The Summoning
The orc frantically searched his pockets, "Where is it?!" he exclaimed to himself, patting every inch of his body looking for the small wooden box. "If I lost it we're all… oh there it is," his arms coming to a stop in the depths of his plate armor, the tiny package in his grasp. Relocating the box to a more easily found place, in a pocket on the left side of his chest, the orc could feel it every time his heart beat against it. Looking up, he noticed several of the Draenei inhabitants were staring at him. He was, after all, in the middle of their terrace in Shattrath City. A city of ancient architecture and golden spires, Shattrath was a beautiful place; it had been his home ever since the warrior's journey in to the Outlands. Ignoring the odd looks he received, the orc warrior continued on to the continually rising and plummeting elevator on the Aldor Rise. Ghaku stared uncomfortably down from the top of the lift; he'd had an unfortunate tendency to miss and plummet to the bottom, on more than one occasion.
Every few steps the orc took, he had to take a moment to reassure himself that his oh-so-important package was still there, feeling all the better when he touched the box. The feeling only lasted a few moments until he had to check again, and so this went until he reached the center of the ancient city. The glimmerings of the nearby Naaru momentarily awed the warrior, and were he not so intent upon his journey that day, Ghaku would have taken a moment to submit himself to the peaceful aura that surrounded the light-blessed beings. Another day, perhaps, when she stood beside him, the orc thought. The horde battle-standards at one corner of the temple caught his eye, the glowing of a trio of portals shimmering calmly against it. Ghaku walked up to them, taking a moment to make certain that his possession was still in his hold. "Orgrimmar… Orgrimmar…" he pondered out loud. "I belieff zhat you are looking for the portal een zhe middle," interrupted the thick-accented Draenei mage, who was attending the Shattrath portals. Ghaku stared at her for a moment, caught in his own thinking. He nodded, and plunged himself in to the shimmering mass that was to carry him to the Orcish war-city.
"Yes, there is much that we will need for the summoning ritual." The warlock had told them, "A part of Tiji, so that we may focus on to her point of existence. That will be for you, 'Oh Bloody Prince'. We will certainly need a part of those that took her, so that we may bypass the wards in place, and enter the timeway; dear assassin I believe that you would be most expert for that particular piece. And, perhaps most importantly, we will need a conduit, something of demonic energy, something to create a gateway to the Battle of Hyjal. I am uncertain what would accomplish this, but I will manage to find something. Lastly, we will need a seer to guide us in this summoning, there will be much that seeks to impede our progress, and she will guide us in a path to avert such barriers. My dear wife, though her soundness of mind is questionable, will be adept in this undertaking.
The warrior paced across the endless sands of the Tanaris desert. It seemed like it was only days previous that he had made the journey alongside his matron, though in fact months had passed in the time it had taken to acquire what was needed for the ritual. Absentmindedly, he checked his breast pocket for the box. It was still there, good, to lose it at this point meant they would never achieve what they would soon begin. Ghaku was almost surprised that he was able to make his way through the abyssal dunes, soon he could see the mountains looming above him in the distance, and he knew that nestled within them was his destination, the Caverns of Time.
Had the pair not be uncannily adept at the art of hiding, they surely would have been noticed. Crouching on a great tree branch among the grassy hills for which it the area was named, the orc huddled close to her companion. "It's just weird," she whispered to the large lion next to her, "I've been here before, but this is before even then, isn't it?" The form of the massive feline shifted and glimmered as it transformed in to a tall, black-furred Tauren. His eyebrow quirked in as if to agree with the rogue, "The irony of the situation is not lost on me, Rhaka. Hillsbrad was not as such when I last visited, either. But this isn't the Hillsbrad that we remember; it is an image of the past." Rhaka nodded at the druid. The two had ventured in to one of the time passages beneath the Caverns of the Bronze Dragonflight, to the past, before the third war of Azeroth. Rage Earthfury poked his orcish companion gently, pointing towards the village before them. "There's the patrol…" he whispered. Nodding, the rogue jumped down from their post in the tree, stealthily hiding amongst the grass, the druid following behind her.
The human had shifty black eyes, odd for one of his race. He moved strangely, haltingly as if unaccustomed to his own body. A sudden cracking noise from the grass caught his attention, and the man's head snapped to the side to see what had caused it. Moving up to investigate, he was caught unawares by the unexpected bludgeoning to the back of his head, the assassin having struck him with hard, steel hilt of her dagger, knocking the man unconscious. "Let us see what's under your skin…" Rhaka mused quietly to herself, flipping her glowing blade around to his throat. "You're certain this is one of them, I hope," interrupted her druid friend. "Of course it is!" the orc exclaimed, "I mean, just look at him… he's weird." The assassin clearly had no qualms about such things, long having been accustomed to this practice. With an adept slice, her sharp edge quickly pierced the gullet of the unfortunate patroller. The man's form quickly surged and began to change before the bewildered eyes of the stealthy pair, reforming to shape an unusual black dragon. Slumping to the ground, the corpse fell directly on top of the rogue, who hadn't expected this to happen, and pinned her to the ground. "Oof!" she exclaimed, wheezing, "I don't remember humans being this heavy!" Rage eyed the body aloofly, "So he wasn't human, after all."
With a characteristically nondescript face, the tauren pulled the massive body of the dragon off of his comrade. "This will take some time to get back to the caverns…" he thought aloud. Rhaka pulled out her other dagger with a grin, "We could take him in pieces!" The tauren chuckled quietly, "I think Aesgar would prefer the body be intact." Rage's form glimmered as it shifted, taking the shape of a massive brown bear. He gestured his furry head towards the cave from which they had entered the Old Hillsbrad Foothills, dragging the draconic body with his massive claws.
The corpse whistled merrily as he strolled down in to the earth. Taking a moment to wave at the massive bronze wyrm that guarded the entrance, Aesgar Reth ambled down in to the Caverns of Time, toting a large brown sack as he walked. Behind him, an unusually pale woman with turquoise hair gaped at the magnificent sights around her. Opening her mouth as if to ask a question, Aesgar answered without even turning around to see her do it. "No dear, you aren't having visions. Yes dear, those ARE floating meteors in space over there." The warlock was accustomed to such things. The undead couple journeyed deep in to the caverns, until in the distance they could see a noticeably impatient, massive orcish man waiting for them within a floating violet rune circle. "You're here! I've been waiting for ages!" exclaimed the warrior. "Yes, spending any amount of time within these caverns can feel like that. Your sister, I assume, is here as well?" asked the dead man walking. Ghaku shrugged, "I can never tell, you know her…" The warlock arched an eyebrow (which nobody saw beneath his stylin' hat), "Indeed. I do hope she isn't lost, I would like to get started." The warrior nodded at him, "What's in the bag?"
"Oh. You're here. Wonderful," Elusin exclaimed almost sarcastically, noting the approach of the last of the two to arrive. Rage, still dragging the massive corpse behind him, didn't say much. Aesgar raised his head, an evil glint in his eyes, "Excellent. The ritual will begin. I do hope you are all ready; it would not surprise me if the Infinite were to assault us at this time. We're about to bend the folds of reality, that sort of thing tends to attract unwanted guests…" Reaching a hand towards his pocket, Ghaku let out a sigh of relief, the box was still there. The warlock began to speak in a cryptic unknown language, as glimmering lights rose around him. "Dagrot! Attend me!" he shouted out, as the form of a miniscule imp appeared, flames rose around his tiny form. The demon bickered for a moment, muttering about interrupting "alone time", and something about a succubus, but quickly silenced after a particularly cold look from his summoner. Aesgar extended a skeletal finger towards the orc warrior, "Something of the sought!" his shrill voice carried throughout the caverns. Reluctantly, Ghaku removed the package from inside his armor, a box containing a lock of red hair, his mother's. The dead man motioned towards the bright verdant rune circle that was forming around them; Ghaku tossed down the lock of hair to the center. Nodding, the warlock continued, "Something of those that bind her!" his voice echoed around them. A quick slicing and slurping sound from behind them turned the group's attention towards the Infinite dragon's corpse. Rhaka, her face cold and impassive, had removed the head with her many blades. Passing it off to the druid, Rage dumped the beasts head on to the middle of the pile.
Aesgar's voice grew ever louder and more powerful as the ritual continued, "Something to bind them, something to create the path!" he called out; gesturing towards the large bag he had been carrying. Picking it up gently, his wife passed it off to the warlock, her eyes wide with anticipation. Removing the bulky item, a large, pulsating green heart, Aesgar withdrew the curved dagger from his side, plunging it in to the unusual relic. It was the heart of an infernal, a terrifying demonic creation. Holding it over the ritual pile, the oozing green blood dripped from the heart, saturating the head and the lock of hair with fel energy. As he slowly passed the dagger to his wife at his side, he yelled out fiercely, "And finally, something to guide the way!" The cavern rumbled as the group huddled around the circle. Elusin, her hands trembling, brought the knife up to her own pale arm, cutting it deep in to her skin. What was left of the little blood that remained in her body poured out in to the growing pile of ritual components, mingling with the green demon blood around it all. And then the rumbling ceased, nothing happened. Looking around desperately, Ghaku waited for some sign of success. "Well?!" he cried out, staring at the now-bloodied pile, the lock of hair catching his eye. Ghaku was torn; the last remaining tie to his mother now lay lifeless upon the underground sands.
A piercing howl filled the air, as shadowy figures materialized around them. Screaming draconic figures assaulted the group, as they were beset upon by silvery-black forms from all directions. One bowled in to Elusin, the priest dropping the still bloody ritual knife as she was knocked to the ground. Aesgar's eyes grew wide as he saw his wife's beaten form, raising his skeletal hands to the air, glowing with power. Fire rained down upon the dragons from above, as shadowy energy filled them with pain. The warlock raised a trembling arm towards one of the attackers, the dragon's body convulsing with boils as it fell to the ground, steaming until it ceased to move. The rogue had already sprung in to action, knives in every direction as she stared with fiery eyes at those who had interrupted the ritual.
The loud rumbling had recommenced as an even larger, gargantuan figure emerged from the cavern depths. Bronze scales were alight with the colors of the ritual circle, as the massive dragon flew towards the group, her talons ready to spring in to the shadowy invaders. Pushing her way towards the group, Tiridormi's hands glowed with magical energy as she touched the ritual pile. Grabbing for the dagger that had been dropped, Tiridormi carved it in to her own forearm, silvery blood mixing with the Infernal and Elusin's. A massive tear in the ground appeared, as a shimmering green portal erupted from the earth beneath them. "Hyjal!" she cried out. All eyes turned towards the growing rift as the great bronze motioned towards it. "This won't last for long, so if you're set in this course of action, go NOW!" Ghaku nodded, tears in his eyes, and flung his armored form towards the verdant portal. The others followed the orc warrior; the last to enter was the skeletal warlock, his ghoulish wife held at his side. "You do not know the good that you have done this day…" he whispered to the Bronze as he too was swept through the rift. The dragon shook her bestial head, "I have walked this day's path many times, I alone understand what you are doing for me…" but the warlock had already gone. Barring her teeth, Tiridormi continued her destruction of the never-ending invaders.