The noises coming from inside the locked chamber were straight out of the naughtiest fantasy anybody could imagine.
The blonde Sin'dorei woman attempted not to scream as her lover burrowed her fingers deep inside her, sending sparks of pleasure shooting up and down her spine. It was futile. Sylvanas gave a throaty chuckle as Faith unraveled around her hand, crying out her name and sitting up to kiss her.
It was an exquisite feeling, to have her cold fingers inside the warmth of Faith's body. She felt powerful when she caused Faith to climax in that manner. And as she straddled her, still moving up and down on her hand, Sylvanas could think of nothing else but getting her to climax again and again.
Other people all over Azeroth were engaged in similar activities, or going about their daily business.
Then all of a sudden, the world was torn apart.
The earth seemed to groan, and a wave, its height reaching one hundred feet, rose out of the depths of the ocean, travelling south east from the Maelstrom, which churned worse than ever, glowing red. The people living in Northern Stranglethorn, from the spiteful naga to the cunning goblins of Booty Bay, barely had time to react as the water overtook them. It crashed into the merchant town, destroying everything in its path and splitting an anchored ship in half as easily as a child would have snapped a twig.
In Kalimdor, the ground rippled as though giant worms were burrowing beneath the surface. Guard towers toppled over as the terrain split open to reveal an enormous fissure filled with bubbling lava. Countless kodos tumbled to their deaths, shrieking in terror.
The people of Orgrimmar screamed as the zeppelin towers crashed to the ground and the gates at the entrance of the city shattered, crushing several orcs below. Terrified wind riders took to the skies, heedless of their masters' cries to stay put. Fires erupted everywhere as torches fell to the ground, igniting dried animal skins that had been stretched over roofs.
South of Orgrimmar, the area of Thousand Needles suddenly flooded as another huge wave crashed there. The water reached as far inland as Feralas, stranding animals and people alike.
At almost the same time, a third wall of water crashed into Western Lordaeron and Gilneas. The Forsaken soldiers stationed at the Sepulcher thought they were hallucinating when they saw water rushing towards them. Several trees were uprooted, and the Horde ships that had been moored at the docks of Silverpine Forest capsized, sending countless sailors into the sea. Many of the orcs drowned.
Other Forsaken soldiers who had been standing guard near Gilneas on Sylvanas' orders noticed that something was going on behind the Greymane Wall. Suddenly, a violent earthquake shook the entire area, from the wall until the Bulwark, sending carrion birds flying off in multiple directions, uprooting more trees, and cracking the wall that had stood for so long.
Faith and Sylvanas were just getting out of bed when the earthquake struck. Hearing an ominous sound when everything began to shake, Sylvanas grabbed Faith, rolling them beneath the bed and staying on top of her, her head pressed between Faith's shoulder blades to keep her from rolling them over.
"Sylvanas!"
"You're okay, Faith," she said.
"Not me! You!"
One of the dressers crashed to the floor, shattering on impact. Likewise, the weapon shelf on which various staves, spellblades, bows and arrows were stored, fell, spilling sharpened blades all over the place. One of them skidded across the floor, deeply cutting Faith's arm.
"Stay under me!" cried Sylvanas.
Faith moved her arm so as to shield Sylvanas' back as much as she could, but the Banshee Queen was having none of it.
"I don't want you hurt!" she sobbed.
Sylvanas kissed her shoulder, "Shh, baby, it's okay."
Faith cried out as part of the bed collapsed onto them. "No!"
"I'm all right, Faith!"
Forcibly turning herself around, Faith hugged Sylvanas tightly to herself, trying to keep the debris off of her with a spell, although she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her shin. Closing her eyes, she pressed her face against Sylvanas' and waited for everything to end.
The earthquake finally stopped. Faith stirred, coughing once.
"Sylvanas?" she asked tentatively. "My love?"
"I'm here."
A tear ran down Faith's cheek, "I thought I was going to lose you."
"It takes more than the city collapsing to kill me. Can you wriggle out from under me?"
Faith tried, and found that she couldn't really move. She became aware of a great weight pinning her down, not just Sylvanas' weight, but also the bed, and possibly parts of the ceiling.
"Sylvanas, are you hurt?"
"Don't worry about me, Faith, I'm already dead."
"I don't care if you're already dead. I don't want you to be permanently dead. Now, are you hurt?"
"My lower back and my legs are pinned. I think I kept the worst of it from you." She tried lifting her head to look at Faith, but couldn't. "How's your arm?"
"I'm all right, love, you don't have to protect me all the time, you know. You could have saved yourself."
"And left you alone, right. You wouldn't do that to me."
"Well, no, but you're my Sylvanas."
She chuckled, "And you're my Faith. Honestly, though, can you move at all?"
"I can try."
She painstakingly moved one of her arms from around Sylvanas' body, trying to be careful about not dislodging whatever was resting on top of her. Her shield spell was still holding, although she was afraid it was going to shatter at any moment, bringing more weight upon the two of them.
"Try pulling yourself free."
She did, but the moment she moved, the debris on top of them began to shift.
"Lady Sylvanas!" cried someone outside the door. Rotvine. "Faith! Are you in there?"
Sylvanas glanced at Faith, "Sorry, love, this is going to be loud." She opened her mouth and gave a cry, "Yes, we're in here! Get us out would you?"
Faith shut her eyes, nearly deafened by Sylvanas' voice so close to her ears. "By the gods, can't you control that?" she asked, barely able to hear herself speaking. Her ears were ringing.
The doorknob rattled, and there was the sound of someone trying to force open the door. "It's stuck! Hang on, I'll try a spell."
They heard a brief incantation, and something hitting the door, causing it to give a little. "Easy, Carrick," said another guard. "You could cave in this entire section of the city if you're not careful."
Faith stroked Sylvanas' wrist, "If we don't get out of here for some reason," she began.
"We'll be fine."
"I know. But if we're not…"
Sylvanas looked down at her, her red eyes glowing in the darkness.
"If we're not, please know that I love you. And I will never stop loving you."
Sylvanas kissed her, deeply, and that was how Rotvine and the three guards found them, half-buried under what remained of the bed, a slab of wall resting against them.
Just as they were being pulled out, something exploded out of the raging Maelstrom. Something enormous that had the shape of a ferocious black dragon. The shape screamed, and as it did, so did the skies and the ocean.
Deathwing, for the shape was the Aspect of the Earth, began to fly north, sending monstrous waves towards the nearest landmass: Northrend. Coastlines were battered by the water, and many people were killed from the Borean Tundra down to the Howling Fjord, but the worst was yet to come.
The great dragon veered suddenly, skirting around the Kalimdor coast, and began a dangerous flight south. He was flying so fast that not many people realized what was happening. He came to Darkshore, his wings flapping hard. The night elven town of Auberdine was utterly destroyed, the subsequent waves travelling all the way to Teldrassil and shattering Rut'Theran Village as well. Waters rose, engulfing the land and the bewildered creatures in it. In nearby Winterspring, a monstrous avalanche devastated part of the area.
Deathwing wasn't done. Such was his fury and his need to destroy that he kept going, happily destroying the island of Kezan in his haste to get to the Eastern Kingdoms.
The people of Stormwind were stunned when they saw the giant black dragon settling onto their city. They had no time to react as he exhaled a great breath, destroying the city's park and everyone who had been there, including a gathering of druids who had been visiting from Teldrassil.
Earthquakes rattled the continent, creating devastating whirlpools in Stranglethorn Vale and additional avalanches in Khaz Modan. More tsunamis assaulted the coastlines, ripping apart ships as far north as Quel'Danas and Tirisfal Glades.
By the time Faith and Sylvanas had been freed from the debris of their chamber, the face of Azeroth had irrevocably changed.
"What in the name of the Sunwell happened?" asked Faith, picking up a dressing gown from the floor and wrapping it around Sylvanas' naked body before doing the same for herself. She winced as a priest ran a hand over her leg and arm, healing her.
"A very powerful earthquake," said Rotvine. "This part of the city, along with the Apothecarium, suffered greatly. Part of Brill collapsed too."
"Fantastic," muttered Sylvanas. "Anything else?"
"There's flooding in Silverpine Forest. The Sepulcher was completely overrun by water, and Lordamere Lake has risen quite a bit. Oh, and we've lost all our docks and the ships that were there."
"All our ships?" cried Faith.
"That's what one of our mages said."
"Casualties?" asked Sylvanas.
Rotvine hesitated, "Here in the city, we know of about twenty deaths so far. It's worse at the docks, both here and in Silverpine. A lot of people who weren't dead to begin with were killed."
"How many, Carrick?"
"Around one hundred."
Sylvanas cursed softly, "What about the rest of Lordaeron?"
"I didn't hear of anything else locally, not yet. But we're beginning to hear from people in the Cenarion Circle. Something happened in Kalimdor as well."
"What do you mean, something happened there as well?"
"There are ambassadors waiting to talk to you. They were dispatched by Hamuul Runetotem to inform us of the situation."
"Lead the way."
Rotvine looked at both Faith and Sylvanas, "You don't want to get dressed first?"
Making an exasperated sound in the back of her throat, Sylvanas ordered everyone out while she and Faith quickly pulled on whatever was available to them. Five minutes later, they had picked their way through the ruined corridor that led to the Royal Quarter and emerged into the throne room.
Every tapestry that had hung on the walls was now on the floor, the stone appearing cracked in several places. Sylvanas' chair had topped off its dais and lay shattered where it had fallen. But other than that, the damage there seemed to be minimal.
"Oh, the elevators have been disabled too," Rotvine told her.
"All of them?"
"The only one still functioning is a little rickety. I don't think it would be wise to use it. And the entrance to the sewers has been blocked."
"Are you telling me that we're stuck inside the city, just like that?" asked Faith.
"For now. We can fix everything, there's no need to worry. And the portals still work."
"I'm not worried for myself so much as the other living creatures in Undercity who will likely panic at the thought of not being able to get outside at all."
Sylvanas gently took Faith's wrist, squeezing once to indicate that she ought to pay attention to the tauren ambassador who had arrived. The male druid looked shaken.
"What is your name?" Sylvanas asked him.
The tauren opened his mouth and swallowed once, briefly running his hand over his nose. Faith quickly cast a spell on him to enable him to smell something other than death and decay.
"Sorry about that," said Faith. "I guess that the earthquake affected the spells we usually have around the city to make the air more breathable."
"Thank you, Major." He looked at Sylvanas, "My name is Huka Paleclaw, your Majesty."
"Rotvine said that you had something to tell us about Kalimdor?"
"Yes… it's been horrible." He opened his mouth to keep speaking, but couldn't for a moment.
"Take your time, my friend," said Faith gently. She glanced at Sylvanas with a worried look on her face.
"It was Deathwing."
"I beg your pardon?" Sylvanas didn't seem to believe what she had heard.
"Deathwing, the Destroyer. He's responsible for all of this. The earthquakes we've been feeling, the avalanches, the elemental unrest… everything."
"I'm sorry, Huka," asked Faith, "but what exactly do you mean?"
He shook his head, "We're not exactly sure. I was flying back to Moonglade when I saw this… this thing flying at an insane speed down the coast." He tried to speak again, but whatever he had seen had been so horrible that he lapsed into Taur-ahe.
Faith translated automatically.
"He says that he saw Deathwing destroy a night elven town in Darkshore. Most of the coastline there has been obliterated." She waited for Sylvanas to nod before continuing, "A lot of the animals there have been killed as well. All in all, the ecosystem has been irrevocably damaged."
"But what exactly happened?"
Huka shook his head, "We do not know exactly. Just that a lot of places have been destroyed."
Throughout the following day, reports came in from all over Azeroth, detailing the damage that had been wrought by Deathwing's furious passage. Faith, for her part, went to Silverpine Forest to assess the situation there.
It could have been much worse, she knew that, as the hills had protected them from the worst of the waves, but the ground was boggy because of all the water, and close to sixty orcs had been killed when their ships had capsized. The few survivors, badly shaken by their experience, had managed to tell Faith that there were some orcs still missing, but they weren't anywhere on the ships from what she could see.
"Considering what happened in Darkshore," Rotvine told her, "I think that we can consider ourselves lucky."
Faith winced. The reports that had come from Darkshore had been heart wrenching. Even Sylvanas had been silent upon hearing of the destruction of the village of Auberdine. After the war in Northrend, the loss of so many lives was difficult to bear.
"Lucky… yes, I suppose we can say that," she told him quietly. She looked around at the uprooted trees, noting several carrion birds circling overhead near a landslide that had occurred. "It's too bad the waves didn't crash further into Lordaeron to obliterate whatever remains of the Scourge there."
Rotvine looked towards where he knew the Greymane Wall to be, "Do you think that we're going to do anything about the worgen?"
"Oh yes. Sylvanas wants complete control over all of Lordaeron, and she's had her sights set on Gilneas for a long time. Garrosh will most probably support her there. You know how he adores bloodshed." She set the remains of a wolf on fire, which proved difficult because of her damp surroundings.
They returned to Undercity with fifty-seven coffins and the survivors, who swore that they would never be on another ship again. Faith created portals for them so that they could get back to Orgrimmar and inform Garrosh of the deaths.
"We've just had memorial services and funerals for everyone killed during the war," she said to Sylvanas that evening as she changed into warmer robes. "Now this happens. I mean, can't we catch a break?"
"We live in a tumultuous world, Faith. If it's not one thing, it's another, and you, unfortunately, are with me, which means that you're at the forefront of most of the Forsaken battles."
"And that means what? That I get to be with you, even if I have to see my friends and family die?"
Sylvanas put a hand under Faith's chin, "That means that neither of us have the luxury of living a quiet life in the woods raising hawkstriders." She frowned for a minute, "You have that luxury, actually, I don't."
"You wouldn't let me go."
"Me?!" Sylvanas appeared affronted. "You're the one who refuses to leave."
Faith didn't smile, but took a step closer to the queen, "I don't want to be separated from you."
Sylvanas stood her ground, "I know," she said slowly. "Sometimes, things separate us. Most of the time it's duty, and other times, it might be a runeblade. That doesn't mean you and I are separated. Not really."
Putting a hand on Sylvanas' face, Faith didn't even bother to hide her lust. She kissed her deeply, her tongue stroking her banshee's, her arms holding her close. "I love you."
"Yes, you love me. And I love you." Sylvanas gently disengaged herself from Faith's embrace, "We have work to do. And, as much as you'll hate it, I need you to check on the other capital cities and see what damage was done there."
"Did I not just tell you that I didn't want to be away from you?"
A small smile, "That you did. But come on, you know that as soon as you come back, you and I will have a reunion, and you're already looking forward to it."
Faith was pouting, "That doesn't mean I like being away from you."
"I don't like it any more than you do, sweetheart. But this needs to be done, and you're the person I trust most with it. Besides, I know you'd like to help Hamu and Ishaka with wedding preparations."
"She just buried her parents. Hamu doesn't even know whether she wants to get married anymore."
"Well, go find out. But stop in Silvermoon first to see whether you can do anything to help Lor'themar. Who knows what happened in Quel'Thalas after this disaster."
As it turned out, Faith's home hadn't been badly affected by Deathwing. Sunsail Anchorage had been damaged, but as it had been overrun with Wretched at the time, it didn't really matter. Most of the ships anchored in every elven port had suffered greatly, but not many lives had been lost.
In Durotar and the Barrens, however, things were very different. The landscape had changed because of earthquakes and flooding. There was water in areas that had never seen any before, and hundreds of people had perished.
"They got it worse in Darkshore," said Katuk, who was investigating the damage with Faith. "The word is that nearly six-thousand elves died."
Faith gave a low whistle, "That's quite a body count, more than half of what we lost at the Wrathgate altogether."
The orc nodded, "I daresay there will be more. Rumor has it that Deathwing is roaming around someplace, destroying more areas. The shaman are sending people to Deepholm to try and figure things out."
"Deepholm?" asked Faith.
"Yes, and to the rest of the elemental plane, although I don't quite know how that's going to work out. But they think that it'll be the best way to get to the root of the problem."
"We've got a rough time ahead of us, don't we?" she told him.
"Looks like it. We're having problems with this cult that calls itself the Twilight's Hammer. You remember them."
"I've heard of them, but only in passing. What do they want?"
"Pretty much the same thing every other cult wants: to destroy us. But there's a twist to them."
Faith snorted, "Something about letting the Old Gods go free, no doubt."
"That's exactly it."
"I daresay we'll be fighting them, although I have no idea with what. We're still recovering from the war against the Scourge."
"Thrall thinks this is why Deathwing struck when he did. He knew that we weren't as strong because we were tired. The recent upheavals with the Horde and the Alliance certainly played in his favor as well."
Faith allowed her gaze to roam over the broken landscape in front of her, seeing several animals that had been crushed by falling boulders. Carrion birds feasted on their rotting flesh, "The world was torn asunder in one day. We haven't had time to rebuild our forces after the last war we went through. And now we have to fight again."
She sighed.
"Tell Garrosh the Forsaken will do whatever needs to be done. I'll go to Mulgore to see how the tauren are doing before returning to Undercity."
Katuk nodded, turning on his heel and leaving her.
The sun burned down upon her head. As she looked around, a wind elemental roared past her, ignoring her completely. She did the same, her mind occupied with other things at that moment.
AN – I'm sorry my updates haven't been as consistent as they should have been. I've been really busy at work because it's our peak period, and I've also been working on a business trip, which I'm taking this weekend. Furthermore, I have a vacation coming up in two weeks, and I won't be able to post because I won't have a computer with me for that week. I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as I can, don't panic! I just have to write it first! Thank you for reading!
xoxo,
Lunarelle