Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Illidan set sail towards the east. He knew this would take a while as his goal was a great distance away. While he could just fly, that would take a lot of his energy and he still hasn't fully recovered. He would need to kill some creatures so he can regain his powers or take a rest somewhere safe. There was one place where he could do just that. While he was setting sail, he reflected about how he got to this point, about the specific days in which his life was changed forever
Zin Azshari, Ten Thousand Years Ago, One Year Before the War
The Elven Army had gotten a new recruit in the name of Illidan Stormrage. Like many of its members, he was not a member of the Quel'dorei but had successfully become a sorcerer in its ranks and as such, he was assigned to the Moon Guard, quickly rising among its ranks as he was a talented sorcerer
In these times, the remnants of the original troll empire, the very same ones that was dismantled by the night elves, have begun some skirmishes. It wasn't enough to escalate into a full blown conflict but it was still enough to cause the Elven Army some trouble
As such, the Elven Army's leader, Lord Kur'talos Ravencrest, has declared to hunt down all the trolls and retain peace to the empire. The trolls have been causing troubles before but not to the extent where villages or cities were being threatened. The Elven Army have hunted them down and have successfully located the trolls' main base. The problem was that a group of trolls were going to attack Zin Azshari itself in a desperate attempt to kill Queen Azshara herself
The Elven Army quickly realized that this was to buy them time to retreat and try again another time. Since Azshara herself was the target, they decided to put all available forces they had to defend Zin Azshari, including Ravencrest but in doing so, this would guarantee that the trolls would escape once more. Ravencrest realized this and ordered Illidan to gather a small group to finish them off. This decision was questionable as this would be Illidan's first time to command an operation. Ravencrest was aware of this but nonetheless stood by his decision as Illidan could use some more experience and even if the trolls escape, they would simply hunt them down again
Illidan obeyed his commanding officer and left. His group soon arrived in the city of Aenthalas, the closest city to the trolls' main and last base, only one mile out. The night elf was then informed that the Aenthalas guards have discovered that before the trolls would leave, they would attack the village of Mfelume, a village that was near defenseless as it wasn't that far from Aenthalas
"Why would the trolls bother to attack a village at this point?" one of Illidan's soldiers asked
"To get hostages." Illidan answered after a while of silence which confused all the other soldiers. "It's always safe to have a backup plan whenever your on your last legs. If they get a few hostages, they can use that as bargaining chips. Either that or they just want to indulge themselves." he explained. "Leave ten groups of seven soldiers to guard this city and make sure the rest of this region is safe. The rest of you, with me." he ordered
It didn't take long for Illidan's group to lay in the outskirts of Mfelume. To his soldier's surprise, he didn't order anyone to enter the village. He ordered everyone to hide in the trees. Soon enough, the intel from Aenthalas was proven solid, a group of trolls raided the village and since it was defenseless, they were able to effortlessly capture a lot of villagers. Half way into their raid, Illidan ordered the attack and led by flinging spell after spell, killing many of the trolls. The trolls were caught completely off guard as they were busy with their hostages so it didn't take long for Illidan's group to finish them all off. The only casualties they suffered were only the villagers and no military
"We have to tend to the villagers." one of the soldiers said in worry but Illidan put a hand on her shoulder
"No." Illidan said and surprised his group once more. "Sooner or later, someone from Aenthalas would come to check. Our top priority right now is to end the troll threat once and for all." he said and led the way towards the troll's base with his troops following albeit very reluctantly
They soon arrived right in the outskirts of the troll's base, which was hidden among some hills and trees. He had his troops surround the base while he himself and a few troops would go through the main entrance. As the trolls were still expecting their hostages or busy packing up, they were caught completely off guard by Illidan, who used his magics to kill the main entrance guards in seconds while other troops arrived from the only other entrance which was some distance east of the main one. Archers rained down arrows from the hills the base was using as cover while many swordsmen just attacked. The trolls fought back and were able to kill a few of the night elves but eventually, they were all killed and their leader, instead of being captured alive, was killed by Illidan himself who burned the body to cinders. His troops were shocked at this turn of events but they really couldn't argue with that simply because the whole objective was to end the rebellion and the fact that Illidan was the one in charge
They soon went back and as Illidan predicted, some guards from Aenthalas came and tended to the Mfelume villagers. He was questioned about if he arrived too late but he admitted that he let the trolls attack just to end this once and for all, much to their surprise. A few hours later, his group returned to Zin Azshari. Illidan expected that he would get a hero's welcome or something similar as after all, he was the one who personally ended the rebellion. Instead, what he got was criticisms from not only some of the Elven Army's high ranking officers, but from his own brother as well, who had come earlier to the palace
The would be demon hunter was surprised at this turn of events. He never expected the backlash to be so severe especially since the objective given was to end the troll rebellion once and for all but ultimately, Azshara herself was to give the verdict and as such, it was to be delayed until the next day
The next day, Illidan was brought before Azshara into what was a meeting room with many other high ranking officers, including Ravencrest and guests like Malfurion and Tyrande
"Illidan Stormrage, did you truly order your troops to let the village of Mfelume get attacked before doing anything against the trolls?" a judge asked
"I did." Illidan said without hesitation and in his face reflected determination with no regrets
A tense silence soon took over. Nobody knew what to say aside from the criticisms he got the day before
"No sanctions shall be given to Illidan Stormrage, a member of the Moon Guard." Azshara said, breaking the silence
"But my queen, he let civilians get hurt." commander Varo'then objected
"Be that as it may, Illidan has ended this rebellion that has happened over the last five years. However, he will no longer be allowed to take command. He will perform his duties on his own and only under the eye of a commanding officer. Otherwise, no one shall do anything to him unless he is found guilty of a crime." Azshara declared
"But, your royal highness..." many of those present said but when Azshara had a strict look on her face, the stopped. "Apologies, light of the moon. It will not happen again." one of them said as they knew what would happen to anyone who would dare disobey her
"Good. Regardless, this is now over. Dismissed." Azshara said and everyone left, giving Illidan some glares, which he ignored
Illidan was the last one to leave the room and when he did, Tyrande came and hugged him
"Illidan. I was scared what would happen." Tyrande said after giving a quick hug to her close friend
Malfurion came too and also gave his twin a quick hug. "I was as well, brother. But tell me, why did you do that?"
"Because it was an opportunity. If those trolls got away once more, we would have lost more military lives and they would cause chaos sometime soon. By letting them attack the village, they let their guards down, enough for me to take advantage of." Illidan explained without hesitation
"Illidan, those were innocents, how could you?" Tyrande said in complete disbelief
"How many more would die if the trolls managed to escape us once more? I couldn't exactly leave Aenthalas defenseless as it is in charge of that whole region." Illidan argued. He had a good point but what he did was morally wrong
"At least that's over with. I just hope you realize that this wasn't the right call, Illidan." Malfurion sighed out
"I do but it was one I made anyway." Illidan replied. While he didn't think what he did was wrong, he really didn't want to discuss it with them further and they all decided to get some food
Later, Illidan was summoned to Ravencrest's office so he left his brother and Tyrande to see what this was about. "You called for me, my lord?" he asked as he entered the office
"Leave us." Ravencrest ordered to the guard in the room, who bowed in respect before leaving. "Take a seat." he said and Illidan did just that. "Just be honest with me, Illidan. Why did you let Mfelume Village get attacked?"
"To end the rebellion. If I stayed in the village when they attacked, the battle would be prolonged and without a doubt, they would inform their main base and they could have escaped. I could not allow that as this has been going on for years." Illidan answered, his voice having no sense of regret
Ravencrest stared at his subordinate for a few minutes and noticed that his expression was unwavering and that he truly believed that what he did was right. "I can understand you." he said eventually, surprising Illidan
"So, you're not discharging me from duty?" Illidan asked in surprised
Ravencrest merely shook his head. "No. Queen Azshara has ordered that the only sentence is that you won't be allowed in a commanding position." he reminded Illidan. "As I said, I can understand your decision however, I do not necessarily agree with it. That is why I never voiced my thoughts yesterday."
"I understand. So, why did you summon me here?" Illidan asked
"Because I want to train you." Ravencrest answered and got a curious look. "I have spoken with Queen Azshara after the meeting and she has said that you will be allowed to continue your duties except you will now be a lone agent, so to speak. As such, I want to train you on how to fight without using magic."
"You mean by using a sword." Illidan pointed out
"Yes. Since you have joined, you have always relied on magic. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, you will be doing your duties alone as per the queen's orders and eventually, you might end up fighting someone who cannot be defeated with magic alone..." Ravencrest trailed off
"So, you want me to be ready for that possibility." Illidan finished
"Yes. You are among the Moon Guard's most talented sorcerers and your ability to analyze the situation is highly useful. It would be a shame if we lose you all because you cannot take command and you have to do something yourself." Ravencrest explained. "So, do you agree to it?"
"I do." Illidan said and made a very thankful face
"We will begin tomorrow." Ravencrest said and Illidan nodded. "You may go now." he said and Illidan bowed before leaving
Seven months later
Ever since that fateful day, Illidan was trained by Ravencrest nearly every single day. It started with a simple swordsmanship battle between the two for the first few weeks, before Illidan was given the task to hunt down a wild beast. He had trouble at first as fighting beasts was different to fighting a person. He eventually managed to figure out how to adapt and he was quickly trained to surive in the wilds, which was far more difficult that simply hunting wild beasts. He to learn how to build makeshift homes, be on his guard even when asleep and more importantly, not reveal his location. Building makeshift homes has been, without a doubt, the most difficult one for him to learn. Learning to fight wasn't too difficult and he learn to be a competent, but not that great, fighter in only four months and it wasn't too hard to adapt to hunting. After nearly seven months of training, Illidan became a competent warrior. His ability to fight had a great room for improvement as most of it was merely rushed and spellcasting was still his main method but having a backup fighting style was something the would be demon hunter welcomed
Seven months into his training, he was training by himself as Ravencrest had taught him all the fundementals. While he was training, he was suddenly summoned to appear before Azshara in her personal quarters. This confused Illidan but since it was Azshara who ordered, he had no choice but to obey. He arrived at the entrance to Azshara's quarters and informed the guard he was to see her. The guard expected this and allowed him entrance. Once inside, he found that it was only him and the queen in the room. Not a single one of her handmaidens were there
"You called for me, my queen?" Illidan asked curiously
"Yes. Do you remember the day when many high ranking officers wanted to give you a sentence?" Azshara asked
"I do. You were the one that even had them stand down." Illidan reminded her
"That is why I have asked you to come here." Azshara answered and confused the would be demon hunter. "From what I have heard, Lord Ravencrest has trained you to learn how to fight without using your magics, is that right?"
"Yes, my queen. As of now, I am merely training by myself as Lord Ravencrest has taught me everything I need to know." Illidan answered
"Please, just call me Azshara when we're alone." the queen said, much to his surprise. "Now, on to why I summoned you here. I want to train you myself in both the arcane and in fighting." she said. Illidan looked at her in surprise and thought she was joking. He could understand the arcane but fighting? Since when had the queen been able to fight. However, he soon realized that Azshara was serious about this. "Illidan, the reason why I have ordered no harsh sanction is because I believed that was the right call. It wasn't even a sanction. I only did that to satisfy them. What many don't realize is that there will be times to make these kinds of decisions. There wasn't really anyhing like this for a long time and it isn't surprising that nobody had to make that kind of decision. That was something that truly impressed me. That was your first time ever taking command even though it was only a small unit and you ended the rebellion. Many believe that the first priority is saving the civilians but that's only half true. Yours, and every other soldier's, top priority is to ensure the empire's safety. I can understand why you did that as they would have escaped and would cause trouble later. There will always be a price to pay for a victory, no matter how big or small."
Illidan just stared at here in surprise. She was the second one that actually supported his decision on that day. Ravencrest didn't count as he was mostly neutral on it. "You have my gratitude, Azshara. But how exactly are you gonna train me to fight and more importantly, why?"
Azshara merely smiled at this and got up before walking towards him. "Because we need more people like you. You may think that the empire is safe but that is a lie. Our world has a very dark secret, one where I believe only myself and a few handfuls of individuals in the world are aware of, none of which are night elves. I will not inform you what it is right now but soon, I don't know how long, this secret will reveal itself and we will need someone like you to fight them." she answered
"That still doesn't explain how you're gonna be able to train me." Illidan pointed out
"I don't blame you. Now, try to kill me." Azshara said, much to Illidan's surprise
"Pardon?" Illidan asked
"You heard me right, Illidan. You were trained in hand to hand and sword fighting right?" Azshara asked and threw a sword which was hidden in her quarters at him. "Try to kill me and you'll find out what I mean."
Illidan was confused at what Azshara was getting at and eventually agreed to it. He attacked Azshara, who didn't have anything to use as a weapon, with a sword slash. To his surprise, Azshara merely side stepped and dodged it perfectly before she lightly pushed him back. This made Illidan realize that she wasn't joking at all. He quickly resumed his attacks, this time accompanying his slashes with kicks, all of which were dodged effortlessly. Azshara eventually disarmed Illidan by kicking the sword away and in that moment of distraction, she jumped and wrapped the back of one of her knees at Illidan's neck and flung him across the room
The would be demon hunter got up soon after that and noticed that Azshara had a smirk on her face. She helped him get up as he was still shocked at all of this. "So, does that answer your question?" she asked
"Have you always been able to fight like this?" Illidan asked in surprise
"For a long time now, yes. I have kept it a secret but in all honesty, I keep observing things myself, picking up things that others missed but I never revealed it to anyone." Azshara answered before noticing a concerned look on his face and she immediately knew what it was about. "Don't worry about it. When you entered, I cast a spell that would keep any sound from going out of the room. No one knows what we did or what we have talked about."
"I see." Illidan said and stared at the queen
"I do have a favor to ask of you." Azshara said and got a curious look. "Keep my true nature a secret." she said and received a nod of understanding. "If you do agree to this, I have one condition for you, do not use the training I give you unless you absolutely need it. If you agree to be trained by me, you will learn not to be a warrior but as a hunter."
"A hunter? What's the difference between hunter and warrior?" Illidan asked in confusion
"Merely how they operate. Warriors usually believe in fair battle and honor while hunters would go for the kill first chance they get and abuse any advantage even if it's unfair. Similar to hunting wild animals where you don't allow the animals the chance to escape or fight back. So, what do you say, Illidan Stormrage? Do you accept?" Azshara asked and extended her hand
Illidan smirked at this and shook Azshara's hand. "I do, Queen Azsahara." he answered
The Kaldorei Empire controlled a vast amount of territory, most of which were just thick forests with nothing but wild animals in it. Most of the other sentient creatures have built civilizations somewhere else. With Azshara's vast knowledge of the arcane, it became almost child's play for her to personally train Illidan in these forests without drawing anyone's attention. Due to the light sanction he received, and the fact that most of Zin Azshari were not particularly keen about him, Illidan was able to slip out unnoticed, taking advantage of the fact that many were happy if he went out of the palace and since Azshara was the most powerful wielder of the arcane, barring dragons, she was also able to slip out effortlessly and without drawing attention. If something needed her attention back at the palace then she would simply teleport to her quarters. Even her handmaidens, except for one, didn't notice anything amiss as they were free to do whatever they want unless Azshara herself orders them around her
The two of them repeated this for the next four months, with Azshara using a powerful illusion spell to hide their tracks whenever she was teaching him magic and not fighting. The most significant thing that Azshara had taught Illidan was how to dematerialize and materialize objects at will, effectively allowing him to have a weapon whenever he needs found this to be very intruiging but he chose not to use it on any of his training weapons, something which Azshara agreed with as the training weapons, despite being actual weapons, were just that and easily replaceable. This technique also uses a piece of the user's soul to be able to make an object vanish or reappear at will and the user's current location and doing it too much would kill the user. As such, she suggested that he find a weapon that he would claim to be his and only bind that or something of great significance as this technique could also be used to hide objects. Illidan then realized that this technique could potentially leave an object hidden forever unless someone figures out the nature of this technique, which Azshara called as 'Soul Shackles'
They only trained for four months and Illidan had improved a great deal. At this point, Azshara was certain that Illidan could defeat many of the Elven Army's high ranking officers in a fair duel. This was mainly due to what Azshara trained him in, speed, agility, reflexes and reaction time. Azshara also taught him a lot of magical spells but not as much as the physical training. The only trick that Azshara taught him was how to hide his presence via invisibility. Illidan learned it fairly easily but was warned that more powerful beings might still be able to know about his presence even if they don't see exactly where he is. By focusing on speed and reaction time, Illidan would be able to use Ravencrest's training but this time, to much greater effect. What is perhaps the most important thing that Illidan was taught, is to never give his enemies an advantage no matter how small even if it means fighting dirty, something which Illidan had no qualms learning about
One day during training, Azshara entered one of the thick forests and noticed that Illidan wasn't there, much to her surprise. She figured that he was just caught up and decided to find a place to sit down. As soon as she found one, she quickly put her staff out, just in time to block a sword attack. Azshara wasn't even annoyed at this as Illidan had done this before but she had always been able to beat him before continuing the training so she assumed this would just be the same. For most of the fight, it was, until Illidan was able to disarm her and forced her to drop her staff. Azshara quickly evened the playing field by being aggressive and kicking his sword away. The duo then engaged in hand to hand combat for the next few minutes with Azshara having an advantage but Illidan still put up a good fight, until Azshara realized too late that she was baited to take the engagement near to where Illidan's sword had landed so that he could step on the handle and make it jump in the air. He quickly caught it and slashed Azshara, who moved away in time but she was inflicted a slight wound on her left arm
Azshara reeled from the injury before taking a good look at it. "You're ready." she said, surprising Illidan
"What?" he asked in confusion
"You're ready." Azshara repeated herself. "You have learned all that I have been trying to teach you. I almost didn't even notice your presence, granted I did use the well's power to make your training far quicker than it normally would. Regardless, ever since I learned how to fight, you are the only one that ever managed to land a wound on me. You have done well." she said as she used her magic to heal the wound
"So, you're saying that all you waited for was for me to be able to inflict a wound on you?" Illidan asked in confusion and surprise
"Exactly. I have to admit I was surprised that you never gave up even though I showed you no mercy and that I nearly killed you more than a few times. Most wouldn't even consider that as training anymore." Azshara said and walked back the way she came. "Our training is over and I am glad you remained the way you are. As I told you before, when this world's dark secret reveals itself, we will need someone with your attitude to fight them back." she said before teleporting back to the palace
Illidan merely looked at where Azshara was, completely surprised at the queen's blunt personality. But by now, he had gotten used to Azshara's true nature, a cunning, and deadly assassin and sorceress. The would be demon hunter had all the intention to keep his word, both in keeping her secret and not using his new training unless he absolutely needs it. After a few minutes of using some magics taught by Azshara to heal his wounds, he returned back to the palace. When he arrived back, he realized that the sun was starting to set. He didn't really mind it and just went straight to his quarters. A few minutes later, he heard someone knocking at his door and he let the person in. He was surprised that Lady Vashj, one of Azshara's handmaidens, had brought him some food. The two of them had become friends over the past year and she was one of the few that supported Illidan's choice in Mfelume village. She admitted that just a few weeks after Ravencrest began to train him. Much to Illidan's surprise, Vashj has a carefree personality when not serving Azshara, unlike many of the others who were rather zealous or arrogant. The two of them got along very well since Vashj was the only one that wasn't giving the would be demon hunter a hard time because of the Mfelume incident. As such, Illidan usually spends his free time with her when in the palace and not visiting his brother or Tyrande
"Vashj? What are you doing here?" Illidan asked in surprise as she put the food on the table
"Just visiting a friend. Is that really surprising?" Vashj asked with a smirk
"No but I'm surprised why you would visit me out of nowhere." Illidan pointed out as he let her in
"Well, I thought you'd be tired after training with the queen. I have to admit, I was surprised that you agreed to it." Vashj answered and surprised Illidan
"You know about that? All this time?" Illidan asked in surprise
Vashj didn't bother to give a direct answer and merely nodded her head. "Unlike many of the others, including my mother, I'm not just Azshara's handmaiden, I'm also her advisor. Of course, she has told me not to tell anyone. While officially Xavius holds that position, Azshara doesn't trust him that much. Just like you, she has also told me this world has a dark secret." she answered as she took a seat
"What is it?" Illidan asked curiously
"No idea. Azshara never told me the details. That's actually part of why I came here. I thought you might know." Vashj answered and Illidan merely stared at her before they decided to eat
Two Months Later
The Burning Legion had already arrived. For most of the battle, Illidan spent his time in the palace, not joining in and he didn't even bother to report to Lord Ravencrest while spending his time learning more about the demon's magics
Sometime later, Malfurion managed to visit Illidan and the only reason he managed so is because he hadn't made a name for himself in the war yet. As such, nobody realized he was with the resistance and his disguise did help. Malfurion tried to convince Illidan to leave the Highborne but he responded that he won't be able to make that kind of decision immediately and instead just said he would use his magic to give his response. Malfurion then quickly left the palace before anyone significant realizes which side he truly was as he only disguised himself as someone who just wanted to visit his brother
Illidan watched from a balcony as his brother left the palace. In the distance he could see the forests burning. However, he was more intrigued by the Legion, wondering what their goal was. He was genuinely curious about that but knew that he would not get any answer just by asking and decided to find a way do something for the Legion. Fortunately, Deathwing's madness just a few hours earlier gave Illidan the excuse he needed. So, before he decides which side to take, he wanted to know more about the Legion. He offered his plan to Azshara who then brought him Sargeras, who burned out his eyes and gave him a new vision after appreciating his plan to help the Legion. With a little help from the Highborne, Illidan managed to snatch away the demon soul from Deathwing. He did lose the group that went with him, save for Varo'then, but was able to evade the wrath of the fallen aspect. Illidan then gave the demon soul to Archimonde, who would take it from there
"You have done well, Stormrage. This will serve us well." Archimonde said. Usually he would be in the front line but with the new plan from Illidan, Sargeras instructed him to return back to the palace and personally oversee this
"What exactly do you hope to accomplish by wiping out all life?" Illidan asked out of nowhere. Many of the demons attempted to kill him for his insolence along with the Highborne but both Archimonde and Azshara were surprised at this bold act and the demon lord ordered them all to stand down
Archimonde let out a small laughter at the blind night elf's question before deciding to humor him. "To you, we may be destroyers however, in time, you will realize that the Burning Legion is nothing more than the lesser of two evils." he said before handing over the demon soul to the Highborne spellcasters and giving them instructions
Illidan grew curious at this as he realized that Archimonde was not going to give a direct answer and looked at Azshara, who gave a look of understanding. It was then that he understood why Azshara, the queen that portrayed herself as a carefree attention whore, but in reality a very dangerous and cunning person, had allowed something like this to happen. She was using the Burning Legion to destroy this world's dark secret. He loitered about for a few minutes, observing what was going on before heading towards a balcony
"I see you have noticed it." a voice said. Illidan looked around and realized it was Vashj. Due to his blindness, he still wasn't used to seeing people differently from he did before
"Yes. Despite everything the Legion is doing, they actually have the nerve to consider themselves as 'lesser evils'." Illidan stated before looking at the burning forests
"That simply means that the dark secret Azshara talked about is far worse than what the Legion is." Vashj said before moving beside Illidan. "You should go."
"What?" Illidan asked in confusion
"I'm aware that Malfurion visited you recently and I think you should go and help the resistance." Vashj said and Illidan raised an eyebrow in confusion on what she means. "After that Mfelume incident, it was rather surprising that Azshara trained you and I am still confused, at least until the Legion came. Our empire has never been endangered since it was founded, not in this way at least. I can understand her motivations for training you because this kind of enemy would need someone of your attitude to fight and I can tell that once you set your mind to something, you won't let anyone or anything but death stop you from doing it."
"If you agree that the Legion is merely a lesser evil and that there truly is something much worse than them out there, why would you oppose them?" Illidan asked
"I'm honestly not sure. I don't know what would cause the Burning Legion to consider themselves as lesser evils but I also don't want to see our world destroyed. I really don't know what to do. I just want the Burning Legion and whatever this world's dark secret is to be destroyed. I really liked the peaceful times." Vashj said honestly. "It's why I think you should go help them. Only you truly know what we face and I don't think the dragon aspects would take action against the 'dark secret' considering they were even late to this war."
Illidan merely stared at what was possibly his only friend in the whole of Zin Azshari and wondered what was the right choice. He glanced towards Azshara, who was occupied, and inwardly grinned, making sure that Vashj wouldn't be able to guess what was on his mind. "Alright. I'll do it. I don't really think that the Legion would keep us alive even if we helped them anyway." he said eventually
Vashj smiled at this even though she knew Illidan could no longer tell if someone was smiling. "Before you go, take these." she said and handed Illidan two blue orbs with purple runes
Despite his blindness, Illidan immediately realized what they were and when he did, he realized that Azshara too was merely feigning allegiance to the Burning Legion otherwise Vashj would be so dead. "The resonance orbs? How did you get these?" he asked in pure surprise. Illidan knew what these were as Azshara had told him about the objects including how to use them, granted he never got any firsthand practice
"I stole it from Azshara's quarters. No one knows about this except the three of us." Vashj answered before she put the orbs in Illidan's hands. As soon as Illidan prepared to jump down the balcony, Vashj hugged him first
Illidan was surprised at this but returned the hug. "I'll see you soon." he said before jumping down the balcony and quickly killing the Highborne and demon guards. As soon as he was safe, he used the technique Azshara taught him, the soul shackles, and made the orbs disappear, turned into magical particles. Illidan then disappeared into the forest
"Surprising. Who would have thought you would grow attached to him." a voice said. Vashj turned around and saw Azshara coming towards her. "You do realize that by asking that of Illidan, you're basically ensuring that you won't get the chance to be with him?"
"You still haven't told us who or what yours and the Legion's enemy is." Vashj pointed out
"I know, you don't need to remind me." Azshara said as she smiled at Vashj. "I knew I made the right choice for my personal advisor, the one I could share my secrets. You did well, Vashj." she said and merely got a confused look in return. "The dark secret that I told you and Illidan about, is far worse. I have not given you any reason to distrust me." she said in a serious tone before looking at Vashj. "Once you find out who or what they are, you will realize that the Legion is preferable to them. However, I am glad you managed to convince Illidan."
"You're not upset with it?" Vashj said in surprise
"I'm not. My whole intention is to have the Legion destroy them for us but considering Illidan's personality, I know that he won't stop until he destroys them. If the resistance does manage to succeed, then at least one of them is aware of what is truly going on. Although I still am concerned on what Illidan's true motivations is." Azshara answered and walked back before Archimonde notices something
Vashj took all of this in. She didn't know if Illidan returned her feelings but the queen was right. Whatever the real enemy is, Illidan would not stop until it was destroyed
In the meantime, Illidan came across a group of demons advancing in a forest. One of them was holding a very fancy weapon. It was a double edged spear with the blade on one end being larger than the other. On the larger blade end of the spear were two more blades. These two blades looked exactly alike and like the others on both ends of the spear, they were green in color. The twin blades were attached to the pole of the spear, making the weapon look like a hybrid of a battle axe and double edged spear. Illidan observed them and it took him quite a while to realize that the wielder of said weapon was a Doom Guard. Instead of bothering to wait, Illidan simply ambushed them all and he didn't bother to take his time. He used all of his training he got from Azshara to quickly defeat all the demons before they could even respond. It was rather easy to do as they were all Fel Guards or Succubi
"You dare attack Azzinoth?" the Doom Guard said as soon as all of his troops was killed. Illidan didn't respond and merely picked up a a Fel Guard's blade and threw it at the Doom Guard. Azzinoth swatted it away and noticed a huge stream of fire, ice and lightning all combined into one spell
Illidan knew that Doom Guards are highly resistant to magic so he had to use a very powerful spell to inflict damage. He was aware that sooner or later, more demons would wander through or near this area so he had to kill Azzinoth as soon as possible. As such, the spell he used was the only one he would use and he would just slice up the demon. To his surprise, Azzinoth was greater than most of the other Doom Guards. He was able to parry some of Illidan's attacks. Azzinoth attempted to counter attack and even used a spell to slow down Illidan's movements and managed to hit him with a flame spell. Azzinoth managed to knock Illidan down to the ground with the help of that cripple spell. The Doom Guard went for the kill and brought down the axe. Illidan barely managed to roll over to the side before firing a lightning bolt. It barely did damage but it distracted the Doom Guard long enough for Illidan to go invisible
Azzinoth looked around in fury that his enemy escaped and before he could try something, A blade suddenly pierced him from behind. The Doom Guard immediately turned around but another blade hit him right in the head. Illidan, now that the cripple spell had worn off, used his invisibility and superior speed to outmaneuver and kill the Doom Guard. He then observed the weapon the Doom Guard wielded and realized it was too large for him to wield. Not only that, he also learned that the magics on it could not be used by him. A small laugh got his attention and he looked at the defeated Doom Guard
"Foolish elf. That weapon only responds to me. I am its wielder." Azzinoth laughed before he died
Illidan was already well aware of how demons die and realized that for as long as Azzinoth's soul is alive, this axe will only respond to him. "Let's see how true that is." he said and materialized one of the resonance orbs. Illidan then used the orb to trap Azzinoth's soul before destroying it, killing the demon for good despite not being in the Twisting Nether. As soon as he grabbed hold of the axe, he felt and saw the magic respond to him, indicating that he was the new wielder. The problem still remained, it was too large so he decided to just take it with him and fled the immediate area when he heard the voices of more demons. He found a cave nearby and inside, he carefully used the axe's magics to shatter itself into different parts. After nearly an hour of trial and error, Illidan finally got it and the handle shattered, leaving only the twin axe blades and the two ends of the spear. Using the shattered handle, Illidan made a handle on the axe blades so it can be wielded like regular, albeit double edged sword. Using the same technique, he had the spear ends dematerialize and wielded the axe blades as he new weapons, finally finding weapons to use the Soul Shackles on. From there, he moved out, killing a few Highborne and demons on his way to the resistance
Present Day
Illidan was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed some more ships in front of his own. Thanks to the crystal Kel'thuzad had given him and Gul'dan's memories, he knew exactly whose ships these were
So, here it is. The new backstory for Illidan. Now, as you might have noticed, Illidan's motivations aren't mentioned in this chapter, only what happened to him. I did that for two reasons, one, this chapter is already long enough as it is and two, I felt that it's far too early. The demon hunter's true motivations will come at a later chapter. The part about that trial was somewhat lame. I really have no idea what an actual trial is like and I don't particularly care to add that many details since this is already very long
And as I said, I will include a bit of romance. I just decided it to be Vashj and Illidan because why not. I've always thought that when I first played Warcraft III and when I read her dialogue in TBC where it seemed like she basically abandoned Azshara and served Illidan instead. Well, not to that extent but still. Also, this will be full of conflict since the original story is literally named 'Warcraft' so it's only natural there be a lot of wars
Those names, Aenthalas and Mfelume, I just made them up and are not meant to portray actual real life people or organizations
I also gave the backstory on how Illidan got his signature weapons. I'm really confused on why the part of Azzinoth and Illidan was never revealed, even after WoW Legion so I decided to give it one myself. The blades of the spear were the Falchion blades mentioned before while the axe blades are the Twin Blades. For future reference, Illidan's weapons will be referred to as 'falchion blades', which is the one I made up, and 'twin blades', which is the one from the canon, the Blades of Azzinoth
Now, onto some more information. I'm not sure what the Kaldorei Army was called. The only thing I could find was the Sentinels but that was after WotA. The same goes for Ravencrest being in command. There was no single commander so I decided to put in Ravencrest in that position. I don't think that is unreasonable as he was the first leader of the resistance before he was killed. Also, I didn't bother to give a proper name for the kaldorei army as they will have no further relevance in the story
Lastly, don't start thinking that this is gonna have a lot of Vashj / Illidan moments. It won't and I will spoil it right now