde are drawn to war with each other, and a good majority of the creatures that live there have some connection to magic and the elements. Lyra used to tell me that she was one of the weakest unicorns in her entire world and wasn't much of a fighter, but after hearing what the Legion was capable of doing, and seeing the state that the Outlands was in, she became devoted to stopping them... and became a powerful demon hunter that existed to destroy Sargeras' precious Legion."
"Trixie was sort of the same when she first arrived in on Azeroth," Khadgar added, as he remembered what Trixie had told him when he first decided to take her under his wing and became her mentor, though as that happened he saw Lyra trap several demons with Light-infused chains, before releasing a flash of Light that tore through the demons' defenses and burned several of them in the process, "When Trixie first arrived she was only skilled in using her magic for illusions, but then, when another mage started to show her how to harness her innate magical energies, she quickly became one of the strongest arcane mages in the entire world. The moment she and her friends arrived in Shattrath City, intending to stop the Legion's 'allies', as that was what we believed Illidan was at the time, I saw her potential and took her on as an apprentice, where I spent the next seven years teaching her all about magic, which she absorbed like a sponge. And now, in the wake of the Legion's third invasion of Azeroth, she has awakened a new level of power, that of the Blue Dragons themselves, and has increased her own power to match Lyra's... and, if I'm correct in my assumption, soon she'll find something or do something that will advance her powers even more than they already are."
"You make it sound like we've got some gods fighting alongside our army." Alleria said, though even as she said that Lyra thrust her hand forward and several golden arrow shaped energy blasts erupted from her palm, blowing several demons away and leaving small craters where they had been standing.
"No, they're not gods." Illidan replied, though he could not fault Alleria for thinking that, because she was fairly new to the power that these two girls possessed, which was already turning the tide in this war, even if neither of them were actually aware of that, "Lyra told me that the 'gods' of her homeworld are a pair of seemingly immortal creatures called alicorns, which are ponies with a pair of wings and a horn, though their powers are unlike anything you could have dreamed of. For instance the first pair of alicorns, sisters mind you, are capable of moving both the sun and the moon that are supposed to orbit Equus, while a third one has the power of love... and she, along with her husband, were able to repel some invaders with their love alone."
"Impossible!" Turalyon stated, but before he could say more they noticed that Lyra had started to face off against the commander of the demons and was avoiding his attacks, though that was before she pointed her left pointer finger at the demon, where the group watched as a beam of golden energy slammed into the demon's chest and knocked him backwards, leaving a hole where his heart had been.
"Go ahead and call it impossible, because it's more real that you know," Illidan continued, though at the same time he chuckled, because it seemed like all of Lyra's demon hunter powers hadn't been burned away, rather the Light had purified them and turned them into Light based attacks, as well as unlocking a few new abilities in the process, "From what I have been able to determine something happened to Lyra and Trixie, to bring them all the way to Azeroth and the Outlands, but at the same time that event did something to their already existing powers. Trixie went from being a mere illusionist and became one of the greatest Archmages in the history of Azeroth, rivaling the likes of Khadgar, his mentor Medivh, and possibly even Aegwynn. Lyra went from being a girl scared of demons and transformed into a demon hunter that could give Maiev and myself a run for our money, and now it seems like instead of losing power she's actually gained even more power than what we originally suspected."
"I've long believed that Trixie's powers increased tenfold, at the very least, when she arrived on Azeroth," Khadgar said, as that was more than enough to turn an ordinary spellcaster, regardless if they were a mage or a warlock, into a more powerful member of their class, "and perhaps the power boost is even greater than what we believe it to be. With just two Equestrians we toppled the Nightmare Lord, destroyed Gul'dan and rescued Illidan at the same time, and took out Kil'jaeden before he could bring us crashing into Argus' surface. Trixie, with the help of her friends and allies, was able to take on Elemental Lords, insane Dragon Aspects, the Lich King, three different Old Gods, and Archimonde himself... truth be told, we're lucky that we were the ones that found Lyra and Trixie and not the Legion, otherwise this war would have been over before it even began."
Turalyon realized, while they were watching Lyra practicing what were apparently some old skills with her new powers, that they were fortunate that neither of them had been claimed by the Legion, because if Khadgar was right either of them could have become harbingers of death and destruction if Sargeras got his hands on them. That wasn't taking into consideration the rest of their planet, the intact world called Equus, where the inhabitants were either as strong as the two girls were, before they arrived in this world, would have claimed the same level of power that Lyra and Trixie commanded, if not something even greater than them. If the Legion had gotten it's hands on Equus, and the potentially powerful creatures that called it home... well, he was sure that the entire universe would have been obliterated at some point and they wouldn't have been able to last this long.
"I've seen enough," Turalyon said, turning to his fellow leaders for a few seconds, though they all nodded their heads, as if they knew what he was gong to say before he even said it, "Recall Lyra, Trixie, and the rest of our forces... it's time to take our invasion of Argus to it's next stage and invade the Antoran Wastes, and then, once we're finished there, we'll invade Mac'Aree and finish our preparations for the assault on the Burning Throne."
Despite the fact that losing Xe'ra had caused him to lash out and almost kill Illidan, who he still didn't fully trust, he knew that having Lyra and Trixie on their team was a boon that they couldn't afford to ignore... and he had the strangest feeling that they were going to need their power in the days to come.
Trixie and Lyra, after getting the call from Turalyon to return to the Vindicaar with the rest of the forces that had been fighting on the field before the Xenedar, walked down the ramp and stared at the leaders that were standing near the navigation console that Romuul had command over. Many heroes had seen Lyra's new powers, and the old ones that had been modified by the Light she now wielded, and they all congratulated her on being able to harness a new source of power to replace what Xe'ra had taken from her. Lyra, on the other hand, was sure that the Light had a large role to play in what had happened, especially since her new weapon had reacted so strongly to it, but she nodded her hand and accepted their thanks, before she and Trixie stood before the leaders. They both knew what was coming, as Velen had told them that once their planning was over they would be heading to a new location to wage war with the Legion, though both of them had to wonder what sort of demonic foes they would be fighting this time around.
Just thinking of Velen made Lyra place her hand on her sword, which was now in it's sheath, and recalled what had crossed her mind while she was reawakening her own powers, as a name had come to her while she was fighting the demons and knew that some of the people would be interested in what she had discovered.
"It will take a few moments before all of our soldiers are back aboard the Vindicaar," Velen stated, to which Trixie, Lyra, and the heroes near them nodded their heads in understanding, as they all knew that it would take a minute or two for the Army of the Light to teleport back to this ship, "Lyra, I see that the Light in your eyes is stronger than what it was when you departed earlier. I take it you made a discovery while you were fighting the Legion?"
"Yes, something other than a new connection to the Light." Lyra replied, to which she carefully drew the blade that she had been given and looked down at it, though some of the other heroes sensed that something had changed between her and her weapon, "Felbreaker... that's what I've decided to call this weapon."
"An appropriate name, given the circumstances and our ongoing war," Velen said, where a smile appeared on his face for a moment, while at the same time it was mimicked by a large number of the heroes that were standing around them, before he looked at the two Equestrians, "Now then, I'm sure that the two of you are interested in what we've decided to do, in regards to where we're going first."
"That we are." Trixie answered, as she was sure that Velen and Turalyon had a good knowledge of the planet, both before and after Sargeras claimed it as the homeworld of the Legion, and already knew where they should direct their next stage of the invasion.
"The loss of Xe'ra is a blow, especially to Turalyon." Velen stated, turning his body to the side for a moment, where he beckoned to the High Exarch for a few seconds, before turning back to the duo and the heroes behind them, "But even the Light Mother could not be allowed to force destiny upon us. I wish Illidan had found another way to refuse her... but I too have had choices imposed upon me by the Naaru. This must not distract us from our mission. Now that we have the Army of the Light survivors with us, it is time to press our attack. We need a foothold on the Antoran Wastes from which we can assault the Burning Throne. It is time to deprive Sargeras of his prize!"
Lyra and Trixie shared a glance with each other, because this Burning Throne sounded like the one place that they would definitely want to destroy, especially since it was likely were Sargeras had based a good portion of his forces in preparation for his wars across the universe. As they nodded their understanding everyone braced themselves as Velen gave Romuul the order, to which the Vindicaar left Krokuun, the area the Xenedar had crashed into, and moved across the abyss as they headed to the Antoran Wastes. It didn't take them long to reach their destination, but as the Antoran Wastes came into view the heroes noticed that the area was infested with felfire, fel lava, and appeared to be a massive military base with a station for ships to dock at, a soul engine that was torturing the souls of the captured spirits, and a large imposing fortress that had defenses that would likely blow them to pieces if they even got close to it.
The Burning Throne was, suffice to say, untouchable at the moment, because if they even tried to get near it the defenses would destroy the Vindicaar and kill them all before they could even get inside, which would damn Azeroth and the rest of the universe in the process.
"I never imagined such destruction... such horror." Velen commented, looking upon the area that was below them and remembered what had been here when Argus had been pure and untouched by demons, though this only fueled his rage towards the Legion and their foul master.
"Okay, so what do we do now?" Lyra asked, as while she was no longer the coward she used to be, back when she first arrived in the Outlands and crushed thanks to her training under Lord Illidan, she knew when they were beat before they even did anything, which meant they needed a new plan of attack.
"Alleria and I have scouted this area before, alongside some of our best soldiers." Turalyon said, causing the assembled group to turn towards him, while at the same time he stared at the area that they were resting above and recalled what they had done earlier, "We stationed encampments on either side of our current position, but I fear they will have come under heavy attack. They need reinforcements. Our first order of business is to set up a teleportation beacon directly below the Vindicaar. From there, we will have access to both fronts."
"One of your encampments looks like a good place to station the illidari," Illidan commented, beckoning a hand towards the right side of the Vindicaar, as Romuul had created two images to reveal the exact locations of the areas that Alleria and Turalyon had created the last time they were here, before he turned towards the forces that had come with him and the others, "Illidari. Prepare yourselves for deployment... and do what you do best!"
"Yes Lord Illidan!" the assembled demon hunters replied, to which they gathered their gear and made their way to where Romuul wanted them to stand, before they were teleported down to the area labeled 'Veiled Den', which happened to be the name of the encampment that Illidan had pointed out.
"I will take some of the Lightforged and head down to Light's Purchase," Alleria added, referring to the other encampment that was to the far south of where the Veiled Den was located, which also happened to reveal the exact location that Turalyon wanted them to place a beacon, "I'll need some volunteers to help me and my forces establish the central encampment, so we can begin figuring out how to destroy the Legion's defenses."
Several heroes, oddly enough containing all three warriors and some of the others, immediately gathered their gear and joined the Light-infused Draenei, which Lyra and Trixie learned were actually called Lightforged, before they warped down to the surface below them. As all of that was happening, however, Lyra noticed that Illidan was walking down to the lower level of the ship while the other leaders were talking with Turalyon, to which she and Trixie followed him down to the level that he was heading towards. As they walked down the ramp the duo noticed that the soldiers of the Army of the Light were dispatching some of their warframes, which were flying out to the areas that Alleria wanted them in, though they focused their attention on Illidan, who stared at the Netherlight Crucible for a few seconds as they came to a stop right behind him.
"Lord Illidan, is something wrong?" Lyra asked, as she had to assume that it was about the Burning Throne, because they couldn't do anything about that fortress at the moment, especially with the defenses that Sargeras and his forces had created to protect something important.
"No doubt the High Exarch will fret at the news that we lack the resources to assault Antorus." Illidan said, revealing that the Burning Throne had an actual name, though at the same time he stared at the Light fragment that was resting in front of them, "He is not used to believing his vaunted Army of the Light to be inadequate. However, his pride is no concern of mine. While he plots a new strategy, I will ensure that the Illidari gather the necessary information so that we can plan a proper assault on Antorus, when we find a way around their defenses anyway. I will head down to the Veiled Den soon enough, to be sure that the Illidari have our base set up, but while I do that you two should stay here and help Turalyon and the others."
Lyra didn't really want to stay on the Vindicaar, especially since she had come here to destroy the Legion, and she could tell that Trixie was feeling the same thing, but then she sighed and nodded her head, indicating that she understood what her mentor was telling her. From there she and Trixie returned to the floor of the Vindicaar that she and the others had been standing on when they moved from Krokuun and came to the Antoran Wastes, though as they did so they nodded to the soldiers and heroes that were still being deployed. The two of them knew that the heroes would make sure that the soldiers completed their tasks and prepared the final camp for future troops when the beacon was placed, though at the same time they approached the area that Turalyon was standing in, along with Khadgar and Velen, the only leaders that hadn't departed from the ship yet.
When they approached him, however, both Lyra and Trixie noticed that Turalyon seemed to be happy about something, to which they immediately wondered what sort of good news he could have gotten, in the last minute or two, that could outweigh the situation that they were in at the moment.
"Magni sent for the two of you to meet him in the Krokul Hovel." Turalyon said, referring to the King of Diamonds, someone that Lyra hadn't had the pleasure of meeting in all the madness they had been through, before getting to the reason behind why he wanted to see the two of them immediately, "He has found something that he believes could help us overcome the Legion's infinite armies. We need every advantage we can muster if we are to see this war through. You should seek him out."
Lyra and Trixie shared another glance with each other for a moment before they turned towards Romuul, who nodded his head and teleported the two of them back over to the Krokul Hovel, where they found Hatuun and his people working to keep themselves safe, as usual. The strange thing that Lyra found was a dwarf, carrying no weapons at all, standing near the campfire that Hatuun was standing in front of, though what was odd about him was that Lyra found that his entire body was literally made out of diamonds, meaning that his title reflected his nature and not the fact that he might have found a diamond mine in the past. Still, despite the fact that this was the first time she had ever met the dwarf, she could sense some power coming from him, one that reminded her of what she had felt in Xe'ra's vision when she showed her Sargeras cleaving planets in half... making her wonder if Magni had been blessed by a Titan in some manner, even if the other six had been destroyed by the Dark Titan.
As the duo approached Hatuun and Magni, however, they noticed that they appeared to be talking about something, which had to related to the reason that they had been called back to this area, especially so soon after they had left Krokuun behind.
"The stone's whispers steady my people's hearts." Hatuun said, though his tone suggested that there had been more to the conversation that the duo had missed, but it wasn't their place to ask what they had been talking about before they had teleported to the village, "It is curious that you hear them as well, outsider."
"It's fainter than the breath o' the wind, but it feels so familiar ta me." Magni stated, his voice sounding like a mountainslide or something similar to how an earth type elemental would speak, only in a more human tone, "It's like Azeroth's call, only... it ain't her."
Now that was a piece of information that Lyra found interesting, because it appeared that Magni might be suggesting that Azeroth, the planet they were fighting for, was actually a Titan, and if that happened to be the case it made a lot more sense why Sargeras was trying to destroy the world. Before she could give it some more thought, however, Magni turned towards them and beckoned them forward, to which Lyra and Trixie walked up to the fire and came to a stop when they were near the dwarf.
"Thank ye fer joinin' me. There's somethin' ye have to see." Magni said, to which he turned and looked at one of the smaller caves that was nearby, one that he started walking to the instant he turned towards it, causing both Lyra and Trixie to follow after him, "I've been hearin' whispers ever since we got to Argus. They're just like Azeroth's, only... they ain't hers. I'm convinced that Argus has a Titan of its own that's reachin' out to us! The broken have a relic stowed away that's darn near holy to 'em. Hatuun says they hear whispers from it... I think it might have some sort o' link to Argus itself! It's just in this chamber. Let's see what we can learn."
"So you're telling me that Azeroth is a Titan?" Lyra asked, because this would definitely change the course of their invasion of Argus, especially if the planet they were actually attacking was one was well, "When did we come to the conclusion that such a thing was reality?"
"When Khadgar and I went to Ulduar, it was Magni that told us Azeroth was actually a Titan," Trixie replied, to which she rubbed the back of her head as they moved towards the small cave that Magni was walking towards, especially since there was more she needed to tell Lyra apparently, "it was also Azeroth that told us, through Magni, that we needed the Pillars of Creation to stop the Legion from using the Tomb of Sargeras to invade this world. I'm guessing that, in the heat of all the developments that were happening, someone neglected to tell you that Azeroth was actually a Titan and that she was still not fully developed, so she's not like Sargeras and the others."
Lyra remained silent for a moment, as the confirmation that Azeroth was a Titan had shocked her for a few seconds, but it revealed some insight as to why Sargeras was after the planet in the first place, he was likely trying to destroy Azeroth before she could awaken, as if he was afraid of her. As she thought about that the three of them arrived at the crystal that Magni was bringing them to, though once they arrived at their destination Magni stepped out of the way and let the duo approach the crystal. Lyra and Trixie glanced at each other before turning towards the glowing crystal, where they touched the surface of the stone and closed their eyes as they focused on whatever the stone, and by extension Argus apparently, wanted to show them. A few seconds passed before their minds were taken to a new area, which reminded Lyra of what happened when she woke Xe'ra's heart up, before they noticed that the area they were seeing had to be underground... potentially under the Burning Throne, based on what they were seeing.
Their attention changed when they saw something walking towards the glowing fel green fire that was at the end of the walkway, though both of them noticed that the figure was similar to the Fallen Avatar they crushed back in the Tomb of Sargeras... only this one had red lines etched into it's shoulders and chest, carried a sword that appeared to be broken in half with the top portion looking like it was made out of energy, and appeared to be a warrior of some kind.
"What is your bidding, master?" the warrior asked, though the instant it reached the circular area at the end of the walkway it knelt in the middle of the platform, while at the same time both Lyra and Trixie could tell that it was supposed to be male by the voice.
The circle nears completion. a voice replied, one that could only belong to Sargeras himself, though at the same time it sounded like he was far away at that moment, which would be good for the Army of the Light if the Dark Titan wasn't on Argus while the invasion happened, The mortals must not disrupt the rebirth.
"Those who will not serve shall be destroyed." the warrior promised, though at the same time he stood up and faced the fel flame that was in front of him, before turning around and starting the long walk back to the building that was behind where he was standing, "It is the only way."
Become the instrument of my wrath once more, Aggramar. Sargeras said, his voice echoing through the area that the warrior was in, allowing the warrior to hear him despite the fact that he was walking away from the area he had been kneeling in seconds ago, End this incursion of the Light.
A few seconds later the connection was terminated and both Lyra and Trixie found themselves back in the small cave that the crystal was located in, though as they came back to reality, and realized what they had seen, Lyra realized the danger that they, and Azeroth, were in. One Titan, with a seemingly endless army of demons that followed his commands, was able to topple many planets throughout the universe and destroyed them before moving onto the next one, but now they knew that Sargeras had, somehow, twisted Aggramar into a willing servant. That told Lyra that the situation was more dire than they already believed, because that meant that the Titans were still alive, in a sense, and that Sargeras had captured the souls of those he had slain all those years ago, meaning that he was likely torturing Khaz'goroth, Golganneth, Norgannon, Eonar, and Amun'Thul at that very moment. When she thought about that Lyra realized that, counting the original seven Titans that most people knew about, Argus and Azeroth made nine total Titans... and it explained why Sargeras was so interested in Azeroth, since the planet contained a dormant Titan.
Sargeras was creating a Dark Pantheon, one that would help him destroy the entirety of the universe, and there would be no force in all of existence that would be able to stand up to the Dark Titans, regardless of whether it was the original seven or the expanded nine when he finally broke Argus and Azeroth... and there was only one thing that Lyra could even think to say to something like that, something that was echoed by Trixie at the same time.
"Azeroth was right in sendin' us here." Magni commented, snapping both Lyra and Trixie back to the situation at hand, though even as they did that they kept their thoughts about what they had seen to themselves until they got back to the Vindicaar and told the others the news, "We have to stop whatever it is Sargeras is plannin', or we may not have a home left to save when this is all over. Ye should go back to Turalyon and let him know what ye've seen. I'll stay here and see if I can't glean anything else that might help us."
Lyra and Trixie nodded as they said farewell to Magni, for now anyway, and headed back towards the beacon that was near Hatuun's campfire, to which they bowed their heads towards the chieftain for a few seconds, who nodded his in return, before they accessed the beacon and teleported back to the Vindicaar. Several of the other heroes, those not sent out to the Antoran Wastes to gather information on the Burning Throne and attempt to cut down some of the demons that guarded Sargeras' prize, nodded their heads to the duo as they walked towards the navigation console. Even some of the Lightforged Draenei nodded their heads, meaning that someone must have been spreading stories about the duo, though they paid it no mind as they walked up to the area that Turalyon was standing in, awaiting any news that would benefit them as he clearly thought about something that might aid them in their time of need.
"High Exarch, we have returned." Lyra said, causing the man to turn away from Romuul, who seemed to never leave the navigation console, and faced the duo once more with a look of interest in his eyes, revealing that he was wondering what they had see.
"What did Magni have to show you?" Turalyon asked, cutting right to the heart of the conversation, because he wanted to know if they had some information that would help them in this war or have a target they could take out to damage the demons they would be fighting against.
"Nothing good I'm afraid," Trixie replied, as she knew that some of the heroes and commanders would be upset by what they had to say, but at the same time she knew that they needed to know what they were all up against, "As you know, Sargeras fought and killed the rest of the Pantheon a long time ago, but what no one knew was that he captured their souls and has been torturing them since their battle. According to what we saw, thanks to the still unbroken soul of Argus, our enemy has already broken and twisted Aggramar into a willing servant... and it's only a matter of time until the rest of the Pantheon, as well as Argus, join the Dark Titan. And, since Azeroth has a dormant Titan sleeping inside it, that explains why the Dark Titan is so interested in the planet; he wants to either break Azeroth into a willing servant, or destroy her before she can awaken and potentially rival his own power."
"I knew the situation was bad, but not this bad." Turalyon commented, as that was some heavy news to take and he knew that their chances of winning had just decreased with the mention that they were now facing two Titans, instead of the original one that everyone knew about, "Though maybe this will change things. We have already secured ground near Nath'raxas Hold, which is one of the Legion's chief military fortifications on Argus. Striking it now, and hard, may be our only opportunity to tip the scales in our favor... especially since we're now facing two Titans, instead of one."
"And let me guess," Lyra said, as she had the feeling that since Turalyon was telling them this piece of information, and not any of the other heroes that had been standing near him, waiting for something to do, they were the ones he wanted to send on this mission, "we're leading the assault?"
"In a sense," Turalyon replied, to which he nodded to Romuul, who accessed the navigation console and called forth the image of the imposing base they were going to take on, "You two, as well as some of the other heroes, will join me and some of the Lightforged for an assault on Nath'raxas Hold, which we will prepare for first before we launch the real attack. With any luck we'll be able to take the hold out and cripple the Legion in this area, allowing us to focus on the Antoran Wastes and Mac'Aree areas of Argus. To get to our base you'll have to teleport down to Hatuun's village again and run by the area that Alleria saved us in, until you reach Destiny Point and set up a beacon so we can move into position without giving the Legion time to stop us."
Lyra and Trixie nodded their understanding, wondering why Turalyon hadn't sent someone to actually put a beacon down at Destiny Point while they were busy elsewhere, but they said nothing as they simply teleported back down to Hatuun's village and started moving towards their new destination. The only thing they had to worry about was the large Fel Reaver type machine that was wandering the area between Hatuun's village and the pits they had found Alleria in, but it was easy to bypass the construct and soon they were on their way to Destiny Point. Sure enough when they arrived at their destination they found several Lightforged warriors guarding the small base they had created, along with spotting the area that they decided the beacon was going to be placed in. Lyra, now possessing her own connection to the Light, stepped forward and called the new energy to the surface, where Romuul seemed to sense her actions with the Vindicaar and a beacon struck the area in front of her... to which Turalyon and the heroes he had chosen, along with the Lightforged warriors and some additional supplies, moved down to the area immediately.
One thing that Lyra wasn't expecting was for Lord Illidan to show up as well, as she figured that he would be busy gathering information on the Burning Throne, but since he was here that meant that the other Illidari likely had the situation under control... even as Illidan stepped down near the demon infested area and started cleaving the demons to pieces, to make things easier for everyone else.
"If we do not act quickly, the demons stationed here are more than enough to overwhelm us." Turalyon commented, staring out at what was in front of them, revealing that he understood what they were up against and knew that the rest of his forces were prepared for what they needed to do, "Fortunately I believe that Romuul, Velen, and even the Betrayer have some suggestions for what we can do to improve our standing and weaken our enemies at the same time. Speak to them and see what we can do before our assault on Nath'raxas Hold."
That was the one thing that Lyra hated about some of the people that spoke about Lord Illidan, they called him the 'Betrayer' because people thought he willingly joined Sargeras' side at one point and wanted to destroy Azeroth, when in reality he fooled the Dark Titan into believing that he was changing sides and gained the knowledge that eventually gave birth to the creation of the Illidari. Yet despite all of that some people still believed that he was against them, that he was only bidding his time, weakening the Army of the Light, until he could 'betray' them and join Sargeras' side once more... though she called those people insane and pushed the thought to the side as she and Trixie approached the hologram of Romuul, who only appeared in such a manner when he had something of importance to say to his allies.
"The Army of the Light's warframes have won countless battles on Argus." Romuul told them, though he patiently waited for the two of them to approach his hologram before speaking, to which he beckoned to one of the warframes that had been sent down with them, "Despite their power, not all who descend into the fray return. My modifications to this frame should give us the edge we need, but several critical components are still missing. There are remains of battles past in Nath'raxas that we can still scavenge. If you can find the Invocation Array, some Vindicator Plating, and a Judgement Core, the Legion will feel our fury yet."
Trixie nodded her head, because recovering pieces of machinery for Romuul sounded easy, especially since she was sure that the other two objectives would take them into the area that the components he needed were located in, which meant they could kill two birds with one stone. Once they knew what Romuul wanted of them, and the Draenei returned to his work on the Vindicaar, they turned towards Velen and approached the Prophet, as his task would likely be saving something or blowing something up.
"There is no end to the Legion's depravity." Velen stated, though his eyes were locked on the area in front of them, as he was envisioning something else and sighed after a few moments, "Every battle won, every world conquered, yields more souls to fuel their war machine. They have not yet defiled all of the fallen warriors in the hold, but I fear it is only a matter of time. Please, take this talisman with you into the hold and use it to sanctify any corpses you encounter. They deserve a better fate."
"Of course." Lyra replied, though at the same time she carefully passed the talisman to Trixie, who would likely be able to sanctify the corpses as they fought their way through the area, before the two of them headed down the path that would take them to their destination and stopped by Illidan, who happened to be standing around some demon corpses with a small smile on his face, "Lord Illidan, we were told that you might have some ideas on what we need to do next."
"Despite their strength and their numbers, even the Burning Legion requires order to fight." Illidan said, though he turned his smile towards Lyra, as she was one of the few people who knew what he might say before he actually gave the order to do so, "I'm sure you know this, but you and Trixie should disrupt that order... and make them fall like the rabble they are. The plan is simple. Let chaos reign in their ranks, and the day will be ours."
As Lyra and Trixie descended into Nath'raxas Hold, and began their search for the three items that Romuul asked them to recover, they immediately encountered some demons standing in their way and attacked them, where Lyra rushed them and Trixie stood back to use her magic. Trixie smiled as she loosed arcane blasts and missiles at her targets, as she found that watching Lyra master a few type of power, one that was different from what she was used to, was fascinating to watch, especially when her power over the Light was stronger than she originally realized. One point of that was when Lyra confronted a Dreadlord, that happened to be guarding some plating Romuul needed, and the cuts she dealt to the demon glowed for a few moments, before she drove her blade into her opponent's chest and finished the demon off. The side effect of that was that the Dreadlord's corpse smoldered for a few moments under the intensity of the Light, allowing them to gather the component that Romuul needed and let the souls inside the corpses depart from their shells.
The duo continued forward and assaulted the demons that were in front of them, though as they did so Trixie noticed that some of the heroes that had teleported down to Destiny Point as well charged out at the demons that patrolled the area, making their own tasks easier in the process. Lyra made sure to make sure she and Trixie weren't overwhelmed by the demons that were in front of them, though that didn't stop her from cutting down the Eredar that tried to fight back and used arrows forged from the Light itself to pierce the foes off in the distance, causing the demons to explode when the energy expanded. Lyra imagined that she could have passed for a hunter if she had forged a bow out of the Light, to go with the Lightforged arrows, but she was fine with being what was essentially a Lightforged demon hunter, or whatever her class was supposed to be called at this point in time. Fortunately Trixie was paying a little more attention to the enemies around them, as she blasted an Eredar in the chest with her magic and obliterated the demon in an instant, causing Lyra to focus her attention as she returned to the fight.
Along the way the duo managed to find the second of Romuul's items, the Invocation Array, and continued searching as they sanctified the corpses of the soldiers of the Army of the Light, before they walked over a new portion of the area and found the Judgement Core that happened to be laying out in the open... causing the duo to sigh for a moment as they collected the item in question and, with the majority of the heroes staying in the area, headed back to the grateful commanders that were leading the assault on Nath'raxas Hold.
"Eredar are adept at manipulating the fel that courses through this world." Illidan commented, causing Lyra to nod her head, as the Eredar had been like that for as long as she could remember and knew that they had to be slightly stronger on the Legion's homeworld, "Those who do not shape it into living weapons build other armaments, like the Spires of Woe. The spires will make it difficult for even a small force to penetrate the main stronghold. We must dismantle enough of them to clear the way before we advance upon it."
Lyra and Trixie had seen the left side of the area before Nath'raxas Hold, where the fel energy was more potent than what was on the right side, and knew that something must have been going on over there, which meant they were making some sort of progress... though as they moved up to tell Velen and Romuul the news they noticed that Alleria had decided to join them, where they approached her after telling the Prophet the good news.
"We've been presented with a rare opportunity." Alleria stated, to which she beckoned to some Lightforged Draenei that were dressed up like they were scouts, meaning that she must have found something in this area after she had joined her husband and his forces, "Our scouts have spotted two Shivarra priestesses in the western fel pools enhancing the Legion's war effort. The inner circle of Sargeras' chosen never leave the walls of Antorus. If we take them out, we might be able to sow fear among those closest to the Dark Titan."
The duo grinned for a moment, because taking out the Shivarra priestesses would deal a great blow to the area around them, and potentially the Legion as a whole, but instead of getting too excited they headed over to where the image of Romuul was resting and watched as he teleported the pieces they had acquired to the Vindicaar... no doubt so he could work on it for a few more moments before the warframe was ready for whatever he had planned for it.
"Our warframe is almost operational!" Romuul exclaimed, causing the duo to wonder what they were going to do with this empowered warframe, but they were sure that he was going to tell them the moment it was complete, to which they focused their attention on the hologram, "It just needs a good jolt to revitalize its systems. Warlocks in the pools below infuse pieces of Argus with fel energy to create living siege weapons. If you can extract one, we can use it to jumpstart the warframe's Judgment Core!"
"So destroy the Spires of Woe, kill the two Shivarra priestesses, and get an immaculate felcore," Lyra said, to which the hologram of Romuul nodded his head, indicating that he already knew what the others wanted to tell the duo and agreed with their missions, since it would benefit them all in the long run, "Well then, let's get this part started."
Sure enough Lyra and Trixie headed towards the fel pits, with some of the heroes and some Lightforged backing them, before they rushed the Eredar and the fel created creatures that they had summoned, where Lyra slammed into the first demon she came across and cut into her target as Trixie backed her up from behind. Their allies joined them instantly, attacking the demons and the other creatures that where around them, though as they fought the demons Lyra grinned as she approached one of the Spires of Woe and gathered the Light to her, before shattering the spire with a burst of energy. The other heroes did the same thing with the other spires they came across, shattering the weapons that the Eredar had created, while also killing all of the demons that wanted them dead, though one of the things they focused on was the Infernals that had to contain the felcore Romuul needed... and sure enough, thanks to the efforts of a hunter that also happened to be a jewelcrafter, they managed to find the felcore with ease.
Once that objective was complete they focused on tearing their way through the Eredar and fel creatures that were all around them as they searched for the Shivarra priestesses, where they discovered that the first one was experimenting on the corpses of it's own allies and they took it out with some relative ease... and the other one actually appeared to be working on empowering something, only to fall when the combined might of the heroes charged at it.
"These are the best Sargeras can post here?" Lyra asked, as she was worried that they would be lured into a false sense of security with the enemies they were fighting, something that the others seemed to agree with, before she sighed and headed out of the area, "Whatever... let's just tell the commanders the good news and see if we can't finish this assault up before something happens."
Lyra, Trixie, and the heroes returned to Destiny Point, leaving the Army of the Light to take out the remaining demons and fel creatures that were in the area, before telling the commanders that they had completed all of their tasks and that they were eager to see what was next in their assault.
"No war is won by a single act, but without the spires protecting them the rest of the hold will fall as well." Illidan said, though this time around he accompanied the heroes up to where the hologram of Romuul and the other commanders were waiting for them.
"Thanks to your efforts, our enemy is in disarray and their defenses inoperable." Turalyon stated, turning to look at the group of heroes for a moment, or more accurately Lyra and Trixie, beofre he revealed what the next stage of their assault was going to be, "We must take the ground at the spire's base and tighten the noose around their commander's neck. You have more than earned the honor to take the warframe into battle. We will follow your lead once the way is clear... and after that we'll take the fight to the lord of this hold."
Trixie nodded and climbed into the seat of the warframe, which immediately started to rise off the ground the moment she climbed into it, revealing that it might have an autopilot function of some kind, though as she started to move away from the base Lyra jumped onto the back of the machine and let it take off. It didn't take them long before they reached the courtyard of Nath'raxas Hold, though as they landed Trixie smashed several demons under the warframe and started using the commands to hurl Light empowered spheres at her targets. Lyra, on the other hand, landed near her friend and started her assault by zeroing in on the portals the demons were opening, as she used her new powers to cut and blast her way to the portals before she silenced the gateways in question. The last thing she wanted was for more demons to pour out into the area before the Army of the Light could arrive, though at the same time she smiled as she watched Trixie smash the demons and crush them with the warframe.
It took them a few minutes to clear the immediate area of enemies, for the moment anyway since they had no idea what else was waiting for them, though once that happened the duo received a communication from Turalyon, which came through the systems of the warframe.
"Lord Nath'raxas rules over this hold as thanks for his role in delivering Argus to the Legion many years ago." Turalyon told them, where their attention was drawn to the entrance of the hold that was in front of them, to which the duo realized what they were going to do next, "Make no mistake, he is powerful, but he has also grown overconfident in his seat. Take advantage of his hubris and make use of the warframe's firepower while you can. We will storm the courtyard shortly!"
With the final task of this area given to them, and the communication terminated, the duo marched the warframe into the entrance of the hold and smashed their way through the two Wrathguards that were guarding the entrance, before they made their way down into the hold... where they found the powerful Eredar, wielding a scythe, standing in the middle of the area in front of them. The moment they discovered their foe Trixie engaged the jump feature of the machine and launched herself into the air, before she slammed down near Nath'raxas and started using the warframe's powers to deal as much damage as she could while avoiding their foe's attacks. Lyra jumped her and hacked into the demon's arms and legs as she dodged attacks, though when they reached a certain point in the battle Nath'raxas forced Trixie to eject from the warframe and continued the fight. Fortunately that didn't seem to matter in the long run, as their foe couldn't hurt them despite his best efforts and confirmed his hubris, before they toppled him and caused him to crash to the ground in defeat, where he would take his last breath before dying.
As Nath'raxas breathed his last, however, he proclaimed that with his death, HE would come, to which the duo glanced at each other in worry, as they recalled what Aggramar had been doing when the vision had been shown to them, to which they hurried outside. There they found the Army of the Light already teleporting their soldiers and the other heroes back to the Vindicaar, though as they did so they heard a sound in the air above them, to which Lyra and Trixie looked up as a meteor crashed into the area on their immediate left. Fortunately Lyra had summoned a barrier made of the Light to protect herself and Trixie for a few seconds, though as she lowered that barrier, and found flames resting all around them, the duo watched as Aggramar rose from the area he had landed in. The enslaved Titan said nothing to them as he raised his sword into the air and readied what would be the killing blow, though Lyra, once more thinking quickly, called her new power to the field and connected to the Light of the Vindicaar... to which she teleported herself and Trixie back up to the Vindicaar, narrowly avoiding Aggramar's blade.
Another fortunate thing was that Lyra had dropped them right in front of the navigation console, behind Romuul of course, and they approached Turalyon, who had seen what happened thanks to the viewer that had been installed inside the Vindicaar... though it was clear that the news of Aggramar's return didn't sit well with him, especially since it confirmed what Lyra and Trixie had told him earlier.
"It appears that you two were correct, Aggramar lives once more," Turalyon said, though he knew that this didn't bode well for their forces, because now they definitely had two Titans to contend with and he didn't know if they could even defeat one of them at this point, "as one of Sargeras' servants. Velen, do you have any insight on this matter?"
"We knew the Legion to be a formidable foe, but recent events demonstrate that we do not possess the necessary strength to continue." Velen stated, to which he turned and looked out the window that was in front of them, where Lyra and Trixie noticed that he was looking for something specific and smiled when he found it, "We have come too far to fail at this critical moment. I know of a relic on Mac'Aree, my ancient home, that may be our salvation. We must take the Vindicaar beyond the surface of Argus, to the floating ruin suspended above us. Perhaps there we will find the salvation we so desperately need. Romuul, would you do the honors?"
"Of course Prophet." Romuul replied, to which he turned back to the navigation console and input the commands that were necessary for what Velen had in mind, where the heroes watched as the Vindicaar left Krokuun behind and headed towards what would have been the atmosphere of Argus.
Between Krokuun and the atmosphere, however, resting a floating chunk of land that appeared to be almost entirely intact, save for the fact that it had been pulled from Argus' surface, though as they came to a stop above the land Lyra and Trixie realized that this place was almost untouched by the fel energies that had ravaged Argus. It was as if the Legion didn't care for Mac'Aree and had left it the way it was, though at the same time Lyra could feel the pull of something else, something that spoke to the darkness inside her body. She realized what it was, as the Dark Magic was reacting to an artifact or something that would become the second half of the golden circlet she was wearing, the shadowy portion she soon realized. For a moment she thought about to Xe'ra's prophecy, about the Child of Light and Shadow, and wondered if she had mistaken darkness for shadow, as it almost seemed like it could have been referring to someone other that Lord Illidan... namely her, if she was correct in her thinking.
Regardless of whether she was the 'Chosen One', or her mentor was, didn't matter in the long run, as they would do everything in their power to topple the Legion and stop Sargeras from completing his terrible mission... but first they would have to descend to Mac'Aree, find the artifact Velen was talking about, and overcome whatever Lyra was feeling before they thought about the Burning Throne and their eventual assault on Sargeras' prize.
Lyra, Trixie, and the rest of the heroes, even some of the commanders and Lightforged Draenei, stood where they were for a few minutes, staring at the one place, in all of Argus, that had remained untouched and unsoiled by the Legion, even if such a thing was impossible to think about. No one was sure how Sargeras and his demons hadn't come up here at some point, especially since Archimonde and Kil'jaeden could have come here at any moment, but the fact remained that the Legion hadn't infused the fel taint into the land. Of course those that used the darker arts, such as the priests that tapped into the void for instance, could feel the shadowy energy coming from somewhere in Mac'Aree, while Lyra was the only one that could feel the presence of the other half of her personal circlet, waiting to be forged anew. Of course it was possible that by them coming up here the demons would take an interest in the area and come here as well, but they already planned on working fast.
Since only one person among them, to the best of their knowledge, knew what they might face down there, even if the old defenses might still be active, they still turned to Velen and found that he appeared to be lost in thought for a moment as he stared down at Mac'Aree... and he only snapped back to reality when Lyra gently touched his shoulder, to which he nodded to her before speaking to those that were around him.
"The shattered ruin below us is all that remains of Mac'Aree... we called it the Jewel of Argus. It was here that my fellows in the Triumvirate guided our people to prosperity. That was a long time ago." Velen stated, recalling part of the past again as he slipped into silence for a few seconds, though he eventually sighed and turned towards Lyra and Trixie, indicating that he wanted them to come with him, "Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, I would like for you to join me on the surface. We will begin our search for the Crown of the Triumvirate."
"We would be honored to join you down on Mac'Aree," Lyra said, to which she tapped her new sword for a moment while Trixie tapped the base of her staff against the floor, meaning that they were both ready whenever Velen was, and they hoped he would tell them about this mysterious Crown he had just mentioned.
"What can you tell us about Mac'Aree?" Trixie asked, as she was sure that there was a large portion of their group that was interested in what they were seeing before them, even if some of them, like Romuul, were shocked to be back in this one part of Argus.
"It used to be the pinnacle of Eredar civilization." Velen commented, answering the question like he was still focused on the land in front of them, though they both guessed that it was hard for him to see this area again, especially since he likely had to leave quickly before he was caught by those he had called his friends, "A beacon of progress... that drew the malevolence of the universe to our very gates. The last time I saw this place, all I could think of was escape. Talgath, who had been my trusted advisor at the time, had betrayed me... as I had told him about my plans to leave Argus and asked him to bring my family with him. Instead, he went to Kil'jaeden... and the rest you know."
Lyra and Trixie knew part of the tale, as Kil'jaeden had twisted Velen's son into a tool that would eventually come to hate and utterly despise Velen, maybe for reasons he never understood, and eventually sent Rakeesh to attack the Exodar, where he met his end and the Prophet recalled why he received that one prophecy all those years ago. Coming here was extremely painful for Velen, that much they could tell from looking at him, but he was still strong enough to steel himself and cast his feelings aside for the moment. Eventually Velen sighed and turned towards Romuul, who nodded his head and accessed the navigation console, to which he teleported Lyra, Trixie, and Velen down to Mac'Aree's surface, so they could begin their quest for the powerful artifact Velen wanted to recover. As they arrived on the surface, however, Velen seemed to freeze as something from the past returned, to which Lyra and Trixie waited for a few seconds, taking in the sights as they marveled at how the place could have remained untouched for so long.
That was shortly followed by Velen returning to reality and turned his gaze towards the path in front of them, which would likely bring them to the first area that a beacon would be dropped in, but his eyes narrowed as he felt something stir in the air around them.
"Wait... something stirs." Velen said, though as he took a single step forward spirits of the Draenei, those that had been fighting the Eredar and those that had been running for their lives, appeared in front of them and continued to act out the last scenes of their lives, only now being brought back since someone had visited this place at long last, "Spirits... of those who died that day."
Velen immediately started walking forward, though at the same time Lyra stood to his left while Trixie did the same on his right, because if something was going to attack them they wanted to be prepared ahead of time, so they could determine the direction before their next foe surprised them... while at the same time Lyra heard the faint sound of something in the air, something she couldn't place since it was her first time hearing it.
"I can still hear the Naaru's song of war." Velen stated, revealing what was in the air around them, which must have been stuck in his mind since this fateful day, unable to forget about it whenever he recalled what happened when he and his kind tried to leave Argus, "There was one who held the way open for us. She fell behind, and I can still feel her presence even now... but her song is bitter, distorted."
That was when they reached the end of the path, where the fighting was happening between the spirits of the Eredar and the spirits of the Draenei, and Velen summoned a barrier of Light around them for a moment, though that only gave him the chance to stare at the echo of the Naaru he had briefly mentioned.
"L'ura..." Velen said, naming the Naaru that must have been left behind when Velen and the others fled, though even if that was the case, and they had left L'ura behind, Velen had likely never forgotten the Naaru, and that was proven to the duo when they heard the sorrow in his voice, "It is as if the battle never ceased. How long have they suffered like this?"
"Prophet, tell us what to do." Trixie said, though at the same time Lyra nodded her head, because neither of them liked seeing spirits like this, especially ones that had been trapped in this manner for thousands of years without any form of rest or respite, "There has to be a way to stop this madness."
"This is the battle that raged while I awaited the Genedar." Velen replied, recalling what happened that fateful day with a sorrow that matched what he was feeling back when they were on the Vindicaar, "So many ran to join me, but Kil'jaeden inspired still more to stand in their way. My people were slaughtered without mercy. To cover our retreat I ordered for this arena's defenses to be activated. It is clear that they were unable. To turn the tide in this battle, to give these spirits rest, we must do what they could not. Find the cores and reactivate the pylons."
"Okay, meaning we kill the evil echos and protect the innocent ones," Lyra stated, understanding what she and Trixie needed to do, especially since someone must have sabotaged the pylons when Velen and his people were trying to make their escape all those years ago, "Anything else we should be told about before we head out?"
"Yes, the Argunite Matrix that powered this part of Mac'Aree was shattered by a hulking beast." Velen told them, to which Lyra's ears perked for a moment, as this meant that there was another creature they had never seen before and would prove to be quite the challenge for them, "We had never seen another like him. He was called Khazaduum and he was a most faithful servant of the Legion. He volunteered to undergo an experimental transformation to become the first of his kind. His arrival was the end of this battle. As a prize he took the Argunite Keystone from the shattered matrix. Find the echo of Khazaduum, destroy him, and take back the keystone... and maybe we can finally end this bloodshed."
Lyra and Trixie descended into the area in front of them and immediately started to search for the proper opponents that they needed to take out, though the first thing Lyra did was zero in on the evil echoes that were attacking the echo of L'ura and those she was trying to defend. Trixie watched as her friend rushed the Eredar spirits and started swinging her Felbreaker sword around the area around her, where the demonic spirits she hit roared in pain as they started to converge on her. Once that happened, and the spirits of those that weren't struck by the blade surged towards her as well, Lyra moved out into the open area and started hacking into her opponents, allowing Trixie to either assist her or search for the missing cores without too much interference from the evil echoes. Trixie decided on targeting the most obvious choice, as she found the remains of the three pylons easily and noticed that there was an echo of an Eredar standing in front of each one, which made things even easier for her.
Trixie smiled as she called her arcane energy to her hands and started blasting the first evil echo that she was targeting, though as it charged at her, and tried to hit her with it's staff, Trixie responded by using Aluneth to block the incoming attack and slammed an arcane empowered palm against her opponent's chest. As she suspected the echo was blown backwards with a hole in it's chest, which wasn't likely to happen against actual flesh and blood enemies, to which she stepped forward and had her mood improve when she pulled out the core she was looking for. From there she approached the downed pylon and slipped it back into the slot that it was supposed to go to, where the crystal device rose back into the air and started to perform it's ancient task, but she could tell that they needed the matrix back online before this area was truly safe. She then headed towards the second pylon, in the middle of the three arches that entered this area, and repeated the process with the Eredar echo that wanted to keep the pylon offline... where she eventually blasted the echo apart and empowered the second of the three pylons.
Once the second one was up and running again, at least to the best of their ability at the moment, she repeated the process once more with the third pylon and smiled as the echo died while the device became active... to which she turned back towards the echo of L'ura and found Lyra cutting down the last evil echo that had come towards her, and she didn't seem all that tired at the moment.
"So, where would we find the echo of Khazaduum?" Trixie asked, as that was the one thing she didn't know about, especially since they had no idea what form the Eredar had taken on after he subjected himself to such a transformation all those years ago.
"Right there." Lyra replied, to which she pointed her blade towards the middle arch, where Trixie spotted a large demon, which looked like an Eredar that was merged with a brutish warrior and had four large spikes growing from his back, standing tall like a general that was about to win a war, "I may not be able to sense the fel energy inside demons anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't sense their presence and find them with ease."
Trixie chuckled as she and Lyra headed through the arch that would allow them to engage Khazaduum, who seemed really eager for battle when they arrived, because he immediately called them weaklings and declared that they were all going to die, meaning he was talking to the Draenei and not them, before he attacked. Lyra and Trixie immediately found that his punches and kicks really backed a punch, revealing the power that he had claimed all those years ago, while also demonstrating that their attacks did some damage to him, but not nearly what they were used to doing against demons and other spirits. When Lyra slipped into using Light based attacks she noticed that her damage seemed to increase, as the echo of Khazaduum staggered a few times during the fight, but she kept the momentum going and continued attacking her target, even as Trixie's spells made him lose focus several times during their fight.
Eventually Lyra jumped into the air and drove the blade of Felbreaker into the echoes chest, where she swung her arm and the Light energy sliced through the echo with ease, though as the two halves fell to the floor, and started to fade away before their eyes, Trixie rushed forward and picked up the Argunite Keystone, before she backed away from the fallen echo... where she and Lyra returned to where Velen was waiting for their arrival.
"Prophet, we have good news." Trixie said, to which she beckoned to the newly awoken pylons, which may not be in complete working order since the matrix was offline, but it was a start, "The pylons in the area have been restored, as their cores have been returned to them."
"Good." Velen replied, to which a smile appeared on his face, before he remembered the second task he had asked them to accomplish and looked at them, "And what of Khazaduum's echo? Did you destroy him?"
"That we did." Lyra answered, where she swung her sword around for a few seconds and returned it to it's sheath, before she looked up at Velen with a grin on her face, "He shouldn't be able to come back for some time, unless his healing was enhanced as well."
"Then we have everything we need." Velen stated, to which he lowered the barrier that he had been channeling the entire time and looked at the duo, knowing that they were likely the key to this war, "In the alcove below you will find the shattered remains of the Argunite Matrix. Replacing the Keystone will restore it to full capacity. The pylons you activated will then be able to repel those who still hunt my people. At long last this battle will be over. I hope it brings them peace."
Sure enough Trixie quickly found the alcove that Velen was talking about and called Lyra over, to which the two of them walked down into the small chamber and found the shattered Argunite Matrix that they had been told about, where Trixie held the keystone out and backed away after it floated out of her hands. The duo watched as the pieces floated back into the air before they realigned themselves, though as they both felt a surge of energy they walked back outside and found that the pylons were now floating high in the air. The echoes, of the Eredar, of the Draenei, and of L'ura herself, were long gone at this point, though they found Velen standing where L'ura had been floating and appeared to be lost in thought, to which they silently approached the Prophet and waited to see if he had anything to tell them.
"My people will never know how I mourned for them... the depths of my regret." Velen commented, though whether or not he was aware of their presence they didn't know, but neither Lyra or Trixie spoke up yet, as they wanted the Prophet to clear his mind before they said anything, "As Argus grew smaller and smaller in the distance, I begged the Naaru to go back. 'That is not your path,' they told me. Is this what they intended?"
"Prophet, I may not be as attuned to the Light as you are," Lyra said, to which she stepped forward and rested a hand on Velen's arm, as she got the feeling that his already sad story was going to get even sadder as they pressed even further into Mac'Aree, but she wanted him to know that they were there for him, "but I'm sure that their spirits know that you mourned their passing and deeply regretted what happened that day."
Velen stared at her for a few seconds, and then did the same thing to Trixie when she stepped forward and did the same thing that Lyra was doing, before he eventually sighed and turned his gaze towards the parts of Mac'Aree that rested outside the area they were in.
"We must continue on, but I feel Mac'Aree is far from finished with us." Velen finally said, to which he reached into his own pack and withdrew a crystal, the same one they used to call down beacons, and placed it where the echo of L'ura had been resting, "We should take advantage of this relative safety while we still can. Lyra, would you help me call down a beacon, just in case we need to fall back to the Vindicaar?"
Lyra nodded and held her hand out towards the crystal at the same time that Velen did, to which their combined powers caused the crystal to return to the Vindicaar before the beacon slammed down into where it had been moments ago, before opening up and creating the teleportation point for them to use. With the beacon operational several of the Lightforged Draenei, the commanders of the Army of the Light that they had met so far, teleported down to the area that they were in and saluted the Prophet, who nodded towards them in turn. Lyra and Trixie recognized Baraat the Longshot, Archmage Y'mera, Grand Vindicator Sorvos, Grand Lector Enaara and Captain Fareeya immediately, since they had met all of them in the past, though the only one they didn't recognize the Lightforged Draenei warrior, who said that he was known as Blademaster Telaamon... to which they greeted the commanders and wondered what was going to happen next.
"Archenon poros, Prophet." Fareeya said, to which she bowed her head towards Velen, indicating that the Lightforged held him in high regards, no doubt because of something Turalyon had said and his own powers over the Light, "The Army of the Light stands with you."
"Your help is most welcome, Fareeya." Velen replied, to which he turned towards Lyra and Trixie for a moment, indicating that what was coming next was the first real step in locating the Crown of the Triumvirate, "Now we may begin our search for the Crown of the Triumvirate. We will start with the fragment Archimonde carried: the Sigil of Awakening. To the east and north you will find all that remains of the greatest school of magic on Argus. It was there that Archimonde gained his mastery of the arcane. I can think of no other place he would stow his treasures. It will be guarded, no doubt. We will leverage the expertise of Fareeya's forces here to follow this trail."
"What exactly is this Crown of the Triumvirate that you keep mentioning?" Trixie asked, as today was the first time she had ever heard of such an artifact, even if it was one known only to the Draenei as a well guarded secret, and she wanted to know something about it.
"An ancient and powerful relic that Archimonde, Kil'jaeden, and I crafted ages ago, to bring prosperity to our people." Velen replied, to which he moved his staff in front of him for a few seconds and tapped the large light pink gemstone that was the center piece of his weapon, "This is the Eye of Prophecy, the piece of the Crown that I took with me to deprive the Legion of the Crown's full power, least they twisted it into a mockery for their own sinister goals. Kil'jaeden held another piece of the ancient artifact, the Crest of Knowledge, while Archimonde carried the Sigil of Awakening... which is located somewhere inside the Conservatory."
"Y'mera can help you out in that regard." Fareeya said, to which the Lightforged Archmage nodded her head for a moment, indicating that she could assist them in some manner.
Lyra and Trixie smiled for a few moments, because it appeared that they were finally getting somewhere in regards to restoring the Crown of the Triumvirate to it's original glory... and, to claim the second fragment, they would likely have to deal with whatever trails Archimonde put in place all those years ago, before he forgot it even existed.
Lyra and Trixie, instead of using their whistles to summon their steads by magic, simply followed the directions that Velen gave them and headed in the direction of the Conservatory that they had been told about, allowing them a few minutes to take in the interesting sights and wonder how the Legion hadn't corrupted this place. There was no explanation behind why Sargeras and his forces wouldn't have come up here, even if either Kil'jaeden or Archimonde asked their new master to ignore Mac'Aree, and yet the demons hadn't tainted this area yet. As they walked down into the area past the barrier, and entered an area where good and evil echoes were still fighting, the duo noticed that even the houses that the Draenei had built before the demons arrived were still standing, despite the fact that some of them had pieces missing from their structures. All they could determine was that because no one had come here since Velen's departure from Mac'Aree, when his fellow rulers betrayed him, everything was left as it was all those years ago... allowing the two of them to take in the interesting sights, and the small warrior like constructs that were either still moving or offline, as they left the area Velen was in behind.
Since they were following Velen's instructions, and there weren't any enemies in the area around them at the moment, Lyra and Trixie were able to reach the Conservatory of the Arcane with some ease, where they found Archmage Y'mera, who simply teleported over here and left them behind, standing near a larger construct that Trixie recognized as a Vigilant construct.
"This place has its share of secrets." Y'mera told them, as she turned and looked at them the moment she noticed their arrival, before she turned back to the Vigilant construct that she was standing in front of, "Thankfully, I know enough of them to get us started. We need to wake the Gatekeeper up, because it should have the information we need to locate the Sigil of Awakening."
"Okay, then tell us exactly what we need to do," Trixie said, as she had the feeling that they needed a new power source to awaken the Gatekeeper, though she had no idea what sort of power source this construct needed, because the only Vigilant constructs she had encountered had been online when she found them.
"I have an idea. We once stored great quantities of energy in conduits throughout the Conservatory. They are still functional, but only just. Take this." Y'mera explained, to which she handed Trixie a brightly glowing crystal, one that Lyra stared at for a few seconds when the crystal was given to them, before they both tuned their attention to Y'mera as she continued to explain their task, "It will provide a small burst of magic that should help stabilize an erratic conduit. I think I have enough stored for eight or so. Stabilizing a few should allow us to access the whole network."
"Nice." Lyra said, though in reality she had next to no idea what the Archmage was talking about, but since Trixie seemed to understand what was going on she simply nodded her head, knowing she could ask her friend about the task if she needed clarification on something, "Anything else we should do while we're out there?"
"We should seek out an alternate source of energy just in case I am wrong about the conduits. Luckily enough, I think I know where we can find one." Y'mera stated, to which she pointed over to another section of the Conservatory, where the duo noticed some sort of panther creature walking in front of a nearby building, "The panthara native to Argus are solitary creatures, but it seems whatever magic the Wakeners possessed has drawn them here in great numbers. This is no time to be gentle with the environment... panthara devour energy to survive. Slay them and see if you cannot reclaim some of the power they have consumed."
"Well, that's nice to know." Trixie replied, as she had some experience with energy devouring creatures over her long exposure to everything she had fought against over the last seven years, before she beckoned to Lyra and the two of them departed from where the Gatekeeper was resting.
Lyra and Trixie started to explore the Conservatory of the Arcane and took in the sights around them, as the area on their immediate left happened to be some sort of testing area by the looks of things, as there were three statues and several buildings, along with some protective barriers keeping things from entering the structures. As they reached the teaching area Lyra turned around and looked at the area that was behind them, directly in front of where Y'mera and the Gatekeeper was located, and spotted the courtyard of the Conservatory, and behind that was the area that the panthara now lived in. In line with the courtyard was another building that was also sealed off, while also appearing to be of some importance, and near that structure was a pathway that lead to a larger building, one that Trixie stared at for a few seconds before turning towards the pylons that they needed to siphon some energy from.
Lyra understood what Trixie was feeling, because her gaze was lingering on the massive temple like structure off in the distance, as she could feel the same power she felt back up on the Vindicaar coming from it, meaning that she might have found where the shadowy power was coming from... and she wondered if Trixie had felt the presence of the Sigil of Awakening, but she said nothing as they continued on they way and gathered the necessary energy.
Once the duo gathered enough energy inside the crystal that Y'mera had given them, which did have enough room for eight different charges, they headed towards the part of the Conservatory that the panthara roamed and started attacking the energy devouring cats. The panthara didn't take too kindly to them coming and attacking them, which was to be expected of some feral creatures, but Lyra and Trixie attacked them like they attacked everything else, with Lyra at the head of the assault while Trixie stood back a bit and blasted her targets with magic. When the current group of cats had been taken care of, and before they moved on, Lyra sighed as she sliced open the stomachs of the panthara they had killed and found the goo-like substance that had to be what Y'mera was looking for. It was slightly disgusting work, but Trixie was used to stuffy like this, especially since she had seen the horrors of the Scourge for herself and Lyra had seen what the demons did to their captives, so they were able to ignore the disgusting portion of their work as they continued to fight and kill more panthara.
After a few minutes of fighting, and gathering the partly digested arcane energy they had been chewing on, Lyra stopped pulling more of them when Trixie indicated that they likely had enough for Y'mera, to which the two of them headed back to where the Gatekeeper was located and found the Lightforged Archmage working on it... who was extremely thankful for their efforts to help her as they gave her the items she requested from them.
"It was a good thing we sought two sources of energy. Even with the conduits active, the construct has not stirred." Y'mera told them, beckoning to the Gatekeeper for a few seconds, though at the same time Trixie approached it and stared at the construct for a few seconds, as she was curious as to what they needed to do next, "It has likely been inactive a long while. Perhaps as long as Mac'Aree has floated above Argus. What a long, lonely vigil it must have been. Go ahead and jostle it a little. That combined with one last burst of magic ought to do the trick."
Trixie raised an eyebrow for a moment, as she was surprised that Y'mera would suggest 'jostling' something like the Gatekeeper, before she eventually sighed and approached the construct, where she placed her hand against the metal and focused her mind for a moment. A few moments later she felt the spirit inside the Gatekeeper stir, which was followed by her backing up as the shoulder pieces of the construct moving, before the arms and legs moved a little and the Gatekeeper stood there in an animated state, meaning that they had succeeded in their mission.
"I am restored." the Gatekeeper said, though that was when Y'mera moaned a little, telling Trixie that the Archmage knew the person whose spirit was inside the construct, meaning that this was likely going to be tough for them to get through if the spirit decided to hinder their progress.
"Oh no..." Y'mera said, though her tone told Lyra and Trixie everything, meaning that they had to be careful before something serious happened, especially since they needed the Gatekeeper's help, "I know that voice."
"Exile Y'mera." the Gatekeeper stated, revealing that, before the area was abandoned, that those that had fled from Argus had been labeled with 'Exile' status, likely something that Archimonde had done in the off chance that any of them actually returned to Argus, "Why have you returned?"
"Vigilant Quoram," Y'mera started to say, her tone trying to be formal in this situation, despite the fact that she clearly wanted nothing to do with the spirit that was inside the construct, "we need to..."
"Conservatory resources are not available to one of your... status." Vigilant Quoram replied, revealing the truth of the matter, that Archimonde had been smart enough to put this status on those that had survived the terrible events that Velen had relived earlier.
"Of all people to become Gatekeeper..." Y'mera said, to which she sighed for a moment as she walked away from where Vigilant Quoram was standing, who seemed to be completely ignoring her for the most part, "Lyra. Trixie. Perhaps one of you had better do the talking."
Trixie and Lyra looked at each other for a few seconds, because this seemed to be a common occurrence for them, before they sighed and Trixie stepped forward, as she had the most experience in arcane type constructs and would know what to say or what to do in this situation.
"Vigilant Quoram," Trixie said, causing the pieces of the Gatekeeper to shift a tiny bit, as it appeared that the spirit inside the construct was interested in what she looked like, or at least that was what she assumed was going through the spirit's mind at the moment, "We need your assistance... we seek the Sigil of Awakening."
"The Sigil is the Conservatory's highest honor. Only Archimonde's chosen may pursue this accolade." Vigilant Quoram replied, confirming Trixie's suspicions that this wasn't going to be easy, but all of her adventures had never been easy and she was prepared for whatever she and Lyra had to do this time around, "I am obligated to inform you that the master created trials specifically for this purpose. I am also required to allow the uninitiated to participate in the trials of Tenacity, Cunning, and Mastery."
"Sounds easy enough." Lyra spoke up, to which she grinned for a moment, as she was sure that she and Trixie could overcome whatever trials Archimonde set up all those years ago, especially since Trixie's skill over the arcane was much stronger than it had been when they were living on Equus, "So, what do we have to do?"
"My master Archimonde was not known for his willingness to suffer indecision." Vigilant Quoram stated, though at the same time there was something in his tone that told Trixie that there was something they hadn't noticed yet, which made her worry that the Vigilant had a nasty surprise waiting for them, "He preferred to teach by rewarding frustration with more frustration... punishment with more punishment. Absolute conviction was required to succeed under him. At the opposite end of the Conservatory you will find a large structure. Once inside, your goal is to overcome all the obstacles placed before you. Emerge unscathed and I will be forced to consider your will strong enough to proceed."
"Very well," Trixie said, as she was surprised that the Trial of Tenacity seemed that simple, but she had been fooled by simple tests in the past and wondered what sort of trick Archimonde put in this one, "but I'm sensing there's more to this than you're saying."
"Archimonde expected greatness from his pupils. Only the most imaginative minds, the most adroit of intellects, could ever truly fathom the deepest reaches of our magic." Vigilant Quoram continued, to which he turned towards the left side of the Conservatory, to someplace that Trixie and Lyra recalled since they had passed by the area with three statues earlier, "I doubt you can relate. The path to the left will take you to a set of three statues. Use them to collect a Mark of Cunning. To preserve the integrity of this trial, I will not be able to provide hints. If you do, by some miracle, happen to succeed, I will formally recognize your... brilliance."
"And?" Lyra inquired, knowing that there had to be a third test, as these usually came in trio's, while at the same time mentally knowing that they could already best the two trials that they had been told about, "What's the third and final test that your master set up?"
"Archimonde was an individual consumed by the pursuit of power." Vigilant Quoram stated, to which the duo nodded, as that was the reason behind why he had betrayed Velen and joined Kil'jaeden in taking Sargeras' power, "Only those who could match his lust would fare well under his tutelage. You will fight what remains of Archimonde's greatest pupils. These three once held such power in their own disciplines that the Conservatory remembers them now. Their echoes will try to kill you. Best all three with all your limbs intact and I will recognize your strength. And, for it to be fair, only one of you may take on Archimonde's trials."
And there was the condition that Trixie knew was coming, because if it had been her and Lyra tackling the trials together they would have smashed through all of them and come back here in record time, but at the same time she already knew what Lyra was thinking. Still, to be absolutely sure that she was right in her thinking, she glanced over to her friend and looked at her for a moment, to which Lyra nodded and took a step back, revealing that she had faith in Trixie's abilities and that she would best the trials with ease. With the decision made, and Lyra allowing her to see how well she did against Archimonde's trials, Trixie stepped forward with a smile on her face, because she was interested in getting the trials over with.
"Very well, I shall take on the trials by myself." Trixie stated, though before Vigilant Quoram could say anything she headed to the left and departed from the area that Y'mera and Lyra were standing in, where she headed back towards the area that the statues were in.
Her plan of attack was simple, she was going to tackle the Trial of Cunning first, since it was the closest one to her, and then she would head back to the building that the Trial of Tenacity was located in, as they seemed to be the simplest of Archimonde's trials. Since the Trial of Mastery involved her battling three of Archimonde's former students, or more likely their echoes, she wanted to have as much power as possible for when she engaged them, especially since she was sure that they were going to be difficult to face in battle. As such she made her way over to where the trio of statues were standing and noticed that they had glowing symbols above their heads, more specifically a red, blue, and yellow symbol, while three more symbols, baring an orange, green, and purple coloration, rested around three specific parts of the area. While she came to a stop in front of the statues, and considered whether this was an easy test or it was designed to look easy when in reality it was something much harder, though at the same time she heard Vigilant Quoram walking up the path behind she so he could see her take on the trials by herself.
In the end she decided to take the blue and yellow 'blessings' from their respective statues and watched as the symbol that appeared above her head was the green one, where the barrier around the floating green symbol seemed to fade away for the moment. She carefully approached the area that the arcane barrier had been protecting and found a chest, one that contained a metallic fragment of some kind that appeared to be linked to this very trial, to which she collected it and backed away from the chest. A few steps later the symbol above her head vanished and the barrier snapped back into existence, revealing that she needed to be quick about gathering what was inside each of the chests, otherwise she would have to create the appropriate symbol again. With that determined, however, she returned to the trio of statues and considered the combinations she knew while staring at the remaining two symbols she needed to overcome, while also noting that Vigilant Quoram was silent the entire time.
The blue and red symbols allowed her to create the purple symbol, which in turn allowed her to approach the building on her immediate left and found a chest containing the second fragment she was after, before she returned to the statues and thought about the third barrier... where the red and yellow symbols created the necessary orange symbol that allowed her to enter the building with the barrier and secure the third fragment.
With the three fragments in hand, or more accurately the Mark of Cunning as Vigilant Quoram called the three fragments when they were together, Trixie headed towards the large building that the Trial of Tenacity was supposed to be housed in. When she arrived she noticed that the barrier to the interior was still up, to which her silent follower approached the doorway and undid the seal for the moment, allowing her to slip into the building before he disappeared to some unknown area. As it turned out the floor in from of her had glowing circles, which appeared to be runes of some kind, that alternated between purple and red, though she immediately noticed that it would be in her best interest if she avoided the red colored runes and followed the path that the purple ones created. Since it was pretty straightforward Trixie advanced forward and followed the path in front of her, where she safely arrived at the other end of the first room and found that she had to dodge moving arcane spheres and arcane beams to enter the next area.
Trixie, instead of rushing forward, stood there for a few seconds and watched as a pattern emerged, to which she carefully picked the perfect moment to walk forward and soon enough she was in the part of the building that housed the stairs to the next level, which had painful looking arcane spheres moving down the steps. Fortunately the spheres seemed to follow a pattern as well, to which she studied them for a few seconds and started making her way to the floor above her, pausing to let some spheres pass her, before she walked up the stairs and stepped out of the building, where the magical image of Vigilant Quoram rested. With some reluctance the Gatekeeper declared that she had passed the trial, merely because he ran out of space to test her, and allowed her to continue to the final trial, to which she jumped down into the area before her and made her way to the courtyard. It didn't take her long to reach the courtyard, especially since it was close by to where the second trial had taken place, but when she approached the former students of Archimonde, and challenged one of them to a duel, something interesting happened.
Instead of the middle one accepting the challenge on her own, since that was the one that Trixie had challenged, all three of them accepted the challenge as one and charged at Trixie, effectively forcing her backwards as they rushed her with their powers. As Trixie started to fight them she realized that these were the not yet corrupted forms of Lord Jaraxxus, Aargoss, and Arch Magus Velysra, powerful demons that she and the other heroes had encountered over the years. While Jaraxxus and Velysra's echos stood back, and hurled spells at her, Aargoss' echo charged at her and swung his sword at her, though to defend herself against the fury of blows, while also casting spells to block and damage the mages, Trixie used Aluneth to parry her foe's attacks. That wasn't an easy thing to do, considering that the echo was stronger than what she was expecting him to be, revealing that the heroes who had killed his present day counterpart had likely overwhelmed him in some manner. The only downside to using Aluneth in such a manner was that the blade managed to put a scratch in the shaft that Trixie held onto when she was carrying her staff, to which Trixie slammed a powerful spell into the chest of Aargoss' echo and blew it back into the structure behind it.
As the first echo fell the other two seemed to step up the pace in an effort to bring them down, though Trixie, her power backed by a slightly pissed off arcane spirit that was trapped inside the staff itself, unleashed a few more powerful spells than what she usually used and smashed through the spells that were thrown at her. The instant the two remaining echoes realized that they were in trouble, when their magic faltered for a the tiniest of moments, was when Trixie loosed a surge of power and knocked them down as well, proving that she was stronger than them. Once the echoes had admitted defeat, and Trixie huffed for a moment since those spells were more draining than she realized, she tapped Aluneth on the ground and headed back to where the Gatekeeper was waiting for her return.
"I've completed the trials." Trixie stated, to which Lyra and Y'mera smiled as the news, despite the fact that Lyra clearly knew that she was going to succeed in her mission, before she turned her attention over to Vigilant Quoram, "Now, where is the Sigil of Awakening?"
"It seems you are not so easily deterred. Very well." Vigilant Quoram said, though while his tone suggested that she was still going to fail the construct moved a bit and pointed at the final structure in the area, the very one that Trixie had felt a rush of power coming from earlier, "Your deeds qualify you to seek the Sigil. To be clear, I am only permitting you to move on. This does not guarantee your success. The greatest of your challenges lies before you. You must go to the Praetorium and face Archimonde himself. Only by defeating the master of the Conservatory will you be worthy of the Sigil. Few have overcome this obstacle. I hope he does not make too much of a mess of you."
"I cannot step hoof in the Praetorium." Y'mera stated, though at the same time she glanced over at the construct that she was standing next to and stared at it for a few seconds, just like she had done earlier, "But you knew that, didn't you?"
"Perhaps." Vigilant Quoram replied, but he said nothing else, revealing that he knew Archimonde was powerful and even his echo would defeat anyone that dared to challenge him, even if he didn't know that the person who was going to be challenging that echo was one of the people that beat the Eredar before.
"Trixie Lulamoon, I have complete faith in you." Y'mera said, to which Lyra nodded her head as well, indicating that she also believed in Trixie's abilities, something that she was grateful to have, "Lyra and I will be standing nearby when you are finished."
Trixie nodded and carefully made her way back to the final structure of the Conservatory, where she found a hole in the wall that allowed her to enter the chamber that she was searching for, though as she entered the area she found the echo of Archimonde, before he became the demon she had fought in the past, standing in the middle of the area.
"Ah, yes. It has been too long since I have humbled a pupil." the echo said, to which it stopped what it was doing and turned to face Trixie, where she could see a familiar expression appear on it's face as it prepared herself for battle, which was what she did as well, "Come. Face me."
Trixie made sure that there was some distance between her and her opponent before she started hurling spells at Archimonde, where sometimes the echo seemed to take the damage and laugh or just avoid the incoming attacks and laugh anyway. In response Archimonde swung his staff and loosed a volley of arcane missiles that struck where Trixie had been moments ago and detonated their payloads, though as all of that happened he also started opening rifts in the air around them, which exploded seconds later. The exploding rifts actually didn't damage Archimonde at all, though whether that was because it was an echo or something else Trixie had no idea, and when Trixie actually got close to him he had a spell that ordered an arcane bombardment from somewhere, knocking her into the nearby wall for a few seconds. She already knew that Archimonde was strong, as it had taken the combined heroes of the Alliance and the Horde, backed by Khadgar and the leaders of the alternate versions of the Orcs and Draenei on the not yet ruined planet of Draenor, to topple such a creature... and that was when he was fully empowered by the fel energy that Sargeras had given him, as he nearly crushed them all in the process before they were able to defeat him.
Still, despite the fact that Archimonde's echo might be even stronger than she realized, Trixie refused to give up and got back onto her feet, allowing the claws to grip the ground for a moment as she reached deep inside herself and drew her power to the surface.
Trixie shuddered as her dragon wings emerged from her back, and through the slits in her robe so she didn't rip her clothing to pieces when she did this, before she glared at Archimonde and rushed towards him, to which she unleashed a powerful surge of arcane blasts at the area around her target and blocked his view for a moment. She took advantage of that situation to throw her own volley of arcane missiles through the air, where they barreled into Archimonde's chest and knocked him a few steps backwards, though that only seemed to excite him despite the fact that it had to hurt. From there the two magic users started hurling spells at each other, where to someone that was viewing the fight they would see two opponents using the same spell, meaning the collisions canceled each other out and they kept throwing every damaging arcane based spell they knew at their opponent... before Trixie used a blast of pure arcane energy to consume all of Archimonde's attacks and blind him for a moment, to which she used the cover to in front of him and slammed her fist down into his chest, knocking her foe to the floor, where he stayed for a few seconds.
What surprised Trixie was when Archimonde got back up again he was chuckling to himself, making her wonder if she had actually succeeded in besting the echo, though she kept her guard up in case this was a trick and had her magic ready for action once more.
"Ha! A worthy tribute to my Conservatory's teachings." Archimonde said, to which he tapped his staff on the ground and pointed right at Trixie for a few seconds, making her really wonder what was going on at the moment, "You will do Argus proud. Claim your prize."
That was followed by Archimonde's echo disappearing and the arcane energy that sustained it surged into the middle of the area, where Trixie watched as the energy ignited and pulled something into this dimension, before fading away entirely. When the light cleared Trixie stared at the area the energy had rushed to and found that a shiny purple colored gemstone, one wide enough to be the chest area for someone, floated in the air in front of her, with the same energy she felt earlier radiating from it. She then carefully approached the Sigil of Awakening and collected the gemstone, where she could immediately feel the sheer raw power it contained and imagined what sort of damage such an artifact could have done if the Legion had taken possession of it... and she could imagine the good she and the others could do with it, once it was reunited with the Eye of Prophecy and the Crest of Knowledge. There was that one small part of her, that used the Alicorn Amulet, that wondered what it would be like to wield the power of the Sigil, though she silenced that part of her and sealed away once more.
She knew that this gemstone was powerful, and ironically not powerful enough for Archimonde's tastes since he didn't take it with him, and knew that it's power could be used for whatever it's owner desired, making her remember what happened back on Equus... though she shook that memory away as Lyra and Y'mera approached her.
"In all the years I've been on Azeroth, I have never felt such raw power like this before..." Trixie told them, where she carefully handled the Sigil of Awakening with caution, while also making sure that she held it since she had no idea if it would lash out at those that weren't the ones to claim it, "We should get this to Velen as soon as we can."
Y'mera nodded and beckoned for them to follow, where they headed down to an area that was near where the Trial of Cunning had taken place and revealed that Y'mera had set up a beacon for them to use, just in case they ever needed to come back to the Conservatory in the future. From there they teleported back up to the Vindicaar and everyone that was on board the ship at the moment turned towards them as Trixie walked forward with the Sigil of Awakening, indicating that she wasn't the only one that felt it's power. She walked down to the area in front of the navigation console and approached Velen, who was staring at a part of the Vindicaar that had three slots in it, arranged in a triangle fashion, and realized that he had planned on retrieving the Crown of the Triumvirate all along, while also discovering that the situation with the Burning Throne had firmly sealed that decision in his mind.
She then approached the three slots and carefully settled the Sigil into the one that was on the upper right, where it floated in place and remained there, though as she packed away Velen stepped forward and stared at the gemstone for a few seconds as he remembered something.
"Archimonde was disdainful of the Sigil's limitations." Velen stated, meaning that Archimonde's power must have prevented him from realizing what sort of power was right in front of him, as he became too used to the seemingly overwhelming power that the Crown gave off, "Without the rest of the Crown, it gave him little power. And power was all he ever craved. This disdain is what allowed us to recover the Sigil. Had he anticipated its value to us, heh, he most certainly would have destroyed it. I do wonder what he hoped to prove with his trials. Was the Sigil itself the test, perhaps? We are one step closer to unlocking the Vindicaar's true potential. All that remains is the Crest of Knowledge... then the Crown will once more be whole."
Trixie smiled as she and Lyra stared out at Mac'Aree, knowing that the Crest was out there somewhere and that they would be the ones to claim it, once they figured out where Kil'jaeden put it before he left this place behind... and overcame whatever trials he put in place to guard his portion of the powerful Crown.
Lyra and Trixie were given an hour to rest from their ordeal, despite the fact that it was Trixie that needed the break since she went through three trials and had to fight the echo of Archimonde himself, but neither one of them complained as some of the other heroes teleported back down to Krokuun or the Antoran Wastes to continue their work. The others were gathering information on whatever weaknesses they could, for the eventual attack on Antorus, and were trying to thin the numbers of their enemies, so they weren't overwhelmed. At the same time Velen seemed to disappear for a few minutes, though both Lyra and Trixie knew that he had to be settling his nerves, since this had been an emotional place for him and just staring at Mac'Aree was enough to make him pause for moments at a time. They knew the Prophet needed to come to terms with his past, something that only he could do when he was alone, and decided not to bother him, allowing him the time he needed to focus on the past and how he could overcome the terrors his old friends had committed.
What neither of them were expecting, however, was for Turalyon to approach them at one point while they were trying to recover from their ordeal, though as the High Exarch approached them the duo stood up and turned towards him, as they were likely going to be sent into battle once more.
"Lyra Heartstrings, Trixis Lulamoon, we have a problem... the Legion has come to Mac'Aree." Turalyon said, to which the duo glared at him, because it appeared that by them simply coming up here the demons decided to see what was resting on this patch of land as well, "When you claimed the Sigil of Awakening it was as if we announced our presence to all of Argus. The eyes of Antorus are firmly upon us."
"Perfect." Trixie moaned, because it appeared that Archimonde might have left the Sigil behind to power some sort of secret anti detection array that prevented the Legion from finding this place, though in her heart she knew it was dumb luck that this was happening.
"Just wait. It gets worse." Turalyon continued, causing the duo to moan, because they wondered what could be worse than the Legion coming to Mac'Aree, especially when this place had been devoid of demons for a long time, "Velen took Captain Fareeya and her forces into the Arinor Gardens area to search for the Crest of Knowledge. To my knowledge, they are all now behind enemy lines. Come with me to the Conservatory. We need to bring Velen and the others back before it is too late."
"I'm sure that the Prophet can handle himself," Lyra said, as Velen was strong enough to last this long and had one of the strongest connections to the Light, but at the same time she knew what he was carrying and understood the other part of the problem, the one that Turalyon didn't mention, "but, since he's still got the Eye of Prophecy on him, we had better secure him and the Crown fragment before something happens to either of them."
"Time is of the essence." Turalyon stated, to which he started walking towards the navigation console, causing the duo to gather their weapons before they followed after him, "We must not let the Legion capture the Prophet."
It didn't take them long to reach the navigation console, to which Turalyon nodded to Romuul, who input the command and sent the trio down to Mac'Aree's surface once more, where they appeared near the beacon that had been placed in the Conservatory, though fortune was on their side as they found Captain Fareeya standing nearby.
"Fareeya. Status report." Turalyon said, his tone slipping back into the tone he used when he was the commander that he was, as the other one was used when he wasn't sending soldiers out into battle or when he was talking with Alleria about something important.
"Baraat sent up a signal flare a short time ago." Fareeya stated, though while she said that both Lyra and Trixie noticed that the Eredar were walking around parts of the area in front of them and were setting up devices to corrupt and change the entire area, "He is alive, at least. I have heard nothing from the others."
"Then let us waste no time." Turalyon firmly said, where he turned towards Lyra and Trixie for a few seconds, who snapped their attention to the commander of the Army of the Light, while at the same time he lifted his blade, "Where the Legion is concerned, violence is always the answer. They are between us and Velen. Nothing will stop them from finding him unless we act. Now is not the time to hold back. Together the three of us we will sow chaos among their ranks."
"I will stay here with my soldiers and defend this location until we are no longer needed," Fareeya added, though at the same time she focused on Lyra, no doubt because of their shared connection to the Light, and seemed to stare for a few seconds before she said what was on her mind, "However, my soldiers are out there. I need you to find Baraat, Sorvos, and Telaamon. They were in the process of securing this area for Velen when the Legion came down on top of our heads. Inform them that their orders are to regroup with the Prophet at once. The time for subtlety has passed. There is a small army between us and them. Do what you must. Light keep you safe."
Lyra and Trixie, now accompanied by Turalyon, walked out of the Light protected area and engaged the Eredar that were channeling their fel power into the pylons that they had brought to Mac'Aree, so they could likely anchor portals to this area to bring in their full force. As Trixie stood back and fired spells at her targets, making sure to defeat some of their enemies with the arcane instead of just cutting them apart, Lyra and Turalyon charged at the demons and swung their swords through the air, while also calling upon the power of the Light to destroy those that attacked them back. The Eredar seemed surprised to see that the Army of the Light was here, for a moment anyway, before they took immediate action and charged at the group with their demonic allies, but that only made it easier for the duo to break them down and focus on their other objectives. As such Trixie spent a few seconds to shatter the various pylons and fel constructs that Lyra and Turalyon weren't focusing on, since they were actively killing demons, before she joined them again and headed further away from the Conservatory.
As it turned out Turalyon spotted Baraat on the other side of the ancient road that they were following, to which the trio headed over to where he was and quickly replayed Fareeya's orders to him, where the Lightforged hunter nodded his head and gave them his thanks before he departed from the area he was in. Interesting enough Sorvos was in the building that rested near where Baraat had been standing, who also nodded his head and thanked them for the new orders before leaving as well, allowing them to reengage the demons in the immediate area. Lyra then felt a familiar presence from the Light and looked at the one two story building in the area, one that she kept in mind as she and the others fought their way through the demons that were in front of them and eventually found the area that Telaamon had been hiding in, who took his orders and departed from the building he had been inside. As Lyra watched him she noticed that he was heading towards the building she had been staring at, and so were both Baraat and Sorvos, to which she, Trixie, and Turalyon headed towards that structure as well.
Sure enough they found the Prophet standing at the back of the main floor and he seemed to be ignoring everyone around him as he focused on something, though as they got closer they noticed that Velen was kneeling next to what appeared to be a long-abandoned child's bed.
"Velen?" Turalyon asked, as while he may not know all of the painful memories that the Prophet possessed, and the times where he had to remember what happened during his escape from this place, he knew that something had happened before their arrival.
"Forgive me, my son." Velen muttered, light enough so that anyone that wasn't paying attention wouldn't have heard it, but both Lyra and Trixie had heard it and knew that the memory of Rakeesh was one that he wanted to bury before he could move forward.
"Are you hurt?" Turalyon inquired, to which he walked forward and examined the Prophet, as while he couldn't see anything wrong he knew that the reality might be different than what he was thinking about.
"I am unharmed." Velen replied, to which he stood up and turned towards the group that had come looking for him, where he sighed as she faced Turalyon, indicating that he had some news that he needed to share, "Your arrival is timely. We must find the Crest of Knowledge before Talgath takes it beyond our reach."
"So he is here, then." Turalyon said, though both Lyra and Trixie knew why both Velen and Turalyon were annoyed by this turn of events, as Talgath had betrayed Velen all those years ago and was responsible for Velen losing his wife and his son becoming the monster they had to kill, "I was afraid of this."
"You came upon me in a moment of reflection." Velen stated," though at the same time he seemed tired all of a sudden, which was understandable considering the strain of the situation had placed upon him by recalling the past and realizing that an old foe was here, "There is no time for such sentiment. We must press on."
"I will take command of Fareeya's lieutenants and we will escort Velen to his destination" Turalyon added, to which the three Lightforged they had given orders to nodded their heads, indicating that they accepted the new responsibility that was being handed to them, especially since the threat was greater this time, "His mission must not fail. We face an old foe... one the Army of the Light has encountered on numerous occasions. Talgath will try to block us in and prevent our retreat. You must not let that happen. Find out how he is bringing in his forces and cut them off. All we need is time to get in and get out. We are counting on you."
"My friends, we must continue our quest for the Crest of Knowledge." Velen said, causing everyone to turn towards him for a moment, while at the same time he focused his attention on both Lyra and Trixie, indicating that he had something special for them to do in addition to closing some portals, "Nothing short of the whole Crown of the Triumvirate can turn the tide in the battle we face. Talgath's forces stand between us and that goal. I will need you to clear a path. We can let nothing stand in our way... not even Talgath. Make haste, my friends. Something dark and terrible stirs... and it is not our old foe."
Lyra knew that he had to be referring to the darkness that was lingering in the air, the same feeling that she had felt the moment they arrived on Mac'Aree, but instead of questioning the Prophet she and Trixie nodded their heads before they moved out of the building Velen had been in. From there they noticed a path that would lead to the side of the building Velen wanted them to head to, to which the two of the charged forward and started attacking the Eredar and the other demons that were now standing in their way. As they fought Lyra mostly focused on using her Light empowered abilities to launch bursts of golden arrows that tore into whatever she was targeting and blew them up, or loosed a burst of golden energy that tore her foes to pieces, or even simply cut them apart with her Felbreaker sword. Trixie, once more following from behind, focused her efforts on blasting the demons that Lyra wasn't focusing on, throwing them into the air in the process, while calling upon the arcane to deal massive damage to her targets, generally crippling them or outright blasting them apart.
The two of them did pause whenever they found one of the portal machines that the Eredar were using to call their forces up to Mac'Aree, on Talgath's orders no doubt, and used their combined powers of the Light and the arcane to tear every portal machine to pieces. Lyra found that it wasn't enough to kill ten or twenty demons or destroy three portals, she cut her way through every demon and smashed every portal machine she could find, with Trixie helping her as they cleared the path that Velen and Turalyon wanted them to make. She wanted to buy them as much time as possible so the others could escort the Prophet to the location that he had been heading to the entire time, where the Crest of Knowledge had to be resting, so that way Talgath didn't find them out until it was too late for him to act. It took them a few minutes to ensure that the path was safe, and that the demons had been struck down, before Lyra beckoned over to where Turalyon and the lieutenants were standing... where they escorted Velen over to the stairs and quickly ascended to the area that he wanted them to search.
When they reached their destination, three statues that appeared to be the Triumvirate, despite the fact that one of them was missing it's head, Velen stopped as he stared at something, where the echoes of Kil'jaeden and Talgath, before they became the monsters they were, appeared before them.
"Worthless. The Crest alone is powerless." the echo of Kil'jaeden said, where Lyra and Trixie noticed that he held something that seemed to be a gemstone, which had to be what they were looking for, before they couldn't see it anymore and focused on the echoes, "This relic's time has passed. Throw it in the temple with the Naaru. Let them rot together."
"At least we know where it is." Turalyon spoke up, only speaking as the echoes started to walk away and dissipate, indicating that whatever message had been left behind had been just that, information on where the third piece of the Crown was waiting.
"It is hidden in the Seat of the Triumvirate, then." Velen commented, where he looked at the structure that was behind the statues, which had to be the area that the Crest was located in, while at the same time he frowned, "I sense only darkness within."
"I sense it as well," Lyra said, knowing that there was something dark nearby and could feel it's tug, as if it was reaching out to touch the darkness in her own heart, the darkness born of the Dark Magic she used, "Should we get a move on, before our foe catches up with us?"
"Thousands of years ago, when I was young, I made a choice... a choice that allowed my world to fall to ruin." Velen replied, though at the same time he shook his head, indicating that this was important to him and that he wasn't leaving until he had done what he came to do, "A choice that made my people exiles. A choice that forever separated me from my beloved brothers. I cannot leave, not yet. Not until I have had a chance to reflect."
"Then we shall ensure that you have that moment." Turalyon stated, knowing that Velen needed the time to himself, despite the fact that they were out in the open, and prepared himself alone with his lieutenants, so that way they would be ready for whatever came their way.
"Lyra, Trixie, let me show you what I have done." Velen said, beckoning the duo forward, as he knew that they would not judge him for what he had done and wanted to show that fateful day to someone else, "Perhaps, then, I can make peace with it at long last."
Lyra and Trixie nodded as they approached Velen and placed their hands on his arms, where their worlds faded away until they were taken back to that fateful day, apparently twenty-five thousand years ago, and appeared behind what seemed like the Triumvirate, before two of them were corrupted. In front of them stood a shining god, the false form that Sargeras used when he was speaking to the people of a planet, who asked for the trio to swear fealty to him and join his cause to defeat the hungering void. Lyra and Trixie watched all of this and found the darkness that was behind Sargeras' words as it poisoned both Archimonde and Kil'jaeden's minds, turning them into accept the offer while Velen decided to down a different path. Velen had used a special crystal to reveal the truth behind the offer and made his decision, resulting in him and the others fleeing from Argus as it fell into the hands of the Legion, and caused Velen's former brothers to seek him out across the stars... until they found Azeroth, where the corrupted members of the Triumvirate finally met their ends.
A few seconds later they reappeared in front of the statues, in their own time, and gently removed their hands from Velen's arms, who seemed slightly happier after sharing that with someone, though before anyone could say anything a large portal snapped open in the area behind them.
"Make way." a voice shouted, one that made Velen stiffen for a few seconds, to which Lyra and Trixie turned around and stared at the armored and fel empowered Eredar, whose shoulder pads looked like the ones that Gul'dan had been wearing, that stepped out of the portal, "I will deal with this myself."
"Velen, not to alarm you or anything, but He's here." Turalyon said, putting emphasis on the fact that Talgath had found them, and likely wasn't going to leave until either they were dead or someone finally killed him, though at the same time he and his soldiers readied their weapons.
"Talgath. There was a time I called him an ally, a friend." Velen commented, not even turning around as he stared at the statues for a few more moments, knowing that sooner or later it would have come to this, "I put my trust in him when it came time to leave. I asked him to call out to the others who would join me. I gave him all that he needed to betray me and slaughter my followers. I do not know what brought this hatred to lurk in his heart, but his machinations repeatedly forced my people to flee world after world. He made it his mission to hunt us across the universe. This must end. Talgath must die."
"How unlike you, Velen, to stand your ground." Talgath said, while at the same time Velen turned around and stared at him, but he showed no fear on his face, as he knew something that Talgath could only dare dream of, "A welcome change of pace, to be certain."
"Talgath... we need not come to blows." Velen replied, because despite everything his former friend put him and his people through, he still felt like attempting to save him before either Lyra or Trixie got serious with the fight, "I offer you one chance: Stand down."
"Still the pacifist, I see." Talgath stated, his disgust apparent to those that were listening, though at the same time he raised his weapon and prepared himself for battle, "Face me!"
"Pacifist? No Talgath, you couldn't be anymore wrong." Velen said, to which he turned towards the two Equestrians for a moment, who nodded their heads, before turning his attention to his target, "Soon you will see why I offered you a chance to save yourself... and when you finally realize why I did so it will be too late for you."
Talgath readied his sharpened blades and dispelled the fel barrier that was around him, the greatest mistake he could have made in this situation, to which Lyra drew her blade and charged forward with the warriors and paladins that stood beside her, while Velen, Trixie, and Baraat stood back and fired at Talgath with their magic and bullets. Despite the fact that their opponent was Kil'jaeden's second, according to what Velen told them, Talgath didn't have any special powers or abilities that would have made him a dangerous opponent. Rather Lyra and Trixie quickly found that he was like Rakeesh, meaning that he was simply a corrupted Eredar that wanted to end the universe as a whole and would do everything in his power to bring an end to those that stood against him, which made them keep an eye out for any potential threats their foe could have brought with him. Talgath, for the most part, was focusing his effort on trying to reach Velen, which made sense considering that he made it his mission to kill the Prophet, but at the same time his focus on one target made it easier for the group to deal damage to him.
A few moments later, with their target severely wounded from the beating he had been taking, Talgath temporarily incapacitated the group by gathering his fel power into one of his legs and kicked the ground, releasing a wave of fel energy that stunned everyone for the moment.
"Sheet-sah, you hide behind your allies... as usual." Talgath commented, to which he turned around and started to head back towards the fel portal he used to arrive in this area, while at the same time ignoring those behind him, "We will finish this another ti..."
"NO!" Velen shouted, to which he called upon the Light for a moment and shattered the fel power that was keeping both himself and his friends stunned, before using a little more of his power to bind Talgath with holy shackles, "This is your end. If there is a shred of goodness left in you, you will help us find the Crest of Knowledge"
"Hah! You are far too late." Talgath replied, taking a moment to laugh at what Velen said, as if he knew something that the assembled group did not, though at the same time Lyra, Trixie, and the others gathered near the Prophet to be sure Talgath didn't think about escaping or attacking Velen, after breaking his portal anyway, "Nothing will escape the temple. Not even the Light itself."
"I see." Velen said, rather calmly for someone who was facing the person that had betrayed him and effectively killed his family, though at the same time the rest of the group were glad they were at a safe distance the instant they noticed Velen gathering some more of his power to him, "Safe journey, Talgath."
That was followed by Velen calling down a torrent of Holy Fire from the sky, smiting Talgath with all of his rage, anger, and hatred all in one go, where Talgath screamed as the Light tore at his fel ridden body, before eventually the screaming stopped and Velen canceled his spell, where the smoldering corpse of Talgath hit the ground and was reduced to ash.
"Come." Velen said, beckoning for the group to join him, to which Lyra, Trixie and the others followed him away from the statues, which he glanced at once more before heading to the northeast of the area they had just been in a few moments ago, "I dare not tarry here."
"Talgath's last words... were that 'not even the Light can escape'." Turalyon commented, speaking the one thing that was on everyone's mind at the moment, save for Velen by the looks of things, to which the High Exarch looked at the Prophet as they walked, "Velen, what did he mean?"
"The darkness that lingers in the temple..." Velen replied, beckoning to the structure in question for a few seconds, the same one that Lyra continued to look at every now and then, before continuing along the path he was following, "the shadow that looms over all of Mac'Aree... is L'ura."
"Impossible!" Turalyon exclaimed, as they all knew what L'ura was, though at the same time he felt the need to make sure everyone remembered that fact, "She is a Naaru! A being of the Light!"
"There is much Xe'ra did not want you to know." Velen stated, to which Trixie nodded her head in agreement, because back in the alternate version of Draenor she had seen one Naaru be twisted into darkness, which they saved, and witnessed the death of a second one as well, becoming a creature that she and some other heroes needed to destroy before it's power could be used against everyone, "What we face is not a being of the Light... but the Void itself."
Lyra didn't know much about the Void, as it was barely mentioned since she arrived in the Outlands and this was really the first time that she had found someone that really knew anything about the mysterious force, but at the same time she said nothing as a beacon landed in the ground in front of them. From there she, Trixie, and the others teleported back to the Vindicaar so they could plan their next move for the Crest of Knowledge, though as they started to board the ship once more they found that Alleria was waiting for them. From the way she was standing it was clear that she might have found out something useful, something that might aid them in the future, to which Lyra and Trixie approached her, along with Velen since he was interested as well.
"I scouted the area while you were searching for the Crest." Alleria said, though there was a look in her eyes that told them there was more they needed to know before they moved forward with any of their plans, "The shadows grip Mac'Aree more tightly than you know. I need to show you what I have seen."
Lyra and Trixie glanced at each other for a few seconds before nodding their heads and grabbed onto Alleria's hands, where their worlds faded away again and they found themselves staring at what appeared to be a darkened Naaru with an eerie dark purple core, which must have been L'ura. From there they appeared outside the Seat of the Triumvirate and watched as Ethereals, all empowered by the Void energy, stepped out of gates made of the same energy and stared at the doorway leading into the building, which was sealed off at the moment. Once they witnessed those two events, and wondered how they had no idea the Ethereals were doing something when they were close by, the duo reappeared in the area they had been in moments ago, but at the same time they let go of Alleria and knew what they had to do. It was plainly clear that, without her even saying something, she had a plan to find a way to counter the Ethereals and whatever they're plans were... and she likely needed their assistance to do so, which they were more than willing to give her, since she might find a way to defeat L'ura so they could claim the Crest.
At the same time Lyra wondered where the shadowy portion of her circlet would come from, but since the Light portion came from a Naaru she wondered if the same was going to be true as well... to which she pushed that aside and focused on the task at hand. She would have more time to ponder her unique powers later on, when they weren't stressed for time or had to worry about a personal demon coming to attack them again.
"Alleria, what can we do to help?" Trixie asked, knowing that Alleria had to have a plan already, because based on what she and Lyra had been shown, revealing the dangers that awaited them near the Seat of the Triumvirate, she knew that Alleria must have formed one before coming and asking them to join her.
"Ethereals, the Void, a Dark Naaru... I feel they are all connected." Alleria told them, to which she got several nods from the heroes that were listening to the conversation, despite the fact that they were going to be deployed to the Antoran Wastes and Krokuun to harass the Legion's forces, "As I just said, I explored the ruins below while you and Velen were seeking the Crown... there are survivors. Broken wander the cluster of buildings to our west... I cannot understand much of what they say but I suspect that their minds are not their own. If the Void is to blame, we will need to start our investigation there."
"Then let's head out and see what we can find," Lyra said, as she was eager to see what sort of shadowy power the Void commanded, and what sort of madness it was trying to impart on the survivors that Alleria had found while she was scouting the area out.
Alleria nodded and beckoned for the two of them to follow her, where Velen said that he would ensure that the other heroes spent their time stalling the Legion's forces, on all three areas of Argus they had visited so far, before Lyra and Trixie followed Alleria down the ramp and approached the navigation console. Once they reached their first destination Romuul nodded his head and teleported the three of them down to the first beacon, where Lyra and Trixie had set up the defenses earlier, before the three of them vanished from the Vindicaar and appeared in their destination. From there they headed towards the left side of the ruins they were in and carefully avoided the echoes that were fighting each other, as none of them wanted to waste their time in meaningless battles, before they headed towards the ruined settlement that was near the beacon... that included walking down the stairs that were in front of them and avoiding the large construct that was still patrolling the area.
Sure enough Alleria stopped moving when they reached an area that allowed them to observe part of the settlement, though the look in her eyes told Lyra and Trixie all they needed to know, but they said nothing as they waited for her to say whatever was on her mind at the moment.
"It is as I thought. The Void's corruption has reached them here." Alleria commented, though at the same time she made sure to take in what she was seeing and what she was feeling, as she could tell that there was something out there that might be trouble for them, "I am certain it had help. Take a look around. Call for me if you find anything of interest."
Lyra and Trixie nodded as they stepped down into the area of Oronaar that Alleria had lead them to, though as they started their search they could tell that Alleria was heading to another area, which made since considering that they were dealing with something that was this dangerous. Before Lyra could ask Trixie what the Void was, and why some of the heroes and soldiers aboard the Vindicaar seemed frightened of their chances, they heard some whispers for a moment, to which they approached the statue that was in front of them. As they did so the two of them noticed several of the Broken in the area appeared to be praying in front of the statue, which made them wonder what was going on at the moment, so when they reached the statue they stopped and listened for whatever message the Broken were hearing.
You must resist the shadow's pull. a voice said, one that was definitely coming from the statue in front of them, though neither of them said anything as they searched for whatever the message was trying to say, Come to me, brothers and sisters. Be whole within the Light. Let Arkhaan show you the way home.
"Interesting." Trixie said, to which she and Lyra pulled away from the statue, though as they did so Lyra picked up some prayer beads that had been left behind, which they both resolved to collect more of, just in case they were necessary for the future, "Someone knew that the Void was coming and has been trying to save his kind, if 'resist the shadow's pull' means what I think it means."
"And some of these guys appear hostile," Lyra added, to which she drew her sword as she looked at one of the wandering Broken, who seemed ready to snap at any moment and attack whoever was closest to him, before an idea came to her, "which means we have a way to collect prayer beads without hurting the innocent and passive Broken that are praying all around us."
Trixie nodded her understanding, as it made perfect sense to her, and they started investigating the ruins around them, though while she headed inside a nearby building, as she spotted something that appeared to be an abandoned altar, Lyra cut at the shadow infused Broken that wanted to kill her. Trixie touched the alter and heard Arkhaan's voice once more, revealing a message that said his brothers and sisters must 'hold fast to your resolve' and that 'temptation weakens the mind and spirit'. It matched what she knew about the Void, as the shadows and the Legion tempted people with power all the time, though as she understood the message she walked outside and found Lyra battling a few more hostile Broken that wanted her dead. Trixie decided that her help wasn't necessary, as the Light inside Lyra was as bright as Velen's and Turalyon's, if not even stronger, and she hacked her way through the Broken that were trying to tear her down, before she eventually sighed and stopped once they were all taken care of... where she collected their prayer beads before they two of them continued their search.
It didn't take them long to find the next area that held a clue as to what happened in this settlement, as they found a scrawling on a wall, one that they had to fight their way towards, but when the Broken were dealt with the duo held their hands towards the scrawling and listened to the message. Trixie then raised an eyebrow for a moment, as this one stated that the listeners shouldn't let the 'long, dark night break you' and that they should 'accept its gift', making her wonder if Arkhaan was referring to the actual night or the Void. Since they were no closer to solving this riddle the two of them headed out of the part of the settlement they were in and followed a worn out path to another part of Oronaar, where they found a ruined building with a discarded Naaru figurine. When they approached the figurine they both heard Arkhaan's message about 'looking to the heavens' and that their 'salvation was out there', making them wonder what he was hearing and if he had snapped like a good number of the Broken around them.
As they looked around for more signs that they could use to get some more information from, as they were actually a little lost on what Arkhaan had been trying to do and what had actually happened to this settlement, but before they could move forward a voice spoke in the wind, one that they recognized.
"I found a survivor." they heard Alleria say, though how she was speaking to them they had no idea, especially since none of them happened to be carrying any communicators from the Vindicaar, something that they could have grabbed and forgot to while they were leaving the ship, "Come to me."
Fortunately the short connection that Alleria had made with them, even for a few seconds like this, was able to give them a decent idea of where she was standing, to which the duo descended into the area of Oronaar that definitely had bits of the Void floating everywhere. It also didn't take them long to find Alleria and the survivor, as they were standing next to a path that descended from the area of Oronaar they had first explored, where they found the alter and the scrawling, though Alleria nodded to them as they approached her and the survivor.
"This Broken still retains some of his sanity, though not all of it." Alleria commented, indicating that the Void was definitely at work in this area, even if it was on a smaller scale than what she had shown them earlier, "I can sense some Void influence nearby, but it is isolated to small pockets. Dispelling these manifestations should help our friend here clear his mind. Perhaps we can use the prayer fragments you found, as they still contain some Light energy. I will try and make sense of his chattering in the meantime. Maybe we can learn something about what is happening here."
"Darkness envelops us... the Light has gone from this place..." the Broken mumbled, though as Lyra and Trixie stared at him they realized that it was none other than Arkhaan, as his voice sounded the exact same as the one they heard thanks to the messages earlier, "Arkhaan could not save them. Brothers. Sisters. Whispers twisted them. The Light cannot see them. It turns away from us. Arkhaan failed."
Despite the fact that he was clearly not well, no thanks to the Void influence that was nearby, both Lyra and Trixie knew that he was asking them, in his own manner, to save his people from themselves, to which the two of them headed out into the area that was in front of them. Neither of them were going to bother Alleria and ask how she had known about the prayer beads, as she had likely seem them collect a few of them before she left them to their devices, so they turned their focus to their current task and started exploring the lowest area of Oronaar. As it turned out the Void manifestations were floating circular spheres, about the size of one of their heads, that happened to be spitting out little bits of Void energy on the ground around them every now and then. It was actually rather easy for them to silence them, as all they had to do was let Lyra channel the power of the Light through the prayer beads and direct the power to the spheres that were in front of them, which dispelled them within seconds, indicating that they were extremely weak... which only made Lyra worry that there was a greater source of Void energy nearby.
While Lyra worked in hunting down the Void manifestations, and purging them when she discovered them, she also aided Trixie in fighting off the Void tainted Broken that charged at them, though she quickly discovered that if Trixie actually needed assistance she would turn into her more draconic form, which she guessed was her being seventy-five percent dragon, and utterly ruin whoever was fighting her... and, thankfully, she actually didn't need it. Trixie explained what she would have done had she needed help, and then would have gone full dragon if that wasn't enough, though if she reached that point she would have had to call on Lyra for assistance, but fortunately these Broken proved to be no match for her in her hybrid state. That allowed Lyra to focus her energies on finding and dispelling the manifestations of the Void, so that way they could figure out what happened here and if Arkhaan had any plans, before he dropped to this level of madness, to save his village and his people. After five minutes had gone by, and a lot of Void empowered Broken laid dead on the ground, the duo finally determined enough was enough and headed back to where Alleria and Arkhaan were standing, hoping that their efforts were enough.
There was also the fact that there was nothing left for Lyra to purge at the moment, as she had run clean out of manifestations to direct the Light energy towards, and they both smiled at Alleria as they approached her...as they were eager to move out and hoped that she agreed with them.
"I can feel the Void's influence retreating... perhaps now we can find out what happened here." Alleria said, to which she turned towards Arkhaan for a moment, making Lyra and Trixie relieved that they didn't have to tell her anything this time around, "Arkhaan, was it? Can you tell us what happened to your people?"
"Arkhaan knows, yes." Arkhaan replied, nodding his head for a few seconds, though at the same time Trixie realized that he was speaking like she did when she was a traveling showmare, causing her to sigh as she shoved the memories back into the box they came from, "Arkhaan remembers. He remembers something that will... yes... will save us. Follow Arkhaan. Isolon calls! We will offer soft words to the Light. The Light will banish the darkness."
It was at that point that Arkhaan, for whatever reason, decided to stare at Alleria for a few seconds, as if he detected her ability to feel where the Void was located, something that the duo would have to ask her about in the future, once they had stopped the Legion anyway.
"Arkhaan will watch that one closely." Arkhaan said, though that was when he started moving towards one of the ruined buildings that rested nearby, more specifically the one that was slanted and rested with one end in the ground in front of them and the other resting higher up, connecting to another part on Oronaar,"This way. Arkhaan has a plan."
"Could you elaborate? Even a little?" Alleria asked, though the trio followed after him, as he seemed to be eager to do something, but at the same time both Lyra and Trixie found themselves agreeing with Alleria, "Perhaps with some idea of what you hope to achieve?"
"We will stop the whispers." Arkhaan replied, turning for a moment so he could look at Alleria, with what Lyra and Trixie assumed was a knowing smile, or maybe a frown since it was hard to tell with how quickly he seemed to go through emotions and changed his expressions, "Pointy-ears should know."
"I must confess, Arkhaan, that does not put me at ease." Alleria said, revealing that she knew something that the duo didn't and it wasn't a good thing, which caused Lyra and Trixie to have their weapons and magic at the ready, just in case something horrible attacked them on their way to Isolon.
The trio followed Arkhaan through the ruined building that he lead them to, which thankfully had a second entrance that brought them to the area above the lower area they had been in, though as they walked outside they discovered a disturbing amount of creatures that had either completely fallen to the Void or were in the process of doing so.
"Are all these creatures..." Alleria started to say, though despite the fact that she, Lyra, and Trixie knew what they were staring at she felt that she needed to be sure, just in case they were wrong.
"My people." Arkhaan replied, his voice sounding sad as he gazed at two of the Void Broken for a few seconds, before turning to the left and continuing forward, ignoring the creatures once more, "Once."
"How is it that you do not share their fate?" Trixie inquired, as she knew that her companions were thinking the same thing, even Lyra, who had no knowledge or experience with this sort of thing, was nodding her head in agreement.
"Arkhaan forgets." Arkhaan stated, as if that was the answer to almost all of his problems, though as they approached a nearly completely destroyed building he stopped, as if he felt something odd about this area, "Wait. There is a voice..."
That was followed by a trio of Void Broken climbing out of the shadows of the ruined building and launched themselves at the trio, though as Alleria loosed a arrow or two at them it appeared that they were more interested in Lyra and Trixie, who easily dealt with them thanks to their combined powers... though once the enemies had been taken care of Arkhaan started moving once more.
"We still hear their prayers." Arkhaan said, referring to the fact that he heard the prayers of his brothers and sisters still haunting his days, reminding him time and time again of his failures, "Rest, brothers. Rest."
"At least their suffering is over." Lyra stated, as she was pleased to see that they might have saved them from an eternity of being controlled by the Void, though at the same time they followed Arkhaan until he stopped by a ruined bridge of some kind.
"Quiet, quiet!" Arkhaan commanded, almost as if he was listening to someone else talk and wanted Lyra, Trixie, and Alleria to say nothing more as he focused on the other voices, "Arkhaan listens..."
That was when a larger group of Void Broken emerged from the shadows around them and attacked the trio, who went on the defensive because of that fact, but they made sure that Arkhaan was protected and continued to blast and cut down the creatures that were coming their way... until they got the message and backed off, causing them to look at each other and the number of corpses that rested around them.
"Where are these things coming from?" Alleria asked, though while she had no problem thinning out the creatures that were attacking them, thus making this area easier for the other heroes in the future, she was surprised by how many of them there were.
"They want Arkhaan. He promised to save them." Arkhaan replied, though at the same time he headed towards the large structure that was behind them, one that Trixie recognized from her time in Draenor, before they reached the center of the bottom level, where Arkhaan became distracted again, "Who calls to Arkhaan? Name yourself... Ah, Arkhaan remembers. Isolon calls to us! Isolon will look to the stars again!"
It was in that moment that Arkhaan, channeling the power of the Void that none of the trio knew he possessed the ability to wield, tore open a spherical Void portal and crossed through it, while at the same time Alleria called for him to stop, only to cut herself off as she realized what was going on.
"He is still there. He crossed over into the Void." Alleria said, understanding exactly what was going on, even if both Lyra and Trixie were still a little lost as to what Arkhann had done upon arriving at Isolon, "We may still be able to save him if we hurry."
Lyra and Trixie nodded as they, along with Alleria, headed towards the Void portal and crossed over to the other side, which happened to be a more shadowy version of the plane they had been in moments ago, though as they all crossed over the portal snapped shut behind them. A few seconds later, when they barely had time to realize that the portal was gone, they saw Arkhaan kneeling before a being that Lyra knew was an Ethereal, only this one's body and wrappings seemed to be connected to the Void than to whatever power they were usually connected to. Lyra could tell that this Ethereal was more powerful than the ones she had seen back in the Outlands, as she had spotted a few during the time she spent training with the Illidari, but she wondered if she was a match for him with the Light backing her.
"Show us, please... please..." Arkhaan begged, though it was at that point that Lyra and Trixie knew that he was gone, in mind anyway, because it appeared that the Ethereal had been the one speaking to him and had caused him to open the portal to this area.
"Let me satisfy your curiosity." the Ethereal said, to which he, and the group was sure it was male based on his voice, raised his hand and channeled Void energies into Arkhaan for a few moments, then faded out of existence once he was done with that.
"Thank you! Thank you! Arkhaan finally understands..." Arkhaan declared, to which he turned around and stared at the group, the look in his eyes completely different from the one they had seen earlier, "It will all be undone! There is nothing... but the Void. You must know the truth!"
Arkhaan struck out and attacked the group that stood in front of him, forcing them to go on the defensive as he attacked them, though as they did so Lyra found that her Light empowered attacks definitely hurt him while Trixie's arcane spells impacted his body. Alleria stood near Trixie and tried to reason with Arkhaan, to get him to turn away from the power that had been poured into his body, but it was clear that they were losing him, especially when his body was warped by the Void and transformed into a Void Broken. It quickly became apparent that the new form meant that he no longer could hear their voices, though his attacks indicated that he was trying to kill them and tear them apart, which was why Lyra continued her painful attacks while Trixie and Alleria backed her up. The pain they were dealing was more than enough to topple Arkhaan and dead his cursed life, though as he fell to the floor the three of them stared at his broken body and wondered if they could have saved him.
"I am sorry that you had to learn this way. Rest now." Alleria said, speaking to the fallen Broken that was in front of them, while the three of them hoped his spirit traveled to the next world safely, before she felt something, "Do you feel that? Something is pulling us back..."
Lyra and Trixie had a few seconds to feel what Alleria was talking about before the area around them went dark once more, though when the world they had been in, before following Arkhaan into the Void portal, they noticed another Void empowered Ethereal, this one different from the last one, staring at them.
"Locus-Walker?" Alleria asked, though her surprised tone indicated that she knew who this was and that she was surprised to see him again, meaning that they had met in the past and that she wasn't expecting to see him again.
"I see you've met the Viceroy." the Ethereal, Locus-Walker, stated, completely ignoring what Alleria had said, though at the same time he turned his head slightly and stared at Lyra and Trixie, as if he was interested in them, which was very understandable considering that they were different from what he had seen before today.
"What are your people doing here?" Alleria inquired, as she figured that, if she could get some answers, this entire thing would make more sense, and they might be able to defeat the Dark Naaru that was lingering inside the Seat of the Triumvirate without any casualties.
"I am here to find out." Locus-Walker replied, to which he stood still for a moment and seemed to vanish, as if he had never been there in the first place, while his voice still echoed around them, "Follow, if you can."
"Wait!" Alleria shouted, though it was already too late, as the mysterious Ethereal was already gone, but the look on her face told Lyra and Trixie that she suspected this.
Lyra and Trixie had no idea what sort of madness they were encountering, or what Alleria's connection to this Locus-Walker was, but at the moment it appeared that the Ethereal was on their side, maybe, and that the only way they would be able to move forward was by accepting his help... though they had the feeling they were about to discover something that was different from what they had been going earlier.
"Alleria," Trixie said, though at the same time she and Lyra looked at where the strange Ethereal that had saved them had been standing earlier, as they were curious about who he was and how he got the powers he had, "who was that?"
"That was Locus-Walker. He taught me all that I know about the Void, and he still has more to teach me." Alleria replied, though at the same time she appeared to be thoughtful, meaning that something important was going to be happening and that Locus-Walker was likely involved in it, "If he is here, then the Ethereals' presence only intrigues me further. I had thought him the only one of his kind, but now that I have seen another tangling with the Void... come, we must play his game if we want to learn what he knows. He appears to have gone toward the Umbra Hollows to the north."
Lyra and Trixie glanced at each other as they followed Alleria to the north of where they were standing, leaving the structure they had been standing in behind and walked down the narrow path that awaited them, before heading to the northeast of where they landed... which brought them right to where Locus-Walker was standing, with a Void portal floating in the air behind him.
"I have something I want to show you," Locus-Walker said, beckoning to the portal for a moment, meaning that they needed to return to the plane they had fought Arkhaan in earlier, for a shorter period anyway, before he stared at Alleria as they came to a stop, "but we mustn't be seen. Follow."
"Explain yourself first." Alleria insisted, as she was more interested in why Locus-Walker was here and what he was planning, as that would allow her to properly plan their own attack on the Ethereals that she had seen while she was scouting the area earlier.
"Such impatience." Locus-Walker commented, to which Lyra and Trixie had to agree, as they were actually surprised that Alleria was being impatient when they were gaining information on their enemy's movements, "I believe you will find the answers you seek on the other side."
With that said Locus-Walker turned around and walked into the Void portal, though before they could be left behind Lyra and Trixie followed after him, causing Alleria to sigh as she headed into the portal as well, where the three of them appeared in the Void plane once more. As they appeared in the Void plane they discovered that the area had a number of Ethereals that couldn't see them, save for some sentries that were positioned at specific areas throughout the Umbra Hollows. Lyra discovered that it was rather easy for them to avoid the sentries, especially with Locus-Walker leading the way, though as they followed the path in front of them Trixie studied the dismantled portal that was laying on the ground for a few seconds before catching up to them. After that they gathered on a rock for a few seconds, one that allowed them to look at the Ethereals and their work, before Locus-Walker decided to move once more, causing the trio to follow after him so they didn't get left in his dust.
"How industriously they work." Locus-Walker said, though at the same time there was no emotion in his voice, which meant that he didn't really care about the other members of his race all that much, seeing them as something to be studied before they fell, which told Lyra and Trixie to keep him away from Equus, "A pity they will be overtaken."
"I sense a little disappointment." Alleria spoke up, to which she stared at Locus-Walker as they moved through the Umbra Hollows, while at the same time the Ethereals had no idea that they were walking through their defenses, "Was I really your best student?"
Lyra and Trixie paused for a moment when they spotted an image of an important looking Ethereal giving commands to his soldiers, though instead of touching it, and activating it like usual, it continued speaking and they got some information before they moved onward.
"I will not give Locus-Walker the satisfaction of disrupting our efforts. Capture him at all costs." the Ethereal stated, his command being heard by many of the Ethereals in the area, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie had to resist the urge to chuckle, as they had no idea where their target was located, "Do what you like with the fleshling and her allies. They are of no concern."
With the knowledge that the Ethereals' main target being Locus-Walker, and that the two of them and Alleria were essentially kill on sight, the duo headed along the path that their companions had been following and found them standing nearby, and had no doubt heard the Ethereal's command... and they all started moving once more, heading closer and closer to the exit area that Locus-Walker had chosen for them.
"I had hoped to find at least one promising soul on this rock." Locus-Walker commented, though considering that Alleria had apparently been his student at one point both Lyra and Trixie understood what he was referring to, even if he didn't think they knew.
"I have not turned away from that path." Alleria stated, causing her companion to turn towards her slightly, as if he thought that she was joking or something, but said nothing, once more revealing that there was more history between them than what Lyra and Trixie knew about, "You know why I resisted."
Lyra and Trixie then broke away from them once more, as they found some sort of forge that appeared to have been created with the Void in mind, meaning that the Ethereals likely were attempting to channel the Void into weapons and armor for whatever mission they had in mind... and they listened to the Ethereal that was speaking at the moment.
"Our work is nearly complete." the Void Ethereal said, to which his companions nodded their heads in agreement, indicating that all of them were on the same page, even though he was going to say it anyway to make sure they understood what they were doing, "Soon, all of Argus will fall to darkness!"
As Lyra and Trixie caught up with the duo again they realized what the Ethereals were doing, they were trying to harness the power of the Void that was Argus for themselves, so they could spread the Void's influence and likely claim the Titan Soul that Sargeras was corrupting... though, when they thought about that, a Void Titan sounded even worse than a Fallen Titan, which was what Aggramar was.
"I need to finish what I started, Locus-Walker." Alleria said, not even noticing Lyra and Trixie's arrival, though it appeared that Locus-Walker did, as he started moving and the trio followed after him as they neared the exit he had created for them.
"Can you, though?" Locus-Walker inquired, though at the same time they approached the Void portal that was their exit and walked through it, to which the trio followed after him and appeared in a whole new area, back in the normal plane that they were used to, "With your... attachments?"
"What are you talking about?" Alleria asked, as she was genuinely interested in what Locus-Walker was talking about, while at the same time Lyra and Trixie stared at them as they waited for the conversation to be over, especially since Lyra could sense that this area was full of Void energy.
"Why, your mate of course." Locus-Walker said, as if that was the obvious person he had been referring to, which Lyra and Trixie guessed made since considering that Turalyon served the Light, the polar opposite of the Void, "How does he feel about your choices?"
Lyra and Trixie stood there for a few seconds, looking at the fact that Alleria and Locus-Walker were staring at each other and said nothing, before Trixie coughed and shattered the illusion, to which Alleria sighed and turned towards them, which was what Locus-Walker did a few seconds later.
"I think I understand what he was trying to show us." Alleria said, where she avoided the gaze of her former teacher, because she was more focused on what they needed to do and what she had felt while they were walking through the Umbra Hollows, "I feel a surge of power building ahead. They must be cultivating the Void, calling it here. We need to stop them before they plunge this entire city into shadow. Find the source and cut it off by any means necessary. Locus-Walker and I have unfinished business to attend to."
"As you have surely gathered by now, a certain subset of my people have tragically succumbed to the call of the Void." Locus-Walker added, to which the duo glanced towards him, as they were interested in what he wanted to tell them and figured that it involved killing Ethereals, "I had hoped to find more who possess the necessary strength of mind. I am disappointed to find such an utter lack of resistance. It cannot be helped. To advance your cause, and mine, we will need to eradicate these weak-willed beings."
Lyra and Trixie nodded, as they understood the fact that Locus-Walker was asking for the deaths of his own kind while Alleria was asking that they shatter the devices that the Ethereals had set up around the Void infused city they had discovered, before they completed their terrible mission.
"Turalyon trusts me to make hard decisions, and I him." Alleria stated, to which she turned back towards Locus-Walker, indicating that she wanted to finish the conversation before they got underway, especially one that was so important for the two of them.
"I am not talking about trust." Locus-Walker replied, revealing that there was something more important to the conversation than trust, where he seemed disappointed once more, as if Alleria's answer was making him reconsider something that he had been thinking about, "How can you expect to embrace the Shadow with the Light shining so brightly at your side?"
"Without the Light there is no Shadow, teacher." Alleria answered, though at the same time Lyra nodded her head, as she understood that better than anyone, as she could use the Light in addition to Dark Magic, even if she hadn't attempted to merge the two together yet.
As Alleria and Locus-Walker headed their own direction, to accomplish their own tasks, Lyra and Trixie advanced into the Void infused city and prepared themselves, as the Ethereals that commanded this area, and had established their own bases in the area, didn't take too kindly to them invading their fortifications. This time around Lyra wasn't playing around, as while Trixie headed for the Ethereals' machines she started channeling her Light based powers and hurled Light arrows through the air, where they struck several of her targets and blew them backwards. Those that got close to her suffered more than their ranged allies, as the Light that wrapped around her blade severely damaged those that came at her, as all of them seemed to be more interested in trying to kill her while Trixie went about her business. Lyra had to smile as Trixie, deciding not to waste any time, roared as she morphed into her pure dragon form and the magic in the air radiated at her call... and Lyra's grin only widened as the magic formed arcane constructs, born of pure magic, that smashed into the Ethereals that were all over the area and tore apart the machines she was targeting.
Lyra remembered what the Azurewing had told them, that Trixie's new dragon form had made her much stronger than she had been before the transformation, so now it appeared that she would have been classified as an Aspect if they still existed... as her powers now seemed to control the magic in the air and she could weave new spells into existence at a whim, which she used to devastating effect as she shattered the devices around them.
For a moment she wondered what Velen and the other commanders were thinking at the moment, as they were no doubt watching over them while they fought the Ethereals, because Trixie's new abilities, which must have come from her contact with the Sigil of Awakening, were unlike anything they had seen so far. She was also curious about how long her friend had been planning on keeping this a secret, as it was apparent that her battle through Archimonde's trials had done something to her, but right now she didn't care. The Ethereals, used to dealing with smaller dragons back in the Outlands, weren't used to dealing with a large dragon that was Trixie's other form, though Lyra had to smile as Trixie raised one of her claws into the air and crushed an eager Ethereal that tried to rush her, before using her tail to smash several that were trying to approach her from behind. Her arcane constructs also made sure to avoid the pure pools of Void energy, but they surged into the devices that the Ethereals had set up and overcharged them, shattering them into a thousand pieces before they came back to reality and continued their assault.
A few minutes later, when they had decimated the force that was in their immediate area, Trixie dismissed her constructs and reverted back to her hybrid state, to which she and Lyra grouped up and returned to where the duo was standing, though as they discovered that Alleria and Locus-Walker had returned to the same area they had been in a few minutes ago they found that Alleria was shocked... and that her teacher, on the other hand, was even more interested in them than he had been earlier.
"After some consideration, I have decided to allow Alleria another opportunity to pursue her destiny. I suppose you want to know what that means, mortal." Locus-Walker stated, though while his tone told them that he was definitely interested in them down, since their powers were foreign to him, his mind was focused on Alleria, "Meet us deep in the Shadowguard camp ahead... my brethren are preparing a summons that will provide adequate energy for Windrunner to begin again. Witness what happens when you harness the Void's power."
Normally Lyra and Trixie would have been surprised by that statement, but considering that Lyra had access to both the power of the Light and the power of Dark Magic, and that Trixie was essentially the Spell-Weaver reborn, nothing could really surprise them at this point... though they were definitely interested in this process, that much was true.
"Well, Windrunner? What say you?" Locus-Walker inquired, to which Lyra and Trixie turned their heads towards Alleria, because this was an important decision she was going to make and they were interested in what she was going to say.
"Show me the path." Alleria said, though at the same time she took her bow and locked it into place between her back and her quiver, before turning and facing her teacher with a look of determination on her face, "I am ready to walk it."
"Right this way." Locus-Walker replied, to which he turned around and waved a hand, where a Void portal opened up behind him, one that he and the group walked into so they could find the creature that he had been located.
When they approached on the other side of the portal Lyra and Trixie found three of the Shadowguard in the process of summoning the creature they were here for, though the area they happened to be in was the far left side of the first area they had attacked together. As they focused on the summoners, however, Locus-Walker nodded towards the two of them and the duo charged forward, to which they separated from each other and started beating up the summoners that were in front of them. At the same time they restrained themselves, as their full power might be enough to break the summoning and would likely make Locus-Walker cross with them, but their current states were more than enough for them to take out the summoners without anything terrible happening... though once all three of them were dead, and the duo returned to Alleria and Locus-Walker, the Void energy surged and a creature appeared before them.
Trixie raised an eyebrow for a moment, as the Void creature that was in front of them reminded her of a Void revenant, a being that referred to itself as a demi-god, and she knew that this was more than enough for whatever Locus-Walker had planned for Alleria... to which she and Lyra prepared themselves for a great battle.
"Yes, this specimen will do." Locus-Walker stated, sounding a little pleased with what the dead summoners had been able to call into this world, even though Trixie and Lyra knew it's power was more than he might know, "Prepare yourself, Alleria. Your friends here will hold its attention."
The moment Locus-Walker said that Lyra and Trixie lashed out at the creature, using the lowest level of their powers this time around so they didn't outright kill the Void revenant with the sheer weight of their power, as that would defeat the purpose of their new ally's plans. At the same time, while Lyra commanded the creature's attention, Alleria braced herself and started channeling whatever power she was supposed to be using, where a faint Void aura seemed to wrap around her for a few seconds as she got to work.
"That thing... Nhal'athoth..." Alleria said, her voice sounding different this time around, which made sense considering what she was doing at the moment, while at the same time Lyra and Trixie focused on their target, "it's... calling to me!"
"Focus your mind." Locus-Walker stated, though he stood off to the fight and observed what was happening, while at the same time commanding Alleria around while she did this task, "Remember your training."
"Arator?" Alleria mumbled, her voice strained at the moment, meaning that there was some effect to what she was doing, one that might not be the desired effect, "Turalyon?!"
"The Void shows only half truths." Locus-Walker commented, speaking a truth that Lyra and Trixie had started to discover once they had reached this area, though they hadn't acknowledged it since they were busy running all over the place to help their war against the Legion, "Trust your instincts."
"I can't... I... Argh!" Alleria growled out, though that was when she began to succumb to the Void, which was the exact opposite of what Lyra, Trixie, and Locus-Walker wanted at this exact moment.
"Fight, curse you!" Locus-Walker commanded, though even as he said that, and the two Equestrians paused as Nhal'athoth became unfocused for a few seconds, the aura around Alleria shifted a few seconds later, indicating that she was stronger than what they were seeing.
"I won't let you!" Alleria shouted, to which she snapped out of what was happening to her and rapidly pulled out her bow, where she pulled out an arrow that was empowered with Void energy, "I am not yours to claim!"
In the following few seconds Alleria loosed her Void arrow, which flashed through the air and struck Nhal'athoth in it's chest, causing the group to watch as the creature collapsed on itself and left a floating sphere of Void energy behind, which was essentially the heart of a demi-god.
"Begone, wretched darkness." Alleria said, to which she fell to her knees for a moment and huffed, indicating that the pressure she had been under had been more than what she was expecting, but at least she was okay.
"Be sure to collect our prize." Locus-Walker stated, looking at Lyra and Trixie for a few seconds, revealing that since he didn't refer to them as 'fleshlings', like the rest of his kind, he found some value to their existence, "I will tend to Alleria."
Lyra and Trixie nodded as they turned towards the floating sphere, though instead of Lyra taking it, as she was a little worried that if she touched it the sphere would morph into a lesser half of her circlet, especially when it wasn't hers to take, before Trixie claimed the Void energy and turned towards the duo that was standing behind them.
"The heart of a demi-god. This is no mere token, Alleria." Locus-Walker commented, staring at the item that Trixie was holding onto, as she silently agreed with what was going through Lyra's mind at the moment, before turning towards his student, "Take it, and you will be one step closer to your destiny."
"I understand." Alleria said, to which she stood back up and turned towards Trixie, who carefully set the heart of the freshly slain demi-god in her hands, "Thank you, all of you."
Alleria stared at the heart for a few seconds before focusing her mind, where both Lyra and Trixie watched as a good deal of the Void energy that had been inside the heart surged into Alleria's body, where a Void aura wrapped around her and stayed there for a few moments, though this time it didn't seem to disappear, meaning there was more she needed to do before her training was complete.
"That was... an intense experience. It is difficult to focus. I need you two to return to Velen. Give him this." Alleria said, to which she held her hand back out and deposited the nearby depleted the heart in Trixie's hands, meaning that it still had some power left inside it, before she backed up a few steps, "I feel as though he should have it, though I am not sure why. Tell him all that we have learned. I am sure Romuul will have been watching our progress. With any luck, a beacon is already headed our way."
"How do you feel?" Locus-Walker asked, revealing that he was still interested in what had happened to his student, even though he clearly had a vast understanding of what happened, meaning that each experience like this was different from the one before it.
"My head is... swimming." Alleria admitted, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie nodded their heads in agreement, as they had felt the same when they first took their new powers into their bodies, even though it wasn't as intense as what she was feeling at the moment.
"Remember... So long as your mind is your own, you command this power." Locus-Walker said, repeating something that Lyra, Trixie, and a vast number of the heroes had learned over the many years they had been trying to protect Azeroth from the forces that wanted to destroy it, "It does not command you."
"How did you do it by yourself?" Alleria inquired, revealing that Locus-Walker might have done this same thing by himself, which seemed strange considering what they had seen earlier, but Lyra and Trixie said nothing as the two continued their conversation.
"Ah, well. Perhaps I will tell you one day." Locus-Walker replied, though at the same time he backed away for a moment, which meant that he was getting ready to leave, while he also stared at Lyra and Trixie as he spoke, "Until then, I will be keeping an eye on your progress. Farewell for now."
It was in that moment that Locus-Walker took his leave, disappearing as quickly as he had first arrived in their lives, though at the same time Alleria sighed as she turned towards the duo, who turned to look at her while they listened to what she wanted to tell them.
"You should return to the Vindicaar and share what we have learned." Alleria said, though before either of them could do anything she glanced in the direction of the Seat of the Triumvirate, where the Crest and L'ura rested, "My path takes me into the Seat of the Triumvirate... to whatever fate awaits me there. I am certain Velen will understand."
Before Lyra and Trixie could say anything Alleria charged off into the distance and disappeared, leaving them to wait for a few seconds before the beacon appeared, to which the two of them chuckled for a moment as they teleported back to the Vindicaar. When they arrived they discovered that some of the heroes, those that remained and hadn't been assigned a task on the other areas of Argus, stared at them in shock for a moment, revealing that they had seen Trixie's power. At the same time one of the Lightforged Draenei lead the way to where Velen was standing, which happened to be in front of the Netherlight Crucible, where he turned to look at them when they walked up to him.
"What is it that you brought with you?" Velen asked, though at the same time Trixie made sure he could see the heart of the demi-god, where a look of interest appeared in his eyes, "Intriguing..."
"The drained heart of a demi-god," Trixie explained, to which a new level of interest appearing in Velen's eyes, though she knew that it would only increase when she revealed the rest of it's nature, "a Void demi-god, to be exact."
"I see. The darkness within this essence is palpable." Velen stated, to which he glanced at the second pedestal on the forge, one that was opposite of where Xe'ra's essence rested, where he understood what was going on, "In the past, I might have shunned such power, even denied its very existence. But what have we learned throughout our long struggle, if not that Light and shadow must coexist? This may prove to be exactly what we need to bring balance to the Netherlight Crucible. To give us the edge we need against the Legion. Infuse this essence into the crucible, champion. Draw one step closer to realizing the full potential of all our weapons."
Trixie nodded and held her hand out, where the heart of Nhal'athoth surged forward and formed a shadowy version of the essence that was on the opposite side of the Crucible, though with that done she stepped back and stared at it as she understood their next step... they had to tackle the Seat of the Triumvirate, take out L'ura while helping Alleria, and see if Lyra found the remaining half of her strange circlet. Things were about to get very interesting, though how interesting she had no idea, and she couldn't help but feel that everyone, even their enemies, would be surprised when they came back with the missing Crest.
Lyra and Trixie, despite their eagerness to get their next venture over with immediately, rested for a few minutes while they waited for some of the heroes to finish their tasks in Krokuun, the Antoran Wastes, and the other reaches of Mac'Aree before they formed their 'dungeon' group. As such they wanted Allvar to come and be their tank and Maraa, who was standing nearby, agreed to be their healer for this venture, even if she believed that such a thing was unnecessary, especially with their new skills. That left them to find another damage dealer, something they didn't think they really needed at this point since they were already strong enough, but there were many eager heroes that wanted to be a part of this dungeon run, though the duo suspected that they were eager to see more of their strength and feel it for themselves. As it turned out the heroes nominated Landan, the leader of Trixie's guild, to come and join them, which appeared to be a unified agreement between the heroes of the Alliance and the heroes of the Horde, to which he walked down and joined the duo as they waited for the others to come back.
The duo also came to understand that Allvar and Maraa had been sent out together, with some other heroes, and returned with the rest of their group, where they reported their success in killing the demons and sabotaging their foes, which was their mission in the Antoran Wastes. Once they came back Landan approached them and informed them of what was going on, where they both agreed to accompany them into the Seat of the Triumvirate, to which the five of them approached Romuul. They quickly discovered that Alleria was fully expecting their assistance, as she had an area where they could teleport down and met her, where the five of them allowed the Light to wrap around them as they teleported down to Mac'Aree once more. This time around they appeared near a stone that overlooked the entrance of an abandoned building, though as Trixie stared at the area she realized that the group could bypass any reinforcements that the Shadowguard might have called upon in the last couple of minutes... which was fully doable since they were in command with the Void, and they would have done it considering that Lyra and Trixie, two heroes, had smashed their forces earlier.
As the five of them started to descend towards the entrance, however, they spotted Alleria and Locus-Walker standing nearby, indicating that despite the area that Alleria had run in she had known exactly where to go, which was why she purposely called them to this building.
Alleria nodded to them as they walked up to the area that she was standing in, to which she and her mentor joined the heroes as they headed up the stairs and entered the ruined building that the Shadowguard had moved their forces into, who lashed out at the heroes as they noticed their arrival. Allvar stood at the head of the pack and drew the attention of the Void Ethereals to him, allowing Landan and Lyra to attack them from behind or the sides while Trixie lashed out with her magic and Maraa stood back as she watched her friends fight their foes. Despite the power that was coursing through their veins both Lyra and Trixie made sure to not go overboard with their attacks, especially since they were mostly saving their power for L'ura. The two of them were sure that the Dark Naaru would require their full power, something that the others seemed to agree with, though at the same time they hacked and blasted at the Void Ethereals that were standing around the area they were in. They also ignored the Void Broken that was in the middle of the ruined building, because they were fairly certain that he was a powerful 'boss' level creature that happened to be waiting for invaders, and focused on taking out the enemies around him.
When all of the Void Ethereals had been taken care of, and no more teleported into the area to fight them, Allvar turned his attention to the Void Broken and attacked him, causing the creature to attack them while channeling the power of the Void against them. As the battle began the group learned that this creature, this Void Broken that hadn't lost his mind, was called Zuraal and that he appeared to be a brawler of some kind, though as they battled each other the truly mad Broken, crawling along the ground, charged at them from the shadows while they fought. Zuraal used his fists, empowered by the Void, and smashed the ground from time to time, where a surge of powerful Void energy surged out in the direction he was facing, or sometimes out in a circular wave to hit all of them. When he punched the ground below him, creating the ring of Void energy, the Void started to spread out from where his fist touched the ground, causing Allvar to move away from that area so he and the others didn't get hurt by the shadowy energy.
The unfortunate thing was that, as Allvar moved out of the Void area, Zuraal created more of them when he was a good distance from the first he had created, and Void globs started moving out of the shadows, which Trixie crushed with her magic, as she knew that, since they were heading towards Zuraal, only something bad could happen and she was preventing that from happening. Zuraal even tore Void portals open, stunning himself in the process for a few seconds, but that appeared to empower his attacks as he continued his assault on the group, where he also randomly targeted his opponent from the number of foes that he was fighting against, going from Allvar to Maraa and heading to Lyra before heading back to Allvar. It was an interesting tactic, as they hadn't really seen that happen in the past, but at the same time the group was able to deal enough damage to Zuraal and dropped him to the ground... where his last words, before he died, was that the Void was weak, and then he was gone.
Once Zuraal was gone for the group paused for a moment, to regain their breath as they thought about what powers their foe had commanded, before Alleria called for them to join her and Locus-Walker, indicating that the two of them had moved on the moment Zuraal was defeated... to which the group headed towards the building the pair was in and found that it was a dead end, where they turned towards Alleria with a look of confusion on their faces.
"The Shadowguard is building up it's presence near the temple." Alleria told them, revealing that she knew more about the situation than what the heroes knew, but Lyra and Trixie assumed that was the truth, especially after what they had done earlier.
"Disrupting their efforts would benefit all of us." Locus-Walker said, though as he spoke it appeared that something else came to mind, something that he wanted to tell them before they got underway, "Also, their commander here has a particular item that would be useful to me."
"Sounds like a plan," Lyra commented, though at the same time she stared at the wall that was in front of them, wondering the same thing they had all been thinking when they came to a stop in this area, "only we'll need to go around and find a new path into the Shadowguard's base of operations."
Alleria smirked for a moment before she channeled a small beam of Void energy at the wall in front of them and moved it in a circular motion, where the group watched as a section of the wall, the inside of the circle, disappeared once she connected the circle. That revealed the area that Lyra and Trixie had been in like ten or twenty minutes ago, with a good number of the devices and portals still broken, though at the same time there were some that were still functional, or the Ethereals were quick at repairing what had been broken earlier. As such the group dropped down into the area in front of them, though as they did so it appeared that their next target knew that they were coming and several small Void portals snapped into reality around this part of the city, revealing that their commander wasn't playing games with them and wanted them all dead. Allvar, on the other hand, charged at the Ethereals that were around them and dragged his foes over to one of the Void portals, where he attacked them and the Void elemental that was trying to stabilize the portal it had come out of, while at the same time his companions attacked their targets.
This time around Lyra let the Light gather around her blade as she swung at their foes, as the Void Ethereals and the Void elemental didn't like being slashed at with this power and she was going to use it to her advantage, while at the same time Trixie blasted her targets with the arcane power she commanded. Lyra knew that her friend's true power, which she was beginning to unlock, would have been extremely overpowering in this instance, though she was saving it for something that really needed to be destroyed by the arcane. Fortunately this wasn't one of those instances, as their current power was more than enough to deal with the enemies that were arrayed against them and killed the Void elemental that was in front of them, though after it fell and it's portal fell apart a new one opened up some distance away from where they were standing. The moment they spotted the new Void portal Allvar lead the way and forced the Void Ethereals to follow him towards his target, where the group repeated the process against the Ethereals and the elemental that wanted to summon in more reinforcements.
Lyra found that the Ethereals really wanted them dead and that those they hadn't pulled towards them were actually charging towards the portal they were attacking, which actually made things easier for them in the long run, but at the same time the group braced themselves and continued hacking and blasting their way through the guardians in front of them. As the guardians of the second portal fell, and the portal was torn apart in the process, the commander called for a third one to open and declared that they were being overrun, to which the group headed towards the next portal that had opened nearby and attacked the guardians as the rest of the Ethereals came at them from where they had been stationed earlier. When the third portal fell, and the rest of the army had been dealt with, the commander declared that he was going to see to them personally and a new portal opened behind them, where a Void Ethereal, calling himself Saprish, stepped into the area behind them and raised his staff as he prepared for battle... and that was including him being joined by a Void tainted panthara before the portal closed.
As the heroes engaged him, and Allvar lashed out at Saprish, Lyra focused her immediate efforts on removing the panthara that was following his orders, as she wanted to deprive him of a tool that could be used against them, though as she fought the panthara she had to avoid the metallic traps that their main opponent threw out at them. Despite being empowered by the Void it actually looked like he was worse than the last foe they had fought, as his attacks were much slower than Zuraal's attacks, but at the same time he flashed through the air and appeared behind whoever he was targeting at any given moment. He also marked them several times during their fight, somehow empowering himself in the process, but that really didn't give him the edge in this fight, especially when Lyra drove her blade into the head of the Void tainted panthara she was fighting and turned her attention to their opponent. The moment Lyra was done with her target she joined the fight against Saprish and together the five of them overpowered his attacks, dodged his attempts to shackle them like beasts, and dealt enough damage to make him stagger backwards... where Lyra, Allvar, and Landan drove their blades into his chest at the same time, where all three of their blades avoided touching each other.
A few seconds later, when they were certain that he had stopped breathing, the three of them pulled out their blades and let Saprish's body fall to the floor, despite the fact that the staff he had been carrying floated in the air after it was released from his hands... to which another Void portal opened nearby and Locus-Walker stepped out, where he approached the group with Alleria right behind him.
"Thank you for removing the obstacles between me and this staff, heroes." Locus-Walker said, though at the same time he raised his hand and grasped the staff, where the air around him seemed to shift slightly for a moment, "Yes, this will do nicely. You'll find their Viceroy near the entrance to the temple, feebly trying to break in. Eliminating him will give us an opportunity to get in ourselves. I'll see to opening the way once he's taken care of."
With that said the group, now raised to seven members since Alleria and Locus-Walker insisted on following them, advanced towards the entrance of the Seat of Triumvirate, the central building that was their main target, and engaged the elite Void Ethereals that were blocking their path. Lyra was happy to fight these opponents, as they were tougher than the others ones they had fought earlier, but at the same time the power their foes had still wasn't enough to stop them from smashing through their ranks as they approached Viceroy Nezhar, as Locus-Walker named their next target. Sure enough they found Nezhar standing in the middle of the area in front of the entrance to the building they needed to enter, with a small army standing near him. Instead of dealing with them personally, like Saprish did, Nezhar waved a hand and his soldiers charged at the group, allowing him to focus his energies on the door that was blocking his way, to which Lyra and the others attacked the elite Void Ethereals that tried to cut them down.
It didn't take them long to smash their way through the enemies that were coming their way, and scatter their corpses in the process, before Allvar roared and Nezhar stopped channeling his power at the door, to which he turned around and stared at them as he started the fight.
"I shall bring you to your twilight!" Nezhar stated, though at the same time several small Void portals opened and soldiers started to pour into the area around them, fully intending to kill all of them in the process, while he engaged Allvar and the rest of the group.
As the battle started Nezhar started by hurling spheres of Void energy at whoever he was targeting, while at the same time opening the Void and calling forth tendrils of shadowy energy that wanted to kill them, which required Lyra, Trixie, and Landan to separate from their foe for a moment and cut down the tendrils before they dealt with Nezhar. In addition to that he also gathered Void energy into his hand and loosed a beam of it at whoever he wanted to target, as it was in what appeared to be a random order as to who he wanted to kill first. There was also a howl he loosed that gripped the group and made them back away for a moment, indicating that it was a fear type power, but thanks to their various experiences with those powers they weren't too bothered by his attempts to make them run away like chickens. And, as if all that wasn't enough, Nezhar also called upon a more powerful Void Ethereal that required being put down immediately, as it was even stronger than the other ones they had fought before this point.
Of course while they were taking out the empowered Void Ethereal, and making sure it was removed from the playing field, Nezhar channeled his own power and released a devastating blast of energy that knocked all of them backwards, indicating that his power was greater than they originally thought... but, with the power of the Light that Lyra wielded and the power of the arcane that Trixie commanded, they were able to topple him in due time, though as he fell they needed a few moments to regain their energy.
"I sense great despair emanating from within." Alleria commented, to which she stared at the door that was in front of them and focused on the energy that was on the other side, one that everyone could feel now that they were so close to their target, "L'ura..."
"Yes, the Naaru." Locus-Walker said, his tone indicating that he found something amusing about the whole situation, before he turned his head towards Alleria again, indicating that this was something she could do, "We must get inside. Alleria, the skills you have learned can open the way."
"Understood." Alleria replied, to which she turned her head towards Lyra and the others for a moment, who looked up at her as they returned to their feet, while at the same time Locus-Walker channeled his own Void beam at the door in front of them, "Champions, once the door is open, clear the way to L'ura. We will be right behind you."
Before anyone could say anything Alleria raised her hand, the one that was already pulsing with Void energy, and loosed her own beam at the door, where they were forced to watch as the two dismantled the barrier that was keeping them from entering the Seat of the Triumvirate. The moment the door was open the group charged into the tunnel that was in front of them, though as they quickly neared the end Lyra and Trixie truly gazed upon the Dark Naaru that was L'ura, as she appeared to be identical to most Naaru in form, despite the fact that she had been twisted by the darkness that had festered inside her since the day Velen and the others escaped Argus. From what Lyra could tell L'ura's body was represented by three colors; the outermost parts of her body were seemed in darkness that reminded her of her own Dark Magic, the areas that rested closer to her core were dark purple colored, and her core pulsed with a dark light that radiated the power of the Void. Lyra and Trixie knew that there would be no saving L'ura, as she had been here too long and had been in pain for so long, and that death was the only thing they could offer her, though behind her rested a fuchsia colored gemstone that radiated power, which Trixie recognized immediately.
They had found the Crest of Knowledge, guarded by L'ura as Talgath said it would, which meant that they were in for a tough fight, though as they raised their weapons Lyra sighed and delved into her own power, where the mist flowed from her eyes once more... as she felt that it only felt right to fight a dark being like L'ura with her own dark energies, especially when she could provide the other half of the circlet she wore.
"Such chaos... such anguish." Alleria said, staring at the Dark Naaru for a moment, as she was surprised by the power that was radiating from L'ura at the moment, while at the same time she and Locus-Walker entered the room, "I have never sensed anything like it before."
"It is rare that a Naaru falls into Void this way." Locus-Walker stated, once more revealing that he knew more about things than he was willing to tell anyone, even Alleria for that matter, but the group remained focused as they all stared at L'ura, "The few cases I know of have occurred when mortals were involved. What fascinating implications... Such musings can wait, though. This entity must die."
The moment he said that, and Allvar charged at their target, L'ura summoned a barrier around her that made her immune to their attacks, and Lyra's attempts at using the shadows did nothing at the moment, which made sense considering that her Dark Magic wasn't balanced like the Light in her was. As that happened a pair of Void portals opened, one on their left and another on their right, and one Void elemental appeared from each one, though Lyra quickly understood what was going on and directed her attacks at one of the elementals, which were the guardians of the portals that were giving L'ura her invincibility. When the guardians fell Alleria channeled her Void energy for a few seconds and stole their power, allowing her to create a sphere of Void energy that, when she threw it, smashed through L'ura's barrier and opened her up to attacks. The instant the barrier crumbled the group rushed L'ura and started dealing as much damage as they could, as they had the feeling that the Dark Naaru would regain herself and attack them again, though as that happened Lyra could have sworn that L'ura was looking at her and focusing on what was inside her.
That thought proved to be correct as L'ura, when the barrier started to form around her again, seemed to siphon part of her own shadowy energy into a section of her dark core, one that appeared to be in the process of breaking at the moment, but did nothing more as she continued the attack once her protection was back in place.
L'ura's actual attacks included singing the terrible song that Velen had mentioned earlier and throwing spheres of Void energy at whoever she was targeting, though it quickly became apparent that the longer she was able to sing the greater her own damage became, and that, despite the barrier falling, it still continued to rise after the interruption. Once her invincibility was back the portals and their keepers returned, meaning that they had to repeat the same process as before, though as they fought both Lyra and Trixie noticed that L'ura really didn't seem too interested in killing them. They supposed that, at the moment of her original fall from grace, she had lured many would be power seekers to their doom, but they guessed all these thousands of years had finally taken it's toll on the Dark Naaru, as it seemed to be testing their powers, almost as if it was gauging if they were ready or not. As all this happened, and she fought on autopilot once more, Lyra noticed that the section of L'ura's core she had been staring at was ready to be thrown the moment she had an opening, making her wonder what the Dark Naaru was going to do.
Eventually the answer came when Allvar struck a decisive blow to their foe's core, which loosened the fragment she had been preparing, though at the same time Alleria called for everyone to back up as she started to channel the essence of L'ura's shadow into her body. As that started to happen L'ura, using a fraction of her power, loosed the shadowy fragment of her core that she had been preparing and let it fly through the air, where it landed in front of Lyra's hooves, before her full attention turned to Alleria. The group watched as Alleria drew in everything that was the Dark Naaru and her power, which was larger than what she had done to the fallen demi-god earlier, before L'ura broke down into a sphere of energy and stunned Alleria for a moment, where the sphere surged forward and slammed into Alleria's chest. When the dark light cleared the group watched as Alleria, her body and armor darkened by the energy she had pulled into herself, stood up and faced where L'ura had been moments ago... though at the same time Lyra could tell that her power over the Void had been strengthened by what she had done.
"You survived... interesting!" Locus-Walker commented, as if he fully expected Alleria to die or something, but since he knew more about her than the rest of the group did they remained silent as they listened, "How do you feel?"
"The voices are louder now. More insistent." Alleria replied, looking down at her body as she studied the changes, but then surprised the group when she focused her mind and reverted back to her original form, meaning that this was some sort of Void Form she had unlocked, "But they do not control me."
"You asked me to teach you to use the Void as a weapon." Locus-Walker said, referring to something that was said between them all those years ago, when they first encountered each other, though the group wondered if he was even a tad bit proud of what Alleria had done, "Now that weapon is you."
"Then it seems that my training is complete." Alleria stated, as she felt ready for anything, except fighting a Titan herself, something that she wasn't about to tell anyone until she had mastered this power.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to test the limits of this newfound power." Locus-Walker replied, though at the same time he waved his hand and another Void portal opened beside him, to which he turned towards Alleria and her allies, where the silent statement was enough to spur them into action.
Since L'ura had been absorbed, and had left almost nothing behind, there were only two things that the group had to grab before they headed through the Void portal, two very specific items that were important to their war with the Legion and it's terrible master. Trixie walked over to where L'ura had been floating and gently picked up the fuchsia gemstone, the Crest of Knowledge, which she held in her hands and felt the immense power resting within it, knowing that with the complete Crown they had the weapon necessary to open the way to Antorus. Lyra, on the other hand, gently removed a piece of cloth from her bag and wrapped it around the shadowy fragment that L'ura had thrown her way, as she had the feeling that it was exactly what she was looking for. With those two items in hand the group headed through the Void portal and appeared outside the Seat of the Triumvirate, where all they had to do was find a beacon and they would be able to tell Velen and the others the good news.
Soon the Legion would feel the power that they had given to the Army of the Light, and they were sure that Sargeras' plans would fall to dust once the final assault happened... and Lyra was looking forward to showing the Dark Titan that his time was officially over.
With Alleria and Locus-Walker leading the way it didn't take the group long to find one of the beacons that Romuul had sent down from the Vindicaar, as they actually headed over to the one that they had taken to escape the Void infested city when Lyra and Trixie were helping Alleria out earlier. Now that the Shadowguard had been destroyed, and their current masters slain in battle, they had nothing to fear from the area as they walked towards the beacon, though that didn't stop Trixie from making sure that the Crest was safe and sound. Lyra and the others noticed that she was holding it tightly, afraid to drop it and somehow damage it, but they were sure that the only thing that could break such a gemstone was someone who had an understanding of how they worked, and Velen wasn't about to do that. Lyra, on the other hand, carefully held onto the shadowy fragment of L'ura that had been thrown at her, by the Dark Naaru herself no less, though the reason behind why she wasn't transforming it yet was because she wanted to see what happened when the Crown was united first... as that was the main reason behind why they went to the Seat of the Triumvirate in the first place.
When they reached the beacon that Romuul had sent into the city, and were overjoyed to find that they had been right to lower their guards since all their enemies had been slain, they held out their hands and let the Light teleport them back to the Vindicaar. Upon their arrival Lyra, Trixie, and the others discovered that all of the heroes had been called back from their missions, as they were all interested in what was going to happen when they reforged the Crown of the Triumvirate, and Lyra even spotted Lord Illidan standing nearby. Alleria walked down to where Turalyon was standing and said nothing, other than kissing him for a few seconds, before they both stood at the ready, as neither of them knew what was going to happen when the Crown was reforged. At the same time Lyra and Trixie found Velen standing in front of where the Sigil had been placed earlier, standing there with a smile on his face, to which Lyra, Allvar, Landan, and Maraa stood back as Trixie approached the slots that were in front of her.
With Velen and the rest of their army watching her, just like the last time she did this, Trixie raised the Crest up and set it in place so that the triangular shaped bottom of it rested near the same shaped bottom of the Sigil, where it settled into place with a soft click and she backed away... only for Velen to step forward and remove the Eye of Prophecy from his staff, where the point was facing down towards the floor.
As the Crown was remade, and the pieces rejoined after thousands of years apart from each other, the three slots behind them turned golden for a moment, indicating that whatever was happening was working as Velen had intended for when this day came. That was followed by the Vindicaar being surrounded by a shimmering golden barrier, one that seemed to be coming from the ship itself, before Romuul stated that the translucent spherical shield was in place and that the Light was ready. The heroes watched as images of parts of the Vindicaar were shown to them, where patches of Light energy seemed to be seeping out of the ship, before the entirety of their dimensional ship was engulfed in a bright light that made everyone cover their eyes for a moment. When the moment passed, and the light faded, Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes opened their eyes and found that the Vindicaar had been transformed, as the purple and silver parts of the ship had been converted to varying shades of golden, just like the Xenedar... even the interior had been changed, but Velen smiled as he stared at the Vindicaar, indicating that all was well.
"The Crown is whole once more!" Velen declared, loud enough for everyone on the ship to hear him, which was followed by all of the heroes cheering, as they all knew exactly what was coming next, especially when Velen walked back over to the navigation console, "Now we take the fight to the Burning Throne itself. Ready yourselves. Antorus awaits!"
"Not quite yet." a voice said, to which everyone turned towards one of the ramp that someone could walk up if they were on the lower level of the ship, where Trixie's eyes widened as she stared at the pair that was walking up towards the area she was standing in.
Thanks to her travels across Azeroth it was hard for her to not know who the pair were, as the lady that was at the head of the pack, wearing some of the most revealing armor in the world while also protecting herself in the process, was none other than Alexstrasza, the Dragon Queen herself. Standing beside her was Azuregos, who she had last seen back during their assault on the Cathedral of Eternal Night, though while she wondered what they were doing here she knelt before the Dragon Queen. It felt right, mainly because it was how she usually greeted Alexstrasza back when she was in Norhtrend, but also because she was technically part dragon herself now, so it felt even more appropriate for her to kneel before her.
"Lady Alexstrasza, I was not expecting to see you again for some time," Trixie said, and that was the truth, though she suspected that the Dragon Queen had likely sought her out because of her unique nature, which would have explained why Azuregos was here as well.
"Trixie Lulamoon, I have told you time and time again that there is no reason for you to kneel before me," Alexstrasza replied, to which she offered Trixie a light smile as she pulled her back up to her feet, where Trixie seemed confused for a moment and yet said nothing, "I came because I heard some rumors about your new form and the powers that you appeared to command... and, based on what I saw earlier, it seems that they were true. Your mastery of magic, and using simple commands to shape the magic around you into pure beings of the arcane, remind me of what my brother did so long ago, before he went insane. Azuregos has agreed that it is time to tell you the truth about the essence that you absorbed back in Azsuna... it's not the essence of a long dead female blue dragon, but rather it was the essence, and contained some power, of one of my brothers; Malygos."
"The Spell-Weaver!" Trixie gasped, understanding what Alexstrasza as saying, though as she thought about how her magic had evolved since she transformed into this state she realized that she had missed something incredibly important, her mastery over her powers had put her on a level beyond a normal mage... because she had been merged with the essence of Malygos himself, minus the insanity he felt before his death.
"Indeed, and there's more news for you." Azuregos said, though there was a guilty look in his eyes, indicating that he wished he had told her the truth back when he first gave her the necklace containing the essence, and the same thing was true when he was describing what happened to her back in Azsuna, "Thanks to your trials, against the Legion and the other dangers you have faced, you have come to a point where one final change awaits you... one that will make you a true weapon that the Legion will fear."
Lyra was going to ask what they meant, but as she opened her mouth she noticed a light blue haze appear in Trixie's eyes for a moment, as if she was seeing the world differently, before she closed her eyes and let the magic that was all around her do what it was trying to do. She watched as Trixie's dragon horns seemed to change, as a new pair grew out from beneath the first pair, though instead of curling towards the sky, like the first pair, these new ones were bent down towards the ground and stopped when they were the same distance as her original pair. Her main horn, the one that represented her unicorn nature, twisted for a moment until it resembled a curved horn that looked like Sombra's, only Trixie's took on a crystalline blue coloration that almost made it look like it was an actual crystal. Nothing else seemed to happen to her, at least nothing they could see when she was in this form, but Lyra could tell that Trixie's power had stabilized and that it was greater than before.
A few seconds later Trixie opened her eyes and a faint blue mist rolled out of them, where she looked at herself to see if there were any strange changes, but for the most part Trixie was still the same... though they would see if that was true when she morphed into her dragon form again.
"Trixie Lulamoon, it appears that we were right, you do have the power to command what has been given to you." Alexstrasza said, though as she spoke she raised her hand and rested it on Trixie's shoulder with a smile on her face, while Azuregos smiled as well, "Though the Aspects are no more, and the Blue Dragons have gone their separate ways, you have proven that you are capable of commanding this power... and, as such, I feel that you should take on the title of Spell-Weaver, to reflect your new nature."
"I... thank you, Alexstrasza." Trixie said, though this time around she didn't call the Dragon Queen by her title or even attempt to bow her head, indicating that something had changed inside her, but she said nothing about that as she smiled at Alexstrasza.
"I must return to Azeroth now," Alexstrasza commented, to which she and Azuregos turned to leave, but at the same time she turned and looked at Trixie once more, as if imagining someone else was standing there, "but know that all of the dragonflights are wishing for a speedy success."
Trixie nodded and the heroes watched as the Dragon Queen, accompanied by her escort, departed from the Vindicaar, though as Trixie felt the portal being used she looked down at herself and realized that her control over the arcane had drastically improved. She actually wondered what sort of spells she could craft at a moment's notice, and the devastating effect they could have, but before she got crazy she realized that there was one other thing they needed to do before the assault on Antorus could begin. As such she turned her attention to Lyra, who was still holding the shadowy fragment of L'ura in the protective cloth she had wrapped around it, and knew that it was time to see what happened when she stabilized herself as well. Lyra, however, could feel the eyes of everyone else staring at her, meaning that everyone was interested in what was going to happen when she physically touched the fragment that she had been carrying the entire time.
"Okay Lyra, I think it's time you stopped stalling." Trixie said, though as she spoke she offered Lyra a smile, just to show that she hadn't changed all that much from her own transformation.
"I know... Romuul, send me down to Mac'Aree for a moment," Lyra replied, to which the heroes turned towards the commander of the ship, who nodded his head and accessed the controls, before Lyra disappeared and an image appeared to show her between all of the beacons they had launched down into Mac'Aree.
Lyra sighed as she stared down at the cloth that the shadowy fragment was resting in, as she knew it would have come to this eventually, though before she did anything she felt another flash of Light energy and Lord Illidan appeared nearby, carrying the Twinblades of the Deceiver with him, but he said nothing as he set them to the side and watched her. She felt better knowing that the person who had watched over her, when she first arrived in the Outlands, was going to be watching over her again when she did something as crazy as stabbing her own eyes, and she still marveled at how her eyes hadn't been destroyed in that process. They were then joined by Trixie, who wanted to be there for her, and she nodded her head in understanding as her fellow Equestrian stood beside Lord Illidan, though once they were done moving she focused her mind and lifted the shadowy fragment from the cloth, which she stored away before the magic started to take shape around them. The three of them watched as the fragment twisted in shape until it morphed into the second half of the circlet that Lyra was wearing, though it radiated with a power that mimicked her Dark Magic, meaning L'ura had likely felt it and gave her the tool that she needed to stabilize herself.
She grasped the half of the circlet, the right half she realized, and connected it to the other half, where the completed circlet rested around her head for a few seconds, though that was followed by a mass of Light energy and a mass of Dark Magic surrounding her as the two halves worked their magic.
Trixie watched as the two polar opposite elements wrapped around Lyra, seemingly in unison she realized, and formed a spherical ball around her, blocking her friend from their view and caused them to wonder what was going to happen to her this time. A few moments passed before the sphere started to fall apart before their eyes, though as it did so, and they were allowed to see Lyra again, Trixie's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, as the two fragments of the circlet had transformed into more than what she and anyone else were expecting. Lyra stood there with the same body that she had, when she wasn't using her Havoc Form, but as the energy cleared away Trixie noticed that her horns, her demon hunter horns, had come back, but now they looked like miniature versions of Illidan's horns. There was also the unusual fact that her left horn, and the tattoos on that side of her body, were golden colored, like the Light that was inside her body, while the horn and tattoos on her right side were darkened, like the Dark Magic she wielded. A few seconds later her demon hunter wings returned in full force, as if they had never left, and Trixie found that they, too, were separated into two different colors, ones that matched the rest of her body. Even her eyes radiated a familiar mist from them, though while Lyra's right eye had the Dark Magic mist, which was normal, her left eye had a golden Light colored mist.
It was in that moment that Trixie realized that Lyra had, somehow, assumed her demon hunter appearance again, only this time she was powered by the Light and her inner Dark Magic, wielded by a single individual at the same time, and that only made her wonder what powers she had at this point... and if she even had a Havoc Form anymore, or if she even needed that form at this point in time, as her power was amazing and she could feel something happening.
"Illidan, you might want to step out of the way." Trixie commented, to which the Leader of the Illidari looked at her for a moment, but instead of asking questions he moved a little and made sure that he wasn't near the Twinblades, which happened to be shaking at the moment.
Not a few seconds later Lyra extended her right hand and the warglaive that was associated with that hand went flying towards her hand, where it settled the instant Lyra grabbed it, but as Trixie watched she noticed that the metal changed until it seemed to be a warglaive that had been infused with the darkness. The warglaive now looked like something that came out of someone's nightmare, as the shadows reminded her of what they had seen of L'ura a tiny bit, but Lyra wasn't done with just one of her warglaives. Once the first one was completed Lyra held out her left hand and the second warglaive went flying to her side, where it accepted the power of the Light and the blade turned golden, the opposite of the darkness that was on the other weapon, and completed the look that Lyra was apparently going for; one half commanding the Light, while the other half commanded Dark Magic. The moment the two weapons were in her hands, transformed to fit her new form, Lyra started moving her body like the demon hunter she had been, moving her new Twinblades as if she hadn't been robbed of the fel energy she came to use all the time... and Trixie knew that Lyra was stronger than before, which was good in the grand scheme of things.
After a few moments of doing that Lyra stopped practicing her old movements and waved her hands, where the Twinblades turned to energy and disappeared entirely, but Trixie knew that her friend had sent her weapons into a storage area of sorts that were associated with her new horns. She had never bothered to ask how Illidan had stored his own warglaives in his horns, but she figured that now wasn't the time, not when Lyra climbed the nearby structure that they had been standing near and looked towards the Seat of the Triumvirate. As everyone watched her she suddenly raised a hand towards the sky and both her powers reacted, as both the Light and Dark Magic started to gather above her hand, where Trixie watched as the energy started to expand into a ball of energy that was three times Lyra's size. The power stored inside the sphere, even if it was just a small fraction of Lyra's new power, caused the ground around the structure she was standing on to crack... which was followed by Lyra hurling the sphere towards the Seat of the Triumvirate, which was engulfed in blinding light for a moment.
Sargeras would have been annoyed with the situation, as Archimonde and Kil'jaeden were dead and the mortals were attacking Argus at that very moment, but things were playing into his hands and he was making sure that everything was in place for his victory. The moment the portal to Azeroth was opened he shifted into his cosmic cloud form and traveled towards his prize, which was started to wrap his being around so he could accurately determine if Azeroth had been compromised by the infection of the Old Gods, and the Void they served, or if there was time for him to draw out the World Soul that was the Titan known as Azeroth. If it was the former of the two choices he would grab his mighty blade and smash Azeroth into a thousand pieces, killing his prize and sparing the innocent Titan in the process, though if it was the latter he would ensure Azeroth joined his cause to defeat the Void, just like the rest of the Pantheon would once their rebirth was finished.
If any of the heroes that were on Argus looked up into the sky, and stared at Azeroth, they would realize that he had beaten them at long last and he was claiming his prize, and it was all thanks to the one night elf he had empowered all those years ago, back before the Well of Eternity exploded and destroyed his portal.
Sargeras then paused for a moment, as he felt what appeared to be a shifting in the arcane powers that he and the other Titans were connected to, which caused him to turn part of the cloud back up towards the rift between Argus and Azeroth so he could stared at the seat of his power for a few seconds. From what he could tell a new creature, one specifically tied to the arcane and wasn't a Titan, had entered a level of power that would have allowed them to easily rival either of his twisted commanders, and that was after he had empowered them with the fel energy. He watched Argus for a few more seconds, knowing that the being had to be one of those strange 'pony girls' that his Eredar mentioned in their various reports, before he decided to turn back towards his prize. As he started to do that, however, he felt another surge of power, one that was even greater than the arcane user, and snapped his cloud head back towards Argus, where he felt a union of the Light and a new type of Darkness, one that certain demons claimed was 'Dark Magic', a power that he believed to be similar to the terrible Void. He had never felt such a fusion of different powers before, one where he had to turn his cosmic head away from Argus for a second as a bright light, a mixture of Light and Shadow, appeared on Argus for a few seconds.
When the light faded he turned back towards Azeroth with the thought of claiming his prize quickly, because he knew that if the Army of the Light had a being that controlled both the power of the Light and the power of Void, in the terrifying union that he had felt, his plans might crumble to dust... and he had no idea if the forces of Antorus, or even Aggramar himself, could stand against the power that now stood against him.
When the smoke cleared Trixie opened her eyes and found a shocking sight, the Seat of the Triumvirate, the area they had been in earlier, was gone and in it's place rested a smoldering crater, to which she glanced up at Lyra, who was staring down at the wreckage she had caused. She had known that combining the fel energy and Dark Magic had produced some devastating results, and she had seen them first hand many times, but she never once considered that the Light and Dark Magic could be merged together in such a manner, with even greater results. Lyra, on the other hand, turned away from where she had been standing and jumped down to where Trixie and Illidan were standing, where she touched the ground without a bit of damage done to her legs, though as she walked towards them her wings flashed and disappeared into the tattoos on her back, which she was glad to use once more.
"Xe'ra had no idea what she was doing earlier," Trixie commented, causing Lyra to turn towards her, though the smile on her face told Trixie that her friend understood what she was saying, while Illidan nodded as well, "she thought Illidan was the 'Chosen One', and yet it appears that you are the one destined to help stop the Legion."
"It's like Lord Illidan said earlier, there can be no chosen one," Lyra said, though at the same time she held out her hands and her warglaives flashed into existence again, allowing Trixie to look at them closely at the same time while she continued to talk, "though, since my power and weapons are different, allow me to introduce the Netherlight Twinblades; Nightmare and Daybreaker."
"The Legion should fear your new power," Illidan stated, to which he chuckled as the three of them looked at each other for a few seconds, as they knew exactly what he was going to say next, "It is time for us to begin the assault on Antorus and bring an end to Sargeras' plans."
Lyra nodded as the three of them teleported back aboard the Vindicaar and let Romuul set the ship towards the Antoran Wastes, where they would tear down the walls of Antorus and assault everything that Sargeras put in place to defend the World Soul of Argus... even if they had to tear down Aggramar at the same time.
There was a frenzy of activity on the Vindicaar as Turalyon recalled all the heroes and Lightforged that had been dispatched to Krokuun, the Antoran Wastes, and Mac'Aree, including the weapons and armaments that they had sent down as well, so they could be prepared for what was coming. The heroes gathered around the area between the navigation console and the place that the Crown of the Triumvirate rested in, as they were ready for the terrifying and final battle between them and the Legion's forces. Alleria had told them that the forces of Antorus were strong, based on her observations, and the walls were supposed to be extremely durable, but Velen had faith in the Crown that they had painstakingly collected and reforged, as it was the key to breaking down the wall and freeing the Pantheon. Even Hatuun's people, sensing that the battle was coming to an end, gathered up their belongings and teleported aboard the Vindicaar, where they would the war effort any way they could, even if the only thing they had to offer was warriors and healers.
There was another piece of good news they discovered as they descended towards the Antoran Wastes and it came from Magni no less, as the crystal that had allowed him, Lyra, and Trixie to hear Argus' message earlier had been vibrating again, though this time it was from Eonar... meaning that Sargeras didn't have the complete Pantheon in Antorus. Of course that meant that they were likely going to have to save her anyway, since Lyra and Trixie were sure that the message was being traced back to her essence's sanctuary at that very moment. Still, having one Titan safe from the forces of Antorus was good news, two if they counted Azeroth, though that meant that they still had four more to save before they became like Aggramar, who they were likely going to have to destroy the avatar of so they could free him as well. It was a tall order, even for the greatest heroes of both the Alliance and the Horde, but they were up to the challenge of defeating a real Titan Avatar, destroying the forces of Antorus, and save the rest of the Pantheon so they could tell them how to permanently defeat Sargeras at long last.
Still, despite all the chaos that was around them, Lyra and Trixie stood by the navigation console as they descended towards the Antoran Wastes, their eyes firmly resting on the fortress that the Army of the Light, the Alliance, and the Horde would be attacking soon enough... and they both knew that if they failed, and Sargeras claimed Azeroth, then it was only a matter of time until he found and destroyed Equus as well.
"Everyone, get ready!" Khadgar called out, while at the same time the Vindicaar broke through the area above the Antoran Wastes and flew close to where the wall was, or rather the one weak point that Alleria had discovered during the many times she scouted the area.
"Romuul, you may fire when ready!" Velen said, tapping his staff on the floor, though this time everyone went silent as they waited, as this was the moment that they were all waiting for, before he heard the hum of power that indicated that Light's Judgement was preparing itself.
"I am going to enjoy this more than I should!" Romuul chuckled, to which he tapped a few of the commands as the Vindicaar came to a stop in the optimal space for him to fire Light's Judgement, though that was replaced with a smile as his systems gave him the information he was after, "Light's Judgement firing in five... four... NOW!"
The heroes watched as the screen revealed the new primary cannon of the Vindicaar pulling the Light into the weapon's barrel for a few seconds, creating the hum of power that they were now familiar with, before a burst of Light energy raced forth and blasted a hole in the side of Antorus, creating the opening for their army to invade.
"This is our chance!" Khadgar said, to which he joined the heroes as the Light began to gather around them all, as he intended to join them and help out in some way, "It's time we stormed Antorus and defeated the Legion... permanently."
Lyra and Trixie nodded as the Light enveloped them, to which Romuul teleported all of them down to the area in front of the breach they had created, causing the heroes to cheer in victory, even though they hadn't done anything yet, before they started pouring into the opening in the wall. When they came out of the other side they found a wall defined path for them to follow, indicating that Sargeras must have built the wall in such a way that if someone ever breached it they would die to the first set of soldiers they came across. As Lyra and Trixie joined them they noticed that not only were the soldiers made up of some of the strongest Felguards that were in the Legion and smaller versions of the mechanical monsters that patrolled certain area that the Legion controlled. They were, of course, joined by a small force from the Army of the Light, though while Turalyon joined them Alleria and her forces were attacking from the north, meaning they must have used her new Void powers to get there so quickly.
Without wasting any time the warriors of their group lifted their war horns to their lips and blew for a few seconds, sounding out that the final battle between the forces of Azeroth and the Burning Legion was about to begin, before they charged down the ramp that was in front of them and engaged the demons that were waiting for them.
One thing that Lyra learned about her newly modified form, besides the fact that she was a proper demon hunter again, was that her warglaives were even stronger than they had been before the transformation, while she herself was even stronger than she had been when she was a normal demon hunter. Demons howled in pain when the Daybreaker slashed at them, leaving angry Light infused cuts on their arms, legs, and chests, while they seemed to shake and madly crackle when the Nightmare hit them, as if their worst thoughts were haunting them or something. Trixie, on the other hand, discovered that her spells were even stronger than when she had been a mere mage, as she felt so much stronger than when she first started out. With a mere whisper she could convince the arcane in the air around them to form magical tendrils that lashed out at the demons, could trip them up so her allies could beat them up, or, if she was feeling truly destructive, she could teleport a magical charge inside the core of the mechanical robots and blow them up from the inside, raining parts down all around them... and freak out some of the demons that had watched her do that.
Even the first Eredar Brute that walked up the platform to attack them didn't last when it targeted Lyra of all people, as the power of the Light and the Darkness that she now commanded were more than enough to bring the brute down before it could hurt the other heroes or the allies that came with them. The second group of Felguards they encountered had another Eredar Brute with them and a Doomguard, both of which were gunning for Lyra the moment they saw her, though Trixie pulled a trick on the two creatures as the arcane listened to her as she bound their hands together. That made them even greater targets for Lyra and the other heroes to tear down, now that they couldn't fight back, and she was only doing it right now as a test of her new powers. From there the Army of the Light jumped down into the area below them, where another one of the smaller machines happened to be patrolling the area, though Trixie simply destroyed it by teleporting a charge into it's core... though before the heroes could join the Army of the Light a new humanoid machine, a real planet destroyer machine, rose up from the area in front of the area they had descended into and literally decimated the soldiers in front of it, killing them instantly.
Turalyon and those that hadn't gone down there yet stood back as they looked down at the sight of their dead comrades, slain before they could really do anything, though at the same time the group of heroes dropped down into the area in front of the Worldbreaker... where they stared at the upper half of the machine, as the lower half was out of view at the moment, but the group was more interested in the twin cannons on the Worldbreaker's shoulders.
Enemy combatants detected. the Worldbreaker declared, where they group of heroes focused on their enemy, knowing that it wasn't going to let them go anywhere until either all of them were dead or it was completely destroyed, while at the same time it primed it's weapons, Threat level nominal.
The moment the battle began the Worldbreaker swung it's arms and fists at those that were right in front of it, while at the same time charging some of it's smaller cannons to fire fel missiles at whoever was lingering in the back of the group so they didn't have to worry about the machine. As they fought the Worldbreaker it primed one of it's cannons as it targeted a part of the group, which unleashed a barrage of fel missiles that were more intense than the first set of fel missiles it used to target a few people at a time. Moments after using the first cannon, and not actually killing anyone since they were more prepared for this than the demons of Antorus realized, the Worldbreaker used it's other cannon to rain some fire style missiles down upon them, but they survived the assault as the healers mended their wounds. Lyra, still experimenting with her powers, snapped a Light barrier into existence around them when the Worldbreaker tried those attacks again, repelling the missiles before they could even be touched, shifting the odds of this fight in the favor of the heroes of Azeroth instantly.
Eventually the Worldbreaker started to charge up both of it's cannons in a more powerful attack, one that would definitely decimate all of them if they weren't careful, but Lyra smiled as she transformed both her warglaives into a sphere of energy, a mixture of the Light and the Shadow, and hurled it into the cannon on their left... where the twin energies ripped the cannon apart and left a crater where it had been resting, wounding the Worldbreaker in the process.
Lyra chuckled as she pulled her warglaives out of her energy again as the heroes looked at the damage, where they were shocked for a moment, before they turned their attention back on the Worldbreaker, finding that without the first cannon it's power had been decimated. Their target was restricted to only using it's fel missiles against them, making the fight that much easier for the heroes, and the Worldbreaker didn't even attempt to run away while they were tearing into it, as Lyra would have expected the creators to install such a thing in it so they could build an even greater machine for the people of a world they were trying to take out. With it's power reduced the machine eventually came to the conclusion that it needed to use all of it's remaining energy to take them out, where it prepared it's remaining cannon once more, though this time Lyra stepped to the side as Trixie dealt with it. What she did was create an even stronger Arcane Core, her name for the sphere of energy she teleported into the hearts of the machines, and put one in the heart of the cannon, obliterating the weapon and causing the machine to stagger as it's left arm broke off... indicating that she had done a little more damage than Lyra did, but she was happy with what she had done.
As the Worldbreaker staggered backwards, however, she and Lyra stepped forward and raised their hands, where they combined their two powers into a single blast that tore out the heart of the machine, causing it to stumble backwards before collapsing in the crater in front of them.
"Oh yeah, this is awesome." Lyra said, summoning her warglaives again as she started at the steaming wreck of the powerful Worldbreaker machine, which would have put up a decent fight if she and Trixie weren't here, "You know, I wonder if Sargeras can feel the power we wield."
"I hope he doesn't, otherwise he'll be heading for Azeroth at the first sigh of danger approaching," Trixie replied, though at the same time she followed the other heroes as they started to head down the path that the Worldbreaker had been guarding, knowing that more demons would be coming after them.
As they moved down the new pathway that was in front of them, and attacked the demons that were trying to stop them from invading the rest of Antorus, they had to avoid the small saucers that were firing fel blasts at the path they were walking on. When the saucers came back for a second pass Trixie waved her hand and the arcane reacted, to which the magic wrapped around them and crushed them until they couldn't move anymore, allowing them to tackle the Felguards and the other demons without having to worry about air attackers. From there they entered a den of the demonic hounds that they had seen earlier, the same ones that were about the size of a normal wolf, and started cutting and blasting their way through the area that they needed to go through. Of course the group had to fight their way through a second group of the felhounds after the first one, but as they turned down the path in front of them they all noticed some unique shaped hound demons waiting in front of them.
The two felhounds in question were much larger than the ones they had been fighting the entire time, though while one of them was infused with the power of fire the other seemed to be infused with the power of shadow, but Turalyon recognized them... informing them that the one on the left, the fire hound, was F'harg and the one on the right, the shadow hound, was Shatug.
"You know, I want to test something." Trixie said, causing the heroes to stop before they approached the den that the duo of felhounds were waiting in, to which she stepped forward with a smile on her face as the arcane started to gather around her, "Time to unleash my true dragon form."
The heroes had to shield their eyes as Trixie transformed with a flash of arcane energy, though when the light faded they noticed that she was in her dragon form again, but this time around she was larger than what she had been earlier, where those that knew Malygos realized that she was the size of an Aspect now, and stood over the felhounds. Her dragon form was now covered in azure scales, some of them crystalline instead of actual scales, that glistened in the light around them, while also baring some silver bits every now and then over her body. The moment the transformation was over, and the arcane had settled down, Trixie roared at the two felhounds and drew their attention to her, where she took to the skies and grabbed onto Shatug... who she dragged into the air and carried off, where the felhound barked in confusion while the heroes looked on in surprise and shock.
Lyra grinned as Trixie returned with Shatug a few seconds later, where she slammed the felhound into the ground and started breathing a pure arcane breath on it, severely hurting it in the process, allowing the heroes to contend with F'harg... especially when she was also tearing the felhound to pieces at the same time.
The heroes that engaged F'harg had to avoid the fangs that the felhound had, something that Trixie literally ripped out of Shatug's mouth with her arcane powers and discarded, and healed the wounds that were dealt from the fiery felhound ejecting flames at them. F'harg also tried to dash forward and trample several of them, which only succeeded in knocking them to the ground, but after a few seconds of them fighting Lyra stepped forward and demanded the attention of the demon they were facing. Sure, she wasn't actually a tank like some of the other heroes, but her new power made her feel that much stronger and she was willing to show off her stuff, where she cut her way through the demon's attacks and dealt massive damage to it in return, just like Trixie was doing to Shatug. Lyra even neglected to dodge some of the attacks and F'harg cut through part of her chest, only for the Light and the Shadow to mend her wounds to the point where they never existed... to which she grinned as she charged forward and tore the felhound a new one, before she ended it's life at the same time Trixie broke Shatug's neck, clearing the way for them to move forward.
The heroes stared at them as Trixie reverted back to her hybrid state, where she flexed her arms for a few seconds and smiled, because she was enjoying the new power that she had, more in the aspect that it was good that she unlocked this power before coming here... though she said nothing as the Army of the Light summoned a beacon that allowed them to teleport themselves to a new part of Antorus, one that seemed like a command center.
As the heroes moved forward, and engaged the demons that were in front of them, Velen told them that he recognized these enemies as generals and leaders of the military before the Eredar joined Sargeras, meaning that they were dealing with powerful traitors to his people. The groups of Felguards and Eredar Brutes couldn't stand up to the pressure that Lyra, Trixie, and the others were putting on them, as the power from Lyra and Trixie alone was enough to topple them and the heroes were strong enough to wreck those that survived their initial assault. None of the other heroes were actually upset over the powers that their friends possessed, as they were allowing them to overcome the demons that they were standing against, but they were able to make their way to an Eredar called Clobex... though while he seemed to be strong he was nothing compared to the power that was arrayed against him, allowing the group to use the elevator behind him so they could access the next foe.
When the elevator reached the level that it was connected to they found three of the generals, the three that Velen knew from his days before the Eredar joined Sargeras, standing around some sort of machine that was supposed to resemble pods... like a command machine that boosted their powers or something.
A few seconds later the group charged forward, causing the ones on the left and right to jump into the pods that were behind them, and they engaged Admiral Svirax, but as they did so Trixie wove the arcane through the air and trapped the other two inside their pods for now. The reason was because she wanted to force Svirax to go into her pod and force one of the other ones out of the pods they went into, but even when the battle started it quickly became clear that the group was much smarter than Svirax was, as they started avoiding her attacks and dealt some damage of their own. Svirax called upon mage type enemies that wanted them dead, just like everything else here, and they quickly gathered around them and cut them down, before turning their attention back to the general they were fighting. The group quickly discovered that, just like every other demonic creature they had encountered, they could use Lyra's Light based powers to great effect against their foes... even Trixie's power over the arcane assisting them in forcing one general to enter the pod and made another one come out.
Lyra and Trixie quickly discovered that there was really nothing special about the three generals they were fighting, much like Talgath was, and realized that Sargeras only empowered the most worthy of the Eredar with great and terrible power, like Kil'jaeden and Archimonde. Once they discovered that fact it was child's play for them to force the generals to cycle through each other, making them become progressively weaker as time went by, before Lyra drove the Nightmare into the heart of Svirax, causing her to collapse into a mass of shadows that were absorbed by the warglaive. The other two generals died in similar ways, as Ishkar, the Chief Engineer, had a small arcane ball was slammed into his chest and he detonated when he struck his pod, destroying it and him at the same time. The final general, Erodus, was the one that suffered taking Daybreaker to the heart, where glowing lines made from the Light spread out over his body before he shattered into a thousand pieces... effectively destroying the Antoran High Command and opening the way for them to move forward once more.
"Oh, we are much stronger than I thought we were." Lyra said, to which she sheathed her warglaives as she, Trixie, and the heroes started making their way to the next area of the Burning Throne, where they could find more demons to kill and more commanders to topple before they found what they were searching for.
If Sargeras wasn't afraid of them and the Army of the Light, from what they were doing already, he'd fear them when they rescued the Pantheon from his grasp and defeated his plans... and that meant slaying whatever demons they found and destroying the various parts of Antorus in the process.
With the Antoran High Command taken care of, and the chain of command for the demons of Antorus damaged, the heroes of Azeroth backtracked to the den that the two felhounds had been located in, where they walked back up to the path that would take them to the Worldbreaker. Along the way they found a path off to the left, which would have been on their right as they came down to face the felhounds, and spotted a portal that happened to be open at the moment, one that appeared to head into Antorus itself. As such they headed over to the portal and headed through it, though when all of them stepped out of the other side they found themselves in what appeared to be the central command area for all of the Legion's portals. The main reasoning behind that was because there were three Doommaiden, female Eredar with wings, channeling small portals to three different planes of existence, which meant that whoever they were protecting needed to be taken out before they could move deeper into Antorus.
Despite that fact, however, the group could feel the presence of something powerful, something that Lyra recalled from the vision Xe'ra had given her, causing her to realize that they could feel Eonar's presence... and it happened to be coming from a room on the left side of the room they were in.
As such the heroes jumped down onto the path off to their left and engaged the Doommaiden that was trying to establish a larger portal to whatever plane she was connecting to, which appeared to be a plane of fire, forcing her to call some flaming demon spiders to assist her while they attacked her. Of course her first mistake was closing the portal the moment the group decided to attack her, though her second one was thinking that a pack of demonic spiders were going to make the heroes surrender and die. While they fought the Doommaiden some of the heroes started at the portal that was on their left and pulled the demons away from it, allowing the others to deal with them in addition to the creature they were currently fighting. It took them a minute or two to take out the Doommaiden and her new allies, though once she fell to the group, and her connection to the fire plane was disconnected, they turned towards the portal that they had spotted and walked up to it.
While they walked over to the portal, however, Magni walked through the portal they had just walked through and followed after them, where he stopped in front of the portal they were all interested in... informing them that they had to be right about what was on the other side.
"Champions! I heard a familiar voice callin', so I followed you inside this accursed place." Magni said, though before he could say anything else an image of a female being, one that even radiated a small amount of power despite the fact that she wasn't fully manifested in front of them, appeared before the portal... but they knew it was Eonar.
"Champions, hear me." the image of Eonar said, though her voice sounded urgent, which confirmed what the group of heroes was thinking at that moment, especially considering what they were up against, "The Legion has breached my sanctuary, and my defenses will soon be overrun. Stand with me now, lest Sargeras claim his prize."
"It's Eonar, the Life-Binder!" Magni stated, pointing out the obvious, though at the same time the heroes simply let him talk while they prepared themselves for the fight ahead of them, "This portal leads ta her sanctuary. Go, I'll stay here and cover yer backs!"
The instant that Magni was done talking the heroes headed through the portal that was in front of them, though when they appeared on the other side they discovered that they were in a new world that was full of life and had a number of guardians to watch over Eonar's essence. They headed down the path that was in front of them, passing the watchers that Eonar must have created so long ago when Sargeras bested her, or even before that happened, and approached the building that would take them to where the great power was coming from. As they walked through it the watchers imbued them with some power, whatever it was they didn't know about, though as they entered the actual area that the Titan's essence was in they felt a massive surge of power from the location that her essence was in. Lyra and Trixie knew that if Eonar was this strong, even when she was recovering, that Aggramar was just as strong as her, but they were eager to see what sort of battle he gave them when they entered the core of Argus.
"Welcome, mortals, to my sanctuary." Eonar said, her voice echoing throughout the fortress area that they were in, while at the same time they walked forward and took in the area around them, "For countless ages my spirit has lingered here, safe from the Dark Titan's grasp. But he has found me at last, and comes to claim my power. Time grows short. The enemy closes in. Approach me and stand ready, my children. The final battle is at hand."
That was followed by a new Legion ship teleport into the area that they were in, along with demons starting to teleport down to three different areas that would allow them to reach the central core of the fortress, as all paths stopped at where Eonar's essence was located. What was interesting was the fact that the demons teleported down to the entrance they had walked through, causing some of the heroes to turn around and deal with them while the rest of the heroes dropped down into a lower area so they could deal with another group of demons that had teleported into the area. Lyra and Trixie, on the other hand, had a different plan of attack, as Trixie morphed back into her pure dragon form and rained arcane fire down upon the demons that were sneaking into the area from a fourth path that none of the other heroes were attacking, while Lyra took the highest path and hacked her way through the demons that wanted to get to Eonar. The two of them were more than enough to protect their chosen paths, as the demons were unable to overcome Trixie and her new arcane powers, just like they were unable to get by Lyra as she used her new warglaives to do some serious harm to the enemies that were coming her way.
Every now and then Eonar, who was apparently assisting them the entire time they were fighting, channeled her powers and obliterated a specific group of demons, or even dealt some damage to the new Legion ship that had been sent to capture her essence. Lyra knew that the ship had been equipped with a weapon that could take Eonar out, though Trixie's new command over the arcane ensured that such a thing never happened, as her new arcane constructs boarded the ship and damaged the weapon system that was aboard it, using the information that she gained from the Fel Hammer when Lyra showed her and Khadgar the Illidari command center back before they started this quest. Eventually Eonar charged up one final blast and the entirety of the demons were obliterated, before the Legion ship exploded before their eyes, allowing the heroes to relax as they approached Eonar's essence.
"The tormented cries of the Pantheon ring out from deep within the core of Argus." Eonar said, though at the same time she wrapped her energy around the heroes, especially Lyra and Trixie as they landed on the platform and stood near their allies, indicating that she was going to teleport them back to Antorus, "If Sargeras breaks them as he did Aggramar, no power in this universe will stop him. Release them, champions, or your struggle will be for naught."
Before anyone could say anything they found themselves back in Antorus, in front of the portal they had used to access Eonar's sanctuary, but instead of questioning it they engaged the remaining two Doommaidens that were in front of the main transport nexus that they needed to take out. Fortunately the shadow and fel portals didn't summon anything more than some additional spiders, like the fire portal, so the group of heroes focused on the winged Eredar and toppled them with their might. It was nice to take out the demons that were controlling the portals that allowed the demons to move around the various worlds, but with the portal master still alive they wouldn't be able to truly win, since they could call in additional forces to deal with them whenever they wanted... to which they walked up the ramp that was opposite of the main portal they used to enter this part of Antorus and found another Doommaiden, this one radiating more power, standing in the heart of the teleportation nexus.
"Every world in our path has fallen." the Doommaiden commented, to which she turned around and faced the heroes as they stopped before her, where a barrier appeared around the entrance to prevent them from leaving until either she was dead or they were dead, "I am Hasabel, Portal Keeper of the Legion... and your planet is next, for the Legion devastates all who oppose us!"
As the battle between the heroes of Azeroth and Hasabel began Lyra and Trixie noticed that there were three active portals already waiting to be used, a fire one to the left side of the arena, a fel one that Hasebel had been staring at, and a shadow one that was to the right. A few seconds ticked by before Hasabel unleashed one of her greatest skills right off the bat, a large swirling vortex of shadowy energy that all the heroes, including Lyra and Trixie, moved out of before they could be damaged by the explosion that came after the attack was ready. Since she was the one who cast the spell, however, Hasabel remained unharmed from the detonation and chased after them, swinging her claws at them while they wondered what sort of tricks she had up her sleeves. She also tore a hole in reality that highlighted a good portion of the arena they were fighting in, causing the heroes that were in the attack's way to move out of the way when the fel energy rushed out of the gaping portal Hasabel had created.
Not a few moments after the attack failed to hit anyone Hasabel reached out with her power and the fiery portal really sprung to life, connecting Antorus to whatever world was on the other side, indicating that she was already calling for reinforcements, despite the fact that the battle had only just begun.
"Witness Xoroth," Hasabel said, naming the world that they were now connected to, though as she called demonic flaming spiders to her aid several of the heroes charged into the portal so they could take out the commander that was on the other side, "a world of infernal heat and scorched bones!"
Lyra, feeling up to the challenge, charged into the portal as well and stepped forward, though instead of appearing on an actual planet, like she was expecting, she found herself standing on a platform that was above the area that the others were fighting Hasabel in. The only demon in front of them was a fiery infernal, empowered by the flames of the world he had been called from, though she and the other heroes engaged the demon that was standing before them, dodging the attacks that were coming their way, healing the wounds they received if they were too slow, and dealt damage to the demon that stood against them. It didn't take them long to fell the demon, especially with Lyra backing them with her new powers, and they were able to move back to the main event and continued their assault on Hasabel, while avoiding her swirling vortex and reality tearing attacks that she was fond of using. If the Doommaiden was disappointed in the demon they had slain she showed it, because she called the demon worthless for failing her and their master, before she continued the fight and focused her mind on her enemies.
Eventually they knocked her to the point where she summoned a portal to a place called Rancora, which apparently was a place of festering pools and skittering death, meaning that it was infested with spiders and other foul creatures like them. Instead of heading through the new portal Lyra and Trixie let the others take the commander out, as they were focused on killing Hasabel and destroying the teleportation nexus. It wasn't long before the heroes were back from the new planet and continued the fight once more, earning more anger from their opponent, whose attacks became more reckless as she discovered that she might be fighting a losing battle. That still didn't stop her from opening the third portal, which apparently went to someplace called Nathreza, a planet that had once been a world of magic and knowledge before it had been destroyed and twisted by the Legion. The third commander she called upon for assistance didn't fare any better either, as the heroes were able to swarm his position and cut him down before he could do anything to seriously wound him, allowing them to return and engage Hasabel once more.
With her fellow commanders dead, and her energy growing weaker and weaker as she tried to summon any additional portals that might assist her, the heroes were able to deal enough damage to Hasabel and forced her to her knees, where she coughed as she realized what was in front of her.
"The portals... must... endure..." Hasabel said, though that was before she collapsed on the ground and stopped moving, to which the heroes smiled as the teleportation nexus shut off completely, because without it's master this entire place was a hunk of junk until someone came to restore the power.
"Without their portals, the Legion is cut off from reinforcements." Khadgar stated, though while his tone was serious, as they were still in the middle of enemy territory, he was proud that they had a fighting chance of defeating the Legion and didn't have to worry about enemies coming from behind them, "Now is the time to press our attack!"
"Well done, champions." Velen spoke up, once more calling from the Vindicaar, where he and the majority of the commanders were standing so they could conserve their energies for the greater fight that was ahead of them, "For the first time in millennia, a blow has been struck against the denizens of the Burning Throne. Yet this battle is far from over. A great power roils in torment at this world's core. Rendezvous with the Vindicaar so we can prepare for the final attack."
As the heroes began to leave the area, and head back to the portal they used to teleport into this building, Trixie gathered in the arcane energies around them and formed a pulsing spherical device in a matter of seconds, though she then placed it beside Hasabel's corpse. From there she and Lyra walked through the portal they used to get inside the building, though instead of heading in the same direction as the other heroes Trixie peeled off and headed back to the area that the Antoran High Command had been standing in. The heroes, confused as to what she was doing, watched and waited for her to return, though when Trixie returned a few minutes later she smiled as her magical aura intensified for a few moments. That, in turn, was followed by an explosion tearing apart the area that the Antoran High Command ruled from, obliterating the entire area and wrecking the weapons and consoles that happened to be in that area, before the building that the teleportation nexus was in exploded in a similar fashion as well.
"There, now we won't have to worry about someone taking control of the teleportation nexus," Trixie commented, though at the same time she headed for the beacon that the other heroes had been using to get back aboard the Vindicaar, indicating that she was ready to keep moving.
"Trixie, what did you do?" Khadgar asked, though now that he was seeing that Trixie had a greater command of her power than any other mage in all of Azeroth, especially since she was the new Spell-Weaver, she was extremely dangerous and the Legion would soon fear the power that was arrayed against them.
"I created a pair of pure mana bombs, to permanently put those areas out of commission," Trixie replied, though those that knew the term immediately understood that she was being careful, as those devices, crafted from metal anyway, were extremely dangerous, which meant they were even stronger when they were made from pure magic, "With the teleportation nexus gone our enemies won't be able to summon any reinforcements, even if they had someone trained and ready to replace Hasabel. I also removed the Antoran High Command area to be sure their weapons, and any potential consoles, couldn't be used against us, ensuring a smoother operation for all of us."
Once Trixie had explained what was going on, and everyone understood that it was for the betterment of their operation, they teleported aboard the Vindicaar and moved to the back end of Antorus, where another threat to their overall success rested. According to Alleria they were going to take out a demon that churned out a never ending supply of weapons that the Legion could use against them and likely had a new one ready to blow the Vindicaar out of the air, so if they wanted to reach Aggramar and the other Titans they had to take the master engineer out. Everyone understood what she was saying, as they didn't want to die before they reached their target, and allowed Romuul to teleport them down to the walkway that would take them to where Kin'garoth was waiting... though as they started walking forward, however, the door to the engineer's domain closed and a new ship, smaller than all the other Legion ships they had seen so far, flew overhead as a new threat became known to them.
"Halt!" a voice said, to which one of the tougher looking Fel Lords teleported down into the area in front of them, blocking them from reaching Kin'garoth's domain, while at the same time wielding a deadly looking axe and a number of gadgets on his belt, indicating he was a bounty hunter, "You'll go no further, mortal scum. There's a bounty on your heads, and I, Imonar, mean to collect."
When the heroes engaged Imonar they discovered that he seemed to have a shock ability on his weapon and that he liked to throw around grenades that either put people to sleep for a few moments or shocked them in order to weaken them. As such Trixie, not wanting anyone to fall asleep, grabbed the light green colored canisters and hurled them into the abyss with her magic, while at the same time the heroes moved out of the way to avoid taking damage from the shock grenades she did nothing about. The funny thing was that when Imonar saw that happen, and watched his sleep canisters be brushed aside like they were nothing, he recognized Trixie almost instantly, indicating that whoever had called upon his services wanted her dead more than anyone else in their army. Of course when Imonar turned towards her and swing his weapon the expected result happened, Lyra appeared between the two of them and stopped the attack before it could even reach it's target... where Trixie moved to a new area and continued firing, while at the same time Lyra engaged the bounty hunter that wanted all of them dead, especially her and Trixie.
It wasn't long before Imonar jumped to the other side of the walkway they were all standing on and left a trail of traps between him and the area he had been on a few seconds ago, to which the heroes made their way through the obstacles and attacked him while he was charging up some sort of powerful attack, stopping it from happening and forcing him to fight them once more. This time around all of his attacks were fire based and he seemed to call in the small Legion ships for assistance, which Trixie crushed out of the air with her control over the arcane, leaving their opponent without one of his toys at the moment. It quickly came to the point where Imonar had to retreat back to the first area they engaged him on and he left a new trail of fire infused traps behind, though once again the heroes carefully made their way through those traps, stopped him from firing off his empowered attack, and continued the battle against them with the same arsenal from the first two rounds... only they were supposed to be even stronger than when he first fought them, which meant the was supposed to be going all out at the moment.
Since they knew his attack patterns by that point in time, and Trixie could removed half of his attacks by hurling the canisters into the abyss or destroying the smaller ships, it wasn't long before the heroes toppled Imonar and brought him to his knees... while at the same time shattering his weapon, so he couldn't lash out again.
"I regret... taking... this job..." Imonar weakly said, before collapsing on the platform they were fighting on, causing the heroes to relax for a moment, because the next foe was likely going to be even stronger than anything they had fought so far, especially since he was likely surrounded by his machines.
Before anyone could say anything the Vindicaar loosed a blast from Light's Judgement and tore open a good sized hole in the sealed door that was in front of them, allowing them to enter the domain of Kin'garoth whenever they so desired... to which the heroes started to move forward, because they knew that it would be easier to take him out now, before he unleashed whatever weapon he had been building to stop them. And then, once he was taken care of, they could move closer to the core of Argus so they could free the Pantheon and face down Aggramar... and then, hopefully, bring an end to Sargeras' foul plans at long last.
After Imonar was defeated, and the way into Kin'garoth's domain had been blasted open by another charge from Light's Judgement, Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes marched into the open hole that was in front of them and walked along the walkway that took them to where the demonic engineer was resting. As they made their way forward the group noticed that the enemies that were in their way were more of the mechanical reaver class enemies that they had seen when they first assaulted Antorus. From what they could see there were eight of them, though some of them were infused by the power of fire, some with the power of shadow, and others the power of fel, exactly like the majority of the other enemies they had encountered so far. At the same time, however, they drew their weapons and charged at the first the first pair of enemies that were right in front of them, causing the reaver enemies to turn towards them and engage them so they didn't reach their creator and master.
This time around, when they engaged the reavers, Trixie didn't summon the powerful arcane spheres that she teleported into the cores of their enemies, allowing the others the chance to tear into the mechanical creatures that they were fighting against. Of course that didn't stop Lyra from hacking and slashing at them, nor did it stop Trixie from lashing out with her magic in a more minor sense, but even with them holding back the heroes were able to cut down the reavers before they moved towards the next group of mechanical enemies. What was humorous about that situation was that as the heroes engaged the second group of reavers the third ones, which were closer than the group originally thought, became active and charged at them as well, meaning that they were going to have to fight four of them at the same time. Trixie, on the other hand, had the feeling that Kin'garoth was sending out his forces to try and stop the heroes so he could finish his preparations on the weapon that would decimate, if not entirely destroy, the Vindicaar, which meant that they needed to get to him before he did that.
The other heroes understood the situation they were in and put forth their efforts in cutting down the four reavers that they were fighting against, and the the final two that happened to be after them, before they marched into the circular forge area that Kin'garoth was waiting in... where they found that the upper body was sticking out of the floor and there happened to be pieces of the production machinery infused into his body, indicating that if he were to die it would severely hurt the Legion's ability to create more war machines.
"Good, good, I was hoping you'd find your way here." Kin'garoth said, to which he turned towards the group as they reached the area around him, where they spread out and made sure that all of them were actually staring at him, that way they could be ready for whatever tricks he had for them, "I'm always in need of test subjects. You should do nicely!"
As Kin'garoth started the attack, indicating that he was eager to battle them, Lyra and Trixie noticed that the demon's left hand had been transformed into a hook of some kind, no doubt so he could pinch his opponents to death or something, and he was holding a large hammer in his right hand, to smash them with. Since the heroes had decided to spread out before they started the battle, in the off chance that the demon attacked first, their tactic forced him to pick and choose who he was going after, allowing the healers to mend any wounds before they became serious. Kin'garoth also threw a fel bombs through the air a few times while they fought, which detonated whenever they came into contact with one of the heroes, but the damage they dealt was easy for the damage dealers to ignore while the healers made short work of the cuts and scraps from each explosion. After failing to kill a few of them with his bombs, and growing a tad bit annoyed in the process, Kin'garoth started to gather the fel energy around them so he could loose a beam of energy to kill some of them with an intense amount of energy... but what he wasn't expecting was for Trixie to stand in front of the beam and summon a pure arcane shield in front of her and the heroes the demon was targeting, stopping the attack from hurting any of them and leaving her with a smile on her face.
Once that happened the engineer turned towards his forge and started the machinery that was all around them, where the heroes watched as three new reavers started to be put together before their eyes, so instead of worrying about Kin'garoth the heroes focused their efforts on taking out the reavers before they could join the battle... though even if one of them managed to be fully created, and joined the fight, Trixie planned on blowing them up like she did to the ones on the way to the area that the Antoran High Command ruled from.
As the trio of reavers fell to the floor, and their pieces erased by some sort of protocol that Kin'garoth had for this area, the heroes returned their focus on their main target and reengaged the battle they had neglected, forcing the engineering demon to tear himself away from the forge and focus on them again. As such they forced him to go through the same motions he had been going through before he tried to forge the group of reavers, throwing fel bombs at them and loosing powerful beams of fel energy while he tried to crush them with his massive hammer or tried to squeeze some of them with his pincers. It quickly became apparent that Kin'garoth didn't have any other abilities besides trying to smash them with his hammer, squeeze them with his pincers, throw bombs down upon them, and try to obliterate them before resorting to his reavers, which Trixie decided to detonation the moment they were created. The reasoning behind that was because she could easily get rid of them and had the other heroes focus on the engineer demon, which the heroes agreed with the moment they heard the suggestion, before she tore them to pieces... much to Kin'garoth's amazement, as he had no idea such a thing was even possible.
That shocked allowed Lyra to lead the charge as they unleashed their full might on the demonic engineer, tearing him and his systems apart without him being able to do anything, before doing some serious damage to him and causing him to stagger as he stared down at them.
"Now I'm just... extra parts." Kin'garoth said, though that was before a sinister smile appeared on his face as he crashed to the ground, but at the same time Trixie smiled as he picked up one of the arcane bombs that rested nearby... one that she empowered and transformed into a pure mana bomb, to tear the entire area apart and truly prevent the demons from using this while they attacked the other parts of Antorus.
"The Legion is in its death throes. Time to put our boot to their throats." Illidan commented, to which the group turned around and spotted him standing near a beacon that had been fired into the area behind them, though he beckoned for them to follow him, "It's time we prepared to strike the killing blow."
The heroes charged over to the beacon and teleported back aboard the Vindicaar, though once they were all in place Illidan returned, with the beacon returning to where it had been earlier, before Romuul moved their ship out of where the forge was located. As the Vindicaar moved away Trixie engaged her power and the pure mana bomb detonated, tearing the entire forge area to pieces and destroying the walkway that Imonar's corpse was resting on, though once that was done she waited as they descended towards the core of Argus. The group waited for a few seconds as they headed down into the area below them, where they eventually discovered the metallic structure that Lyra and Trixie had been shown when they discovered that Aggramar was corrupted. Soon enough the Vindicaar came to a stop and a beacon was placed down at the end of the walkway that was below them, where the heroes allowed Romuul to teleport them down to the beacon so they could begin their invasion of the Legion's most sacred place... which was a dark and sinister place that was unlike the rest of Antorus or even Argus for that matter.
"So, this is Aggramar's stronghold," Lyra commented, though at the same time she smiled, as she could feel the pull of the darkened Titan's energy, as well as four additional powers that had to be the other Titans that Sargeras had captured and was trying to corrupt, "this is going to be interesting."
"Well, we do have to save four members of the Pantheon and fight the avatar of another Titan," Trixie said, though while she spoke she and the other heroes stepped forward, as they were rather eager to see what sort of foes they had to face before they reached the next foe on their list, "so I guess that counts as 'interesting'."
As the heroes progressed onward they found that their foes were the Titan constructs known as keepers, though these ones must have either been Aggramar's or Sargeras', as they were darkened and twisted into evil versions of the ones they had seen when they were saving Eonar's essence. What Lyra and Trixie discovered was that the Dark Keepers were actually stronger than their good counterparts, which made sense considering that Sargeras had thousands of years to twist these constructs into the perfect guardians of Aggramar's stronghold. Their power over the flames within them was more than what they were originally anticipating, but fortunately the power that Lyra and Trixie commanded even those odds rather nicely, especially when Lyra's powers allowed her to dish out a good deal of wounds in the process and protect them if she deemed it necessary, while Trixie could use the arcane in the air to bind the constructs in place for a few moments so their friends could help them defeat the Dark Keepers.
Fortunately there were only four Dark Keepers in front of them, where the rest were they had no idea, before they headed down the walkway that was in front of them and entered the stronghold that should have had a lot more security on the outside... though as they headed inside the structure the group discovered a Shivarra and a pair of Succubi standing over a walkway that allowed them to observe a trio of Shivarra, powerful ones at that, using their powers to torture the four Titan souls that were around them. When the group in front of them were dead, however, they dropped down into the area that the trio of demons had been guarding, where they healed their wounds the moment they landed, before they entered a chamber that contained a tortured Nathrezim, one that the undead recognized as Varimathras, who had been responsible for the Third War... meaning that Sargeras had him tortured for his failures.
Varimathras seemed to recognize them immediately and growled at them, though before doing anything it was clear that he had something to say, which the heroes wanted to hear before they put him out of his misery, which was a blessing after the pain that had been inflicted on him.
"So, your Alliance still endures." Varimathras said, speaking to the heroes of the Alliance, who glared at him while they readied themselves, as they weren't going to give him the satisfaction of being angry, "Longer than I expected, though she has already planted the seeds of its downfall. She is patient, that one. When your thrones run red with betrayal... when your holy places burn and the shattered mask hangs above your hearth... only then you will know. And it will be too late. It matters not. You are blind to the true darkness closing in around you."
"Spare me the talk about darkness," Lyra stated, to which her shadow markings glowed for a moment, indicating her connection to something greater, something that even the mightiest of creatures had feared, "because you'll find that none of us are afraid or blind to any danger you might be referring to."
"And you, 'heroes' of the Horde, sent to finish the job at HER bidding." Varimathras said, causing the heroes of the Horde to growl as they gripped their weapons, as they would not allow the demon to survive this day, something that their former enemies agreed with, "Tell me, when she seized your throne of hides and bones, was your allegiance forced? No... I'd wager you surrendered it willingly... or were convinced you did. It matters not. Come, then. We will trade pain for pain!"
The heroes of the Alliance and the Horde, each having a bone to pick with Varimathras, charged forward as the demon charged towards them, though one of the Shivarra that were above them, however, seemed to be in control of the various torture devices that were inside the cell they were in... and, as the battle started, she pulled a lever and flames started to spill into the area around them, intending to burn all of them and wound them all in the process.
"Look!" the Shivarra said, who appeared to be a little gloomy for some reason, while at the same time she pointed down at the two forces as they engaged each other, "The wretch struggles against the mortal intruders."
"Pathetic!" a second Shivarra shouted, her tone irritated, though she had an interest in the flames that were pouring into the cell that they were all fighting in, "Let them all burn!"
"Grah! Damnable witches!" Varimathras growled, indicating that he was greatly annoyed with the Shivarra that were above them, though at the same time the heroes mended their wounds and ignored the Shivarra, knowing that they would take them out soon enough.
As the heroes lashed out at the fallen Nathrezim, and cut some powerful gashes into his body when Lyra and Trixie rushed at him with their powers, Varimathras lashed out with creating three shadowy portals beneath three random heroes, intending to take many of them out at once. As such the heroes moved out of the way and let his attacks do nothing, forcing him to use the darkness to combat them, but even as he did that Lyra grinned as her own shadowy power became active and she literally fought him in the shadows. As that happened she could hear one of the Shivarra sounding surprised, as if she wasn't expecting such a thing to happen, but she focused on her target and cut several gashes into his body, causing him to stagger as he fell back to reality with Light infused wounds on his chest. Trixie, seeing that happen, used her power over the arcane to throw empowered blasts at her target, leaving small impacts where she struck, but they were strong even to cause him to stagger backwards... into the waiting hands of the heroes, who hacked and slashed at him until he backed away.
It quickly became apparent that he wasn't equipped for this sort of fight, not like all of the other foes they had encountered throughout Antorus, but at the same time this allowed them to take out another threat before they saved the Pantheon from the Shivarra that were torturing him... though in the process the Shivarra discussed something and seemed to change their minds about something.
"Perhaps the Nathrezim has grown too familiar with the torment of flames, my sisters." a shadowy clothed Shivarra commented, where Lyra noticed that the Shivarra had actually stopped tormenting the Pantheon to focus on the fight that was in front of them.
"Then watch the icy grip of despair drain his will!" the gloomy Shivarra replied, to which a new lever was pulled and the flames disappeared from where they had come from, though that was before frost replaced the flames and tried to freeze everyone where they were standing.
"You cannot break me!" Varimathras shouted, though instead of adapting to the new tactic the Shivarra and using new abilities, like the heroes expected him to do based on the other foes they had bested, he carried the same abilities and powers that the group was already used to.
Despite that fact, however, Lyra and Trixie dominated the majority of the fight, as Lyra was able to keep Varimathras from using the shadows to his advantage and Trixie used the arcane in the air to critically wound him several times over, causing the Shivarra to chuckle in the process. That indicated the Shivarra were true masters of pain and enjoyed the fight that was going on, as they seemed to be rooting for the heroes in inflicting pain on the Nathrezim that they were fighting, or maybe they were hoping for all of them to suffer. Of course the one thing the Shivarra didn't expect was for the heroes to severely wound Varimathras, causing him to fall to one knee in the process, before a final blast from Trixie took whatever will he had left to fight back, though that was when he looked up at all of them and grinned at them.
"Your torment... is only... beginning." Varimathras struggled to say, though that was before he collapsed on the ground and stopped moving, indicating that they had slain him once more, and the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde hoped that he remained dead this time around.
"His fate was ours to decide." one of the Shivarra shouted, causing the heroes to look up at the floor that was above them, where they noticed that all of demons that were above them were definitely annoyed now, "You will pay for your insolence, mortals!"
With Varimathras dead, and his cell had been turned off, the heroes turned towards the open walkway off to the right of where they landed and walked up the corridor that they had discovered, one that allowed them to head up to the level above them and stare at the angry Shivarra that now wanted them dead. When the heroes reached the floor that the Shivarra were standing on, and none of them were in Varimathras' cell, two of the Shivarra charged at them and started the battle while one of them went back to tormenting one of the Titan souls that rested in the four corners of the chamber they were in. Lyra was able to determine, by how the Shivarra looked, that they were fighting the one Shivarra that was interested in flames and the second was clothed in shadowy clothing. What they quickly discovered was that the two demons that were fighting them seemed to take less damage when they were side by side, so to counter that one of the tanks pulled the fire Shivarra, Noura as she called herself apparently, to one side of the chamber while the other tank forced Asara, the shadowy clothed Shivarra, to the other side of the chamber.
As such the heroes separated into two equally numbered groups so they could burn the two Shivarra down, though when Lyra looked over at Diima, the gloomy Shivarra that was tormenting the Titans, also seemed to take damage every now and then, indicating that they were tied together... and that, if she and the others killed Noura and Asara, all three of them would die at the same time.
What became interesting was that, in addition to the various attacks that the Shivarra had, Diima also seemed to join in the fun every now and then, as her torment of the Titans wielded terrible power that was forced against the group of heroes in an effort to kill all of them. Golganneth's power, for instance, created a number of manifestations that littered the chamber, channeling the power of the storm as they tried to smash the heroes at the command of the terrible Shivarra that were trying to break them. Each manifestation slain decreased the number of them in the area and decreased the power of the storm, though the moment they finished off the last of the manifestations, and cut the Titan's power off for now, Diima stopped fighting and headed to a new target to torment, to call a new power to the battle when the time was right. The second Titan that Diima called upon was Khaz'goroth, as his manifestations appeared and fired beams of fiery energy to the center of the chamber, but as damaging as those attacks were the heroes tore the various manifestations down until they were all gone. Norgannon, the third Titan to be tormented during this fight, called forth an army of arcane wielding manifestations that were stronger than the other two, but the heroes focused on them and made sure to take them out before they killed someone and weakened their group.
Oddly enough when Diima tormented Aman'Thul it seemed like the chief Titan's power had no effect on the group as a whole, but since it was rumored that his power was over time itself there was no way to be certain of that fact, but the group continued fighting and kept an eye open for anything that resembled the final Titan. Fortunately that shock to the three Shivarra happened to be what the heroes were waiting for, as the moment they were shocked by Aman'Thul's power not manifesting like the others the entire group surged forward. Lyra, growing tired of Diima tormenting the mighty Pantheon, launched both of her warglaives into the Shivarra's chest, where they morphed into pure Light and Shadow energy and merged together, before lifting her into the air and detonating and blowing her to pieces. As Noura and Asara realized that they were in danger, especially against the power Lyra commanded, Trixie appeared behind Asara and infused a sphere of energy into the demon's chest, causing her to scream as the pure arcane energy tore her apart and vaporized her body, leaving Noura as the remaining Shivarra... who didn't last much longer than the other two, as the heroes cut her down and made sure her body was torn apart as well, to ensure she didn't come back to fulfill the mission her master gave her.
Once that was done the barrier that was surrounding the area faded away and the heroes watched as Velen, Illidan, and Magni walked into the area, though they were all impressed by what the heroes were able to do, even though that was before they focused on the Titan souls around them.
"The souls of the Pantheon are free, but they endured so much sufferin'." Magni said, to which he approached one of the souls and stared at it, almost as if he was conversing with it or something, before he turned back towards the heroes and the people he had entered the structure with, "Let me bide with 'em fer a time. Offer a bit o' comfort."
"Of course, Magni." Velen replied, knowing that the King of Diamonds was the only person that might be able to restore the Titans to their former glory, or at least assist them in doing so, "The rest of us will go on."
"So close now to the end..." Illidan commented, though at the same time he started walking along the path that was leading out of the structure, only this one was heading towards the back half of the stronghold.
Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes followed after Illidan, knowing that they were heading towards the location that Aggramar was waiting for them in, who was going to put up quite the fight, especially since he was now a weapon for his dark master. They needed to beat Aggramar so they could claim the soul of Argus, hopefully before he became fully corrupted, to which Lyra and Trixie prepared themselves... as they knew that this was going to push them to their limits.
With the defeat of the Coven of Shivarra, and every other foe that was on the way to where the rest of the Pantheon was resting, Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes marched out of the stronghold they found themselves in and followed the path that would allow them to leave the structure they were inside. What they discovered was that there weren't any additional forces for them to fight this time around, allowing them to walk to the back end of the stronghold, though as they did so they found Aggramar standing in front of the World Soul of Argus, the green Titan soul that housed the poor Titan that Sargeras had been tormenting all these years. As they walked towards the darkened Titan, and prepared themselves for a true fight, Aggramar stopped kneeling in front of Argus' soul and turned to face them, where he held his sword at the ready while they stopped in front of the circular area that was his arena. The heroes suspected a trap, especially since there was nothing between the darkened Titan and the Coven they had defeated, but that didn't stop them from drawing their weapons as they approached their target.
Lyra and Trixie, on the other hand, could feel the power coming from the Titan and knew that they had been right in their earlier suspicions, as this was going to be a tough fight for all of them and there was no telling how dangerous their foe was going to be.
"Mortals. I wasted millennia fighting to spare you from corruption." Aggramar said, his voice firm as he stood his ground, indicating that when he was done talking he was going to start the fight, regardless if they were ready for the fight or not, "Until at last my eyes were opened to the truth. You are the corruption. We will save the universe by wiping all memory of you from existence. Soon comes the awakening of my brother, Argus. Together, our new Pantheon will join the master in breaking your fetid world. But you will not live to see it."
"I have heard all the prattling I can bear." Illidan commented, though at the same time the heroes entered Aggramar's arena, as now that they knew that the Titan intended on helping Sargeras destroy Azeroth, and corrupt the sleeping Titan that was inside it, they would fight him with all their might and stop that from happening, "Let us show this lackey of Sargeras that he has no claim to our world!"
"You will all burn!" Aggramar shouted, to which his energy started to gather around him, with the appearance of flames, as he readied himself, indicating that he was prepared for a fight and that he wanted to crush them all so that his master's plan succeeded.
The heroes spread out as they charged out into the arena that was in front of them, where the tanks charged at Aggramar while the ranged fighters stayed back and loosed spells and arrows at him, though while that happened Lyra stayed at the front lines and fought Aggramar while Trixie stayed back and used the arcane to their advantage. As the battle began Aggramar swung his sword and sent out three pillars of fire out from where he was standing, forcing some of the heroes to dodge the attack before they were hurt, while also swinging his sword to crush them. The darkened Titan also used his weapon and smashed it into the ground in front of him, creating a cone style attack that would have severely hurt everyone if they were standing in front of the attack, but he did it several more times as he chased certain heroes down in an effort to kill them. Lyra, however, quickly discovered that she could use the Light or the Shadows to create a barrier in front of her and the heroes behind her to stop the powerful attack from hitting them, though the barriers she made cracked every time Aggramar struck them.
Since Aggramar's entire soul was inside the avatar that they were fighting, unlike the small fragment of Sargeras' soul they had fought inside the Tomb earlier, Lyra could immediately tell that they might be in danger, as they were pretty much fighting an actual Titan at this point, but she and the others would defeat Aggramar and save their world.
After the final strike of Aggramar's sword against her barrier, however, Aggramar returned to the middle of his arena and a large circle appeared around him, indicating that he was going to use a powerful attack that could seriously wound them if they weren't careful. As such the heroes charged out of the highlighted area and let the area detonate with a blast of power, though when he found that he didn't hit anyone Aggramar continued towards the closest target and resumed the fight, where he started repeating the attacks he had used when they first started the fight as he charged his power to use the multiple sword strike that Lyra had defended against. It was only a matter of seconds until Aggramar loosed another blast of fire that the heroes had to run from again, after he used the multiple sword strike again, but this time the heroes huffed as they mended their wounds, as their foe was strong and they had to be careful, otherwise they were going to be killed and their world would be doomed.
Eventually Aggramar changed tactics and returned to the middle of the arena, though as he did so he summoned a flaming shield that made him invulnerable to damage, but as that happened two types of fire elementals appeared around the area and started attacking the heroes. Some of them just stood there and pulsed with fiery energy, hurting everyone that was around the darkened Titan, while the other type attacked them and, upon their death, they dropped pools of fiery residue that the heroes had to avoid. Fortunately it didn't take them too long to defeat the host of fiery enemies that Aggramar had summoned to battle them, though as the last one fell the darkened Titan stopped channeling his shield and engaged them again. This time when Aggramar attacked them the heroes discovered that, while he seemed to be using the same attacks he had been using earlier, his attacks were that much stronger, indicating that he was using more of his power and that he wanted all of them dead. In response to that both Lyra and Trixie called upon more of their power to combat the increase in their foe's power, though while Trixie called in more of the arcane energy around them Lyra let the shadowy power inside her come back to the surface so she could combat the power they were fighting.
In addition to using the powers he had been using earlier, however, Aggramar also used a new one against them, one that targeted several different heroes and caused them to ignite with flames, in addition to dropping a fiery charge that would detonate and harm everyone in the area around the targeted hero, meaning they had to move out of the way to make sure their allies weren't hurt.
After a few more minutes of fighting Aggramar retreated back to the middle of the area and summoned the barrier again, empowering himself once more while summoning more fire elementals that wanted the heroes dead, though the heroes repeated the process they had used earlier to decimate these enemies. Once the small army of elementals was defeated, however, an empowered Aggramar, drawing forth the full power his avatar body could use without falling apart, attacked them again with the same types of attacks he has used earlier, just more empowered than they had been prior to him protecting himself a second time. Of course Lyra and Trixie did the same thing, though this time Lyra called both the Light and the Shadow forward as she continued fighting, while Trixie used as much arcane power as she could without changing forms again. Even the heroes pulled out all the power they could muster and fought Aggramar with all of their strength, especially since he wanted to corrupt the Titan soul inside Azeroth and take their home from them, exactly like his foul master wanted to do.
Another minute or two later Aggramar, his avatar body cracking under the pressure that he was facing from the attacks that the heroes were sending his way, the power that both Lyra and Trixie commanded, and the strain his power as a Titan was putting on it, finally dropped his sword and howled in pain as the cracks started to shine with a warm and inviting light... one that was different from what they had experienced while they were fighting him.
"It may be... too late to stop him..." Aggramar said, though that was the last that the corrupted Aggramar said, as his avatar body shattered into a thousand pieces as his soul, now pure again from his defeat, surged forward and flew into the sky, leaving the heroes to contend with the other Titan soul that was right in front of them.
"Ye did it!" Magni shouted, causing the group of heroes to turn around and stare at him as he came to a stop in front of them, though the look on his face meant that something had to be going right for them, "Aggramar's essence is free! He can stand beside his brethren once more."
"Our victories mean nothing." Illidan stated, to which he turned and gazed upon Argus' soul, knowing that it was still connected to the demons that they swore to fight and kill in order to save their home, "So long as Sargeras has the soul of Argus to fuel his infinite army, Azeroth remains in grave peril."
"The Titans can sever that connection... but not here." Magni replied, to which some of the heroes smiled, as this would be the final key to stopping Sargeras, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie smelled a trap, "They need ta bring the soul o' Argus ta their place o' power... the Seat o' the Pantheon."
"The very cradle of creation!" Velen said in awe, as the Seat of the Pantheon was a rumored place even among the many stories and legends that the Titans had left behind in their ordering of the worlds, a place where the Titans had ruled and watched over the universe... until Sargeras betrayed them anyway.
"Their final act will harness the last o' Argus' power, to imprison Sargeras... once and for all." Magni explained, to which he turned away from the soul of Argus and faced the heroes, who now knew that the Pantheon understood the danger their brother posed to the universe and wanted to make sure he stayed locked away, "Heroes, I can signal the Titans ta begin. Once they start their ritual... there's no turnin back!"
"Then let's get moving!" Lyra stated, to which she looked at the other heroes that were standing with her and Trixie, who were nodding their heads in agreement, as it was time for them to put an end to Sargeras and his foul plans and ensure he never threatened the universe again.
"All right, everybody... Hold on!" Magni said, to which he started channeling the powers that the other members of the Pantheon had given him, for this task, and soon all of them were teleporting away from Argus' core as they raced towards their last destination in this war.
A few moments later the heroes and Magni appeared on a large floating platform, which rested somewhere in space between Argus and Azeroth, that contained seven thrones, one that was slightly higher than the rest while three rested to it's right and three rested to it's left.
"The Seat of the Pantheon." Magni breathed, taking in the vast Titan structure that they were now standing on, as this was at the heart of several Titan stories and many mortals would literally kill to be standing here with them.
That was followed by the members of the Pantheon teleporting into the area around them, quickly manifesting in front of their respective thrones, while at the same time wearing the forms they had taken after they had awakened all those millennia ago. Even Aggramar, who had been corrupted by Sargeras, was standing proud in his original form, though to his right sat an empty throne, one that he seemed sad to look at for a few seconds before returning to the matter at hand. The instant all six members of the Pantheon were present, and the soul of Argus rested in the middle of the Seat, the Titans raised one of their hands and begin channeling their energies into the world soul, each of them hoping to sever Argus' connection to Sargeras. That was immediately followed by the world soul turning red as it lashed out, knocking the Titans back and surging dangerously, cutting off their attempts to sever the connection, though that was when the heroes heard a loud boom that came from Azeroth... where they turned and looked upon the planet they were trying to protect, where they found an ominous dark cloud that was covering the majority of Azeroth.
The heroes were stunned by that sight, as Sargeras had moved towards his prize the moment the portal had been opened and they had never known, meaning that they were now racing against the clock to save their world... and, as luck would have it, there was one more obstacle for them to face before the war was finally over.
"That which you have stolen will be your undoing." a booming voice said, one that Lyra knew could only be Sargeras' voice, though at the same time the world soul of Argus started to take shape before them, transforming into a corrupted Titan warrior that was carrying a sinister looking scythe, "Rise, Argus. Rise, my broken world."
"Mortals..." Aman'Thul said, though at the same time the heroes pulled out their weapons and readied themselves, as this time around they were going to have to fight an actual Titan and not an avatar, "The time has come to for you to fight for the fate of the universe."
"Death!" Argus said, his voice full of pain, indicating that all he knew was the pain and suffering that Sargeras had inflicted upon him over the many millennia since he claimed the planet for his demonic armies, before he stared at the heroes with a look of hatred in his eyes, "Death and pain!"
"I didn't think we'd actually be fighting a Titan," Lyra commented, staring into Argus' hateful eyes for a few seconds, where she wondered what he would have been like if Sargeras hadn't corrupted him, before she sighed and called her own powers back to the surface, "but, since that's what we're doing, I guess it's time to go all out."
Before Trixie could say anything, or even stop her, Lyra gathered her power together as she remembered how to take on her 'Havoc' form, though as she did that the heroes charged forward and started the battle, where she propelled herself through the air. Trixie watched as Lyra took on her Havoc form again, where she drew out all of her powers before Xe'ra had taken the fel from her, but this time around her body retained it's natural coloration and her true demonic form looked like a demon hunter that was fully merged with the power of the Light and the power of the Shadows. Lyra landed behind Argus and struck him instantly, causing the tormented Titan to turn around and make her his target, as he started swinging his scythe at her and rarely swung at anyone else, where she used her new warglaives to block the attacks and dealt some damage in the process. That allowed the heroes to attack Argus' back as he focused on her, though Trixie called upon her full power and let a crystalline blue aura appear around her as she started hurling more powerful spells at Argus' back.
Argus, on the other hand, struck the ground with his scythe in a fit of rage, hurting everyone with the shadowy energy that was released from the attack, save for Lyra since she was currently infusing herself with both the Light and the Shadow, so that simply added to her power reserves as she continued the fight. After trying to hurt them with his fit of rage, and succeeding in slightly hurting everyone besides Lyra, Argus gathered some energy into his scythe and swung at the heroes, forcing them to dodge before they were in. The result of that attack was an area of the Seat that they couldn't step on least they be severely hurt in the process, if not killed outright, so they stayed away from that area and continued their fight to the best of their abilities. At the same time Golganneth, having regained some of his power from the blast that signaled Argus' transformation, granted the heroes with increased abilities, 'gifts' from both the sea and the sky as he called his blessings... though since they were fighting a Titan none of the heroes were about to complain and eagerly accepted the power they were being bestowed with for this fight.
As the fight continued Argus continued to hit the ground in a few more fits of rage and continued to cover up sections of the Seat with his strange sinister looking fog, forcing the heroes even closer together as they started to run low on space to fight in, before Golganneth came to their aid once more... by blowing away the 'Death Fog' and allowing them to spread out once more.
Argus, upon seeing that, changed tactics immediately and infused some deadly power into his attacks, as some heroes found that they were the target of a detonation type attack and moved out of the way, allowing them to suffer the explosion and not harm the overall group in the process. One person was unlucky when Argus targeted them with an even stronger bomb type attack, as the unfortunate hunter was nearly killed in the process of receiving the attack, though the healers mended his wounds and got him back into the fight. Argus also manifested scythes, made of dark energy, that traveled in a straight line from where he was looking, as now that he knew the Titans stood against him he couldn't focus on a single enemy and instead tried to kill as many of them as he could, while also spinning in a half circle every now and then to seriously hurt the heroes that he was fighting. Aggramar raised his hand while all this was going on and imbued the heroes with a small measure of his strength, just like Golganneth did earlier, and allowed them to continue fighting with renewed vigor.
At one point Aman'Thul, seeing that Argus was getting weak, used his powers and trapped the corrupted Titan in the middle of the Seat, where he used his own powers to shatter Argus' form, which in turn caused beings that looked like they were made from constellations to form around the battlefield. Some of these constructs attacked them with ranged abilities and others attacked them were bladed weapons, indicating that Argus still wanted to kill them despite his current predicament, though the heroes were more than happy to fight back. Lyra, on the other hand, huffed as she continued to fight in her True Havoc form, as taking on her demonic state, molded in the coloration of her original body, and infusing it with both the Light and the Shadow was quite the strain on her body, and she could tell that Trixie was starting to exhaust herself as well. Sure, they may have been granted extraordinary powers, but right now they were burning through their energies and it didn't seem like Argus was anywhere near being defeated... making them wonder if they even stood a chance against a real Titan, especially one that was forced to accept his powers and was rapidly changing tactics when something he didn't like happened.
Norgannon aided them this time around, finding elemental weaknesses for each of the constructs that the heroes could use to great effect, but even so it took time for them to fight the six powerful constructs, but as the first fell the group that took it out spread out and assisted the others in mowing down the other foes they faced. As the second one fell Lyra knew that there was something they were missing, as it couldn't be this simple to take out a pure Titan, even a corrupted one like Argus, and soon after that the third fell. The remaining three didn't stand much of a chance either, not with the power backing the heroes, and soon they fell as well, though as they did so the shadowy form of Argus' Titan body appeared in front of the Seat of the Pantheon, and this time Lyra and Trixie knew that his trap had been sprung and it was too late to stop it from happening. The Seat of the Pantheon, the area that they had been fighting in, was engulfed in total darkness before hundreds of swirling death gates opened in the air all around them... and the next thing they knew, before they could even more, was that they had all been impaled several times over by sinister blades that mimicked the look of Argus' scythe.
And then that was it, as Argus crashed into the floor in front of them and swung his scythe, killing the entirety of the heroes that stood before him, while at the same time knocking their lifeless bodies to the floor as he roared in triumph, as he had slain the enemies of his master, who would be pleased with his deeds.
"End it all!" Argus roared, indicating that he would join his master in destroying the entire universe, regardless of who dared to stand before a Titan that was using all of his power.
"No! After all we have endured... it must not end this way!" Aman'Thul said, looking down at the heroes that were laying before them, especially two of them that did not come from Azeroth, rather they came from a planet that was not a Titan and had incredible powers of their own.
"Hope is not lost, Highfather. The spark of life still flickers within these mortals."Eonar stated, to which her power flowed into the area in front of the Titans, where the bodies of the heroes glowed with the power of life once more, "Arise, champions! Fight to save your world!"
Lyra, Trixie, and the other heroes found themselves called back from the brink and their spirits returned to their bodies, though as they were all resurrected Lyra immediately drew in her full power, allowing the Light and the Shadow to come back in full force, and stood up as the other heroes joined her in the final attack. Argus, seeing the heroes come back to life all of a sudden, grew annoyed with them and started attacking them again, with the first set of skills he used in the very beginning, as Eonar and Khaz'goroth used their powers to strengthen the heroes once more. However, they quickly discovered that this was a diversion for Argus' true attack, one that Lyra, Trixie, all the heroes, and even the Pantheon realized could instantly cause the complete destruction of the entire universe, ending all of creation in a single attack. As such Trixie called upon her full power and used the arcane to forge pure mana cuffs that wrapped around both of Argus' legs and hands, which she stretched out so he wouldn't be able to fight back or charge his creation ending attack... which Lyra followed up by using the combination of the Light and the Shadow to knock the scythe out of Argus' hand, allowing it to float off into the distance as it left the Seat of the Pantheon behind. Once that happened Lyra gathered the power of the Light and the Shadow and pulled them into another Netherlight Blast, one that she sent flying into Argus' chest with all her might, where she was backed by the power of every hero that came to save Azeroth from the Legion.
A few moments later Argus fell to the ground, where Trixie released his arms and legs, and his body shattered into a thousand pieces before reverting back to the light green world soul that the heroes had seen when they bested Aggramar, though at the same time Aman'Thul turned to address the heroes... after extending a hand towards Lyra to allow her a speedy recovery, as he knew that wielding the power she did, twice like that, had put an incredible strain on her body, even if she wasn't channeling the powers of Light and Shadow at the moment.
"You have done well, mortals." Aman'Thul said, though while some of the heroes were happy to hear that, especially after what they had been through, they all knew that he was serious, especially since he and the other Titans were about to do something important.
"It is time." Eonar stated, causing the leader of the Pantheon to look up for a moment, knowing that she was right, before he glanced at the heroes again, who understood that they were likely going to be sent home now.
"We must gather our strength." Aman'Thul said, to which he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, before starting to turn back towards his throne, which the other Titans were starting to return to, "Return home, children of Azeroth."
As the Vindicaar, which had been brought to this area by the Titans themselves, started to teleport the heroes away from the Seat of the Pantheon, so they could head back home, Velen, Lyra, and Trixie stayed behind for a moment, as they noticed that Illidan hadn't moved yet... to which Velen decided to speak to him.
"Illidan... we've done all we can." Velen spoke up, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie realized that Illidan was looking at something very specific, something that he was really interested in at the moment.
"Every choice, every sacrifice has led me to THIS moment." Illidan replied, to which he stared at the empty throne, the one that belonged to Sargeras, and remembered why he had made all those sacrifices, especially when he knew what his ultimate fate was supposed to be, "To face HIM once again."
"Lord Illidan," Lyra said, though that was before she realized what her mentor was talking about, as she recalled the events that had lead to his eyes becoming what they were, "You're not coming with us?"
"The hunter is nothing without the hunt." Illidan stated, to which he turned and faced Velen, though that was when a smile appeared on his face, indicating that he knew something that none of the others did at the moment, "Did you not see this fate, Prophet?"
"Fate?" Velen inquired, though his tone was one that told the trio that he found that word funny now, especially after having been exposed to several truths during this venture, before he looked Illidan straight in the eyes, as he was seeing him for who he was and not what everyone else saw him as, "Our survival was never in fate's hands."
"Lyra Heartstrings, I am proud of what you have done," Illidan said, taking a moment to stand in front of her for a moment, where Lyra smiled as some tears fell from her eyes, which she wiped away as they looked at each other, "there is so much more I want to say, but let that suffice for now. Protect Azeroth... and Equus, if you make it home."
"We will," Lyra replied, bringing Trixie over to her, as they both planned on finding a way home now that their war against the mighty Legion was finally over.
Illidan kept the smile on his face as he turned around and headed towards Sargeras' throne, leaving Lyra, Trixie, and Velen behind as he focused on what he was planning on doing.
"Light be with you," Velen said, though at the same time the Light formed around the three of them as they watched the greatest demon hunter walk towards his destination, "Illidan Stormrage."
As the three of them teleported aboard the Vindicaar, and moved towards the navigation console, the dimensional ship broke off from the Seat of the Pantheon and traveled back through the rift so they could reach Azeroth, while at the same time Romuul opened a viewer so they could see what happened next. The Pantheon took their their places on their thrones and channeled their powers into the world soul of Argus for a few seconds, before firing a great astral beam that flew by the Vindicaar, where it struck the dark cloud that was enveloping Azeroth.
"Brother!" Aman'Thul intoned, his voice echoing through the space between the Seat of the Pantheon, Argus, and Azeroth, while at the same time he focused on the task at hand, "Your crusade. IS. OVER!"
Lyra, Trixie, the commanders of the Army of the Light, and everyone else aboard the Vindicaar watched as the Titans' astral beam started to pull itself back towards their Seat, though at the same time Lyra glared at the large molten like body that appeared from the dark cloud that was covering most of Azeroth. Everyone watched as Sargeras was pulled from the cloud, surprise written on his face, before he straightened himself and turned back so he could stare right at the Vindicaar and the heroes that had thwarted his plans. That was when his look turned to one of pure anger as he realized that all of his plans had been brought to ruin, but instead of surrendering or giving up he turned back towards Azeroth and held his right hand out, to which Lyra and the others watched as he summoned a large flaming sword that Lyra immediately recognized... it was the one that she had seen in the vision Xe'ra had given her, the one where Sargeras used the same sword to cleave Azeroth, and Equus, in half.
"Nooooo!" Sargeras said, his voice echoing through the space around him as he braced himself for what he was going to do next, which was him starting the blade's descent towards the planet below him.
Everyone stared at what was happening in shock, worried that their efforts to stop Sargeras had allowed him to destroy Azeroth before their very eyes, though to their confusion the blade stopped way before it could even breach the planet's atmosphere. Clearly something was preventing the large sword from harming the planet, though Lyra was quick to amend that thought when she noticed that someone was floating in the atmosphere, under the tip of the blade no less, and had stopped the Dark Titan's blade in the process. Romuul, knowing that everyone wanted to see what was going on, switched the viewer so they could see what was going on, though that was when Lyra and Trixie's eyes widened when they saw a new pony girl standing under the tip of the blade, which was resting against the palm of her left hand. The two of them took in the new arrivals amber colored skin, the vivid crimson and brilliant yellow colored hair and tail, and the strange godly like attire that she seemed to be wearing... which showed off her midriff, something that she didn't seem bothered by as she held Sargeras' blade back.
The funny thing was that both Lyra and Trixie could have sworn that they recognized who the girl was, but they were more interested in the fact that she was holding Sargeras' blade... and, despite the fact that he was a Titan, she didn't seen to be tiring at all, as if she was a creature of equal standing or even greater than him.
"So, you're the being known as Sargeras," the godly pony girl said, her voice revealing that she had power to back her strong tone, while at the same time nothing happened as Sargeras tried to press the blade further down through the atmosphere, "I can see why you're called the Destroyer, as your power is incredible, but now it's time for you to retire, because there's a new being of destruction that's in charge of this universe."
"I... Will... DESTROY YOU!" Sargeras growled out, where he used all of his force to try and crush her under the weight of his large sword, but at the same time the heroes aboard the Vindicaar realized that his power didn't matter, as the new arrival wasn't moving at all.
"Destroy me?! Now that's a funny thing to say... especially when you have no idea who you're messing with." the new pony girl said, though that was followed by her lifting her right hand as she rested it against the side of Sargeras' blade, before a sinister dark purple aura appeared around her body, "Hakai!"
Sargeras' blade glowed a faint purple color for a moment as the tip started to unravel before the eyes on the heroes of Azeroth, though that was followed as the entire blade seemed to unravel and fall apart, as if it's very existence was being erased or something. Sargeras seemed surprised by what was going on and let go of the blade, which only caused the glow to erupt from the entirety of the blade before it was gone, but he used that opportunity to throw his right fist towards the pony girl that was preoccupied with what she was doing. What really shocked Lyra, Trixie, and the heroes of Azeroth was the fact that the massive fist was stopped in it's tracks, by her hand no less, though that was followed by the pony girl raising her right hand for a moment. Sargeras staggered backwards as the pony girl swung at him, the force of her blow traveling through the space between them and striking the Dark Titan in his chest, before a few more punches flew through the air and slammed into his chest... before the pony girl stopped attacking and stared at him.
"What... are you?" Sargeras inquired, though at the same time the heroes of Azeroth could hear that he was shocked by what was happening, especially since he wasn't used to fighting creatures that not only fought on his level, but were also stronger than he was.
"Me? I'm Sunset Shimmer," the pony girl said, where she raised her right hand up until it was level with Sargeras' chest once more, where her aura flickered once more as she started at the Dark Titan, "and I'm the God of Destruction for the universe you seek to destroy."
With that said the pony girl, who Lyra and Trixie now knew was Sunset Shimmer, loosed a powerful blast that knocked Sargeras backwards, though that was when the power of the Pantheon finally ensnared the Dark Titan and tore him away from Azeroth's atomsphere. Sargeras and his dark cloud flew back towards the Seat of the Pantheon, where he growled at the same time and even attempted to crush the Vindicaar as he was pulled by where it was, but Romuul moved them out of harm's way so they could watch what was happening. Seconds later Sargeras turned into bits of astral energy and his large frame was gone, brought back to his throne with the rest of the Pantheon, though as he disappeared the rift between Argus and Azeroth was sealed at long last... and Illidan, who had stayed behind with the Pantheon, effectively became the jailer for the Dark Titan.
As the heroes of Azeroth cheered over their victory, as Sargeras and the Burning Legion had been stopped, two people looked to the right of the Vindicaar as they descended towards Azeroth, as Lyra and Trixie noticed that Sunset was following them... making them wonder what was going to happen next, especially since they had no reason to stay on Azeroth since their main enemy had been defeated.
"The war is finally over." Velen commented, to which he breathed a sigh of relief, as he was happy that Sargeras and his Burning Legion had been stopped at long last, even though the sacrifice for such a thing was for the Pantheon to be sealed away with the Dark Titan for the rest of time.
"Yes, but now more questions have sprung up in the wake of the Legion's defeat," Khadgar said, his eyes lingering on the right side of the main window of the Vindicaar, where Lyra and Trixie were standing, as he was interested in who was flying through the atmosphere alongside their ship, "Like who and what is that mysterious pony girl that showed up out of nowhere? She was able to stop Sargeras' blade like it was nothing, and he's one of the strongest Titans in existence, so there must be something special about her."
"She said that her name was Sunset Shimmer," Turalyon recalled, though at the same time he looked at Lyra and Trixie, as he was sure that the two of them knew something about the stranger that had saved Azeroth from being impaled by the Dark Titan's blade, "so, who is she?"
"She's a native of Equus, just like Lyra and I are," Trixie replied, though she was concentrated on the person in question, as she was trying to understand what she was seeing at the moment, because the power she wielded was entirely different from what she and Lyra were using, "Back before I first appeared in Northshire all those years ago, and Lyra landed in the Outlands, I heard someone mention that there was going to be a coronation for the newest alicorn princess, one Sunset Shimmer, but then the preparations were canceled rather suddenly. It was like she had reappeared in Equus for a few days before disappearing again, and no one was able to figure out what had happened to her... but it seems we have an answer to that particular question."
"Sunset went off and became a god, according to what she told Sargeras," Lyra commented, but even as she said that she wondered if it was true, because at her current state she could easily feel the power of the Titan Pantheon, and yet at the same time she couldn't feel anything from the person that was following them down through the atmosphere, "She's on a level that's beyond what Sargeras and Argus are at, and all she's done so far is stop Sargeras' blade, obliterate it, and then forced the Dark Titan backward. I'm also interested in how she managed to get to Azeroth, because it doesn't appear that she has a ship or anything like we do, and I'm pretty sure Trixie would have felt a portal opening opened."
Trixie had to admit that Lyra brought up a good point, as they had no idea how Sunset had managed to find them, before she realized that Discord could have easily opened a portal to Azeroth for her to use, which became all the more likely when she thought about it. She also remembered that she and Lyra had brushed off Discord earlier, before they attacked the Broken Shore, and knew that he was likely sour about that, but in the end they had stopped the Dark Titan from gaining the power necessary to destroy all of creation. As they continued their descent, however, Lyra and Trixie watched as two new figures, who had apparently been watching Sargeras' arrival the entire time they were fighting Argus, appeared below the Vindicaar. Both of them were pony girls, that much was obvious, but their eyes widened as they took in the familiar flowing hair and tail, that had multiple colors in both of them, that seemed to be in one direction, even if that direction was opposite of the wind, and the other had purple colored hair and an identical colored tail, with a few different colors mixed in thanks to some streaks.
Sure, both Lyra and Trixie recognized the newcomers that Sunset was moving towards, but that didn't stop them from being shocked at the same time, especially since both of them were wearing some sort of clothing that made them seem like gods as well, which only confused them even more.
"No way," Trixie said, as she was staring at the familiar lavender skinned pony girl that Sunset was now talking to, as the two of them just so happened to have a magical duel at one point in the past, where Trixie had used a magical necklace and had lost, "Is that... is that Twilight Sparkle?"
""Yeah, and she's standing next to Princess Celestia." Lyra replied, as she was staring at the other person in question, though while she did that she knew that Trixie was focused on Twilight at the moment, to which she focused on another observation, "How in the world did the three of them become pony girls like us? It doesn't make any sense."
"That is a valid question." Velen commented, as he recalled what Illidan and Khadgar has said when they were watching Lyra test her new powers earlier, back when the Light gave her something to replace what Xe'ra had taken, "As I recall you two used to be ponies before you appeared on Azeroth and the Outlands respectively, or more accurately unicorns if my memory is correct. Those three never did anything like what you did, from what you have told us, so the question is how they gained the forms that they are using... and how Sunset managed to gain the power to stand up to the Dark Titan."
Lyra and Trixie wondered that same thing, as the greatest powers they had come to understand had been the Light and the Shadows that Lyra wielded and the pure arcane power that Trixie now commanded, and yet they had drained themselves to fight Argus earlier. Sunset, on the other hand, seemed to have a power that was far greater than Sargeras' own power, as she was able to do so much that neither of them had thought was even possible, even going so far as to save Azeroth from being damaged by the Dark Titan. She also called herself a God of Destruction, meaning that if she decided to erase the planet they had fought to save, for whatever reason she desired, both Lyra and Trixie had the feeling that they wouldn't be able to stop her, not after what they had seen her do to Sargeras. Their friends, of course, were more than happy to not be worried about her, as she had helped them after all, but the duo decided to wait and see what happened when they finally met up with Sunset, Twilight, and Princess Celestia.
The three pony girls flew through the air as they followed the Vindicaar towards Dalaran, where Romuul fired a beacon down to Krasus' Landing and allowed the heroes to either stay aboard the ship, more directed towards the Alliance forces, or teleport down to Dalaran. From the sounds of it Velen was planning on gifting the dimensional ship to Turalyon, for what purpose Lyra and Trixie didn't know, but there were greater problems on their mind as they teleported down to the landing and turned towards the sky. That was followed by the trio descending towards the landing until they touched down near Lyra and Trixie, who now noticed that only Princess Celestia carried a weapon with her, a staff to be exact, but that only made them wonder what was going on.
"Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, it's good to see you again." Sunset said, though at the same time she looked around the area they were in and smiled, as this planet, from what little she had seen so far, was doing good and the people seemed to be advanced in some manner, before turning her attention to the duo again, "So, this is the place that Discord tracked the two of you to... Azeroth, right?"
"That's correct." Trixie replied, though as she answered the question she noticed that Twilight seemed to be listening to something else, making her wonder if she was like Magni now, able to speak and hear the voice of certain planets, before both she and Lyra bowed for a moment, "Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight, and Princess Sunset, it's nice to see the three of you again as well."
"There's no need to call us Princesses anymore," Twilight said, to which she rubbed the back of her head, as she was more used to her new title than the one she had gotten after completing one of Starswirl's spells, "we're actually gods now. Or, more accurately, I'm the Kaioshin, the God of Creation, for the universe, and Sunset here is the Hakaishin, the God of Destruction, for the universe. Celestia is also a god, though she's tasked with being Sunset's attendant, mentor, and a number of other things that you can ask her about."
"What Twilight means is that I'm Sunset's Angel." Celestia said, though there was a smile on her face, indicating that she was just fine with her new role, something that Lyra and Trixie were shocked with once they heard what her role was now, while at the same time she looked right at them, "Though all of us are proud that you stood your ground and faced down the demonic forces that were trying to destroy this world, especially against a powerful creature like Sargeras."
"Thanks." Lyra said, but that only raised more questions for her and Trixie, especially since it appeared that a lot had changed since they were last on Equus, so much so that she was starting to get confused on what the trio knew and what they didn't know, "We have so many questions."
"And we have answers," Sunset replied, to which Celestia and Twilight nodded their heads, though before any of them stepped forward she turned her head towards the sky and watched as something fell through the atmosphere and landed on the island with the dark green structure, a scythe to be exact, "It appears that a fragment of power from whatever being you were fighting, before Sargeras was forced to show himself, has fallen to the ground nearby... I should destroy it before someone gets their hands on it."
"It looks like it fell into a pool of fel lava," Trixie commented, looking out at the area that Sunset was staring at and traced the arcane trail that the weapon left behind, where the weapon would remain since there was nothing, save for the Eredar that were now trapped on Argus, that could retrieve it without dying, "Leave it where it rests... no one will be able to claim that weapon, not where it fell."
Sunset stared at Trixie for a moment, seriously debating whether or not she should destroy the scythe to be on the safe side, but then decided that, since Trixie and Lyra seemed to know more about this world than she did, she might as well put her faith in them. As such she banished her aura, which had activated when she mentioned destroying the weapon, and faced the duo once more, though before anyone said anything Trixie stated that they should go somewhere so they could talk in private. That was when she, Twilight, and Celestia followed Trixie, Lyra, and a few unnamed individuals through the city, allowing them to see some of the sights for a few minutes, before they entered an important building and used the portal at the top of the stairs to reach a larger room that was cut off from the outside world. Of course the return portal remained where it was resting, so they could head back down if necessary, but they were eager to explain things and turned towards the group that was staring at them.
They quickly learned that the people in front of them were Archmage Khadgar and Prophet Velen, as the other leaders of their little group were making sure that the heroes that had saved this world had the celebration that they deserved, which Lyra and Trixie would be a part of once they cleared some things up.
"So, you told Sargeras that it was time for him to retire, because there was a new being of destruction to rule the universe," Khadgar commented, recalling the wording that was used, but even despite that fact he still found it odd for there to be a force that was even greater than the Titans, "or, at the very least, something to that effect. What did you mean by your statement?"
"You know that Sargeras, the Dark Titan, is called 'the Destroyer', correct?" Sunset asked, as Discord had done enough recon on this world to give her, Twilight, and Celestia plenty to work with for when they eventually came to Azeroth, though at the same time the group of four nodded their heads, "I am the same way, a Destroyer, but where Sargeras needs a massive sword to cleave a planet in half and destroy it... well, I think it's best that we show you what I'm capable of. Celestia, can you show them the event that I'm thinking of?"
"Of course," Celestia said, to which she tapped her staff for a moment, staring into the crystal ball at the top for a few seconds, before hold it out and projecting the image of a planet into the area between the two groups, "We came across this planet a few days ago, one that had been twisted by some dark force and the life had been drained out of everything... a dead planet, if you will. We asked a friend if this was going to change, if it was only temporary, and he said that if the planet remained in this state it was only a matter of time until it started corrupting the other planets around it. Sunset, upon hearing that... well, you'll see for yourselves soon enough."
Lyra and Trixie watched with some interest as a much smaller image of Sunset, Celestia, and Twilight appeared near the world again, though that was when the past Sunset raised her right hand and formed what many would mistake for a marble. With the marble created the past Sunset descended towards the planet's surface and let it fall from her hand, where it floated down until it was absorbed into the planet's surface. What came next was the past Sunset heading back to her group as the planet started to crack and buckle, indicating that whatever she had done was setting off a chain reaction that was actually tearing the planet apart. That was before volcanoes started to erupt and the planet turned red as it's atmosphere was broken, before it heaved outwards and was consumed in a blinding explosion, one that made Celestia stop showing them what happened some time ago.
Suffice to say that Lyra and Trixie were shocked that Sunset, with what appeared to be a small fraction of her power, had been able to destroy the planet with ease and didn't need to cleave the planet in half, like Sargeras would, and both Khadgar and Velen were so shocked that they actually dropped their staffs in surprise.
"Like I said, I don't need to cleave a planet in half to destroy it," Sunset said, though where one would assume she was being smug about the situation Lyra and Trixie found that she was neutral, as if she understood that she had been given these powers for a reason and was playing her part to the letter, "I just need to drop a potent destructive attack into the planet's surface or hurl a sphere of destruction at it... or, in the case of Sargeras' sword, simply hold my hand towards it and give the command phrase to destroy my target."
"C... Command phrase?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she was shocked that she and Lyra were right about their original thoughts, Sunset was much stronger than they were and they wouldn't be able to beat her, not if she was able to blow a planet to pieces with a small percentage of her power.
"When I destroyed Sargeras' weapon I used the word 'Hakai', while pointing at the blade," Sunset replied, but she put no power behind the word and her aura didn't spring to life, telling Lyra and Trixie that there was something special about the phrase she had used, "it allows me to erase the existence of something, such as a city or a massive blade, and even people or beings that need to be erased."
"So now what?" Lyra inquired, to which Sunset, Celestia, and Twilight turned towards them for a moment, though the looks on their faces told her that they had been expecting this sort of question ahead of time, "Are you going to force us to return to Equus, now that the Burning Legion and their terrible master have been defeated?"
"We're not asking you to leave your friends behind and never return," Twilight said, as she knew that the two of them had made friends on this planet, because that was something that all of the other displaced ponies did during their adventures were in, "All we're asking is that you come home with us, see what has changed since you two were teleported to this world, and reunite with your loved ones. Then, once we've done all that, you can do whatever you want, be that returning to Azeroth to continue your current lives or staying on Equus and taking up your old lives while adapting to your new changes."
"We'll have to think about that." Trixie replied, as she knew that Lyra had a certain someone that she wanted to fight one last time, and there was something she needed to do before they left Azeroth.
"I expected that there would be some goodbyes and other things you wanted to take care of before you left." Sunset commented, though the look in her eyes told the duo that she knew what they were going through, but they said nothing as she focused on them, "Just tell us when you're ready to leave."
"There's also someone I need to talk to before we leave." Lyra said, though at the same time she knew exactly where the person in question was waiting, as she likely hadn't moved since the way to Argus had been opened earlier.
Maiev stood in the area of the Isle of the Watchers that her tent was in, as well as the tents of the other Watchers and initiates, because they were still training new members to join their ranks and needed to make sure they were ready for whatever came after this invasion. Sure, she had seen the massive gateway opening in the sky and the demonic planet of Argus that had appeared in the process, but no one had ever come to ask her if she could spare some forces and go to the place that the Legion commanded. She was fairly sure that Illidan, the Betrayer himself, was the one responsible for the gateway being opened, but at the moment it appeared that nothing bad had happened, as not even thirty minutes ago the entire thing closed and Argus disappeared. The one thing that had caused her to stop in her tracks, and listen to what was going on, was when she heard some massive creature shout the word 'No' for a few seconds, but before she could pinpoint where it was coming from the voice was gone, leaving her to return to her duties as she considered what was going on these days.
So when one of her guards stopped outside her tent, and told her that Lyra Heartstrings and her allies had landed near the camp, she sighed and followed her guard outside her small tent... though she wasn't prepared to find that there was a large Blue Dragon standing nearby, along with Khadgar, Prophet Velen, and three new pony girls that she had never seen before. What really caught her interest was Lyra, as her skin was no longer tainted by the fel, her tattoos were half golden and half shadowy, her horns had been molded into smaller versions of her master's horns, and it appeared that she was even stronger than she had been the last time they crossed paths... and right now she had no idea where her precious warglaives were, since she held no weapons at the moment.
"Lyra Heartstrings," Maiev said, though at the same time she pulled out her glaive and prepared herself, as the last time they had been here, on this island, the two of them had ducked it out and only stopped when something came up that required their immediate attention, "this is an unexpected surprise."
"Indeed it is." Lyra replied, though as she spoke Trixie roared and reverted back to her hybrid state, but as that happened she could hear Twilight starting to ask her friend how she had taken on her new form, which Trixie decided to tell her, before Lyra turned her attention back to the Warden, "I trust you know why I'm here?"
"Of course," Maiev stated, to which she turned towards the guards and gave the silent order that they knew at this point, as she had made sure they knew that there was a possibility that she and Lyra would duel again and that, when she gave this signal, that they moved out of the area, "Give me a moment and the isle will be cleared... and then we can see who the better fighter is."
Sure enough the initiates and their masters cleared out the camp and moved to a safe area, though before they could actually leave the isle Celestia surprised them by using her magic to separate part of the ground from the isle, creating a platform they could stand on and watch the fireworks. Once that happened Lyra smiled as she faced Maiev, who was standing nearby with her glaive at the ready, to which she raised her hands and her new energies wrapped around them, where Maiev watched in shock as her new twinblades formed from both the Light and the Shadows. Instead of saying anything to her opponent this time around, like she had the last time they fought, Lyra rushed forward and swung the Nightmare at Maiev, who blocked the attack and found herself being pushed back within a matter of seconds. Lyra then used the Daybreaker and attacked from below, opening Maiev's guard in a matter of seconds, before she spun around and kicked the Warden in the chest, sending her flying away from the camp she had set up while surprising those that were watching the fight.
Maiev coughed as she picked herself off the ground, as the kick to her chest had been more powerful than she had thought it would have been, which meant that Lyra, how backed by the seemingly impossible fusion of both the Light and the Shadows into a single body, was even stronger than when she only possessed the fel energy... and, since her attacks were at their strongest when she was battling demons and demon hunters, that meant she might not be able to deal as much damage as she normally did, not with Lyra being something else entirely.
Lyra, sensing some hesitation from Maiev, gripped her twinblades and charged at her target, but unlike their first duel, where she had been blinded by rage of Illidan's death, or their second duel, where her hatred had been ruling her thoughts, this time she was calm and collected as she engaged her opponent. Maiev's attacks were fast, which made sense for a Warden to have swift attacks so their foes couldn't accurately fight back, but at the same time Lyra's new power allowed her to easily match that speed and then some. As such she raised her twinblades when Maiev attacked her, parrying them before they had the chance to reach her, and continued on the defensive for a few moments, as she was taking the time to study Maiev and understand her movements. A few moments later she was slightly surprised when Maiev managed to cut a small gash on her left arm, causing her to pause for a moment, though instead of attacking when the opening revealed itself, like ordinary opponents would, Maiev backed up and readied herself again, indicating that she knew the fight was far from over.
"You may have gotten stronger since we last fought," Maiev commented, as she was surprised that her attack managed to go through, meaning that Lyra had spent a little too long in studying her movements, "but that doesn't mean anything when your defenses are still vulnerable like that."
"I'll admit that I spent a little too long watching your movements," Lyra said, to which she banished both of her warglaives and moved a hand towards the gash, which sealed itself thanks to the Light that was now coursing through her veins, before she stared at Maiev again, "but, since you seem so sure of yourself, I guess I might as well show you the results of what happened on Argus... and the power I gained while I was there."
Before Maiev could say anything the Light and the Shadows gathered around Lyra for a few seconds, allowing her to shift into her Havoc form once more, though her eyes widened as she realized that the form Lyra was using now was different than what she remembered. She could hear Khadgar, who was off in the distance with the others, talking about how this form allowed Lyra to fight a Titan, one of the strongest beings in the entire universe, and she instantly knew that her chances of winning were gone. Sure, she was strong enough to fight a weakened Illidan to the death, and could kill demons as well as a demon hunter could, but she knew that her power meant nothing in regards to the Titans that had ordered Azeroth so long ago, back before Sargeras tore them down. If Khadgar was telling the truth, that this new Havoc form of Lyra's had the power to fight a Titan without her being killed in the process, than she knew that the fight was over before it could even begin. Lyra, on the other hand, used her hesitation to her advantage once more and raced forward, this time rapidly appearing in front of Maiev before she even had the chance to move, but as Maiev realized the danger she was in Lyra's hands glowed as the twinblades faded back into existence.
That was followed by Lyra quickly swinging her right arm first and then followed up with her left arm, allowing the twinblades to carve a gash of Light energy and Shadow energy into the armor that was protecting Maiev's chest, before she spun around and kicked the glowing cross in the center... to which Maiev, as she was knocked backwards, watched as the armor shattered and the fragments fell to the ground as she collided with the rock wall behind her.
This time around Maiev had to lift her helmet a little so she could cough up some blood, which she spat on the ground nearby, before brushing off the remaining fragments of her armor and stepped forward, knowing that Lyra wasn't about to end the fight there. Sure enough Lyra came at her again, this time leaving the warglaives behind, and started attacking her with her fists, though Maiev was forced to admit that Lyra's punches were strong and that all she could do was go on the defensive once the battle resumed. A few moments into the fight Maiev spotted an opening and swung her glaive at it, though Lyra caught her arm before the attack could connect, grabbed onto the glaive, and kicked Maiev in the chest once more, knocking her backwards. Lyra tossed the glaive to the side as she continued her assault, forcing Maiev to stay on the defensive as she looked for an opening that Lyra wouldn't expect her to use, but before she could do that she found Lyra's knee planted firmly in her chest. As Maiev staggered for a second, however, Lyra continued with an uppercut that knocked her into the air a bit, before she spun around and left the side of her left leg connect with the side of her helmet, where Maiev both felt and heard the sound of both metal and bones breaking as she flew through the air and collided with a large boulder... one that her helmet shattered upon when she struck it, to which she laid there and moaned for a few moments as Lyra walked over to her.
"I... I surrender." Maiev stated, to which she coughed up some more blood as she tried to forget the pain that she was feeling, as she had a headache from Lyra's kick and several of her bones were screaming in pain from the other ones, before she glanced up at Lyra, "It seems that, in the end, I did the same thing that I did in all of our other fights... I underestimated your power, and that cost me more than just my pride this time."
"I should have warned you that my full power was enough to fight a Titan without dying before he cheated," Lyra said, remembering what happened with Argus, and how he wiped everyone out in a single attack they couldn't dodge at all, before she sighed and reverted back to her base form and held her hand out towards Maiev, "Here, let me help you up."
Maiev stared at Lyra for a few seconds, wondering why she was suddenly so nice to her, especially when she lied to Trixie and kept her locked in a prison cell for seven years, but instead of saying anything she held out her hand and grasped Lyra's. The moment she did that she could feeling a small bit of the Light pour into her body, her aches and pains from the fight healing in an instant, as if the fight had actually never happened, but the reminder was the fact that her armor and helmet had been shattered, even though she could easily secure another set in the future. She was surprised by this sudden act, as she had assumed that Lyra hated her and would have left her in a pained and broken state until someone came to save her, but in the end this proved that Lyra was actually a better person than Maiev could ever hope to be... and, after a few seconds of thought, she wondered if it was possible to change her attitude towards people and maybe make the world a better place as well.
"Why?" Maiev asked, as that was the only thing she could think of at the moment, because it was the only question in her mind that needed to be asked, especially since it appeared that the strongest person in the world was now from an entirely different planet.
"Because I decided to forgive you for everything you did to Trixie and me over the years." Lyra replied, though at the same time she let go of Maiev and started to walk to the platform that was lowering itself back into the area it had been pulled from earlier, "That's what ponies do; we find it within ourselves to forgive those that have wronged us in the past and either accept who they have become or help them find a new place in society that makes them feel at home. Some of the mightiest heroes of Equus have been able to help certain villains turn over a new leaf and help society improve, so change is possible for everyone... and it starts by letting go of certain emotions and forgiving them, just like I just did."
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to tell the Horde and the Alliance to get along." Maiev commented, though at the same time she had to wonder if it was possible for the two factions to finally put the past behind them and actually share the world with each other, instead of always fighting over it.
"You and the others should attempt such a thing." Sunset said, causing the defeated Warden to turn her head for a moment, so she could look at one of the other pony girls that had come down here, "Azeroth is such a wonderful place, especially now that Sargeras won't be around to do anything to you, so your Alliance and your Horde should attempt to forge a lasting peace and forgive each other. If they go to war again, and start tearing this planet, along with themselves, apart, then I'll be forced to come back to this planet and blow it to pieces."
"Wait, you don't mean..." Lyra said, though she couldn't put the thought into words, as she had seen what happened when Sunset destroyed a world and knew that she could easily do it to Azeroth, but at the same time Sunset understood what she was saying.
"Yes. The next war the Alliance and Horde have planned will be the last one... but it will cost you everything." Sunset stated, to which she held a hand up and an image of Azeroth appeared in front of them, before she waved her hand and the entire planet exploded, "Tell the faction leaders that if they continue with their plans, to make war on the other faction in an attempt to wipe them out, they'll only bring about the end of this world, which they worked so hard to preserve in the face of such a terrible force. They can truly save Azeroth, or they can be it's destroyers... and I'll know what they picked soon enough."
"I take it that it's time for you to head home?" Khadgar asked, as while he was sad to see Trixie leave, since they had spent many years together as student and teacher, he knew that this was what she had longed for, which was why she and Lyra were now standing beside the trio of gods.
"It is." Twilight said, though at the same time Celestia tapped her staff on the ground and a barrier surrounded them, to which they lifted into the air a little and stared down at the assembled group, "But like we said earlier, we'll let them come back once they've reunited with their loved ones back home... and who knows, maybe they'll stick around to help you sort out the coming war."
Khadgar smiled at the thought of avoiding a war, especially after they had defeated Sargeras and his Burning Legion, to which he raised a hand and waved at the five Equestrians, where Trixie and Lyra waved goodbye before the sphere of energy surged towards the atmosphere... taking them back to their home world and leaving them to preserve a hard won peace that could be shattered with one wrong move. He only hoped that Lyra and Trixie, even if they didn't come back to Azeroth after returning to their home, had a prosperous life in whatever they were doing before they came here, to which he chuckled as he and the others got to work on trying to stop a war.
It took an hour or two for Celestia to navigate her way back to Equus, revealing just how far away Lyra and Trixie had been sent when they were teleported to Azeroth and the Outlands, though that gave them some time to ask some of the questions that had been bugging them. Lyra's immediate concern was how the two of them had been taken from their home planet and dropped off on two separate worlds that were connected by a massive portal, something that Trixie came to agree with once she thought about it. Sunset, Twilight, and Celestia glanced at each other, revealing that they knew the answer to the question, before they turned their attention back to what they were doing, which was Celestia making sure they got back to Equus, Twilight was taking notes of the planets they were passing by, and Sunset was just standing there with her arms crossed behind her back. Out of the three of them both Lyra and Trixie assumed that it had to be Sunset who would give them the information that they were after, as she was the only one that wasn't occupied with anything at the moment, to which they stood still and waited for her to explain the situation.
"I take it that the two of you heard about my coronation and my disappearance?" Sunset asked, surprising the duo for a moment, as that wasn't something they were expecting to hear, but at the same time both Lyra and Trixie nodded their heads for a few seconds, "Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, found out that I was going to become something that was even stronger than a princess and, upon tinkering with a certain magical mirror, he laid a trap that Starlight and I sprung just a few days after my first return to Equus."
"What do you mean by 'first return'?" Trixie inquired, as that term really didn't make any sense to her, not with what they had been told so far, and Lyra seemed to be listening so she could understand what was going on, but she hadn't spoken up either.
"Like you two I found myself in a different world once," Sunset replied, remembering the adventure she had embarked on all those years ago, or rather what felt like years, before she sighed and returned to the conversation, "the world I landed on was called Nirn and I had been called there for a very specific reason... I had to fight and defeat Tirek before he could destroy the world. Trust me, it wasn't an easy feat trying to keep artifacts of power away from him, not when he devised a cleaver plan to find the area I had sealed the artifacts inside and stole the power of the godly beings that they were attached to. He gained the power to not only upset the natural balance of Nirn, but also tried to tear open a portal so he could return to Equus and rule as it's king, before doing whatever foul end game he had planned."
"And then you somehow gained the power to stop him." Lyra stated, as she was seeing where the story was going, but at the same time she wasn't seeing how it connected to their current situation, the one they had asked about and were still trying to figure out.
"Well, not at first." Sunset admitted, as she remembered what had happened when she tried to battle Tirek, who was fueled by the powers of sixteen gods, before her new friends had assisted her and did something amazing, "It was only when one of my new friends, a vampire called Serana, figured out that five of my new friends and I seemed to represent the Elements of Harmony, despite the fact that they didn't exist on Nirn. My friends lent me their power and allowed me to ascend to being an alicorn, giving me more than enough power to not only stand up to Tirek, but also defeat him and restore balance to Nirn, before the Wardens of Tartarus came and imprisoned him once more. After that I returned home, to Equus, and Celestia spread news of my ascension and my coronation that was going to be happening in the near future... only that never happened, because Starlight and I used a portal that teleported us to a new planet, as four year olds without any memories of who we used to be.
That's why I said 'first return' earlier, as I have gone on two adventures to two different worlds... even though my second adventure allowed me to truly ascend to being a God of Destruction, where the power of my ascension would have destroyed Equus if I stayed on our home world."
"So you're saying that Discord, in a way, saved everyone from being killed in an instant?" Trixie inquired, as while she believed what Lyra had told Maiev, about how they should forgive people and put the past behind them, she found it odd that Discord would enforce such a fate upon two ponies.
"And that brings us to the heart of your question." Sunset stated, as she was happy to reach this point, even though both Lyra and Trixie were going to be shocked by the news of what happened before they arrived on Azeroth, "When Discord modified the mirror that served as the portal between worlds, and focused on sending me away to keep Equus safe, he failed to account for the fact that there might be more ponies that might seek to use the portal for their own goals. His actions have caused ponies to be displaced to other worlds, sometimes alone and sometimes with someone else, but for the most part they end up being around four years old without any memories of their old lives, until he decided to modify his existing enchantments. The fact of modifying his own spell caused some backlash that knocked the two of you out of Equus and sent you to the worlds you found yourselves in, though we had no idea where Azeroth was located until he came along and told us that you had been found... and that you didn't want to come home until you stopped Sargeras in his tracks."
"Discord's at fault for us traveling to Azeroth and the Outlands?" Lyra asked, to which she found Sunset nodding her head, though at the same time she remembered what she said to Maiev and sighed, as she knew what to say next, "well, since we both survived and are coming home with more power than we could ever want, I guess we can thank Discord for doing what he did."
"You know, that raises another question," Trixie commented, because if she and Lyra had been displaced by the sheer backlash of the spell, and they were returning with the power they commanded, she had to wonder who else had been displaced and what powers they commanded, "who else headed through the mirror?"
"Well, let me think about that for a second," Sunset said, though the look on her face revealed that she knew who had been displaced and she was just killing time, something that both Lyra and Trixie were grateful for, "Besides Starlight and myself, who were the first ones to be displaced, and the two of you, who were knocked out by backlash, the others that were displaced were Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Chrysalis, Gilda and Derpy Hooves, the Sirens, and Sombra. So far only a few of the others have returned, those being Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity, and Discord is in the process of locating the others and trying to convince them to come home when they're ready... something he learned after being denied by both you two and Chrysalis, as she's apparently not done with her own journey yet."
Lyra and Trixie glanced at each other, as while Sunset said nothing about the power that the displaced ponies possessed they were curious as to what had happened since they had last been home, as for them it had been seven long years and now they were ready to see their loved ones again. Neither of them had any idea that Sunset had been sent on an adventure like they had, much less two of them and had to fight one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, but her power said that she was a force that no one could stop unless she changed her mind on something. Since there wasn't much they could do while they were traveling through space, except stare at the planets around them, they simply remained silent and waited for them to reach their home world.
When Celestia said that they were almost home, indicating that they were almost to Equus, Lyra and Trixie looked at the planets ahead of them and their eyes widened as they gazed upon their home world as they got closer and closer to their destination, while Sunset and Twilight remained silent at the same time. The duo assumed that the reason behind that was because they had made this trip several times since they became gods, so there wasn't anything special about this for them, but they stared down at Equus as they finally reached the atmosphere. A few moments later they started their descent towards the ground below them, allowing Lyra and Trixie to gaze upon the familiar sights that neither of them had seen for seven years, before they spotted Canterlot off in the distance and Ponyville resting near the Everfree Forest. It took them a few minutes to get closer to the ground, though when they did so both Lyra and Trixie were shocked by what they were seeing; the ponies of Ponyville had bodies that were exactly like theirs and they seemed to have adapted to them rather well from what they were seeing.
Something had happened since they had last been here, as ponies didn't naturally go through this transformation without something like the backlash happening to them, but at the same time they remained silent as Celestia landed on the outskirts of Ponyville and dropped the barrier at last.
"Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, welcome home," Celestia said, though this time around she started walking forward and headed towards Twilight's castle, to which the others followed after her and gave the duo a chance to see the rest of Ponyville again, "Lyra, you'll find that Bon Bon has been worried about you since the day you disappeared and has been trying to find you in her own way, so now she can stop before she hurts herself. Trixie, your wagon has been moved into the area near the castle, so it can be watched over and protected from anyone that would try to steal anything that you had before Discord's spell sent you to Azeroth."
"That's good to hear," Trixie replied, as while she honestly hadn't thought about her wagon that much over the last seven years, as she had been busy dealing with so many things with her new friends, she was still grateful that nothing had happened to it in the time since she was knocked out of Equus.
What was interesting about the journey to the castle was that the ponies that both Lyra and Trixie knew, from before they were sent to a whole new world, were surprised by their return and by the fact that their bodies were so different from what the rest of Ponyville had. Sure, ponies were surprised by Lyra's more demonic looking body, despite the fact that the fel no longer had any claim to her body, but they were more surprised by the fact that Trixie was half dragon and could tell that she was a true mage now. Lyra wasn't sure if that thought was because of the fact that Trixie was still carrying Aluneth, which she personally thought Trixie would do without since she was the Spell-Weaver now, or if they could feel the power that Trixie commanded, which was stronger than what she had before the journey to Azeroth. When they reached the castle, however, the door opened just as they were approaching the door and Spike, Twilight's dragon assistant, was standing in the doorway to welcome them back... and, oddly enough, he seemed to have matured a little since Lyra and Trixie had been gone, if the wings on his back were any indication.
"Welcome back Twilight!" Spike said, greeting the pony he had spent the majority of his life with, which made sense seeing how Twilight had hatched him and was the one that he was almost always near, but before he could welcome any of the others back as well he looked at Trixie and froze, "Trixie? When did you become part dragon?"
"Actually, I'm more than half dragon." Trxie replied, as she and the others knew about her new true form, one that she wouldn't be able to use in the space that was around them at the moment, not unless they went to an open area so she could change forms, "Though the real answer to your question is that I ascended to this state during my adventures on Azeroth, just like Lyra was able to gain new powers in the process as well. Tell you what, we'll tell you about our adventures later on, after we've had a chance to settle down and figure out whats going on."
It was clear that Spike wanted to say something to that, but before he could actually say anything they heard an explosion nearby, though while Lyra and Trixie were surprised by that, since Ponyville was a peaceful place unless something was attacking it, Sunset and the others weren't surprised at all. In fact Sunset and her fellow gods headed out for the area the sound came from, accompanied by Spike after he closed the door, to which Lyra and Trixie followed after them, as they were curious as to why they were so calm over hearing an explosion. A few moments later, however, they approached an area between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, a training area by the looks of it, and found an interesting sight, four small pony girls were flying through the air, fighting each other as they used their fists to hit each other or to parry attacks. What was really interesting was the fact that two of them seemed to be channeling the power of the wind itself, one was channeling the power of fire, and the fourth one had a rocky shield surrounding her, preventing her opponents from hitting her. It took Lyra and Trixie a moment to realize that three of the girls were Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, though while they had no idea who the fourth girl was it immediately became clear that they were all friends and that they were practicing their skills... and that the collision of their powers had blown a hole in the ground, which Apple Bloom seemed to heal a few seconds later.
Standing nearby were three more pony girls, though their hair styles and colors were more than enough for Lyra and Trixie to recognize Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, even though the three of them happened to be wearing the same type of clothing that had different colors for each of them... though the fighting stopped as they all realized that Sunset, Celestia, and Twilight had entered the area, along with some new arrivals.
"Awesome!" Rainbow said, to which she flew over to where the group was standing and started to study Lyra and Trixie, to which Sunset and the others backed away so the other displaced ponies could have a word with them, "I'm not sure why you two changed so much during your adventure, but I can tell that the two of you are strong... maybe we should spare in the future, to see how strong you really are."
"Calm down Rainbow, they just got back." Applejack stated, as she could see that Lyra and Trixie were exhausted, which was mostly from them fighting a creature that was stronger than anything they had fought before that point, while noticing that Rainbow hadn't seen that yet, "Give them a few days to recover and maybe they'll show their powers to you, unlike when Rarity returned and you challenged her to a battle immediately."
"Hey, that was an awesome fight as well," Rainbow countered, to which she turned towards Applejack for a moment, where both Lyra and Trixie had the feeling that they had been displaced to the same world and had grown up as siblings, or at least something similar to that, "besides, you can't deny that the energy these two are putting out hasn't caught your interest as well. I have no idea what sort of power Lyra's putting out, despite the fact that half of it feels like Rarity's Dark Magic, and Trixie's energy is confusing me to no end... so of course I'd want to challenge them immediately, just so I can see their powers for myself."
"Just because I prefer to welcome our friends back home first, before fighting them, doesn't mean I'm not interested in seeing the powers they acquired," Applejack said, though she sighed as she turned towards the duo, who could tell that this must have happened every time someone returned home, meaning they weren't the only ones that Rainbow had challenged once they got back, "You'll have to ignore Rainbow's request for a battle for a few days, as by the looks of things I'm sure that the two of you could use a break from fighting and actually relax now that you've completed whatever adventure you were on."
"And we must head to my boutique so I can create some new clothing for the two of you," Rarity added, to which the duo stared at the Element of Generosity for a few seconds, as they weren't sure why she insisted on them having a new attire as soon as they got back, especially since neither of their clothing was extremely damaged, "I mean seriously, what are you even wearing Lyra?"
"The outfit of the group I bonded with." Lyra replied, looking down at her attire, as she had switched back to looking like an Illidari before they went to Argus, despite the fact that no one noticed since they were all busy focusing on taking out Sargeras' armies and stopping his plans, "I know it's a little revealing in some places, and I've been embarrassed by that a few times in the past, but..."
"No buts!" Rarity stated, to which her magic quickly wrapped around Lyra and Trixie before she picked them both up, where she started to carry them back to her workplace, leaving the others to stare at them as they headed back into Ponyville once more, "I'm going to measure your new bodies and see if I can't create some new clothing for you to wear... though creating some clothing for a dragon pony hybrid will be an exciting challenge. Trixie, you simply must tell me what happened while I work, because I'm sure that there's an interesting tale in there somewhere."
"Of course." Trixie said, though at the same time she surprised everyone by shattering Rarity's hold over her and Lyra, before she wove the Arcane through the air around her and transformed into her true dragon form, where she found that everyone was staring at her in surprise, save for Sunset and her fellow gods anyway, "I am Trixie Lulamoon, now called the Spell-Weaver by the inhabitants of Azeroth, and I would be honored to tell you part of what happened on our adventure while you outfit Lyra out."
"You're so awesome!" Spike declared, as while he had never seen a dragon the size of Trixie, and the only one that came close was likely Ember's father, he found that she was too cool to simply ignore and had to know more about what had caused her to take on this form.
Trixie chuckled as she reverted back to her hybrid state and started telling Rarity the part of her story that she wanted to hear, while Lyra and Spike followed after them, as one of them was being dragged into having new clothes made for her while the other was interested in Trixie's tale. Lyra had the feeling that it was going to be a long afternoon and that she wasn't going to be able to leave the boutique until either Rarity or Trixie were done talking for the way... to which she simply sighed and walked towards the building in question.
What Lyra seemed to have forgotten was the fact that Rarity was a seamstress and that her passion was for making dresses, clothing, and attire for any season, so when she thought they'd be out of the boutique in no time she was sorely mistaken. In reality it took Rarity a few hours to measure their bodies, write down the various notes since Trixie's body was different than any other pony in Ponyville, which she and Trixie learned had gone through an 'awakening' of some sort and this was the outcome; all ponies had the same type of body now. As it turned out Canterlot and a number of other locations had gone through the process to become part pony and part human, though at the same time it also awakened the hidden powers locked away deep inside them, causing Twilight and some of the others to create a school that taught the newly awoken ponies how to control their powers. That, in itself, wasn't the end of it, as it appeared that the other species of Equus, such as griffins, changelings, and minotaurs, just to name a few of the other species, had taken to going through the process as well and were attending the school as they spoke.
During that time period Trixie also talked about the people she had met while they were adventuring on Azeroth, even though Lyra wasn't present until much later, and also revealed how she became what she was... which had confused both Rarity and Spike for a few moments, but they eventually understood what she was telling them, even if they hadn't even considered something like that in the past.
By the time they were done talking, and Rarity had completed the first few sets of clothing for them to wear, free of charge apparently, it was nighttime and they all decided that it was best if they turned in for the night, though at the same time Lyra and Trixie insisted on heading home. As such Rarity, feeling a tad bit sorry about keeping them longer than she originally intended, escorted them to where Trixie's wagon was located, though when they arrived at it Trixie found that it was the same as it had been when she last saw it. Instead of having the same wagon, a reminder of her old life, Trixie dipped into her true power for a moment and cast a spell that turned the inside of the wagon into a pocket dimension of her own creation, which was separated into three separate zones that could be accessed from an entry area that she would entertain guests in if they decided to come visit her. The zones she created, since Rarity wanted to know about them, were a large cave that she could sleep in if she wanted to sleep in her dragon form, a more normal Equestrian home that was full of her past belongings, and a mage tower that would allow her to practice new spells without harming anything or anyone that was around her wagon... and, as an added bonus, she also created a stand in the mage tower that she set Aluneth on, one that allowed him to manifest an elemental form so he could actually move around without being restricted to the staff.
Lyra had to admit that Trixie was definitely the new Spell-Weaver, as she had created a few new spells since her own ascension, but she left her friend to her work of filling the zones with what she wanted and bid Rarity farewell as she turned back towards the town and walked through it... heading to a familiar house that she remembered from a different life, one where she was a simple pony returning home from a night at a club, to which she sighed and knocked on the door a few times, letting the knock echo.
"Who is it?" a voice asked, one that filled Lyra's heart with joy to hear again, as it was one she never thought she would actually hear again, because she had been so devoted to stopping the Legion she'd thought she would die before having the chance to hear this again.
"Hey Bon Bon, it's me." Lyra replied, though she could hear the person on the other side of the door stiffen for a moment, as if they weren't sure of what they were hearing, before the sound of the lock turning could be heard and the door opened before her eyes.
Sure enough Bon Bon stood before her, with her beige colored skin, her pigment blue hair with a rose pink streak, and her familiar cerulean eyes, though her body was definitely that of an awoken pony, as she looked like all the others Lyra and Trixie had seen since they returned to Ponyville.
"Lyra?!" Bon Bon asked, her voice revealing that she wasn't sure that she could trust what she was seeing, as if she thought that Lyra had gone someplace and was never going to come back, but at the same time Lyra had one thing she could do that would let Bon Bon know it really was her.
"Hey Bon Bon, take a look at this!" Lyra said, to which she held her hands out and did her absolute best to make it seem like she had gotten them recently, instead of finding them attached to her body seven years ago, and that she was still amazed by what she now had, "Hands!"
"Oh Lyra... you silly pony." Bon Bon said, though as tears formed in her eyes she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Lyra, who caught her immediately and embraced her as well, but while she did that she walked into their shared house and closed the door behind them.
It had been ages since she and Bon Bon had been in the same place, thanks to her being displaced and sent all the way to the Outlands, but right now she was going to make sure that Bon Bon knew that she was back and that things were going to return to normal... or as normal as they could be when all of Ponyville was like her now, and she also owed her a story on what happened since she disappeared on that fateful night.
A week had gone by since Sunset went to Azeroth with Celestia and Twilight, stopped Sargeras from stabbing the planet with his massive flaming sword, and told both the Alliance and the Horde, by using the heroes as her messengers, to stop their pointless war, otherwise their world was going to end in a way that they would never be able to stop. Lyra and Trixie, in the beginning, felt that Sunset was insane for even attempting to make the two factions seek out peace with each other, as Trixie had only seen something like that happen when the world was threatened by something that one faction alone could not stop. Trixie knew, from her years of experience, that the younger leaders of a faction generally listened to their elders and would not listen to the adventurers and heroes that had saved the planet, so it was all too easy for her to think that the two factions would be at war with each other soon enough. Even Lyra, who had more faith in the factions that Trixie did, mostly because she hadn't spent years dealing with their insane hatred for each other, had doubts the Sunset's plan was even going to work and that the factions would start tearing each other apart.
They were both, however, surprised when they learned that both the Horde and the Alliance gathered in Dalaran, one of the neutral areas of the world that did not side with either side, and their leaders spoke for some time with each other, until they eventually came to an agreement that would put their conflict to an end. Sunset's presence, her ability to stop Sargeras, the powers that both Lyra and Trixie command, and a number of other factors that were associated with the Equestrians were more than enough to change the minds of the mighty leaders of both the Alliance and the Horde. Even Slyvanas Windrunner and Glen Greymane, who had hated each other with a burning passion since the days of the cataclysm, agreed to put their hatred aside and build Azeroth a shining new future that would allow everyone to prosper, stunning Lyra and Trixie in the process. Neither of them were sure that this was really happening until Celestia and Twilight assured them that they were seeing what had really happened the day the meeting took place... they just couldn't believe that those two would be able to do it without breaking something.
Even Jaina Proudmoore, upon hearing the news and what could potentially happen if the final war was able to take place, eventually returned to Dalaran and apologized for leaving everyone when the Legion was attacking Azeroth, even saying that she had acted terrible during that time... and Khadgar, following the example of both Lyra and Trixie, forgave her as she assumed her former position once more, only this time for the good of Azeroth.
Lyra and Trixie honestly couldn't believe that their mere presence on Azeroth had affected so many people while they were there, because while the two factions maintained their armies and what not it wasn't to do war with each other, rather it was to battle the forces that still threatened the planet and them as a collective whole. According to many of them there were four Old Gods on Azeroth, three of which Trixie had personally fought and defeated over the seven years that she spent helping the Alliance out, and there was a rumor of a fifth one hidden in another Titan facility, removed from everything so it wouldn't be found and freed. Trixie had asked Celestia if she could go back to Azeroth for a few hours and came back with Khadgar's thoughts on the last two Old Gods, the mysterious N'Zoth that had created the naga and the even more mysterious G'huun. Since Trixie now knew that Sunset could instantly erase the existence of something, since she was a God of Destruction, she had also asked Sunset if she could permanently destroy the Old Gods that were present on Azeroth, to improve the lives of the Alliance and the Horde even more. What surprised her was that, since they only knew the locations of C'Thun and Yogg-Saron, Sunset could only destroy those two, as N'Zoth and G'huun's locations were a complete mystery.
Of course that was when Trixie and Lyra learned that Applejack, of all ponies, was an apprentice Kaioshin and that she could also heal the planets like Twilight could, which both of them got to see in action when both Twilight and Applejack healed the wounds that were created when Sunset erased C'Thun's existence. Trixie, having fought the Old God before, was surprised by how terrified the ancient creature sounded when it started to disappear like that, as if it knew that this act would result in it's permanent death, and yet, in the end, the mighty C'Thun was gone, it's influence shattered, and any wounds that it made had been healed like they never even existed. The same held true for Yogg-Saron, as Sunset forced the massive creature to the surface of it's prison and erased it's very existence while the two Kaioshin healed the wounds that were created in the process, surprising the Titan Keepers that had been guarding the Old God since it's prison had been built. From there Sunset made a quick stop at Pandaria to erase the remains of Y'Shaarj, just to be absolutely sure that he would no longer infect Azeroth with his influence, before promising the leaders of the factions that she would return if and when they found one of the remaining two Old Gods.
The erasure of two Old Gods had left Lyra and Trixie stunned, once more shocked over the power that one of their own commanded, and yet it made life better for Azeroth, so they decided to stop questioning Sunset and let her do what she wanted as they waited to see if Khadgar and the others needed any help from them.
Once it became clear that the Alliance and the Horde didn't need their assistance, not when they had two armies of capable warriors and heroes at their beck and call, Lyra and Trixie settled down into their old lives while making sure to practice their new skills. That, in turn, only caused Rainbow to seek them out and challenge them to a battle, where Celestia took them to a planet with no population, becoming Sunset's personal battle arena until she decided to destroy it, and let the three of them fight it out. Rainbow was surprised when Trixie went into her full dragon form during the fight and Lyra transformed into her True Havoc form, though when Lyra did it she did so in a fashion that Illidan would have approved of, she jumped into the air, let the clouds cover her, and then slammed back down onto the ground while swinging her warglaives and shouting, in her best empowered voice 'You are not Prepared!', which had shocked rainbow enough for the duo to knock her to the ground. Of course Rainbow surprised them by revealing that she was holding back, as she had an ability that multiplied her own powers quite nicely, and they tore the mountain range around them to pieces, not that such a thing shocked those that were watching the fight.
In the end Rainbow had won, mostly because she had more experience in keeping her empowered form up for long periods of time, but at the same time she insisted on helping the duo practice their powers so they could do the same thing that she could.
Shortly after that Trixie, upon thinking about everything that had happened so far, decided to take up Twilight's offer on creating a class at the school for those that were more attuned to the Arcane, rather than any specific element, and she was pleased when she had at least twenty students appear on the first day, as it was more than she was expecting. Sure, most of them were ponies from all across Equestria and it's neighboring nations that had gone through the awakening process, but she also spied a griffon among their number, meaning others were taking notice as well. Since she was a dragon, and spent the majority of her time in her hybrid form, Twilight asked if she felt the Call of the Dragon Lord, like Spike and the other dragons did, though much to her surprise the answer was a swift 'no'. Trixie, having heard the tale from Spike shortly after revealing her new nature, had done some studies of her own and came to the conclusion that, as her species of dragon wasn't from Equus, she wouldn't hear the Call no matter what happened. Still, she did travel to the Dragon Lands to actually meet with Dragon Lord Ember, though upon her return she had a short and interesting story to tell Twilight.
The dragons, upon seeing Trixie's dragon form, had tried to crown her as their new Dragon Lord right then and there, going the way that Spike had done when he first saw the form as well, but she turned it down and said that she'd gladly play the role of an ambassador between the two nations... and that there might be a few additional dragons, much like the one that was already attending Twilight's new school, coming to join their friend.
Lyra, on the other hand, decided to stay away for the moment, as part of her power wasn't easy to teach and she still needed time to fully understand her powers, though that didn't stop her from telling Bon Bon all about her adventure and what had happened to her after she landed in the Outlands. Bon Bon was an amazing listener, as she was interested in everything Lyra had to tell her, and even expressed an interest in learning some of the powers that Lyra had seen the other heroes use while they were fighting, revealing that she still had no idea what her affinity, as Rainbow and the others called it, was... though Lyra was sure that Bon Bon would figure out what power she had in the future, as everyone had something they were good at. It felt like she was telling a filly about their Cutie Mark all over again, that it would reveal itself when they were ready, and when she told Bon Bon that she ended up laughing, as she hadn't thought about it that way... but at the same time Lyra was happy to see that her friend was happy once more.
Lyra wasn't sure what the future held for her and Trixie, whether they got to stay in Ponyville and live out their rest of their lives knowing that they had succeeded in not only stopping Sargeras and his Burning Legion, but also in helping stop the war between the Alliance and the Horde at long last, or if they would be called to a new planet and assist them in bringing an end to another threat. There was no way for them to know what the future held, which was why they were both enjoying their lives to the best of their ability at the moment, though Trixie was doing it by teaching the next generation and Lyra just wanted a little time to relax. They were both sure that if Azeroth needed them, which was a possibility neither of them were going to ignore, they would be called back, though time would tell if such a thing was even required of them. The only thing that worried Lyra was when she saw Sunset looking annoyed over something, though it was always directed at someone else, someone that wasn't Discord, who stayed in Twilight's castle or Fluttershy's cottage, or the other villains that had gone through the mirror... but she decided that Sunset would tell her and Trixie, as well as the others, what was bugging her when she wanted to, to which she went back to enjoying her life until she was needed to do battle with something once more.
After the defeat of Kil'jaeden, and the destruction of the portal network in Antorus, the Broken Shore saw no increase in the amount of demons that had been gathered all over it, rather it saw a massive decrease in the amount of demons that had been polluting the area. The heroes of Azeroth, all too happy at defeating the Burning Legion and their foul master, gathered together and cleared the demons out of the area, cutting them down wherever they were located, until all of them were taken care of, allowing the heroes to go home and spend some time with their loved ones. Many of them knew the location of the strange weapon that had fallen from the sky, the scythe that Trixie had determined that would kill whoever went for it thanks to the fel lava that was around it, but they ignored the weapon and left the Broken Shore behind at long last. Even their allies, both the Wardens and the elementals that had come to assist them, went back to their own domains and ignored the now lifeless lands of the Broken Shore, as there was nothing left for them to worry about, as the demons had corrupted the local wildlife and they killed the corrupted creatures... though now there was nothing left to worry about.
As such there was no one around to witness the air near the Tomb of Sargeras shudder and crack as a portal opened in that area, but instead of it being a demon's portal, with the support structures that came with them, it was a stable portal that stayed open for a few moments, allowing a single person to step out before it the portal slammed shut.
Those who had seen Lyra and Trixie would have assumed that this person was on their side, or at the very least from their planet, as when the person walked the energies of traveling from one point to another faded and revealed that the person had the same legs as the two pony girls. Instead of the person's body being all one color, like Lyra and Trixie's skin, this person's lower body was azureish black color, the upper chest was black colored, and both of the person's arms were crimson red colored. Based on the shape of the body anyone would assume the person was male, and they would be right, especially when the man had a light gray colored beard and the same colored short hair on his head, though where Lyra and Trixie had one horn, before they ascended to three, this man had two curved horns growing out of the sides of his head, which coiled back towards each other a little bit before pointing at the sky. He was wearing a pair of gray leggings that covered half of his legs and nothing over his muscular chest, though at the same time he was wearing a golden gauntlet with ebony inlay over his left hand.
To anyone that was watching him, as he looked around the area that he was in, the gauntlet had six slots that could be filled with glowing stones, five at the knuckles for each finger and the sixth on the back of his hand, though while five of those slots were already filled with powerful stones, forged from the souls of powerful creatures he had torn them from, he was missing one stone... the one that would rest on the knuckle of his middle finger.
"I grow tired of constantly tearing portals open and risking myself each time I do so," the man said, his voice echoing around the area a little bit, with a sinister tone to it, before he growled as he finished looking around the area, where he zeroed in on the green pool of lava that rested nearby, "Ah, I sense an object of power nearby."
The man raised his hand, his right to be exact, and his magic wrapped around it, where he commanded his magic around whatever was inside the pool of lava and grasped it, to which he extracted whatever object of power he had been feeling and smiled when he found a wicked looking scythe in front of him.
"Ah, I feel some dimensional power resting around this weapon," the man commented, to which he locked the weapon in place with his right hand before lifting his left hand towards the scythe, where the sinister blue energy of the scythe started to twist in response, "Come, join the powerful stones I have created, and guide me to the master of the person that this weapon belonged to."
The energy around the scythe jumped from the weapon and pooled into a single spot in front of him, to which a powerful blue stone came into existence in front of him, where the man let a sinister grin appear on his face as the stone fit into the missing slot and he could feel a new power awaken inside him. With the scythe reduced to just an ordinary weapon once more, one that he decided to take with him, he activated the blue stone and a hole in space opened in front of him, allowing him to travel to an underground area that had a massive construct laying on the ground, seemingly dead if he was correct. Instead of doing anything to the corpse in front of him, like he had originally planned, he activated the stone again and a new portal replaced the old one, where he instantly traveled back to a planet he had already visited before the new one and a wicked grin appeared on his face as he activated the stone again, returning to the chamber that he had been in earlier.
"Ah, exactly what I wished for, the power to instantly move from one place to another," the man said, his joy apparent as he stared at the large corpse that was in front of him, where he focused his mind and placed his left hand on the side of the construct, "and now for the real prize, a soul fragment of an incredibly powerful and dangerous being."
With that said he felt the soul fragment that he had come for and tugged on it, drawing the power from the husk that was in front of him and adding it to his already considerable power, strengthening him even more than he had been before he came to this world. With the power of the godly beings of Nirn empowering him once more, and he had added the Divines to that list as well, he was powerful enough to destroy a planet if he so desired, which he did to test his new power, but with this small percentage of the creature's soul, even if it was one percent, his power was boosted to a brand new level once more. Despite his power up he knew that he was still beneath Sunset's level, the level of a God of Destruction, and he knew several more planets he could visit and drain the power from in order to boost his powers even further than he was currently at. Once the soul fragment was taken from the construct, and stored inside the pocket dimension that came with the orange stone he had forged earlier, he focused his mind and the purple stone glowed for a moment as the entire around him started to glow with a sinister purple glow as it began to fall apart.
From there he used the blue stone to return to the surface, giving himself a front row seat to the collapse of the massive structure his prize had been stored inside, before he chuckled as he closed the portal and opened a new one to an entirely brand new world.
"Sunset Shimmer, soon I will have the power to destroy you and all you hold dear," Tirek said, to which he grinned as he turned towards the portal he had created behind him, as he no longer needed to be on this planet anymore, "and then I shall reign as the strongest being in all of existence, while Equus is destroyed because of your arrogance."
Soon he would have his revenge against the pony girl that had wronged him twice in the past, and had thought him bested and no longer a threat to her, and it was going to be a glorious day when he reached the end point of his plans and finally killed his foe... and then no one else would be able to stand against him with her death, leaving him to do whatever he desired whenever he wanted.