Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Two Months Later
Malfurion didn't know where exactly he was. He found himself in an unknown lands with the lands suffering and dead trees everywhere. When he turned around, he was surprised, a lot more than he ever was in his life. There were dead bodies everywhere. Four of them he recognized from the many corpses littered on the ground belonged to the undead, the Burning Legion, humans and orcs. He was curious as to why their colors were different from the humans he had met thus far. Other he didn't recognize at all. There were creatures he never seen or heard for before with the only distinct feature that was immediately noticeable was that it had tentacles for hands. Another different creature he noticed looked like a giant snake. Malfurion also saw what looked like an orc except it was red in color. Having never scene a Fel Orc before, he wasn't familiar about red skinned orcs
His attention was drawn when he heard the sound of a battle being joined on the other side of the dead forest. Malfurion ran towards the sound and was horrified with what he saw. Undead, demons and red skinned orcs engaged in a brutal battle against the tentacle and snake creatures
All of a sudden, he heard the roar of a dragon. The druid looked up and noticed that a massive skeletal dragon flew above and was engaging another dragon. Malfurion felt that he should know who the skeletal dragon was fighting but couldn't identify it at the moment. The skies then suddenly bled green when a powerful yet familiar beam of green energy soared through the sky. The skeletal dragon disengaged and the beam hit the other dragon, causing it to roar in pain. The other dragon fell from the when the giant skeletal dragon threw it into the ground before another green energy beam hit him, completely burning its body
Malfurion looked up when he heard the sound of flapping wings. He knew that it didn't belong to a dragon because it wasn't that loud. To his surprise, and horror, he saw his brother fly down to the body of the fallen dragon, completely in his demonic form, his tattoos glowing bright green but this time, with a slight shade of blue and his skin pitch black in color. The demon hunter then gathered energy around him and unleashed it omnidirectionally, instantly killing or incapacitating the unknown creatures
The two biggest surprises came when the demons, orcs and undead all bowed to Illidan and when he returned to his normal form except his hair was now white with his body now a pale gray. Contrary to the dominant green tattoos in his demon form, his tattoos was now a mixture of blue and green. Malfurion has concluded that his brother had somehow taken control of the undead or has somehow joined up with the Legion and became the one to command the undead. Suddenly, Illidan looked at his direction and fire another eye beam right at him
Malfurion suddenly got up from his bed, completely sweating from what he just saw. It took him a few second of observing his surroundings before realizing that it was just a dream, a nightmare. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that he was still in Ashenvale. The sun was just about rising and he knew that Tyrande always leaves early to check on the rest of the Sentinels. The druid then decided to get up and find her. He went to the Sentinel outpost and found Tyrande looking at reports from the other Sentinels. Since Archimonde's defeat, things have been rather peaceful even with the outlanders. The Alliance and Horde have founded their own nations out in the barrens
"My love? You're awake early?" Tyrande said when she noticed Malfurion enter the tent before motioning for everyone inside to give them some time to themselves. "Is something wrong?" she asked when she noticed the grim expression on his face
"I had a dream, more like a nightmare." Malfurion answered and Tyrande frowned at this. She kept her silence and the druid took the hint that she wanted him to explain. "I found myself in the middle of a battlefield. Demons, undead and other creatures I could not recognize."
"But the battle is not the one that bothers you, is it?" Tyrande asked
Malfurion shook his head. "After the battle, I saw the demons, undead and one of the creatures bow to someone we both know."
Tyrande's eyes widened at this as she realized who it was based on how Malfurion had said it. "Illidan..." she muttered in disbelief. "Has he...?"
"I don't know. I really don't know." Malfurion said and motioned for them to leave. "But we need to find out."
Tyrande nodded in understanding and led them outside. "Shandris, we're going out. Take care of things here."
Shandris noticed the urgency in Tyrande's voice and grew worried. "Priestess, what's going on? Is it the Legion?" she asked
"No, but it might be something just as bad as them." Malfurion said as he got on his stag with Tyrande on her tiger
The two of them rode towards the coast of Ashenvale, which the waters were peaceful, something which greatly unnerved Malfurion. "What are we doing here, Malfurion?" Tyrande asked as she got down her ride with Malfurion doing the same
"I will try to connect with nature and see what I can find out." Malfurion said and gathered some of nature's spirits. Nature answered his call and gave him their powers, allowing him to project his consciousness elsewhere. Malfurion first travelled to Northrend but for some reason, couldn't find any traces of the undead but what he did find were landscapes that have been forced open from underground in one certain location, Dragonblight. After that he decided to travel to the Eastern Kingdoms in a place which he figured was Lordaeron. Malfurion grew depressed at what he saw, dead forests and corruption everywhere. It was here that he found an army of the undead gathering but he couldn't find any clues of his brother. He decided to travel towards another kingdom, Quel'thalas, the kingdom founded by the Highborne when he exiled them and was surprised at what he saw
The undead appeared to be building a fortress in the distance. Malfurion was not entirely familiar with Quel'thalas and he wondered if this was Silvermoon, the High elves' capital that they mentioned before. In Silvermoon, he found that it was only a part of the fortress that he saw but from direct observations, it became clear that Illidan wanted it to tower into the skies. Malfurion travelled there and found what he was looking for, Illidan, completely in the form he saw in the nightmare. Gray skin, white hair and bluegreen tattoos. Malfurion was even more surprised when another familiar individual went towards the demon hunter with a terrifying runeblade at her side, Maiev Shadowsong. He wasn't close enough to hear what they were talking about but after a few minutes, he noticed that Illidan looked his way, seemingly aware that something was wrong. Not wanting to take the chance, Malfurion returned to his body and found Tyrande sitting on the sand, waiting patiently for him
"Malfurion." Tyrande said as she got up when he heard him take a deep breath. "What is it?" she asked in worry as she made sure he wouldn't fall from the ordeal
"It's true. I do not know how but Illidan has taken control of the undead. They're building a fortress in Quel'thalas. There is also something else." Malfurion answered while Tyrande waited in tense anticipation. "Maiev is serving him."
"What?" Tyrande asked
"Illidan has raised her to serve him and the undead." Malfurion said, knowing about the Warden's death at the hands of his brother from Naisha's report
"Talk about revenge." Tyrande muttered before realizing something. "If Illidan went after her for revenge, would he come for us?" she asked in worry
"I don't know. I really don't know anything." Malfurion said as he remembered that it was he who had Illidan imprisoned
"We should warn the outlanders." Tyrande said
"Would Illidan actually go after them?" Malfurion pointed out
"He probably won't but if Illidan does come for us, it will no doubt attract their attention. The Humans especially would find a way to involve themselves considering that Illidan now controls the one that drove them out of their homes." Tyrande argued back
Malfurion nodded in understanding and climbed on his stag once more, Tyrande mimicking his actions. "We should send messengers to the Orcs and Humans as soon as we get back." he said and they went back to continue purging the Legion's corruption from the forests, mainly Felwood
Eastern Kingdoms
In the forests south of Dalaran, a group of humans and high elves have gathered, survivors from the attack on the Alliance Kingdoms. Since the Legion have departed for Kalimdor, they have mainly been focusing on solidifying their holds on the kingdoms while only sending small search parties to hunt down any survivors. Given their near unstopabble invasion since their arrival, the Burning Legion got cocky and didn't bother to put in that much effort for the survivor hunt and instead focused on the Kalimdor invasion
"What have you found?" a human ranger asked
"Not good, Nathanos. The undead have gathered in Dalaran and are also turning it into a fortress." a female high elf answered as she got back into a small clearing. In their group, there were only twenty four of them with eleven being high elves the rest being humans
"This is rather odd. First the demons abandon the kingdoms and now the undead have taken over." another high elf said
"Perhaps we should be glad the demons are gone." a human said
"No, he's is right. There is something odd about the demons just leave especially when the undead weren't even with them." the first high elf said, oblivious to the fact that the undead were only in Quel'thalas and Northrend
Their attention were taken when they suddenly heard the trees rustle. There was no wind at the moment so there was absolutely no reason for the trees to rustle unless
"Undead!" one of the human soldiers called out and everyone assumed defensive positions but it was all for naught. Banshees, flesh golems, abominations, gargoyles and ghouls all appeared, surrounding them. They all tensed themselves for what was going to be the final battle of their lives
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a chilling voice said. The ghouls stepped aside to allow the voice's owner to pass through, which was a lich. "Nathanos Marris? Surprising that you didn't travel to Kalimdor." the lich commented
"How do you know who I am?" Nathanos asked venomously
"Everybody knows about you, Sylvanas Windrunner's lover, the only human to have been accepted into the Farstriders." the lich answered in a mocking voice. As soon as the lich said that, one of the humans attacked a ghoul which the undead minion blocked the strike. "Enough. Stand down." the lich ordered
"Pardon, Lord Naze? We are not to kill them?" a banshee asked in confusion
"No. They are not to be killed unless they provoke us. Orders of our king." the lich, Naze the Eternal, answered
"So, what are we to do with them?" the banshee asked while the Alliance just looked in disbelief
"At the moment, our king is not here. Take them to Dalaran." Naze ordered
As the undead moved to capture them, the alliance soldiers prepared to fight. "Do you really think we would just come with you?" Nathanos asked
"What choice do you have? You are outnumbered. It's either you comply or you join the ranks of the Scourge. Make your choice, Nathanos Marris." Naze answered back and his minions prepared themselves for a fight
After a few minutes, Nathanos relented and with great reluctance, dropped his weapons and the others mimicking his actions. "And what assurance do we have that you will not kill us?" he asked
"None whatsoever and you are in no position to make demands. Now, follow us or join our ranks." Naze said before leaving, half of his minions following him
"Nathanos, what do we do?" the first female elf said, readying a dagger which she keeps hidden in her belt
"I hate to say it but we're horribly outnumbered. This may be the end for us." Nathanos muttered
She was about to object but a banshee suddenly floated close to them and she was forced to hide her dagger. She looked around and noticed that the undead were keeping a very close eye on them with abominations ready to chop them into pieces if they tried something
Eventually, the undead and their prisoners reached the main courtyard of Dalaran, which the undead have kept open. To the alliance's surprise, in the middle of the courtyard were two elven women sparring. They were not high elves so they figured that they were the 'night elves' they have been told about. As the alliance were watching, they noticed something different about these elves, they wield the powers of the Legion
These two night elves were none other than Kor'vas and Illysanna. The two were trying out a new fighting style, this time involving using a double edged curved blades on each hands, similar to Illidan's twin blades. The two were in a blade lock, with one of their blades. Kor'vas threw off the blade lock and moved to slash Illysanna, who moved back to dodge. Illysanna responded with her own slash and Kor'vas bent her body backwards, causing the blade to simply fly above her. Kor'vas quickly kicked Illysanna to put some distance between them. Illysanna reeled from the kick and noticed that Kor'vas has jumped into the air, blades at the ready. Illysanna side stepped and quickly side kicked Kor'vas, breaking off the attack. The two of them quickly locked blades once more before pushing each other away
The two night elves stared at each other and they nodded at the same time. They decided to up the intensity of their training and used their demonic powers, both their hands and feet turned into claws and demonic wings grew from their backs. Both their skins also turned from purple into a very dark shade of purple. After their transformations, both night elves charged at each other and clashed blades again, this time with much more speed, agility and intensity than earlier. The two of them also flew up and engaged in an aerial battle in order to practice fighting airborne targets. Eventually, they managed to put some distance between each other and Illysanna quickly fired an eye beam. Kor'vas used her own eye beam to counter and caused an explosion to happen, engulfing them in smoke. Given that they now had the same abilities as Illidan before he became the Lich King, the smoke didn't hinder their sights in the least but to Illysanna's surprise, Kor'vas wasn't in her line of sight and was caught off guard when she was suddenly hit by an eye beam from behind. Kor'vas had used the smoke as a distraction to sneak up behind Illysanna before attacking her, causing enough injury for her to fall to the ground
This also caused the demonic transformation to wear off on Illysanna as she gathered herself. Kor'vas flew down to the ground and ended her own transformation before helping Illysanna up
"Wow, I did not expect that at all. You've gotten a lot better." Illysanna complimented as she accepted her hand
"Thanks. You also fought very well. I'm just lucky I fought a bit more lately when the Legion attacked Ashenvale." Kor'vas said in a grateful tone, pointing out that subtle difference
At this point, Naze floated towards the two night elves, who looked at his direction. "Pardon, Lady Illysanna, Lady Kor'vas, we have found a group of Humans and High Elves."
"Where are they?" Kor'vas asked
Naze then pointed behind him and the girls noticed the mentioned group. "I have ordered our troops to stand down as per Lord Illidan's orders but he is away. So the decision is up to you."
Illysanna nodded in understanding and moved to meet the humans, her two allies following her. "Who's your leader?" she asked when she got close to them
"It's him." Naze pointed to Nathanos. "His name is Nathanos Marris, Sylvanas Windrunner's lover." the lich mocked once more, making the human growl
"Sylvanas? The High Elves' general?" Kor'vas asked
"You know of her?" Illysanna asked curiously
"Yes, she and the other Alliance leaders helped us fend off Archimonde. I met her before the battle actually began." Kor'vas answered before looking at the lich. "Are you certain that he is her lover?"
"No but that's what the rumors say anyway." Naze said and caused the two night elf females to facepalm
"I think we should let them go." Kor'vas said eventually after a tense silence, causing both Illysanna and Naze to look at her curiously. The alliance soldiers could only listen in disbelief at what she said. "Just as an act of gratitude for their help, I would say we let them go. Besides, neither the Alliance nor the Horde are our enemies now." she explained
Illysanna listened carefully and considered her options. Illidan had ordered the mortals not to be attacked unless they were provoked, in which case they will join the ranks of the Scourge. That was it, which means that she also had the option to simply imprison them to ensure that nobody would know about the Scourge's activities. More importantly, the mortals might wind up with the conclusion that the night elves are allied with the undead which would be disastrous. "Do you think the mortals are stupid enough to think all night elves are affiliated with us?" she whispered to Kor'vas
"I wouldn't say so. Sylvanas did say that she was hoping to put the hatred between the Alliance and Horde to rest. I think they would at least confront Malfurion first. They have also met Illidan, albeit briefly, and we do wield the same kind of powers he does." Kor'vas reasoned and gave Illysanna the assurance she needed
"Naze, tell Altruis to ready a transport for them. Let them head towards Kalimdor where the rest of the Alliance are." Illysanna ordered
"What? You would send us away? This is our home." a high elf objected but Kor'vas merely grabbed her sword and point it at him
"Not anymore. You lost your homeland. If you wish to fight for it then by all means, give it your best shot. If you fail, you will join our army." Kor'vas threatened before looking at the lich. "Have them stay at the gates. I'll take them personally to Stratholme in a few minutes." she ordered and a few skeleton warriors dragged them all away. "Do you think we made the right choice?" she asked when they were alone
"I think so. They would have only been more trouble if we imprisoned them so getting them out of our hair was probably the right call." Illysanna answered
"No, not that. About us." Kor'vas said and Illysanna looked at her curiously. "Do you think we made the right choice in following Illidan's footsteps?" she asked as she reflected on their encounter with Illidan right after he became the Lich King
Flashback
Illysanna, Kor'vas, Altruis and Drak'thul all watched Illidan just raise Maiev Shadowsong from the dead
"So, have you come to finish us off personally?" Altruis accused the demon hunter
"Watch your tongue." Maiev hissed as she pointed Frostmourne at her former subordinate but suddenly, Illidan simply raised his hand, causing her to stand down
"No, I have not." Illidan said before creating a portal. Maiev got the sign and walked through, ending up in Northrend. "I only came here for Maiev and nothing more." he said when he closed the portal. "I already told you before, Illysanna, Drak'thul, there is still something I have to find out and I will not let anything stand in my way. However, I would strongly recommend that you choose your actions wisely because that includes you but that does not change the fact that I do not consider you as my enemies unless you choose to. I will say this, whether you choose to stick with me to the end is entirely up to you but remember, I still intend to fight our common enemy, the Burning Legion." he said and with that, he reopened the portal and passed through
"At least he is still himself." Illysanna commented. "I guess these rocks would activate when only one is activated." she said while holding up one of the stones Illidan gave back in Lordaeron
"That is true. I probably should have mentioned that." Drak'thul muttered
"I can't believe that he would just raise Maiev back from the dead." Altruis said, shifting the topic
"Is it really that surprising? Maiev has basically gloated to him about his imprisonment for ten thousand years. If anything, I'd say that we should have expected as much." Illysanna argued back
"That is true. If he did not hesitate to absorb a demonic artifact, what makes you think he would hesitate to torment his jailer?" Kor'vas agreed with but decided to focus on what is more important. "Now what?" she asked before looking at Altruis. "You were the one who activated these before we could all come to a decision, weren't you?"
"Do you really intend to follow Illidan after he has done this?" Altruis countered
"Why would we not? Illidan had more opportunities to turn his back against us but he never did it. More importantly, we would no longer be accepted by our people due to our actions. We don't have anywhere to go and we actually want to see this through to the end." Drak'thul said before walking away. "I'll go to the demon's outpost. There should be something we can use to create a portal to Lordaeron."
"In the meantime, we will try to build a ship, just in case." Illysanna said and Drak'thul nodded in understanding
Eventually, Drak'thul was able to make a portal using the energies from the Tomb of Sargeras. It wasn't easy but he managed to find one of the dormant wards and used it to fuel the portal, allowing them to return to Lordaeron. Reluctantly, Altruis followed the rest of them
Present Day
"I don't know but I really don't think it matters. We already turned our backs to the Night Elves when we choose to continue fighting instead of waiting around. We'll just have to see this through to the end." Illysanna said. "Besides, would you have been satisfied to just stay in Ashenvale after everything that's happened?"
"No." Kor'vas said without hesitation. "It would have just brought more pain knowing that Tyrande would have chosen for us to simply enjoy Archimonde's defeat when they wouldn't even bother to check this part of the world." she reasoned, knowing full well her people's mindset. "I should go and get this over with."
"Alright. I'll see you later." Illysanna said as Kor'vas left, having a good feeling on why Kor'vas insisted on why they let the humans live. In just a few weeks after their arrival in Lordaeron, Illysanna asked Drak'thul if there was a way to be like Illidan. She had wanted that kind of power ever since a demon nearly killed her in the battle of SIlvermoon with her motivation simply being vengeance against the Burning Legion. Of course, they had to get Illidan's permission who agreed and made her his second in command, a rank that was higher than even Kel'thuzad's
A few minutes after their conversation, Kor'vas used the network of portals the Scourge made and headed to Lordaeron, leading the alliance survivors
They soon came across Altruis, who was at the harbor of the destroyed city. "The transport will be ready in about a couple hours however, it would take at minimum two or three weeks to travel to Kalimdor. You are welcome to stay in the city and gather any supplies you can find. That will not be easy as the undead don't really need anything for their survival." he said when he heard them coming. Out of all of Illidan's group, he was the only one that hasn't yet allowed himself to wield the Legion's powers, unlike Illysanna and Kor'vas
Northrend
The demon hunter had left Drak'thul and Kel'thuzad in charge of building the fortress in Silvermoon while Illysanna was commanding the other undead and she chose to station herself in Dalaran since that was where the Legion entered
In the meantime, Illidan and Maiev trekked through the mountain range northeast of the Icecrown Glacier. It was not an easy trekk as even Illidan would have a hard time flying in the harsh blizzard and Maiev couldn't even fly at all. While Maiev can barely see through the snowstorm, Illidan could see just fine thanks to his spectral sight and they continued moving
"Lord Illidan, where are we going?" Maiev asked
The demon hunter was still somewhat uncomfortable with Maiev referring to him as 'lord' considering that she regularly gloated at him when he was imprisoned. "A complex called Ulduar, one of the oldest structures on this world." he answered, specifically not mentioning any of the details. This was one of the places that Azshara told him about during his training. The queen never gave him any details except that it was one of, if not, the oldest structure on the planet which was situated in the far north. He didn't bother to mention anything else to Maiev and they just continued their journey until they found a massive city among the mountains. As they moved to find an entrance, a tentacle suddenly appeared from the ground and shot fire at them. Illidan reacted to this quickly and was able to freeze it solid before Maiev shattered it. Almost immediately, more tentacles appeared and attacked by either whipping the duo or shooting fire
Maiev and Illidan were able to slice up the tentacles that tried to whip them rather easily. Illidan quickly erected a fel shield to protect them from the fire attacks of the other tentacles while Maiev gathered energy on Frostmourne and thrust it into the ground. Illidan quickly dropped the shield and allowed her to quickly dispatch the remaining tentacles. "Looks like stealth is no longer an option." she commented when the tentacles disappeared
"Then I guess we'll just have to burst right through." Illidan said and fired an eye beam into the side of a tower, creating a huge hole in it. "Let's move." he said and flew into the opening while Maiev used her new ice powers to create a staircase made of ice into said opening. Inside, they were quickly attacked by creatures that neither of them had seen before and looked like they were walking mass of tentacles. Without missing a beat, both Maiev and Illidan expertly fought off these unknown, corrupted creatrues and very easily dispatched them
"There'll be more. Where do we go?" Maiev asked
Instead of giving a direct answer, Illidan instead summoned eight shades and had them split up in the complex. "We move towards the center." he said and led the way, slicing up more of the unknown tentacle creatures. They soon came across a massive blob surrounded by tentacles protruding from the ground like the ones that attacked them inside along with more of those walking tentacle creatures
"You will know suffering like never before." the massive blob said darkly
Neither Illidan nor Maiev were fazed by this and the former warden quickly summoned a shield of ice around them to block all the incoming attacks. In the meantime, Illidan fire multiple streams of fel fire, slicing through the ice shield and putting the creatures on fire which eventually killed them. Turning their sights on the blob, Maiev unleashed a stream of frost from her runeblade and Illidan fired another eye beam. Due to the combined attack, the massive blob completely shattered like glass. The former night elves quickly moved through the complex and what they looked were hallways, gigantic hallways at that, that led to the center, both of them easily slicing up any of the creatures that got in their way
Eventually, they came across a giant drop leading directly deeper down the complex but they can see what lies at the bottom, another creature similar to the one the blob they destroyed but this one is blue in color and much larger. It appeared to be in some sort of pool. Unlike the blob from earlier which was a dark brown in color with eyes all over it, the one in the pool looked like it had maws for eyes in addition to its own mouth, which looked exactly like its eyes except larger
"What have we here? You, Lich King, will know the true power of the god of death!" the creature declared
Both Maiev and Illidan were rendered speechless at what they saw. It was so corrupt that it made the Burning Legion look like a normal thing. Black tendrils then appeared and were slowly coming out of it and was slowly causing the surroundings to decay before suddenly, some invisible runes activated and the decaying stopped. Maiev didn't see it but Illidan did thanks to his spectral sight and the demon hunter concluded that whatever this thing was, is sealed off
They did not stick around for too long but fortunately, one of the shades have found something. "Let's get out of here. We can't fight this thing now." Illidan said and the two of them headed to a different area of the complex. On the way, they ended up killing more of those tentacle creatures, a lot more. They soon came into a room where it looked like a magical observatory but one thing was off, there were a lot of dead bodies. From what Illidan can tell, they were killed by the tentacle creatures and that these dead bodies weren't corrupted. They were also ones that neither former night elves have seen before as they had metallic bodies and they were much larger than other creatures that weren't dragons but they were also humanoid
Here is the next chapter. The next few chapters will mostly focus about what the Scourge are doing. There will be a few more timeskips before the next war chapters begin
At this point, it's clear why I killed the three demon hunters Illidan brought to Outland in the canon, I wanted Illysanna and Kor'vas to take their places instead. I have also revealed who the next enemy is
I did joke around about that Nathanos and Sylvanas thing. I don't know if they're really lovers but whether it's true or not is irrelevant. It's just something to mess around
Finally, that Ulduar complex was horribly wrong. I just wrote it where it is a massive city but was infested by Yogg Saron's minions
That's about it for now