Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Silvermoon
Agatha went to one of the upper levels of the fortress to find Illysanna. She had been made aware that Illidan has regained consciousness but was in the best of states so instead, she was looking for his second in command, finding her training Vandel with Kor'vas in stealth. "Illysanna." she called out and broke out their training
Kor'vas looked at her friend and nodded, which silently said that she'll continue to train him on her own
"What is it?" Illysanna asked
"I wasn't able to figure out how to reopen the elemental planes, at least not without the necessary resources, but I did find out which ones still serve the Old Gods." Agatha said and the demon hunter merely motioned for her to continue. "Ragnaros the Firelord and Al'Akir the Windlord. That's not all. Ever since the Nightmare took hold, the elemental planes have been reopened. I imagine that those two are now fighting in Kalimdor with the rest of the Old Gods forces."
"The Emerald Nightmare happening now isn't a coincidence. There is no way it is all a coincidence." Illysanna said with realization. "This is the Old Gods trying to counter attack after we have dispatched Deathwing."
"I thought so as well. That would also mean that things may not be as complicated as we thought. If they are attacking with the Nightmare, then there is a strong possibility that Azshara is dead." Agatha pointed out
"I wouldn't go that far. At the very least, we should assume that she's simply incapacitated. As powerful as Illidan is, I highly doubt even he would be able to kill her that easily." Illysanna argued
"Speaking of, how is he?" Agatha asked in concern
"Still the same. It has been hours since he regained consciousness but he has kept himself isolated at the peak. I'm starting to grow worried." Illysanna answered
"Give him time. Everyone has their limits, Illysanna, even Illidan." Agatha said reassuringly
"What do you think is going on with him?" Illysanna asked curiously
"If I had to guess, there is so much more we don't know about him." Agatha answered which was not what the demon hunter was asking. "Not to say that he doesn't want the Old Gods to be gone but I suspect there is more to his own personal motivations than simply trying to get rid of them just for the sake of getting rid of them. I have no doubt that whatever Azshara did to him has something to do with what we don't know about him."
Illysanna thought about this for a few moments and realized that the val'kyr had a point. There was definitely something Illidan was hiding from everyone else even though it was clear that he wants them gone. "What are the odds that the war with the Old Gods has now become more personal for Illidan than it already was?" she wondered eventually
"Very likely. If I didn't know any better, I think our master has just been fighting them because they threatened to take control of him." Agatha answered. "I'll take my leave." she said before leaving
Durotar
The entire outer areas of the Horde homeland have become a battlefield. The forces of the Emerald Nightmare had launched a full scale attack after they had driven out the night elves from Ashenvale. Corrupted spiders, treants, dryads, trolls and everything else that has been corrupted in the night elven lands all attacked the Horde's territory. However, the Horde was prepared for them and pre aimed certain areas for catapult bombardment. The night elves have also retreated to these defensive lines. While the lines were not as strong as they could be, it would at least hold. The defenders were fortunate that the Nightmare didn't attack with all of the corrupted green dragonflight
"Most of these creatures are mindless. Hold your ground warriors!" Samuro ordered before motioning for the catapults to rain down burning rocks on the enemy
However, that all changed when multiple green drakes suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Two of the catapults were instantly destroyed by their attacks
"Dragons!" an orc warrior yelled out
In response, the orc shamans created some barriers that shielded the catapults. More Nightmare creatures continued to attack them with the drakes shooting acidic breaths at the defenders. This forced the Horde and night elves to scatter and allowed the Nightmare creatures to gain some crucial ground. The drakes landed in the main concentration of the defenders but they quickly retreated to a safer distance when they were being targetted
Red dragons eventually arrived in the middle of the battle and turned the tables as three more orcish catapults arrived to provide more help
"Dis is very strange. If da Nightmare was able to corrupt things by just spreading itself, how come dey are attacking us instead of just corrupting us?" a dark troll asked out loud
"Really mon? Why ya be complanin bout dat now?" an island troll countered back
"Focus, warriors." Samuro reprimanded them
The battle continued to wage. The red dragons made the defense almost too easy, until some corrupted green dragons arrived, this time, fully grown ones instead of just drakes. Their more potent acidic breath aimed at the catapults and destroyed all but two of them. Unlike the previous times these dragons were encountered, they were instead hanging back, knowing full well that they would get slaughtered if they recklessly charged at the defenders
Breaths of acid, flames, thrown spears and shaman lightning bolts were flung all over the battlefield. Some corrupted ancients managed to break through the defensive line and engaged the defenders
"Hold your ground warriors!" Samuro ordered as he got into the melee. The blademaster cut down creature after creature with little effort whatsoever
In the meantime, one of the green dragons took out some objects which looked like balls. While the corrupted ancients were nearly defeated. the green dragon threw the ball like objects. It splattered against the ground or walls. The objects were then revealed to be eggs as a large number of corrupted spiders came from them. The defenders were thrown into disarray while the green dragons used the distraction to attack with their acid breaths which greatly stung the red dragons aiding the defenders
"There's too many of them!" an orc warrior said
Samuro was about to give the order to continue fighting, he soon changed his mind when the wind suddenly grew stronger. He looked around and noticed that air elementals arrived to aid the Nightmare forces and fire elementals. The spiders appearing right in the middle of their defenses completely threw them off and now, more corrupted ancients and treants were heading their way. "Retreat, now!" the blademaster eventually ordered before looking at one of the night elven keeper of the groves. "Keeper, buy us some time to pull back to the next defensive line." he ordered
The keeper of the grove with them understood and used its magics to trap as many of the ancients and all of the green dragons with some vines, preventing them from moving. In the meantime, the defenders slowly began to retreat with the Nightmare forces in hot pursuit. The elementals, both fire and air, tried to combine their powers to kill the Horde and night elves before the ground suddenly cracked and buried them deep underground. Everyone wondered what was going on. They soon got their answer when the rocks around them suddenly came to life
"Earth elementals." an orc shaman said in realization right as said elementals engaged the Old Gods' minions
"Continue the retreat. Do not stay." Samuro ordered. His orders was followed and they were fortunate as the corrupted green dragons pinned down some of the earth elementals and slowly corrupted them by exuding some of their breaths
Outside Theramore Isle
At the same time, the draenei ships have been under attack. Rather than being attacked by the Nightmare's forces, they were instead attacked by orcs, ogres, humans, dwarves and even elves. In the middle of the battle, Vereesa and Rhonin teleported to the ships to help defend them
"Lady Vereesa, what is the meaning of this? Why are these people attacking us?" Maraad asked as he knew that relations between the Horde and Alliance was going well
"These must be the ones that have gone missing many years ago." Vereesa answered after she observed their enemies. "During the war between the Alliance and Horde, some people on both sides have gone missing. No one has seen or heard from them ever since. These people must be those."
"And they joined up with the Old Gods?" Maraad asked in disbelief
"Some people are just beyond our understanding." Rhonin commented dryly. "Either that or they have been manipulated to join serve the Old Gods." before he casted spells onto the enemies
After a while of fighting, a small group of the Old Gods' mortal servants manage to move out from their hiding spots and fire a concentrated beam of corrupt energies which resulted in the destruction of one of the ships. With it destroyed, the other mortal servants engaged their enemies in a melee battle. Unlike the battle with between the Horde and the Nightmare's forces, the these mortals servants was far more coordinated. In the middle of the chaos, seven servants managed to sneak their way around and destroyed the artillery of the draenei. The resulting explosion disoriented not just the Alliance but also the Old Gods' servants and it killed the seven who managed to sneak around. All the combatants were forced on their knees
In the middle of the battle, Kael'thas teleported and quickly burned all orcs he could find. "Please tell me these Orcs aren't from the Horde." Kael said in annoyance after igniting them on fire
"I doubt it, Kael. Do you remember the reports of people going missing during the First and Second Wars?" Vereesa responded as the battle resumed. Kael merely looked at her instead of responding as he understood who these people were. Kael used his magics to freeze them solid before melting them almost instantly with his flame spells
The fighting went on for a few more seconds with the Old Gods' minions inflicting significant amount of casualties on the defenders. Eventually, the Alliance were able to force them on the retreat. The draenei's artillery that were firing from other areas inflicted too much casualties on the Old Gods' servants although they did do a great deal of damage as all of the ships were either badly damaged or outright destroyed with bodies everywhere that belonged to both sides
"We will return! You will all die at the hands of the Twilight's Hammer!" an orc yelled out before retreating
Draenei and Alliance priests quickly went to tend to their wounded. There was not a single one of them that wasn't injured and even Kael suffered some burns
"Casualty report?" Vereesa said after her cuts have been bandaged up
"For now, the body count is thirty seven but it's rising as the others are tending to everyone." Maraad answered after adjusting his own bandages. "There wasn't a single one who joined this battle that was unscathed."
"We were careless." Vereesa said and everyone else in the area, Kael, Rhonin and Maraad, looked at her curiously. "The Night Elves have warned us about the Emerald Nightmare but we foolishly thought that they would be the only ones we have to fight. We never even considered the possibility that they won't be alone." she said in disappointment
"To be fair, we did have no evidence that they had other servants." Rhonin pointed out, trying to remain optimistic
"Rhonin makes a good point but Vereesa is right. We were being naive." Kael said thoughtfully and gathered his thoughts. "The effects of the Night Elves' temporary solution for our hunger is starting to wear off. This is really a bad time for us to be in this kind of battle."
"When war begins, your enemies will not wait for you to be ready." Maraad pointed out. "I have sent word to the Horde about what we have learned about the so called Twilight's Hammer as well as requested that none of them leave Durotar for obvious reasons."
"We should probably give the order to our own troops as well. We have no definite way to tell whether or not one is of the Hammer or ours." Rhonin suggested and Maraad left
"If the Old Gods have servants that are of our own kind..." Kael said grimly. "Then we have to check our own officers. It may be possible that they have already infiltrated our ranks."
Echo Isles
At the troll lands, the uncorrupted green dragons, Alexstrasza, Thrall, Tyrande and some other individuals gathered. The body of a corrupted green dragon has been brought in earlier and Eranikus and Merithra have studied it with the others' help. While they were in the middle of studying it, an owl suddenly flew over
Tyrande extended her forarms as the owl landed on it as a message was conveyed to her. She frowned right as she got the information, which was bad
"What is it, Tyrande?" Alexstrasza asked in concern
"The first defensive line has fallen. Samuro has ordered a retreat to the last defensive line before they reach Orgrimmar." Tyrande said and everyone was surprised. "Maraad has also requested that none of the Horde members leave Durotar until this war is over."
Thrall raised an eyebrow at this. "Why is that?"
"According to Vereesa, there were individuals on both the Alliance and Horde that went missing during the Second War." Tyrande began to explain. "The Alliance and Draenei have fought servants of the Old Gods that were comprised of various races from the two factions." she said and surprised them all
"If that is the case then it we may be compromised. These servants of the Old Gods may very well be in the Horde by now." Cairne said grimly. "Tyrande, please have your owl to deliver a message to be wary of any shady individuals." he requested and the priestess complied
"Dat would be a problem. Der is no way fo us to kno if one's loyalties are not to da Horde." Vol'jin pointed out a hard fact. "Dis is widout a doubt retaliation for when da Demon Elf mon defeated Deathwing. Da Old Gods know dat da Scourge is more dan ready fo a counter attack so dey are targetting us because we are not as ready fo a war as da undead."
At that point, they knew that there was only one way to end all this and even if they managed to find out which ones serve the Old Gods now, it wouldn't make that much of a difference since the war has already started. They all looked towards the green dragons
"Eranikus, Merithra, please tell me you have learned something?" Tyrande asked
"We have actually." Merithra answered and everyone perked. "We have been greatly mistaken. The Nightmare doesn't happen as fast as we had originally thought. With the new information, I believe that Lady Ysera and the others were lured into a trap that corrupted them in a matter of minutes. However, that was it. The Nightmare is operating under its what I would assume to be its usual pace."
"In other words, if someone is affected by the Nightmare, it could take hours or maybe even days before they are fully under its influence." Eranikus added to the explanation. "We have been deceived and led to believe that the Nightmare had grown so powerful to the point where an afflicted individual would fall under its influence in such a short amount of time just so we would be forced to abandon Ashenvale Forest."
"But what about the corruption? Can it be purged?" Thrall wondered
"It is possible but it would be very difficult. However, there is a more permanent solution. The Nightmare is being maintained by a living being and we are certain that it is not one of the Old Gods. If we can find this being that maintains the Nightmare, then we can put an end to it for good." Eranikus answered
"But where would we even find this being?" Tyrande asked worriedly
Both green dragons looked at each other as there would only be one place where this individual can be found
"The Emerald Dream." Merithra answered
Orgrimmar
The second defensive line outside the Horde's capital was currently under siege. The Nightmare's forces have been unrelenting ever since they have forced the first line of defense back. The second line of defense was much stronger than the first and the night elves were still there to aid them
The warriors that were stationed in Orgrimmar directly have continued to prepare their defenses while anyone that can be spared went to the defensive line to hold off their enemies as long as they can
In the middle of the chaos, a small group of orcs found a small area that had nobody around. They were confident that everybody in the city were occupied, they have begun chanting some spells and creating a few runes on the ground. The resulting magics released got the attention fo Drek'thar, who had taken command of the Horde while Thrall was with Alexstrasza trying to figure this whole mess out. The elder orc shaman went to check what this was all about when Shandris suddenly walked up to him
"Drek'thar." Shandris called out, a grim expression on her face. "Have you heard about the news from the Alliance?"
"No, I have not. What is going on?" Drek'thar asked worriedly
"I don't know the details but apparently some members of the Alliance and Horde are serving the Old Gods." Shandris said before she finally took notice of the nearby magics
Drek'thar's eyes widened in surprise as he knew exactly what was happening. Without even telling her why, the shaman quickly ran over towards where the magic was coming from with her following in worry. Upon finding them, they found four orcs conducting a magic he was all too familair with, it was about using the powers of the elementals. "You there, why are you not at your posts?" he demanded to know
The group didn't respond and continued chanting. This irritated Shandris as this was hard evidence that they were servant of the Old Gods. Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she shot an arrow at one of them and instantly killed him. This did not stop the orcs as they continued their ritual. Drek'thar quickly killed another one of them while Shandris took out a third. They were literally a second too late as the ritual was over. The final orc dropped dead before the wind suddenly grew a lot stronger. A few seconds after the wind got stronger, Shandris and Drek'thar were thrown into one of the nearby buildings. The impact got the attention of the nearby defenders
"Drek'thar! Shandris!" one of the guards said before the area where the group of orcs conducted the ritual was suddenly blown apart. There was no explosion but a powerful wind was responsible for its destruction
From where the buildings once stood, a massive air elemental appeared. Given its level of power, they assumed that this is the leader of the air elementals. "Your challenge is accepted, mortals! Know that you face Al'Akir, Elemental Lord of Air! You have no hope of defeating me!" he declared before a large number of air elementals came with him. They quickly destroyed the immediate surroundings and threw the entire city into utter confusion as debris was thrown everywhere
Theramore Isle
In the Alliance main home, the Twilight's Hammer was attempting the very same thing as in Orgrimmar except they were having a much more difficult time pulling it off due to Theramore itself being a smaller city which meant less places to remain undetected. It didn't help that the Alliance have been on high alert ever since they realized that the missing people from the second war have returned, they were especially careful with any shady individuals. The fact that the Hammer's main assault ended in failure and was not able to push the Alliance back only made things worse. Had they been forced into the city itself, it would have been a simple matter to use the corrupted green dragonflight to wipe them out
Instead, the small group of Twilight's Hammer infiltrators have instead moved outside. Since the place was still occupied with the injured from the area where the draenei's ships have made a home for themselves, the infiltrators have instead decided to conduct this ritual out in the open. The likelihood of failure was very high but they were left with no other choice
Hiding behind the uneven terrain outside the gates of Theramore. After making the necessary runes, they began chanting. Naturally this did not go unnoticed as one of them was shot with an arrow right in the middle of the eyes. Despite the death of one of their own, the other continued the magic. It only took less than a minute before all six of them were killed
"This was only one group. Keep your eyes pee-" Vereesa said but was cut off as the runes the infiltrators had made suddenly unleashed a stream of fire upwards before three fire elementals appeared. The small group of Alliance soldiers in the immediate vicinity were thrown into disarray. "There's only three of them. Don't be afraid." the ranger ordered
Mages then began attacking the elementals with their ice magics. Once the Alliance got over the initial surprise, they were able to dodge most of the elemental's attacks. The streams of flame that were shot ignited part of the city
"Put those out! Leave them to us!" Vereesa ordered to the guards inside the city. After ten minutes of fighting, two of the elementals have been killed with the third being under attack before it too was killed. The Alliance guards have only suffered burns but none were severe
"That was too easy." Rhonin commented after they beat the attack
Vereesa wanted to reprimand her husband but chose not to bother for she was aware that it was just a random comment from Rhonin. Despite everything, she felt something was off about this whole scenario. "Rhonin, can an elemental be summoned in that amount of time?" she asked
"That honestly depends. Summoning elementals to aid us takes quite a long time to master but once we have the hang of it, it would only take us a few seconds to summon one." Rhonin answered honestly. "Why? What's wrong?" he asked
"I think you're right. This was too easy." Vereesa said thoughtfully while putting a hand to her chin. "You there." she said to one of the nearby guards. "Inform Prince Kael and Velen of what we have learned and have the mages setup some sort of spells that would alert us to anything being cast." she ordered. The guard bowed respectfully and left to carry out the orders. "There is no way it's this easy and there is no way that the Old Gods servants would only attack the Horde and Night Elves but leave us alone." she said
"That's true. Then that can only mean that-" Rhonin said before a huge eruption suddenly took place a little bit further away from them
On top of a nearby hill, another fire elemental this time much larger than the one from earlier appeared and it was carrying a mace. "By fire be purged! Burn before Ragnaros!" it yelled out
"A distraction." Vereesa realized a second too late right as the fire elemental unleashed a firestorm at the nearest group of Alliance soldiers. "Rhonin, go inform Maraad to be ready. If they have sent their agents here to summon that thing, then there is a strong possibility that the Twilight's Hammer would attack again." she ordered. Her husband didn't bother to argue or even hesitate as he just teleported to the draenei ships
Pandaria
In has been five days since the Alliance had sent the expedition to the new continent and they have finally made landfall. As soon as they reached the land, they quickly established a perimeter while scouting for any potential dangers
"Alleria, Turalyon." Khadgar called out to the two. "I have received a message from a familiar just a few minutes ago."
"An important message I presume? What was it about?" Turalyon asked curiously
"Apparently, the corruption of the Emerald Dream has come into full effect. The NIght Elves have been forced out of Ashenvale Forest." Khadgar answered and surprised them both. "At this point, I would imagine that the corruption would try to attack Durotar and Theramore."
"If that is the case then we should go back and aid in the defense." Turalyon said
"That presents a problem." Alleria said which confused her husband. "We barely have any supplies left. It took us five days to get here and our supplies would only last for about a day more. We will need to gather more before we can get back."
"True but we can survive for a few days without food for as long as we have water." Khadgar pointed out
"I think Alleria is right." Turalyon said after thinking for a while. "Given that we have received this message only earlier then it is possible that both ours as well as the Horde's homeland are under attack, in which case we could end up creating an unnecessary distraction if we arrive all of a sudden. We need to have faith in our allies as well as the Dragon Aspects." he explained
"You have a good point there, Turalyon." Alleria said before adopting a thoughtful expression
"Is something wrong, Alleria?" Khadgar said at her silence
"Well, if thing's go wrong then there is always the possibility that the Scourge will come to our aid." Alleria said but the distaste was clear in her voice
"What? Do you honestly trust those undead to aid us?" Turalyon asked in complete surprise
"I don't but I don't think that it is in the Scourge's interest to let the Old Gods control Kalimdor either so whether we like it or not, they will have to take action. When you consider that they said we are not their enemies, I don't think that they will really commit that much resources to fighting both us and the Old Gods." Alleria said, trying to keep her contempt in check. "Besides, if Illysanna thinks she's the only one that can force someone to do something in their favor, she's got another thing coming and we can't exactly just leave otherwise the Scourge will have free reign in this place. We also have to consider that it isn't just us three. We need to wait for the rest of our group and discuss this with them."
"That's really dark, Alleria but I see your point." Khadgar said but they all could feel that something was not right in all of this. Out of nowhere, another familiar suddenly arrived and landed on his arm carrying a letter. "It's from the Horde. They want to regroup with us here before we decide and since our second group is the first to receive the message, they are in agreement." he summarized the letter
"Then I guess our course is set. Let's set up a temporary base here." Turalyon ordered
Here is the next chapter. It's still about the Emerald Nightmare but now, things are getting complicated for the Kalimdor inhabitants. As I said in previous chapters, this one explains exactly what is going on with how the Nightmare's corruption works. It was all a trap and deception. This is also where the Twilight's Hammer makes their appearance. I've read somewhere that they were on Kalimdor so I decided to keep it that way. Also, I am still uncertain about the lore on the Elemental Planes and I'm not going to make this as accurate to the canon as possible
I didn't put any timetable on how many days so this chapter reveals that it has been five days since the Emerald Nightmare stuff began. I don't know if that's the time it takes to reach Pandaria and I don't particularly care to research a detail as minor as that
Aside from that, I might as well take the time to explain a couple things which I should have before but I don't want to go through the trouble of editing a previous chapter so I'll explain it here. It is about the Legion's gunships and why they are such a massive threat. Think of them like an AC 130 gunship where they provide close cover for their ground troops. From those on the receiving end of it, they're basically next to helpless against its firepower. That is where I took inspiration from on how they were able to wipe out the Eastern Kingdoms. The other thing I wanna explain is the Draenei's artillery. Think of this one like a Flak 88 used by the Germans in WWII. It was originally meant to shoot down planes but could be used for other purposes as well. In this case, it is meant to shoot down the Legion's gunships but can also be used against other targets. The only difference is that their artillery have very long range. If the Flak 88 had a maximum range of around 10000 meters, then the Draenei's have around double that range. Since the Draenei were able to create a ship like the Vindicaar, I wouldn't put it past them to be able to make something like this
Another thing I wanna clarifiy, if it wasn't already, is that the Scourge is more similar to the Forsaken than the actual canon Scourge. The Forsaken had their free will and they agreed to serve Sylvanas since she was the one who freed them from the Lich King's control. In this story, it's mostly the same except the undead are loyal to Illidan because they have similar goals, which is self preservation. I know Illidan's goal isn't just that but that's what they are believing
Lastly, I've decided to add Kil'jaeden to the list of main characters in the story. Originally, I was going to put only Illidan and slowly add more as the story progressed as not to raise any expectations on who's going to be heavily involved. But then I realized that I can only put four characters so obviously, Illidan is going to be the first with Vashj as the second and Azshara is the third. Those three should be obvious since this is about Illidan's promise to Vashj while Azshara is the one who trained him. I've decided to add Kil'jaeden as the fourth one and the reason will be revealed once the final part of the story has reached
That's about it for now, I guess