Exciting new chapter up. Thanks for reading. Enjoy

Kia was pretty sure she was dreaming.

She seemed to be in some kind of darkened chamber, with brazers on either side, their fire causing the light and shadows in the chamber to dance around wildly. The air was damp and warm, but not unpleasant, even considering the dreary setting. In the center of the chamber was a large stone throne and seating in the throne was someone she had never seen or met, but she knew who he was.

Illidan.

He looked on her, the glowing orbs behind his blindfold showing green in the dim light. In that instant, under her estranged uncle's gaze, she knew this wasn't a dream. It wasn't quite reality, either, but it was most certainly real.

"I've waited a long time to meet you, child." He said. "Please, come closer so I can sense you fully."

Kia did as he asked, for some reason, not afraid. Every fiber of her being should have been screaming for her to stay where she was, to not approach this being so closely bound to darkness, but her feet moved her closer. She stopped a few feet from the throne.

"Yes. You have our blood running through your veins."

Illidan stood and walked past Kia, circling her. He seemed to be evaluating her. His wings moved back and forth a few inches with each step, almost like a nervous tic. Besides the parts of him that had been altered by the demon blood inside him, he looked very much like her father.

"I thought you were dead." Kia said, watching him circle. Her voice sounded distant, even as she spoke the words.

"Dead...alive...those words mean little to someone such as myself."

Kia closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them, knowing she wasn't being deceived. This was Illidan. The part of him that was till a Stormrage was screaming at her so loudly, it almost made her head hurt. She could feel her own blood pulsing in her veins.

"Where are we? Anduin will notice I'm not asleep next to him."

Illidan chuckled. He smiled at her, like a father would smile at a simple question asked by his child.

"You still slumber next to your soon to be husband. You are in a dreamscape. A place of my own design. He is none the wiser, though he will sense the darkness soon." He stopped in front of her. "I see the vortex worked as I planned, though I would have preferred Tyrande to have accompanied Malfurion, rather than some human woman, but perhaps this is better. This form is better."

Kia's eyes widened. "You created the anomaly." It wasn't a question.

Illidan nodded. "I wished for our bloodline to continue and since I'm no longer viable to pass it on and my brother seemed reluctant to do so himself, I needed to take steps. You are very important, little one, more so than you'll ever realize. More so than I even planned. Fate has twisted my plan into a web even I could not have predicted. You now carry the burden of keeping two bloodlines alive. Two very important bloodlines."

"I understand." Kia said. And she did understand. The Stormrage bloodline was powerful and needed to be preserved, if the night elves were to continue to flourish, particularly with having lost their absolute immortality. And the Wrynn bloodline, it had always been powerful, but all too mortal. Always fragile. Always on the cusp of disappearing forever, but still important.

"I was worried, at first, about combining the bloodlines, but now I think they will both be strengthened. Even if no additional elvish blood is introduced, Stormrage will endure and that is what is important."

"So, the anomaly was exclusively used for me to exist. You created it, somehow, knowing it would attract Malfurion. Knowing what it would do to him."

"Yes, but it also served a second purpose. You now hold an...immunity...of sorts. Every generation to follow will have this immunity. It will linger, long after the elvish blood is diluted away. Azeroth will benefit, I think, in the long run."

"Immunity to what?" Kia asked.

Illidan smiled again. "To the dangers of this world. Not all of them, of course, but the important ones. You'll know them when they present themselves. You'll know how to use the immunity within you when the time is right."

Kia stood quietly, not sure what to say. Suddenly, she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her chest. She fell to her knees. She could feel her heart pounding, but also was aware of it slowing down, as if she had two hearts that could react on their own. She could feel her body going cold, but it all felt far away.

"Unfortunately, it seems our time is done here. You will die if you stay any longer. Return to your body and push away the darkness. Your priest will know what to do." Illidan knelt by her, placing a hand on her cheek. The touch was so cold it almost burned. "Take care, Kia Stormrage. I doubt we will meet again."

The pain intensified and Kia blacked out.

Anduin woke up, feeling like something was wrong. His body ached from the injuries he sustained so many years before when he almost died at the hands of Garrosh. The pain had somehow, perhaps through his connection with the Light, morphed into an early warning system. It only troubled him when something was off, if he was following the wrong path or if danger was near. At the moment, his bones ached enough to almost double him over.

"Kia?" He said, reaching over to her where she lay quietly next to him.

When his hand touched her arm, his pain was forgotten. He sat straight up in bed, throwing the cover aside. She was cold to the touch. Kia was normally several degrees warmer than Anduin, night elves having a naturally higher body temperature than humans.

"Kia? Kia, wake up." He said, shaking her, but to no avail. She was oddly stiff, drawing only the barest of breath.

Anduin placed his hand over her heart, praying. He called to him the full power of the Light, closing his eyes and focusing on Kia's barely beating heart. He could feel a presence within her. Something dark, but not necessarily evil. Fortunately, as Anduin pushed the power of the Light into her, the darkness seemed to abandon her body without hesitation. Once the presence was gone, Kia gasped and coughed. She opened her eyes, grabbing Anduin's arm with both hands, almost painfully.

Anduin pulled her to him. "It's alright. You're alright. You're safe."

Kia clung to him. He could feel her heart racing and she was trembling. After a few moments, she began to calm down and she pulled away, just enough to look up at him, but still desperately clinging to him.

"Illidan." She said. "I was talking with Illidan."

"But he's dead, Kia." Anduin said.

"No, he's not. At least not the way we see death. I think he pulled my soul out of my body and into a dreamscape of some type. He wanted to talk to me."

Anduin thought for a moment. "I just pushed a dark entity out of your body. Something demonic."

Kia coughed several times and Anduin rubbed her back.

"A person can't live without a soul. He must have replaced mine with...something...until I returned. He said my priest would know what to do to revive me. That you would know how to pull me back." She said.

It sounded crazy, but Anduin had witnessed too many strange and unexplained things to doubt what Kia was saying.

"What did he talk to you about?" Anduin asked.

Kia held up a finger, indicating she needed a minute. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. She rested her forehead on Anduin's chest and he waited for her to calm herself. Whatever she just went through, it was left Kia weak and shaken. He simply held her in the dark of the room, allowing her to collect herself.

Anduin could feel as her breathing evened out and slowed. She stopped trembling and she became warm to the touch. He looked down at her and smiled. She had fallen asleep. He gently placed her back down on the bed and covered her. Her tale could wait until morning.

Anduin didn't sleep at all the rest of the night. He sat awake and watched Kia breath.

To Be Continued...