Chapter 2
The trees of Ashenvale loomed all around them. Zerran and Nimel rode their nightsabers slowly throughout the night. It had been a week since they left Zin-Azshari and two days since they had left the last Kaldorei city. Now, their world was the trees and the darkness.
"It's pretty," Nimel said. "I didn't think I would like it this much."
Moonlight filtered through the trees creating an elegant dance of light and shadows to their eyes. "I don't think we're alone," Zerran whispered.
Nimel looked at him. "What do you mean?"
A third nightsaber followed them carrying their supplies. The large cat stopped suddenly and snarled into the darkness. The other nightsabers seemed tense, but Zerran and Nimel kept them calm. Zerran closed his eyes and opened himself up to the world around him. A presence kept touching upon his mind. It was magical in nature, magic like what hung constantly around the forest and its trees.
"It's something native to this forest," he replied. He remembered the stories that the priestesses of Elune would tell of the nature spirits that lived around Mount Hyjal. Some of the Sisterhood still worshiped them. Queen Azshara had let that fall out of favor in Zin-Azshari.
"I never put much stake into this nature magic," Nimel said. "The Well of Eternity is a greater font of power." Arcane energy glowed around him.
"What are you doing?" Zerran hissed. He could sense the presence coming closer.
"I'm just showing whatever is watching us that we are not afraid of it," Nimel said with a savage grin.
It faded when laughter came out of the trees. It was high and girlish.
"Show yourself!" Nimel called out. The arcane energy collected into his hand.
Out of the trees came a four-legged, deer-like figure, but where its head should be, was a Kaldorei torso, head, and arms. A woman looked at them with a mischievous grin. Small antlers grew out of her head, and a mane of green hair fell over her shoulder. She carried a spear in one hand.
Nimel threw the burst of arcane energy at the creature. It blasted the tress around it. Splinters flew into the air, but the creature stood undisturbed. She glanced at the splintered trees and scowled.
"My father will make you answer for that," she said.
In a flash, Zerran remembered what the creature was. He had come upon a description of them in his research long ago. She was a dryad, a spirit of the forest, a daughter of Cenarius, and the arcane had no effect on her.
"We mean no harm." Zerran gave Nimel a pointed look. The other Kaldorei let the arcane energy diffuse around him.
"It doesn't matter whether or not you mean it." The dryad glared at them. "You Kaldorei are reckless and have caused it all the same." She waved her free hand. A breeze blew through the wood. Behind the dryad, pollen coalesced into a thick, yellow cloud that blew into Nimel and Zerran's faces.
For a moment, Zerran tried to hold his breath, but it was too much. He inhaled the pollen and felt consciousness slip away from him.
#
Zaragosa watched from the trees as Lunara took the two Kaldorei captive. The dryad was a vicious defender of the forest, but she never acted without her father's blessing. The demi-god Cenarius must be near then and just as concerned over the signs of arcane in Mount Hyjal as Malygos had been.
As for the Kaldorei, she had gleaned from their conversations that they sought magic in the land. She wondered if their queen had sent them, or if they acted alone. She remained cloaked to magical and physical detection as she followed Lunara in mortal form: a night elven figure moving surely through the trees. With a touch, the dryad had convinced the night elves' nightsabers to follow her.
If Lunara was headed to where Zaragosa believed she went, then this would be an opportunity for her to meet with Cenarius.
#
Zerran struggled to leave his slumber, and as he did, he remembered why it had fallen over him so heavily. The dryad had cast some spell on him and Nimel, something connected to nature magic.
He sat up and saw that Nimel slept beside him. They were in a clearing encircled by trees. He could feel a presence in the trees, magic that imprisoned them. Out of curiosity, he tried to cast a simple spell, one that would summon a light, but he couldn't grasp the power of the Well of Eternity that flowed all around them. He swore.
Nimel moved on the ground. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What happened?" he asked.
"You made one of the more powerful denizens of the forest angry at us." Zerran stood now and walked toward the circle of trees. A dread filled him as he walked close to them. Something would keep him within the circle not matter what he might try to do.
"How was I supposed to know that magic wouldn't even touch her?" Nimel joined Zerran and slipped his hand into his. "You're the one who is supposed to be all-knowing. You should have warned me."
"You acted too quickly," Zerran said. "I barely had time to think."
"You are awake." A deep, rumbling voice startled them. It came from the trees. A soft, green glow appeared before them, and it materialized into an enormous being. Like the dryad, it stood on a deer-like body, but it too carried a night elven body. Only this one was that of a muscled man. A beard covered his face. One of his hands was night elven in form, the other was clawed like tree branch.
Zerran didn't know whether he should bow or attempt to fight the demi-god. For this could only be the legendary Cenarius, child of Elune. Cenarius's gaze betrayed no emotion as he gazed at the Kaldorei.
"Why have you brought us before you, lord of the forests?" Zerran asked. He squeezed Nimel's hand. The other Kaldorei had grown silent.
"I brought you before me to inquire about the reckless use of arcane in my forests," Cenarius said. "My daughter believed that you could be at the root of it, but I am not so sure. The Kaldorei may have knowledge of the Well of Eternity, but you do not yet know all of its secrets."
"We could help you." Zerran bowed his head as he spoke. "Our queen is curious about the arcane energies on the mountain. She would have us investigate them, and this could prove a service to you as well."
Cenarius looked at Zerran more closely. "You have a silver tongue, Kaldorei, but I do not think that you would do anything in service to me. You have only one master." Cenarius raised his clawed hand. "The trees will have you, and you will become another cautionary tale to keep the Kaldorei from defiling my forests."
Tree roots shot out of the ground and wrapped around Zerran and Nimel's arms and waists. They struggled against them. Zerran tried to summon fire, but he wasn't strong enough to succeed against the demi-god's magic. May Queen Azshara forgive him for his failure.
But the roots grew cold suddenly and frost spread over them. He felt their strength leave them and Zerran pulled free of them. Cenarius looked surprised and looked around them.
"Show yourself, child of Malygos," Cenarius called out.
"Gladly." The light shimmered, and a Kaldorei woman appeared in between Cenarius and Zerran. Her hair was a brilliant blue like ice, and she wore a shimmering silver dress. It could only be a powerful sorceress, but Zerran didn't recognize her voice or the name Malygos.
"Why are you interfering in my realm, dragon?" Cenarius asked.
Dragon. That is what the being was, not a Kaldorei woman but a being of power of magic itself. There was little that Zerran had learned about dragons. He had only seen them in drawings, heard stories of Kaldorei mages defeated in seconds, and she was protecting them from a demi-god.
"Malygos sensed the magic on Mount Hyjal, and he has sent one of his own to investigate," the dragon said. "These night elves are under my protection. Together, we will discover what has been conducting experiments within your sacred woods."
Cenarius looked at her with curiosity. "You would vouch for them?"
"I do."
The demi-god stood silent. His arms relaxed at his side. "The arcane power in Mount Hyjal hides itself from us. I cannot go near it, and some of my children have been lost. You will have my thanks if you can discover who is behind it." He faded into the same green light in which he had appeared in.
The threat that Zerran had felt in the trees disappeared. Nature was once again at rest. The dragon spun around to face the Kaldorei. She had fine features but instead of silvery, pupiless eyes, hers were blue, icy like her hair.
"That was close." The dragon smiled slightly. "He has such a temper whenever someone blasts apart a few of his trees."
"Who are you?" Zerran asked. "Do you have a name?"
"My name is Zaragosa," the dragon said. "I am of the blue dragonflight. I am excited to have made your acquaintance, Zerran and Nimel."
"How do you know our names?" Nimel cried out.
"I have watched you for a few days now," Zaragosa said. "You have been the only interesting thing that has happened in these woods. I think the trees have tried to speak to me, but I don't know their language. I leave that to Ysera and her kind."
Zerran put a hand on Nimel's shoulder. He wrapped his other arm around his waist and pulled him near him. "Calm down," he whispered into his lover's ear. "She wants to help us."
"We almost died," Nimel hissed back. "She's a dragon. She could kill us with a twitch of her finger."
"I wouldn't kill you," Zaragosa said.
Zerran held up his hand. The dragon didn't say anything else.
"I need to tell you something," Zerran said. "It's about my mission here."
Nimel drew away from him, eyes wide. "You lied to me."
"I had to." Zerran's hands came up to his brow. "I was forbidden from telling you. Queen Azshara had a vision. She wanted me to investigate the arcane energies here. I agreed, and I wanted to spend more time with you, so I asked you to come."
Nimel drew Zerran in, his arm around the other's waist. "Just swear to keep me safe," he whispered into his ear.
"I won't let anyone stop me."
Zaragosa cleared her throat. "That's very touching, but we have an unknown mage to deal with. And the faster we act the less of a chance there will be that Cenarius is angered at us."
- 7 -