Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
'I'll have to apologize to Illysanna after this.' Illidan thought to himself after creating a distraction to incapacitate his brother. While even he had no way to avoid his fellow demon hunters' spectral sight, he was able to avoid being seen by immediately leaving after firing the fel waves and by staying out of their immediate line of sight. 'They're going to find out I am here sooner or later but with them distracting the Nightmare, that should buy me the time to sneak up to Xavius.'
After Malfurion was attacked to near death, the battle continued to rage on. Alexstrasza took the injured Malygos away from the immediate battle. Most of the corrupted ancients that haven't been killed are nearly dead by now. Therazane's arrival skewed the scales in favor of the night elves and their allies. Eventually, all of the Nightmare's forces were forced back but it took its toll as all of the fighters were injured while many more were killed
"Is everyone alright?" Soridormi asked when they were finally in the clear
"You really have to ask?" Kor'vas countered while panting for breath, obviously feeling the effects of the battle and bleeding in various areas of her body
"Demon Hunter, we must take da time to heal up. If we move now, da Nightmare will jus take advantage of our exhausted state." Vol'jin suggested
Illysanna looked at the troll curiously as that was exactly what she had in mind, at least until they have recovered their breaths. She looked around saw that Vandel needed to be healed and Malygos being greatly injured. "Fine. If they're this ready, then we need to be in as best condition as we can." she said begrudgingly as she and the other demon hunters dropped their demon forms. 'Ymiron, send some forces into Felwood. We need some backup.'
"Are we still not going to raise the dead, Lady Illysanna?" Araj asked curiously. While this would normally annoy anybody else, it was clear from his voice that it held no judgment and was merely concerned about their large casualties
As such, Illysanna was not the least bit irritated by it. "No, don't raise them." she instructed. "I've already told Ymiron to send some more forces here." she said and surprised the non Scourge members
Tyrande then approached Illysanna. "Can I speak with you?" she asked to which the demon hunter granted and they moved a distance away from the others. "The one that attacked Malfurion, that was Illidan, wasn't it?" she asked
"I'm not exactly sure. The other Demon Hunters have their own jobs and Drak'thul is not here." Illysanna explained. "Illidan is the only other one who could use fel in this world but he was still not in the right state of mind."
"What do you mean by 'state of mind'?" Tyrande asked
Illysanna sighed at this as even she did not know. "He has regained consciousness for a few days now but he has left himself isolated in his chambers in Silvermoon. He has barely talked to anyone. The weird thing is that after he regained consciousness, he requested us to leave him alone." she said and Tyrande had a confused look on her face. "Illidan doesn't request, Tyrande. He usually just gives orders." she explained and the priestess nodded. "Which reminds me, is there anything you know that would concern Azshara and Illidan?"
Tyrande was about to say no but she recalled something the he had said after the Legion's invasion. "Well, during the final battle against the Burning Legion, Illidan's fighting style was in full display and it was beyond what anyone else can do. I asked him about it and he said that Azshara was the one who trained him." she answered, much to the demon hunter's surprise. "Illidan also said that Azshara portrayed herself the way we know and remember her but according to him, she was 'the most powerful mage and a deadly assassin'. That's how Illidan described her."
"I see. Now it makes sense." Illysanna said
"What does?" Tyrande asked, having a grim feeling about what the demon hunter was about to say
"That we don't know Illidan as well as we thought. No wonder he has been out of it since he regained consciousness. Azshara was his mentor and is now serving his enemies." Illysanna explained. "I'm willing to be that she's also the one that told him about the Old Gods."
"It is a definite possibility and you should probably confront him about it after this." Tyrande suggested. "I guess even someone like Illidan has his limits to things like this." she said aloud
At where the others were, Kor'vas approached the Earthmother. "So, you are Therazane." she said to the elemental
Therazane looked at the demon hunter curiously, observing her and she concluded that Kor'vas had her doubts about her loyalties. The Earthmother could see it by the way Kor'vas is more than ready to draw her blade. Rather than be offended, Therazane instead remained calm. "Indeed, I am." she said but it did not do anything to remove the tension
"Why are you fighting the Old Gods?" Kor'vas asked her and gripped her blade. While it wasn't in anyone's interest to fight each other, it would be devastating for them if the Earthmother turned on them against a more crucial battle and what they didn't tell their allies is that the Scourge had another necropolis outside the coastal areas of Ashenvale with another undead army. This one was one of the necropolis in the Broken Isles while another one from Lordaeron took its place
"Why wouldn't I? Just like with everyone is on this world, I would rather live in peace. Before the Old Gods arrived, there was a balance between us elementals. As soon as they came during Azeroth's primordial age, everything was ruined and we became enslaved. Ragnaros and Al'Akir fought for the Old Gods but Neptulon and I were enslaved." Therazane explained, a motivation very similar to the Scourge's own. "Is it not the same reason you are fighting?" she asked curiously
"Fine, you make a good point." Kor'vas said. "But I'm keeping a close eye on you. The second you try something, I'm burning you to ash." she threatened very darkly, much to everyone surprise given the situation they are in
The Earthmother frowned at this but made no response. The demon hunter's response wasn't too unreasonable but it was far better than nothing and Therazane had no intention of turning against her allies. During the short conversation, everyone else minus Illysanna and Tyrande looked very tense
Since Frostmourne was an extention of his senses, Illidan knew that the others were taking a rest and that Cenarius was in Hyjal. 'Surprising that Therazane would show up now of all times.' he thought to himself as he took this opportunity to get as close to the mountain while avoiding the Nightmare's forces. While he was sneaking around, he soon found a small group of satyrs on a path that would lead to Felwood. 'They must be heading towards the others.' he thought and since that group only had twelve satyrs and around thirty spiders, Illidan ambushed them. He jumped down and killed three satyrs while they weren't looking. It got the attention of the others and they quickly moved to fight him
"There you are, Betrayer!" a satyr said seconds before Illidan easily cut him down. The rest of his minions didn't fare any better as Illidan thrust one of his twin blades into the ground and unleashed a small burst of fel energy
It wasn't enough to create a scene but it killed all of the spiders while he used his falchion blades to kill the remaining satyrs. 'Just like old times.' he recalled the time he spent sneaking around killing demons during the War of the Ancients and the recent Legion invasion. He then quickly left the area and a while later, snuck near the base of Hyjal. 'They should know I am here by now and Xavius would have to be stupid if he doesn't.'
Some time later, the former Sentinel base near Mount Hyjal was finally under attack by the night elves and their allies. Therazane and the rest of her earth elementals were the first ones to fight the Nightmare's forces, providing cover for their allies. Malygos was taken to where Ymiron was because he was far too injured to take part in a fight like this and it was a good choice as the Nightmare had more forces here than they did in Felwood
Cenarius was not present at the base as he was at the World Tree when it came under attack but when he saw the his enemies were here, he quickly moved to fight them. There would only be one reason they would come straight here, the World Tree and the Emerald Dream. When the demigod finally arrived at the battle, it was already in full circle so Cenarius summoned corrupted treants to aid in the battle. While the demigod was manipulating the nearby corrupted nature to his will, Vandel, already in his demon form, suddenly rushed beside him and cut him on one of his legs. The battle hasn't even gone that long and Cenarius was already injured. However, he did not give up and quickly grabbed the demon hunter by the wing and threw him away
That was only a temporary reprieve as Kael teleported near him and unleashed an arcane bolt. Cenarius wondered how easily his enemies were able to target him and motioned for treants and satyrs to defend him. His minions were able to force away the demigod's attackers. The demigod looked around and realized that the demon hunters and Maiev have created huge chaos in the battle. The high elven rangers were doing a good job of targetting satyrs from a distance while all draconic forces were occupied in the sky with acidic, lightning, frost and fiery breaths raining down every now and then. With the help of the earth elementals, even the Horde warriors were attacking with great coordination while the undead provided cover for them with their freezing magics
Most of the Nightmare forces in the battle were spiderlings and as such, driven by a feral instinct to attack anything in sight. The satyrs could normally control these creatures but in the middle of the battle, they were too occupied to command them
"You mortals truly are persistent, aren't you?" Cenarius commented to himself before summoning an acid rain. His was more powerful than Malfurion's and it was accompanied by lightning strikes. In the middle of maintaining the rain, it slowly became snow instead of rain. The demigod looked to where it came from and saw Maiev releasing a stream of frost magics into the sky. "You treacherous wretch!" he snarled but was stopped when Kael ignited the ground in front of him, having managed to kill his immediate attackers
With Cenarius distracted, the acid rain stopped. Maiev noticed this and quickly blinked to the demigod. Barely managing to create a vine, Cenarius was able to block her attack that was aimed directly towards his head. Some satyrs tried to attack the death knight while she had her back turned but were shot by arrows. The sound of them grunting in pain alerted Maiev to their presence and dispatched them. Looking to where the arrows came from, the former warden saw Vereesa waving at her as if to say she had her back. Turning her sights back towards Cenarius, she was surprised that he was no longer in her immediate vicinity
"Damn it." Maiev cursed right as an ancient moved to crush her under foot. She simply rolled to her side to avoid and but was immediately attacked by spiders afterwards. The ancient was not able to have another chance to attack as Allari shot an eye beam at the ancient before she suddenly rushed towards Maiev and helped her clear the spiders
"Go. Find Cenarius and kill him." Allari urged but their attention was taken when massive vines were rushing, intent on piercing them through. Before it could make contact, Kael casted a spell that turned them immune to physical harm. Not bothering to wonder what had happened, they quickly moved out of the immediate area while Maiev used her powers to freeze the vines solid. A few seconds afterwards, the spell wore off
While Kael got occupied in providing cover for the two Scourge warriors, some satyrs attempted to kill him and managed to cut him in his right shoulder. Before they could finish him off, they were struck by a powerful blast of frost and was killed instantly. The high elf looked to where it came from and saw a lich providing cover for him, much to his surprise. The lich then created a shield of frost around him. Some things then started to fall from the sky near his vicinity and saw the dragons continue to fight their corrupted brethren. A wave of frost soon got the attention of Kael and he saw Maiev chasing down a very familiar looking stag. Killing a few more satyrs, the elven prince then chased after Cenarius himself and eventually, managed to prevent him from moving and allowed Maiev to re engage him
In the thick of the battle, Thrall, along with a group of their allies, fought off the more powerful satyrs and children of Cenarius
"Thrall." Rhonin called out and in response, the Warchief slammed the ground, unleashing a multiple bolts of lightning that pushed back their attackers. When the Warchief looked at him curiously, the archmage pointed at where Maiev and Kael were fighting Cenarius
"Got it." Thrall said and when they got an opening, Rhonin teleported him right above Cenarius. The Warchief ended up falling right towards the demigod but instead of panicking, he slammed his hammer on Cenarius' back, forcing him to the ground
'Do not die here. Return to the World Tree.' the voice of the Nightmare thundered in Cenarius' mind. As such, the crystals on the demigod's bodies glowed red and vines suddenly wrapped around him
Getting impatient, Maiev quickly thrust Frostmourne into the vines but was surprised that her target wasn't there anymore. "What?!" she said in surprise right before a green dragon dove into the three of them. The three of them were thrown away by the impact but Maiev reacted faster than the other two and threw a death coil but it had no effect on the corrupted dragon. It did give Kael and Thrall the chance to recover
In the sky, Alexstrasza just killed another one of the remaining green dragons in the area before flying to engage another one but was beat to it by Soridormi
"Dragonqueen, go after Cenarius." Soridormi said much to Alexstrasza's confusion. "Do not let him escape." she urged the dragonqueen
Alexstrasza thought about this for a second and ultimately relented. She figured that Soridormi wanted her to finish Cenarius so she could save her strength for when she faces her sister. The dragonqueen then killed the green dragon that was attacking the high elf prince and Horde Warchief by biting directly into the neck
In the meantime, Cenarius has returned to the World Tree to where there was a gateway into the Emerald Dream. 'Close the gateway, now!' the Nightmare's voice ordered but before the demigod could carry out his orders, he was struck by a stream of fel fire
The demigod turned to where it came from but was attacked once more, this time by icicles. He was surprised when he saw Maiev charging at him. In the distraction, the source of the fel fire, Illidan, snuck into the Emerald Dream. Left with no other choice, Cenarius decided to make his last stand, knowing full well that the former warden would not stop until he was dead. Like with earlier, he was immediately forced on the defensive as Maiev knew he wasn't that suited to fighting at close range due to his body structure
Cenarius was aware of this as well but he had a few tricks up his sleeve. When the death knight got close, he created thorns all over his body and launched them at his opponent. Caught off guard, Maiev was pierced by the thorns. With her disoriented, Cenarius delivered a hard kick which slammed her into one of the large roots a few meters away from the well. Before she could recover, the demigod stepped on her and she growled in pain
"I was always wary of your zeal, Shadowsong. You wanted the Betrayer killed and yet, you fight for him." Cenarius said while morphing one of his arms into a wooden blade. "Send this as a message to your 'master'." he continued right before stabbing her right in the chest
If Maiev was still alive, that would have killed her then and there but since she was undead, she was able to take the blow. As Cenarius was about to cleave her head in two, she was once more transformed into a state immune to physical harm before an eye beam struck him and forced him back. Maiev looked to where it came from and saw Alexstrasza coming toward her with the two uncorrupted green dragons flying beside her. Illysanna was flying above the dragonqueen, being the one responsible for the eye beam. On the dragonqueen's back was Thrall, Kael and Tyrande. Kor'vas jumped off Alexstrasza's back and rushed towards Maiev while Illysanna did the same but attacked the demigod instead of going for the warden. Kor'vas then took Maiev to where the dragonqueen set the others down
"She's too injured." Kor'vas said as she set her down
"I thought you undead couldn't be injured?" Kael wondered as the three dragons with them transformed into their elven forms and attacked the demigod
"Our injuries are not exactly the same as yours. That strike..." Kor'vas pointed to Maiev's chest. "Would have killed her if she was living but rather than kill her, it instead makes it harder to move her body and Maiev was raised not that long after she died, less than a month if I recall correctly."
"Talk later. I'll try to see if my healing powers won't harm her." Tyrande said and Kor'vas nodded in understanding before she transformed into her demon form and shot an eye beam at the demigod
Kael followed her lead and casted a powerful lightning bolt when the demon hunters and the dragons created an opening before teleporting Thrall closer to the battle. Outnumbered, Cenarius knew there was only one thing he could do. While he was definitely going to lose, he could buy his masters some more time if he took down the green dragons and forced himself to shrug off the attacks and created more vines to target the green dragons. Unfortunately for him, Illysanna saw this coming and quickly burned the vines as soon as they came out of the ground. In response, Cenarius tried to attack her first but lost control when Thrall slammed his hammer onto his hind legs, causing the demigod to lose his balance
"Eranikus, Merithra, get back." Illysanna urged as Cenarius unleashed poisonous gas while getting up
"What?" Eranikus asked in surprise as Alexstrasza shielded them all from the gas' effects
"Get out of here. We need you to navigate the Emerald Dream. Pull back!" Illysanna told them and they went to where Tyrande was
Cenarius got up with the red markings on his body now glowing intensely. Black tendrils then came out from the red crystals on his body and attacked his enemies. They were all forced back by this but they quickly fought back. Alexstrasza burned the tendrils attacking her while Thrall summoned spirit wolves to aid him. The demon hunters just sliced the tendrils. Kael decided to make himself immune to physical harm. The prince took a great risk in using this as the spell would also make him more vulnerable to magical attacks. Upon contact, the tendrils just phased through him but quickly tried to release corrupted magics. Kael reacted faster than the magics could be released and removed the spell before using his runeblade to cut the tendrils and creating a flamestrike at where the demigod was standing
At the same time, Tyrande managed to heal Maiev. It wasn't enough to restore her to full strength but it was enough for her to be back in fighting shape
"What? Tyrande? Why?" Maiev asked in confusion
"We have our differences, Maiev." Tyrande shook her head. "But we do have a common interest and enemy as much as I disagree with how the Scourge does things." she said and helped her up. "Now, let's finish this."
Maiev nodded at the priestess' statement and quickly blinked onto Cenarius' side and inflict a deep wound. The demigod howled in pain and since her movements were hindered due to all the fighting, easily kicked her away. This did leave him open to attack which Kael gladly took advantage of by using the banishing spell and Alexstrasza shot him with a powerful stream of fire while Thrall did the same but with lightning, the effects of which was magnified by the banishing spell
At this point, Cenarius became completely under the control of the Nightmare and forced himself to move despite the severe burn and deep wound. Focusing on the most vulnerable of them all, corrupted energies appeared from the wound the warden inflicted and quickly shot towards Kael. This was met by an eye beam from Kor'vas. Tyrande then shot an arrow right onto Cenarius' right eye, which caused him to writhe in pain. This also ended up attracting his attention with more energies now rushing to the priestess. However, Illysanna has had enough and rushed to the demigod's back and cleaved his head off. This still wasn't enough to kill the demigod so Thrall summoned a huge bolt of lightning from the sky and it was enough to end the tendrils. Not taking the chance, Kor'vas shot another eye beam at Cenarius' broken body and completely shattered it into multiple pieces
"Is he dead?" Kael asked after the demon hunter's attack
Eranikus and Merithra moved towards the body and checked it
"He is. If he's not, then it would still take a few hours even with the Nightmare's power." Merithra answered
"The battle down below is still not finished. Some of us have to stay here and hold in case the Nightmare's forces decide to flank us." Maiev pointed out
Since this was Illysanna's operation that they got dragged in due to no other choice, everyone present looked to her for a decision. "Alright, Alexstrasza, Thrall, and the Green Dragons, you're with me. The rest of you hold here." she ordered
"Why you're not taking me?" Maiev wondered curiously
"You're too injured, Maiev. If you come with us, you'll just die needlessly." Illysanna answered and motioned to the gateway. "Let's go." she said and the said individuals went on ahead while she grabbed Kor'vas' arm. "Listen, Kor'vas, I need you to stay out here and maintain watch." she whispered
Kor'vas looked at her curiously and noticed that Maiev was some distance away with Kael and she realized why she was needed here. "It's about Illidan, isn't it?" she asked
"Yes. While Maiev is more than capable, Illidan is just beyond her abilities and I need someone who can see even through spells or physical objects." Illysanna explained. "Besides, there's no one else I trust more to watch my back." she said with a smile
This also caused Kor'vas to smirk. "Alright, Illysanna. I'll keep a lookout and tell you if I do see Illidan." she said before growing serious. "Be careful in there. If it really is Xavius, then he won't be easy to defeat. I have the feeling that he's gonna make our battle in Outland seem like a training exercise."
"I get that feeling too but we don't have a choice." Illysanna said before going to join the others
Emerald Dream
The five of them entered the Dream and it was in the same location as where the green dragons present were attacked by some Nightmare creatures for the first time. Unlike the last time they were here, the Dream now resembled a dead forest
"Can you two tell where this Xavius is?" Thrall asked and in response, the two green dragons focused on the edge of the Emerald Dream. Eventually, they found a small rift just to the northeast of where Ysera was corrupted
"I think we have something." Eranikus said while pointing to a certain direction. "That was where Lady Ysera was corrupted, in the part of the Dream that reflects Northrend. Just to the northeast of the Grizzly Hills is where I can sense something very corrupt."
"We'll have to be careful when moving. There's no telling what the Nightmare has in store for us." Merithra warned. "Illysanna, are you able to see anything odd?"
"No. All I can see is just empty space. It's too quiet for my liking." Illysanna replied
"At any rate, we should move but be careful." Alexstrasza said and the two green dragons led the way. They didn't dare fly in the event there was a trap
After the grizzly hills was in sight, Illysanna motioned for them to stop. "Something's wrong." she said
"What is it?" Merithra asked as they all got into a fighting stance
Instead of answering, the demon hunter got on the ground, seeing some strange runes. Since no one else can see it, she pointed a finger at it and released a small stream of fel energy. Illysanna had it create a burn on the ground in the shape of the runes. She was very careful not to do anything with the rune
"If what I'm thinking is correct, this rune is meant to drain energies." Eranikus said while observing the shape
"Energies? Of what?" Alexstrasza asked
"Of the Well, no doubt." Illysanna said it as if it was the most obvious answer
"You are right about that." a voice echoed
The group panicked but Illysanna reacted quickly and created a shield made out of pure fel energy. It was perfect timing as a powerful acidic breath came racing their way but was blocked by the shield. When it stopped, the demon hunter dropped the shield as they all saw who was responsible for the attack
"Ysera."
This chapter just continues the Emerald Nightmare. Not much to talk about in this one again since it's just one big battle. Most of the stuff here are just ones I made on my own and not based on the canon including Therazane
I'll just leave it at that since this chapter is just straightforward as is