AN: Third chapter out, I hope people are fine with the short chapters. I do not have time to write the long five thousand chapters I did before and I find it easier to pack information into shorter chapters without dragging on each chapter to reach a word count I set for myself. Plus, shorter chapters mean twice as fast uploads so its a good trade-off.

Chapter 3:

Answers in Twilight

'Steady…steady…keep it under control…' Leora thought, gazing deeply into an orb of shadow resting above her palms, long tentacles grasping the air as she infused more and more void energy, condensing the sphere.

Let it control you…

Her entire body was encased in shadow, her darkness radiating around her as she focused on the spell.

Free it!

You could be so much more…

Seek the Sleeping City…

Whispers tugged at the edges of her mind but she held her control just as her master taught her, using the maddening influence of the whispers to sharpen her focus.

You are already ours…

Almost…there "Ha!" She exclaimed as she thrust her palm forward, the orb shaping into a diamond and crashing into the practice dummy on the far side of the room, creating an implosion of dark energy that destroyed the mannequins in an explosion of splinters.

Exhaling she breathed in deeply as she flexed her arms which had cramped after being held still for so long channeling the void.

*Clap, Clap, Clap*

"Excellent Leora. Your progress is astonishing. Master Benedictus was a fool for wasting your talent with simple healing."

Leora turned and smiled at her secret mentor. High Priestess Azil, the former apprentice of Archbishop Benedictus.

But most importantly, her secret mentor of the void arts.

"Yes, your rate of progress is simply genius. It will not be long until you surpass many of the initiates who spent decades molding the void to their whims" Azil stated with a small smile.

Leora nodded, dismissing the shadow form, the void energy bleeding off of her until she was back to normal.

"I just wish he would try to teach me something other than healing, he should know I have so much more potential than to just sit back as a healer. Give me another year until I am eighteen and I could help with so many problems on the front lines! You said yourself that I am powerful enough!" She complained. After four years of studying under both Benedictus and Azil she had made amazing progress in both the light and void, but Benedictus was still in the dark about her abilities.

Azil sighed "Remember what I told you when I caught you practicing with the void when I first came to the Cathedral?"

Leora nodded, recalling the incident. It was only a week after she had first discovered the Twilight Canticle.

-Abandoned Room-

2 Years Ago

'The provides many powerful abilities, but the corner stone of all void spells are curses. Unlike a warlock's repertoire, a curse made from void energy does not affect the body, but rather the mind. A void curse can control the minds of the weak, send the strongest men into insanity, and transform the wisest sage into a raving lunatic. In order to form a curse one must connect a strand of void energy with their target's head…' Leora read, enraptured by the promise of power that the book offered her.

"Apprentice Leora, what are you doing in here?"

Flinching she turned to see Priestess Azil, her master's previous apprentice standing in the doorway. She had met the woman the previous day as she was visiting from her church in the Arathi Highlands.

She was nice and someone that she thought she could look up to. A woman on the front lines providing support and combat expertise near Arathi Basin, one of the most contested areas between the Alliance and Horde.

"Umm, I was…reading, um a textbook! Yes, it's a textbook that I need to read for the Archbishop. Its really dry and boring I do not think you would be interested in it." Leora stammered, closing the book and trying to make it as inconspicuous as possible.

Azil raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed.

Leora released an explosive sigh, looking appropriately guilty "Fiiine, your right. It's porn. But to be fair I stole it from the old priests. The horn dogs have it all over-!"

Now Azil looked faintly amused "Leora. I am not my mentor, I can recognize void energy when I sense it. You are studying void magic are you not?"

She paled, busted.

Azil chuckled softly "So history repeats itself. Old Benedictus refused to teach you combat magic, believing that you are not ready for it so you delve into the forbidden magics. Such a similar tale to mine." As she spoke the high priestess was engulfed in void energy, making her body appear to be a living shadow, her eyes glowing purple in the dimly lit room.

Leora's eyes widened. She had read about that in the book. Void form, or shadow form, the book was unclear on the name. It was the backbone of the entire school of Void energy.

"You know void magic too!" Leora gasped.

Azil chuckled, her voice echoing through the dark energy "Yes, like you I too was dissatisfied with the bias of our master's limited teachings and sought other ways to learn."

"Can you teach me?" Leora asked, hope that she could finally have a proper instructor.

Azil considered her, her glowing purple eyes narrowed as she inspected the young apprentice.

"Yes, I will instruct you in what I know of the void. I cannot let one who shows such promise go to waste after all. But know this, if anyone discovers that we are learning this magic we will be hunted to the far ends of Azeroth. Until you leave me as an adept of the void you will not breathe one word of your knowledge to ANYONE. Is that clear?"

Leora nodded "I promise."

"Then the pact is done, and your training begins."

"Wait now?" Leora asked, thinking the older woman would want some time to prepare first.

Azil looked amused, or as amused as a living embodiment of shadow could look as she replied "Yes, and do not expect me to go easy on you apprentice."

-3 Years later-

Present day

And so in secret Priestess Azil taught her how to properly use void magic. Her progress increased at an amazing rate with an actual teacher to help explain some of the more complex spells in the book.

While Azil could not help her all the time, the woman having to leave every few days back to the Arathi Highlands, she helped instruct Leora every chance she got.

"I told you that Archbishop Benedictus would not teach you anything worthwhile besides how to use the light to heal. When you turn eighteen and leave his service I will take you to meet some of my contemporaries. They are all interested in your progress." Azil stated, breaking Leora out from her reminiscing about the past.

"You never told me who the other users of void magic are master. I had never heard of it before studying from the book." Leora questioned, looking over at the older woman.

"Hrm, well I assume you are old enough to know now. Shadow Priests as we call ourselves are a very secretive order due to persecution from the Church. Our order started by Natalie Seline, founder of the Cult of Forgotten Shadows. Natalie Seline was a researcher of the church in the second war with the Horde. Like you she wanted to fight on the front lines and sought a method to do so. It is a secret of our order how she discovered the void, but she used it to great effect with her apprentices to attack the Horde from the shadows.

"Unfortunately, the Church of the Holy Light did like priests converting to the Void and abandoning the light. They declared Natalie Seline a dark prophet and banned any use of Void energy and ordered the destruction of any records and writings on the subject. It is unclear even to our order what happened to Seline, but one day she disappeared and the Church destroyed the rest of the order. Last I had heard many of the remaining members have been revived by the Forsaken and have restarted the order amongst the undead."

Leora nodded, fascinated by the story "But…just recently Warlocks were allowed to practice their magic in controlled areas and given free reign to help with the fight against the Horde, why were shadow priests not given the same privileges?"

Azil sighed "The real answer? The unknown is a lot scarier than a known evil. Warlocks are evil, that is not a question, they corrupt themselves and the environment with their magic. Their intentions are clear and are a necessary evil to fight the Horde and Scourge. However the void is a complete unknown to most people and all the church cares about is that it is the opposite of the light and cannot be used at the same time as the light.

So, if an energy is the opposite of one of the most good and holy sources of power in the world, the void must be complete evil. It does not help that the void is known to send the weak into insanity. The Church of the Holy Light has spent the past decade since the power's discovery to stamp out the practice."

Leora frowned "But the power is not evil, its strange and cold, but not evil. It is more apathetic than evil."

Azil laughed, as if what she said was the funniest thing she had heard all day "No, no Leora. Void magic is evil. No one quite knows what the void is, but we all know that it is used to kill, corrupt, and flay the minds of our enemies. Does that sound like a good power to you?"

Leora scowled "So? A mage could freeze or burn you to death while any average person can kill another with a sword. So the void is an offensive power, that does not mean the Church has a right to declare us heretics."

Azil chuckled "But does wielding a sword mean you cannot wield a shield? Or using frost magic mean you cannot bandage a wound? Using the void means you have to give up using the light, no Church or politician would support such a magic. At least with a Warlock you just give up your humanity, not your god."

Leora frowned "That is true but I can still use the light, I just cant use it when channeling the void."

Azil smiled "And that is why I am bothering to teach you. We are amongst the rare few who have not succumbed to the void and become reliant on it's presence. We are the elite, the chosen of the Void."

"When you turn eighteen and leave this pitiful place of the Light I will take you to meet the other chosen, and then your real training can begin."

"Now." Azil said with a clap, startling Leora with the sudden sound "That is all for today. I will be gone for the week since I have to return to the Arathi Highlands for a meeting on our next offensive against the Forsaken. The dullards want to attempt to send in mercenaries and adventurers to try and take five strategic points and hold them to control Arathi Basin. The fools, that would never work." Azil muttered as she left the room.

Leora sighed, gathering up and cleaning the room from their training session.

When she was finished the returned to her room, mind full of the words that Azil said. Was the power she was learning evil? Did that make her evil? She wanted to do good, fight back against the evils in the world. But the very organization she was learning from would call her a Heretic from learning about the void?

Was it worth it?

Leora slowly fell asleep, plagued by these questions.

'Again?' Leora thought, feeling the oppressing feeling of the void around her. However, this time she could move freely through the darkness.

In the void, she could now remember when she was a child, visiting this place near constantly in her dreams. Sometimes encountering the giant eye and sometimes just floating in the abyss.

You have become strong with my power

Twisting around she gazed at the massive yellow eye. She could understand it now, before she could tell it was speaking but the words had been garbled, indistinct.

"Who are you?" She asked carefully, recognizing this as a being of great power.

For the first time, the eye seemed to focus on her, the slit pupil pointed directly at her.

Your connection has progressed further than anticipated

"What connection? What is this place?" Leora asked, desperate for answers on the strange dream she had for years.

The answer lies in Twilight

Seek it, and become enlightened

Now

Wake

*Gasp!*

Leora shot up from her bed, the sheets clenched in her hands. Breathing heavily she slowly let herself settle down from the dream.

"That dream…I remember it now…" Leora whispered, did her knowledge of the void allow her to become aware in whatever that realm was.

'That eye… what is it?' Leora thought getting up from bed.

"Your answers lie in Twilight…"

Moving to the dresser she removed the fake bottom she had installed to hide the Twilight Canticle and picked up the book.

Flipping through the pages she searched frantically through the pages, passing by diagrams, spells, until she reached the history of the void. This section was incredibly small and didn't even seem to be focused on Azeroth, but an entirely different world called Draenor.

She had not read this section yet due to lack of interest. While learning about another world could be interesting it did not help her learn more about the void.

But now this could be the section that contained knowledge about her dream.

Carefully flipping through the pages, she read as the writer of the book discovered the knowledge of the void through an order known as the Pale. The author of the book details his exploration of the void's power and how he used it to take control over the clan, renaming them the Twilight's Hammer.

'The Twilight's Hammer…is that the Twilight that being referred to?' Leora thought, flipping through the last few pages, not finding anything that could be used to identify the being.

'The eye said to seek my answers in Twilight, that means to understand my dreams I need to find the author of this book or his clan.

'If the book made it to Azeroth so did the author.' Leora decided, shutting the book.

'When I turn eighteen I will find out the truth.'

Leora looked outside her window into the night skyline of Stormwind.

'Just one year.'