Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
A few minutes after the draenei left, Malygos and Illidan returned to Silvermoon to discuss what the dragon had discovered. Most of the Scourge Silvermoon fortress have been built with only a few dozen finishing touches left and the duo headed to the very peak where it overlooks far into other areas of Quel'thalas
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Illidan asked
"Before I get to the main matter, Alexstrasza has come here wondering why I'm working with you and the undead." Malygos said and the lich king simply frowned. "Do not worry, I will still do my part in our deal however, I told her about what our intentions are."
"How much of our intentions did you tell her?" Illidan asked
"Only the ones concerning Deathwing. I did not tell her anything about the Old Gods. As a matter of fact, I did not even tell her how we plan on forcing Deathwing out." Malygos assured him. "However, I wanted you to be aware of this because I have no doubt that she will have a word with your brother or the mortals." he explained
"I see." Illidan sighed. "It was bound to happen. There is no way that we would be able to fight Deathwing without the mortals becoming aware of it."
"That is true but regardless, I suggest we move against Deathwing before your brother can plan something that would delay us." Malygos pointed out and Illidan merely nodded. The dragon then created an arcane image of the Broken Isles. "While you were away, I took the liberty to explore the Broken Isles and the outer areas of the Tomb of Sargeras but I didn't go too deep. We have planned to use the Eye of Sargeras to rip through the elemental planes however, I believe we can save the Eye for something else." he said before bringing up a different image of an artifact. "This is the shadow orb, the one that you found from the tomb. It was nearly out of any magical energies after you had used it in driving the Legion out but I was able to infuse it with the corrupted Sunwell. This new shadow orb can now be used for the same purpose. The only difference is there could be some other side effects such as causing a full elemental war or straight up causes this world to be unstable for the duration of the spell." he explained
"Unstable?" Illidan asked
"Not in the sense like with the sundering but instead, it could rain heavily for days non stop, lightning storms appearing in unexpected places or even straight up causes a drought. Regardless of the kind of instability, it won't be like the sundering years ago as the orb simply does not possess enough power for such a cataclysm. Also, if we do use the orb, then we will not be able to use it anymore no matter what we do." Malygos answered
'Could so it is possible that what he says won't happen or if it will, it won't be to that extent.' Illidan thought about this new information. His original intention was to use the eye to force Deathwing out but with this, it could almost guarantee that they will have the advantage against the fallen aspect. 'It seems like the dragon is smarter than I gave him credit for.' he thought to himself. There was one problem with going through with it. "I take it this is why you said we should move as soon as we can?" he asked
"Yes, if Malfurion does use his powers to find out even a piece of our plans, he might have Ysera do something to interfere." Malygos answered
"How long would it take for us to setup the spell?" Illidan asked
"A week at the least. We still have to choose a location in which to force Deathwing out. Securing the locations could take up to a few days while the setting up the spell would take at least three. That's not counting if we use the Eye to secure a guaranteed advantage." Malygos said before making all the images he summoned dissipate. "I must ask you this though, Illidan. Are you really willing to risk everyone else on this world? We may have the advantage in a potential war against the mortals even with the Draenei but at the same time, risking the safety of everyone for your own goals seems a bit too selfish."
"You do realize that my goals are in everyone's best interests? Or at the very least, something they would appreciate?" Illidan countered
"Perhaps but the way you're pursuing it also compromises their safety. Unlike the Scourge, the mortals are actually affected by the weather and unlike us dragons, they cannot adjust their bodies to ignore a completely disrupted weather." Malygos pointed out. "Why don't you try asking for their help in this?"
"That's a good point but you did miss the part where time is not exactly on our side. Asking for the mortals' help would only delay us unnecessarily and their so called 'first duty' to protect their people could jeopardize the mission." Illidan argued back before looking the dragon right in the eyes. "Let me ask you something, if you had to choose between seeing your world destroyed or enslaved, what would you choose?"
Malygos was silent when the demon hunter asked that. 'He has such a dystopian and extreme view on things. What could have caused him to see things in such an extreme?' he asked himself
"Besides, you know how the Night Elves see me. Malfurion and I may have reconciled but I really doubt that they think I'm actually fighting to save this world. In fact, I am merely fighting to ensure that our world does not become anyone's slave." Illiidan said, interrupting the dragon from his thoughts
"Be that as it may, the Draenei might be able to change their perspective and perhaps you could consider asking for their help." Malygos suggested
"Another time and I don't want them to see me as a genuine ally. I may have nothing against them but we have taken very different roads in pursuit of a common goal and I'm not about to turn back now." Illidan answered, not particularly surprised that Malygos did not answer
"I understand. I shall leave the final decision in your hands." Malygos said and Illidan merely looked at him in surprise as he thought that the dragon aspect would at least try to convince him. Then again, Malygos was thought to have gone insane after Deathwing's betrayal. "There is one more thing. Olrun found something that may be of interest to you."
"Where is she?" Illidan wondered
"She's in the Grizzly Hills in Northrend." Malygos responded before channeling his powers to create a portal between Northrend and Quel'thalas
Northrend
Malygos and Illidan arrived in the Icecrown Glacier. Since that is where the link between the two continents were, that was where they ended up. Malygos transformed into a dragon and flew towards the southeastern area of the continent. Illidan flew after him
Half an hour later, Malygos led Illidan towards a giant but broken tree. Near the area, they found Olrun, Ymiron and a few vrykuls that were investigating the area
Illidan, to their surprise, knew instantly what they found. "A World Tree? Here?" he asked in disbelief
"You know what this is, my king?" Ymiron asked
"Yes. It is similar to the World Tree, Nordrassil, in Mount Hyjal. In fact, I would even say that this one here was somehow made from Nordrassil. How did it get here?" Illidan wondered
"From what I know, it was about four thousand and five hundred years ago. A druid named 'Fandral Staghelm' took branches from Nordrassil. I believe that he also planted other World Trees but that is not relevant. What is relevant is this one." Malygos answered and pointed towards the tree
"It is destroyed and corrupted. What happened?" Illidan asked
"Not much is known to us, my king. What we have discovered is that this World Tree was corrupted by Yogg Saron. It drove the creatures here insane." Olrun answered
"But that's not the important part." Ymiron said and the lich king had a good idea what the vrykul was gonna say. "Since you were once a Night Elf, I take it you have heard about the Emerald Dream?" he asked and Illidan merely nodded. "I do not know how, but this corrupted World Tree has become some sort of gateway into the Emerald Dream. I am not certain if we are able to open it but I am fairly certain that the Emerald Dream has been corrupted."
Illidan frowned at this information and quickly looked at Malygos. "Does Ysera know about this?"
"I don't know. I haven't exactly had much contact with the other Aspects and Ysera does not exactly disclose this kind of information. The only problem is if the corruption managed to stay low and out of her notice." Malygos pointed out
"At any rate, should we bring this to her attention?" Ymiron wondered
"I say we shouldn't. If she does know about this, she might interfere with our plan against Deathwing. We have not had hard evidence that Deathwing was a servant of the Old Gods but this only solidifies the theory. When the corruption was spread, creatures that were known as taunka and forest nyphs were driven insane, which is a mirror to Neltharion's corruption." Malygos suggested
"That's surprising coming from you. I guess you really want Deathwing gone." Olrun commented
"I do, more than anything as of this moment." Malygos said in a sad tone
"Fine. Do not tell anyone outside of the Scourge of this until Deathwing is dealt with." Illidan ordered, seeing Malygos' point
Kalimdor, The Next Day
A few miles beyond the sight range of the nearest coast, the draenei ships remained in the sky. They didn't head inland immediately as they didn't want to unnerve the Alliance
"According to Illidan, this 'Kalimdor' should be about four miles more." the draenei controlling the ship's controls said. "Should we go in?" he asked the prophet
"No, not yet." Khadgar answered. "I will go ahead and meet up with Prince Arthas and Prince Kael'thas and explain about us. This will take a while." he said
"Good idea. We don't want to look like an invading army when we go there." Turalyon agreed. The archmage then went to the deck, transformed into a raven and flew away towards Kalimdor
It took Khadgar half an hour of flying before finally finding Theramore. He was slightly relieved that the Alliance still had a place. The guards noticed him when he flew above the city and were surprised that a raven was flying around since most of the time, it were either seagulls or albatross that were in this area. What was even more surprising is that the raven flew into a specific chambers
"Hmm?" Kael wondered when he noticed the raven enter his room. As the prince approached it, the raven suddenly began to transform into an individual that he was well aware of. "Khadgar? Is that really you?" he asked in disbelief
"it is, Prince Kael." Khadgar confirmed while the high elf simply stared in disbelief
"But how? We never heard from you ever since the second war?" Kael asked
"That my friend, is a long story and I would rather explain it to everyone." Khadgar replied to which Kael nodded
"I understand, however, while you are explaining everything, we will be taking precautions against any lies you might say." Kael warned
"I wouldn't expect anything less." Khadgar said with a smile while Kael led him to the door
"Prince Kael'thas? How did your guest get in?" the guard said as he slowly drew his weapon
"At ease, soldier. He is a friend." Kael said and the guard begrudgingly lowered his sword. "I need you to summon every notable officer into the main conference building. We need to have an emergency meeting." he ordered
"At once, my lord." the guard bowed and quickly left while the two mages left towards the conference building
Ten minutes later, every high ranking member of the Alliance was present, Sylvanas, Vereesa, Rhonin, Nathanos, Arthas and Jaina were in the conference building as Kael requested
"Prince Kael, why did you summon us here?" Vereesa was the first one to ask
Instead of answering, Kael merely looked to the side and from one of the corridors, a certain archmage approached the gathered group. While Arthas and Jaina were not that familiar with him, everyone else stood up in complete disbelief at who they saw
"What trickery is this? Khadgar?" Sylvanas asked in complete disbelief
"Calm down, Sylvanas. This is really me. I have quite a story to tell you." Khadgar replied while Kael motioned for him to take a seat
"Before we begin." Kael said and casted a spell which made a small hum in the air
"A lie detection spell?" Rhonin asked in confusion
"I see. You don't want to take any unnecessary risk if Khadgar isn't who he says he is." Arthas said before looking at said archmage
"So, what happened, Khadgar? We thought you were dead? What about my sister?" Vereesa asked multiple questions rapidly
"It all began after we crossed over to Draenor. After the Horde was defeated on Azeroth, the few clans that remained on Draenor were on their last legs. During the battle, the world was suddenly torn apart when one of the orcs, a shaman named 'Ner'zhul', opened up multiple gateways. Many of us have died in that catacylsm but we were taken in by people known as the 'Draenei'. Like us, they have been at war with the Horde and surprisingly, they also wield the powers of the Light. Right before Draenor was sundered, I was already able to close the Dark Portal. With nowhere left to go, we have taken refuge in the Draene's city called 'Shattrath'. When things finally calmed down, the survivors, myself included, settled in Shattrath knowing we are stranded. A few months since then, a powerful demon, a pit lord named 'Magtheridon' arrived and took control whatever remains of the Horde and it began another war for Draenor, which has since been renamed to 'Outland'. At first, it went in our favor but the Horde remnants were reinforced when Magtheridon used the gateways Ner'zhul opened to bring in the Burning Legion and for years, the Legion simply focused on an area called 'Shadowmoon Valley' while in other regions, it became a stalemate. That was until a year ago when another gateway was opened, which we were helpless to stop, and in was only recently that we learned that this gateway was actually for the Legion to invade Azeroth. Around that same time, they have also begun being more aggressive and summoned more and more demons, slowly overwhelming us. They even managed to take over the entirety of Outland with the exception of where Shattrath was, the Terokkar Forest. A little over two weeks ago, fortune was on our side when an undead army from Azeroth arrived. With no other choice, we allied ourselves with the undead led by Illidan Stormrage and drove the Legion out of Outland." Khadgar explained his story with everyone listening intently. While the others were too occupied listening, Kael checked every few seconds on the lie detection spell and to his surprise, it did not activate even once which confirmed that Khadgar was telling the truth
"And you asked Illidan to take you back home." Arthas muttered with slight bitterness about his home
"You know of him? How?" Khadgar asked with slight surprise. He was already told about how the Alliance disbanded, Quel'thalas, Dalaran and Lordaeron driven out with all the other members and more destroyed by the Legion but the Scourge never told him how a demon was against the Legion
"Were you already told about how we are here in the first place?" Rhonin asked
"Yes, but I doubt the undead gave me all the details. What they told me was how the undead infiltrated Lordaeron, Dalaran and Quel'thalas and focused on Dalaran. Some of the death knights have mentioned that as soon as King Terenas, Archmage Antonidas and King Anasterian realized that the Burning Legion were the ones controlling the undead, you began an evacuation." Khadgar answered
"Well, over the last few years, the Horde that we kept as prisoners have reformed and they too were warned to flee the Eastern Kingdoms. When we arrived in Kalimdor ourselves, we were forced to ally ourselves with them and our ancestral race, the Night Elves. Illidan was one of the Night Elves and during the battle, he absorbed the energies of Gul'dan's skull and became a half demon. With his help, the Legion was defeated." Sylvanas explained
"That's not all. Malfurion Stormrage, his brother, came to us a few months after the Legion's defeat and told us that Illidan has taken control of the undead. Since then, we have been preparing for a potential invasion but surprisingly, the undead never attacked nor even came to Kalimdor." Jaina added and surprised Khadgar
"I was even surprised about that myself. I was one of the survivors from the Legion's assault on Stormwind. We eventually made our way to Dalaran, which has become an undead fortress, and were captured. What we couldn't believe was that the undead simply told us to leave and never return. If I had to guess, Illidan is after something else entirely." Nathanos said
"That is indeed surprising. At first, even I could not believe that this demon was fighting against the Burning Legion but he did not agree to work with us for free. He actually wanted us to seal off Outland from Azeroth permanently. Something that really surprised us was that he would allow us to come back home but of course, we couldn't stay in the Eastern Kingdoms. The Draenei also came with us, hoping that they can live in peace until the final battle against the Legion occurs." Khadgar added
"'Final battle'? Is the war with the Legion not yet over?" Arthas asked with a frown
"Far from it. Demons can only be killed in a realm called the 'Twisting Nether'. If they are killed anywhere outside, their souls will simply return and create itself a new body." Khadgar answered
"Like the Legion hasn't done enough already." Vereesa grumbled before looking at Kael and Arthas. "What about the Draenei? Would we allow them here?" she asked
"If they really are genuine and not under the Legion's control, then I don't see why not. However, building a space for them would take a while and we would need to send a letter to both the Horde and the Night Elves." Kael answered and looked at Arthas
"I'm fine with it. Kael does make a good point." Arthas said but secretly, he was hoping that the draenei would help them take back the Eastern Kingdoms
"I agree. It will be good to finally see Alleria again after all this time." Sylvanas said and reminded Vereesa about her
"I see. You have my thanks. The Draenei have done so much for us." Khadgar said gratefully. "Now, if you'll excuse me." he said and walked to a window before opening it. "I need to inform them of the decision." he then transformed into a raven and flew off
"Considering that he's been fighting the Legion, I'm surprised he hasn't changed that much." Vereesa commented when the archmage was gone
"To be fair, this was only one meeting. I'm sure we would find out more as time goes on." Kael pointed out
"That is true." Vereesa said before growing a smirk and looked at her sister who merely raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I say we give Alleria a proper welcome." she suggested
An hour later, the draenei ships finally arrived and settled outside Theramore. The leaders of Theramore went towards the ships to meet the draenei. Outside of the command ship, Khadgar came out. As expected, Turalyon, Alleria, and a creature which they figured to be a draenei came with him
"Alleria!" Vereesa said and rushed over to give her sister a hug, ignoring the rest of the draenei
"I take it you're the leader of the Draenei?" Kael asked as he approached
"Yes, I am Velen." he introduced himself and shook the elf's hand
"Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider."
"Prince Arthas Menethil."
"Jaina Proudmoore."
"Nathanos Marris."
"Rhonin."
Velen nodded at this and looked at the Windrunner sisters, somewhat happy at their reunion
"It's nice to meet you, Velen. I am Sylvanas and this is my younger sister, Vereesa." she said
"Alleria told me a lot about you. It is good to finally meet you." Velen replied and looked behind him, noticing two more individuals. "That is Grand Artificer Romuul." he said, pointing to the one on the left. "And that is general Maraad." he finished, pointing to the other
"I apologize we are not able to give you a better welcome. The Alliance now isn't what it once was." Arthas said in a rather sad tone
"It is alright. I understand that the times have been very rough. My people have been fighting the Burning Legion for thousands of years." Velen sympathized and looked at Romuul, who understood that they would have to build settlements for their people. At the moment, they had no choice but to use their shifts to build makeshift homes until they could build a proper settlement
"At any rate, you must be tired. Please, follow us to Theramore." Kael said and led them all to the city
A small celebration was then thrown to welcome back the expedition sent to draenor. While a lot of the humans were not personally familiar with the expedition, they have heard stories about them and were glad to meet them in person. As such, it was the high elves who were mostly familiar with them
Arator was happy that he finally met his parents again as they left when he was very young. They spent a good family time together along with his aunts and cousins
When the party was over, the Windrunner sisters went to a room to discuss something in private
"Is something wrong, sister?" Sylvanas asked when she noticed Alleria just staring at the room. Vereesa noticed it as well and grew worried
"When I left, I never expected to see home again, to see you again. I thought that I would not survive that expedition but I was more than willing to give my life to end the war forever. Little did I know that the Horde was simply the minions for someone far worse. Ever since I learned about the Burning Legion, I had hoped that Quel'thalas would survive, that my family would survive." Alleria said while trying to fight back tears. "I was horrified when I was told of what happened but I was given hope when Illidan mentioned that you were alive. I just..." she trailed off as a tear finally broke free. "I just don't know. Our home is in the hands of the Legion's creation." and Vereesa was quick to hug their eldest sister
"It's alright, Alleria. At least we're back together now." Sylvanas assured her and they spent a few moments in silence
"Sylvanas, ever since the Burning Legion was defeated, have you tried to reclaim our home?" Alleria asked eventually
"No, we have not. Ever since we first made landfall in Kalimdor, our ships were completely destroyed. After their defeat, we did not have the means to travel back to the Eastern Kingdoms nor the ships necessary for such a trip. Even the ships we have now isn't enough." Sylvanas answered
"That's not all. Even if we did have the means, it would have been suicide. The Legion's gunships would prevent us from making any significant progress and their forces were still strong compared to what we had left." Vereesa added and Alleria looked at her in surprise. "Apparently, the Legion still had a lot of forces in the Eastern Kingdoms. We don't know the details but Illidan worked with the undead to drive them out."
"Since then, the Eastern Kingdoms has been under Illidan's control. We were hoping to get back our home but that thought soon faded when Illidan's brother, Malfurion, told us what Illidan has been doing. His forces have nearly recovered while we only managed to finish Theramore. At that point, we thought it was for the best that we moved forward no matter how difficult it is." Sylvanas finished the story
"I see. Illidan didn't even give any of us a chance to see what happened to our home." Alleria said and her sisters finally understood why she wasn't that happy even with the reunion
"What?" both of Alleria's sisters said at the same time. Nobody knew what to say after that as there was nothing that needed to be said
"Sister, there is also something else you should know." Vereesa said and Sylvanas nodded to her while Alleria grew curious. "Ever since the Sunwell was corrupted, we have slowly begun to feel the effects of some kind of hunger. The Night Elves have told us that it was a result of our overreliance on the Sunwell. They have given us a temporary measure with waters similar to the Sunwell but it won't last for too long."
Alleria took a few seconds to take in what was just said before sighing. "And I assume that even the Night Elves don't know a permanent solution." she said and her sisters merely nodded. "I'll ask the Draenei tomorrow if they know something that could help us." she said. The sisters continued to chat for a while before it got late and Alleria was led to a room she could stay in
Great Dark Beyond
A Legion gunship fleet was floating in around that was simply observing Outland. It had only been a few hours since the undead left the shattered world so the Legion figured that any gateways between Outland and Azeroth would be closed by now. All of a sudden, Outland exploded out of nowhere, leaving nothing where it once stood
A figure then approached the individual that was on the top deck of the command ship. "Lord Kil'jaeden."
"Report, Varimathras." Kil'jaeden said
"Everything has proceeded as planned. Most of our forces in Outland are now in his service with the only notable exceptions being Magtheridon's lieutenants." Varimathras answered. "But my lord, we did suffer a slight complication. Illidan has found the archive in the Temple. There is a very strong possibility that he knows about Argus." the dreadlord said
"It hardly matters. We would not have been able to keep Illidan from getting that information forever and if he found nothing useful then he might suspect that something about this is off. From what we have witnessed, his instincts are very sharp." Kil'jaeden pointed out and the dreadlord suspected that the deceiver has some respect for the demon hunter's abilities. "Now, let's get back to Argus."
Thought I'd stop with the fighting chapters. This one was mostly about the reunion on the Alliance part. Just to make some stuff clear, the Night Elves are not part of the Alliance in this story. Neither the Alliance nor the Horde are as strong as they were in the canon for obvious reasons such as limited territory and of course, the timeframe
I could have gotten the details about how Draenor turned to Outland but the general idea is there so that should suffice. I also just made Arator to be one of the people that was on the Alliance expedition when the undead drove them out. Don't get too excited on that as while he will have a role to play, it won't be that big since he is still a teen. If my math is correct, he was 24 during Legion, which happened on year 32. The third war happened on year 20 so that makes twelve and since it has been a year since Mount Hyjal in this story, he should be 13. Correct me if I got that part wrong
I am also gonna get a lot of things wrong from the canon such as the Emerald Nightmare. Yes, I'm just gonna say it since it is literally mentioned in this chapter just not by its name. I don't know when Ysera became aware but I am going to drastically change things around it. It won't just be about the Nightmare but nearly everything else as well. But then again, that's the point of fanfics in the first place. I will try to keep it as close to the canon but no promises
Finally, I did mention the magical addiction that the High Elves had when they became Blood Elves in the canon. It's just a random thing I decided to keep and it won't even have a part in the story, within the foreseeable future anyway
That's about it I guess