A Rider on Azeroth

Chapter 5: Killing Shades and Gathering Names

Ice Crown Citadel

To the normal person, well as normal as you can be when you're an Azerothian, Ice Crown Citadel was not a place you wanted to be. Freezing everything, undead and other factors contributed to the fact that it was one of the most inhospitable places one could think of. For a death knight the place was paradise.

Doldaer Nightblade was one such Death Knight. Despite being one of the inner circle of Twilight Raiders his true home was Ice Crown Citadel, despite being a blood elf. He had been making an effort to disassembling the inner horrors of the previous scourge, though the last few years had given him little chance to revisit some of his more….dangerous undertakings. Which was why he was surprised when one of the Death knights stationed here had brought him a message from Dalaran.

"And what did the messenger look like?" Doldaer practically demanded of the Orc, who shirked back a few paces.

"A Worgen with a Twilight Raiders tabard sir." Replied the Orc hesitantly. Doldaer merely twitched his eyebrow as he unfurled the message.

Dear big ear,

Arron has asked all inner circle and officers to meet in Dalaran. Don't know why but getting the message around.

Yours truly

Big tooth.

Elsewhere a Worgen was happily reading while flying to Dalaran, her impromptu mission complete. She could have sworn she heard her name on the wind, but shrugged it off.

Stormwind

Petrea HIteras was almost done. For months she had been working on a new potion from the reserves of ingredients leftover form the Pandaria Campaign. It never hurt to have a few extra surprises for the next campaign. Though working with Volatile ingredients did add a bit of excitement. After all, what is a Gnome to do other than experiment, fail or succeed, then keep experimenting?

She was on her last bit of experimenting with the current concoction. She had to have extreme focus, for even the slightest mishap could mean an explosion. She mentally rolled her eyes at the previous times she had blown the alchemy wing out in the Twilight Raiders Stormwind branch. How was she to know that engineering and alchemy don't necessarily mix together?

After she finished writing notes down her current concoction she went back to start pouring drops in it. She heard light knocking form the other side of the room.

"Come in!" she shouted while still concentrating on the dropping liquid. Had she looked behind her, r more importantly noticed anything, she would have seen a female dwarf come in with a ethereal cat next to her. But she was in full 'Alchemist' mode, which meant she would be listening, but not really at the same time.

"Hey did ya hear Petrea?" called out the dwarf who was walking towards her. Petrea merely hummed in response, keeping her attention on the continually dropping liquid. "Arron's called a meeting in ole Dal. Apparently a new land was discovered and we were chosen to scout it out." After a moment the Gnome finally caught what her friend had said

"Wait what!?" she exclaimed as the vial she had been slowly dripping in was now poured in full force. The street that the Raiders Compound was located on shook as an explosion rocked a part of the building. People merely shook their heads as they walked by, already knowing it was one particular gnome responsible. After the cleanup and questioning it was discovered that Petrea was trying to change her hair from pink to white.

Orgrimmar

"This is a bad idea" an orc stated, looking hesitantly over the edge.

"Yes, yes I heard you the first dozen times." Replied a pandaren carelessly as she continued fixing the massive Kite in front of her.

"Gonna hafta agree with ya mon. 'his is a bad idea." A troll said next to them. The pandaren merely looked up form where she was stitching the leather and glared at the female troll next to her. The troll, wisely, stepped back as the pandaren spoke

"Would you like to take her place?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"You on your own mon." she quickly replied to the female orc. The wary expression turned to full blown panic as the pandaren wiped her hands of excess enchanting materials.

"All right if you step on the kite we can get this thing a-rollin."

"If I die I am coming back to haunt you." The Orc replied in a voice oozing contempt.

"Yea yea go already!" with a slight push the orc was sent careening off on of Orgrimmar's bluffs.

"She fallin' fast"

"She's fine." Replied the Pandaren while continually looking more worried and worried.

"Still fallin"

"Any minute now."

Curses and obscenities could be heard from the continually falling orc. After another minute, or however long it took for the Pandaren to realize her mistake, she had her dragon fly down to retrieve the falling orc. After a moment the pandaren was in a headlock while the Orc was continually pummeling her. While this was happening a guild messenger had arrived and was giving the message to the female troll who was trying very hard not to laugh at the scene before her. Once her friends had got it out of their system she approached them to share what the messenger had given them.

"Seems like something goin down wit ta guild."

"What do you mean?" asked the female orc.

The Pandaren chimed in after she read the message that was in the troll female's hands. "Arron has called a meeting of all the officers' raid and above."

"Guess we'll be going on another campaign sooner rather than later." Commented the Orc as she herself read the message. The two nods form her friends also signified that if there was meeting of this proportions it was important. And in Dalaran no less.

Dalaran

Arron knew that the last of his messages had been received. To be fair he kept his inner circle small for a reason, one of them being the ability to communicate effectively within it. He estimated it would take a good week for all the members to show up, but he made arrangements for their building to be stocked with everyone's favorite drink and food. This new campaign would require a lot of buttering up for everyone.

Especially his wife.

He sighed as his thoughts went back to the one woman in his life that he was sure would cause quite an impression on not only his sister, but the entire Algaesian Elven society as a whole. It was not every day that a woman courted possibly one of the most powerful people on Azeroth. She should be arriving back from her quick trip to deliver one of the summons and he hoped she would react, well civil was the best word he could think of. She was aware of his history and more specifically his banishment form his own home. Being a gilneaen she knew the pain of having to leave your home and not by your own choice. Needless to say he was nervous for his sister the two of them finally met.

Granted his sister was one of the more powerful algaesian mages he had met, but his wife was in a class all her own when it came to combat. Several of the more…enthusiastic women that had pursued him before his marriage had found that out the hard way. It was one of the things that had drawn him to the Worgen at first. Though she had made her intentions pretty clear after their first meeting. Just remembering that particular moment in his life caused a blush to spread across his cheeks. He absent mindedly rubbed his shoulder where she had more or less 'claimed' him on their wedding night.

His thoughts were interrupted when Sandewor and Falraan joined him at the table to resume their Ancient Language study. He was surprised by their progress, but his pathfinders had always managed to quickly learn any new language they had to come across. Though how they understood murloc baffled him to this day.

"I want you to know how much I hate you at this moment in time." Sandewor stated as he resumed to study the scrolls in front of him. Arron had no doubt about the statement. Hard to lie in the ancient language after all.

"I believe what he means to say is that your society is too strict." Falraan said, also in the ancient language. "Like stick up their-"

"Yes! Yes we can all agree that they can be a little" at the skeptic looks from both of his fellow guild members he sighed and continued. "set in their ways. But we will need to set a good first impression for the good of all."

"The more we talk about this" Sandewor replied after finishing the scroll he was reading "The more I believe we should take more than just the three of us."

"And we will" was Arron's simple reply. Both of them looked to their leader when realization came over them.

"You can't be serious." Was Falraan's reply after the realization. "She is possible the worst person to have with us during our first meeting with your people."

"You really expect her to just sit here and wait while I meet the people that banished me to Azeroth in the first place. No doubt she would string up both Khadgar and Kalec, then me, if I attempted to leave without her."

"Better the sacrifice of the few for the many" Sandewor muttered while picking up a new scroll.

"Be what it may" replied an exasperated Arron "I feel as though she will be important when I finally see my dear mother." Both of the guild members sitting across from him could only share skeptic looks before resigning themselves to their fate. Another hour passed before a commotion caught the attention of the three occupants of the small dwelling. Curses, following an embarrassed squeak signaled the return of his beloved.

And if he had to guess she had met his sister on the way home.

Arya

The past few days had been an experience Arya sorely needed after her return to Ellesmera. Finding a long-lost brother was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Azerothians. In the proceeding days after the revelation of Arron's exile she noticed that her brother was different from her in so many ways. Despite their differences, she found herself enjoying the time she got to spend with her brother. Despite the happiness, she found when she returned to the forests of her birth she found herself slowly coming to terms that she was basically an outsider in the eyes of many of the younger generation of elves. Arron, whom she found was the exact opposite of what an algaesian elf acted, told her that one of the problems in their home society was the self-imposed banishment on themselves. That was one discussion that had went on into the middle of the night, much to the amusement of Falraan and Sandewor, who had set up shop in their guild masters home.

The two members of her brother's inner circle were interesting to the Alagaesian elf. Sandewor reminded her much of Eragon in some aspects. His sense of morals and strength of bonds to start with. But there where major differences as well. When she had looked into his eyes during their conversation she saw the eyes of a veteran of war, someone who had seen horrors that no mortal man should ever have seen. The way he carried himself spoke of the experience of battles both small and large, which was further impressed upon her when she watched one of the spars between the Alagaesian Rider and the Azerothian Paladin. She was more than a little impressed with the paladins mastery of both martial and magical combat. The way these Azerothans wielding magic was such a foreign concept from the trained mind of how the Ancient Language and its magic worked.

Falraan, despite their rocky beginnings, had swiftly welcomed Arya as a fellow elf and friend. Both of the elven women had spent numerous hours discussing the similarities and differences between the two of them. The bluntness of the night elf woman was welcomed by the person Arya while the ambassador and politician cringed inside. When she had mentioned it to Arron he had merely laughed it off. His response was 'should be interesting when we arrive in Ellesmera, no?' She groaned internally at the flippant attitude of her newly-discovered brother. Falraan had started to show her the beginning magics of the druids, in which she had taken to it like a fish to water. Many elves, her included, knew that one could draw upon the energies of living things with the ancient language and their own innate power. The drawback was the death of most plantlife and even sentient being if one continued to draw on the surrounding instead of using their own power. Druidic magic was its anti-thesis. Instead of drawing on the life force of the plant and animal a druid channeled the innate power of nature. After some demonstrations (with Arron being the unwitting pawn in the demonstration) Arya was amazed at the older woman's mastery over nature. She blushed a little when she remembered fainting after the Falraan first shapeshifted. Just that power alone would make the female night elf the most eligible mate for any Algaesian elf. Not that she would.

It was….strange seeing the two guild members as mates. She wasn't naïve enough to doubt there were inter-racial romances between man and elf. But to see it in actual life? It had been quite a shellshock to say the least. As Arya continued down the street a certain worgen was seen approaching the Alagaesina elf from behind. When the worgen had closed the distance, she pounced, surprising Arya as she stumbled to catch herself. Before she does any more she heard the voice of a husky yet eerily feminine voice next to her ear.

"Well, well WELL Arron. It seems some magic went wrong I take it" replied the female worgen as she groped Arya's breasts. She could only let out a squeak as the Worgen continued to grope her as they walked, well more like she was dragged, back to her brothers current dwelling. The worgen continued to speak, causing the already considerable blush to delve into new shades of red.

"Not that I Mind. Not at all. I've always wondered what it would be like to be with a female you." As the sordid details continued as they walked Arya eventually regained some composure and tried to escape the grasp of the worgen woman. Much to her horror the Worgen merely pulled her into a bridal carry as they reached the door to Arron's dwelling.

"Don't you worry one bit. By the time, we are one you'll be walking funny for days!" This was the last straw as Arya began shouting out curses in every language she could, unable to escape the grip of the more powerful worgen woman. To her ever-increasing horror she realized that the Worgen in her arms was just as powerful as her brother when I came to pure magical talent. If one had seen Arya in the arms of the female Worgen would have a very good impression of a tomato from the elf. It only got worse the moment she was brought through the entrance way of Arron's home.

The first person she laid her eyes on was her brother. She could have sworn he was holding in a laugh as she continued to move her gaze to the rest of the occupants of the house. Sandewor was not only chuckling, but shared a very pointed look with Falraan. The night elf woman herself wore a devious grin that caused a shudder down Arya's spine. After what seemed like forever, though in reality only a moment or so. Arron finally spoke up with a wide grin as he spoke to the Worgen woman. She noted that the female Worgen had yet to put her down.

"Dear as much as I'm sure you would like to" Arya noted the bemused look on her brother's face "Ravish my dear sister I must ask you to reign it in for now."

Something on the face of the female Worgen must have been hilarious, if the laughs from the three before them were any indication. Arya shirked into herself as her blush went to lava levels as the female worgen slowly put her down. The female Worgen walked slowly over to Arron, who had reigned in his chuckling as he embraced her. Arya was confused at the action before the pieces finally clicked.

"She- she is-"

"Arya, I would like for you to meet my wife and mate Lillian Drottningu."

The last thing Arya saw before she fainted was the shy and regretful smile that Lillian had on her face before she blacked out due to shock.

Dalaran Chapel

Sandewor could tell that the spirit contained with Eragon's injury was struggling against its inevitable demise. The young Rider had been struck by two attacks within the last hour. He had been summoned from the amusing scene at Arron's home by order of the Highlord. When he arrived they had already begun the exorcism if the horrible screams of Eragon attested to that fact. He was quickly waved over by Erik Trueheart, one of the more lauded officers of the Argent Crusade.

"Good to see ya got here in time." The dwarf paladin greeting while grabbing his arm in greetings.

"It seems that getting this shade form Eragon will be more painful than we could expect." Sandewor's point was further proven when another gut-churning scream punctuated throughout the small chapel of Light. "What do you want me to do?"

"I have to join the rest of them in the expulsion of the spirit. Tirion wanted you to prepare to face the spirit. The only way we get rid of it fer good is to kill it."

"Alright. Light be with you Erik."

"Same to you lad."

Standard exorcisms were a dangerous affair in themselves. This expulsion of the remnants of this 'shade' was proving to be the most dangerous one do date, if the circle of some of the more powerful of the current generation of light wielders was any indication of that. They were only missing some of the Draenei, which included Velen. The amount of power that was being generated by the circle of paladins started to worry him. As if to answer his worries the flow of power suddenly stopped. A moment of pregnant silence followed before all hell broke loose.

An explosion of crimson light blasted the circle of paladins that had been around Eragon. Sandewor resisted the shockwave as the rest of the paladins and priests hit the surrounding room in various spots. Looking over his raised shield Sandewor narrowed his eyes at the spirit hovering above the now unconscious Rider. The shade was ethereal for most of his body. Hints of crimson power arced form various points of the shade, making the paladin even more wary of the dark spirit before him.

What truly caught his attention was the pulsing power centered where a person's heart would be. Luckily, from conversations between Arya and Eragon, Sandewor knew that to truly kill a shade you had to stab it though the heart. Anything else would allow the shade to reform in a different location. Something the paladin was not willing to allow. The shade then started to speak, much to the paladin's continuing ire.

"Interesting…. This light forced me from the boy's wounds. No matter. I just need to slip back into- UGH!"

A well-placed judgement separated the shade form the young Rider. Sandewor took the momentary distraction to close the distance between himself and the shade before him. The shade quickly recognized the threat of the man before him, and summoned a crimson blade to block the descending blade. The squeal of clashing blades was soon sounding throughout the chapel as the two combatants traded blows. The shade, surprised at the power wielded by the paladin before him, quickly went on the defensive by launching magic against Sandewor. Not wanting to risk himself against a foreign type of magic Sandewor disengaged. That did not mean he left the shade to his own devices.

"ARGH!" was the shade's response to another judgement. Sandewor noted with some satisfaction that the dark spirit before him was very susceptible to the holy energy from his attacks. Dodging another attack form the wounded shade Sandewor circled the shade, who was sputtering in disbelief at the paladin before him.

"Impossible. This type of magic should not exist. To wound me so easily? What are you?" the shade snarled while eyeing the paladin before him.

"Simple spirit." Sandewor started to reply as he resumed a standard fighting stance "Your end."

Snarling at the vague yet threatening response both combatants rushed at each other to resume their fight. It was around this time that Tirion had recovered from the blast of foreign magic and was shielding Eragon in case the spirit decided to attempt to merge with the young Rider again. He noted with grim satisfaction the damage the shade was continually sustaining while confined by both Sandewors attacks and the chapel's residual energies.

'It is as we thought. The shade is extremely susceptible to the Light. But even with this weakness it is apparent the shade is a formidable foe.' The elderly paladin looked at the peaceful face of the young Rider under his barrier 'To have faced and defeated such a foe. I sense great things will come from you and your actions'

Another strike form his blade wounded the spirit before both of them separated themselves. Both enemies eyed each other critically, though Sandewor noticed an insane gleam appearing in the shades crimson yet opaque eyes. He narrowed his eyes in thought as he gathered power within himself. 'He knows that his only source of death is at an extreme risk right now. With the way his defensive sword work and magic have deterred me from landing a true killing blow it seems I'll need to overpower the spirit before I can land the necessary blow.'

The next moment saw holy energies explode from the paladin. Golden wings unfurled from Sandewors back as the weapons in his hands took an ethereal look while radiating more of the holy energies from before. A crown of holy energies formed finally, giving the paladin the look of a king more than a knight. Swinging the newly formed light mace Sandewor regarded the shade opposite of him. The insane gleam was still there, but was overshadowed by unadulterated fear.

"NO. NO!" screamed the shade in fear and fury "This amount of magic should not be possible for anyone but a Shade or a Rider!"

"Then let that be your last mistake." Replied the paladin, his voice emanating power at the moment. Before the shade had time to react a swift strike of the light mace threw him against one of the pillars making up the chapel. Staggering back to his feat the paladin was once again on him, beating away every attempt to block the holy-infused strikes that were causing more and more pain. Noticing the weakened state of the shades sword arm Sandewor made a pinpoint strike to the shades arm, shattering the shadows that had formed to support the shade in his fight against the paladin. Exhausted, with his shadow armed battered by the holy energies of the paladins strike the shade slumped in defeat. A look of melancholy appeared on the shades face, causing the paladins eyes to narrow in confusion.

"I thought an expression such as the one you wear now would be foreign to a shade."

The shade snorted before responding "I was not originally evil wielder of light. I trust you know how a shade is formed?" at the nod from the paladin the shade continued "Then you should know that my death is a blessing. For too long have we suffered under the condition of…..well this." The shade pointed to himself as he finished.

The immense light had fades from the Paladin, reforming his weapons to their original state. Taking the sword he had forged himself he approached the defeated shade with an air of pity. Stopping in front of the spirit Sandewor could not help but think about what had led to the spirit before him. Turning the sword towards his 'heart' the Sandewor gave one last sentence before he plunged the blade into the spirit.

"Find peace within the Light spirit."

As the blade sunk into the shade a look of relief and peace crossed the face of the spirit. Instead of the explosion that had been described to him by both Arya and Arron the spirit slowly disintegrated while changing from shadowy like substance to ones of simple light. After another moment the wisps of light floated around the paladin before disappearing in dusting of light. The final words of the purged spirits flowed throughout the room, causing all of the paladins that had akin to sigh in relief and joy

"Thank you"

Letting the feeling of gratitude flow through him Sandewor heard the approach of a familiar pair of armor-clad boots. Turning to face Tirion the younger paladin noticed the look of unabashed pride that adorned the elderly Highlord's face. Smiling back Sandeowr decided to ask how Eragon was doing.

"The boy is sleeping peacefully, probably more than he ever has since the spirit infested him. The darkness that was latched to him like a tumor has all but disappeared, leaving the draconic and light as the only magical sources within the boy."

"Good. Perhaps now he will not suffer any more attacks from his scar."

"That's another thing." Replied the Highlord, garnering Sandewor's attention. "The scar upon the young Rider's back is gone. My guess is that the remnants of the shade were connected with it. A Combination of purging the shade, along with the amount of holy energies we were pumping into him, caused the light to heal his wounds."

"Huh." Was Sandewor's….intelligent response. "Good for him. For now, though I should bring him back to his room at the violet hold. I myself need to rest after summoning that much energy in a short amount of time."

"Indeed. Also let me know how the meeting goes in a few days."

Eragon

When Eragon woke up the next day he could tell things were different. Not only was the tension of scarred muscles gone but the oppressive magic from Durza, that had only been magnified once he began his training in the light, was gone. Sitting up slowly form the warm bed Eragon moved towards the mirrior that was on the other side of the room. Turning to see his back he had to hold in a whoop of joy. Though tears flowed freely from the young Riders eye's.

The scar that had been on his back was gone. In its wake was left pure, unblemished skin, as if the scar never existed in the first place. Somehow, whether by his familiarity with the painful curse or his further attunement to the holy Light energies he knew that his back would not be troubled by the painful bouts he had been forced to suffer ever since the defeat of Durza. Kneeling down Eragon prayed to the Light, as he had done ever since coming into the apprenticeship under Tirion and Sandewor. A felling of warmth and light filled him, invigorating him further. As he stood up Eragon could tell that Saphira was mentally tapping his mind in order to get his attention.

"Hello Saphiragosa."

"It is good that you are up little one."

"Indeed it is, but I am guessing we have different reasons?"

"The magic to heal you must have made you smarter, or at least wittier in the end."

"Hey!"

"But enough about that. Get dressed and make you way towards the meeting room of the Citadel. The meeting with the Twilight Raiders has begun."

Eragon did not need to be told twice. In truth, he was rather excited to meet the more prominent members of Arron's guild. They were all powerful in their own right, if the stories about their exploits could be considered truth. For some reason, he felt amusement from Saphira but wrote it off as he proceeded towards the meeting room. As he opened the door he could Hear Arron voice permeate through the door and room, before Eragon made his way into the room.

The first thing that caught Eragon's attention were the people in the room. There seemed to be a representative of every race on Azeroth, though each had a different air about them. Before he could Think more on this his attention was grabbed by Arron, who had rose and started to introduce the young Rider.

"Ah good you finally woke up. Everyone! This is the Rider of Saphiragosa Eragon Shadeslayer."

And another update! yes!

Bask in the Light

Sandewrpally