The Long Hunt
"Illidan."
That was the only word she could say, so heavy was her breathing, so bloody was her chest. Her armour lay in tatters on the stone floor around them. Her left arm was broken. Her right arm carried a glaive not stained with blood, but rather flecked with fragments of bone. She was near death. Within the next few minutes, she would almost certainly be dead. And that might have bothered her, if not for the one before her, in the mines of the Grave Keeper. The one whom she had watched over for 10,000 years. The one she had chased across lands, worlds, even entire dimensions. Even into the Nexus itself. The one who was her first, and last quarry.
"Maiev."
That was the word of Illidan Stormrage. The Betrayer. Lord of Outland. Master of the Illidari. The Saviour of Azeroth. The Jailer of Sargeras. The one before her, and just as bloody and broken as she was.
"Shouldn't you be returning to your Hall of Storms?" the abomination sneered. "The grave golems will be rising soon."
Maiev's eyes narrowed. "Undead monstrosities are none of my concern."
"Your team might disagree."
"Mortals, demons, and other filth. I am here for you, Betrayer. By life or death, justice will be done."
"Then you will died stupid."
Silence lingered between the two of them. Both had been jailer to the other at some point or another. Both had been drawn into this strange land, this "Nexus." Illidan had come before her, but time meant so little here that Maiev didn't think it mattered. Both of them at the whim of the Realm Lords, fated to wage their endless battles. By chance or fate, they had been placed on different sides in this battle over the Haunted Mines. By chance or fate, they had both journeyed into the darkness of the mines at the same time to retrieve skulls for their allies. By chance or fate, they had been brought together. To fight again. Perhaps one last time.
"Tell me Warden," Illidan said. "What do you believe is going to happen here?"
Maiev said nothing, so the Betrayer continued. "If you kill me, I will reform in the Hall of Storms – not the most pleasant of experiences, but not one I can't recover from. If I kill you, the same will happen. Your vaunted justice means nothing Shadowsong, because death means nothing here. Less than nothing in fact."
"I may kill you," Maiev said. "Or I may not."
"Indeed. Shall I kill you and save us the bother?"
"I will take you," she said. "Find a prison for you. No death for you, Betrayer – only ten thousand years more of punishment. More. Even unto infinity."
"After I saved your world? After standing steward over the Dark Titan himself?" Illidan snorted. "I am blind, yet I see far more than you Maiev."
Maiev shot forward. Illidan flipped back. The dance, the same one they had waged since the end of the Third War, continued. One glaive met another. A blink, a flip – battle reached crescendo, but the song had no coda. Only a pause, as both combatants drew away. No blood spilt in this part of the composition. What came next, neither could say.
"Impressive," Illidan said.
"I don't wish-"
"Impressive that you are not yet dead," Illidan continued. "Though I wonder, are you holding back out of some vain desire to imprison me?"
Maiev said nothing. In truth, she was fighting her hardest. She suspected Illidan was as well. In the Nexus, the Realm Lords had made all heroes equal it seemed. She was loathe to admit it, but on Azeroth, in Outland, Illidan had been beyond her abilities to slay by herself – at least after he consumed the Skull of Gul'Dan. Here though…
"But you still understand so little," Illidan said.
"And you do?" she asked.
"I do," he said, and smiled, bearing his fangs. The teeth of a demon within the mouth of a kaldorei. "I understand the Realm Lords, Maiev, and they would never allow you to take one of their champions away from them. And even without eyes, I have seen things you could scarcely imagine. I have beheld warriors of worlds whose people sail the stars. I have seen demons spawned from the depths of Hell itself, and angels from a realm of pure light. I have seen those from a world once nearly conquered by machines, and even those who travelled across time and space due to the machinations of an alien. All of that, Maiev, is beyond what either of us have known. Vengeance, duty, our home…all is as nothing before the Storm. To fight for the Realm Lords…that is our fate." He drew himself upwards, spreading out his glaives. "I actually enjoy it. Maybe you would too, if your soul would excrete the poison that fills your veins."
Maiev crouched, getting ready to attack again. Lies and deception – nothing else would come from the mouth of the Betrayer. She was no less valuable a warrior to the Realm Lords than he was. She could, and would, find a way to bring him to justice. Somewhere in the Nexus where not even the eyes of gods could see. She-
"Have at you."
Watched as Illidan darted towards her. Letting out a yell, she swiped her blade and stepped aside. The Betrayer didn't make contact with her. But as she turned around, as she watched the blood pour from his throat, she saw that she'd made contact with him.
No.
He smiled. And she knew why.
Damn it!
"Well…done…" he whispered, before falling down. "See you…soon…warden…"
He fell to the ground, dead. And a moment later, his body was consumed in a flash of blue light.
"No!" she yelled, her rage echoing throughout the mines. Echoing through time and space, in both her body and soul. Illidan was dead, and would be dead for the next minute or so. After that, he would return, good as new. He had let himself die, so that he might face her in her prime. That he would continue the fight with nary a worry about the punishment he deserved. Once again, she had been cheated of vengeance. Of justice. The universe laughed at her, and she could do nothing.
Nothing but return to her own hall at least. To rest, to heal, to push with her grave golem. To begin the hunt anew.
"Next time, Betrayer," she whispered, as she channelled her hearthstone. "Next time."
Then, in a flash of light, she was gone. Leaving the mines empty, and bereft of life. At least until the next battle.
Which would be soon.
In the Nexus, there was always another battle.