Chapter 8: Redemption
"We're not in Quel'thalas anymore, are we?" Lily asked Xainia as they sat in a group of bushes much like the one in which they had first met.
"Nah, we be in terrahkah forest." Xainia pulled her head back from the section of bushes that she had been looking through.
"Terrokar? Where's that, I've never even heard of it in stories." Lily was dismayed.
"It be in Outland. Dis place we be at be called Firewing Point. Even dah de blood elves be membas of da Horde, dese blood elves be tryin tah kill us." Xainia elaborated on their location.
"They would do that?" Lily almost exclaimed as she often did when something surprised her. Quieting down, the elf continued. "I've heard of Outland before, people in the city talk of it like a paradise. It doesn't look like it from what I see around me."
Continuing about the Firewing blood elves, Xainia looked through the bushes again. "Dese blood elves even kill otha blood elves dat dey dun know."
Looking at the ground in disgust, Lily realized how misguided she had been in even being a servant to elves like the ones in Firewing Point. "I really don't know my own people. First they trap M'uru, then Cin'donia, and now you say they'd even attack their own kin?"
"Dah world be ah strange place, Lily." Xainia replied using the elf's name; Lily had introduced herself earlier on.
The pair had fallen out of the portal as it closed up and quickly hidden themselves in some bushes near the outskirts of Firewing Point. Unfortunately for them, Cin'donia had been whisked off to somewhere in the town before they had come through. The bad timing was also a blessing, however, because they were not caught by the guards upon exiting the portal.
Still contemplating her new companion, Lily questioned Xainia. "So why did you help me? We don't even know each other. You look like a powerful priestess, why waste time on me?"
"Ah wasn't alwahs powahful. Ah help yah because yah need help like ah once did. If ah was onlah concerned fah mahself den ah'd be a blood elf ah sometin." Xainia forgot her company, remembering as she pulled back into the space in the bushes that they hid in. "Ah… sorrah."
"Does everyone really think that about us?" Lily asked innocently, though she was fairly certain of what the answer was.
"Well ah kin nah be speakin fah everabodah, but ah know dat dere be ah lot dat tink it." Xainia tried to be as nice about the truth as she could.
"I can see what my friend meant now." Lily regretted as she looked out of the bushes herself and saw packs of hungry looking wolves stalking the forest. "These animals look hungry. I shouldn't have come out here… I'm going to be eaten."
"Ah protect ya. Ah said befa dat dis friend ah yahs must be worth savin if she tried tah free dat naaru. Yah be worth helpin since yah wanted tah help 'er too. When yah get back, dun let fear keep ya from bein what ya want ta be." The priestess tried to be encouraging towards her friend.
"I'll try." Lily smiled as they both continued to scan around the town from the bushes to try and find Cin'donia.
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After being carried back to the base encampment outside of Azjol-Seraq, Ranilok was allowed into the portal back to Nerub'Itjahz very quickly. The decision was made by Anub'Jegavith to destroy the tunnels back to Nerub'Itjahz and use portals only to transport from colony to colony. The safety of the main colony was of greatest importance to the nerubians. Once Ranilok had arrived, he was met by Neru'Rekan.
Coming to one knee, Ranilok greeted the spider. "We have won, master."
"I have heard. Walk with me, Ranilok." Neru'Rekan now also used the elf's name.
Rising and following, the elf wondered what had happened to cause this change. He had killed a lich, but his part in the battle was just as significant as the army of Nerub'Itjahz. In terms of sheer destruction, they had killed many more than he. The pair slowly processed across one of the large galleries in Nerub'Itjahz, towards Neru'Rekan's personal quarters.
"I know that you wish to return to your world and to that woman, Ranilok. Anub'Jegavith is also understanding of this and doesn't require your presence at the feast." The warlock explained.
"Yes, master." Ranilok was glad that he had finished the ordeal and could try to save the one he loved.
Laying forth his demands, Neru'Rekan questioned Ranilok. "I will know something for our lord before you leave. What did you do in that cavern against the lich?"
"I don't know exactly how it happened." The elf paused to gather his thoughts and continued to walk. "The lich found a way to manipulate the crystals as your people did. He collapsed the construct around me so much that it began to crush me." Ranilok stopped again for a moment. "It did crush me. I felt it crush me, but I didn't die. I was thinking of everything that I'd done and how I had pledged myself to Nerub. I wanted to see the scourge defeated and more than anything, I wanted to see Cin'donia again. Everything was silent for a moment and then when I re-opened my eyes, I was surrounded by this great firey cloud. I felt the power of the construct flowing through me."
"The desire to overcome that humanoids have is the only trait that the spider kingdom finds worthy of emulating. Your desire appears to have saved you in this battle. Now, the general described this cloud to me. Tell me of the rest; I was told you created the construct from your body." Neru'Rekan pushed the elf on.
"When I created Cin'donia, I converted several crystals into energy to make her body turn from stone to something more lifelike. I can only guess that I somehow reached out and turned the construct into pure magic. I felt so much energy that I could have destroyed the Lich King himself, but I didn't do it. I turned away from the power and when I suppressed it my body had been healed by it." Ranilok kept the story going.
Pushing him on, Neru'Rekan tried to get the elf back on topic. "That is an interesting use of the crystals, but it hardly answers my question. You are the one who wishes to leave, so expedite your answer."
Trying to finish the story for his master, Ranilok hurried his speech along. "The power was still in me, and I knew I could do anything with it, including relinquish it. I gave the power up and when I did, it left me and returned to being the crystals that I had drawn it from. If I would have used it, I would have become worse than I had ever been."
"Power has dark legacies, which is why we must use only use great amounts on key occasions and why we must keep a strict order in its use. Nerub teaches us that although the use of power is warranted, the true enemies of darkness, light, or of any force can only be destroyed by the simplest group of fighters. Monsters can never destroy monsters. If a monster does destroy another, they inherit the foe's power and everything that was unordered and chaotic about their foe." The warlock began to make a lecture out of the lesson that Ranilok had learned.
"So what becomes of me now? Should I return once I save Cin'donia and continue the fight? I am sure she would be willing to help destroy the undead, even though she is of the light. Methuselah didn't have a problem living among you when he wielded the light." The elf tried to discuss the future with Neru'Rekan.
"No." Neru'Rekan opened the door to his chambers and led Ranilok in. "You will return to your home and you will find your own way by the will of Nerub. If we were to keep you here for eternity and use you as our tool until the Lich King's destruction, then we would be greedier for power and victory than you had ever been. You have learned greatly from Nerub, going from greed to willing relinquishment of nearly unlimited power. For this, your story and your name will be remembered by Nerub'Itjahz for generations. Your debt to our kingdom is repaid in full, along with this." The spider took a scroll from his robes and handed it to Ranilok. The scroll was a simple one that bore a wax seal with the letters 'MD' imposed over each other.
"What is this?" Ranilok held the scroll, knowing that he had seen the seal before somewhere.
"It is something that I will never understand, but that I am bound to follow. Just as I will never comprehend why you feel that you must race back to save this woman, I do not know why this intercession was made on your behalf. We would have been satiated by your death, but an individual that is respected by us contacted us. He gave us several scrolls that had been lost to the scourge and recovered by these 'free willed' undead that supposedly walk your homelands. You must ask yourself, how could we have known that you would open Cin'donia's prison? Why would I care about her enough to be waiting at the portal to find you on the other side?" The spider crossed his chamber to a small amulet that he had prepared. "Your 'friend', as you call him, had enough of something he called 'faith' in you to convince me to let you earn our kingdom's respect. Though I never thought that you would do it, you have earned the respect of the spider kingdom and my respect, Ranilok."
Opening the scroll, Ranilok read it to himself. The scroll contained a signed pact with Neru'Rekan and a letter below it addressed to Ranilok. Rolling up the scroll again, Ranilok nodded, moved by the contents. "Thank you, Methuselah… thank you."
Handing the amulet that he had prepared to Ranilok, Neru'Rekan continued. "There is that phrase again, 'thank you'. You may go and express that elsewhere as much as you wish, because it has no meaning here. This amulet is yours for your merits. The crystal set in it contains enough power for one being, all the power that you should ever need in your limited lifetime. Since Methuselah has cured himself of undeath, either of you are welcome in this kingdom as you wish. This amulet and the one I have given him will guide you to us, but it will only work for the master of the amulet."
"I understand, master." Ranilok took a knee before the spider again.
"That is enough of that, elf. Rise as a hero of this kingdom and call me master no longer." The spider corrected the elf as he opened a portal back to Ranilok's home.
Rising and walking towards the portal, Ranilok felt such appreciation for what his friend and Neru'Rekan had done that he could not find words for it. "By Nerub, I will find you, Cin'donia." Ranilok committed himself as he looked back to the spider-warlock. "Goodbye, Neru'Rekan."
"May the law of the spider kingdom and the will of Nerub usher you to an eternity of order in the darkness." Neru'Rekan issued one of the ancient farewells of his people as Ranilok left Nerub'Itjahz to save the one that he loved.
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"Irideus, come away from the window." Arisia called to her son from the couch that she was lying sideways on as the young boy looked out at something.
Running back to his mother, the young boy sat down by her and began curling her hair around his fingers shortly thereafter. "I'm sorry mummy." He paused. "Mummy, why don't we go outside much?"
"Because we'd cause too much trouble. You'd need to learn the eye trick first… and you'd need to be able to control your power." The young elf's mom explained to him as the put down the book that she had been reading
"But I can control it… I can!" The boy complained before continuing. "What's the eye trick, mummy?" Irideus asked, wondering if his mother meant that game 'peek-a-boo' that she had played with him when he was much younger.
"Our eyes are blue, but all of the other elves around here have green eyes. It's just a little magic trick that makes ours look green enough to fool them, but you're not old enough to be getting into magic like that." Arisia continued to lecture her son.
As the two sat on the couch and Arisia read some of her book to her son, someone knocked on the door. It wasn't a frantic knock or a heavy knock, just a simple request for entry. Mithelidan was sitting in a chair by the table, reading a new set of scrolls as the knock came. The warlock rose and went to answer the door, shifting his eyes to green as he did.
Casting an Eye of Kilrogg, the warlock guided it outside of the house and looked around with it. The figure outside the door noticed the eye and looked back down at it just as Mithelidan stopped casting it. "Go away." The elf called to the visitor.
"No. I need to talk to you." The visitor called back plainly from outside.
"I'm not interested. You've done quite enough already." Mithelidan stepped away from the door.
Rising from the couch, Arisia walked over to her husband and took a hold of his arm. "That sounds like Ranilok. Do you think that…" the woman trailed off.
"Doubtful, he'll go away if we ignore him for long enough." Mithelidan turned back towards the front of the house to see Ranilok climbing through the window. Startled, the warlock kept his eyes fixed on the intruder. "I tell you to go away and you climb in my window? Are you that desperate to steal more of my scrolls? I'm surprised that you survived the first set!" he spoke disdainfully.
Wordlessly, Ranilok dusted himself off and walked towards Mithelidan as Arisia held Irideus tightly and stayed on the couch. Irideus glared at Ranilok, remembering what he had done before, and the fire mage felt his powers stripped away from him like ragged clothing as he approached the boy's father. Ranilok put one of his hands into his robe as if he was about to pull out something and throw it at Mithelidan. As the warlock raised his own hand to guard against any incoming strike, Ranilok pulled three scrolls out of his robe pocket and held them out for Mithelidan.
"Go on, take them." Ranilok said as he kept holding them out for his old friend.
Squinting for a moment to discern if there was a curse on the scrolls, Mithelidan took them from the fire mage and placed them on the table, picking the scroll with his own seal back up. "Where did you get this?"
"Neru'Rekan gave it to me. You know what is on it." Ranilok said as he waited patiently, Arisia could see that the elf's eyes were blue, but she kept quiet.
"How did you get this?" Mithelidan looked at the scroll, easily remembering it.
Ranilok set his eyes on the amulet of Nerub'Itjahz that Mithelidan wore; it was nearly identical to his own. Realizing the challenge ahead of him, Ranilok tried to think of a way to prove that he didn't steal the scroll from the spiders. The elf knew he couldn't prove that he had changed his ways to either of them in a convincing way. His thievery and corruption had been so deep that he couldn't ask anyone to believe that he had undergone an honest change.
Turning towards the door partially, the elf decided that perhaps he wouldn't be able to win back his old friends. In the least, he had returned the scrolls that he had stolen. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you means nothing in Nerub'Itjahz. Your letter was moving. I would have thought you foolish to care about a wretch who had wronged you before, but now I know that you really care. Despite the horrible things I did towards both you and Arisia, you still did me a kindness. I have no means to repay you aside from my words; you have no battles that I can fight for you. I'll go, sorry for breaking in so rashly." Ranilok paused before he left, remembering what Neru'Rekan had said as he left the spider kingdom. "May the law of the spider kingdom and the will of Nerub usher you to an eternity of order in the darkness."
As Ranilok moved for the door, Mithelidan caught his arm and stopped him. "Neru'Rekan would never have said such words to you unless you earned this scroll honestly." The warlock noticed the amulet that Ranilok wore; Ranilok had forgotten that he could have used it as proof. "Nor would he have given you that."
Turning back, Ranilok smiled slightly, embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess I could have mentioned it."
"I didn't expect to see this pact return to me so quickly." Mithelidan placed the scroll on the table, leaving its full contents unspoken. "What would you like to know?"
"I don't really need to know anything. My life is better… so I can't question your motives. I just wanted to come here to show you that I'd earned it. Would I be too rash to call you my friends again?" Ranilok still acted conservatively, wanting to move on and go to find Cin'donia as soon as he could.
"Of course not. We both made this pact so that we could see our friend again, the one we lost when we found the heart in Northrend." Arisia spoke up as Irideus let Ranilok have his powers back. "So what became of the woman?" The woman asked, hoping that Ranilok had learned from that too and that he no longer desired her in such an envious way.
"Cin'donia's alive… but she's captured by the blood elves." Ranilok forgot how out of pace his friends were. "She was captured in Silvermoon when we tried to free M'uru from the Blood Knights. I'm going to go find her and get her out."
"Cin'donia?" Mithelidan questioned the name as Arisia also looked at him confusedly.
Ranilok quickly realized how little Mithelidan and Arisa knew about his recent life. Calling them to the table, he apologized for cutting short any formalities and explained. The pair was quite surprised to learn that not only had he succeeded in his work, but that the love he had found was with a naaru. Mithelidan was familiar with the Naaru like A'dal and he had always considered them capable of all encompassing care, but never 'love' in the way that elves and men felt it. Arisia was touched by the story, especially by the news that Ranilok had found someone. Quickly moving on to the dire part of it, Ranilok told them of the escape attempt and how Cin'donia was captured.
"We were fighting against practically an army of guards. If there was an army of guards around her then, I can't imagine what kind of guard she is under if they've found out anything about her true nature." Ranilok explained.
"How can we help?" The warlock questioned while offering aid. "You don't even know where they took her." Mithelidan leveled with his friend on the situation.
Revealing the failsafe that he had thought up, Ranilok continued. "That's not quite accurate. There was a delivery girl that Nia made friends with. The girl wanted to help and so I gave her a sort of arcane beacon. I can only hope that she was able to follow Cin'donia closely enough. I'm going to go to it and I don't know where it leads. It's a chance I am going to take for her, so I can't ask you to take it too."
"Say no more, we'll go." Mithelidan looked to Arisia for agreement and received a nod. "You've gained the respect of the spider kingdom and proven yourself. I'll not back down from going into battle alongside you."
"Ae'll go tae." A voice came from the stairwell in the house as a small figure walked down the stairs and looked over to Ranilok. "Ae been lisinen in on all ae dis. Sae would ye accept me as ye friend again?"
"Gevran." Ranilok stood up and crossed to the stairs, nearly lifting the dwarf up and spinning him around. The elf was truly surprised that Gevran was still staying in Quel'thalas. "I was a fool to ever turn away your friendship. Your help would be as invaluable as your allegiance."
The addition of Gevran somehow made the moment a truly emotional one. Nearly the whole group that had originally ventured to Northrend and found Nerub'Itjahz was there. In this little house, nearly a decade after they had first met and set out across the icy continent, they would go to battle once more together.
In truth, Gevran had been there since the last time that Ranilok had visited. The dwarf was unable to find a safe route of passage back to Aerie Peak and no one in the house had a spell that could send him to a place aligned with the alliance. The dwarf had stayed out of sight while Ranilok spurned the rest of his friends in his greed. It was fortunate for Ranilok that he could find all of his old friends again, rather than just the ones that should have been there.
"Aye. Ye woke me up with all ae this storytelling down 'ere. Was ye about tae leave me? With yon human-undead-elf here bein' ae warlock whae was going tae keep ye alive?" Gevran poked fun at Mithelidan.
Looking to Gevran, Arisia was slightly worried. "Gevran… I wanted you to stay here with Irideus."
"Bring him with ye. Thae boy needs tae get out ae thae house 'ere." The dwarf continued in his thick accent.
"Will he be safe?" Arisia looked to Mithelidan.
"We'll both be there. Let's go, we're wasting time." Mithelidan grabbed an enormous sword crafted from purplish metal along with a few other items from around the house. "Open the portal, Ranilok."
"Alright… here we go." The elf took out a blue orb from his pocket and held it up near his face, poking it. From the orb, a mana wyrmling woke up and stretched out. The small blue wyrmling looked at Ranilok happily and butted up against the elf's forehead.
"Ranilok… how is a baby mana wyrmling going to get us to your arcane beacon?" Arisia looked at her friend quizzically.
"Just wait a moment. I guess that these little things prove what we've proven in a much simpler fashion: nothing can keep friends and family apart." Ranilok held the wyrmling up to his face. "Go find your sister." The elf told the wyrmling.
Making a delighted squealing noise, the wyrmling hopped a few times on the palm of Ranilok's hand and then dived off, dropping headfirst for the ground. Arisia moved to catch it, but Ranilok held out an arm to keep her back. As the wyrmling hit the floor of the house, a gaping hole in reality opened up around it, causing a slight pull on everyone standing nearby.
"Quickly, before it closes." Ranilok made ready to jump. "See you on the other side."
With their old group reunited along with a young addition, the friends entered the hole to help Ranilok save Cin'donia. Such an action would have hardly been believable for them only minutes before, but Ranilok had overcome his challenges already. The group cared for him enough to believe that there was a being underneath the greed that they had seen. Helping a friend that was exalted in the stories of the nerubians and loved by even a naaru was truly better than dealing with a greedy and jealous elf that snuffed arcane powder. Just as his friends had returned to him, Ranilok no longer loathed coming to see Mithelidan nor coveted the woman that was never his. Each of them would play their part in the battle to come, and they would do it together.