The land was on fire. Dozens of creatures lay dead, their charred remains still smoking on the burning ground. The few living things that remained tried to wake up their fallen companions, but to no avail. They ran away. A figure in a black cloak appeared, chanting in an old language, the language of the dead. A scorched skeleton rose from the ashes, beginning to shamble around, trying to find something to kill. But nothing else lived in the fiery plain that had once been a dense forest. It turned around, a burning red light glowing deep inside its undead sockets.
Faith awoke with a start, clutching a small dagger in her hand. She didn't scream, but she felt her heart racing in her chest. A fine sweat coated her forehead. She swallowed, looking at the crystals above her head. She hadn't had a dream like that in a while.
Several feet away from her, Obandu was talking quietly to some of the members of the Earthen Ring. If they heard Faith waking up, they showed no indication of it.
She started thinking about the dream. Or the nightmare, as it had been. She recognized the place, although she'd only been there briefly while she'd been in Northrend. Grizzly Hills. But why would they be on fire, with a necromancer raising the dead? Most of the Scourge had been obliterated, as far as she knew. Of course, there were still pockets of resistance, people who refused to accept that Arthas was truly dead.
You can't think about that now. You have more immediate problems to tend to.
That was true. For the past few days, she had been busy healing. It was a slow process, with the shaman doing everything they could to take care of her, but it wasn't enough. She was feeling better, but she knew that the one shaman who could help her was Thrall. Unfortunately, he wasn't anywhere close to her at that moment. As a matter of fact, she had no clear idea of where he really was. Somewhere on the elemental plane, probably.
Obandu had also managed to lift the spell Thressa had put on her to keep her from doing magic. As soon as she'd felt herself capable of casting again, she began performing quick spells, getting rid of the humidity in the cave, conjuring little balls of light that floated on the ceiling to give them more visibility, and mending their clothes with the wave of a hand. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her magic until that very moment.
But the shaman wouldn't allow her to do anything else, preferring to have her rest so that she could save her strength because she still felt very weak. And because she was inactive, she had time to think.
She thought about Sylvanas and how she had left things with her. She thought about the way they had been before she had died, and berated herself for not having done something sooner about the way she'd felt about her.
"Yeh'll have time to tell her how yeh feel when yeh see her again," said Daegon. "Because yeh will see her again, yeh realize."
Faith smiled, "I know that I'll see her again. I just don't know whether she'll want to see me. We were so angry with each other, and I don't even remember why now."
"Yeh know why. I hear yeh talking about it in yer sleep."
"All right, I do know why. But it doesn't seem as important now. She… she killed herself and left me alone, but she came back. She says she came back for me, but I have no way of verifying that."
"Maybe it's the truth. Maybe she really did come back for yeh."
"Maybe."
She had spoken to Daegon about Sylvanas for the past couple of days. Daegon, understanding that she needed to talk about the relationship, didn't discourage her from discussing her feelings, although it was probably trying for him. His wife had been killed in one of the earthquakes that had rocked Dun Morogh.
The following day, Obandu came to tell them that the naga were stirring.
"We didn't kill them all," he said. "Some of them swam away and apparently found some friends. Our scouts report that there's a large contingent of naga amassing not far from here, preparing an attack. They look to have very skilled soldiers in their ranks."
Faith got to her feet and stretched out her hand towards the fire, which suddenly changed colors and grew in size, "And you have veterans of Northrend fighting at your side. I think that they won't find it so easy to subdue us when we can use our full powers."
"We need help, Faith. There aren't enough of us here to fight all of them."
"How many naga are we talking about?"
"A thousand, at least."
She blinked. A thousand naga? "Where in the world did they get so many forces?"
"All over the place, apparently," said one of the tauren. "They have spear launchers. We're going to be in trouble."
"Faith, you need to get to the surface and summon reinforcements."
"How? I can't just create a portal on a rock and hope that people won't fall into that nest of sharks up there! And I told you, I don't think this cave can hold a portal. The entire rock could collapse." But seeing the despair on their faces, she agreed to try. Maybe she'd be able to find a way to get help to the people who had rescued her.
"I'll come with yeh, lassie," said Daegon. "They'll need someone to help them breathe underwater once they arrive. And yeh'll need help against the sharks."
Faith nodded, and together, they got out of the cave, Faith performing a spell on them to keep their clothes dry while they swam to the surface.
It was anything but easy. For a while, they had no problem at all, but it didn't take long for the sharks to develop an interest in them. They were bigger than they had seemed, with wickedly sharp teeth, but they weren't mean, just hungry. And there were a lot of them, more than Faith and Daegon could conceivably fight at the same time.
"What do yeh want to do?" asked the dwarf.
"Come closer to me," she told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to her. Murmuring a few words, she created a thick barrier of ice around the two of them so that they could ascend to the surface without having to fight the creatures, but several times, the barrier cracked, forcing her to send out jets of frost so that they would leave them alone.
However, one particular shark refused to leave, and both of them had no choice but to fight. Since frost didn't seem to do the trick, Faith used fire. Underwater, the spell came out as searing water that hit the shark on the nose. Daegon, for his part, used a mace he had in his hands to hit the creature over the head so hard that blood gushed out of the wound, staining the water red.
"Get out of the way!" cried Faith.
As soon as the other sharks smelled blood, they rushed towards the injured predator, who had no chance to defend itself. It gave Faith and Daegon the time they needed to reach the surface, panting with the effort.
Faith hoisted herself onto the rock with trembling arms while her companion did the same. The area they were on was barely big enough to hold the two of them.
"How am I supposed to hold a portal here?" she asked. There didn't seem to be a surface big enough for what she needed. She took a minute to catch her breath, after which she began to examine the rock, but it had been aptly named. The Devil's Rock had nothing on it save for a bit of seaweed and mollusks clinging to it just beneath the surface of the water. "If I make a portal, it'll be one-way. Nobody will be able to come over unless they jump directly into the water."
"With the sharks," said Daegon grimly. "Doesn' look good, does it?"
With a shake of her head, Faith looked around, trying to find any kind of landmass on the horizon, but there was nothing. As far as she could see, there was only ocean surrounding them and nothing else. The rock they were on was more like a mountain peak, rising over a hundred feet into the air. "Is there anything you can do?"
"Yeh mean manipulate this rock so that it turns itself into a shelf of some kind? I cannot promise to make it, lassie."
"Let's see what you can manage. If we could have enough space to have at least two other people, it would be easier. I'd be able to send people in three at a time, and it might be enough to keep whoever's here from getting killed." She glanced at the water, seeing the sharks' fins gracefully moving around as the fish swam in circles.
"Maybe we should see if there's anything on the other side of the rock that could serve yeh better."
Faith just pointed to the sharks in the water. She wasn't swimming in that again unless she had to. "You want to try climbing?"
"Can yeh teleport yerself up there?"
"Teleport to the top of that peak… I don't know if that's advisable." She gave a sigh, "I'll try to climb, but if I fall in the water, I'm counting on you to save my life."
"No pressure then," said Daegon, laughing a little.
She started to hike up the rock, trying to find enough places to get a hold so that she wouldn't slip. She got lucky, and after five minutes, had climbed a little over fifteen feet, using magic to keep herself steady. It was then that she saw something on the horizon, very faint, but noticeable when the clouds dispersed and the sun came out in all its glory.
"Land!" she cried. "There's land over there!"
"Kin yer recognize it?" called Daegon up to her.
She couldn't. It was so far away that she couldn't even tell whether she was looking at Kalimdor or the Eastern Kingdoms. But it was good to know that land wasn't completely unreachable.
The rock was getting steeper and steeper. She wouldn't be able to climb it much longer, so she looked around to see whether there was any kind of area that could hold several people at once. "Oh!"
She went back to Daegon, who had heard her cry and was watching her expectantly.
"Did yeh find something, lassie?"
"I did! It's almost impossible to get to if we climb, but there's some kind of black beach that's perfect for what we need."
"And how do we get there?"
"We'll have to swim for it. Fast. It's around that bend over there," she pointed towards the side of the rock. "There's another bend there, and it's nestled right between them. It's not big, but I reckon a small boat could dock on that beach."
"So yeh want us to swim with sharks again. I thought yeh didn't want ter?"
"I changed my mind. Maybe they've become friendly since we got here."
They hadn't. If anything, the sharks had turned more aggressive, as they'd targeted them as a source of food. Less than twelve seconds into the water, Faith cried out as one of them grazed her arm. It would have bitten it right off had her ice barrier not kept it at bay. Daegon was luckier. He swam swiftly, occasionally using a spell to freeze the sharks where they were.
"Oh, this is ridiculous!" hissed Faith. She turned to face the latest predator, whose mouth looked gargantuan, and cast her black fire.
The shark stopped as if it had hit an invisible wall. The water around it had turned white with searing heat. On the surface, the salty liquid boiled, and Faith quickly had to move away to keep from burning herself.
"What was that?" cried Daegon.
"My black fire… underwater. I didn't think it would work like that."
"And here I thought the naga had strong underwater spells. That's something else, Faith!"
They finally reached the beach, which was covered in grainy black sand. "It's perfect," she said. "We could even build something here."
"Aye, we could. Nice find, lassie."
She sat down, conjuring a bit of water for her and Daegon to drink, along with a loaf of bread. "I need to rest before I can summon a portal. Mine only last about ten minutes, so I won't have a lot of time. I'll have to get mages to quickly plot the coordinates of this rock, or we won't be able to get back here."
A few minutes passed before Faith felt refreshed enough to begin the creation of a portal. She started to chant, and the air around her blurred with arcane energies that swirled and sparkled until finally, she saw the outline of Dalaran.
"Go on, Daegon," she told him.
"But…"
"Go on! If the portal closes, I can reopen it from here. But if it closes while I'm in Dalaran, you could be stuck here for a very long time."
Daegon quickly jumped through the portal, leaving Faith where she was. He wasn't gone long. A few minutes later, he reappeared with two men who wore the robes of the Kirin Tor.
"What is this place?" they asked.
"The realm of the naga. You'll find them about a hundred feet below the surface of the water, along with members of the Earthen Ring." She quickly explained the situation, learning that the two men were brothers, apprentices who had joined the order a mere two months previously.
"What would you like us to do?"
"Can you create portals?" she asked them.
"Yes. Large ones when it's the two of us."
"Good. Daegon, go back to Dalaran and get more mages. Tell them I sent you. Now, please, go."
"Yeh don't wanna go?"
"Of course I do, but I'm not about to let two apprentices stay here on their own. Go quickly before this one closes."
Daegon disappeared through the portal again. The two apprentices stared at Faith, "Who are you?" they asked.
"Faith Everstone. It's nice to meet you."
"My name is Darryn Wolfe," said the first man. "This is my twin brother Hugho."
"We're new to the craft," said Hugho. He had a scar on his forehead, which was the only way to distinguish him from his brother. Both of them were of medium height, with curly blond hair and a goatee. Their eyes were a velvety brown, reminding Faith of chocolate cream. They looked to be in their mid-twenties, young, but not teenagers.
"You can't be that new if you can already create portals," she said.
"No. What I mean to say is that we're new to the Kirin Tor. We were just regular mages in our town, and then Deathwing came and destroyed it."
"I'm sorry," she said.
Darryn was looking at her carefully, "Wait a minute, you're the Faith Everstone? The girl they have a memorial of in Dalaran?"
"They have a memorial for me in Dalaran?"
"Yes… everyone thought you were dead."
"Not dead, just… held captive."
Her portal went out, and the two brothers quickly worked on opening a new one. Almost as soon as it was created, Daegon stepped through it, bringing with him someone Faith knew very well.
"Master Krasus!" she cried.
Krasus stared at her for what seemed like an hour, but was really a few seconds. Without a word, he pulled her closer, giving her a long hug.
"Thank the aspects you're alive, Faith…"
Faith smiled and gently disengaged herself from the dragon mage. "I'd love to have a long reunion, Krasus, I really would, but our friends need some serious help down there."
Krasus nodded, "Other mages are on their way. They're bringing flyers so that we can map this area. Where in the world are we?"
"We're definitely on Azeroth," joked Faith. "I think we're close to the Eastern Kingdoms, but I really couldn't tell you where."
More people began to come through the portal, which Krasus helped to reinforce. When Archmage Modera appeared, Faith bowed to her.
"My goodness, Faith, we thought that Daegon was hallucinating when he said you were alive."
"I'm glad you came to investigate despite your misgivings, archmage."
Modera nodded, finding the nearest gryphon and climbing onto it. A moment later, she and four others took off, flying twice around the island before making their way towards the landmass Faith had seen on her climb.
"It's lucky you found this place," said Krasus. "We'll be able to have a minor base here." He nodded towards three mages who were already putting up magical wards around the small beach. "How many naga are there?"
"According to the scouts, one thousand."
Krasus whistled, "You guys must have done something to tick them off…"
"Sure we did. We escaped and killed one of their leaders."
He nodded, "All right. I'm going to want you to go to Dalaran and get yourself healed. You don't look like you're in any condition to battle anybody."
"I'm not going to leave the people who saved me alone to battle. Nor you, Krasus. I'm fighting alongside you."
Krasus tried to protest, but Faith put a hand over his mouth.
"No, Krasus."
"Ah, you know better than to argue with her when she's like this, my friend."
Faith turned around. "Rhonin!"
"Hi, Faith," he said. "You have no idea how good it is to know that you're all right." He pulled her into a hug. "Honestly. What were you thinking scaring us like that?"
"Blame Garrosh. He's the one who sent me here. All I did was follow orders."
"Right, of course. And that little mishap with Sylvanas?"
"You mean the part where she killed herself? Well, you can blame her for that. You couldn't expect me to just take it, could you?"
"You're still mad at her?"
Faith shook her head, "No, I'm not. Not really, anyway. I still can't believe that she did it, but…"
"Yes, she did. I saw her in Undercity when she had the memorial for you, Faith. It was terrible to see her that way. Not that it's a pleasure to see her in general because it brings up very bad memories, but to feel her grief for you… she didn't cry, but she didn't do much of anything else either. She stared at your tombstone as though looking at it hard enough could bring you back."
"I'm sure she's taken another lover by now," whispered Faith, not wanting to think about Sylvanas grieving for her.
"Don't be silly," said Krasus. "She laid waste to Gilneas in her grief for you. According to reports we've heard, she killed Prince Liam Greymane when she took the city."
"She what?" Faith stared at Krasus incredulously.
"We don't have much time to discuss it. But you need to go home. She'll be overjoyed to see you."
Faith was too busy trying to digest the fact that Sylvanas had killed the prince of Gilneas to notice Archmage Modera returning. She barely heard her say that they were close to the shores of Dun Morogh, which gave them a good basis for a semi-permanent portal.
"Once we have everyone clear of this place, we'll be able to close it so that the naga don't take advantage of it. But in the meantime, I'll alert the rest of the Council about this and send you more people. Is this all the space we have to work with?"
"You saw this place from the air, you tell us."
"Then we'll get some of the dwarves to help us with building something that will last a while here. It could be useful. Maybe a couple of towers and the like."
"They'll have to be high."
"And we can build something over the water as well to give us more space. Are you with us, Major Everstone?"
Faith came out of her reverie with a start, "Yes, Archmage, I'm with you."
"Good, then come back with me a while. You can tell us exactly what we need."
Faith followed her through the portal, breathing a sigh of relief when she stepped into Dalaran. Her head began to spin, and without exactly knowing how it happened, she fell to the ground, the strength all but sapped out of her.
She glared at the archmage, "What did you just do to me?"
"You need to rest, Faith. I know you want to help your friends, but you can't fight a battle in this condition. You should take a look at yourself. You can't even fully stand up straight because of your back. Daegon told us that it was broken when your ship went down."
"I've fought battles with worse injuries before."
"Yes, because you had no choice. You have a choice now, and I'm making it for you." She helped Faith stand, leading her to the Dalaran clinic where a small gnome with red and blue hair was waiting.
"Harlee, is that you?" asked Faith.
"Yes, Major! Now, what have you done to yourself this time?"
"I haven't done anything…"
"Of course not. And I've never had to heal you before. Come in, come in. Shall we call Lady Sylvanas?"
"No!"
"Faith, you –."
"No. I'll go back to Undercity when I feel ready for it. Right now, I'm just not ready to see Sylvanas again."
"You must tell her that you're alive."
"I will, but please allow me to do this in my own time. I'll compromise and let you tell Vereesa and the boys if you'd like."
"Done." Archmage Modera quickly left the clinic while Faith settled in. She was in no mood to stay inactive again after the times she had spent in the caves, but Harlee wouldn't take no for an answer, and quickly gave her a sleeping potion so that she would stay still while she worked on her.
The last thing Faith saw in her mind as she drifted off was Sylvanas. The image, taken from when she'd been alive, lulled her to oblivion, a small smile on her face as she closed her eyes.