Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Dalaran, During the Battle of Lordaeron
Mal'ganis and the rest of the Blackrock Orcs have remained in Dalaran ever since the Legion departed upon Cenarius' death and the fall of the Eastern Kingdoms. Like the Scourge, they were ordered to be ready to move if the demons needed reinforcements if needed
After the Legion's forces in Lordaeron were defeated, Mal'ganis was informed of what happened
"Lord Mal'ganis, what do we do?" Jubei'thos asked, excited about engaging the undead in combat
The dreadlord was merely silent, wondering if the obvious is what would be the best course of action. However, he was very concerned. The Legion's forces were greater than the undead's as most of the Scourge was in Northrend which can only mean that whoever this unknown demon was that helped the Scourge is not one to be underestimated. What truly confused the dreadlord was the identity of the demon. This was one of the few times that a dreadlord did not have a single clue about something. Before Mal'ganis can give any orders, a fel hologram of Kil'jaeden appeared on the demon gate they built in the city. "Leave us." he ordered, which Jubei'thos obeyed. "Lord Kil'jaeden." he greeted the demon lord
"I take it you have heard about what happened in Lordaeron?" Kil'jaeden asked, to which the dreadlord merely nodded his head in response. "Pull back all your forces to Outland and regroup with Magtheridon."
Mal'ganis was surprised at the eredar's orders. The Legion outnumbered the Scourge and there was no way for them to bring in their forces from Northrend before the demons can converge on Lordaeron. "What? We just let the undead go free? Weren't we already concerned about the Lich King doing exactly this?" he demanded to know
"Yes but as of right now, we are not ready to hunt down the demon that is aiding them." Kil'jaeden answered
"You know who he is, don't you?" Mal'ganis said in realization
"I will reveal his identity when you and the other Dreadlords are back here in Argus. Regardless, this demon is more powerful than even Tichondrius and hunting him down will cost us a lot more troops. More importantly, you will not be able to properly prepare against him before the undead attack Quel'thalas. Retreat back to Outland and return to Argus when the Orcs have regrouped in Magtheridon's citadel." Kil'jaeden ordered
"Very well then." Mal'ganis said as the eredar demon lord disappeared and went out the tower where Jubei'thos is waiting
"Lord Mal'ganis." Jubei'thos said when he noticed the dreadlord come. "Who was that? And what is our next move?" he asked
"Gather all the remaining Orcs. You will head to your homeworld, Draenor, or as it is known now, Outland and rendezvous with the remaining Orcs." Mal'ganis said and surprised all the orcs present
"But..." Jubei'thos wanted to argue
"No arguments, Jubei'thos." Mal'ganis cut him off. "We are not ready to fight the demon that is aiding the undead. We will retreat for now and deal with this another time." he said, not at all certain at what Kil'jaeden was planning. An orc warlock tried to object to this but was killed by Mal'ganis, which made the other orcs obey albeit with great reluctance. "The rest of you, go to Quel'thalas and try to aid Mephistroth if you can." he said, looking at a doom guard, who bowed and left. Mal'ganis then began channeling his powers on the demon gate
Silvermoon
The battle was over but it cost much. Naxxramas was destroyed and will need major repairs and most of the undead army has fallen. Many necromancers, liches and death knights have been killed in battle so only the ones in Northrend remained. Even a significant undead commander in Anub'arak was killed in action
Illidan, Kel'thuzad and Rivendare all headed towards the Sunwell Isle, which was the only one that hasn't been that damaged, at least when compared to the other kingdoms or cities, ever since the Scourge was discovered. They were careful to disable any traps the Legion might have left behind. Inside, Illidan was somewhat nostalgic at seeing a piece of the Well of Eternity as he only saw the one beneath Mount Hyjal once which was the time right before he was imprisoned. Even though neither were nowhere near the power of the original well, the demon hunter still felt a slight nostalgia, which is not even talking about how it was exuding corrupted energies instead of arcane. What Illidan really found impressive was how Dath'remar managed to find one of his vials. Before he acquired Gul'dan memories, he was wondering where one went
"This is how the Legion were planning to bring in more demons?" Rivendare asked, not having been in this place ever
Kel'thuzad didn't respond to the obvious and summoned Medivh's spellbook, before channeling its powers to permanently close the portal that was the corrupted Sunwell itself. After half an hour of casting, the energies that were coming out of the Sunwell calmed down and it became merely a calm pool of magical waters. Due to his injuries and the energy he used to channel the spell, Kel'thuzad collapsed, barely managing to stop himself from falling flat on the ground
"Kel'thuzad!" Rivendare said as he helped the exhausted lich up
"Let's find the whoever survived before we meet the Lich King." Illidan said, which Kel'thuzad was surprised as he thought the demon hunter was simply conning them. The demon hunter led the way outside with Rivendare carrying the exhausted lich
At the same time just off the coast of Silvermoon, a sky barge was flying around searching for something. It took them a few minutes before noticing someone sitting down on one of the islets. The sky barge came down and found an injured Illysanna, which is stable by now, along with the other night elves
"How did you find us?" Kor'vas asked in surprise as he recognized the lich who came out of the sky barge
"The Lich King sees what we undead sees. He informed us of what you will be doing after your assault on the generator with the Banshees." the lich answered and noticed an injured Illysanna. "Get her on board. We will take her to Drak'thul."
Altruis and Kor'vas nodded and carefully carried Illysanna onto the sky barge. They then flew towards where Dark'thul was in the outer areas of Silvermoon, who then tended to Illysanna. After nearly two hours, all of the survivors, which included Araj, three death knights, two liches and four crypt lords among others along with the ones that were with Kel'thuzad
"How are you feeling?" Kor'vas asked as Illysanna regained consciousness
Illysanna groaned in slight pain. She slowly got up and looked around, noticing that it was now calm, meaning that the battle was over before she slightly winced in pain. "Like hell. Somewhat reminds me of the war ten thousand years go."
"At least it wasn't as intense as that one or we would be dead by now." Illidan commented with a slight smile
"Are you gonna keep your end of the bargain?" Drak'thul asked with concern, completely changing the topic
"I will." Illidan simply said. His allies noticed that he wasn't concerned in the slightest and had a knowing look on his face, which can only mean that he has a clue on what Ner'zhul wants. "Get some rest and recover your strength." he ordered before he began absorbing some of the ambient energy from all the deaths, which healed his body
About ten hours later, all the survivors returned to Lordaeron via a sky barge. The remaining liches activated the demon gate once more. On the other side, they found themselves right outside a certain glacier with four obelisks around it. There were more undead warriors here but they were mostly less powerful minions like ghouls or crypt fiends
"This freezing cold cuts to the bone. We should have brought in thicker clothing." Kor'vas said as she was somewhat shivering given the night elves' tradition of preferring thin clothing to take advantage of speed. In response, Illidan released some green flames from his hand which surrounded his allies, surrounding them in fire. It wasn't hot enough for them to be even slightly burned but enough just to ensure they won't freeze to death
"So, I'm guessing Ner'zhul is inside that glacier?" Drak'thul asked while pointing at the glacier surrounded by obelisks
"Yes. That glacier is called as 'The Icecrown Glacier'. It is where the Burning Legion hurled the Lich King after he was created." Kel'thuzad said before looking at the other liches. "To open the gate to the inside of the glacier, we will activate the obelisks surrounding it." he said before he and the other liches teleported to the obelisks. The other undead also went away, leaving the orc warlock and night elves alone
"What does the Lich King want with you anyway?" Altruis wondered aloud. "Illidan?" he asked after the demon hunter gave no response
"I have some clues but I don't want to say anything in case I'm wrong." Illidan said eventually and began walking towards the gate
A few minutes later, the gate was finally opened and Kel'thuzad teleported to where Illidan was. "The Lich King is waiting for you at the top." the lich said
The demon hunter's group looked at the the spiral stairs which led to the top, which they could not see what lied waiting for them. Illidan led the way and they began a slow walk up the stairs. With the still slightly injured state of the others, they got a bit wobbly while climbing up. To prevent anyone from falling, Kel'thuzad went in front of Illidan and created a handrail made out of ice for the others to hold on. The lich then took the lead so he can continue to create the handrail. It didn't take them too long to reach the top. There, they were all surprised at what they saw, a throne that was encased in ice. Inside the ice were pieces of an armor that was arranged in a sitting position with a very menacing crown
"Illidan Stormrage, we meet at last." the Lich King said
"Ner'zhul. What do you want?" Illidan asked, not even bothering with any small talks
A tense silence then took over as nobody said anything, only awaiting the conversation between Illidan and the Lich King. Ner'zhul then released some energies which forced everyone to close their eyes. When they opened them, Illidan was gone
"What? Where is Illidan?" Illysanna asked in surprise before wincing once more because of her injury from the battle. Much to their confusion, even Kel'thuzad was surprised. It became clear that Ner'zhul didn't tell the arch lich about his intentions
Drak'thul then put his hand on where Illidan stood and tried to locate him. "You didn't know about this, did you?" he asked lich
"Unfortunately, no. The Lich King never told me what he wanted with the demon hunter." Kel'thuzad answered before realizing something when he looked at the frozen throne. "Strange. Even Ner'zhul's presence is gone from the frozen throne."
"Ner'zhul wanted to speak with Illidan in private and doesn't was us to see or hear on what it is about." Drak'thul concluded. "This is all in Illidan's hands now."
In the meantime, Illidan found himself at the top of a temple which overlooked a beautiful meadow. "I take it this is Draenor before Kil'jaeden found you." he commented and turned around, seeing an orc walk up to him, an elder orc at that
"Yes. This is the Temple of Karabor. It was once a temple sacred to the Draenei before Kil'jaeden ordered them massacred. Although I don't have to tell you what happened. You should already be aware." Ner'zhul pointed out the fact that the demon hunter had his once apprentice's memories
"This is a mindscape isn't it? You brought me here because you didn't want my allies nor your minions to see or hear what you want." Illidan noted his surroundings as he suspected that the Temple of Karabor is now under the Legion's control
"After I was captured by Kil'jaeden, I lost everything and was given mental powers in order to control the undead. With it, I could have brought us anywhere but I thought you would appreciate the view." Ner'zhul answered
Illidan nodded in understanding although he didn't particularly care about the view. "Get to the point, Ner'zhul, what do you want?"
"I want you to merge with me." Ner'zhul said after realizing that the demon hunter had enough small talk. "I'm certain that you of all people realize that even that victory earlier means nothing in the long run. Kil'jaeden will come for me sooner or later and my champion has somehow evaded my trap." he said, legitimately clueless that Medivh was the one that tipped off the humans, something which Illidan noticed. "The Scourge is in complete risk of falling into the Legion's hands once more and you have seen the potential this army possesses. The Legion might be defeated in this battle but it is only a matter of time before they claim me again. In my immobile state, any defense I set up will not last against the Burning legion."
"And if I refuse?" Illidan said, knowing that he will have a second personality inside him, something he absolutely didn't want. Ner'zhul didn't bother to respond and quickly attacked Illidan with his mind, bringing the demon hunter to his knees
"Then I will force you to merge with me whether you want to or not." Ner'zhul said menacingly before the sky thundered and lightning bolts hit the demon hunter. He also intensified his psychic attack which caused fel green blood to come out of his eyes and ears right through his blind fold. He stopped after a few minutes as the demon hunter was injured from the attack, breathing heavily. "Now, take my hand or else." he said before resuming his attack for a few seconds and stopping it. Ner'zhul then extended his hand
Illidan slowly got up and glared at the orc, who was preparing to attack once more based on his response. In all his life, this was the closest he has ever been with death and he had no intention of dying here and now. It was obvious that if Illidan didn't give what the orc wanted, he would die here and now. Left with no other choice, the demon hunter then took the orc's hand
'That was all it took?' Ner'zhul wondered in confusion, which surprised him given Illidan's personality. "I'm glad you made the right choice." the orc said with a grin, somewhat proud of his accomplishment. He had planned to do this with Arthas but having what was possibly the most powerful night elf alive instead was far better than his original intention. Not long after that, everything soon began to collapse. "Once the mindscape completely collapses, you will know power like never before." Ner'zhul said arrogantly
Illidan could feel Ner'zhul power entering his own body and realized what he needed to do. Ner'zhul was growing more and more uncertain with each passing second and was having second thoughts. In the outside, Illidan's body slowly began to reappear inside of the frozen throne
"It's Illidan." Altruis said as he noticed a shadow slowly appear inside the throne
Back in the mindscape just when Ner'zhul was about to merge his consciousness with Illidan, it came to an abrupt halt as Illidan literally kept the orc's consciousness from entering his body. "What?" Ner'zhul asked in confusion
Instead of answering, Illidan responded by entering his demonic form, which turn his pale purple skin into pitch black in color with his tattoos and eyes glowing brightly. His body also seemed to exude black smoke that dissipates in just a few seconds. Before Ner'zhul can try anything, Illidan let threw off the orc's hand and grabbed him by the throat, slowly lifting him up. "Do you really take me as a slave, Orc? You must be incredibly stupid to think I would allow anyone to subjugate me, including you or the Burning Legion." the demon hunter said menacingly as the collapsing mindscape stopped and earthquakes began to occur with the sky turning into what was a storm. "However, you are right. The Scourge has a lot of potential and I'll simply take the powers to control it from you."
Ner'zhul's eyes widened at this as he knew if he dies here in his own mindscape, he would be dead for good. "Wait..." he said in absolute fear but was cut off as Illidan began overloading him with fel energy, slowly ripping him apart from the inside. Now, it was his turn to yell in pain. In only a matter of seconds, Ner'zhul's body was destroyed in an explosion of fel energy, leaving only his skull behind which Illidan crushed
Back in the glacier, Illidan's group and Kel'thuzad were suddenly forced to get down as they felt a huge amount of power build up inside the frozen throne. Nobody even managed to say anything as the frozen throne suddenly exploded which also completely shattered the entire Icecrown Glacier. On the throne, Illidan, still in his demon form, ended up sitting down on it with the pieces of armor on him including the crown which adjusted for his horns
"Illidan?" Illysanna asked as she got ready to fight in the event that it was Ner'zhul
Rather than give a vocal response, Illidan slowly got up as the pieces of armor were suddenly burned and fell off from him. He then took off the crown before completely crushing it and throwing it away. "It's still me." he said as he returned back to his normal form but this time, it was different. Instead of his purple skin, it was now very pale gray in color and his tattoos were now a mixture of blue and green. His hair also turned white in color. Only the fireballs in his eye sockets remained fel green in color, which was now visible as the encounter in Ner'zhul's mindscape ended up destroying his blindfold
"What happened to you? And why is your skin now gray?" Kor'vas asked suspiciously
"Ner'zhul brought me to his mindscape and tried to merge with me to protect himself from Kil'jaeden..." Illidan explained
"But instead you destroyed Ner'zhul's essence and took his powers as your own." Drak'thul said as he tried to sense what was going on with the demon hunter
Kel'thuzad grew curious at the warlock's statement and tried to concentrate and realized he was right. Ner'zhul's essence in the Scourge is gone entirely. "Drak'thul is right. I can no longer feel Ner'zhul's essence or consciousness. Only Illidan's power remains."
Kor'vas and Altruis looked at the demon hunter in absolute surprise, wondering if he had gone mad with power. Not only that, they were slightly afraid that they would be turned into his undead slaves, a sentiment shared by Illysanna and Drak'thul
"You don't seem bothered by this, Lich. Did you know about this?" Illidan asked suspiciously
"Not at all. Even I was surprised that you disappeared. In all honesty, I never really liked serving Ner'zhul. He reminds me a lot about the Dreadlords." Kel'thuzad said, somewhat glad at this turn of events. "My king, all of our forces are in ruin. It will take us a few months to rebuild the Scourge." he said, changing the topic
"Then return to Lordaeron and begin rebuilding the Scourge." Illidan ordered
When Illidan said that, one of the night elves reacted quickly and activated the stones the demon hunter gave them, instantly teleporting them towards the broken isles
"They're gone." Kel'thuzad commented, somewhat surprised at their reaction but had a bit of understanding
"It hardly matters." Illidan responded
"You don't particularly care about them?" Kel'thuzad asked in surprisingly
Illidan merely gave a shrug and walked towards the stairs. "I expected that kind of reaction and it isn't hard to understand. I don't suppose you enjoyed being the Dreadlord's pets now do you?" he said and Kel'thuzad had what appeared to be a slight smirk. "I have no intention of turning them into the undead unless they really want me to."
"I assume that you genuinely think they're your allies for you not to do that?" Ke'thuzad pointed out and Illidan merely nodded
"Illysanna was trained by the same person that trained me, her father." Illidan said, not giving some more details. "While Kor'vas was the only night elf that never held any sort of resentment to me. Drak'thul only came along with me but I'm not exactly sure about Altruis."
"So, you think they will come back to you?" Kel'thuzad asked curiously
"That I do not know. However, none of you are to harm any of them regardless of what they do." Illidan ordered
"What if they ally with the mortals? The Humans and High Elves will not take likely after what the Scourge did to their homeland." Kel'thuzad pointed out
"If they force our hands, kill them all and raise them. However, if those four ally with them, do not kill them. Only incapacitate them." Illidan answered back and Kel'thuzad nodded in understanding
"My king, there is something you might want to see. It is a weapon made by the Legion for the Scourge." Kel'thuzad said as the two were walking down the stairs
Illidan was curious at this and motioned for the Lich to lead the way. Three hours later, they made their way to Dragonblight. The demon hunter used his newfound powers to destroy a small snowy hill. Kel'thuzad was surprised to say the least when he saw what was buried underneath, a giant corpse
"Is that a..." Kel'thuzad trailed off in shock
"Yes. That is the remains of an ancient dragon known as 'Galakrond'." Illidan answered as he began walking towards the center. "Azshara told me about this before, a dragon whose size dwarfs even the Dragon Aspects. Now, he's ours." the demon hunter declared before channeling his powers into the weapon the Lich mentioned, Frostmourne. The runes on the sword began to glow glue and chilling smoke began to exude before the demon hunter plunged it straight into the ground, releasing massive amounts of necromantic powers. The broken bones then began to slowly reassemble and the ground was shaking from the massive amount of power. Illidan and Kel'thuzad began walking away from the center right before the terrifying visage of Galakrond arose. The Lich wanted to make some speech about the might of the new Lich King but when he saw the look on the demon hunter's face, he didn't bother as Illidan looked like he wanted to enjoy this moment in peace. When the undead dragon finally finished reassembling, it gave off a fierce roar and shook its body before flying in Lordaeron's direction, per Illidan's instruction
"Now, do you have any candidates on which Death Knight should wield this sword, Lich?" Illidan asked as they observed the dragon leave
"Pardon, my king? You aren't gonna wield Frostmourne yourself?" Kel'thuzad asked in confusion
Illidan chuckled a bit when he said that. "No. I have my own weapons Lich. Even though Frostmourne is more powerful than my blades, I would still prefer to fight using those. I guess you could call it appreciating one's trophies, when I killed a demon on Azeroth, permanently." the demon hunter explained. "So, you have any suggestions on which one to wield this in my name?"
Kel'thuzad thought about this for a few moments but couldn't come up with a suggestion. The only one he ever thought that would wield that sword was Arthas and now, there was no way Arthas was ever coming near that blade. "I apologize my king. I cannot come up with who to wield this blade. Only Arthas was chosen by Ner'zhul for his champion. So, perhaps someone that is like Arthas that is driven by a single minded purpose without even thinking about the consequences."
Illidan grinned at this idea as he knew the perfect candidate and it would be sweet revenge for him. "Kel'thuzad, return to Lordaeron. I will get the one to wield this blade." he ordered. The Lich was curious at this statement but chose to wait until his master returned
"My king, there is also something else." Kel'thuzad said before Illidan left. "Months ago, some dwarves landed here and began seeking for treasures however, they were severely outnumbered and took refuge in Azjol'Nerub. What are we to do with them?" he asked
"Do whatever you deem fit. It hardly matters one way or the other." Illidan answered and flew away
Kel'thuzad then decided to return back to Icecrown in order to gather some minions. 'These dwarves will make a fine addition to the Scourge.' he thought to himself
The demon hunter on the other hand, summoned back the Shadow Orb and used its power to teleport. It took a few minutes as the orb was nearly drained of its powers but it managed to hold up, bringing the demon hunter to his destination, close to it but in the general area of where he intended to go, the Broken isles. Illidan teleported atop the highest pillar on the Tomb of Sargeras. For a few minutes, he observed the surroundings. He wasn't sure if the one he was looking for was even here but it was worth a try. Only then did he realize that, for the first time in a few thousand years, he didn't think things through. In the end, Illidan decided that if his target wasn't here, then he'll simply order Kel'thuzad to reanimate the strongest human or high elf and use him or her to wield the runeblade
Illidan jumped from the pillar and flew to the western shore of the isles, close to the area where the battle against the demon's outpost took place. It took Illidan an hour of searching the coastline until he finally felt it. The demon hunter grinned as he would finally get his revenge. He walked over to a grave that wasn't over two months old, Maiev Shadowsong's. He pulled Frostmourne from his side and began raising the corpse of his long time jailer
Due to Illidan's actions, it unintentionally attracted the attention of his four allies, the ones that have left him since he became the Lich King. Illysanna and the others used the stones to teleport somewhere near the demon's outpost so it didn't take them more than ten minutes to arrive at the scene and they were shocked beyond belief, there stood Maiev Shadowsong, completely raised into undeath with her prisoner standing beside her
Right as he finished his spell, Illidan heard footsteps and found the rest of his allies standing there, looking in shock and fear. Only Drak'thul didn't feel any disgust considering that Gul'dan had raised death knights before but this was the first time for the others. They were well aware that Illidan had no qualms in doing what he wants but to see it in person was just a different thing entirely. They quickly drew their weapons as they anticipated a battle against the demon hunter that became the Lord of the Scourge while Illidan merely stared at them with Maiev awaiting his orders
So, was this turn of events surprising? I did say this would be about one of the biggest what ifs of WCIII. As I said in the last chapter, this one would contain where the Blackrock Orcs were. I won't reveal what purpose they would serve but they would still be greatly relevant to the story
On those colors of Illidan's body, this was something that truly bugged me. In WoW in game, Illidan was purple skinned but in WCIII and the live action trailers such as in the TFT and TBC trailers, he had gray skin. I always found that odd so in this story instead, Illidan had pale purple skin after absorbing Gul'dan's power just like WoW in game but after becoming the Lich King, he now looks like the live action trailers with the changes to the colors of his tattoos. I didn't want to change Illidan that much since he had one of the coolest models in the game, along with most of the notable demons
Also, that part about Galakrond is completely wrong. I decided to write that his remains got buried over the millenia rather than it being in full display for whatever reason. Don't take too much on that since that was just a teeny tiny change
I don't think there's really much to talk about. Illidan is the Lich King now so the next two or three chapters will be about the immediate aftermaths
That's about it for now