Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Silvermoon
Kel'thuzad, Drak'thul, Kor'vas and Illysanna were in the fortress' main room, studying some maps so they can come up with a plan to deal with the Emerald Nightmare as they had no doubt that it would come after them eventually and they had no intention of being caught off guard. All of a sudden, a massive spike of power completely pulled them out of their thoughts
"What was that?" Drak'thul asked when the power dissipated
"It came from above." Illysanna said before realizing what it was. "Illidan."
Without even saying so much as a warning, Kel'thuzad teleported them all to the courtyard at the fortress' peak and found Illidan's chambers completely destroyed. There, the original demon hunter stood in his full demonic form
"Illidan?" Kor'vas asked warily but both she and Illysanna could see that this was the real Illidan
Instead of answering, Illidan merely fell to his knees once more, the weight of what he had done and what he had learned still a bit too much
"Illidan!" Illysanna called out as they all approached him
"Are you alright, master?" Kel'thuzad asked worriedly
"I'm fine." Illidan replied but the other two demon hunters noticed the tone in his voice. It was completely broken. "Please, just leave me be, for now." he asked. Asked, not ordered, which his four subordinates found absolutely odd. It was not like him at all
None of them left immediately and they all looked at their leader in complete worry. They expected him to repeat himself but to their confusion, he just stared into the ground with a sad look on his face. Only when Illysanna motioned for them to leave did they actually comply with his request
"Illidan never asks for something. What do you think is happening?" Kor'vas asked when they were at the level below the peak
"Assuming that he was actually in a trance, he must have been forced to do something he didn't want and it shook him to his core." Drak'thul reasoned with the only explanation he could think of
"I am sure even Lord Illidan's level headedness has its limit. If what Drak'thul suggested before was true, it must have traumatized him." Kel'thuzad added
"What has Azshara done to him?" Illysanna asked the question that was on everyone's minds
Ashenvale Forest
At the southern area of the forest, the night elves were in the middle of fighting off corrupted ancients and treants. The battle was still underway with the more coordinated night elves still maintaining a solid ground. Four red dragons and a not more than six horde warriors arrived to help them along with Tyrande returning. In her absence, furbolgs and dark trolls have joined in against the Emerald Nightmare. She figured that in the time she was away, the other inhabitants of Ashenvale have joined up with the night elves. Some of Cenarius' children, namely six keeper of the groves, have also managed to regroup with the remaining defenders
"Shandris." Tyrande said right as she shot an arrow at a corrupted treant
"Priestess." Shandris greeted right back. "The situation is under control, for now. We have been able to hold off the Nightmare forces and the rest of our people have already retreated into the Barrens."
"That's good." Tyrande sighed. "I have met with the others. They're already begun building defensive lines about half a mile outside Durotar while Alexstrasza and the Green Dragons are figuring out as much as they can."
"Priestess, perhaps those corpses..." Naisha said while pointing to a dead green dragon. "Would prove to be useful."
One of the red dragons quickly took the cue and grabbed the fallen green dragon. The others provided cover against the corrupted ancients that were trying to stop the first red dragon. After the corrupted ancients were killed, the first dragon quickly flew away with a second red dragon helped the first in carrying the body
A few minutes after the dragons had left, the Nightmare launched another wave of attack. This time, the numbers were greater than before. The elves were able to hold them off due to the creatures not attacking in a coordinated manner. The sentinels at the outer areas of the defensive perimeter were eventually forced back simply because of the sheer numbers
"Priestess Tyrande." a sentinel who just retreated called out. "There's too many of them." she said and pointed to the incoming corrupted creatures
Calling upon the strength of Elune, Tyrande raised both of her arms as a purple light came from above suddenly appeared. The blue sky was then temporarily covered in the darkness of the night as the high priestess called down a starstorm. Many of the Nightmare creatures were killed upon a star coming into contact with them and the starstorm wiped out nearly all of them. Those that weren't killed in the star shower were instead killed by the remaining night elves. Even the dragons were impressed at the display right as the dark skies began to clear up
"Don't let your guard down. We need to buy Eranikus as much time as we can." Shandris quickly said, not letting their recent victory get to the sentinels' head
"Shandris!" a sentinel called out. "This may not be our only problem. It is possible that the Nightmare would exit the forest in different areas." she pointed out
"That is a possibility but do they actually have that many forces?" Naisha wondered out aloud
"It's fine. The Alliance and Horde are already preparing their own defenses. Alexstrasza and the other dragons are in the Echo Isles off the coast of Kalimdor. We just have to hold them here as long as we can. With Elune's grace, we may be able to save what's left of our beloved home." Tyrande answered and all of the sentinels understood that just like with the war against the Legion, they were not alone
For the next half an hour, the sentinels did nothing but prepare for the next assault. The keepers were using their powers over nature to manipulate the downed trees, uneven landscape and random swamps to their advantage by creating chokepoints which would allow them to fire their arrows at a general location while the sentinels made some of the surroundings more flammable especially in the chokepoint areas. Five more red dragons and four bronze dragons arrived to give their assistance
Some time later, rain suddenly began to pour down but unlike regular rain, this one stung when they made contact. This forced any uncorrupted druid, furbolg shaman and troll priests in the group to use their healing magic to stave off its effect and reduce their reliance on the moon wells
"What is dis? Ashenvale never had any rains like dis." one of the dark trolls commented
"There can be no doubt about it." Tyrande said with horror as she knew there would only be two individuals that would be capable of such a feat. She quickly looked across the nearby river and her fears were realized. There stood the former archdruid of the night elves, body fully gray with various red markings on his body
"Tyrande, what is-" Shandris asked but when she noticed the priestess was in shock, she followed Tyrande's line of sight and she too was horrified at what she saw. "Malfurion..." she muttered
"Give up your foolish resistance, Night Elves." Malfurion said with his voice warped by the corruption. "The masters shall have this world."
"Malfurion... Is that really you?" Tyrande asked in disbelief, finally seeing him in his corrupted state
Instead of answering, Malfurion face twisted into a wicked grin, one that was completely unlike him. "The Archdruid is long gone. I serve the master now."
"Master?" Naisha wondered aloud
"The Old Gods. They're the ones responsible for the Emerald Dream's corruption." Shandris replied
"Ah, I see you are aware." Malfurion took note. "Regardless, Satyrs, attack." he ordered. As soon as he said that, multiple satyrs appeared from the woods and threw the night elves into disarray. That didn't last long as the night elves were able to recover from the shock of the satyrs managing to sneak up on them rather quickly. The next battle ensued with the ancients and furbolgs quickly fighting the satyrs
"More corrupted Treants are coming in." one of the sentinels suddenly called out. Not wasting a beat, the trolls, dragons and most of the sentinels focused on the chokepoints they had prepared. The corrupted treants were slaughtered upon trying to enter the chokepoints
"It would seem that we have underestimated you." Malfurion commented when the Nightmare's forces got slaughtered and only managed to kill a few of the Ashenvale inhabitants. The former archdruid then summoned another acid rain but unlike the previous one, this one was accentuated when acid breaths came raining down as well. The Ashenvale defenders looked up and saw seven green dragons coming their way and crashed right into the defensive perimeter
"Trolls, concentrate on the chokepoints. The Green Dragons are just here to distract us and let their forces breach our defenses." Shandris ordered before she fired an arrow to ignite a small fire on one of the chokepoints
The corrupted green dragons completely threw the entire defenders into disarray. A lot of sentinels were forced to abandon their posts or they would get killed by the dragons. Furbolgs, despite being completely outdone in terms of physical strength, were able to at the very least limit two of the dragon's movements and distracted them. This allowed the sentinels to inflict critical damage. The red and bronze dragons were able to fight the other corrupted green dragons. Two red dragons and one bronze suffered critical damage when they were clawed right in the chest or wings but they managed to defeat their corrupted brethren with the aid of the Ashenvale inhabitants
In the chaos, Malfurion began manipulating some of the nearby vines to grapple as many of the defenders as he could by Tyrande noticed this and was able to quickly burn most of the vines with flaming arrows. The vines that weren't burned were noticed by the trolls and despite prioritizing the chokepoints first, were forced to cut off the vines
Once this attack wave was defeated as well, the voice that was present upon his corruption thundered in Malfurion's mind once more. "What are you doing?! The masters are growing impatient. Finish them!" the voice ordered
"Our forces are ill equipped to fight the Sentinels. They are far too coordinated and prepared." Malfurion tried to reason with the voice quietly
"Enough. Your help has arrived." the voice replied back right as a lot of the trees turned into corrupted treants. "Once you are finished with the night elves, go to Teldrassil and destroy it."
If the dragons threw them into disarray earlier, it was next to nothing when compared to the treants as the defenders completely relied on their surroundings favoring them. On the other side of the river, Cenarius as well as five corrupted keepers appeared with more corrupted treants and ancients with them
Left with no other choice, Tyrande was forced to give the one order she never imagined she would have to do even in her wildest dreams. "Retreat! Pull back from the forest, now!"
"Go! Quickly! Or the Nightmare will corrupt you too!" Shandris added to her adoptive mother's orders. Some of the uncorrupted ancients tried to buy them time to get a headstart while the dark trolls threw whatever they could to slow down their incoming enemies. While they all did fine against the Nightmare's forces thus far, they knew they wouldn't last long against Cenarius especially since they haven't made a single preparation to deal with the demigod
After about ten minutes of battle, the ancients were downed and slowly being corrupted but the survivors of the Ashenvale inhabitants, which included the dark trolls and furbolgs, were able to escape the forest
Silvermoon
Hours later, Illidan was staring out in the distance. He was still distraught over what he had gone through. The demon hunter had a lot of experience to the point where almost nothing fazes him anymore but being forced to destroy a world where he had everything he could have wanted was completely different. For the first time in over ten thousand years, he was actually afraid of seeing Illysanna again. While he knew that what he did wasn't real, it certainly did not help that she had grown on him both in his real life and the one Azshara had trapped him in. The only thing that was certain is that he was going to rip apart the Old Gods
While he was in deep thought, he suddenly heard someone nagging at him. He didn't need to wonder where it was coming from as he was already aware. It was Maiev yelling around like an idiot within his runeblade. With a sigh, he ordered his former warden to find a place where no one could find her
Frostmourne
After being annoyed to hell by Maiev, Illidan decided to head inside Frostmourne. He wasn't sure he would be able to do it since he knew she wasn't in Silvermoon but he was surprised that it actually worked. Once inside the runeblade, he began walking towards the cell that held his former warden
"About time you got here, Demon Hunter." Maiev grumbled when she finally saw him
Illidan noticed that she called him by the title given to him by the demons and not the one he was known for to the night elves, something she had never done before and caused him to frown in suspicion. "What do you want, Maiev?" he asked. "And how did you even know I have regained consciousness?"
"This blade is linked to you, Illidan. Even if you're the only one that has control over what happens, Frostmourne allows its prisoners to know if you're injured or even unconscious." Maiev pointed out before she realized something. "You should be aware of that. What has gotten into you?"
"Concerned?"
"Curious."
"Nothing you should be too concerned about." Illidan replied coldy. "What do you want?"
"I'll help you." Maiev answered and Illidan merely raised an eyebrow. Both of them were aware that there was no point in lying as it was impossible to lie within Frostmourne as Illidan would know instantly. That also wasn't considering at how it wasn't easy to lie to him in the first place as he could easily tell if someone was lying. "As much as I hate to admit it, you were right. I would rather not die without having a chance to fight the Old Gods nor the Legion. Although I would be lying if I said that I don't want you to pay for turning me into one of your undead minions."
"What made you change your mind?" Illidan asked suspiciously
"Azshara being alive and with the Old Gods. While I still hate you, I hate Azshara even more." Maiev answered. She had expected him to have some kind of reaction but Illidan was surprisingly indifferent about this as even he was furious at the queen, which she did not know. "First, Neltharion and now, Azshara. It's clear that they are far worse than you and who knows what other surprises from the past the Old Gods have up next." she said, recalling the two recent enemies they have had
"And you're willing to be a slave just to deal with them?" Illidan pointed out mockingly
"I'm willing to work with you to fight the Old Gods. If you really wanted me as a slave, you would have done so by now but even without my soul, you seem to have a measure of trust in me." Maiev pointed out with a smirk before growing serious. "Illidan, there are some things you should know. Illysanna would probably tell you this later but the Emerald Nightmare has corrupted Ashenvale and the Green Dragonflight. It is very likely that your brother has fallen under its influence."
The demon hunter did not bother to respond to this. He already expected as much when Azshara told him about Xavius. Since Malfurion was the one who turned Xavius into a tree, Illidan assumed that the former advisor held some sort of grudge against him. Rather than give any vocal response, he merely frowned at this before he decided to break Maiev's prison
"Just like that?" Maiev wondered aloud at how easily he agreed to it
"Why? You're still not satisfied? Just say so and I will put you back in that cell." Illidan said in annoyance
"What is up with you? What did Azshara do to you? You're not acting like your usual self." Maiev pointed out
"As I said earlier, nothing you need to concern yourself with." Illidan repeated. "Now, go before I change my mind." he said threateningly and after staring at him for a while, the former warden left the runeblade. The other prisoners also demanded for them to be released but the demon hunter was not in the mood to deal with them and he too left
Silvermoon
The lich king returned to his body after being annoyed by his former warden. He still did not feel like doing anything so he walked back to the edge of the platform once more and continued to gaze into the distance. After a while of silence, he head someone approach him
"Illidan." Illysanna called out and he turned to face her. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't want to be disturbed but there are some important things that you need to know." she said and Illidan motioned for her to continue. "After the battle against Deathwing, he shattered Yogg Saron's prison and we were left with no choice but to destroy the entirety of Northrend and it came at the cost of Nozdormu's life."
Now, that surprised him completely. Illidan already had a feeling that this would happen but he never expected a dragon aspect to willingly give up his life for such a drastic action. "Why Nozdormu? And how did you even get him to agree to it?"
"We didn't. Kor'vas was about to sacrifice herself but Nozdormu stopped him." Illysanna answered back and Illidan was surprised at how devoted to the cause his followers were. "According to Kor'vas, Nozdormu has said that somewhere in the future, he and the rest of the Bronze Dragonflight will make a pact with the Old Gods out of fear of their own deaths."
"And thereby continue to live forever." Illidan realized
"Yes. By sacrificing himself and asking Alexstrasza to ensure that no one else becomes the new Dragon Aspect for the Bronze, another potential servants of the Old Gods have been stopped. Kor'vas said that Nozdormu never gave any of the details."
"I see."
"Alexstrasza demanded that we at least explain what we're doing to not only them but the mortals as well. I decided to oblige her." Illysanna said. Illidan was surprised at what she did since that was something he would never even consider. "After the battle in Northrend, a continent to the south was revealed. The mortals demanded that they be the ones to investigate this and I decided to let them do it."
Illidan smirked at this as he instantly realized what she had done. "You ensure that we have a small group solely to keep an eye on them. If the mortals find something, then they'll be the ones to deal with it and use up their resources. If they fail, then they would at least be able to weaken whatever they find for us to pick off."
Now, Illysanna was the one who was surprised at how easily Illidan had figured out her intentions even though there really wasn't a reason to. "Indeed. Thrall was the one who requested that we let them help in our war. While I'm sure that the Warchief had no ulterior motives, I'm fairly certain that the Alliance only agreed to it just to buy themselves time." she said and he grew curious as to what she meant. "I'm pretty sure that they're still furious about us occupying their former homes and the fact that we did not even let Turalyon and the others see it would probably only make it worse. They should be aware that the only chance they have of beating us was if the war was fought in Kalimdor. They know that they lack the means necessary to invade the Eastern Kingdoms. By agreeing to help, they effectively ensured that we don't have our sights on them. Another reason I also agreed is I don't think they're going to sit idly by and I wanted to avoid any potential and unnecessary conflict with them."
"That makes sense." Illidan said before he adopted a genuine smile. "I am impressed, Illysanna. If I was in that position, I wouldn't have even bothered to agree to that meeting."
"I thought so." Illysanna said with a smile of her own. "Some time ago, the Green Dragonflight has been corrupted by the Emerald Nightmare. It is possible that Malfurion has been corrupted as well. Last time I checked, the NIght Elves have been gathered at the Barrens entrance of Ashenvale, trying to fight off the Nightmare." she continued to explain. "Lastly, Maiev and Malygos have discovered something in the Tomb of Sargeras. It were some seals that have similar energies to a demon gate."
That was something that Illidan did not expect. He was even surprised that he wasn't able to notice it. 'How in the hell did I not notice that? Was I too distracted with simply getting the Eye that I missed it? Or did I simply rely too much that Gul'dan had thoroughly checked the Tomb?' he wondered to himself
"Maiev, Malygos, Olrun, and Ymiron are all in the Broken Isles right now. They have made an outpost guarding the Tomb to ensure that nobody would let the Burning Legion in." Illysanna said
'No wonder she was my daughter in that life.' Illidan thought to himself as what she had done is exactly what he himself would do with the exception of meeting the mortals. "I see. That was very well done, Illysanna."
Illysanna smiled at the compliment. "We also have one more recruit for a Demon Hunter. Allari found him when you sent her to observe Ahn'Qiraj. Unlike us, he's taking a bit longer to get used to the powers but he's showing great potential. Kor'vas and I are training him down below." she said and he merely nodded in understanding. "That's all that's been happening thus far. I'll take my leave." she said respectfully and went back down. Illidan observed her leave with the memory of him killing her still very fresh in his mind. However, now his mind turned to something else and he decided that he would not just wallow in what he had been forced to do
Southern Continent
The Scourge forces sent by Illysanna were still in the middle of mapping out the continent. The three demon hunters continued doing what they did while the undead humans and elves did their orders
While he was taking notes of the surroundings, Rivendare suddenly heard some rustling nearby. Drawing his runeblade, he quickly turned around expecting an ambush but was met with a creature that looked like a humanoid bear. "Who are you?" the death knight as, getting ready for a fight
"Peace, stranger. My name is Chen Stormstout and I mean you no harm." the person said. "My people are called the Pandaren and you are in Pandaria." he explained
"You seem to be willing to tell me the details I want to know?" Rivendare asked suspiciously as that was exactly what he was trying to do. 'What the hell is he up to?'
"My people are not malevolent. We prefer peaceful solutions and avoid conflict unless necessary." Chen answered. "You may be undead but you appear not to have any intentions of harming our lands."
'Is that right?' Rivendare's eyes widened in surprise at how he was made. "How do you know that I am undead?" he asked
"You do not deny that you are dead." Chen commented and irritated the death knight. "We have an affinity with life, so to speak. You aura is not natural so I assume you are undead."
"That's a fair point." Rivendare muttered
"May I ask what you are doing here and if you are alone?" Chen asked politely
If he was still alive, he would have completely given the details because of how polite the pandaren was but he was under orders to avoid them as much as he can. "Scouting for anything this place holds and no I am not alone."
Chen merely looked at the undead before him and realized that he had no intention of revealing anything. He wasn't surprised nor did he take any offense to his response. They were strangers after all
Wanting to appear friendly, Rivendare decided to tip the pandaren off. "In a few days, there will be a few ships that would land in Pandaria. I do not know how many nor how long but I do know they are coming." he said before instantly regretting his decision and there was no way he could take it back now
The pandaren wanted to ask what the people coming here want but when he thought about how pandaria was hidden in a veil of mist, he realized as to why. "Thank you for the warning. We will make sure to be on the lookout." he said gratefully before leaving
'Altruis is gonna have my head for this.' Rivendare thought to himself once the pandaren left. He did manage to get crucial information but he had slipped up. 'If he's gonna have my head then I might as well get it over with.' he thought before moving to regroup. He eventually came to a clearing near a coastline where the rest of the undead were gathered
"You're finally here." Kayn said when he noticed the death knight
"I found out where we are." Rivendare said, not wasting any time. "This place is called Pandaria with some humanoid bears that call themselves as Pandaren."
"How did you manage to figure that out?" Sally asked curiously as the others have only managed to map the area but no information such as this
"I was spotted by one of the Pandaren. He wasn't the least bit offended that I was undead nor did he criticize me." Rivendare answered and the others realized how. "I also let it slip that the mortals were coming here." he finished
"You idiot." Zeliek Lightstalker, another death knight, said in surprise and irritation. He quickly looked at Altruis for permission to punish but the demon hunter merely kept his calm
"It was bound to happen sooner or later." Altruis said and surprised his companions. "Given that we are sneaking around, it would have been impossible for us to remain undiscovered forever."
"You were certain that this Pandaren took no offense?" Anya asked curiously
"That's what he appeared to be. I wouldn't be surprised if they were plotting against us by now." Rivendare answered
"Aren't we supposed to not cause trouble here?" Sally asked out loud
"We aren't." Altruis confirmed and began to think about this for a few moments
"Wouldn't the mortals think that we went against the deal if they find out we are here?" Kayn asked
"No, it doesn't." Altruis answered. "The deal was only to let them investigate and deal with whatever this place holds. Nothing was ever stated that we wouldn't come here ourselves." he said and Rivendare sighed in relief
"But if that's the case, then the mortals are guaranteed to know we are here." Sally pointed out
"Assuming that is all true, I don't think it really matters. If they have half a brain then they should have realized that there is no way in hell we would let them deal with this on their own." Kayn said as a matter of factly
"That is if they even have half a brain." Zeliek said with the irony
"Enough. For now, we have what we need. We'll make a small place to stay on the eastern area and keep an eye on things." Altruis said before changing the topic. "There is also one more thing. Illidan has regained consciousness. Illysanna said that he's a bit out of it for now."
Here's the next chapter. Nothing too significant on this one except for the corruption taking even more hold. This was mostly dedicated to a complete 180 from how Maiev is in the canon and in all honesty, I can't imagine her hating Illidan more than Azshara. Other than that, I also decided the Pandaren to be mostly benevolent just for the fun of it. As I said, I don't know too much about the Pandaren and I don't want to do too much research on them. I did mention Teldrassil as well but in all honesty, it will have literally one part and nothing more. It won't even be in this part of the story
That's about it I guess