Chapter 2

Orgrimmar

It had been hours now since Sylvanas and what was left of her strategic force had arrived back in Orgrimmar empty handed. Her fury boiled inside her and would not let go. The horde troops that were left, knew not to say a word to her on the way back if they didn't absolutely have to. Alone now in her throne room she paced up and down, seething with anger. "That weak boy king, how dare he, how dare he whisk away MY new champion" she spat, clenching and unclenhing her fist in rage. She had felt it, that was the what made the horrible feeling of losing even worse. She had felt HIM. She remembered when he looked at her and she looked back, their eyes locked. There was power in those strikingly pale blue human eyes. She had felt it, hell, it had practically oozed from his every pore. And when she got close to him, she had felt even more drawn to him. It was a feeling that even now she couldn't fully comprehend. It wasn't just simple attraction, although she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that he was extremely attractive in her eyes. For a moment, she actually felt a deep attraction again just thinking about him, something that felt so alien to her now, but it was more than that. There was something else. They were drawn together, she could feel it and was sure that he could too.

Suddenly fear gripped her, and then anger. What was she thinking. This wasn't her. But no, she had to admit that not only could she feel that connection to him, but she knew that her future plans were also connected to him. She needed to get him back. She was so close to winning, so close to claiming him until that poor wretch of a king, that alliance scum stole him from her. She couldn't control herself and swiped everything that was on the large table in front of her, sending them crashing into the wall in a thunderous clang. One of the guards quickly burst into the room in a panic.

"My queen, is everything okay?"

Sylvanas looked up, her eyes now steady and with a cool calm tone said, "Get me Tameriel, now!"

Stormwind

"Azeroth, I don't understand. I don't understand...anything", Matt moaned putting his head in his hands.

"I'm sure this must be very confusing for you champion, stripped from your world and arriving in one that, by the looks of you, must seem very strange"

Matt nodded. He at least seems to be a decent guy, so just hear him out and try to keep as calm as you can, he thought.

He smiled in gentle understanding and began. "My name is Anduin Wrynn. I'm the king of this land called Stormwind."

"You're a king?", Matt choked in a high voice much to his embarassment.

He laughed now, making him feel even worse. "Yes I'm the king of Stormwind and the leader of the alliance. This world is called Azeroth"

"What's the alliance?"

"The Alliance is a faction that joins people of this world together in one mind. Different races that have joined together to protect each other and to protect what we believe in."

"Okay.. ahem your majesty", he looked sheepishly at the young king.

"Anduin is fine", he smiled.

"Oh good, I felt like a bit of a fool saying that, but I didn't want to offend you", "So when you say different races, do you mean like those monst...em.. large green people that were in that battle?"

Anduin's face grew a little darker. "No, those were Horde warriors. They are called orcs. The alliance joins races such as humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, amongst others."

"Elves...Dwarves...so these do exist here. This is incredible"

The young king seemed surprised, "So, are there no elves or dwarves on your world?"

"None. None whatsoever. The only real intelligent species on my world apart from wildlife are humans. Honestly, I'm amazed that humans exist in this world too. We thought we were the only ones in the universe"

"Only humans...I have never seen a human from another world either. There have been the Orcs and Draenei that came from another world, but never the same as a race from Azeroth"

"So that woman on the battlefield, she was an elf wasn't she? Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, all of these races are only told about in stories on my world. They don't actually exist, nobody has ever actually seen one. They're a myth"

Anduin's eyes opened wide, "Fascinating, your world would appeal to many humans that have lost family or property in the wars that have plagued us for far too long here on Azeroth. It is an unfortunate consequence. I'm afraid some of the races on both sides share that hatred. But to answer your first question, yes and no."

Matt looked at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

He sighed , "She is an elf but she is also undead, what is called the Forsaken. She was a high elf, a Quel'dorei, who was unfortunately killed by a mad human prince, it's a story I will not go into too much detail here. But this man raised her as an undead and a banshee. She is Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, now known as the banshee queen, ruler of the forsaken and the warchief of the horde. She was a good person once, but now..."

After he just trailed off like that with a sad tone, Matt was glad now that he didn't reveal, that not only did he think that she looked pretty cool and ridiculously hot, but that he could feel some strange connection with her. Dodged a bullet with that one, he thought.

"That's a very sad story. When she spoke to me at first, I didn't understand what she said, but when I spoke back to her, she replied in my language. She called it common. How is it possible that you and I both speak the same language?"

"I don't know why you also speak common champion, but needless to say it's lucky that you do. Most races on Azeroth can speak it, even though most also have their own languages.", he smiled reassuringly. "What did she say to you, it may be important".

Matt thought for a minute, remembering what she said to him and felt instantly embarrassed. "She eh, she also seemed surprised that I spoke common."

"I'd imagine so. What else did she say?"

"Nothing important really"

"It may be important though champion"

"It really was nothing of note Anduin"

"Well just in case", he smiled

"But it really wasn't..."

"Just to be sure champi..."

"She said I was delicious okay", Matt blurted out embarrassed, "It was kinda weird, flattering...but weird"

"Oh..." Anduin replied in an awkward manner. "That is strange though. It doesn't sound like her at all. My apologies champion."

"Anduin, why do you keep calling me champion. My name is Matthew Dawson. My world is called Earth. And if the word champion means the same thing here as it does on my world, I can tell you now, you got the wrong guy"

Anduin replied wearing a broad smile on his face now, "Matthew, it's good to meet you. And believe me when I tell you, wether you understand it or not, you most definitely are the champion in Velen's vision. I have never felt such innate power emanating from a human before, and my guess is Sylvanas could sense it too."

He could only shake his head and laugh inside. "I'm just a human like any other, nothing special and that's just fine with me. I'd just got my life back on track and now this...You can just call me Matt, everyone does", he replied exasperated.

"It will all make sense soon enough Matt"

And just then, out of the blue, the pretty magic woman and a giant blue/purple guy with glowing eyes and tendrils growing out of his face appeared a few yards away from them.

Matt stared at them incredulously. "Yep, why not!", he groaned.

Jaina

Once Anduin escaped with the champion, Jaina quickly rallied the troops and transported them away from the battle. She had used much of her strength. Leaving Valeera to handle the soldiers, she used what little magic she had left to transport herself and Velen back to Stormwind keep. They appeared a few yards away from Anduin and the champion. The champion took one look at them, especially Velen, and stared in awe at them muttering something she could not hear and shaking his head. Looking at him properly now, she was stuck between stifling a laugh at his reaction and staring back in awe herself at this powerful human. She could literally feel the power flowing from him and yet it was hard to define. His clothing was strange, definitely not of this world and he was carrying a strange shaped weapon on his back along with a sack. She noticed Velen quickly set his gaze on the champion and knew that he could also sense the great power within.

"Anduin, you made it", and she looked at the champion again. When their eyes met she noticed that he was quite good looking. Adding to this, his power was still so present that suddenly she felt a little intimidated, flustered even. This wasn't like her. "Champion, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm glad that you both arrived here safely", she said and bowed towards him .She looked to Anduin, "Does he understand me?"

The champion quickly looked flustered and said "Oh no, please don't bow...you don't have to bow..."

Anduin interjected, "Yes Jaina, he speaks common. His name is Matthew Dawson and he comes from the world of Earth. Matt, may I pesent to you, Lady Jaina Proudmoore, Lord Admiral of Kul Tiras. She's not only a trusted friend but she's also an important member of the alliance."

"Pleased to meet you Lady Jaina", he said and held out a hand to her, smiling slightly.

"As I said, champion Matthew, the pleasure is mine. You can call me Jaina", and when she took his hand it was like a warmth began to trail up her arm. She could only describe it as pure contentment, safety. She released her grip naturally hoping that her face didn't give away any strange reaction.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Jaina. Eh..I don't mean to be rude or anything, but are you a witch or... like you can use magic spells so..."

Jaina couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing. "No Matthew, I'm not a witch, I'm a mage. You act like you have never seen magic before"

He looked serious. "I haven't"

She stopped laughing and glanced at Anduin. "But your own incredible power is..."

"I have no power."

She began to chuckle again thinking that he was making a strange joke.

"Look, I don't know how to say this. I'm sure that you guys are going to be really dissapointed here, but I'm going to be blunt. I...HAVE...NO...POWERS. I'm not a champion of any sort. I come from a world where there isn't any magic, there's no elves or dwarves or orcs or anything other than humans and animals. I'm barely holding on here to be honest. There's a gigantic purple alien guy there staring at me and I don't know what I'm doing." After his understandable rant, he began to calm down. He turned to Velen, "I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to be rude"

Velen smiled kindly and walked towards him. "Don't be. My name is Velen and from what you told us young man, anybody in your position would be overwhelmed. I won't deny that it is strange that you have never even seen magic before, considering how much you have. And you do have it, even if you can't see it or feel it, we can. Yet it is not just simple overwhelming magic that I sense in you. We will know once we try. Would you like to try Matthew?"

Jaina could see immediately that Velen's words had a calming effect on him. Matthew visibly relaxed, took a short breath and smiled. "Thanks Velen, I appreciate your understanding. I still think you're wrong about me, but I'm willing to try, even if it's just to let you guys down gently"

"Good Man", Velen replied, "Let's start small"

Jaina looked at the champion. "Would you like me to take your weapon so you can relax?"

"Weapon?...Oh this!", Matt laughed, "This isn't a weapon, this is just my guitar", as he slung the leather weapon case over his shoulder in front of them, "This is for my music. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to try to smash an orc with this. I doubt it would even slow it down"

"Oh, so you're a musician then?", she replied surprised.

"Not an amazing one, but I can play"

Impressed, Jaina continued, "We must ask you to play this guitar for us sometime, but first how about some food before we begin your training"

Matt

He wasn't a picky eater but he wasn't expecting anything amazing. Any medieval movie he'd seen, the food seemed to be simple fare and that was all he had to go on. That's why he was pleasantly surprised at the food he was given. In fact he had relaxed quite a bit now and taking his surroundings in, he realised that this castle was amazing. He was brought to a dining room area that was lavishly furnished and the maids or service staff or whoever they were, kept supplying him with delicious food. He noticed that they were giving him sidelong glances constantly without trying to look obvious, but they treated him with the utmost respect. It was a bit unnerving. He was sure he looked extremely strange to them considering that he wore jeans, skate shoes and a zip hoody over a t-shirt. Everyone else seemed to be wearing either lavish clothes like the pretty mage Jaina and the purple guy Velen who he found out was a Draenei, or fairly ordinary leather or cloth pants and a fairly plain looking shirt. He realised soon enough though that these were good people and it made things so much easier.

After he was finished eating, Anduin brought him to another room where he met Jaina and Velen again. He still brought his guitar and gym bag around with him as they were the only things that reminded him of home, as well as the phone still in his pocket. They sat down at a small table together and Velen spoke first.

"Matthew.."

"You can call me Matt, both of you", he nooded to Jaina too.

They both smiled and nodded as Velen continued.

"Matt, you deserve an explanation and I shall start with that first. I will do my best to keep things simple for now so that there is not too much for you to digest at once"

Matt nodded, understanding.

"I am an agent of the light. The light is the source of all life in the cosmos and Anduin is also a wielder of the holy light. Some people have more affinity for it than others but we can use our deep faith and belief in the ways of the light to manifest it's power. Most who can wield this power, use it to heal and protect and ultimately stave off the darkness. And for some, myself being one of those, visions, prophecies can occur. A short time ago, I received a vision of your world and of you. We knew you were coming and we know that you are important to Azeroth even if you don't feel it yet. Do you understand so far?"

"I,.. I think so, what now?"

"Now we see if you can manifest the light", Anduin exclaimed seeming excited.

"Okay, what do I do?"

Anduin took a breath, held out his hand, and all of a sudden a bright golden orb of light about the size of an orange floated above his hand.

"Wow!", Matt leapt up looking at it, "That's incredible"

Aduin smiled, closed his hand and it disappeared, "Now you try. Concentrate, feel the light, let the universe flow through you and visualise it happening"

"Yeah sure, no problem", Matt put his hand out and angrily spat, "I'll just put my hand out and create magic that I don't have and..."

They were all staring at him. Following their eyes he looked down at his hand and sure enough there was a bright golden orb of light about the size of an orange floating above his hand.

"Jesus Christ!", he shouted in surprise and began to shake his hand crazily as if it was on fire, until the light disappeared. What the fuck just happened.

"Light, he did it!", Anduin gasped

Jaina's eyes were opened wide, "That quickly, manifested so precisely, without any knowledge or training. Anduin, I suspected maybe a tiny reaction, is this normal?"

"Not that I'm aware of Jaina. Matt didn't even hear of the light until moments ago"

Jaina became excited. She put her hand out and with a smirk began to manifest a ball of swirling ice about the size of a basketball. "Now you try"

Matt put his now shaking hand out in front of him and looked at her hand. Boom, a swirling ball of ice about the size of a basketball appeared above his hand.

Jaina, amazed, took a sharp intake of breath and in her other hand manifested a fireball of the same size and looked at him.

Matt put out his other hand and just thought Fireball. Swoosh, an exact copy of Jaina's fireball appeared in his hand.

How is this possible? How am I doing this?

Jaina slowly closed both of her hands and her magic disappeared, so Matt did the same.

"This is incredible", Jaina stared at him in wonder.

"He can use the holy light and the powers of a mage...with no more than a thought. Velen, you don't look surprised", Anduin looked shocked.

"No Anduin, I'm not." Velen turned towards Matt. "Just one more small test Matt. Try to think of something that upsets you. Something that repesents a sadness or a dark time in your life. Try to manifest it in the same way."

"Okay", Matt put his hand out. He didn't need to think too long or too hard until his deceased father's face popped into his head and a pang of grief hit him. Instantly, a six foot sphere of swirling darkness made everyone jump up from the table to avoid it. He panicked and quickly shut his hand as it disappeared. What the fuck was that.

They were quiet for what seemed to be an excruciatingly long time until Anduin broke the silence. "Well now I understand why Sylvanas wanted you so badly too"

"What do you mean, what does all this mean?"

Velen was the first to answer, "What it means young champion is what I already suspected. The powers that have manifested in you with your arrival on Azeroth may be unparalleled, but in the wrong hands are extremely dangerous. Your power is limited only in your own faith and belief. Your faith in yourself, the light inside you and even the dark, which makes you an extremely coveted individual for both the Alliance and the Horde. They will be looking for you."

Anduin grinned, "But for now, we'll keep them guessing. How would you like to visit the Night Elves?"

Stormwind (The next day)

Matt had slept like a log. After everything that had happened, he needed a good nights sleep and he awoke refreshed. Looking down at his hand, he thought, Fireball ,and sure enough a fireball spun in his hand. This is so fuckin awesome. Wondering what else he could do, he opened his bedroom door in Stormwind castle and was greeted by a maid that was waiting for him.

"Good morning my Lord, the King requires your presence when you are ready in the dining hall", as she curtsied.

"Sure, lead the way"

When they entered the dining hall, Matt thanked her and she smiled kindly and curtsied again, "You're welcome my Lord".

"Ah Matt, come sit down and have some breakfast", Anduin waved cheerfully. "Did you have a well earned rest? How do you feel?"

"Pretty good actually. She called me Lord", he chuckled

"Yes, most people think that you're a visiting dignitary. For now, it's the best option to keep you a secret for as long as we can. Even you don't know what you're fully capable of yet ...although with the horde knowing of your existence, it's only a matter of time before the rumours of you spread. It's easier for her to find you if everyone is on the look out for you."

"True. where's Jaina and Velen?"

"Jaina left last night to meet with some trusted mages that may be able to shed some more light on your abilities. Velen went with her and left some instructions for us."

"Instructions?"

"To be honest, if it wasn't Velen, I would have disregarded them completely but I trust him implicitly."

"That doesn't sound good", Matt remarked nervously.

"I was going to send you to meet Lady Tyrande Whisperwind, the leader of the night elf people with the power of a hearthstone or a portal, for safety's sake."

"So that plan has changed I assume"

"It has. Velen says that you should travel there on foot"

"What? Is he mad, what if I meet more of those orcs or some other Horde warriors?"

Anduin sighed, "I asked him the same thing but he said that it was important for a few reasons. He said that you were sent to Azeroth for a purpose and it wasn't to rot away in a castle or be hidden away completely. You're supposed to experience this world, understand it, feel the land and the trees. See the other races that are so alien to you and understand them, get to know this world and allow it's energy and it's light to fill you. He believes that it is a journey you must take."

Matt mulled it around in his mind and spoke with determination. "If Velen said that, then I believe him. To be honest, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that seeing a bit more of this world with my own eyes didn't excite me a little"

"Well of course you won't be going alone either. We don't want to draw too much attention, so only a small party is necessary. A good friend of mine, Valeera Sanguinar, an elven rogue, will be there to protect you. I trust her with my life. Part of the way, you both will be met by a small troop of night elf sentinels that will guide you for the rest of the journey. It should take you about a week, but nobody except a precious few will know who you are. And most importantly, I'll be giving you this hearthstone. If anything happens, it'll take you straight back to Stormwind."

"Sounds good to me...so I'll be traveling with an elf...to meet different elves. A sentence I never imagined to come out of my mouth", Matt exclaimed

Anduin laughed. "Ah speaking of which" he looked behind Matt, "Welcome Valeera, come in and meet your charge."

Matt never heard a sound, but when he stood up and turned around, an elf woman was standing only a few feet away. He had to stop himself from audibly gasping. She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He was reminded of Sylvanas, but if hers was a dark dangerous beauty, this one was a bright shining one. She was clad in crimson armor that looked like a mixture of leather and golden metal pieces mixed in. The armor was form fitting and exosed her long slender legs in thigh high boots and her ample cleavage. Holy shit, what a body. A hood was pulled over her head and he could see those long sharp elven ears sticking straight up from notches in the hood. She also had large thin tapered eyebrows that extended inches from her face. So did Sylvanas now that I think about it. Guess I was in too much shock for it to register. Long golden blonde hair framed her beautifull pale face, complete with full red lips and glowing green eyes. A literal beauty from another world.

Hoping that she didn't realize that he was gawking at her, he held out his hand to greet her. "Hello, I'm Matt, nice to meet you"

At first she just stared at him, her head slightly cocked with a look on her face he couldn't distinguish.

The colour drained from his face. Oh crap. Of course she noticed me gawking at her. The first elf I meet properly, turns out to be an absolute babe...and immediately thinks I'm a pervert"

Then after what was only a couple of seconds, but felt like forever, she replied. "I'm Valeera, it's a pleasure champion."

Her small delicate hand took his and as they shook, he noticed her eyes glow brighter, still with that look on her face that he just couldn't make out. Man, I hope she's not pissed at me. This could be a very long journey together.

They broke the handshake and Valeera bowed to Anduin, "Your majesty, we will be ready to leave in a few hours"

"Thank you Valeera, I leave our champion in your hands then", Anduin replied in a friendly but serious tone.

Valeera

Valeera had met Anduin earlier that same morning and they had discussed at length what he had discovered about this human champion from another world. She was surprised to find out that his world had consisted of only humans and animals, but she was even more surprised to hear about his demonstration of magic, that he had been adament he didn't have. Anduin seemed both excited and a little wary of the possibilites which put her a little on edge. In any other case, she wouldn't have been happy with Anduin asking her to babysit someone on a week long journey, but this was different and she knew it. Velen himself put so much faith in this human that it couldn't be ignored and she was in a good position now to see what this man, this champion, was made of.

When she arrived at the dining hall, she could hear them both talking. Her silent footsteps brought her to within a few meters of the champion's back.

"Sounds good to me...so I'll be traveling with an elf...to meet different elves. A sentence I never imagined to come out of my mouth", he said, as Anduin laughed aloud noticing her.

She couldn't help but laugh herself, only in her mind of course, although a slight smile appeared on her face for a second. So he really has never seen elves before.

"Ah speaking of which" Anduin looked at her, "Welcome Valeera, come in and meet your charge."

She had moved now to within a few feet of the champion as he stood up to greet her.

"Hello, I'm Matt, nice to meet you"

There was a slight pause before he said this. She could see his eyes open a little wider and could feel him scanning her body as she tried hard not to laugh, quickly bringing himself under control. Still a man like any other then.

She might have been mad if it was under different circumstances, but she had to take into consideration that this human had only ever seen other humans less than two days ago. Not to mention that she would be a hypocrite as she also took her time to take him in. He was tall and looked to have a lean muscular build. Mid length brown hair was swept to one side with shorter hair on the sides and what looked to be a three or four day unshaven face. Eyes of pale blue bore into her own. Well at least I don't have to be stuck with an ugly human for a week. His clothes were strange but looked extremely well made.

"I'm Valeera, it's a pleasure champion", she replied and shook his hand.

When her skin touched his, energy was immediately transferred to her, something a blood elf would instantly feel. It felt like he was forcing her to absorb his lifeforce. She did her utmost not to react, but felt that she may have failed. It didn't look like he even knew that anything was happening, but he looked at her like she did react. They broke the handshake and Valeera bowed to Anduin, "Your majesty, we will be ready to leave in a few hours"

"Thank you Valeera, I leave our champion in your hands then", Anduin replied.

She looked at the champion, this time letting her smile break through. "I think we'll need to arrange some new clothing for you before we leave, lest we wave a flag to the enemy."

" Ha, I guess you're right about that", he grinned scratching his head.

This could turn out to be a very compelling trip. Tyrande will be very interested in this man...and so will many. We will have to be on our guard.