Previously on HPWNW:
Looking up at the surprised noise from her captor, Nash'ala saw him standing shocked as he looked down to the lightly glowing broadsword that had pierced his chest from behind, clawing weakly at the blade as it was withdrawn, causing him to fall to the ground with a pained gurgle. Behind him was stood a tall human male with shoulder length raven black hair obscuring most of his facial features, broadsword in one hand as he held a wand in the other.
Nash'ala only just contained her moan of despair as she realised that her situation had barely improved. With the humans xenophobia and the scars left by Lady Vashj helping the blood elves rebelling against them, her chances of surviving the day had actually just gotten worse rather than better, especially with the pleased grins that were now present on the night elves faces. It really just wasn't her day...
Chapter 3: First impressions are everything.
Persona: Harry Potter.
The journey had definitely been one of the most unpleasant that Harry had ever undertaken, buffeted and battered as he flew through the magical storm that seemed to make up the interior of the portals. Thankfully the device had navigated him through the miasma of magical currents to this exit point without major incident, though that was probably due to the invisibility cloaks protective properties more than anything else.
The device had been calibrated to search for worlds that had been magically similar to Earth, as trying to get a chemical comparison had been impossible to do remotely. That would require the device actually passing into the worlds in question, which would alert the demons on those worlds as to what they were attempting. Harry and the other survivors had researched and been taught a plethora of spells that would help him survive if the conditions of the world were massively different to Earth's own and he was glad they had the forethought to prepare as he stepped through the gateway itself, wandlessly putting a bubblehead charm over himself inside of his cloak.
Gravity reasserted itself quickly and harder than he was used to, barely managing two steps before he dropped to 1 knee due to the pressure. Looking around cautiously as he drew his wand, Harry was glad to see that whilst most of the assorted burning legion troops that were based were looking cautiously in his direction, they were looking past him to the gate itself proving that the cloak was still working perfectly. Also, judging by the lack of a draining presence on his magic there were no felhounds present to sense his magic use.
Weaving his wand in a complicated swish and flick motion, Harry cast the variant of the levitation charm that Hermione had created on himself, which magically lightened the weight of his body until it was the same as what he was used to. How that worked was something he hadn't even tried to get his head around, something to do with Arithmancy and the 'will of magic'.
As he cast the spell Harry's magic connected to the ambient magic of the world he had ended up in and Harry barely resisted the urge to laugh with glee as the magic flowed into him. Whether it was due to getting used to Earths dying magical field or that this world was more magically active Harry wasn't sure, but as he extended his magic through the earth he found he didn't care.
Unfortunately he could not remain unfocused any longer, there was blooding to be done and quickly, if he was right that the people in the cages up the small rise to his left were not being kept there because they liked the decor. Standing firmly once more as he stowed his wand, Harry summoned the sword of Gryffindor to his hand. It was time for these demons to experience the wrath of 'Earths phantom'...
Time skip: 3 minutes.
Wrenching his sword from the last satyr that he had been able to sense within the camp, Harry wasn't sure whether it had been a good idea whether to remove the invisibility cloak half way up the hill. He had thought that seeing someone wielding an enchanted sword would be less likely to panic the people imprisoned then their captors just being slaughtered by some unseen force, but judging by the terrified expression on the nearest beings face as she looked at him that might not have been the case.
The terrified being was a female that looked a cross between a lamia and the mermaids he had seen in the Black lake at Hogwarts, a blend that worked surprisingly well judging by the powerfully coiled lower body and the cyan-blue shaded human esque torso. She seemed to be built for speed and dexterity rather than strength, with four long arms, the upper pair humanlike with fully formed fingers whilst the bottom pair ended in a set of vicious claws.
For all her non human features which would have made any death eater scum curse and swear about 'filthy non humans' her face would definitely not have been out of place on a Earthen street if the skin was a normal colour instead of a mixture of green and coral. She was definitely pretty, with the added exoticness of her orange snake like eyes and deep red fin plumage instead of hair. Shaking his head to clear his moment of assessing the woman, Harry determined that his pause wasn't helping the situation. Unsure of what language she or the others would speak, as it was very unlikely that English would be used here, Harry decided to try parseltongue.
Parseltongue was quite literally the tongue of serpents. Those that had been gifted it like he had were not only able to speak to every type of snake and serpent based species he had encountered but he was able to understand any language that was the natural language of the species in question. He had found this when he had found a pair of Lamia being kept as pets by a rather wealthy black market dealer in France. Considering the similarities between the Lamia and this new creature, Harry thought it might work here.
"Do not worry, I am here to help you escape this place. Can you understand me?" The other two prisoners, female humanoids with purple skin, pointed ears and almost ethereal looks, had initially looked pleased with his appearance. But once he spoke their faces became that of shock, the smaller one looking slightly afraid whilst the other looked suspiciously at him. The snake woman seemed almost more shocked than they were but she quickly collected herself, uncoiling herself from where she had cowered in the corner of the cell and moving towards him slowly.
She stopped in front of the gate and stared at him in a manner that made him think she was impressed by his parseltongue. When she spoke it was almost musical, her voice shifting from word to word in a beautiful medley. "You speak Najza, the language of my people? No surface walker should be able to learn it, let alone find one of the Naga to teach it. Is this magic that you have used, some kind of artefact..." She seemed to realise that she was rambling as she came to a stop mid sentence, her cheeks flushing a slightly deeper blue as her head fins flared slightly.
They were interrupted before either could say anything further by the taller of the two humanoids who spoke something a language that he didn't understand, though the snake woman flinched slightly before looking at him cautiously. Sheathing his sword, Harry drew his wand as he spoke once more. "What did she say? And stand back so I can get this door open." She looked at him like he had grown a second head before she nodded and slithered away, saying something in the unfamiliar language that caused the other two prisoners to gasp and start talking rapidly amongst themselves.
Harry checked the lock on the door, a magical signature lock that would probably be linked to the last satyr he had slain, so it was going to require slightly more than an alohomora to unlock it. Sending a string of different charms at the lock he was interrupted by the snake woman speaking once more. "You do not speak the surface tongue at all? The Night elves say that all humans would know the language better than most races, even we Naga know of it. Who are you strange human? Are you the one that did that to the portal?"
Harry chuckled, the woman had quite the inquisitive streak to her, but he shook his head before speaking again, time was of the essence before more demons appeared from the gate. "We will discuss this later, first let me get you out of here before more of the demons return. Then we can talk." The snake woman nodded quickly and spoke with the others who seemed mollified enough to let him work in peace for the moment. It took him almost a minute before he found the right charm, the lock clicking with a groan before falling from the door.
Kicking it away with a grunt, Harry yanked open the door. "I need someone to lead us somewhere safe. Do you know where we can go?" The Naga shook her head, but the two night elves stood hurriedly and seemed to have a plan, speaking to the Naga as they stepped past him out into the camp. "They say that they will lead us to a camp if you can protect us from any dangers we meet on the way. I think you should go with them human, I will find my own way from here."
Harry sighed, it was obvious from the interactions he had seen as well as where the captives had placed themselves that there was bad blood between the two species. "Tell them that you will come with us and that if they should try anything to harm you I shall do to them what I did to the Legion." He saw her flit quickly between a range of emotions, apprehension and fear were the primary ones, but there was a flicker of gratitude before she started speaking to the night elves once more.
Considering he hadn't known what to expect when stepping into this world, Harry thought things definitely could have gone a lot worse...
Persona: Susan Bones
The control room was rather crowded, several of the operators for the machinery were running around making adjustments whilst Susan stood with Ellen at the main console. "His readings are very weak, do you think something bad has happened to him?" Ellen shook her head, typing away rapidly as she replied. "No, its the signal thats the problem, we are going to need him to set up the device properly and provide quite the bit of power before we can truly discover what he has found. You won't tell him about... the mouse thing...Right?"
Ellen was facing away from her as she stopped talking at at a barely audible murmur but the flush on the back of her neck made it clear how badly she was blushing. Susan couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her before she patted Ellen on the head comfortingly. "Even if I did, you know how romantically inept that boy is Ellen. He wouldn't work out what it meant unless you take the lead and make it clear to him. Not that you plan on doing that before you talk with me and the others I hope?"
The way that the survivors coped was complicated, with the long war against the demons the remaining survivors were mostly the injured, the young and those that had not been on the frontlines when the full might of the Legion had focussed on Britain. This lead to an almost 3 to 1 ratio of girls to boys in their generation and the generations above them. Susan shook her head slightly, that was the excuse that she and Daphne had eventually used to try and persuade Ginny to share Harry anyways.
Ginny had agreed rather easily all things considered, after almost hexing the pair of them to oblivion anyways. Though Ginny had insisted that if this was going to happen, they needed to ask Hermione first. The former bookworm and Ginny had become closer than anyone over the course of the war, saying nothing about how inseparable the two remaining thirds of the golden trio had gotten since the events in Rome. So it was hardly a surprise that Ginny wanted to include Hermione before considering anyone else. Hermione had been much more against it than Ginny had been surprisingly, though that might have been more to do with her upbringing than anything else. Ellen speaking drew her from her musing.
"I... I don't know, why would you even consider it? It must be hard enough to be sharing him without considering even more people. Won't that reduce the amount of time that you get to spend with him?" Susan conceded that Ellen had a point, but any further conversation was prevented when the signal on the screen suddenly jumped and their subject of discussion became audible for the first time since he had stepped through the portal. "Ellen, are you there? Do I need to add more power?"
Ellen focussed the signal whilst Susan created 6 paper airplanes and sent them flying off, the other women would want to be here as soon as possible, as well as the others that would need to know information for more practical purposes. With that done she activated the microphone by the main table. "Harry, we can hear you. By Merlin I was starting to worry. You've been quiet for almost 3 hours." There was a pause before Harry replied, sounding a little confused. "But I have been here for an hour at most, it must have been the portal travel? Anyways, Ellen, I have set the device up for you to get visuals from this end, you are going to love it."
Ellen sighed in an exasperated manner but typed away for a few moments before suddenly a video appeared on the main screen. "The 'device' is a Portal creation and stabilisation unit Harry, I wis... Oh, hello." Ellen cut off as she looked up to see that Harry had company on his end, in the form of some kind of Lamia/merperson crossbreed. "Ellen don't worry, I am not streaming video from you at the moment, don't want to put excessive strain on the portal unit." He smirked as Ellen growled slightly before continuing, Susan chuckling.
"This world is really cool though. Oh sorry, this is Nash'ala, or at least thats how she pronounced it in parseltongue, she is of a race known as the Naga. There were some elves of some sort here as well, but they are off ensuring our safe passage, or at least I hope they are. There seems to be some trouble between these guys and Nash'ala and as they don't speak English I am really stuck on the diplomatic front." Susan nodded, it made sense that the natives of this new world wouldn't speak their language, it was just lucky that one of them was able to converse with Harry via Parseltongue.
"Harry, what else can you tell us about this place? Do you think that Nash'ala would be able to give us more information about the people who live there? It will only be a couple of months before the demons realise you've gone and then they will be much more invasive with their searches." Hermione's voice tacked onto the end of her comment, the young woman stood by the door in her study robes, her hair cut short now which gave her a mature look that made her seem so much older than she actually was.
"Also, I have estimated that it will be 6 months to a year before the Legion drain the last of the planets magic dry. Once that happens, all of our equipment is going to be useless to us, our plants will not grow and people will starve." That was not heartening news at all, but Hermione had never been one to hide things from people if she could avoid it. Harry sighed but then turned and hissed to Nash'ala, leaving Susan and the others with no idea what was being discussed. Hermione strode into the room and up to the console, so she could have a closer look at the background, which Susan had already been doing.
"The trees look fairly similar to what we used to have here which is good. Seeing as Harry is stood there without a bubblehead charm on we can assume the air is at least breathable. Now if you had let me put some instruments in we could get some readouts which would let us make sure. Now we need to wait on Harry for that information..." Obviously Harry heard her as he paused in his hissing for a moment before Ellen swivelled round to answer her.
"And anything more than the basic sensors would have made it too cumbersome, we've covered this Hermione. Harry, I don't want to kick off your paranoia but the portal creation unit is picking up motion on its sensors about 30 metres away and there's a few of them. If their hostile you are going to need to power the unit..." There was no time to finish the sentence as an arrow embedded itself into the ground inches from Harry's feet, causing him to jump slightly and whirl around, Nash'ala shifting behind Harry as he landed.
Judging by the depth that the arrow embedded itself into the ground, Susan did not feel reassured when a voice from out of the view called something which was relayed to Harry by Nash'ala. "Well it looks like the welcoming committee is here. They want me to deactivate the 'magic totem' which I think is you guys. So I will have an update for you when I sort this all out. " And with that there was another call and Harry shook his head. "Alright alright, Love you all." With that he snapped his fingers and the signal cut off, leaving the three girls looking at each other in the control room as Ginny jogged into the room.
She took a look at their faces before sighing in frustration. "I am not going to like what you guys are going to tell me am I? What has the Idiot-Who-Was-Lucky done this time?" Susan winced at the title she gave Harry, if she was coming up with them again she really was angry. Susan decided to invite someone else into the firing line, turning and looking at Ellen with a smile. "Ellen, how about you explain everything to Ginny and then I will give my tentative agreement to the other matter from earlier." Ellen looked at her with a smile before she worked out what she had been volunteered from, morphing into a betrayed expression as Ginnys gaze fixed on her, not offering anyway of escape...
Persona: Nash'ala
Nash'ala hoped that the human knew what he was doing, the two of them now being escorted by a dozen heavily armed night elves towards what she assumed was a night elf settlement. Nash'ala had to admit the man had surprised her every moment since they had fled the war camp. He had even stopped the night elves from shackling her with a burst of magical power, it hadn't done anything physical but it made the night elves nervous enough not to try it again.
One of the night elves, a tall male with deep green hair and dressed in heavy leathers of a druid seemed very interested in the human, though it was only half way through the journey that he moved close enough to speak to him in common. "How is it that the nature is so connected to you human, I have never met one of your kind that can claim anywhere near as great a connection to Azeroth."
Harry looked at her in askance and she decided to risk the wrath of the surrounding night elves by speaking up. "Master Druid." She paused as one of the warriors raised a spear butt in anger at her voice, but before he could do anything with it he found himself tangled in place with vines, but that wasn't what was the interesting part. An earthen spike had shot from the ground, stopping just short of the night elves neck, its tip glittering with a crystalline edge. The source was obvious, magic rolling off of the human in a way she had not seen since Tyrande had spared her all those years before.
The druid spoke up in warning fashion. "We were told the human was powerful, that to attack the Naga would only risk pointless deaths. If I had not restrained you the human would have slaughtered our entire group with those spikes. Now the girl was trying to speak, but if she could assure the human that we do not mean either of them any harm that would be most useful." Nodding in thanks for the druids actions Nash'ala looked at the human and gestured with her hands in what she had seen a few surface dwellers do in a calm down motion. "Human, please calm yourself, they won't hurt me."
The human seemed unsure about that, looking round for a moment before pointing at the druid, 2 of the hunters and the other warrior. "Those ones, I trust. The others I can feel they hate towards you, they would cut you down without a second thought." The human could sense peoples emotions? That was a powerful ability to have. She did not expand on his pointing as the earthen spike moved back into the ground, merely nodding to the druid once more. "Master druid as I was going to inform you before you waste any of your time, the human is not able to understand Common. I do not know why this is so, he is fluent in the language of the Naga and some other language that I do not understand but that is all I can tell you."
This seemed to cause some interest in the group as a whole, the druid thinking on it for a moment before indicating to one of the hunters who the human hadn't pointed at. "You, ride ahead to Auberdine and from there get to Darnassus as fast as you can. This may require the attention of more senior people than ourselves. Naga, as you are currently the only one that the human seems capable of communicating with I ask both for your name and his own, as I get the feeling that the Elders will wish to see this for themselves."
His comment made Nash'ala feel a little embarrassed, she had given him her name on the way over, but she hadn't heard him mention his name at any point and she hadn't found the right way to ask. There was no choice but to do so now though and she spoke to Harry once more as they resumed walking in the same direction, the specified hunter running off at speed to get to their end location ahead of them. "The night elf wishes to know your name and it is not something that we discussed after you rescued me. Also, they will want to know where you are from in the near future. I imagine you do not want me to inform them about you entering this world through the demon portal? I don't think the elves will assume that, the other two will be focussed on you rescuing us I imagine."
She tried to come off as nonchalant as opposed to embarrassed about the fact she had not at any point tried to learn the identity of her saviour, but she knew that it hadn't quite worked when the human chuckled, running a hand through his hair before replying. "That would probably be for the best, though it will come out soon enough. Are these Night Elves the dominant force on this world then? I need to talk to some people in charge as soon as possible about the Burning Legion. Oh, yes i forgot to mention, my name is Harry Potter, phantom of Earth..." It was as she suspected then, the name and the fact that he didn't know about the other races that lived on Azeroth proved that this Harry was definitely not from this world.
This was going to be a long conversation before they got to Auberdine she thought to herself in slight despairing before she called out to the druid. "His name is Harry Potter and he says his title is 'Phantom of the Earth'. I am Nash'ala, exile of the Vashj sect. I am not an enemy to the surface dwellers like the rest of my people, I owe my life to a night elf after all." That seemed to mollify a couple of them, though the others still looked suspicious. That didn't matter too much though Nash'ala thought, the fact that she was the only interpreter for Harry would ensure her safety for quite some time...
Timeskip: 2 days.
Persona: Tyrande Whisperwind, High Priestess of Elune.
Placing another reply to her outposts in Ashenvale requests for more equipment, troops and supplies to combat the legion forces present there on her desk, Tyrande sighed before shaking her hand in an attempt to get rid of the pain in her wrist. She had been writing for almost three hours now and had made good headway into the paperwork she needed to do for the day, in between meetings with various Night elf and alliance representatives of course.
She was about to continue when one of her sentinel bodyguards spoke from the shadows of her audience chamber. "Priestess, Champion Evensong is requesting an audience with you, she brings news from Darkshore that she thinks will be of interest to you." Tyrande frowned slightly but nodded her head, Champion Jaelyne Evensong was head of the Sentinel forces in Darnassus and Darkshore, also she probably the most dangerous archer in the Night elf forces other than Tyrande herself. Jaelyne was usually very good at not bringing things to Tyrande, being a very competent organiser and therefore sorted the defence of Darnassus without a hitch.
For her to need to discuss something with her imparted more about the importance of the meeting than when the large oaken doors were pushed open by the woman in question. Her face was mostly covered by a jade coloured helm which matched her armour, but what little of it Tyrande could see was impossible to read the tone of the meeting from. Jaelyne bowed, her long elfen ears twitching slightly as she resumed her standing position. "High Priestess, thank you for allowing me this audience. Something strange occurred in Darkshore the day before yesterday and I would ask for your advice before I bring it to the attention of the council of elders tomorrow."
The council of elders? This truly was an important event if Jaelyne was going to break her decade long absence from what she had claimed to be 'a group of self gratifying idiots who have no interest in the common good of the night elves.' That comment had definitely caused quite the ruckus amongst the members of said council, something that could still bring a smile to Tyrandes face even now. Shaking of the nostalgia, Tyrande quirked an eyebrow before she asked her most pertinent questions. "What is this event if it so important that you wish to involve the elders? If it were groundbreaking enough for you to consider involving yourself with them why has there been no gossip from Darkshore about something out of the ordinary?"
Jaelyne looked a bit hesitant at this before seeming to steel herself. "Two days ago one of our patrols encountered a Naga and pursued it as it fled, only to encounter a previously hidden Legion base, the denizens of which quickly killed most of the party and captured the remaining few along with the Naga they had been chasing. They tortured and killed two of the captives and it was almost certain the others were doomed to the same fate, when they were rescued by what they thought was a human of all things." The use of the phrase 'what they thought' truly caught Tyrande's attention, though she also had another question.
"How did this human rescue them? If there were enough demons to take out a patrol..." She let the obvious remain unstated, whilst she had respect for the humans serving under Jaina Proudmoore due to their actions leading to Archimonde's defeat at Mount Hyjal, most humans, or any of the other races now she thought about it, were not strong enough to even consider taking on a demon camp, let alone actually succeeding at rescuing some captives from it.
This obviously seemed to be a question judging by Jaelyne's uncertain shrug. "The captive elves did not notice him until he killed the final few of their captors, but I lead a force to purge the camp from existence and it was the strangest battlefield I have encountered. The gate had been badly damaged before our arrival, it occurred just before the human saved the captives so we can assume he had something to do with it. We also found no bodies other than half a dozen satyr corpses by the cages, which does not fit with the 4 or 5 dozen demons and their followers that the captives said had populated the camp. But that is not why I needed to speak to you, not directly at least."
That was good to hear, otherwise Tyrande would have been annoyed about being drawn from her work for such a small engagement. "I assume this has to do with the human then? I assume he is a guest of ours in Darnassus for saving our people?" Jaelyne's normally lilac covered skin took on a slightly darker hue which equated to her blushing from embarrassment. "Not quite High Priestess, initially they were kept in the cells in Auberdine until the report reached me and I visited them to investigate. After what happened there, there are concerns... Concerns that he is either a dragon of the black flight or even worse, a primordial in human form."
That caused Tyrande to sit up in her seat sharply. Many millenia ago, even before her time Azeroth was ruled by incalculably powerful beings known as the Old ones. It was only when the Titans defeated the dark ones with the aid of the dragonflights did the races that called Azeroth their home today begin to flourish. Amongst the old ones many forces, the primordial elementals were some of their most powerful and dangerous, with the old ones lieutenants being elemental lords of incredible power. The idea that one of the elementals, even one of lesser power, would be bound to a human body... "What? Such an accusation is almost impossible to conceive, an elementals power would not be contained in a human shell for more than a few hours. What reasons do our people have for gossiping like younglings about such a thing."
Jaelyne smirked, obviously pleased to have gotten such a reaction from her. "I had a similar reaction when I first heard the news, but whilst I do not believe the human is a primordial, there are a couple of facts that i think you must know about before making any judgement on the matter. First is his affinity to the earth, not earth based magic or anything like the shamans of other races can achieve with their spirits and totems, this human controls it almost instinctively and without word or magical gesture. I got a demonstration when I went to investigate him personally, so this is no mere hearsay. This is related to the second point, which is that he speaks the language of the Naga and is protecting the Naga captive whom he freed with the others almost possessively."
Just when Tyrande thought she couldn't get anymore surprised, the language of the Naga was something they had thought was impossible to replicate without gills, so for the human to know the language and speak it was incredible. Jaelyne wasn't quite finished with her impressive news and finished speaking as Tyrande composed her thoughts. "He also does not seem to speak or understand common or any other known language, so the limited conversations I have had with him were with the Naga acting as a translator."
Curiosity now fully tweaked, Tyrande nodded her head. "I can see why you brought this to my attention Commander, this is definitely something that we need to settle before the rumours can spread too far. Fetch the human and the Naga here now, I will gather a small council so that we can question him about his powers without needing to involve the Archdruid." The title for the de facto leader to one of the largest sections of night elf society gave her a dirty feeling in her mouth. This would probably surprising to those that knew her past, her having been bonded to the previous Archdruid for almost 10,000 years since the Legion had first invaded Azeroth.
However, her love Malfurion stormrage had entered the Emerald dream shortly after the events involving his brother Illyadin's plot to destroy Northrend without naming a successor, leaving the title unfilled. The emerald dream was an alternate Azeroth, covered in the massive primordial trees that had been present at the time of the old ones. It was as if the various races of Azeroth had never happened there. Druids such as Malfurion often went there in times of emotional distress, seeking guidance from the ancient natural spirits that resided there.
However, Malfurion had not returned from his sleep and his body was not in his druidic cairn which he used for his journeys to the emerald dream when druids had gone to check upon him. Tyrande had lead the search for him for months but there was nothing to find and eventually she was forced to return to Darnassus empty-handed. The loss of Malfurions body and seemingly unlikely return had lead to a power struggle inside the druid order for the first time in her living memory. The victor and new archdruid was Fandral Stormrage, unsurprising considering his age, past accomplishments and involvement in the creation of Teldrassil.
He quickly made himself unpopular however, with Tyrandes supporters with his attempts to intimidate and in some case bully his points across with his great stature. In addition, he had a isolationist and superior attitude towards the non-night elf members of the alliance, something that had caused more than one meeting with diplomats to end in a shouting match. Needless to say the two did not get along but they tried to keep it hidden from the general public to avoid polarising the population more than they already had.
Jaelyne knew about the animosity though and did not bat an eyelid before nodding her head. "Of course high priestess, I will do my best to keep their transfer here secret, but you know that Archdruid Staghelm has his eyes and ears even amongst the sentinels, so I can promise nothing." Jaelyne saluted and then strode out of the room, leaving Tyrande alone once more with her thoughts. Well, as alone as she ever could be at any rate as one of her sentinel guards stepped from the shadows on her non verbal signal. "Request the presence of the other high level Priestesses, as well as those amongst the sentinels and wardens that aren't thought to support Fandral."
The meeting with this human would definitely be interesting, even more so if he turned out to be an elemental as the rumours hinted at...
Persona: Harry Potter
Looking up at the majestic heights of the new world tree, which stretched up into the Harry couldn't help but be impressed with the magical feats that could be accomplished in this world, even if he was a lot less impressed with some of the denizens that resided upon what Nash'ala had told him was called Azeroth. Whilst some of the night elves had been accommodating, it had been clear that the people in charge of the little town they had been taken to did not trust him and had an even lower opinion of Nash'ala.
The night elves had taken the two of them to a nice set of rooms on the top floor of the largest of the buildings in the town. But the reinforced doors, small windows and constant guards dispelled any illusion they were there as anything but prisoners until someone in a position of power decided what to do with them. The fact that they had the room on the top floor, as far from the earth as possible was equally as subtle. Then out of nowhere, just before sunrise after a night in their 'rooms', they received a visitor. The first meeting had been interesting and had gone a way to giving Harry hope for cooperation with the night elf leadership yet, despite the minor issue that had occurred at the start of it...
*Flashback*
Harry was awake early, it hadn't been like there had been much for him to do the night before anyways, Nash'ala had obviously been exhausted by her captivity and the pursuit that had pre-empted it. The Naga had almost immediately curled up on one of the provided beds, a barely comprehensible good night being all Harry had gotten before she was sound asleep. she snored rather loudly, but he was used to that in Hogwarts from Ron and Seamus so he didn't mind, it was almost soothing in fact as he practiced several magical exercises he had developed to enhance his control over his magic.
He sensed the approach of a powerful individual even before the guards at the door reacted to some call from below. Whoever this person was, they had a sizable magical core, almost 4 times that of any of the other night elves Harry had encountered thus far and far greater than Nash'ala's. He knew he would need to bring that up at some point, when he had first rescued her he had assumed that the magic level she maintained was normal, only slightly larger than a full grown squib on earth. But now he had seen that the night elves all had fully formed and sizable magical cores, even those that seemed to follow paths that did not utilize magic, Harry couldn't help but wonder if there was something more sinister at work here.
As the powerful magical signature got closer, Harry reached out with his magic to get a read on the approaching person. Harry had discovered shortly after the end of the war with Voldemort that the reason that he had always had difficulty with occlumency was because he was actually what would be considered an emotive mage or sorcerer, something that had mostly been suppressed by the Voldemort fragment stuck in his head and leaching off his soul. Unlike wizards, who were all about concentration and willpower to achieve their spells, Sorcerers on earth had utilised the power of their emotions as well as the ambient magic of Earth to empower their spells, which explained why Harry had been able to master the patronus charm in his 3rd year.
It was not to say that Sorcery and Wizardry were two immiscible forms of magic, Dumbledore had dabbled in Sorcery in his younger years amongst other powerful wizards, they were just different methods of using magic. One of the members of his original strike team had been a German sorcerer who had taught Harry a lot about using his magic both to harness his emotions as well as a more primitive form of Legilimency, which is what he was using now. Whilst he was not able to sense more than the most dominant of emotions, he could use it on an area without needing to make eye-contact or even see his targets for his magic to detect their emotions.
Seeing the figure in his mind's eye continue up past the 3rd floor of the building with curiosity and wariness being the primary emotions that he could sense from her, Harry concluded that it was almost certain that the figure was here to see them rather than conducting other business. With this in mind he called out to Nash'ala's curled up form, he would need her functioning if they were going to be expected to talk to people.
"Nash'ala, wake up! Someone is coming to see us!" There was no reply for several moments and Harry was about to call again when there was a muffled "What?!" From Nash'ala and a slow shifting of coils. The reaction reminded Harry of Ron before everything went to hell in their 6th year, getting that boy up for classes had been nearly impossible. One method that had always worked was a stream of cold water, but he was keeping his wand powers a secret for the moment until he could get a better read on the night elves as a race. Trump cards were always useful, even when amongst people he still hoped he could negotiate with.
A serpentine yellow eye appeared between coils and glared sleepily in his direction. "Where is this person then? You better have not ruined one of the best sleeps i have had in years for nothing." Any thought Harry had of replying was annihilated by the opening of their door and the appearance of the owner of the powerful magic he had sensed initially. The woman was definitely one of the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen and he had visited veela colonies on Earth with his task force to help them evacuate before the arrival of legion forces.
She was taller than him by at least four inches, something that all night elves managed without exception from what he had seen thus far, all of them being between 6-7 and a half feet tall. She had an athletic build that combined the ethereal and wild beauty of the night elves with the warrior women attributes such as toned muscles and unspoken confidence that Harry found so alluring about his other halves, especially Ginny when she got truly worked up. He was just starting to admire her armour, that whilst form fitting was more practical than anything else, when a cough from the woman in question grabbed his attention.
Knowing from the smirk on the woman's face that he had been caught looking longer than he should, Harry looked away with a blush that caused the woman to chuckle and speak in the language that Nash'ala had helped him identify as what was referred to on Azeroth as common. Whatever she said was obviously funny as Nash'ala giggled for a few moments, the sound causing both Harry and the night elf to turn and look her. It took a few moments for Harry's pointed look to catch her attention, Nash'ala hastening to compose herself before relating what had been said. "The woman said 'only a human would stare so blatantly and then get so embarrassed about being caught.' I thought it was hilarious, sorry Harry."
Even as Harry's blush deepened the night elf unleashed what he assumed was a plethora of questions in Nash'alas direction, obviously not meant for him as Nash'ala answered each question without even looking in his direction. Harry sat back down on his bed, prepared to wait until Nash'ala needed him for the conversation... What was that? Harry's attention had been drawn by a whisper of fearful emotions from by the door. They were gone as fast as he detected them, but they were sufficiently different to what he had sensed from the night elves thus far that he was on edge.
Reaching out with his magic Harry drew up earth from the ground and up the walls of the building, the night elf woman pausing and looking in his direction, obviously sensing his use of magic. The earth slowly moved up through the floorboards of the room, coating the floor with the thinnest layer of earth, which was all Harry needed. His magic connected to each earthen grain and he was assaulted by a mass of information, he could feel the heartbeats of the night elf guards, Nash'ala and the night elf woman, but that wasn't what interested him.
It was the fifth heartbeat from near the door that had his attention and he peered in that direction, trying to discern what magic was being used to cloak the presence of someone he knew was there even if he could not see them. What he did not expect was the sudden appearance of the person in question, crouched behind a barrel that had been used as a table of sorts, but what was more worrying to him was the dagger that was already flying in his direction even as the night elf woman reacted to the sudden appearance.
Luckily the dagger had been thrown hastily so was aimed to the left side of his chest rather than the centre, making it easier for Harry to drag himself out of the path of the daggers flight, the heavy thunk behind him reminding him that getting hit by sharp pointy things is definitely a bad idea. The earth he had pulled up to check the room rushed to his left arm as he shifted across the room, forming an earthen bracer which he used to block the knife strike of the tall blonde haired woman who had attempted to strike the night elf in the chest whilst she was still reacting to the surprising presence.
Summoning more earth to him from the ground 3 floors down, Harry prepared to fight whoever this person was, only for the night elf woman to engage her using the longbow that she had previously had on her back like a staff or club. The two women danced back and forth, and it was obvious that though the night elf was stronger and more experienced, the blonde haired woman had speed and a natural aptitude for knife fighting that kept the night elf on the back foot.
Harry wanted to intervene to help the night elf, but he knew his limitations. After the legion invasion of earth he had gotten more than enough experience with his sword to be considered a decent level close combatant. But these two were on an entirely different level to him, similar to the vampires amongst the survivors that had been around since swords had been the primary method of combat.
The dance was entrancing but Harry knew that it needed to be finished before any more sharp things were thrown at him and Nash'ala. though that didn't mean he had to play their game when he had his own tricks of course.
The earth he had been drawing up to beneath the floor was now ready and his chance appeared when the blonde woman jumped back to avoid an overhead strike from the night elf. With a surge of power the floorboards beneath the blondes feet burst upwards and the earth shot up to ensnare her legs, or that was the plan at least.
The blonde had ridiculous reflexes, using the momentum of the moving floorboards to somersault backwards out of his trap. Not that Harry was stopping with that, Earthen spikes erupting from the floor around the room forcing the blonde to concentrate on dodging and blocking the attacks. He had just finished cornering her with a flurry of earthen tendrils when an arrow shot over his shoulder.
Harry barely had time to intercept the projectile before the arrow buried itself in the blondes chest, the sheer power of the shot slamming through the tendril he had used almost to the hilt, the arrowhead coming to a stop less than a centimetre from the suddenly frozen blondes chest. Harry wasn't entirely sure why he had saved the blondes life after she had just moments before tried to end his twice, probably his stupid saving people thing kicking in again.
The night elf stepped up next to him with another arrow cocked, her eyes fixed on the blonde as she said something in common. Now he had a moment, Harry noticed how similar but different the blonde was from the night elves he had interacted with thus far.
She was slightly shorter than the night elves, almost his height in fact, with the same long ears and ethereal beauty. But that was where the similarities ended, the blonde almost golden in complexion, her features more regal and hard than the night elves feral and natural faces. She was dressed in dull red leather armour as well as a burgundy cloak, though it was her eyes that drew Harry in the most.
It was a common phrase on earth to say 'the eyes are the doorway to the soul' and for Harry that was definitely true. The blonde looked at him through the earth tendrils for a moment and that was long enough for him to get a basic reading of her emotions. There was no hate or desire to kill him as he had half expected, mainly distaste and anger, though there was a strange hunger feeling underlying it all that seemed magnified when she looked at his display of magic.
Assuming that the night elf was telling the blonde to surrender, Harry flexed the tendrils slightly closer to her. It had the desired effect as the blonde nodded before replying in common and dropping her daggers to the floor. Whilst the night elf relaxed at this and lowered her weapon, Harry was still slightly suspicious, there was something off about the situation. He was proved right a moment later when the blonde threw something on the floor in front of her, a blinding flash filling the room.
Drawing the earth nearest to him, Harry formed a very basic set of armour just in time to absorb a punch to the chest, the force of the blow still sending him to the floor. Rolling with the blow as the light began to clear from his eyes, Harry prepared to get serious with the fight, fuck trying to keep the blonde alive.
He paused however when he saw the blonde perched on the ledge of the window in their room rather than killing them all as he had suspected. She cast him a quick look before jumping from the window as another arrow whipped through the air by her head.
Looking around Harry saw that thankfully no one was seriously hurt, Nash'ala quickly slithering from where she had been perched in the corner of the room to envelop him in a relieved hug. "Harry, that was really incredible, what you did with the earth and blocking that dagger... Oh I am so sorry."
It seemed that Nash'ala had just realised what she was doing, disengaging from the hug hurriedly and casting her eyes downwards. The night elf was yelling orders at the night elf guards that had arrived on the scene, so they could talk in peace for a few moments at least.
Reaching out Harry put a reassuring hand on Nash'alas shoulder which caused her to jump slightly before looking up apprehensively. "Do not apologise for anything like that Nash'ala, I don't mind in the slightest. However, I have some questions for you to answer before the night elves finishing shouting at each other..."
Flashback end
And that was how Harry learnt about the blood elves, which were a species of elf similar to the night elves. They had lived on the other major continent that made up Azeroths populated landmass, drawing on a magical energy source known as the sunwell to maintain their immortality. Then came the invasion of the Burning legion, their minions on this world using an undead horde known as The Scourge to destroy any organised resistance to their arrival. The blood elves had been one of the first major casualties of this onslaught, their population decimated as the leader of the Scourge forces, a former human prince by the name of Arthas, rampaged through their lands to the Sunwell itself. He then proceeded to corrupt the Sunwell in order to resurrect a powerful necromancer, leaving the remaining blood elves without a home or a source of magic to sustain themselves with.
If Arthas' actions weren't enough, having heard about their more recent history Harry could understand a lot more about why the blood elf had attacked him. The humans on this world had definitely earned the blood elves disgust and hate with their actions both before and after the Burning Legion invasion. The stories about the actions of grand marshal Garithos and his blatant racism towards the blood elves nearly got Harry's blood boiling. He hoped the other humans on this world were not like him or Harry would struggle not to deal with them in a manner that most would deem distasteful.
Nash'ala's explanation about the blood elves was probably what had kept him from telling the night elf woman, who he learnt was called Jaelyne Evensong, that he knew exactly where the blood elf was hiding. Harry knew this as he had some of his magically empowered earth attached to her cloak. She had retreated to the edge of the town and was obviously hiding out until the search for her was over.
Jaelyne had announced after a short search that it was no longer safe for the two of them to remain in Auberdine, obviously assuming that the attack had been a planned assassination attempt as opposed to a reaction to him spotting the blood elf. He suspected there was more to it that they were not being told, the night elves looking at him with even more suspicion than before.
They were then taken by boat across an ocean channel to an island which jaelyne had informed him via Nash'ala was called Darnassus, the new capital of the night elf race. This is where they were now, moving through the streets of the city to what he had been told was a meeting with some of the night elves leaders. Something told Harry that this wasn't going to simply to discuss pleasantries or the attack the day before...
Persona: Coria Lightblade, Blood elf rogue.
Watching from her hiding place as another pair of night elves searched the area around the edge of Auberdine, Coria cursed her bad luck. She had been in the town trying to find out whether the night elves had anything to do with the disappearance of a small force of blood elves from their small camp in Ashenvale. Considering how much the night elves looked down upon her kind for their arcane dependence, it would hardly have been surprising if they had been involved in some manner.
On the third day of her sneaking around though there was another development, the arrival of a human, in the company of a Naga of all things. At first Coria had thought the Naga had been captured by the human and had been brought back to Auberdine for interrogation, something she would not allow for one of the few allies that the blood elves had gained since the third great war be left in enemy hands. However, as Coria scoped out the large building that the Naga was being held captive, she quickly realised that the night elves weren't just guarding the Naga, but the human as well.
She was intrigued why a human and a Naga would be together, enough so that she snuck into their room for the evening rather than continuing to investigate the town as had been her original intention. To her continued surprise the two spent the evening talking in the language of the Naga as opposed to common as she expected. Coria had been a part of Prince Kael'thas' original force in Lordaeron and therefore had met with the Naga when they had aided them with various offences against the Scourge forces in the region. But even she had never begun to understand the Naga language, whereas this human seemed to be as fluent with it as the Naga was.
That was before it had all gone to hell with Garithos, his distrust and intolerance for elves had culminated in the Grand marshals arrest of all members of the Blood elf force due to 'treachery and working with the inhuman Naga against the greater good of the Alliance.' Coria had been part of the five man detachment that Prince Kael'thas had ordered to return to the Blood elf forces in the remnants of Quel'thalas to inform them of the Grand Marshal's actions.
The regent who had been put in charge of the Blood elf survivors by Prince Kael'thas, Regent Lor'themar Theron, had been suitably outraged at the news and had done his utmost to get the sentences lifted. But by the time Lor'themar had contacted Garithos, Prince Kael'thas had managed to break free with his forces and escape through a portal, with the help of the Naga once more.
The naga had earned themselves an ally in the remaining Blood elves that day, even if this had truly severed the military agreements between the Alliance and the remaining blood elves. That was why Coria had resolved to return the next morning to free the Naga, even if it meant saving the damn human as well. The initial plan of sneaking in the next morning, knocking out some of the guards and then breaking them out, had been going well enough. She had slipped some sleeping poison into the guards wine and made her way to the room. The rest of the mission, hadn't gone quite so well...
*Flashback*
Slipping inside the room once more Coria was surprised to find the human awake and cognizant, doing a set of magical exercises she had never seen before. By his body language she would never have thought him a mage, but the visible magic wisping off his arms was undeniable. Without realising what she was doing she activated her mage sight, something that every blood elf was capable of. Even if the majority of the populous couldn't consciously manipulate their magic as mages could, the fact that they needed magical essence to survive meant that the skill was very useful to have. The human's magic was one of the most entrancing she had ever seen and Coria had seen Prince Kael'thas himself at work.
The intricate patterns that the magic made as he shifted his magic around his body and then into the world around him awoke something inside her that she had managed to suppress since she had entered Auberdine. As his magic stretched further from his body, over and around her like a blanket, Coria rather foolishly reached out and grabbed a small tendril of it, bringing it to her mouth to consume it to feed the rapidly growing need she had inside. Luckily he didn't notice her actions as she finished gorging on the magic, her hunger not only satisfied but entirely sated for the first time since the Sunwell had fallen.
Then his eyes shot open as his magic froze and Coria felt a sliver of panic that he had noticed the missing magic, but his eyes focussed on something on one of the floors below them, letting Coria relax once more. The question of what he had focussed on was answered a minute later, after a conversation between the two occupants of the room that Coria didn't understand, but the urgency in the humans whispering made it clear that it was something serious.
Coria had been about to reveal herself and get the two of them out of there when the door opened, revealing a tall night elf woman who strode into the room with a confidence that belied her experience and strength. She was oddly familiar and Coria tried to recall where she had seen her face before, whilst squashing the feeling of distaste she felt he human looked the night elf up and down in unabashed awe. The night elf coughed lightly, causing the human to blush and look away, before speaking in common with an amused tinge to her voice.
"Only a human would stare so blatantly and then get so embarrassed about being caught." The Naga giggled at the putdown, continuing for several seconds before the human hissed something at her causing her to stop awkwardly and hiss something back which caused the humans blush to deepen once more. The night elf seemed most interested in the exchange and turned to the Naga, her face thoughtful.
"so it is true then, the human can speak your language but not his own races. Naga, as it seems I will need to converse with you for a period before I decide what will happen with the two of you, I wish to call you by something other than your race. What is your name?" The Naga inclined her head respectfully, in a manner that Coria thought she would never have thought a Naga would act to a Night elf of all people. "He cannot, but the story as to why he cannot speak common is still unknown to me at this point. I am Nash'ala, exile of the Vashj clan and the human goes by the name Harry Potter. May I inquire your name and how I should address you? I have little knowledge of Night Elf customs due to our races... differences but I do not wish to cause offence with my ignorance."
Especially since the slightest mishap would probably get her killed, something that Nash'ala hadn't said but Coria was sure that she wasn't the only one to catch the hidden meaning. The night elf nodded her head in understanding and inclined her head slightly. "I understand your concerns, but we are not trolls or the horde, you are safe as long as you don't do anything stupid. I am Jaylene Evensong, Warden of Darnassus and commander of the Night elf forces in Duskwood. You may refer to me as Commander or Evensong, I do not mind which."
Coria couldn't help the surging of panic in her chest at the realisation of quite how dangerous the situation had gotten, with one of the oldest and most experienced night elf warriors on Azeroth stood in front of her. It took barely a second to calm down, her training kicking in as she squashed the feelings down and started to plan contingencies to get out of there, freeing the Naga could be a concern after she ensured her own safety. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the human suddenly straighten up and look in her direction, narrowing his eyes a moment later.
It took a moment for Coria to notice what was happening. His magic reached out and down into the Earth below them, drawing it up rapidly but unobtrusively whilst still looking in her direction. Coria realised with a sinking feeling that somehow he had sensed her presence and considering how much magic he was slowly exerting, this wasn't going to be something she could just hope to talk her way out of...
*Flashback End*
After the human had noticed her presence, everything had gone rapidly downhill. Coria had engaged Jaelyne after her initial attack had thrown off the humans concentration and therefore any spells he had been preparing. But the human had recovered faster than she would have thought possible, blocking her strike with some kind of magical bracer. The night elf champion was well known for her heroic acts during the Great War against the burning legion, her experience and skill enough to keep up with Coria's barrage of attacks in an attempt to incapacitate the night elf, despite only having her bow to defend herself with.
The two had danced back and forth for a few moments, Coria slowly gaining the upper hand but not enough to risk trying a finishing move. It had been as she leapt back from another rapid exchange that her magic senses warned her of an attack from below. Even as she forced herself into a hurried somersault, the floor beneath her feet had ruptured with earthen hands attempting to grab her in a half crouch, there had been no respite for her, the human Mage manipulating the earth in a way she would not have imagined possible to encircle and trap her in one corner of the room.
Coria was only glad that the human hadn't wanted her dead for whatever reason, she had no doubt in her mind that if he were to get serious she wouldn't have stood a chance. If that hadn't been enough, the man had proceeded to save her life by blocking the first arrow Jaelyne had fired at her. The razor sharp tip resting just short of her chest had been more than enough encouragement for her to freeze as the Champion of Darnassus had told her firmly to drop her weapons.
Even though she had escaped the room thanks to a flash bomb she had hidden up her sleeve that she set off the moment Jaylene had started to relax , Coria knew that the human could have stopped her if he chose to. He was certainly very different to any Mage or any human she had ever encountered, the first that she could say she wanted... No needed to see again.
Whilst Coria could try and claim that she wanted to see him again due to the life debt she owed him, she knew that deep down there was another simpler reason for her desire. Magic to sustain themselves was the thing blood elves desired above anything, and this human Harry Potter had magic that restrained her hunger like nothing she had never encountered before...
A/N: Haha, that was so much fun to write! I am trying for something a bit different from the norm, with Harry unable to speak Common and not having a handy universal translation spell to solve that problem for him. Also I am thinking a different tack to how Harry will approach the whole Alliance-Horde dynamic, with his own people to look after, Harry will be very put off by certain individuals on both sides of the conflict. Expect Minor races and shifts away from the traditional storyline as this story progresses.
Also, background info question. I am not sure how in depth readers are with the Warcraft mythos, I am trying to provide some information on what is what, but I am trying to avoid boring/annoying more experienced readers with my descriptions which might not be 100% accurate as I am not a WoW player in the slightest.
Let me know what you think guys, please review with Idea's, Critiques or compliments, they will enthuse me to work on this project more frequently!