Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft


Borean Tundra, Northrend, Eight Days Later

All over the area, the scourge was busy fighting off the local creatures that were attacking their outposts. They made a few trips now and then over the last few days so they can begin the next battle. Illidan did not want to delay this for whatever reason and chose Northrend as the battlefield because the continent had no relevance to him whatsoever since he made his main stronghold at the corrupted sunwell and because of Deathwing. When he was still Neltharion, he had control over the earth. If Deathwing still had any trace of his former powers, then it would be a disaster if the fallen aspect takes the Eastern Kingdoms down with him

Just outside Coldarra on Northrend's western coast, Naxxramas was floating right outside the island with the blue dragonflight gathering around

While Malygos and Illidan were overlooking the tundra at its highest point, Kel'thuzad approached them. "My king, everything has been prepared." he said

"What about our backup plan?" Illidan asked

"It has been spread around different areas in Northrend should we need it and we made sure to be very discreet. The Old Gods should not be aware of its existence." Kel'thuzad answered

"And the Eye?" Illidan asked

"As you ordered, it is in Coldarra in its most secure chambers." Kel'thuzad replied

"Illidan, once we do this, you will only further justify to the night elves why you were imprisoned in the first place." Malygos warned

"Like it really matters." Illidan countered. "Besides, wouldn't you be in trouble with Alexstrasza yourself?" he asked. "Lich, what about the areas for the ritual? Are they secure?"

"For now, yes, my king. The local creatures have not taken kindly to our takeover of the tundra and have begun trying to attack our holdings but we have been able to hold them back. The defenses we have begun building are finished and will hold the line however, I doubt it will be of much help against Deathwing." Kel'thuzad replied

"They weren't meant to fight Deathwing anyway." Illidan said before walking to the edge. "Now, let's do this." he said and flew away. Malygos transformed to his dragon form and followed the demon hunter's lead. The rest of the dragonflight flew to different areas in the tundra with each of them being controlled by the undead, a ritual circle in the center of the areas and a small army of undead guarding them

At certain locations in the western coastline and various areas that borders the tundra from Dragonblight and Sholazar Basin, the ritual circles were activated by the liches. Blue beams of energy rose from each of the ritual sites heading in an arc towards the center of the tundra. A few seconds later, the energy beams grew stronger and transformed into a massive energy field that isolated the entirety of the Borean Tundra from the rest of Northrend

Upon the energy field being completely formed, all creatures that weren't undead or dragons were suddenly affected by a modified version of the undead plague. The magnataur, tuskarr, nerubians and ice trolls within the energy field were dying from the plague at a very rapid rate. Unlike the original plague, this one was only meant to kill and not reanimate anyone who died

The red dragons who were in the Wyrmrest Temple all the way in southern northrend saw the energy field go up and instantly felt something different about the atmosphere

"What's going on?" one of the dragons asked

"Over there." another dragon said while pointing to the Borean Tundra. "Is this what Lady Alexstrasza confronted Malygos about?"

"It could be. Malygos has been working with the undead for a few months now so it's safe to say that they will both benefit from this." a third dragon said

"We have to warn the Dragonqueen." a fourth dragon said and they all looked towards Korialstrasz

"I will inform Lady Alexstrasza myself. She is in Kalimdor at this moment. Some of you investigate this and see what is going on and stop it if you can. If things get out of hand, evacuate." Korialstrasz ordered and quickly left. Other dragons left afterwards flying straight for the tundra

Twelve dragons flew towards the edge of the energy field and saw multiple undead armies standing guard. What they found really surprising is that the frost wyrms were just on the ground. Not a single one of them was airborne and every undead outpost was merely watching them fly

"They seem not to take any offense of us flying this close to their activities." one of the dragons noted. "We can use this chance to get through this field." he said. Before the other red dragons could say otherwise, the first dragon quickly tried to rush through the energy field but was inflicted by the plague. The dragon was quickly poisoned by the undead plague and fell to the ground. The other red dragons watched in horror as one of their own dropped dead

In the Sholazar Basin, the army that Illidan raised from the Legion's forces in Outland had gathered, protecting the tundra from any attacks from the north. As expected, the faceless ones were moving at a very rapid pace towards the energy field

"Here they come." Kargath said while perched on top of a small ridge. He quickly jumped down and rejoined the rest of the army. "Here they come. Hold fast and do not let them cross into the tundra." he ordered and the rest of the undead army quickly prepared for battle

At that same time, Illidan, Malygos, Agatha, Drak'thul and Kel'thuzad noticed the red dragons approach and when one of them died trying to enter

'Illysanna, it's about to begin. Is everything ready?' Illidan asked mentally

'Yes. Dalaran, Quel'thalas and Lordaeron are under complete lockdown. The Old Gods' minions will have to do something incredibly creative to breach our fortresses.' Illysanna replied. 'Are you sure you only want Kor'vas and Kayn with you?'

'I am. I need you to hold onto our territory while I am engaged in battle here. From your words, Kor'vas is our most skilled fighter with Kayn after you and Altruis. I need you and the rest of the demon hunters to ensure we have a place to retreat.' Illidan reassured her

'Alright. Good luck.' Illysanna said and cut off the connection

"I have to say, this field was creative. Modifying the plague to take effect almost immediately by removing its properties to reanimate those afflicted." Drak'thul commented

"The energy field is ready, my king. At your command, Drak'thul and I will begin tearing between the planes and force Deathwing out." Kel'thuzad said

"In the meantime, I will redirect the energy from the ritual to be a one way portal but be warned, this will also affect elemental planes aside from Deepholm, which means other elementals will come out and those that are still affiliated with the Old Gods will try to aid Deathwing. I will try to minimize its effects but there is no guarantee it won't release the other elementals." Agatha warned

"The energy field we have erected will not last that long as well. Once the ritual is complete, the field will be forced to disperse. You two will have to quickly keep Deathwing occupied otherwise this could end up in a complete disaster." Kel'thuzad added

Without even the slightest hesitation, Illidan replied. "Let it begin." he ordered

Agatha, Kel'thuzad, Drak'thul, a bunch of blue dragons and a few val'kyrs took their position in the ritual area. Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul channeled the powers directly from the ley lines to the shadow orb. As soon as the orb gathered a large amount of energy, Agatha quickly redirected some of it to the earth itself. The ground began to glow with magical runes, the very same kind of runes that the titanforged used to seal away the elemental lords and their kind so long ago. Four different kinds of runes appeared each of them corresponding to one of the elemental planes. A few seconds after the runes appeared, Agatha redirected all of the remaining energy into one of them, the rune that corresponds to plane of the earth, Deepholm

Illidan and Malygos' observed their surroundings and were able to feel the spell's effects. Illidan in particular could literally see the magic flowing. He could tell that the magic, while affecting the earth, was directed somewhere else. Neither he nor Malygos had ever heard of this type of magic before so this was a new experience for them but before they could dwell on their thoughts any further, a loud rumbling sound was heard. Both of them looked at the source, which was a massive thunderstorm. Beyond the coastline, the seas were raging, creating massive whirlpools which were slowly growing in strength. The demon hunter could see that magic from the ritual affecting the ambient magic, resulting in these sudden phenomenons. Being in the Borean Tundra, this was the only things he could observe and he wondered what other abnormalities was happening

"So it begins." Malygos said, mentally preparing himself to face his former brother just as the ground began to shake

'Allari, we're beginning the spell. Are you in position?' Illidan asked mentally and his subordinate gave a confirmation

Silvermoon,Quel'thalas

Illysanna and Maiev were in the peak courtyard of their stronghold. After the demon hunter cut off the mental link with Illidan, she observed the surroundings for a bit and was surprised

"What's wrong?" Maiev asked when she noticed her ally's unease

"The magic in the atmosphere is being distorted. I never would have thought that the spell would take effect this soon." Illysanna answered

"I see." Maiev said and in the distance, she could see abnormal weather conditions. "We are fortunate we have erected energy fields in our strongholds. It would be too irritating for us to fend off an attack with the violent winds." she said and suddenly, the ground began shaking and threw them both off balance

"Or with these damn quakes." Illysanna added as she got up

Orgrimmar, Kalimdor

While the undead was still making the final preparations, Thrall was sitting in an empy space in the Horde's new capital. The warchief was communing with the elements. His meditation session was interrupted when a certain individual approached him

"Well, young warchief. It is good to see you again." the newcomer greeted

Thrall got up and shook his visitor's hand. "Indeed it has Cairne. Your arm-" he said in surprised, remembering the battle of Mount Hyjal when Anetheron appeared out of nowhere

"It was the Draenei. They were able to restore my missing limb." Cairne answered before asking what he came here for. "Young warchief, what do you think about the Draenei?"

"I sense that they are sincere. Like us, they have suffered at the hands of the Burning Legion. They may be directly affiliated with the Alliance but thus far, we have good relations. However, it is not the Draenei that concerns me." Thrall answered

"It is Arthas, isn't it?" Cairne took a guess

"Indeed. He may have matured since Archimonde's defeat but I can sense that he still longs for his homeland. While we have abandoned any plans to retake their homeland anytime soon, I believe that Arthas still clings on to the slightest bit of hope of recovering it. With the Draenei here, it is possible that he might be tempted to do something he will regret." Thrall replied with a sigh

"Well, like you, Arthas is still young. We just have to hope that he accepts his loss for good." Cairne said and decided to ask what the warchief was doing. "So, Thrall, is something the matter?" he asked

"I am not exactly sure. The elements are..." Thrall answered, having a hard time finding the right word. "Troubled for the last few days. I have been trying to figure out why but one explanation comes to mind."

"Illidan Stormrage." Cairne said, the individual being the only one they were aware of that would do something like this, at least, to the best of their knowledge

"If that is true. I still have my doubts that it is him considering he has done nothing except help the Draenei since the Legion's defeat and I feel like there is a lot about our world that we do not know." Thrall said

A loud cracking sound suddenly thundered and the skies grew darker and darker. "What? Rain clouds? Here?" Thrall asked in surprise

"This is not a normal rain. Something is wrong, horribly wrong." Cairne said and while they were observing the darkened skies, they suddenly felt the wind grow stronger, a lot stronger

An orc warrior suddenly ran up to the two of them. "Warchief, you need to see this. Massive tornados have appeared outside the city." he said. It goes without saying that both Thrall and Cairne were surprised and quickly ran towards Orgrimmar's gates. In the rest of Durotar, they saw five very strong tornados slowly ripping their lands apart

"I need to find Drek'thar. I can't stop this without his help." Thrall said before running off to a different area in Durotar. While he was running off, he was thrown off balance when the earth began to shake

Mount Hyjal

Alexstrasza and Ysera were at the mountain, both of them having helped the night elves cleanse the last remaining corruption. Just like ten thousand years ago, removing the legion's corruption took a very long time

The two dragons, along with Malfurion and Tyrande were discussing the effects of the recently cleansed corruption and recent events. Both night elves were very tense about the draenei's appearance. While they have nothing against the draenei, what they were tense about was how strong Illidan's forces have become and along with the other inhabitants of Kalimdor, they still don't have the necessary resources to confront the demon hunter

When they shifted their discussion toward Illidan's plan to hunt down Deathwing, the abnormal weather phenomenons finally affected Ashenvale. At first, everyone dismissed it as ordinary events since rain and thunderstorms are fairly common in Ashenvale Forest but all doubts was thrown out of the window when the wind grew to such strength that it pushed all four of them back a few steps

"What is this? I've never experienced a storm this violent." Shandris commented before taking shelter

"It's not a storm." Alexstrasza said in realization

"Indeed. This is the effects of a certain spell, one that is intended to rip through the elemental planes." Ysera finished and surprised the night elves. "There can be no doubt this is Illidan's doing."

Malfurion was still clinging on to the last bit of hope that Illidan was not behind this. They have reconciled and this would only sour their relationship again. "I'll go check." he said and tried to use his powers to see what was going on. Just when he was about to project his spirit to other areas of Azeroth, he was suddenly pushed back and forced back into his body, which also forced him to the ground with his powers being abruptly pushed back

"Malfurion!" Tyrande yelled as she helped him get up. "Are you alright?" she asked

"I am." Malfurion answered while clutching his head. "My powers aren't working. I can't find out what's happening."

"It's the effects of the spell. It doesn't simply rip open the elemental planes, it also disrupts the world's natural magic." Alexstrasza explained right as the earthquakes began to happen

"The spell is growing stronger and stronger." Ysera said and despite the intense winds and thunderstorm, they noticed something far out into the small part of the barrens visible at Hyjal that only solidified that what was happening was abnormal

"A wildfire? During this kind of weather?" Tyrande muttered while all of them tried not to lose their balance

"The elemental planes are slowly being ripped open and this is merely a prelude. The spell will reach its peak in a few hours but during that time, elementals will pour into this world if they still serve the Old Gods-" Ysera explained and realized a little too late what she had said

"Old Gods?" Shandris asked and made the green dragon regret her words as she looked at her sister. "Ysera, Alexstrasza, what haven't you told us?" she asked

Theramore Isle

The same abnormal weather phenomenons also happened. Many of the alliance soldiers were busy evacuating their citizens but it was all for naught as there was nowhere safe not just on Kalimdor but also on the entire world. Not only that, the earthquakes were making it very difficult to move around and that's not counting the intense wind

Velen has met up with the alliance leaders and decided that they would use the draenei's ships to create a temporary haven that would shield as many citizens as it could from the abnormal weather

"We can't just sit here and wait for this to end. We have to find out what is going on." Arthas said, taking shelter in a building along with the alliance and draenei leaders

"He is right but we don't have the means to even leave Kalimdor. Under this weather, I wouldn't be surprised if all of our ships have already been destroyed." Vereesa agreed

"Velen, can you spare one ship for us to head towards the Eastern Kingdoms?" Kael asked

"I understand. You think that only Illidan would be capable of something like this." Velen said as he realized the elf's thoughts. "Yes, I could spare one ship however, we need an exact location on where Illidan is. I have my doubts that once we find Illidan that the ship would still be usable, or not suffer critical damage especially with the weather."

Suddenly, a high elf ranger barged into the room before a final decision could be made by the leaders. "Ranger General, it's the Draenei's ships! It's under attack!" she said in a panc

"Under attack? Who would attack us?" Jaina asked

"I am not sure. Whatever are attacking look like creatures made out of pure air." the ranger replied

"We can ponder this later. Let's get to the ships." Sylvanas said. All of them quickly did as she said while falling down a few times

When they reached the ships, they found that the creatures attacking the ships looked like the water elementals that the archmages summoned, all of them completely unaffected with the abnormal phenomenons and busy trying to destroy the ships. A battle soon ensued between the alliance trying desperately to fight with such powerful earthquakes and the elementals who were having a field day. Eventually, after many deaths, the alliance were able to defeat this wave of elementals, who were mainly fire and air

"Khadgar, what were those things?" Arthas demanded to know when they won

"Elementals, similar to the ones we mages summon." Khadgar said grimly

"There could be more of those things regardless." Alleria said before the others could begin to discuss this. "We need someone to find Illidan and ask what's going on."

"Why are you so sure that he's behind this?" Khadgar asked curiously

"That guy always present an odd and mysterious aura about him, not to mention that aside from the dragons, he's the only one capable of doing something like this. The fact that no one but the Scourge high command knows what he's planning only makes him that much more suspicious." Vereesa answered

"That makes sense but we cannot leave the ships undefended." Jaina pointed out

"I'll go." Arthas said

"Arthas? Are you sure about this?" Jaina asked knowing full well that her lover has an ulterior motive for all of this. Arthas did not bother to give a response and merely nodded his head

"I'll go with you." Sylvanas offered. Both Arthas and Jaina gave her a grateful look at her offer. "Only Arthas, Velen and myself will go. The less people involved finding the Lich King the better. That way, we can stick together as best we can." she suggested. "Illidan said that we are not his enemies so as long as we don't do something stupid, we should be fine." she continued, taking a huge gamble with all of this

"I'll come with you and fly the ship." Romuul said and the four of them, while still trying not to lose their balance, went to the smallest ship

"We need to visit Malfurion first and hope that he has any idea where Illidan is." Velen said and soon enough, the ship flew towards Ashenvale Forest

Mount Hyjal

The dragons and night elves were still on top of Hyjal trying to contain the situation but the longer it went on, the more they realized that this was beyond their power. The power to control the earth belonged to Neltharion while the knowledge of magic was on Malygos. The aspects didn't reveal much about the Old Gods as they themselves don't know too much about them

"No good. Our powers just isn't suited to this kind of situation." Alexstrasza said as she and her sister tried to use a ritual to stop this

"At this point, I fear that only Illidan can stop this. The only problem is that he's the one who did this in the first place." Ysera added before they all noticed someone, another dragon, barely managing not to get blown away by the wind, approach them. When the dragon got closed, it was finally pushed away and crashed right into the side of Hyjal

"Korialstrasz!" Alexstrasza yelled when she got a good look of who the dragon was and she was helpless as her consort fell down towards the base of Hyjal, crashing into rocks and trees along the way

All five of them quickly rushed down to the bottom of the mountain

"Korialstrasz." the dragonqueen called out as she quickly tried to heal her unconscious consort. It took a few minutes before Korialstrasz finally began to rustle and wake up

"Lady Alexstrasza." Korialstrasz muttered weakly

Ysera quickly came over and helped her sister heal him. "He pushed his body to fly at such a speed." she realized upon feeling his injuries with her magic. "The only question is from where."

The consort did not bother to respond and quickly transformed into his elven form before falling down to his knees. "I'm fine..._ he said once more, weaker than the last time he spoke. "My lady... It's... Illidan... Northrend..." he barely managed to say before he collapsed entirely. Alexstrasza still continued to heal him but it would take quite some time before he would be really fine

"He flew from Northrend in which I can only assume when the abnormal conditions began. Flying at such as speed would take a huge toll on a dragon's body especially with these winds." Ysera explained to the night elves what happened

"Brother, what are you doing?" Malfurion asked worriedly

"We have to get to Northrend and stop this." Tyrande said

"Flying in this weather is dangerous even for us dragons. Even if we reach Northrend, we won't be in any position to force Illidan to stop this madness." Alexstrasza said. Deep inside, she had some slight respect that the demon hunter managed to force this situation and put those parties that are neither with nor against him in a position where they won't be able to interfere

"As much as I hate to say it, I have to give Illidan credit. He managed to do all this and at the same time, ensure none of us can get in his way." Shandris begrudgingly noted

"Now's not the time for that Shandris." Tyrande scolded and all of a sudden, a draenei ship landed near them. Velen, Arthas and Sylvanas came and approached them. "What are you doing here?" the priestess asked curiously

"We need information, Tyrande. We need to find Illidan and stop this." Sylvanas answered

"Will your ship actually be able to get to Northrend?" Malfurion asked and satisfied the alliance as he revealed where his brother was

"It will however, I have my doubts we will be able to get back here in it." Velen answered

"Northrend is still a long way. We need to get there before Illidan makes this worse for all of us." Arthas said and only then did Malfurion realize he unintentionally let it slip. The druid didn't really care since they would have told them anyways

"Mind if I come with you?" a voice called out and approached from the forest

"Nozdormu? How did you get here?" Ysera wondered when she saw he was barely fazed

"I flew but I stuck close to the ground. It was very difficult but this situation is much worse. Out in the sea, there are whirlpools raging almost as violently as these winds." Nozdormu answered before looking at Alexstrasza. "I guess the time has finally come."

"Indeed. It would seem that Illidan wants to end Deathwing as soon as we can." Alexstrasza answered before looking at the night elves. "Malfurion, I am sorry but can you stay here and guard the World Tree? We have no idea what else this spell will cause and we have a duty to face Deathwing." she asked

"I understand but please, stop my brother." Malfurion asked

"Well, we better get a move on." Arthas said and led the way back to the ship, the dragon aspects and his compatriots following him

Borean Tundra, Northrend

About an hour and a half later, the undead army outside the energy field were still busy fighting off the faceless ones and other creatures of Northrend. The numbers of the faceless ones were near limitless as the fighting has been nonstop. Unlike the mortals however, the undead weren't that bothered by the fact that everything was shaking violently and were able to fight their enemies rather fairly

Inside the energy field, Malygos and Illidan continued to observe what was happening from a nearby hill. The whirlpools have grown so violent that large waves began crashing onto the coastline, lightning stuck everywhere even on the energy field while thunders cracked in the sky. On the ground, there were visible cracks which were a direct result of the violent earthquakes that haven't stopped for over an hour

"It's nearly finished." Malygos noted when the rune that corresponds to Deepholm began glowing brightly with arcane energies. Illidan noticed this as well and created a portal just a few feet away from the ritual circles

'Drak'thul, Kel'thuzad, Agatha, when the spell is complete, head right through that portal. That will take you back to Coldarra.' Illidan ordered

A few minutes later, the Deepholm rune created a few lines connecting itself to the other runes and began absorbing the magic that was channeled into them.

'Drop the energy field. The spell is done.' Kel'thuzad ordered and immediately, the field powered by other liches was dropped

"Let's get out of here." Agatha said right as the ritual circle released a very powerful shockwave, one and stopped all the shaking. The val'kyr, Drak'thul and Kel'thuzad quickly ran through the portal Illidan created just as the ground began to collapse. The undead army within the energy field quickly began to run away from the collapsing ground

More earthquakes, more violent than the previous ones but not the shockwave, happened once more as many earth elementals appeared from the abyss created from the collapsed ground. The elementals began to attack everything in sight but were quickly engaged by the scourge warriors. Eventually, black dragons, all of which were not even fully grown ones, were suddenly spit by the abyss right into the sky and were ambushed by both frost wyrms and blue dragons

Illidan looked towards the distance and saw that the faceless ones now brought flyers in the form of insects not larger than the size of gargoyles

"He's here." Malygos muttered when a very loud roar happened and finally, Deathwing was spit out as well. Almost immediately, the abyss closed itself and returned back into its normal state albeit the grounds of the Borean Tundra was very damaged. The abnormal weather also weakened significantly and the tremors became far more manageable. It was still strong but not as strong as when the spell was being cast

"Deathwing."


Here is the first chapter of what I am going to get wrong. To be honest, I don't know how the elemental planes work and I didn't do my research as I wanted to do my own. I did base this idea on Deathwing's appearance in Cataclysm. When he burst out of Deepholm, I believe that is when the Shattering happened if I'm understanding it right. If not, then it doesn't matter because that's what I based this all on

Now, about the part where they didn't have the resources to confront Illidan, that should not come to a susprise as due to all the demons reanimated into undeath, the Scourge only grew stronger. I am not saying that in an all out war, the Kalimdor inhabitants would straight up lose. That would greatly depend on where that war would take place. If it happens on Kalimdor, then it is feasible and highly likely that they would win but at the same time, they cannot launch an attack on the Eastern Kingdoms because they would only get slaughtered. Also, aside from the Scourge spying on them, the undead also have another advantage in the form of experience since the Kalimdor inhabitants haven't been in a war since Mount Hyjal. Just wanted to clear that up before anyone thinks that I'm making the Scourge too broken

For some future reference, the area outside Theramore where the Draenei ships have settled will not have a name. After all, it's only been a week since they arrived and that timeframe is not enough to build a proper settlement

I'm not exactly sure about the Aspects not knowing about the Old Gods. I didn't bother to look that up as that wouldn't really come into play in the foreseeable future. If I do change my mind, I will put it in the notes