Aegis of Azeroth – Chapter 2
The white gryphon soared over the forest, the wind ruffling her feathers and her feet gently brushing against the canopy of the lush, green trees that covered the land. The passenger had his sights set on his destination, the large, stone-walled city that was approaching, the capital of his people, Stormwind. He thought about what Khadgar had said to him, what had been asked of him. Could he do it? He wasn't exactly feeling confident about it. He gave a sharp pull down on the reins of the beast and directed it towards the gryphon roost, where many other riders were constantly flowing in and out on their own mounts. The gryphon landed gracefully and Siiyan dismounted.
He took the gryphon over to a post in the stables nearby. It was a simple set up, a post to tie her on to, surrounded by a fence and straw covering the floor for comfort, and if it came to it, food. He tied his gryphon to the post, and gently stroked under her beak.
"Seems like I may be in over my head this time, Winter." he said to the creature. The gryphon, Winter, cocked her head and let out a quiet screech in reply to her master's comment.
"I'm going to need all sorts of people, most of whom I don't know how to even start looking for. This is going to take time, which I don't have." he continued. Winter responded to this by starting to nibble on his hand. She was fairly young for a gryphon, but loyal. He'd known her all her life from his parents farm.
"OK, fine." he said, pulling some food out of his bag for her. She spotted it and immediately snapped her beak around it, ignoring him now to focus on her food. "But at least I know where to start" he said, patting Winter one more time before heading down the steps into the big city.
The Cathedral District was busy with people, be it citizens of the city, visitors from other towns or most recently, refugees from Westfall, fleeing to the capital after their homes had been destroyed by the Burning Legion. They were starting to invade, and Westfall seemed to be one of their primary targets. Siiyan guessed it was because of the farms that supplied Stormwind with most of its food supply. Cut that off and the city would be vulnerable. Quite a clever tactic for such a barbaric group. He made his way to the Cathedral, which was being used as a medical centre and barracks for refugees.
If this group of his was going to succeed, he'd need people he could count on. Not necessarily people he could trust, but people that knew the stakes and knew that working together is the only chance for them to save their home. Luckily, there was at least one person he could trust, and then he spotted her. Beside the beds of refugees who had been injured, gently healing their wounds with wound bandages, along with the power of the holy Light; a young paladin woman, only two years younger than himself, with dark brown eyes, and light brown hair tied back in a ponytail. They looked so different from eachother, people would never guess they were siblings.
He made his way past the lines of people towards the bed. By the time he got to her, she was tending to a young girl, no older than nine.
"This bandage is infused with the power of the Light." she was explaining. "It will help make you better."
"But what about the bad men?" the child asked, eyes wide with fear, and tears rolling down her cheeks. She had seen things no child was ever meant to see. The destruction of her home and most likely the deaths of her friends, or family. No child should ever have to go through that.
"Don't worry about that now, you're safe here." His sister said placing an arm around the girl and gently stroking her shoulder. "There are brave heroes to fight back the demons, and they'll win, just wait and see."
"Delisia."
The paladin turned her head and smiled when she saw her brother there. But there was also another look in her face, relief. They hadn't spoken to eachother since before the demons started attacking. She was so worried that he'd been injured in an attack, or worse. Delisia called out to one of the other paladins nearby.
"Alicia, can you cover for me?"
The other paladin, Alicia nodded and came over to continue her work. Delisia walked over to Siiyan and put her arms around him.
"I was so worried you'd been caught up in one of the invasions." she said.
"Not yet, but I was there when they attacked Dalaran. We managed to push them back, but they're certainly not giving up."
They walked back past the waiting refugees and found a bench by a fountain for them to sit on.
"How did you know I was here?" she asked.
"I didn't really, I was just hoping you were, glad to see I was right, I didn't want to find you out in battle with the demons."
"Yeah, I've thought about it, but I'm needed here too. These people need it, desperately." she sighed and looked at the masses of people coming in from Westfall. "So, what do you need me for?"
Siiyan looked over at her, surprised. "How did you know I wanted you for anything?"
"I know you Si, we grew up together. If you didn't need me you'd have dropped in to check I was okay, then fly off to fight the demons without looking back."
He smiled, she was right, it's exactly what he did before he went through the Red Portal to fight the Iron Horde. "Do you remember Khadgar?" he asked.
"The Archmage? What about him?"
"He wants me to get some people together. People strong enough to repel the Legion back to where they came from. Not just humans though, people from all over the Alliance, and the Horde. We have to work together if we're going to get through this."
Delisia looked at him. "And you want me to help you with that." she finished for him. Siiyan nodded but didn't say anything. She stayed silent for a moment, thinking about the decision. "What would the plan be?" she queried.
"We recovered a tome from Karazhan detailing Titan relics called the Pillars of Creation. Once we know where they are, we're going after them, and using them to stop the demons invading." he answered.
She was still conflicted, she loved her brother more than anything in the world, but her duties as a paladin told her that she had to stay, she can't leave the refugees hree, it wouldn't be proper.
"Si, you know I'd go with you to the end of the world if I had to, but I can't abandon these people, the Order still needs me here."
Siiyan nodded for a moment, he's been expecting this answer, but he kept going. "Look around you Lis." He said, calling her by her nickname. "These people are here because the Legion destroyed their homes. This is going to keep happening, and will only get wosre the longer we wait. It won't stop, unless we make it stop."
She sighed, of course he was right she knew that. "But i'm not..." she began.
"Not what? Good enough? He says one of the best paladins in the Order, and a talented fighter. If Tirion Fordring commended you like that, then you can't be so bad can you?"
She was saddened to hear the mention of Tirion, he had supposedly been killed at the Broken Shore. But he had said those things about her, he was her personal tutor for a time when she was still training a few years ago. She looked back over the refugees, seeing their pained faces. She could heal that pain for a time, but it would never go completely. She realised that now. The best way to protect these people was to help Siiyan and stop these demons from ever coming back, then the world will truly be safe from the threat of the Burning Legion.
"I'll help." She said, a new conviction in her voice. "Where do we begin."
"We still need many more people. I'm on my way to Teldrassil to find someone I know. I need you to do something rather dangerous though."
"Anything." She said
"I need you to go to these Legion invasion sites. Anyone battling there knows the threat of the Legion enough to fight back. But the important thing is that they know that they can't win this alone. I know I can trust you to do this."
"I'll head into Westfall and look out for people there. Some of the refugees are talking about two seemingly unstoppable warriors. If there's any truth to that I'll see about recruiting them."
Si nodded. "Good, we're still going to need a lot more people though. We have a lot more work to do. Are you ready?"
She looked at him, and nodded. "More ready than i've ever been in my life."
"Then let's get moving."