Emerald Aspect.
Part IV: Dream On.
The four of them woke with the sunrise, and were forced to take off at speed when several ogres climbed the mountain, clearly investigating the fire that the heroes had lit to keep warm. The sun was high in the sky as they flew over Blackrock Mountain, but Uther ordered them to land just south of the mountain, by the rubble of a once magnificent statue.
"What happened here?" Ysondre asked, looking around at the lakes of lava, and destroyed statue of a man in full armour.
"The fire god Ragnaros, and the death of Deathwing's daughter" Uther said simply. "When I killed Onyxia, we crashed through the statue, and I was forced into resurrecting her over there."
"And the lava?" Ysondre asked.
"We angered Ragnaros, and this was his doing," Sylvanas said. "Not sure why we've stopped though, we must be close to the swamp now."
"I just had to stop here, remind myself of something," Uther said, staring at the face of Lothar, carved on the statue.
"What?" Ysondre asked.
"Why I am still fighting," Uther sighed. "This burning valley has seen some of the darkest moments of my life, Lothar's death, and…"
"Me being bound to you" Onyxia breathed. "Neither of these events were entirely your fault."
"I know that, but they are prime examples for why I am still here, still fighting the dark forces that plague this world." Uther smiled weakly, signalling Onyxia to take flight again. "Lothar's heroic and honourable sacrifice is something that I honour; he fought against the odds, and went down fighting. Your rebirth reminded me of that, because I let it influence my code of honour."
" It reminded you of why you can never back down," Ysondre asked. "I sympathise."
"Let's keep moving, Sylvanas take Onyxia," Uther said boldly, as Ysondre transformed.
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They quickly reached Darkshire, landing just outside the town and entering on foot.
"How will we know Ysera's envoy?" Sylvanas asked quietly, seeing that they were getting odd looks from the residents.
"They'll know us," Ysondre replied. "It's been a while since I was among my kin; I doubt I'll know them."
"Indeed, you walked straight past me. But if you would please follow me." A hooded figure said from behind them, walking east, toward several small buildings.
They followed at a distance, but caught up when the figure opened the door to the furthest house from the town square. They walked in, and the figure locked the door behind them, before closing the curtains.
"Caging two dragons in a small house? That's not very smart stranger." Ysondre smiled.
"I know who you are sister, though I never thought I would ever speak to you." The figure smiled, pulling off his hood to reveal a blonde haired Sin'dorei. "My name is Itharius, and I have been watching the situation in the swamp on our mother's behest for a very long time."
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Uther said warmly, as Ysondre hugged Itharius.
"The pleasure is all mine, it is an honour to even speak with the Queen's chosen knight." Itharius bowed. "Ysera has entrusted me because I have a personal interest in this threat to my kin."
"Why?" Sylvanas asked.
"My brother is the one trapped inside; he and four others have fallen to the Troll deity of Atal'Hakkar." Itharius said gravely. "You need to kill them to free their spirits, and deal with whatever is waking down there."
"Waking?" Onyxia asked, peering out the window momentarily.
"Ysera sunk the temple to stop them summoning their god, Atal'Hakkar, but I fear my brother has fallen to something equally evil." Itharius said quickly. "If it helps, I took this from some trolls up north, use it to trap the spirit of whatever the Trolls are trying to summon."
He withdrew a large egg and placed it on the nearest table.
"So glad we are not being used simply to slaughter the trolls in the temple," Uther chuckled. "I am glad that there is a greater objective, which will help with the world as a whole."
"How noble," Itharius smiled. "Naturally I would offer to accompany you, as it is my brother that is the end goal, but I fear that I would fall prey to the evil as well."
"What about us?" Ysondre quickly asked, fearing another presence taking her mind.
"As I understand it, Onyxia's mind is bound to you, Lord Uther," Itharius stated. "And I took a precaution with you Ysondre, after mother told me of your unique case."
At that moment there was a brilliant flash and three figures appeared in the room.
"Hello again, Lord Uther," Tyrande smiled, bowing to him, who quickly bowed back. "I wondered if fate would bring us together again."
"Lady Tyrande, what brings you here?" Uther asked, as Sylvanas and Onyxia curtseyed to the night-elf priestess.
"News, both good and dire," she smiled. "First, that Ysondre is the only emerald dragon to be freed from the Nightmare, but that by cutting the Nightmare's control of the Emerald dragons has also helped a powerful druid to return to the waking world. May I introduce Malfurion Stormrage."
Malfurion bowed, and gave them a warm smile, but it was lost on Ysondre, who was emotionally torn by the news of her deceased kin. Uther put an arm around her shoulder for comfort, and she smiled weakly.
"And I hope you remember your dear friend Jaina," Tyrande smiled, as the blonde haired magi revealed herself by hugging Uther tightly.
"Jaina!" Uther exclaimed, quickly reciprocating the hug. "So good to see you."
"You too Uther," Jaina said softly. "It has been too long."
"Why are you here, if you don't mind my asking?" Sylvanas asked, as she gave the woman a brief hug as well. "Not that your presence isn't welcome."
"We're aware of the threat it poses to anyone who enters, so we're going to try and put some preventative measures in place on those most at risk." Tyrande smiled. "Nothing too invasive."
"Me and Sylvanas are experienced with an invasive presence invading our minds, and Onyxia is as previously stated, bound to me. That leaves Jaina and Ysondre at risk." Uther summarised.
"Ladies, step forward" Malfurion said, flexing his fingers. "This will not take long."
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"Here we are," Sylvanas called, as they circled over the temple.
They quickly landed and dismounted, standing by the entrance, feeling the dark energy permeating their mind.
"I can feel its power, it's like I'm entering the Nightmare again." Ysondre shuddered, "I'm grateful Malfurion put that block in my mind, stopping it from taking control of me again."
"Same here," Jaina said sternly. "What's the plan Uther?"
"We focus on the two objectives, the five emerald dragons and whatever Troll magic has taken them." He replied. "Anything else is secondary, and I would prefer if we get this over and done with, I do not find any comfort being this close to … that unnatural Portal."
"It's okay Uther; we'll finish with this task, and then head to Stormwind for some rest before helping Nozdormu's kin." Sylvanas said softly. "We will not go any closer to the Portal, so you don't need to worry."
Uther flexed his shoulders, and jogged into the temple, the other four keeping pace behind him, with Jaina ensuring the egg was safe. They fought their way through sparse amounts of trolls and various dark creatures, before they reached a large, central chamber.
"Looks like the main chamber is protected by enchantments, I'm guessing there are multiple trolls keeping them active." Jaina said, taking in the surrounding passages, balconies and the hole in the centre of the room.
"Okay, where would these trolls be?" Sylvanas asked, picking off the trolls who moved toward them.
"Close by, but spread out in case someone attacked the temple." Jaina theorised. "I'd stake a guess that they'd be up there, but we've got more pressing matters, what do we do about the emerald kin over there?"
"They have been under the influence for the entirity of their short lives; there is no hope of redemption." Ysondre said slowly. "It pains me to say it, but they must die."
"Understood," Uther sighed, unsheathing his sword. "Let us clear the room, and then put up a defensive ward, I have a plan regarding the shield enchantment."
With that they charged forward, blasting and slicing into the corrupted emerald kin that attacked them. Once the floor had been cleared of any threat to them in the central chamber, Jaina cast defensive wards over most of the paths leading off from the chamber, whilst Uther and the others waited in the middle, by the large hole in the floor.
"That should prevent any intelligent threats to keep away, whilst we deal with the main threats." Jaina smiled. "But that doesn't stop any attacks from below, or from up there."
"What's down there?" Sylvanas asked, peering down the hole, but only seeing water and mould.
"Something foul, it reeks of dark magic," Ysondre wrinkled her nose and took a few steps back.
"Well, Onyxia could you take care of whatever's down there, and Ysondre, would you like to burn the trolls on those balconies." Sylvanas smiled, both dragon women looked to Uther for confirmation.
"Up to you, but that would speed things up a bit." Uther sighed. "Sylvanas, care to scout out down there."
The two dragons quickly transformed, as Sylvanas crept down one of the unguarded passages. Onyxia breathed fire into the hole, whilst Ysondre's fire enveloped the entire upper floor, burning the trolls overlooking the chamber. Once both were done, the room was swelteringly hot, and full of steam that was rising from the chamber below.
"Well done ladies. That firestorm took care of the enchantments, though it looks like that chamber is still protected" Jaina smiled. "Sylvanas, anything down there?"
"It's a large, square room, with a pile of bones in a ritual circle, with candles and weird markings." Sylvanas yelled back, describing what was in the room. "Nothing living, but they were definitely up to something in here."
"Ritual circle, bones, candles, and runic symbols." Uther repeated, before pausing. "That is the room that contains the second objective, the summoning chamber Ysera tried to destroy."
"What do we do?" Jaina asked, revealing the egg from her bag.
"We summon the thing and destroy it." Uther replied quickly. "It is the only way to ensure it does not return to aid our enemies."
"Understood." Jaina said, before they moved toward the summoning chamber. "How exactly do we summon it?" she asked moments later, as they stood in the centre of the room.
"Try putting the egg in the centre of the room, I doubt that this ritual is complex after that, going by the preparations they have made thus far." Uther said as he looked around. "If needs be, try a basic summoning spell."
Jaina placed the egg at the centre of the circle, and immediately began chanting, trying to summon the spirits in the temple. Suddenly a mist swirled around them, and the bones began to shift, and form together.
"Get back!" Uther yelled.
Sylvanas hurried over, but knocked over one of the four flames that had sprung up around the circle. The room shuddered, and snake-like creatures surged into the room, quickly attacking them.
"Things just got interesting." Jaina commented.