Disclaimer:I do not own Warcraft or its sequels. Blizzard does.

Huge thanks to my beta, Dusty the Umbravita.

Chapter published 5/3/12


Amanthe

Days passed.

I kept going out early in the mornings to look for Layalith; if I wanted to know for certain that she was the anonymous spy Breorn had told me of, then I needed to know if she was corrupted. I needed to see if she glowed within the twilight realm. The problem was this; if she DIDN'T have corruption, and I just entered the twilight realm right off, I wouldn't know where she was. The uncorrupted piece of air I see in the twilight realm might not be Layalith at all, but instead a random snake. By the same token, if she was corrupt, I wouldn't be able to distinguish it from the other cultists.

I needed to have a specific time where I knew exactly where she was, so I would know for certain if it was her corruption/lack of corruption I saw.

Which was easier said than done.

Layalith had a habit of training early in the mornings and late in the afternoons. Sure, it fit in well with my work schedule, so Liwatha wouldn't be suspicious, but she also went into Grommash Hold to train, and no way in the Twisting Nether I was going in there. So I had to resort to following her discreetly when she wasn't training, but at first she didn't seem to follow any pattern outside of Grommash Hold, which was irritating. One day she went to the lake in the Valley of Wisdom, another time she went browsing within the Drag, still another she wasted time in the auction house within the Valley of Strength.

And of course, on the weekends she went to the meetings with the wretched cult, as did I, where we learned that there would be a meeting every day for the Noblegarden celebration. Wonderful. Of course, I made sure to keep my distance from Nil Sag'ma.

However, as the Noblegarden invasion loomed closer and closer, I began to see a pattern emerge in Layalith's movements. She seemingly went off a two-week cycle, one that I could predict. Good. We had three days until the invasion. I'd started getting better at sabotaging the cult, doing more than hiding a few keys here and there, doing things like 'accidentally' messing up the binding magic on elemental containers, placing just a little too much power behind my spells in duels and perhaps seriously injuring someone, and the likes.

I wasn't doing much, though. The cult's plans carried forward without a hitch. No doubt the actual invasion would be a little weaker than if I hadn't interfered, but I'd seen how many elemental boxes Nil Sag'ma had stacked up in his tent. It was like taking buckets out of the ocean. The guard still did not attack the cultists, which made me wonder if perhaps there was Old God corruption within their own ranks. Sadly, when I went to go investigate with Ialion, nothing turned up within the Twilight realm.

But I knew where Layalith would be, and I was all but one hundred percent certain that she was, indeed, the spy. I'd seen how she behaved outside of the cult, not at all as snappy as she was inside the cult. The face she'd presented in the Twilight's Hammer had to be an act. Today, she'd be atop the Orgrimmar Skyway, gazing at the city below. It was perfect. However, that wouldn't be until the afternoon. At the moment, it was morning, and I had to prepare for the day at the priestess Liwatha's little clinic.

I was getting ready to head out when I heard the door open, slamming against the wall. With a startled screech, Ialion dove into my bed and hid under the covers. I walked out of my bedroom to see Saltio storm into my house. Her white horns seemed tarnished in their sheen, and her white and brown spotted fur was unkempt and soaked from the rain outside, the fibers of hair going in every direction. She wore the same light red and green clothing she had when I'd first met her, but it was spotted with mud and other such things. Her physical appearance perfectly reflected the corruption in her, the corruption I'd failed to stop.

"Amanthe, I need to talk with you," she barked out. She didn't wait for my response, and took a seat at my table.

I frowned and sat with her. Time to play the good friend, however much that had helped. "What is it, Saltio?"

She propped her elbows on the table and rested her head in them. "I don't know. It's just, I've been feeling so different lately. And I'm worried, with the elemental invasion soon. What if things go wrong? What if we're discovered first? Ancestors, what will Breorn think if he discovers me?"

"Hold up. You said you've been feeling different."

She sighed, head still in her hands. "Yeah, yeah. I've just felt... I don't know. I guess sick is the best word for it. I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't exactly been the nicest person lately." Was she noticing her own corruption? Better yet, was she fighting it off? "I've been snapping at you, at Breorn. He's my husband, damn it. I should love him, but... I just can't. I don't know when this started, but I can't feel happy for anyone, with anyone. What's going on? I can't figure it out. Anytime I get close, I find myself angry at not having figured it out sooner, and I fall back to square fucking one!" She slammed her fist into the table with a suddenness that made me lurch.

She looked up at me. I noticed her eyes were bloodshot. "Amanthe, you're a priestess. I'd say you're my friend, but lets be honest. What kind of a friend have I been lately? What is wrong with me?"

I bit my lips. "Saltio, I don't know how to put it to you gently. This started when you joined the cult. Look, there's no easy way to tell you this. You're corrupted. Not physically, but mentally, you are."

She deflated, placing her head against the table, hands wrapped around the back of her neck. "Corrupted?" she asked, her voice muffled by the wooden table.

"Yeah," I said softly. "I noticed it a few weeks ago. I tried to stop it, but you've been getting worse and worse. I'm sorry."

Her head snapped up. "YOU KNEW? And you didn't TELL me?" she yelled? "WHY THE HELLS NOT? This isn't something you keep from people, Amanthe! What else do you know about me that I don't?" She gripped the table with one shaking hand, the wood cracking as she used the muscles that had developed from her training.

"You're right, Saltio. I should've told you. But I kept telling myself I could get you out of the corruption. I was wrong, and now you're paying the price for it. I'm sorry. There's still hope, though. You can be uncorrupted."

"But do I want that?" she whispered. "This... feeling of sickness. It's comforting, in a way. Reminds me every second of every day that I'm still alive. I don't see things as clearly as before, but I don't need to. It's all looking so simple to me now. Someone talks to you, snap at them. Someone differs in opinions? Yell at them. It's all so much simpler now. But... I can't help but feel it shouldn't be like that."

"Saltio, listen to me, very closely."

"DON'T TREAT ME LIKE AN IDIOT!" she shouted, standing up, making me jolt back. She shook her head and sat back down, her voice falling to a whisper. "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"Saltio, just hear me out," I said. "The reason you feel it shouldn't be like this is because it shouldn't. I know how the cultist organization works. Ros'fon, the lower class, he indoctrinates you. Then the middle class, Glidia's class, corrupts you more effectively. Ros'fon is more about training. Glidia makes sure you don't leave their clutches."

"How come you aren't corrupt? You're in the highest class, Nil Sag'ma's class. How come you haven't been corrupted?"

"Because I knew they were going to do that to me." Saltio twitched, but didn't do anything beside that. "I could fight it off, because I knew what they were going to do to my soul. Saltio, listen. Breorn and I, we can help you. I know you feel like you don't need to be uncorrupted, but that's because you're corrupted. Please, once you're better, you'll know what you sound like now."

Wrong thing to say. "And what do I sound like? I've known myself ALL MY LIFE! And you've known me, what? A little more than a month? No, not even that, because I hardly speak to you at all! You avoid me like the Scourge plague! Don't tell me I don't know what I sound like! Nobody knows me better than I do!"

"This isn't you!" I tried to keep my voice friendly, but my irritation began to show. "Saltio, don't you remember what you were like when I first came here? You were kind, you tolerated my rudeness even though you constantly barged in without invitation. I made it no secret you annoyed me, but you still tried to be friendly to me. Now look. The tables are turned, aren't they? Do you honestly think it's a good thing to be corrupted? To be tainted by the Old Gods? Tainted? Just its definition should tell you that it's bad, but you can't figure that out because of the grip on your mind! Let me help you. Just let me help."

She took a deep breath, glaring at me, but relented and relaxed her grip on the table, the wood cracking in relief. "Okay. How can you help me? What do I need to do?"

"If you want to be uncorrupted, you'll need to leave the Twilight's Hammer. They're the source of your corruption."

She stood up again, yelling. "NO! I won't do that! I won't! The people in the middle class, they're my family. They're my friends. They understand me better than anyone else, better than you, better than my parents did, better than Breorn! They know what I'm going through! I don't care what else I need to do, I won't betray my friends. I'll burn Orgrimmar to the ground with everyone in it before I do that!"

I was losing. I had one more chance. "With Breorn in it?"

She made a strangled sound. "E-eh. Y-n. Grah! You do what you want, Amanthe! I thought you could help me, that you could tell me what's wrong with me!" I started to open my mouth to tell her I had told her what's wrong with her, but she didn't give me the chance. " But instead you tell me that I need to give up EVERYTHING I've worked so hard to get! To give up my family, to give up the only thing that makes me feel even a shadow of happiness anymore. For what? For some empty promise that I'll get better? No, no, a million times no! I'm going to the Drag. Don't try to help me again, or convince me this isn't what I want. May the Old Gods help you if you try."

Before I could retort, she ran out of my house, slamming the door behind her. The force from that caused the cupboards to open slightly and a jar full of milk to pitch over. I stuck out a hand and cast a levitate on it an instant before it had the chance to shatter.

I sighed and placed it back, closing the cupboard. "Ialion, you can come out now."

A flutter of wings heralded his arrival. "You can't help her, Amanthe. She's gone," he said from behind me.

I growled in frustration. "You're right, she's beyond help. I thought I could save her. I thought that being polite and friendly to her would've been enough, but it wasn't. She's beyond help."

"When corruption gets too bad, all we can do is burn it out, ya know."

"I won't kill her. There's one more way. If she won't leave the cult, then I'll drag her out, kicking and screaming. And there's one surefire way for me to do that." I turned towards the door.

"What are you doing?"

"Breorn deserves to know. I should've told him sooner, but I didn't. Procrastination. Funny thing, it always feels so right when you're doing it, but when it comes back to bite you in the ass, it's so much worse. Well, I'm done putting it off. I'm going to go tell Breorn, then after I'm done with my job, I'm going to confront Layalith. I know she's the spy. I don't need the twilight realm, I've just been kidding myself." I looked at the Twilight whelpling. "Stay safe, Ialion."

He gave off a slight shiver, then nodded. "I will."

I turned back around, and marched out the door. I wove a bubble of light around me, keeping me dry in spite of the rain pouring down the sides of the shield. I made my way towards Breorn's home, and knocked on the door. It opened, and Breorn's face was the same mask that it was whenever he'd had an argument with his wife. "May I come in?"

He nodded solemnly. "Please." He stepped aside to let me in, closing the door behind me as my magical barrier dissipated. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"Breorn, I haven't been entirely honest with you, about the cult. There's something you need to know."

His eyes narrowed. "Why haven't you told me? If they are planning something we don't know about - "

"It's not something they're planning. It's something personal." I licked my lips. My tongue felt like ashes in my mouth, a lump the size of Ialion formed in my throat, and the dimly lit walls of the guard's home seemed to suffocate me. My heart beat so fast in my chest I feared it would break a rib, or maybe Breorn would after I delivered the news. "I shouldn't have kept this from you, but I thought I could stop it myself. I thought that I could pull her out of their clutches, but I was wrong. I was wrong, and now she's paying for my mistake. I'm just going to say this." But I found that I couldn't. I kept dancing around the issue. "Alright, you know what the Twilight's Hammer does to its members?"

"Um, works them until they're no further use and then kills them?"

"No, no. Well, yeah, but that's not what I meant. You know how they corrupt their members, right, so that they wouldn't want to leave, and be angry and irritable and place everything second to the cult, even those they love - "

"Amanthe," he said, his voice going hard. "Tell. Me. Now."

"Saltio's in the cult. She's corrupted by them, and I've been trying to save her, but I've failed. I didn't have the heart to tell you, and it's all my fault. The invasion's supposed to be in three days, the guard attacks in two days. I couldn't get her out."

Breorn stumbled, placed a hand against a wall, and began to slide down when he caught himself on his hooves. "Saltio..." he choked out. "That's why she's been... no. How could she? How? I know her, she'd never do something like this!"

"She came to see me just a few minutes ago, asking me what was wrong with her. I told her, and she just sort of accepted that. She asked me how she could fix it, and I told her she had to leave the cult." I bit my lip. "She didn't take it well. She left. She's too far gone. She's not coming back out of the cult."

"Ancestors... I need to go."

"You're not angry at me?"

He shook his head. "No. I should be thanking you. So, thanks for telling me. Eventually. I have to go." He began to go for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?"

He turned back at me, his eyes reflecting just a little more light from the few candles than before. "I am a guard of Orgrimmar first and foremost. Saltio is a Twilight's Hammer cultist. I'm going to get a warrant for arrest."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "At least there she'll be uncorrupted, eventually."

"Yes. That's the idea. Ancestors, why did it have to come to this? Are there any other names?" I told him the names of the few other cultists I knew, save for Nil Sag'ma, who he already knew about, and Layalith, who I knew in the pit of my stomach was the spy. The guard didn't know, since she had been anonymous, but I knew. "Thank you, Amanthe." He then left his home, leaving me alone in it.

I sat down and beat my head against my fists. Damn it, damn it, damn it, I'd really messed up this time. I needed to get to Layalith, but she'd only be in the Skyway later. She was training at that moment, and in Grommash hold they'd find my Orb's magic signature in seconds. After all, they had to have some magical wards in the Warchief's palace. I got up and wove another shield of light around me, left the tauren's home and locked the door behind me. Light, I couldn't imagine what went through his head. He had to arrest his own wife.

And it was all my fault.

I growled. I had places to go. A priestess to help out. I stormed my way over to her clinic, muttering curses at my situation, wondering why I hadn't acted sooner, why I insisted on procrastinating, a flaw that had been mine as long as I could remember. It'd gotten me into no length of trouble in school, and now it was even worse. Saltio had fallen to the Old Gods' corruption. Breorn had to arrest his own wife, and I couldn't get the air inside my mouth to stop tasting like ashes.

I stormed into Liwatha's clinic, late, the curtains doing little to prevent the rain outside from seeping in and making the floor wet, puddles dotting the ground and reflecting light from the ceiling. "Amanthe, you're late."

"Sorry, I got held up. One of my neighbors came to ask me for help with their personal lives." Even after all this, you're still not telling her, I scolded myself. "It didn't go well."

"Well, there's nobody in now. Do you want to talk to me about it? Even we of An'she's light need consolation sometimes. I am a priest, you can tell me."

I growled, and started to form the word for 'no' in my mouth, but forced myself to say, "Yeah. It's my neighbor, Saltio. I need to start at the beginning. Doesn't matter much now, with it so close. Can I trust you not to tell anyone? I don't want to be discovered and outed."

She nodded. "Of course. What you say will stay between the two of us."

"I've been spying on the Twilight's Hammer cult. I've gotten myself into their highest class, so I know a lot about what they're planning. I've told the guard, and I found there's another person spying on them, but that's not important. My neighbor also joined the cult, the same day I started to spy on them. She..." I swallowed, moistening my throat. "She wasn't spying on them. I couldn't tell her husband, Breorn, a guard, about her. I figured, that if I was friendly to her, that if I pretended she was my friend and didn't annoy me, that I could stop her from getting corrupted."

"Oh, no..." said Liwatha, seeing where I was going.

"I failed. I told Breorn about the invasion the cult's planning, even though the other, anonymous spy had already told them, but I couldn't tell him about Saltio. I kept telling myself I could save her, that I could pull her out of the cult. I couldn't. She's too far gone, and I just told Breorn about her. He went to get an arrest warrant for his own wife, Light damn it, and it's all my fault."

"When is this invasion?"

"The third day of the Noblegarden celebration, three days from now. The guard's planning to attack the cult the day before. There's going to be another meeting the day before that, and I plan to go to it, see if they have any last-minute plans."

"Amanthe, about Saltio. How far gone is she?"

"Completely gone. I openly told her she was corrupted, and she accepted it. Welcomed it. She's gone."

"Amanthe..." The tauren pursed her lips, as if looking for the right thing to say. "You meant well, but..."

"I know, I know! I meant well, but I messed it up. What was I thinking? That I could fight against the corruption of the Old Gods with just nice words and invitations? Gods, what possessed me to think of that?" I chuckled. "You know, it's kinda funny how I even found out the cult was still here. You know the troll from about a month back, who was catatonic?"

She nodded. "Of course, I remember him well. You soothed his mind and set him right."

"His name was Ros'fon. Heh, he showed up at my house and practically recruited me into the cult. Turns out he's the head of their lowest class. Go figure he'd end up at your clinic."

"Oh, no."

"Yeah. What can I do about Saltio and Breorn? They're my neighbors, and I let them down."

"There's nothing you can do now, Amanthe. If what you have said is true, Saltio can not be simply brought back to us. She must be kept away from the rest of the cultists, if you want her... condition... to be reversed. What about the cult?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much about them. The guard looks like they've got it handled, but..." I bit my lips, wringing my hands as I began pacing. "Their leader, the cult's leader I mean, is corrupted by the Burning Legion. The guard knows this, I've told Breorn, but that means something bad. There's something more to this that we don't know about. This isn't just the Twilight's Hammer wanting to spread havoc. It's the Burning Legion wanting something from Orgrimmar, something they couldn't get just by simply invading themselves."

The elder priestess wrung her hands. "Oh, this is unsettling. The Burning Legion. What does the guard plan to do about it?"

"As far as I've seen? Nothing. But I'm not done yet. I think I know who the anonymous spy is, a paladin named Layalith. Heck, I've known it for a while, but I kept putting it off. Once I'm done here, I'm going to go confront her. We can team up, and do something bigger than usual at tomorrows meeting, sabotage them more than just hiding a few keys. It'll be our last chance to do anything."

"This Layalith, you are certain she's the spy you are searching for?"

"Not entirely, but there's no more time to dally around. I've procrastinated enough as it is. I've been following her movements, and I've worked up a pattern for her. She's going to be up at the Skyway today, overlooking Grommash hold. I'm going to go talk to her."

Seer Liwatha nodded. "Good luck to you. Amanthe, you have been of great help to me these past weeks. I trust you, and if you need help, I am always available." She walked over and grasped my hand with both her own. "Listen, I will let you out early today. Go find Layalith."

I shook my head. "No, no. I don't know where she is before the afternoon."

"Then look."

I sighed. "Okay. Thank you, Seer Liwatha. You sure you can hold the clinic today?"

She chortled. "I'm not as old as you think I am. And besides, you said the leader of the cultist camp is a pawn of the infernal Sargeras. A paladin's help will be invaluable against their machinations, and certainly more important than this little place. Go."

I nodded, slipping my hand out of hers. "Thank you." I stepped closer to the downpour outside. "I have a paladin to find." I stepped outside into the rain, which already began to die.


Ialion

"I am so bored!" I shouted to the empty room. "Bored, bored, bored, bored!" I whacked my tail against my nest, looking down at the table. One of the candles flickered, so I brought flames into my crop and spat a mighty blast of twilight flame at it, the fireball vaporizing the pool of wax the wick threatened to drown in, steadying the light. I laid down, moaning in boredom and exhaustion, the cold of the rainy weather outside making its way into my blood in spite of the candle I'd flown up with me. I tried to sleep away the time, but to no avail.

It was so boring without Amanthe here! Her nice scent still clung to the room, but even that faded when confronted with the smell of rain seeping in from outside. I had nothing to do in this stuffy house, but I knew I couldn't leave. Amanthe would tell Broodmother, and...

I shuddered at the thought of my mother scolding me. I couldn't take the risk of leaving, but it was just so boring. There was nothing to do to satiate myself! Nothing!

I whined, even though there was nobody around to hear. This little mission in Orgrimmar wasn't nearly as fun as I'd thought it would be. I'd pictured Amanthe and I stalking around, purging the taint of the Old Gods from every corner. Instead, I got to hide here in the house all day. Sure, I'd spent most of my life in the same chamber with my siblings and Broodmother, but this was different! Amanthe got to have all the fun, and I had to stay here or risk being caught. It wasn't fair! I could take care of myself! I was old enough! But instead I had to wait here, hours, for Amanthe to retur -

I blinked, raising my head. Why... did I have the wait for her to come back? I could sneak out, then sneak back in before she was back, and she'd never know the difference! My internal clock told me she wasn't due back for a few hours yet, so why couldn't I just sneak out of the house, go outside Orgrimmar to have some fun, and come back before she did?

I sat up, andgrinned. That was a brilliant plan! Why hadn't I thought of it sooner? I'm so clever. I surprise myself. Flying off my little nest, and putting out the candles so they wouldn't accidentally burn the house down, I flew over to the door and pried it open with the handle in my jaws and flew out, pushing it shut behind me.

The rain bore down on me heavily, but it simply flowed off my scales. Too bad it was cold. It would've been quite lovely if it were warm. It also had the added benefit of scaring the other mortals indoors, so there wasn't a soul around to see me. I grinned. This was too easy!

I began flying higher, heading for the open sky, wary of any mortals looking for me. I snickered as I passed out of Orgrimmar. Amanthe would never know a thing!

Within minutes, straining my wings against the air, I'd passed roughly a half kilometer away from Orgrimmar. Then I let myself descend, wings snapping to their full length to glide. I looked back at the capital city of the Horde and laughed. Oh, this was too easy! And the rain had stopped too, so I'd be able to sun myself! Oh, it'd been so long since I had last sunned myself. I couldn't wait.

I fluttered out a little further, close to the ground, looking around at the few members of wildlife that passed. I'd never hunted before, but how hard could it be? Broodmother had taught me how. Surely it wasn't difficult.

I was right. Within minutes I'd had a feast on a few desert lizard eggs and a snake. I licked my snout clean of the snake's blood, and looked around for a place to sun myself. I still had hours until Amanthe returned, and the sky had begun to clear up, the flash showers retreating to the west, letting the warm desert sun shine down. Before too long, I found a place to sun, a little outcropping of red stone as tall as Broodmother, like a lobster's pincer sticking out of the earth, the crack barely large enough to let a fly through. I leaned against it, letting the sun come down and bake me, and I settled to close my eyes and purr as my blood warmed, energy and comfort radiating through my being. I hadn't been able to sunbathe before, while warm-blooded. This was heavenly. How had I survived without this?

For what seemed like hours, but could've just as easily been minutes, I laid, there, forcing myself to stay awake so I wouldn't miss the time to return, when I heard a noise. It sounded like the shuffling footsteps of a mortal, and the sound sent fear through me. What if it was Amanthe? I'd be in so much trouble, not even the Pantheon would be able to save my hide. War waged within my mind. The parts of me that wanted to stay here and sunbathe invaded the territory of the ones that wanted to get up and see who the mortal was. The invaded part of me repelled the invasion, crushed the army of the sunbath-supporters, and conquered my mind after a bitter struggle.

Groaning softly, I began to crawl up the pincer of stone, using tiny clawholds as I bravely climbed up and peered through the littlest of cracks in the stone, to see who had led to the untimely defeat of the sunbathe supporters.

It was a bald orc male with bright green skin and eyes, purple cultist robes on him with a headpiece spitting flame. His presence made fear rise in me, but I wanted to see this. He stopped a few meters from my stone, just inside the shadow, and looked around.

Satisfied, he took a blood red crystal out from inside his robes, then another, one in each hand, and placed them on the ground, a meter apart from each other. He turned towards them, side to me, and closed his eyes, raised a hand, and began chanting in a rasping, guttural language. Shadowy runes appeared on the ground around his feet, making me fall down in surprise. Luckily, I caught myself with my wings before I could hit the ground and make noise. I climbed my way back up, any sound I made drowned out by the rumbling of his spell, my scent masked by the acrid stench of smoke. I peered back through the crack to see what the commotion was, Orgrimmar on the horizon.

The mortal had completed his spell, and now the two blood red crystals had a black smokescreen rising up from in between them, creating the image of... someone.

It was the top of a mortal, shoulders and head, looking a little bit like the draenei Broodmother had once described to us, and once taken the form of. This draenei was male, but instead of blue skin, had red skin. Odd. The draenei opened his mouth to speak, and his voice instantly made my body freeze, my muscles locking up and my bones turning to stone, the deep rumbling voice of evil cutting through me. "You have contacted me. First time in months, I have been thinking you failed, again. Speak, then. How go the plans to steal the device from the Liberality Confederacy?"

The orc spoke, his deep, rumbling voice cutting into me like a knife, the sound like that of a landslide. Luckily my claws were latched into the stone, otherwise I would've fallen. "It goes well, Kil'jaeden. It is no secret on the streets of Orgrimmar that the Kingslayers themselves plan to go to Thunderbluff for the Noblegarden celebration, and I would not be surprised if they were already there, preparing. We will not have to worry about their interference."

"And what of the Orgrimmar guard? And the Twilight's Hammer? You do still have control over both situations, yes? It would be a shame if you didn't."

"But of course, Lord. These mortals are pathetically simple to trick. I am the leader of both the standard guard and the Twilight's Hammer in this region. I have recently received an arrest warrant for several of the cultists, which I had to sign in order to maintain my cover." The draenei's eyebrows shot up. "However, it is nothing substantial. The invasion will still be carried through." His voice began getting to me, fear shooting through my veins. The orc sneered. "This body is wretched. It is not often I get to unleash myself. If I may?"

"You may. I trust you were not so foolish as to create this transporter in the middle of Orgrimmar?"

"Of course not. We are alone, Kil'jaeden." Kil'jaeden, Kil'jaeden. That name niggled at me, like Broodmother had mentioned it once in passing, but I couldn't quite place what significance it held. I returned my attention to the crack, and nearly shrieked in surprise.

The orc had begun to transform. Two pairs of enormous, bat-like wings with sickly green membranes, sprouted from his back. He began to grow, his cultist robes shifting and turning into green and black plate armor over his arms, legs, and chest. His skin morphed, the bright green turning into a sickly white, and two massive horns sprouted from his forehead, curling up and back as he continued to grow... and grow. His fingernails turned into lengthy black talons, and his green eyes began to glow the same color as his wings. A fresh wave of fear rolled through me once he finished the transformation, nearly bringing a whimper out of me, turning me into a statue of a Twilight whelpling.

That wasn't a mortal.

Even I knew what this was. Broodmother had described them when some of my siblings got into an argument about which were worse: Demons or Old Gods. She'd read about them in her time in the Alliance capital city, and described this very thing before me. A Dreadlord. And that meant that draenei... wasn't a draenei. An Eredar.

"As I was saying, my Lord, the situation is under complete and utter control. The Twilight's Hammer has two spies in it, a blood elf paladin and a human priestess under the guise of an elf. The elf has reported the invasion plans to the guard, of course, but that is why I control them. The guard is convinced I will have them attack the cultists the day before the elemental invasion. The human is an... interesting case, though. She wields twilight flame."

Kil'jaeden's eyebrows shot up again. "Oh? Most curious. Are you certain she is not dragonkin?"

"I am certain, Lord. I tested her strength, and she is far too weak to be even dragonspawn. She is mortal, and claims the flame is a natural ability. Absurd, of course. It would appear that the Twilight dragons have been taking Dragonsworn."

"Is this of any concern to us?"

The dreadlord waved his hand, making me cringe. "Of course not. The Twilight Dragonflight's wherabouts and motives are unknown, however they do appear to be interested in the cult. There is a chance the human's patron may show up, but no mere dragon will defeat me."

The eredar Kil'jaeden nodded. "Good, good. What about the blood elf?"

The dreadlord shrugged. "What is there to say about her? She spies on the cult, but none of them suspect me. Although I have had to make several adjustments to the plan due to her alerting the guard; the invasion will be carried out on the morrow instead of three days hence, and while the mortals are distracted fighting cultists and elementals, I shall go and steal the," here the dreadlord sneered, as if what he was about to say tasted bad in his mouth. "relic from the Kingslayers, as planned. Once that is done, I will bring the relic directly to you." The demon's words weren't making sense to me, weren't being picked up and remembered by my mind. All I could do was tremble silently, thinking DREADLORD, DREADLORD, THE LEADER OF THE CULTISTS IS A DREADLORD! I was unable to move from the fear and dread radiated by the two demons.

The red-skinned demon nodded. "Excellent, excellent. It appears all is going as planned, save for the time it is carried out. But be warned. I have not forgotten your most recent failure. You were excused last time for your standing and otherwise unmarred record, but do NOT think another failure will be tolerated. I will be waiting." Kil'jaeden's visage vanished, the smoke receding into the two red gems, which the dreadlord, already shifting back to his guise of a mortal orc, bent over to pick up. He placed the gems back into his robe, and vanished in a woof of black smoke.

The aura of fear released its paralyzing grip on me, and I did the only thing I could do.

I screeched in terror, and flew full-speed back to Amanthe's house.


Amanthe

Luckily, the rain didn't last much longer, the heavy, black clouds overhead being swiftly blown away by the wind. It wasn't too surprising there was such rain in a desert, what with Orgrimmar's location next to the ocean, but all the same Durotar was a desert, so the rainclouds quickly shriveled up. I walked along the Skyway, the rain drying up, searching for Layalith. I'd never gotten to see where she went during the day, being at my job with Liwatha's clinic, but I had to try. The sooner she knew, the better. We were out of time. If we were going to do anything more, it would have to be now. I'd already blown it with Saltio and Breorn. I wasn't going to ruin this.

Finding Layalith wasn't too hard. Most people were in their respective work-places, so the streets were all but desolate. Soon, I came across a familiar blood elf in the Skyway. Lucky me, it appeared she spent most of the day up here. She stood near the western part of Orgrimmar, looking down at the Grommash Hold, where she went to train. Her red hair blended in with the rest of Orgrimmar, providing the illusion that she had a bald, misshapen head. She still had her golden armor on her, but not her sword.

"Hey, Layalith?"

She wheeled around, looking at me with narrowed, icy blue eyes. "What do you want, Amanthe?"

"Can I talk to you about something? It's kind of important. Regarding the you-know-what coming up on the third day of Noblegarden?"

Layalith's sneer quickly evolved into a growl, but then it stopped. She smiled at me, too sweetly for it to be genuine, especially for her. "Of course. But not out here, right? Do you have a place in mind? How about your place?"

"Could we not?" I don't want you attacking Ialion. "How about somewhere else?"

Layalith glared at me. "No, I insist we go to your place. After all, we don't want somebody eavesdropping."

"Why can't we go to your home?"

"Well, we wouldn't be alone to talk about the thing. Either we talk about it at your house, or not at all."

I growled, throwing up my arms in exasperation. "Fine, fine. Follow me." I turned around and started to lead Layalith back to my house, occasionally looking behind me to make sure she still followed me. Meanwhile, I began to come up with a way to keep her from finding out about Ialion, or if she did, to keep her from doing anything rash. Maybe if I signaled Ialion before going back, he'd have the time to hide? That might work, but what signal? We'd never come up with one, and he wouldn't be expecting me to be back in the house that early. If I knocked on the door first and said loudly that we were there, loud enough for Ialion to hear... that might work. Within a few minutes, we arrived at the front of my house.

"Okay, we're here. Let's go in," I said loudly, making sure Ialion would hear me. I opened the door and stepped in, looking about. No flutter of wings. No flash of purple scales or green eyes with slit pupils. No candles lit either. I resolved that particular situation quickly, Layalith stepping in besides me and closing the door, not bothering to lock it.

"Okay, Layalith - " I turned around to see her plated fist rocketing towards me. I jerked my head sideways, weaving a shell of light around me.

She sneered. "Cultist scum! You don't deserve the wield the Light." Oh. So that's why she just did that. Well, now I knew she was definitely the spy. She placed her hands together, light illuminating them, before she relaxed. A faint glow surrounded her, and then she snarled, placing her fists to the side. Light struck down at my barrier, making it quiver. Of course. A quiet, isolated spot. And cultists had a high mortality rate.

"Layalith, hold on! That's what I want to talk to you about!" She jumped at me, grabbing the barrier in her hands, and throwing me to the side. I didn't even know that was possible, to grab the shield itself. Unless the Holy Light she had about her let her. "I'm a spy too!" She kicked at me. My shield absorbed the shock, but with Light empowering her body, the magical bubble sailed backwards, with me in it, onto the table, cracking it down the middle. I growled. "Fine!"

I thrust out a hand, a blue and black beam connecting with her head. She growled, clawed at her head for a moment, before her glow pulsed. I could feel my magic slipping around her as she grew resistant to shadow magic, but continued the onslaught anyway. She fought through the magics flaying at her mind to approach me, but I was too far by then. Shadow energy wouldn't be effective on her now, and using the Light for offense wasn't my specialty. So that left me with one option. But first, I needed to get some distance. I threw my head back as Layalith closed in, letting shadows curl about in my throat and escape in a scream, shattering several of the glasses in the cupboards. Layalith stopped all at once and began scrambling back, running for the door, but once there, she came to her senses.

Before I could begin casting my next spell, a magical force like an anvil forced me to kneel, visions flashing before my eyes. I saw the various wrongs I had done throughout my life, from the teasing of my brother, to the rare bout of mischief I'd gotten into at school. The various flaws in my character flashed before my eyes, regret and guilt weighing me down like a ton of bricks. I was frozen by my repentance, unaware of the rest of the world, at least until a plated fist crashed into my stomach, sending me back, the wind forced out of me.

I was up in an instant, coughing as I tried to get my breath back, but Layalith was faster. I ducked below her kick, and quickly cast another shield over me. I let myself be covered by darkness, turning into the very embodiment of shadows. I uttered a word of darkness, and couldn't help but watch with wicked satisfaction as she was brought to her knees, the aura of spell resistance about her keeping the shadow word from harming her, but not sparing her the agony of the spell itself. I wasted no time; as a paladin, she'd rise over the effect shortly, so I had little time to cast the spell that would make her lose confidence. Good thing Ialion still hid.

By the time a flash of light surrounded Layalith and she stood up from my spell, I was already done. Thick coils of slimy twilight flame raced around my outstretched arm, a tiny meteor of the stuff in the palm of my hand. The blood elf growled. "So, you've resorted to that."

"Twilight flame's nasty stuff, Layalith, you know that. And I've got good aim with this. Would you just hear me out?"

"I don't think so, cultist!" She made to move at me, but I let the twilight fireball flare, and that made her retreat a ways. "What do you want, Amanthe?"

"I told you, I'm a spy in the cult too. And I know you are, too."

"How did you find out about that?" She tried to lunge at me again, but like before, a flare of the fireball's light reminded her of just how powerful the stuff was. "What gave me away?"

"You're a paladin. Paladins aren't usually people who wind up joining the Twilight's Hammer. And another thing. I told a guard about the cult's plan for an elemental invasion, and he said that an anonymous spy had already told them. So, I've been looking for who it is." I eyed her carefully. "Layalith, I'm going to put out the fireball, alright? Don't attack me, because I can always just make another one." In my mind, I chuckled. Damn, twilight fire was useful.

"Fine." I nodded, and let the magic dissipate, slipping out of shadowform, but kept my barrier active. " So, you're a spy in the Twilight's Hammer. Alright. Assuming I do believe you, what then?"

"Do you even know what the guard plans to do about the invasion?"

She snorted, crossing her arms. "Not for the life of me, no. I tried to meditate to find it out, but nothing. I'm guessing you know?"

"Well, my neighbor's a guard, so yeah. On the second day of the Noblegarden invasion, they're going to attack the cultists. I was thinking, that since tomorrow is the last day we can do anything to them, just in case they have another card to play, we should join up and mess stuff up from within."

She chuckled, a grating noise. "Okay, now explain to me why I should believe you."

I groaned. "What would it take for you to trust me?"

"Trust you? Save me from a Dreadlord. Believe you? Show me proof about you spying."

"Okay. You must've noticed several of the elemental boxes vanishing, or being broken?"

"Yeah, I've done that a few times, but not enough to - " She blinked. "Oh. Oh, you. But then, it could also be someone else."

I groaned, and beat my head against my fists. "Nil Sag'ma is corrupted by the Burning Legion."

"What? What's that got to do with - "

"Nil Sag'ma is corrupted by the Burning Legion. If you don't believe me - well. Paladins are trained to be able to sense demonic things, right?"

"No, we're trained to sense evil. Wait a moment, I could do that." She closed her eyes, and I felt a dull thrum pass through my body, gone before I could do anything about it. Layalith seemed to relax, no longer as wary. "Huh. You're not evil. That's proof enough for me."

I sighed. "Finally! So, care to give me your story?"

"I came to Orgrimmar from Silvermoon, under suspicion from my superiors that there was Twilight's Hammer activity. They referred me to another paladin in Grommash hold so I could continue my training, but had me stay anonymous. I've been here eight months, now. I've known about the elemental invasion for the past five months, and so has the guard. Nil Sag'ma has been here for seven months. I have sabotaged a lot of the cult's plans, but I couldn't mess up everything, understandably. And sometimes I was forced to help them."

"Like when you went to get air elementals from the Twilight Highlands."

She nodded. "Indeed. I see you've heard about that. Anyhow, that's it. I've been wondering why the guard does not move against them. So, you say they'll attack the day before the invasion?"

"They will. They're planning to attack while they're busy doing last-minute things for the invasion. So, what do you say? Tomorrow, we start messing things up for them?"

A smirk played along Layalith's face. "Indeed."

"Hey, another thing. Why were you so, well, annoying when you thought I was a cultist, but now you're not?"

She shrugged. "Two things. One, I had to act corrupt. And two, well, I don't like cultists."

"Hmm, fair enough. So - " Something thwacked against the door, interrupting me. I then heard scratches from it, and then the door opened, a purple, shrieking blur crashing into me.

"AMANTHEAMANTHEAMANTHE! Big bad, wings, scary, red skin, Legion!" yelled Ialion in Draconic, clutching my neck with his paws, his snout a hair from my face.

"Amanthe, watch out!" Realizing what was coming, I stepped back, letting Layalith's punch miss Ialion. I grabbed the whelpling with both my hands and tore him off.

"IALION! What were you think...ing?" I asked, looking back at Layalith, who stared at me open-mouthed. "Um, I can explain this, just give me the chance to."

"Okay. I'll wait." Layalith moved to the door, and locked it. "I can be patient."

Meanwhile, Ialion kept struggling in my grip, spitting out a string of 'wings-demon-bad-Nil Sag'ma-red-not good'.

Finally, I yelled at him. "Ialion! Calm down! Whatever it is, it can wait!" He did, and I released him. He flew to the table, a single giant crack running through it from when Layalith had kicked me onto it, shielding magic and all. He collapsed, and began panting in exhaustion. "First off, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? You, you, you snuck out?" I stammered. "Oh ho, just wait until I tell Selriona this!"

"No! No, please don't! It's important, I promise!"

I sighed. "Well, I need to ask her something anyhow."

'Selriona?'

'Hmm? Yeah?'

'Well, we've got a little bit of a situation. You know Layalith, the one I suspected of being the spy? We're in my house, and I was right. She's the spy.'

'That's great news!'

'Yeah, except your bonehead of a son decided to sneak out while I was getting her to come here - '

'HE DID WHAT?' The inside of my head rattled with her scream, prompting me to groan and hold my head with both hands.

'It gets worse. He not only snuck out, he came back in while I was talking with Layalith, so now she knows about him, too, and is waiting for an explanation.' I looked at Layalith, who remained tapping her foot, displeasure evident on her face, glaring at Ialion, who kept panting. Eventually, I got a response.

'Can you trust her to keep a secret?'

"Can I trust you to keep a secret, Layalith? If I'm right, it's going to be an important one."

She narrowed her eyes. "I can keep a secret, but would I want to keep this secret?"

"It's extremely important you do."

"Let me guess, that dragon's got something to do with why you have twilight flame?"

'Well? Can you trust her?'

'I'm working on it.' "Well, yeah, it does." Layalith's face broke into an expression of horror at that. Meanwhile, Ialion had gotten some water and was busy lapping it up like there was no tomorrow. "I'm not a dragon, if that's what you're thinking! Look, just don't tell anyone, alright? It's not something you need to tell anyone else."

Layalith calmed down, looked to Ialion, who was busy inhaling water, and at me. "I swear on the name of the Light I'll keep whatever you're about to tell me a secret."

I blinked at how serious an oath she'd said. 'Okay, we can trust her. She won't tell anyone.'

'Okay, good. She's seen Ialion, and knows about your twilight flame. She's probably placed several things together already; she'll only believe the truth. Tell her about us.'

'What? Are you sure about that?'

'Yeah. As long as she doesn't tell anyone, it's just one person.'

'Isn't that how it always starts?'

'This isn't a fantasy novel.'

'Okay, if you're sure...'

'And tell Ialion that when he comes back, he is in deep trouble.'

I smiled. 'Got it.' I looked at Layalith, who was visibly getting impatient. "Okay, here it is. It all started a couple years ago, during the whole Deathwing fiasco..."


Layalith sighed as I finished my story. "... and then I found you at the Skyway. You know what happened after that."

She nodded. "That's quite a tale. I don't know what to make of it." She got up from her seat and began to pace around me where I sat, like a cat around a mouse. "A Twilight Dragonsworn. Twilight dragons defending Azeroth instead of trying to destroy it. You, a human, of all the races." She nodded. "Okay then. I'll need a few days to think this over. In the meantime." She pointed up at the nest towards the dozing Ialion, who'd finished drinking when he began to gag, fighting down the vomit reflex. "Whelpling. What were you talking about?"

Ialion growled. "It's Ialion to you." He sat up and tried to puff out his chest, but failed, still woozy from drinking so much water. "Okay, Amanthe, you know how I, hehe, snuck out?"

I frowned at him. "Oh, I do. What were you thinking?"

"Well, I was so bored here, and I wanted to sun myself!"

"What is it, he, I'm sorry, saying?" Only with Layalith's comment did I realize Ialion had been talking to me in Draconic, the Orb of Deception letting me understand him.

"Ialion, better speak in Orcish. You do know that, right?"

He shrugged. "Common, Orcish, and Draconic." He repeated what he said to Layalith, then continued. "So, I figured, hey, Amanthe's not coming back for a few hours, why can't I sneak out of Orgrimmar, sunbathe, then come back before she does?"

I smirked. "That would've worked, except Seer Liwatha let me out early to look for Layalith."

Ialion chuffed, looking down and spitting a pebble of twilight flame at his nest, which he laid his head on, quickly extinguishing the tiny blaze. "Anyway, I was sunbathing next to a little rock outcropping, when I heard a mortal coming my way. So I got up, and saw that orc that you described leading the cult, Amanthe."

"Nil Sag'ma," Layalith breathed.

"Yeah, that's the guy. Well, he took out these two crystals, and made an - I don't know. Some kind of communicator. There was an eredar on the other side. Red skin, called himself something like Kal'jooden."

"Kil'jaeden?" I asked, perking up, worry evident in my voice.

"Yeah, that's him. Why?"

"Ialion, Kil'jaeden is the leader of the eredar! If Nil Sag'ma was talking to him, he's important."

He snorted. "Don't I know it. They started talking about a bunch of stuff, I don't remember what it was, and, and..." Ialion's lips trembled. "Nil Sag'ma... shapeshifted."

"What? What do you mean he shapeshifted?" Layalith asked.

"He... he turned into a dreadlord!" he cried out, as if still terrorized by Nil Sag'ma's presence.

The effect of his words was instant. My breath caught in my throat, and Layalith sunk back into her seat.

I was the first one to talk. "A dreadlord... damn it. Ialion, are you sure?" A dreadlord? By the Light, I'd been around a dreadlord?

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. No doubt about it, he was a dreadlord. He and Kil'jooden - "

"Jaeden," I interrupted.

"- Jooden kept talking, and when they were done, Nil Sag'ma turned back to an orc and vanished in a puff of black smoke. Then I flew back here. Amanthe, he was so scary! Just being around him made me freeze up!"

"Layalith, what do you think about this?"

"I, I don't... how did I not see this? Of course being around Nil Sag'ma would make us so afraid. Dreadlords spread fear and terror through lesser foes with just their presence, it's been documented. Only those strong of will, like the Warchief, or the Kingslayers, are immune to this effect. How did I not see this?"

"It makes even more sense if you keep thinking about it. You know how I told you about Ros'fon, and how I healed him?" She nodded. "The things he mumbled about, it all fits. Tainted wings, corrupted claws. Where he walks, tiny nipping and biting shadows run infront of him."

"Their carrion swarms. The dreadlords that attacked Hyjal were seen using that attack."

"It gets worse. Nightmares fall from his corrupted claws. Dreadlords were said to be able to put people to sleep, and I'd bet they don't give pleasant dreams either."

"The nightmares on the Valley!"

I raised an eyebrow at Layalith's outburst. "Hmm?"

"The nightmares the Valley of Wisdom's been experiencing. Nil Sag'ma's presence would make people have nightmares, in an even bigger aura than his fear one. He'd project the nightmares somewhere so that people couldn't track him down with that, use magic to make his nightmare aura affect only a certain place no matter where he was, so that the guard wouldn't be able to narrow down his position. That's why the Valley's been having nightmares." She gulped. "If the Legion deigned to send a dreadlord, here, to Orgrimmar, then something big is going to go down. We need help. Dreadlords are slippery bastards. We can't just tell the guard about him, though, for two reasons."

"What would that be?"

"Have you ever been around Malg?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I tried to tell him about the invasion, but being around him made... me... afraid."

"Just like Nil Sag'ma."

"Wait, I remember now!" came Ialion. Both of us looked up at him. "The dreadlord, he said he's the leader of both the guard and the cultists. That's how he's been keeping the guard from attacking!"

"Shit!" said Layalith. "Okay, we definitely can't tell the guard. Nil Sag'ma will just discredit our theory of him being a dreadlord, and murder us in our sleep."

"But won't they at least try to test the theory?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, they'll try, but they'll fail. Amanthe, I, a paladin of the Holy Light, could not figure out his secret after being around him for seven months. They won't figure it out. We need to kill the dreadlord, stop him from carrying out his machinations, but how? I've seen him fight, he's too much for us, way too much. We'd need the Kingslayers to fight him, and dreadlords are smart. If we somehow get Garrosh to attack him, he'll just teleport away. Any ideas?"

"Well, I have one."

"Please, do tell."

"Selriona's powerful, I mean, she helped fight against Deathwing. And besides, I need to tell her about this anyway."

"Good, you do that."

'Selriona!' I shouted into the link, letting my panic at the idea of having been so close to a dreadlord for a little over a month show.

I was greeted with a sleepy, 'Mrr? Nng, wha?'

'This is no time for sleeping! WAKE UP, you big sack of scales!'

'Alright, alright, I'm up. What's going on?'

'Well, Ialion got some information when he snuck out, and it turns out we have got a BIG problem! You know Nil Sag'ma?'

'That orc corrupted by the Legion?'

'Yeah, well, turns out he's not corrupted by the Legion. Ialion caught him turning into a fucking dreadlord! Nil Sag'ma is a dreadlord, and there is no way - '

'He's a WHAT?'

'It gets worse. He's not just the leader of the cult. He's also head of the guard. He's got control over everything.'

'Oh, oh SHIT! Amanthe, just sit tight. Do not try to confront Nil Sag'ma. Dreadlords are bad news. Just sit tight, and stay out of his way. Go to the cultist meeting tomorrow in case he's planning anything else, but stay out of his way, alright?'

'I will.'

'Alright, good. Just hang in there. Help is on the way.' The connection faded.

"Alright, she says that help is on the way, and that we need to just hang in there. We'll go to the cultist meeting tomorrow. If Nil Sag'ma has any other plans, we can learn about them then. But we have to stay out of his way."

Layalith shook her head. "No, we don't. We can't let him know that anything is wrong. He'll be suspicious if we do. Just act the same way you always do around him. Stopping the invasion's out of the question now. A dreadlord's plans can't just be stopped like that, especially not so close, so we need to minimize the damage and above all else, keep him from getting what he wants. Your patron's sending help, right?"

"Yeah. If I know Selriona, which I do, she's probably gonna come here herself. She's young, younger than us, so she likes getting her claws dirty. But, she does have a brood to watch out for, so I don't know."

The paladin nodded. "I am going home to prepare. Sharpen my sword, take my armor to the blacksmith, those sort of things. I'll go tell the Kor'kron, hopefully they can help. Amanthe, get ready. I have a feeling things are going to get extremely bad."


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