' = Internal dialogue

¨= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-Chapter 69-

As we all gathered into the war room and everyone sat down, our impromptu meeting now had Gelbin, Rhonin, Aegwynn, Jaina, Calia, and last of all, Illidan Stormrage attending as we sat in silence for a full minute before I started.

"Let me just start by saying this. Just a few hours ago, or at least for me, a dryad named Lanira and I tried to access the Emerald Dream..." I calmly explained, which raised an eyebrow on Illidan's face as this was the second time I could notice a change in his cold demeanor.

"... And this ended... horribly, as we were brought back the moment we entered by an unseen force, which... leads me to what comes next... We were attacked by none other than Xavius as he latched on to Lanira, the dryad's spiritual form, the moment we were out of the Emerald Dream..." I continued.

"What!? How can that be? His death was confirmed 10,000 years ago! We all made sure of this!" Rhonin exclaimed while glancing toward Illidan, who seemed bewildered in his own way but instead waited for me to continue.

"And yet, here he was, in a Nightmare dreamscape of sorts while attempting to corrupt or convert Lanira, and seemingly had been waiting for me considering his response when I managed to enter said dreamscape," I replied as I looked down at my own hands for a moment while remembering that feeling of powerlessness.

I then turned my gaze to the people in the room and continued, "I barely had any magic in there, and the only time I truly felt like I actually did was when I first managed to punch Xavius in the face, which started a wild goose-chase through the woods until we found our way toward a building, by luck, there was a cellar, and in that cellar, we found something akin to a moon well that had Lanira's real body contained within, and I'll ask, do any of you know of a golden dagger of sorts?"

Illidan nodded and replied grimly, "Yes, the Dirk of The Beast. It was Xavius's most versatile weapon to amass his forces back in the War of the Ancients. How have you come to know of this weapon? From what I understand, the weapon were dismantled and destroyed during the last conflict in the war.

Rhonin grimaced as he looked down for a moment before he added, "No, the dirk was placed into the treasury of Moon Guard Stronghold, which was raided only years after by warlocks and the like with the help of hired trolls... Or at least that is what the old texts depicted as I had to take my leave only shortly after war had reached a conclusive end..."

"You... and the others deemed it so to let the foul weapon's continued existence on our plane continue?" Illidan said sourly before continuing, "No wonder the Burning Legion can easily get such a foothold into our world if the ones working against them simply allow it to happen!"

"Silence, elf, you have no true idea of what you speak," Aegwynn stated firmly as the magic around the room turned turbulent.

"Who are you to order me around, woman!?" Illidan shouted as he rose to his feet in anger.

Before it could escalate any further, Aegwynn gazed directly into Illidan's blindfold where his eyes would be and replied calmly, "I heard you have been imprisoned since the war ended, and all this must be beyond you as you are the oldest in this room Illidan Stormrage. Do not take my lack of aggression towards you as a weakness because your words make it hard to stay my hand." With Illidan's body language, I knew he would antagonize Aegwynn further, so I slammed my hands on the table. At the same time, the magic inside the room churned to the point where the empty chairs turned into splinters and proceeded to push Illidan back into his seat. To Illidan's credit, he did not try to stand up again and released a vary sigh, then seemed to calm down, albeit slightly.

"Please do not antagonize the woman who is the only one to defeat an Avatar of Sargeras within the last millennia or the next time. I'll let whatever happens next time play out," I told Illidan calmly, whose response was a pondering silence.

Then I looked to Aegwynn and asked, "Can you please not make this meeting more uncomfortable than it needs to be, grandmother? The elf has been imprisoned for 10,000 years; of course, he wouldn't know every exact circumstance... even if his words might sound demeaning, I agree to a certain extent. There is too much that... seems wrong in context to the whole picture, almost like we are part of a game of Hearthstone. Most likely, most of these so-called events behind the scenes are set in by the Burning Legion themselves or the Old Gods; we simply have no idea with our current information and lack thereof."

This fact calmed the two down as they, too, pondered the information, even if reluctantly. Illidan soon turned to Aegwynn, tilted his head slightly in respect, and said, "I am sorry for my outburst. My temper is not what it used to be; I am honored to meet one of whom could injure the leader of the Burning Legion, as I know the power he wields.

"No, the fault is with me; due to past failures, I let my anger over my own powerlessness over the situation turn into an unsightly display of immaturity. I can feel the trace of fel on you, elf, which triggered such an unsightly outburst. I apologize," Aegwynn replied, and they both turned back to me.

I nodded and then sighed before continuing, "That being said, all I know about the situation would be that their assault has truly begun, which is giving us a narrow timetable over breaching the barrier while also dealing with the skirmishes along the way..."

Gelbin then coughed into his hand to get our attention as he explained and asked, "I have five hundred mechs, two hundred helicopters, and pilots ready for deployment into the nearby areas. Do we know if the enemy has forces in the air?"

Illidan nodded and replied, "Yes, but they do not cover more than a minority of their actual forces, as most can barely hover above the tree line, and those are the imps and Doomguards I have seen on the way here. And Tyrande explained that most of the Burning Legion's airborne army consists of gargoyles and frost wyrms, but they are inside the barrier."

"Great! This means that we will have air superiority. If we play our cards right, we can perhaps dispatch the enemy forces on the way to the mountain swiftly while also ensuring we are taking very little damage to our own forces." Gelbin explained as he fidgeted with his bracelet that beeped each time he pressed something on it.

"Then we will be creating the defense in the form of portals and barriers. It should be quite simple to get the coordinates to make this work. Do we, by any chance, have an updated map for the region and perhaps some information regarding altitude on the way toward Mount Hyjal?" Rhonin asked after processing Gelbin's words.

This time, Calia answered, "Yes, I will have the maps and information here soon; I will need to contact a few friends in the city first. Also, I will enforce the Peacekeeper initiative; it's a recent addition Belmont added before he... left.

It means that there will be the addition of two healers and two warriors on each team, which will be staying behind with half the squad in the path toward where we are going as a countermeasure of the enemy retaking essential areas, it will leave our town without its majority users of light, but it will have to make do in this situation."

I nodded at her reasoning as Aegwynn gave her reply, "I will be guarding the city in that case because so far, there has been a ploy underneath a ploy, and I am not going to risk our base of operations while having enough competent people in the field, but I will be there if need be."

Illidan then turned to me and asked, "And what of you? Is there any particular purpose you are meant to fulfill among all this?" I just shook my head and replied, "No, I'm probably the one who has to deal with the big bad guy at the end of this... I will join you when you help locate the weak point in the barrier, though for now..." I looked out the window as the day had slowly turned to night, then continued, "We need to prepare; departure and start of the assault of the Burning Legion's forces will commence at sunrise. Is that doable?"

This made most in the room nod in affirmation; the only one who did not was Illidan, who added, "Is this it? We're just going to wait around while the Burning Legion's assault is ongoing?"

"No, you, me, and Jaina over here are going to move out right now while everyone else here will depart at sunrise," I told Illidan, who slowly tilted his head into a nod.

"What?! You're going only with the three of you? That's insane!" Rhonin shouted as he rose from his chair. Aegwynn laughed slightly, making the man pause as he pointed his confused gaze toward the ex-guardian. She explained, "If anything... that is too much of anyone in this room. Only my apprentice and my grandson could compete with me in a fair fight, and the only one with the odds in favor in a duel between us... is Medan. Instead, I would feel sorry for whoever these two encounter along the way."

Rhonin was stunned to silence by the words. He felt the honesty in Aegwynn's words as he gazed between the three of us, sighed, and sat back down.

Jaina, who sat by my side, smiled as she grasped my hand in support while Gelbin and Calia nodded.

"Meeting adjourned; we all have our part in what happens in the coming days; let's make the best of it," I said as everyone stood up and started leaving while Illidan and Jaina followed me.

—

As Jaina had left to prepare, I had gone to the top floor while Ilidan followed in silence; as I gazed out over the city, Ilidan came to stand by my side while following my gaze with the manacing green embers hidden behind his blindfold.

"What drives one such as you? Your potential for the arcane seems boundless... Why would you willingly burden yourself with the responsibility of protecting the your lessers?" Illidan asked curiously, with a hint of mockery in his tone that seemed more like it was directed toward himself as he asked that question.

"... My drive? You're actually the first one to ask me that question, and I honestly doubt I can give you a proper answer as I have yet to find more reasons than a set few, but for each day that passes, I seem to gain more fuel for my drive for power." I answered and then paused in consideration.

"I was told that I have infinite potential for the arcane and elements alike, but only recently have I questioned this, as I have come to learn that even with boundless potential... without an ungodly amount of luck, that potential would hardly come true, as death in this world is commonplace for the weak..." I said as I turned toward the widow and gazed at the dark clouds in the distance.

"Why did I make this place for the people residing in it? You may ask? It's because I am not, it is all done by the collective efforts of the ones here, they are the ones who has made this possible. And watching the people thrive, the children play in the streets without worry, and without the constant threat of war looming above their very necks like a guillotine... It has turned out to be quite the motivator to make such a place for the ones I would come to know and care about."

After a brief pause I continued, "As for what you call a burdening myself with lessers? That's simply a point of view. All this has become possible because the ones residing here are cooperating and uniting together to create something bigger than themselves. No one is relying solely on me being here to feel safe, and they are working together in tandem to make that a continued possibility as the world around us seems to shift toward even more war and conflict." I explained to Illidan, who listened in silence. I was also thinking about the question as I somewhat have been vague about what I wanted to do except gain more power.

And I was put out of my musings when Jaina arrived through the teleporter and took her place beside me as she too joined on gazing out of the window, watching the lively city from above when the first signs of winter had finally arrived on the rooftops.

"I've prepared supplies for the worst-case scenario. Are you both ready to leave?" Jaina asked. I responded with a nod and looked at Illidan, who stiffly gave the briefest of nods in response. We then made our way toward the teleporter and activated it at the way-point close to the eastern gate.

As we stepped out of the teleporter, we were met by the sight of several squads of Peacekeepers at the gate entrance, who all turned to us the moment they caught sight of the three of us.

A large tauren and several others stepped forward, which turned out to be Tygor and his squad; all of them looked at us gravely and nodded, then Tygor added, "Lord Medan, Lady Jaina, we wish you good luck on your journey; we will take care of things around here and will be catching up to you within a few days."

And with that, I stepped forward and shook his hand as his squad stood by his side, and waved the rest of the squads along as Tygor continued, "The men and women wanted to see you off, as this is the first war and direct conflict with an enemy we will be fighting together, my previous tribe always had this custom toward the chief, and I feel this is only fair toward you who have been here from the start and built something we could call our own."

After a small chorus of agreement from at least 20 different squads of elite fighters, I smiled as we made our way through the gate. I waved at the audience, who cheered as we exited the gates.

"That reminds me, do you have a mount or something like that? I asked Illidan, who only whistled in response as a hippogryph came into view, "Tyrande lent me hers when I was forced to leave to get down the barrier, which was my quest to find you." He replied stoically.

"Alright then... wait a moment though, I need to do something," I said. As I felt something foul enter my senses. I warped toward a large oak tree in the distance and focused my senses on the magic that had leaked earlier.

It turned out to be a dark rotting root with black ooze bleeding from the side, as if someone had stabbed it with a sharp dagger in order to gain access to its sap, and without hesitation, I conjured my white flames poured it on the foul-looking thing as the magic within shrieked while it was erased from existence.

As I returned to where Jaina stood ready and Illidan was getting annoyed at the wait, I stepped on Jaina's magic carpet as the three of us lifted off the ground and raced toward the dark forest in the distance.

Just as we reached around 300 meters into the air, Jaina and I spotted the green tint surrounding the mountain in the distance toward our right, and I asked out loud, "Why can't we simply fly directly toward the mountain instead of going around? Is it such a difference of where to get past the barrier?"

I almost imagined Illidan's bemused scoff, but then he said, "Do you think I would have come to find you if it was the case?"

That was a fair point, but the moment I was going to ask how he knew where to find his so-called breach location, I sensed something familiar in the distance.

As my eyes gazed over a specific area, I activated my ability to see heat signatures and was immediately aware of what was happening. I grasped Jaina's shoulder to get her attention while keeping my gaze on that area; this made her stop, which caused Illidan to notice us slowing down as he turned to look at what caused us to stop.

I saw dozens of dryads running away frantically, almost as if they were being chased by something unseen, and when I looked closer into what was happening behind them, I could not spot a single heat signature, which could mean two things.

One, they were in an illusion. Two, creatures were chasing them without heat in their bodies, and I leaned toward the latter.

"Some dryads are fleeing from the undead. I am going down to assist." I told Jaina and Illidan, "What? We are on an urgent quest to break down the barrier set in place by the Burning Legion, and you want to play hero for the mere spawn of Cenarius?!"

'Right... I had almost forgotten that Illidan does not have a good alignment but is rather chaotic, neutral, and... slightly evil, considering his past... that is a given. I certainly wouldn't have a good impression of my own race as a whole if I were to be imprisoned for eternity due to a mistake... though saying it is a mistake might be pushing it, attempting to create a second Well of Eternity was a literal death sentence for anyone else than Illidan who was close to Cenarius and were also the brother of Malfurion.'

I quickly rearranged my initial impression of Illidan as I stepped off Jaina's magic carpet and dived at the undead from high above.

Pulling out my revolver by just willing it into my hand made it materialize as if lightning had taken form before the sharp light quickly dimmed, and the mighty revolver placed itself comfortably in my hand.

While falling headfirst toward the undead, which I initially thought only numbered in the dozens, I realized I might have been slightly mistaken. It turns out the ones I spotted were only the fast runners, while maybe around a thousand or so were coming from behind. How I got that number in my head was honestly due to recent experience.

'Oh, how I love it when the enemies are numerous and stacked together...' I thought as I imbued the projectile that was forming inside the revolver with my new ability to infuse my fire onto other things, and in this case... a forming bullet that would be responsible for significant momentary deforestation.

As I now dove between the undead and the dryads, who looked back briefly before continuing to run for their lives, I pulled the trigger and heard a dull *THUMP* as white smoke exited the chamber. The projectile, made of ethereal lightning and infused with a beautiful spiral of white, shot toward the undead horde faster than the average eye could follow.

*BOOM* The projectile struck when I hit the ground. I created a crater between the predators and the chasers as a result.

The earth shook at the same time the first undead lit ablaze in white light as pandamonium followed, almost like being carpet-bombed.

Hundreds of explosions now happened in quick succession as the undead horde was torn apart within moments while screeching out in agony for the brief moment they did stay alive when struck by the white flames, and without realizing what had happened, the battle had ended.

Or so I thought until I saw a dome of ice appear in the back, revealing a furious skeletal creature that I had recently encountered, a lich. However, this one seemed way less impressive than Kel'thuzad with how little magic it surrounded itself with.

The lich was not uninjured by the enormous mass explosion that actually still kept going on all around him. His barrier shifted as a new blast of white struck near it, almost making the lich unable to maintain it.

And just as the last signs of explosions made by the white inferno whisked out of existence behind him, the lich seemed to be preparing a spell while starting to shout something in my direction. It was in a language I did not know of, but that did not matter when I looked above where he stood.

A literal meteor of ice fell through the air and impacted his barrier for just a fraction of a second before breaking through it like it was made of wet tissue and struck its target.

With the resounding sounds of bones breaking or ice cracking, the lich had turned mute and became a pile of bones deep beneath the glacier-like comet of death.

Jaina now hovered above where the product of her newfound magical ability stood tall as she gazed thoughtfully at the surrounding area.

I was brought out of my momentary speechlessness by a dryad who had seemed to notice our arrival and had come back to see how we fared. Safe to say she was speechless as well, but for an entirely different reason.

"THE FOREST!" She practically screeched before Illidan appeared behind her and bonked her on the head with a mace he seemingly had taken out of the hands of an undead who seemed to have been blown pretty far away from the point of impact.

"How foolish to light up the forest in the wrath of fire while in the presence of its keepers," Illidan said and shook his head as he dropped the mace and whistled as his hippogryph descended from the trees.

'Uh, I think I need to dial down the explosive force from now on.' But who was I kidding? Everyone loves explosions.

The fire did not destroy the forest due to my intervention and intuitive control. Still, instead, the volatile explosions of the undead far into the distance were the cause of the destruction of a kilometer-wide area that had struck the forest as trees had been torn from the roots and the soil underneath looked like it had been part of a minefield that had been thoroughly tested.

When I lay my eyes on Jaina, who kept her gaze down into the crater where the lich was buried, I was going to ask her if she was ready to leave when she returned my gaze and smiled, then said, "One moment, just going to put the still-unliving lich inside one of Aegwynn's containers." Then, she proceeded to take something out of her robe's pocket, which I now had learned mages higher up in the hierarchy tended to use as an inventory method, which I now also had after Aegwynn had practically demanded me to use one and soulbind it to myself.

Jaina then waved her hand as the large chunk of ice turned into water and revealed a heap of bones that had been broken down so badly it looked like a bone meal was in the making; however, what soon became visible was the blue crystalline eyes radiating magic directly at her.

Somehow, within those clear blue crystals, I could sense malice and helplessness over the situation as each second passed. Still, even then, they got yanked into a white marble-sized orb, which turned black the moment the bones and crystals disappeared into it, almost like the abyss swallowed it up.

"Now, where were we? Ah, right!" Jaina said with a happy tone, which made this kind of creepy if it wasn't for the fact that I had noticed she had a particularly wrathful stance toward liches, which I just considered one of her good sides as I smiled and walked over to her as she unfolded her carpet with a wave of her hand and we both stepped onto it.

—

Our most recent altercation with the undead was not the last one on the path toward what I could only assume were major points of corruption inside the rotting forest in the northern part of Ashenvale and soon-to-be Felwood. I knew I could have probably prevented this scenario, but that was primarily based on what-ifs and not facts.

One of the most blaring and alarming facts was, and perhaps still is, that Archimonde is no joke, and if it weren't for the fact I knew that I wasn't too far away from a massive spike in terms of power gain, which I have only been able to get recently, then taking on the lieutenant of Sargeras would quickly prove to my last action in this world.

Alas, I had a feeling that my odds would be changing very soon.

—

As we reached high altitude, we could spot a platform in the distance, which seemed to be an old outpost for hippogriffs used by the night elves to get up and down from the world tree. The platform's base was built outward from what looked like some old nest but was now filled with green moss and an overall aged look.

"We're here... " Illidan very helpfully pointed out as we landed, and he shooed his borrowed mount off into the distance as he gazed toward the green see-through barrier with the world tree in the distance.

Jaina and I looked at each other briefly as we studied what looked to be a gateway with the rudimentary night elf colorization they used for most buildings.

"It's not far from here. Come with me," Illidan ordered in his no-nonsense voice, clearly annoyed at how many stops we had to clean up the waves of undead we spotted. It had come to a point where Illidan started fuming and seemed to forget himself for a moment as he threatened to strike me down after the third wave of undead unless I complied with his demands of not stopping to intervene in every single fight.

He indeed was losing whatever mask he was wearing when he first made himself known in Azshara, in front of our city, Sanctum, funny name that one. However, his facade of being an ally was slowly being worn down by his lack of patience. It was getting to the point that I was tempted to perhaps end a future threat way ahead of time, even if that threat was, in the end, just a complicated guy being betrayed over and over by his crush and brother plus father figure.

In the end, the backstory does not matter. My time in this world has shown me that ruthlessness has a time and place, and in Illidan's case, I was patient, but even I had my limits.

Luckily for him, Jaina came to his aid and de-escalated the situation by putting up an ice wall before Illidan could initiate the fight. At the same time, I held my revolver in my left hand underneath my sleeve to end it quickly if it came to blows.

Over a few hours, Illidan managed to calm down to his previous self as he got some space from us. He flew slightly ahead while I held Jaina in my arms as we approached our destination.

Jaina and I followed Illidan as he made his way toward the gate and pushed one side open, creaking the whole structure and making it sound like our collective weight could break it apart.

As he opened the gate, we saw a tunnel leading downwards as a lantern glowing eerily with a blue color lit up the ceiling filled with mold and dirt.

"When we reach the bottom of this tunnel, we will find the area where the barrier is weak." Illidan pointed out helpfully as he started making his way down. He placed his glaives on his back, which he took from a worn-out bag that he still had attached to his ragged-looking leather pants.

While we followed Illidan, I could feel vibrations in the walls, almost like explosions were happening in the distance; clearly, I was not the only one to notice this as Illidan picked up his pace while we followed close behind.

After 15 minutes of running down the tunnel, we reached a point where the barrier was visible in the distance, "We are here. I hope Tyrande was right about this." Illidan whispered as he stepped to the side, letting both Jaina and I walk in front of him.

As we reached the barrier of potent fel magic, I couldn't help but put a layer of pure arcane magic around my hand and touch the flimsy-looking thing; my hand recoiled at the touch, but so did the barrier, albeit slightly.

Jaina stood by my side, fascinated by the reaction of the barrier toward the arcane, and asked, "Are fel and arcane opposites?"

I shook my head and replied, "No, I do not believe they are. I think Fel and Arcane are just two sides of the same coin. No doubt you know of the addiction that comes to the ones who tend to delve too far into the arcane; I think the same goes for Fel, but to a much more... serious extent... to the point that it corrupts both body and soul..."

"Can you break through the barrier or not?" Illidan's voice resonated in the tunnel from behind us in agitation.

"Yes, but do not attempt to order me around Illidan. I prefer caution when dealing with Fel," I replied with my back turned while I pushed more and more arcane magic into both my hands, and in one rapid motion, I stabbed both of my hands into the barrier. As a result, the entire tunnel started quaking.

Then I pushed half my entire MP pool into my hands and violently pulled the barrier open, revealing a small area to enter. It turned out that whatever powered this barrier was no joke, as I felt strained while attempting to push the tear further.

"Go! I shouted as Jaina jumped through with Illidan close behind; just as Illidan passed through, however, I felt something beneath me shift and the tunnel floor crumble, making me attempt to keep my balance mid-air with my air affinity while also keeping the tear open through the barrier.

'This seems to have been pre-arranged... and I am too curious for my own good...'

Apparently, I had managed to trigger something that broke the foothold for any average person. Mainly, the vibrations the portal caused did this. I looked at Jaina and said, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. See you in a few hours."

My statement made her look worried for a moment before she nodded resolutely as the barrier closed between us, and I let myself fall into the ominous dark depths that wanted me down there, and boy, were they in for a surprise.

-Chapter 69 End-