Bronze Aspect.
Part III: It's Time.
Veresa, Sylvanas, Onyxia and Ysondre returned to the Caverns of Time, and were immediately greeted by the sight of Bronze dragonkin gathering around the inn, where a wall of ice had formed over the door.
"What's going on in there?" Sylvanas asked, approaching the first Bronze drake she could.
"Two humans fighting, one of them iced the door," he said simply.
"Where's Lord Uther?" Onyxia asked quickly.
"In there, he's one of the humans involved in the fight," a female sin'dorei said bluntly. "The woman stormed in with a bag on her shoulder, and they immediately began fighting."
"Jaina!" Sylvanas said quickly. "We need to get in there!"
"By all means" Chromie said brightly.
They hurried to the ice-covered door and Onyxia made quick work of smashing it. Inside they found Uther and Jaina standing over an object wrapped in tattered animal skins on the table.
"You should have told me what I was couriering for you Uther!" Jaina snapped. "You know how dangerous that thing was!"
Without looking Jaina iced up the door again so they would not be disturbed, and wheeled to face the new arrivals.
"Welcome back to the present Sylvanas, Onyxia, Ysondre..." she paused when she saw Vereesa, the almost splitting image of Sylvanas. "And I don't remember you being in Uther's travelling group."
"I was summoned when Lord Uther was unable to help with the last moment in time," Veressa smiled. "I am Veressa Windrunner, Sylvanas' older sister."
"Ah, Rhonin's muse, I've heard many good things about you, it's nice that we finally meet," Jaina said politely. "I am..."
"Jaina Proudmoore, I too have heard good things about you, and am equally pleased to finally meet you." Vereesa said quickly, shaking Jaina's hand. "What's going on here?"
"Lord Uther asked me to wait in Gadgetzan for an envoy carrying something from Alexstrasza," Jaina said, staring daggers at Uther as she moved toward the bundle of skins. "However he neglected to tell me exactly what I was collecting, and frankly a little warning would have been nice."
"What is it?" Onyxia asked, feeling a slight draw toward the bundle of skins.
"The remains of Frostmourne!" Jaina nearly yelled, revealing the broken sword amongst the skins. "And a message from the Dragon Queen; she'd like you to know that the Lich's armour has been locked away beneath the Wyrmrest Temple, along with the egg from the sunken temple."
"My lord!" Sylvanas and Onyxia snapped at Uther, whilst Ysondre and Vereesa recoiled at the sight of the cursed blade.
"I have my reasons!" Uther said quickly.
"We'd love to hear them!" Jaina snapped back. "Afterall, we remember what that did to you last time, what you did for it, and how it nearly destroyed you"
'Pick me up; I'm too weak to threaten you now. You will need me for what is coming!' the voice whispered.
"It... It spoke to me before and after we destroyed Grim Batol, Sylvanas too, but it was not angry or seeking revenge on me," Uther said slowly, taking a seat at the table. "It feared something, and warned me of something worse than Neltharion coming, and that it would be needed to defeat this evil."
"My lord it would say anything to regain a hold on your mind," Onyxia stated quickly. "You cannot trust it!"
"I do not trust it! But what if it is right, if there is some great evil coming to Azeroth, greater than your father," Uther said imploringly. "But do not worry; I have a plan in mind to keep it under my control, and not the other way around."
"What?" The others all said in unison.
"It is a long shot, but being here makes me think that it is possible, and I believe it will work." Uther said, tying up the bundle of skins into a bag with the Frostmourne remains inside, and heading for the door. "Now then, let us see what the Bronze kin want our help with next."
"Wait, what did Alexstrasza want to talk to you about?" Sylvanas asked.
"She was just informing me that the remains had been delivered," he said brightly. "I would have joined you, but Jaina arrived moments after Alexstrasza contacted me."
Jaina threw a fireball at the ice and it melted away into the sandy floor. As they stepped outside they found Chromie waiting for them.
"Ah, right on time, this way please," the gnome said brightly, leading them around the large central area where the large hour glass floated. "Your next task takes place in more recent history, which is to say that it occurs within your lifetime Lord Uther."
"When and where are we going?" Uther asked, the bag with the cursed blade hidden under his cape.
"Hilsbrad Foothills, shortly after the Second War." Chromie replied. "You need to help Thrall escape from Durnholde."
"Thrall!" Jaina said excitedly.
"Indeed, however I must insist that the kin of my fellow Dragonflights remain in the present," Chromie stated. "It's too complicated to explain, but they cannot get involved in this particular series of events."
"Are you alright with this ladies?" Uther asked his two draconic travelling companions.
"Yes my lord," Onyxia and Ysondre said brightly, "we will wait here for you."
"Alright then, if you will please step inside, and you will find one of my kin waiting for you." Chromie said brightly. "Ysondre and Onyxia, please follow me, my father would like to talk to you."
"One second," Uther said quickly. "May I have a word?"
Uther and Chromie walked a short distance away from the others, and he knelt down to speak quietly to the disguised Bronze dragon.
"I presume you know what I am planning to do during this quest?" He asked in a low voice. "You already know that I intend to bring something back from the past, something that went missing around the time of the rift you are sending us to."
"What about it Lord Uther? Speak your mind." Chromie said mischievously.
"Am I supposed to do it, to remove something from the past for events in the future?" he asked, he needed assurance that he would not be making a grave mistake. "Is this meant to happen, or will I damage the time stream?"
"I am unable to give any definitive answers, things change every moment, creating hundreds of possible outcomes," Chromie said, avoiding eye contact with him. "Do what you feel is right and live with the outcomes, but do not assume that everything is resting on your shoulders."
"Understood," Uther sighed as he got to his feet and re-joined the others.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Uther, Sylvanas, Jaina and Vereesa stepped into the portal, and were met on the other side by a tall, brown-haired Sin'dorei and a small bronze dragon beside him.
"Greetings heroes," the Sin'dorei said proudly, bowing as they approached. "Welcome to Hilsbrad Foothills, or rather, welcome back."
"What do you require from us?" Jaina asked quickly.
"The Infinite dragonflight are trying to prevent Thrall from escaping from Durnholde, and thereby stop the Orcish flight to Kalimdor." Erozion explained. "You must take the place of the human Taretha and free Thrall. Use these incendiary devices to burn down the prison huts, then move into the compound and free the future warchief."
"Is there a time limit or can we do things at our own pace?" Uther asked, his eyes looking past the dragons, toward the distant church spire. "Because I want to take care of something else here."
"Understood, but I recommend haste, I do not know what the Infinite dragonkin have done to Taretha." Erozion replied. "Why not divide and conquer, as your people say."
"A wise suggestion, Sylvanas you will come with me, Jaina and Vereesa will free Thrall, and we will meet up at Tarren Mill." Uther said quickly.
"But Uther..." Jaina said, but he raised a hand.
"Sylvanas will keep me in check, go save your old friend from the internment camp." Uther said warmly.
"Understood, is there a means for us to get to Durnholde quickly?" Jaina said, turning to Erozion and his dragon companion.
"Would you do the honours?" Erozion said, and the dragon nodded. "Hop on to Brazen's back, he'll take you two here. As for Lord Uther?"
"We will walk; Southshore is not far, good luck with the internment camp." Uther said brightly.
Uther held an arm out to Sylvanas and the two walked across the fields towards the town.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As they approached the town, Uther experienced multiple feelings at once, when he began to see and recognise many familiar faces.
"Now I feel old," he sighed as they passed two men in strange robes. "So many people I see here have dark futures."
"Oh, please explain my lord?" Sylvanas asked.
"Those two men we passed, one becomes the leader of the Cult of the Damned, the other... I do not remember the other man." Uther said as they approached the inn. "But that is yet to come, right now what we need is in there if memory serves."
"What exactly did we come for?" Sylvanas asked quickly.
"The embodiment of the Light, if what I heard is true," Uther said, quickly checking his reflection in the horse drinking trough, seeing a stranger staring back. "I just hope that this rumour IS true."
"Wait my lord," Sylvanas said, grabbing Uther's wrist and turning him to face her. "What rumour?"
"When rumours of the Scourge and the plague began, several knights of the Silver Hand met here, I was unavailable as the king had me tutoring his son." Uther said quickly, eager to get inside. "I never heard what it was about, but I do know that whatever thing brought them here; mysteriously disappeared around the time Durnholde was destroyed."
"So ... You think that we steal it from here, and use it in the future, to control the remains of the Lich?" Sylvanas asked.
"Yes, let us get it and then do what we are here to do, help Thrall escape." He said quickly, leading her inside.
Several figures were gathered around a table by the fire, all huddled close so no one would overhear their conversation. Sylvanas and Uther sidled in as close as they could, and waited for the opportune moment.
"Keep your voices down. There are strangers about..." Mograine said, gathering the group's attention. "Brothers and sisters, I have called you here today to discuss the fate of Lordaeron." He lowered his voice to a near whisper, and Uther had trouble hearing the rest of the sentence. "I hear things ... Things that should not be. The dead rise ... Undead, from the frozen northlands. Whole cities have gone missing. I... I have heard that Northrend is lost..."
The group uttered several gasps of shock.
"We must stand ready. I have faced undead before. They are ruthless killing machines, devoid of any emotion or compassion." Mograine continued.
"Aye, I've battled them as well. We are ill-prepared as a kingdom to withstand such an assault." Tirion stated quickly.
"What do you propose, Mograine?" Doan asked.
"Propose? I propose that we prepare. That we prepare our loved ones, family and friends for the possibility of an undead holocaust." Mograine said coldly.
"How can he be so cold?" Sylvanas whispered.
"We did not understand the extent or power of the Scourge, Mograine was preparing for the worst." Uther whispered back.
"And there is this..." Mograine said, opening the chest and letting a black crystal rise from the box.
"By the Light! What is it?" Abbendis exclaimed.
"I have had this object in my possession for ten years. Since Blackrock Spire..." Mograine said grimly. "I wrested it free from the remains of an Orc lieutenant – a dark caster... It is from their homeworld. Do not get too close. I laid a hand upon it once... Only once and never again. The memories of that day still linger."
Mograine removes his right gauntlet and showed the group his mangled hand.
"I surmise that this object is the living embodiment of shadows... darkness... It is a manifestation. It is a void." Mograine stated.
"I do not see how this evil artefact is relevant to the undead. We must destroy it!" Isilien stated quickly.
"No, old friend, it is very relevant." Mograine said quickly in response. "Let me ask you this, brothers and sisters: Can good exist without evil? Can there be light without dark? And if that answer is no, then could it be possible that because this artefact exists, its polar opposite must also exist? Could you imagine what the material manifestation of the Light could do against the undead?"
"Nonsense, Mograine! It must be destroyed!" Isilien exclaimed, casting a holy spell on the crystal, but it was simply absorbed.
"It consumed the Light!" Mograine exclaimed, after gasping at the incredible sight.
"Impossible!" Tirion exclaimed, casting another holy spell on it, which was also absorbed by the unholy crystal.
"Is... Is it getting lighter? Its coloration... It is changing?" Fairbanks asked.
He, Tirion, Abbendis and Isillien cast more and more holy spells on it. It shifted into a Light Crystal, which glowed brightly, instead of absorbing the light around it.
"BY THE LIGHT! Could it be? Could this be it? I must know... I will know." Mograine said in awe.
Uther watched in fascination as Alexandros reached out and touched the crystal, before crying out in rapture.
"That is exactly what we need!" Uther whispered. "We just need an opportunity to get it."
"Allow me, I can go unnoticed better than you." Sylvanas smiled, cracking her knuckles in preparation.
"I... It... It is beautiful. What I felt when I touched it... The Light coursed through me and I through it... It healed my spirit."
"Your hand! It is healed!" Isilien exclaimed.
Mograine put the crystal back in the box and re-gloved his right hand.
"Let us never again speak of this day. Our enemies are many. They need not know we hold such artefacts." Mograine said quietly, his eyes flashing around the room in suspicion. "I have seen it... From this blessed crystal we will forge a weapon. This weapon will hold inside it a piece of each of us... And when it is used against undead, it shall cast them down. And in its wake, it will leave only ashes..."
Tirion saluted and said boldly, "The Ashbringer." Which was mimicked by the other leaders.
At that moment Uther's opportunity came, as the Chef came out to silence the sudden uproar from the gathered Silver Hand leaders.
"This is madness! I've had enough! ENOUGH! EVERYBODY LISTEN UP!" Chef Jessen said as he stormed out of the kitchen. "I'm speakin' to you too, mister fancy britches Mograine! SHUT YER YAP!"
Sylvanas darted between the leaders and managed to snatch the crystal from the box, before hurrying out the door.
"NOW, everybody in this bar is gonna keep the noise to a minimum or ol' Jessen is gonna bust out his rollin' pin and go orc on all of ya! IS EVERYONE CLEAR?!" Jessen roared, as Uther followed his companion out of the inn.
"Good work my dear," Uther said, as he found Sylvanas kneeling in a shed behind the inn.
He knelt beside her and realised the situation she was in. She was holding the crystal in both hands, her bare fingers were white with how tightly she was clasping it, and her eyes were glowing brilliant white.
"By all that is holy!" he exclaimed.