Chapter Fourteen: The Crystals' Song
Simonee didn't know whether to thank Erylian or throttle him.
All he could really remember was Malygos preparing to atomize Erylian before a familiar spell whisked him away to a familiar place. He didn't know how Erylian had done it, barely conscious and in what had to have been record time for a mass teleportation spell like that, but he definitely—and very impressively—managed.
It was mere moments after the spell took effect that Simonee noticed that he was no longer in Malygos' realm, although certain parts of the scenery reminded him of the tunnels he'd just been spelunking through over the past few days. He did realize that he recognized where he was now, though, which relieved him. The Crystalsong Forest looked just as eerie as the first time he'd visited. It had only been at the very most a couple of weeks since Dalaran was relocated, but it felt like absolute ages since they'd departed for their long adventure. The magical city itself floated serenely in the distance, visible even from as far away as he was. The Violet Citadel's spires glowed with an otherworldly light as twilight framed its magnificence, almost like they were calling Simonee home with a guiding light.
After he'd realized where he was, he had managed to find both Krionoso and Aubs in short order. They had both ended up relatively closely, scarcely more than a few steps away, really. Simonee was thankful for that; he wasn't sure what he would have done if he had ended up here alone. The three of them reassured each other that they were all more or less intact before deciding that their best course of action would be to return to Dalaran and see if anyone there had come into news regarding the other half of the party. It seemed a solid enough start to Simonee, at least. Failing that, they could hitch a ride out to the Dragonblight to visit with the dragons atop the temple to report in again. Either way, Simonee was glad to be out of the Nexus' vast network of tunnels.
His thoughts briefly skipped back to Dagerly, and a tinge of regret and anger returned to the surface. He had managed to bury the thoughts of his death, but the newfound quiet of the Crystalsong Forest dredged them back to his mind, and he couldn't tear himself away from them. Somehow he would make Malygos pay for the loss of his friend at the hands of his lieutenant, if it was the last thing he did. His memory also called up the last few words Aeriah had spoken before the latest rush of events occurred, and he hoped that wherever he'd ended up, that he was okay. Simonee still worried about those wounds—enough to where the mere thoughts brought him back to even keel—and the shards. The druid hadn't been acting the same after waking up from his semi-coma... and something in the normally-silver glow of his eyes was off as well, and Simonee resolved to get to the bottom of it.
The long walk toward the Violet Stand began uneventfully enough. Simonee looked at the crystalline forest with a vague curiosity in his head, wondering what had happened to this place. As he had noticed upon his arrival, in large swathes of the otherwise auburn land, every last shred of what perhaps began as living wood had turned to crystal, the only exceptions being the scattered ruins of stone marking whatever long past civilization that built them. Every so often as they walked, a new set of broken-down columns poked through the crystals that passed for underbrush, a bright spot of white or gray against a dark pink backdrop.
While they walked, Simonee's mind continually went back to Aeriah, and how the two had met those many years past. It had been shortly after he fled the Scourge at both Quel'thalas and Dalaran, having left the latter before the undead army's inevitable invasion.
He was a young man, barely out of adolescence, walking the fields of Hillsbrad when the mysterious and aloof druid's path crossed with his. Simonee was traveling south to finally return to his home in Stormwind, while the druid was headed north for whatever remained of Lordaeron. He traveled under the guise of a sleek black cat and told Simonee that he generally prowled the roads at night, but it had been by stroke of chance that he'd left his camp early the evening the mage had been passing through.
Upon seeing the cat, Simonee's first instinct was to quickly leave the road and hazard the tree-lined plains so as to not draw the ire of the predator. It seemed too late for that, since the cat's eyes had been locked with his, and behind them seemed to be an intelligence that betrayed its true nature. Simonee dropped the idea of circling wide around, and instead chose to cautiously pick up his pace to meet sooner with the strange feline form ahead of him. When the cat spoke to him, he realized there wasn't terribly much danger in the situation.
"Greetings, traveler," the cat said. "Can you tell me how much further to Lordaeron?"
The question had taken Simonee by complete surprise. Everyone in the Eastern Kingdoms had learned the fate of the northern lands, in one capacity or another—he wouldn't have been surprised to hear that the humans' allies in Kalimdor would have known as well—so why was this druid looking to go there? Nothing remained but rotting land and roaming corpses, and with the exception of a few small pockets of civilization stubbornly clinging to their borders, there was no safe place left in the kingdom of Lordaeron. He decided to prod. "You're still quite a distance... but why would you want to go there? The Plaguelands are no place to be right now," he replied.
The cat gave him an appraising look, before taking on a strange approximation of a smile, showing the neat rows of gleaming sharp white teeth in its mouth. "I have unfinished business there," the druid said. The enigmatic nature of the response only sparked Simonee's already-incredible curiosity.
"Well, who- or whatever you have business with is likely no longer there... in fact there's nothing there but the Scourge, really," Simonee said, with a shrug of his shoulders.
This only seemed to delight the druid, who muttered, "That's perfect. It's the Scourge with whom I have interest, anyway. They've taken something from me, and I intend to make them pay in full. Tell me, young man, what is your name?"
"Simon Everblaze," Simonee replied. The conversation, he thought with amusement, was getting stranger and stranger with every passing remark. "And yours?"
"Aeriah Nightleaf, druid of Cenarius. If I might ask, what brings you here?"
Simonee considered the question for a moment, as he thought of what he wanted to share with his new acquaintance. What he saw in Quel'thalas had haunted him still, and he wanted nothing more than to forget it. "I... I'm heading back for Stormwind," he settled. So far the druid seemed to have been forthcoming with his inquiries, so it was only fair that he would be as well. He explained the events of his past few months briefly, without stopping to think too hard on the subject.
Aeriah had been listening intently to the mage's story, and in his feline eyes there seemed to be a glimmer of understanding. Something told Simonee that whatever the druid's business in the Plaguelands, it probably had to do with a great personal loss of his own at the Scourge's undead talons.
"You know, you can join me in Stormwind," Simonee mentioned, waving southward.
Aeriah simply shook his head. "I must do this... it's important to me. Perhaps we'll meet again, Simon. Take care of yourself out here," he replied solemnly. Without another word, the cat padded past him, and disappeared into the night air.
It would be almost another year before Aeriah ended up appearing in Goldshire, to Simonee's utter surprise.
Simonee was broken out of his memories when he, Aubs and Krionoso had crossed into a more natural area of the Crystalsong Forest. The deep pink gave way to a warm golden hue and dead leaves littered the ground around them. Dalaran seemed no closer, but just from the arcane hum in the air, he knew they were indeed making progress. Without warning, Simonee stumbled over the mostly flat land. He sighed, remembering that he still hadn't rested in quite some time. He wanted nothing more than to do so now, but at the same time, he just wanted to get back into the city as soon as possible. At odds with himself, he was unable to make a decision, and simply continued stumbling onward.
The brisk air of this particular Northrend evening felt wonderful, but was not making the trip any easier to endure. Every so often he daydreamed that he was pulling the sheets of a bed tighter, sleeping restfully back in Goldshire. He missed the place he'd called home for all those years, swept away by adventure and circumstance so long ago, he couldn't even remember when he had left. It felt like a decade, but at the same time, something within him told him it couldn't have been that long. He attempted to recall it all.
Before he could make any real progress on that matter, Aubs began to speak.
"What do you think happened here?" she asked. Her eyes flitted back and forth as they walked, surveying the land around them and the strange broken architecture.
Simonee had to consider the question. The columns didn't look to belong to any civilization he'd seen before, except one. They reminded him of the books he'd seen describing the great cavernous halls of Uldaman. A Titan city, they had called it. Within Uldaman, it was said that the city's explorers actually found one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of his time, one that they were still finding new information about. The Discs of Norgannon. One of the books he read detailed that the Discs themselves uncovered something about the "curse of flesh" that afflicted the dwarves. No one on the face of Azeroth really understood what that meant; whatever curse it was, it hadn't seemed to do anything to affect the dwarves' longevity or vitality. They were still a loud, boisterous people with an incredible fondness for drink, and the only thing that ever really shortened their lives was an honorable death.
As for the crystallized areas, Simonee was at a loss. The best he could come up with was that perhaps it had ended up that way much like Malygos' crystal gardens. Northrend seemed to be teeming with magic... and not all of it was good, or even tamable. Maybe Malygos himself had caused this with his tampering of the ley lines, but even that seemed unlikely. Whatever happened here seemed to have happened a long time ago.
"I believe the ruins are remains of some Titan society, but I haven't the faintest about the rest," Simonee admitted, continuing onward.
Krionoso looked around warily and scoffed. "I don't like it," he grunted. "It's just not right."
"Aeriah said something similar back in the Nexus..." Simonee remembered. "And after seeing what happened to him, I definitely agree."
Krionoso nodded. So far as Simonee had seen, there hadn't been any twisted ancients or crystal-infected dryads, or even those troublesome lashers. The Crystalsong Forest seemed to be as docile as any land they'd traveled so far on the journey, which only heightened Simonee's new suspicion.
"Titans? It's incredible that we're still finding things like this after so long," Aubs breathed, spotting another ruin ahead.
Simonee had to agree. The Titans had been gone from Azeroth for a long, long time, and there was almost a constant stream of new discoveries just about everywhere. "Their legacy is certainly incredible," he commented.
"That might be, but what are we supposed to learn from it all? What great lesson is there in these old rocks and artifacts?" Krionoso asked in response. Simonee didn't see his colleague's characteristic defiance in his eyes like he'd expected, instead finding what looked to be genuine reflection.
"The follies of power?" Aubs hazarded. "Or maybe the true danger of the Burning Legion?"
Both possibilities sounded good to Simonee, as it was true that the Titans had been some of the most powerful beings ever created... and that they'd been destroyed through one machination or another of those blasted demons.
Krionoso shook his head curtly. "That's not what I meant. And if they are just a warning, then how are they supposed to help us avoid the same mistakes when all we keep finding are tiny little fragments of information?"
"I'm sure when the time comes, we as a whole will figure it out," Simonee said. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Maybe you can ask Alexstrasza, she might know better."
Krionoso scoffed again. "That she might, but what's keeping her from sending us as a group out on yet more suicide missions? I'm sure it wasn't your intention to break me from the Legion's grips just so I could become a pawn in the dragons' games."
"No, Krio, it wasn't, but until we can garner the dragons' aid for this war, I don't think we'll be done with them for quite some time," Simonee sighed. "Don't forget, we're also fighting for your freedom in another way."
"The King. I know," Krionoso muttered, half in anger. "I just hope when it's all over I can take an ale in Stormwind without sidelong glances from the Guard."
"Don't worry, brother. I'm sure it will all work out just fine," Aubs said hopefully. She paused a moment before asking, "Where do you suppose the others ended up?"
The question had occurred to Simonee already, but he was still no closer to finding any sort of answer. The best he could really hope for was that they hadn't somehow ended up in Icecrown. Other than that, he really had no idea. There was no way to have an idea. He relayed his thoughts to his friends.
"There's a lot of uncharted regions around here," he added, almost as an afterthought. "And most of what we do know is outdated information from the Third War. Let's just continue on, and with any luck we'll figure it out soon enough."
They had been walking while carrying on the conversation, and had made it a fairly considerable distance by the time night began to fall on the forest. Simonee knew they would have to make camp sooner or later, and he preferred if they would do so outside of the crystal-influenced areas. They found an open patch of ground outside of the corruption that would suit their needs, and set to work. The campsite went up quickly, and soon enough the three of them sat around the fire.
Simonee, for one, was glad they had to stop. Aches and bruises alike had been wracking his body over the trek, and his exhaustion was coming to a peak he'd never thought was possible, but he kept up a strong front for his friends. He felt they'd already figured it out, but neither of them had brought it up, and it was just as well; he really didn't feel like trying to convince them that he would be fine. Nothing was seriously life-threatening, and he really would be fine, he just needed to sleep. He planned to stall them in Dalaran once they got there so that he could recuperate in an actual bed for once. There was no way he would be of any use to anyone in the state he was in now—his body still hadn't stopped aching even after settling down, and he felt his magical energy still dangerously low from his exertions in the Nexus—and he wished to rectify that before endangering whatever mission they would inevitably be sent on... or before endangering any more of his friends.
"Who would have thought we would be fighting a dragon Aspect?" Aubs asked, rubbing at her eyes. "Simply unbelievable..."
"I don't know if I would call... that... fighting. That was a mad scramble for survival. And we barely even managed that. If it wasn't for Erylian, I don't know what would have happened," Krionoso replied, his tone irritated. He relaxed slightly before adding, "I hope he's alright..."
Simonee nodded in agreement. "I'm sure he'll be fine. He's probably the most resourceful mage I've ever met, and that's definitely not worth nothing. He'll turn up, and probably with the other two, no less." Even as he spoke the words, he felt the uncertainty. He had no doubt that Erylian himself was going to turn up just fine. It was really Aeriah he was worried about, still.
Aubs read Simonee's expression and seemed to pick up on his doubts. "What's the matter?" she asked.
Simonee sighed, and it was now his turn to rub his eyes. "I... think something is wrong with Aeriah. He was acting very strangely after we... healed him."
"You're thinking about those crystals again," Krionoso said.
Aubs looked back and forth between the two, confused. "The crystals? What crystals?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.
"When I was on watch last night, I cleaned up Aeri's wounds a little more and decided to check out some of the shards that were left after the flower things cut into him. I found a magical signature and we decided to get them out of him. I think they were beginning to do something to him, but we didn't wait to find out what, exactly," Simonee explained. "I fear that we might have been a little too late."
Krionoso put his hand to his chin and groaned a sigh. "You might be right. But we won't know until we get back in contact with him-"
"Which means there's no point in worrying about it just yet," Simonee finished. "I know, but Aeri's been a friend for longer than anyone, and I don't think I could bear to see anything happen to him. I've already lost one friend in Northrend, and I'm not going to let a second one die if I can help it."
Krionoso's mouth was set in a thin line, but he dropped the issue, and Aubs followed suit. A few minutes passed in silence as they sat around the fire, and Simonee was almost content to just watch the tips of the flames as they faded away into the air. Krionoso was the one to finally break the silence again, as he studied Simonee's tired face. "You can't keep going like this, you know. You need your rest," he said quietly.
Simonee sighed briefly. It was true enough, but in his pride, he didn't want to allow either of the other two to worry about him. "I'll be fine," he said, almost curtly. "But I'll be better once all of this is over."
"How long do you think we'll be working for the dragons?" Aubs asked, changing the subject. Krionoso visibly bristled at the question, as if it had personally affronted him.
"Any length of time will be too long," he commented. "Sooner we're done, the sooner we can get off this accursed continent and back to civilization."
"They've already said that until Malygos is dealt with, they can't help the war effort, so we'll be here as long as it takes," Simonee replied, not bothering to disguise the exhaustion in his voice. He was far beyond that at this point, and it wouldn't do him any good anyway. "There are personal scores to settle here, as well. We're not stopping until this war's over. There will be time for rest along the way, and then once it's over, we can go back to our lives as we knew them."
Krionoso eyed him severely. "On whose authority are you ordering us? As far as I'm concerned, I've done enough to finish the King's sentence, and I no longer need to be here. As soon as we find the others and report back to Wyrmrest, I think I'm going back to the Eastern Kingdoms and forgetting any of this ever happened."
"If you want to leave, be my guest, but I don't think you're one to drop loyalties at the drop of a hat. We've already proven that, I'd think," Simonee shot back. He was not in the mood for this discussion and wanted nothing more than to head it off at whatever pass it was going to meet. He didn't even really understand how it had come to this point in the first place, his mind struggling to keep up. "You're letting your distrust of the dragons' plans speak for you. Just... calm down. I don't think, besides Malygos, they're planning anything to earn it."
Krionoso's face flashed a skeptical look for only a second before it returned to the same angry glare into the dirt. "You're right, I don't just throw my loyalties away, but I do value survival, and whatever these vendettas of yours are, they seem to be leading you into a path that's in direct conflict with being alive. This is the Scourge's land, and I think the Lich King's made it very clear that he is not afraid of us. Nether, I think if he really wanted to he could just swoop in and murder us all in our sleep tonight. Did you see that bone dragon of his?"
Simonee inwardly admitted that Krionoso had an excellent point. He had already seen firsthand what the Scourge was capable of, and that was before they'd had the time to expand their forces to the fullest—if there even was such a limit. Now, the armies could probably march the entire breadth of either of the two southern continents abreast and still be rows deep. It didn't matter. He refused to be cowed. He'd been afraid when they marched on Quel'thalas all those years ago, but he was resolved against them now. Even if he ended up dying on Northrend, he would make damn sure that the Scourge would not go unscathed. First things, as they always were, however, were first. Malygos was his target at this moment, and he would be the first step on Simonee's path of vengeance. Then, and only then, would he focus his fullest attention on the Lich King—and he would have the full support of the dragonflights at his back.
"He may, he may not. Either way, I will not abandon this war. It means too much to me," Simonee said, letting his resolve ring clearly.
Again, Krionoso's scowl was interrupted. This time, it had been for longer, and it was a glance of respect that had replaced it. He considered his next words for a moment, and looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to continue arguing, before making up his mind. "Alright," he said quietly, barely audible over the crackling fire. "If you feel that strongly about it, then I'll stick around. Just, uh... calm down a bit, eh?"
Simonee cocked his head before Krionoso gestured at his hands. Simonee looked down and noticed that they had been shaking violently, and completely engulfed in white flame. Shaking his head quickly, he extinguished the magic that he hadn't even been aware he summoned and took a few calming breaths.
Aubs took the initiative to begin speaking next, "I think anyone would feel the same if they'd been through... that." It seemed she was speaking more to Simonee than to Krionoso, and the words had indeed reached him, calming his fury even further. For his part, Krionoso shot her a confused look. He hadn't been there when Simonee finally recounted the story of his past to his traveling companions back on the first leg of this whole asinine mission. Aubs looked at Simonee, who merely shook his head; he definitely did not feel like explaining it at the very moment.
"Maybe. I don't know. It was so long ago..." he muttered, suddenly ashamed that he'd almost lost it from memories alone. "Maybe I should just let it go and walk away."
Aubs shook her head and leveled a soft gaze at him, her lips curved in a small reassuring smile. Simonee couldn't help but notice the subtle way her golden hair flowed in the motion before falling back into place. "Nonsense. You're right to continue onward. Think of everyone who's lost to the Scourge. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for them. Krio and I were lucky that we've been reunited with our father, and each other. Not everyone can be as lucky."
"I admit, I'm coming around to the idea of having the old man around again," Krionoso agreed, chuckling. "Speaking of which, I can't just leave him doddering by your side and getting himself killed again. I'm in it for the long haul," he sighed, "whether I like it or not."
Their renewed enthusiasm was quickly becoming infectious, and Simonee couldn't help but laugh despite himself. "Alright, alright. If you think I've made my point, then I suppose I'll be glad to keep you around," he jested. "So who's on first watch?"
Krionoso volunteered immediately. "I'll do it," he said, already standing. "It'll be good to have the time to myself anyway."
Simonee nodded in thanks and yawned. "Well alright then. I'll take second watch."
"Nope. Leave that to me," said Aubs, immediately. "You're exhausted. Let us worry about it. I'll wake you in the morning."
Simonee was too tired to be awestruck by their generosity, but he was grateful nonetheless. "Thank you," he finally muttered after a few moments.
"Yeah, whatever," Krionoso replied with a smirk. "Go to sleep. We've got a lot of ground to cover tomorrow. I wanna be in Dalaran before nightfall."
Laughing, Simonee simply said, "Yes, sir," before collapsing into his bedroll. He felt lucky to be in such good company. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all...